Saturday, January 28, 2012

Ok....other vacay pics, mostly not about clothes....






I have an unwilling victim here!!!





























This is my Aunt Glo! She is like my second mother. We are very alike, personality-wise. She is a 2 year survivor of breast cancer. I love her to death.





















This is my cousin, Joseph! We are 8.5 years apart in age. We are more like brother/sister than cousins. He and my son are really alike.



















This is my grandmother. This is how you will find her every single night. She literally reads a book a day. As you can see, she is just finishing this on up!




















Thursday was her 82nd birthday! We took her out to Red Lobster (her favorite).
















Here are a couple of findings at the mall that were funny/interesting to me:








The purse on the right could be yours for the low, low price of only $1,350.00. The purse on the left, was from fall of last year. Still cute, and way out of my price range.












If you are not a purse person (which I am not), how does this tickle your fancy?










An 18kt gold "personal massager." For over $2k. For that price, it had better never break down, and should also be able to do the dishes.




















This is the reason why people retire to Florida.














This is the way the local morning news anchors dress. Granted, this is Telemundo. Still the local non-Spanish new people do not dress that much differently.












The airport is so close to the ocean, you can actually see cruise ships from the aiport!












For reals!!












And look! Samuel L Jackson was totally sleeping in the airport!!! :D







W. :)

What I Wore on Vacation!!!!



Leaving on a jet plane.

Ok. Not my plane, and I flew at night. But you get the idea.





Day 1 after arrival:

Shirt and Shorts: Tommy Hilfiger
Sandals: Yellowbox


Yippee!! Flipflops in January!


















Day 2

This is what I wore to go unexpectedly tomato picking out in a field. Oh, and to visit my mother.


Shirt: LL Bean
Skirt: Ruby Red
Shoes: American Eagle (payless)

Not good picking shoes.
















Day 3:

I don't even remember what I did this day. It was Sunday. Oh yeah. Groceries.

Shirt: Jones New York
Pants: TJ Maxx
Shoes: Airwalk











No picture for Monday. I forgot. I went with the ladies to the doctor, and to Target. The excitement is killing you, no?










Day 5:


Look we have actual activity. This is what I wore to go to the Mall with my aunt. And then later that evening, I went to dinner at my sister-in-law's.

Sweater: August Silk
Top: Lane Bryant
Jeans: Avenue
I am wearing my flip flops in this picture, but I actually wore white Converse sneakers out.










Day 6:

Repeat of Day 1.

However, I did go to lunch with a friend, and we got pedicures!

Toes: OPI Big Apple Red
Shoes: Yellowbox
















Day 7:

Going home. Looking forward to seeing my kid and husbeast.

Jacket: Old Navy
Scarf: Ross
Shirt: Tommy Hilfiger
Jeans: Talbots

My white jeans got me disapproving looks on the plane. Can you believe that people still frown upon white after Labor Day? That is so antiquated. Whatever... I am going to do what I want.

Friday, January 27, 2012

I am so happy to be home....

Arrived back to Kentucky last night, and I could not be happier to be back in my own little environment. Gave my kid a ton of kisses. Squeezed my cats. Loved my husbeast. Thanked God for cool rainy weather. I am truly at home.

When we first moved here, I was not sure that I could ever feel that any place other than Miami could be home for me. I mean, I lived there most of my life. I knew it inside and out. It was pretty much all I knew.

However, I realize now that wherever my little family is, that is my home. That is where I belong.


W. :)

Fill in the Blank Friday



1. My favorite place I've ever traveled to is New York City. I love everything about it: museums, history, shopping, all those things that are uniquely New York.

2. Ireland and Scotland is somewhere I'd love to go someday.


3. I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by looking out of the window, sometimes taking pictures.

4. My three must-haves when I travel are money, something to drink, and my camera.

5. My favorite travel companion is myself. I really like traveling solo. But my second favorite would be my kid.

6. The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is , being unused to having to travel with headlights in Sweden, I left the lights on in the car, and totally drained the battery. Fortunately, a nice man was kind enough to jump the battery so we could get home.

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is prawns and eggs on pizza. Ick!

8. If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in somewhere in the French countryside.

9. I have been to 12 states in the U.S.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Friendship weirdness.....

So, friendship is weird. I have never had normal friendships. My friendships have always had this caretaking aspect to them. Like, I take care of, baby, coddle, make myself over-available to my friends. That is a leftover from a very crazy co-dependent childhood to an alcoholic mother.

Well, I guess eventually my friends no longer "need" me, and the friends wander away. I am left feeling abandoned, and confused. But, with age and wisdom, I am learning what the problem is. (see: me)

I have one friend, where there is a particular weirdness to it. Six years ago we were inseparable. Like, to the point that someone accused us of having a non-sexual affair. (Not completely untrue, I suppose.) About a year or so ago, we kind of drifted apart (probably due to the fact that my husband and child were going to be a permanent fixture in my life, and the separation was necessary), and we did not communicate for 16 months. Then, we resumed our friendship, but from a distance.

But the weird thing is whenever we get together, we have a lot of fun. The talking never ends, we laugh like crazy, and it's awesome. Then when we end our time together, and it's like....nothing. No contact except liking things on each others' Facebook pages. Weird.

I guess all I can do is just appreciate this friendship for what it is. Weirdness, and all.

W. :)

Why I am glad that I don't live in Miami.....

As I have mentioned in the past, I relocated from Miami, Florida to Lexington, Kentucky.

I like it, but I wouldn't say I love it. However, I do love it compared to Miami.

What I don't like about Miami:

The TRAFFIC!!!! It is horrendous all the time. Highway, street, day and night. Crazy, rude drivers. "Why yes I want to make a right hand turn from the far left lane." (Mind you, there are 5 lanes of traffic they are crossing.)

It's hot! It is January, and it is 85 degrees! I was so looking forward to warmth, until I started sweating on Saturday. Yeah, not for me. Now I am looking forward to putting my hoody back on.

The people tend to be so rude. Cutting you off on the road (see driving), cutting in lines, never ever hanging up their dang phones, never a please or thank you, or God forbid, an excuse me.

Poor customer service. If you go to a store you are either treated like a criminal or ignored. In the local stores, there are actually prompts that appear on the register screens "Greet the customer. Thank them and welcome them back." The employees won't say a word to you. Not even the amount you owe them.

All in all, I am very glad that we moved away. And I look forward to returning to KY. Even if I am cold.

W. :)

I changed my name....

I am not sophisticated, or chic, or elegant. None of those adjectives will ever be used to describe me.

I don't drink wine.
I don't dig opera.
I think expensive cars are overrated, clothes with labels all over them are pretentious and I like a fair amount of cheez and kitsch in my life.

I don't dress my age, and probably never will.

So.... this is me. Unsophisticated, and proud.

W. :)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Doing what the old folks do...

So I have spent my vacation doing what my grandmother (82) and aunt (65) do on a daily basis.

Let's see...

I have visited the doctors with them.
I have observed nap-time daily from 3-5 pm.
I have been to many, many Goodwills (and finally found a good one!!)
I have taken part in Senior Citizen Tuesday discounts.
And all meals must be prepared and consumed before 5:30 pm.

I am beginning to feel old, myself.

W. :)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.....

I made it to Miami last night. An incredibly smooth flight, with crystal clear skies. So clear, in fact, that I could see other aircraft flying what seemed incredibly close to our plane. Started feeling my panic rising, so I forced myself to fall asleep. :)

It is so nice to be able to wear flip-flops and shorts, again.

W. :)

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Deciding how much to share.....

This started as a 'style blog.' Or a searching for a style blog, as the case may be. But, just writing about clothing all the time seems so superficial to me. There is so much more to life than just clothes.

Often times, I find myself wanting to write things unrelated to style/fashion, etc. Then I edit myself, because what exactly do I want this blog to be? How much of myself am I willing to share with an unknown public? Do I create another page just for those thoughts? But to have multiple pages seems a bit redundant to me.

So, what do I do?

W. :)

The saga of the green jeans.......

So, I have been jonesing for some green jeans. Or some green chinos. I am in love with this look.




Well, I find that Dots is having the colored jeans in not only the kelly green, but also orange (Tangerine Tango...color of the year), purple, bright blue, etc. So, I am checking the store nearly daily to see if the green jeans are in yet. No luck, but the blue comes in. And they are skinny cut. Like ridiculously skinny cut!

I decide to take the blue to try them on, and lo, my feet will not even make it to the end of the pant leg. The calves of the pants only have a 9 inch opening?!?!?!? Sadness. Those kelly greens are not to be.

W. :)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Where I work....




I work in a Newborn Nursery at the major hospital in my area. I love working with babies. In my nursery, I get any babies that may be having issues, either due to their mother's health, or just having difficulty transitioning to life outside the womb.

Usually, our babies have very little serious problems. That's what the NICU is for. These particular babies had newborn jaundice, which is common. Lights for a day or two, no big deal. However, every once in a while the situation can get serious.

There is nothing scarier than when a baby goes bad on you. When a baby may seem perfectly healthy and then decide it doesn't want to breathe anymore. It is time like those when you are so grateful for your training. When your natural instinct to panic, panic, panic is overridden by the training, and you do what needs to be done to save that life.

As a nurse, you rely so much on your gut feelings. You know that something is wrong, and you have to be the advocate for your patient to make sure they are getting the care they need. Working in university setting with inexperienced physicians on duty, you have to advocate even harder, because those doctors are learning from you. As an experienced nurse, you have witnessed and experienced so much more than an intern or resident has. You are their leaders. While you can't tell them what to do, you can definitely suggest things that will guide them in the right direction of treatment.

This weekend was eventful, to say the least. But I am grateful that I was there to care for that patient, save them, and make sure they got the care that they needed.

W. :)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

And another thing.....

I am thoroughly convinced my camera must have a "fat" setting or something.

I was just scrolling through the last two posts, and I know that we are not that wide. Time for a new camera. :P

I really want a Coolpix. I have a crummy Kodak camera that takes not only fat pictures, but also tons of blurry pictures. So, I get a wonderful 50/50 mix of fat, blurry, or a combo of the two. :/

Grrr.

W. :)

Randomness....





Well, it finally really snowed. I had to drive home on the bad roads, and felt my car basically slide from the parking lot entrance to the front of my apartment. Weeeee!!





This is a diner in a tiny town near here. I love the name and the hours of operation. This particular evening, they were open for dinner.






This is me and my husbeast. See how nice he was for the picture. :P That's because I am his second wife in status. This is his first wife:



This is us 1992. Before we were married. Actually, he proposed the day after this photo was taken.



W. :)

Variations on a theme.....




Yeah.... she is totally not a supermodel.
I was goofing off for my husbeast. Trying to come up with something other than 3/4 profile with hand on hip. Didn't work. :P





















Yeah, that's more like it. Stick with what works.
Old Navy had an awesome sale this past week. This sailor sweater was among my purchases. I love me some Breton stripes.


Sweater: Old Navy Men's
Jeans: Tommy Hilfiger (Macy's)
Scarf: Coldwater Creek (Clothes Mentor)
Shoes: Airwalk

I love that scarf. It is stripes on one side and dots on the other. After the picture was taken I ran in and got my peacoat, because it was COLD!!









Oh, look. More red! More Stripes! More Tommy Hilfiger jeans! Oh, and look, a dog! The camera was on auto timer, and the dog still won't look at it. Ugh!


Shirt: Converse One-Star (Target)
Stripe shirt: Denim and Co (Clothes Mentor)
Jeans: (You know who. The company was nice enough to write me and tell me they have just totally discontinued the plus-size line. {sux})
Shoes: Airwalk












I was feeling very Red & Blue this week. Can you tell?

Sweater: Tommy Hilfiger
Blue Shirt: Walmart
Jeans: (sob, sob, sob....)
Shoes: Superman Chucks









Trying to explain to my family (Ok really only my husbeast) why I am doing this is nearly impossible. They just don't get it. But, at least my son looks forward to being my photog. :)

W. :)

Monday, January 9, 2012

A look into the past.....




Yeah, that's me. Circa 1990 with my cousin. He was dressed up as Dick Tracy for a school costume thing.

I can totally dig the whole androgyny thing. Especially at this time in my life, I was pretty much wearing men's clothing more than women's. As a matter of fact, in this photo there are two outfits that belong to me. Everything my cousin is wearing aside from the hat, socks and underpants is mine.

I liked having my hair short like that, too. Only problem it was a b!tch to keep up. Needed constant trims.

Look at that skin. Why the heck didn't I moisturize and sunscreen the heck out of it? Hindsight, hindsight, hindsight!

W. :)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

When outfits go wrong....

So this was my inspiration for the Sunday outfit from last week:



See, the proportions of my outfit were all wrong. The skirt was too long, and the cardigan was an unecesary added layer.

Gotta keep trying to get this right. Currently, I am planning out my wardrobe for the Miami trip. Watching the weather, and hoping it stays nice and warm. I may even get a little sun. :)

W. :)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Lesson learned....

So, I got called off yesterday. YAY!!!! That means I get a whole week off!! Woot woot!

However, here is the bad part. The boy-child wanted to do a mall crawl yesterday evening. I agreed, and went out in what I had been wearing pretty much all day. Sweats, oversize LS tee, hoodie. I really didn't feel like getting all dressed for a 1 hour visit to the mall. Of course, it would be the one time I actually run into someone from work out in public. Awesome. :(

Sucks.

I am so looking forward to sunshine and warmth. Only two more weeks, and I am on my way to Miami for a week to visit my grandmother for her birthday. Also on the itinerary: visit mother, visit in-laws, visit best friend, go shopping at my favorite mall and visit all my favorite stores (anthro, filene's, dsw, bloomies, macy's). Yay!!!

Then, when I get back I have to start the process to return to school. I am, and am not, looking forward to going back to school. I am because I want to further my education, add to my knowledge base and become a better nurse. I am not because I know that none of my other responsibilities are going to decrease in the slightest. I know, boo hoo, people do it all the time. However, during nursing school, I became so stressed I developed an irregular heartbeat, and ended up in the ED. Plus, the stress almost killed my marriage. So, here's hoping that now, 5 years later with a 15 year old child, and both the husbeast and I working 3 days per week, the stress will be nominal compared to getting the RN. I mean, even if I can't complete the BSN, I am still a nurse.

I recently borrowed this book from one of my favorite style bloggers:



It is a quick and awesome read. It was nice to find a style book that didn't just say, "You must have a trench coat, black pants, white shirt, etc." While those classic pieces are there, there are other "add-on" ideas that expand that core wardrobe into so much more. I enjoyed it very much.

My 30 for 30 is pretty much caput, as I honestly don't go out every single day. I work in a uniform, which means at least three nights a week, I am wearing scrubs. Yawn. The first day after working, all I want to do is stay home and catch up on rest. So, that leaves me with 3 days of actual time off where I might go do something. Or, I might not. I am getting bored with my current clothes, and I want to mix it up. I don't want to have a month of photos that show me 12 days of uniforms, at least 4 days of me in my jammies, and then 14 days of jeans and some variation of sweaters with long sleeve t-shirts. Snoozeville.

I may try this experiment again in the spring or summer. And I will continue to post outfits if I feel they are worthy, good or bad, of posting. I have seen how this blog had helped me see how others see me, and I have made changes (last night not included). I just need to work on this whole winter thing.

2 weeks till warmth!!!!!
W. :)

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!!!!

We did not do anything special for New Year's Eve. Just watched the ball drop and ponder Lady Gaga's outfit.

On New Year's Day I went to church, and this is what I wore:



Overall, I think perhaps the outfit was better in my mind than in real life. The skirt with the boots and cardi make me look stumpy, in my opinion. I either needed to nix the cardi or close it. The length of the skirt needs a heel or something slimmer under it.

Anyway here are the deets:
Cardi: Merona for Target
T-neck: INC for Macy's
Skirt: Jones New York from Marshalls
Boots & Tights: Lane Bryant









On Monday I went to lunch with the husbeast. Before we left it started snowing.




My dog refuses to look at anyone pointing anything at her. She's weird like that. And, I forgot my glasses, so forgive my eye luggage. I was up until 4:00 am.

Outfit:
T-neck: INC for Macy's
Jacket: Lane Bryant
Brown Cords: Talbots
Shoes: Bjorndal
Hat: Handmade by me :)

It was so windy and cold, immediately after this picture was taken I ran inside to put on my down coat.






Today is sweats again, because I went to the gym. It is 20-something degrees out, and I am planning on just hiding until it is warm, or I have to go to work tonight, whichever comes first.


W:)