Come Sail Away

Milly Sailboat Cardigan
Ann Taylor Loft Blouse
J Crew Denim Pencil Skirt
Seychelles Flats

Black and Red and Pink All Over

J Crew Jackie Cardigan
J Crew Factory Dress
J Crew Bubble Necklace
Nickels Peep Toe Pumps

T-minus-3-days before our first debate tournament of the season.  Our team photographer won't be there but I'm hopeful we'll still get some good shots.

Picnic Time!

Today was CJ's back to school picnic.

"SAY CAKE!"

She only eats frosting if it matches her outfit.  Just kidding, she eats frosting of any variety.

Unimpressed.

Banana Republic Blouse
J Crew Minnie Pants
Tory Burch Reva Flats
Betsey Johnson Sunglasses

One Fifty!

As in 150 posts.  Seems like a lot.

J Crew Dress
J Crew Twisted Hammock Necklace
Aerosoles Shoes

Glamorous Life

Tonight at 1815 (6:15 pm for all you landlubbers), I was in my office, alone, doing debate work, singing along to a Journey's Greatest Hits CD, sipping a 4-hour-old cup of lukewarm coffee.  And I was loving life.  And I was loving it even more as my debaters started to trickle in for our meeting, even though it meant I'd be at work until 2100.  And even though they again asked me to come in on Saturday morning...

Anthropologie Dress (You can't really tell but the dress is black with a dark blue checked pattern.)
Aerosoles Shoes
Necklace and Earrings by Lana Jewelry

Spirit Day!

Not really, just felt like some school colors.  It was very motivating on a day which involved, in large part, chasing my own tail bureaucratically.  I like being able to remind myself that I really have the best job ever.  So I guess I gave myself some school spirit!  GO TEAM!

J Crew Jackie Cardigan

Merona Ruffle Tank

J Crew Minnie Pants

Tory Burch Reva Flats

J Crew Bubble Necklace

DIY "Bubble" earrings

Girls Day, Take 2

Escorted a friend, her 12 year old daughter, and 2 other 12 year olds to the mall.  You know how, in middle school, you'd hear whispering and giggling and be like "OMG I hope that's not about me"?  Yeah, that's how the whole drive there and back went down.

Deletta Ascending Roses Tee
Citizens of Humanity Ingrid Low Rise Flare Jeans
Aerosoles Flats

ETA: My friend's husband told me this morning that as they were walking back into the house, he heard his daughter tell his wife, "Danielle is so cool."  ::high fives self::  Now I just need to time travel back to the early 90s and have her spread the word through my middle school.

Girls Day/Ladies Night

Yesterday morning, CJ and I met up with one of my coworkers and painted pottery at Color Me Mine.

Duh moment:
Tom: That sweatshirt is cute.
Me: Yeah, I like that it's got a nautical feel without needing, like, anchors on it.
Tom: Um...it has an anchor on it.

TOO BAD.  Anchors are my thing.  Maybe anchors are the east coast version of "put a bird on it"?

J Crew Port of Call Sweatshirt
Merona Tank Top
Citizens of Humanity Naomi Jeans
Converse Sneakers
DIY Stud earrings (I made these to look like the J Crew Bubble Earrings--they are a bit smaller but same color, same style, and coordinate with the necklaces.  Also, not $45.)

Then, last night, I went out to dinner with some lady friends.  While out, after driving the 30 miles to get from our house to the restaurant, we discovered that my tires had not been properly reattached after having my brakes installed.  After a moment of total freaking out, we called one of my friends' nephews (and my former student) and he brought a tire iron and did it for us.  (OK, seriously?  I paid $925 for new brakes and THEY COULDN'T PUT THE TIRES BACK ON RIGHT?)

Anthropologie Deletta Tee
J Crew Minnie Pants
Jack Rogers Sandals
Target Earrings

GLEEful

I wore one of my favorite Emma Pillsbury dresses to celebrate the return of Glee...though I didn't actually get to watch it yet because I hung out too long talking to my debaters.  It's TiVoed but I'm not sure I can make it through the whole show without falling asleep.  (Pathetic old lady, party of 1!)

Dress: Anthropologie Take Action

Cardigan: J Crew Cashmere

Shoes: Aerosoles

Anyway, hilarious conversation of the night:

Me: I keep thinking of writing a novel about Tudor England.  You know, in my nonexistent free time.

Debater 1: Oooooh, a SEXY novel?

Debater 2: (elbowing me in ribs) "Fifty Shades of Earl Grey", am I right?

Me: ::speechless from embarrassment::  

Debater 1: Wait...I just learned about this in our sexual harassment powerpoint, I don't think we're supposed to be having this conversation.

LESSON LEARNED.  

"This is it, boys..."

"this is war!  What are we waiting for?"  (fun., Some Nights.  This song gets me so pumped.)

Jacket: J Crew Factory

Skirt: J Crew Factory

Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes: Seychelles

Great brief to the Academic Dean and the Commandant today!  

Forever Fruity

J Crew Jackie Cardigan 

J Crew Perfect Tee

Juicy Couture Fruity Skirt

Naturalizer shoes

Francesca's Closet Necklace

This is one of my favorite transition-to-fall outfits.  Too warm outside?  Take off the cardi, it's almost as cute without it.  Too cold for bare legs?  Add black tights. 

At the Starbucks inside Target today (don't hate, had to stop for a kid's birthday present!) they had signs up for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Caramel Apple Spices, the ancient symbol for fall.  (Probably engraved on Stonehenge and definitely a part of the Samhain ritual, right?)

Rugby Season

J Crew Rugby Stripe Boatneck
J Crew Minnie Pants
Aerosoles Flats
J Crew Bubble Necklace

Wedding weekend in NOLA

So I spent the weekend in New Orleans and took almost no pictures.

Here are the few that we did take:

About a third of the college gang, the first ones at the rehearsal dinner.  Can't keep us away from an open bar.

Anthropologie Deletta First Flight Tee

J Crew Minnie Pants

Naturalizer Flats

Pre-ceremony.  (Tom was a groomsman.)  We stayed at an awesome (and probably haunted) Victorian mansion-turned-hotel.  This pic was taken downstairs at the bar area.  

Anthropologie Sugar and Cream Dress

Coach flats 

DIY Necklace (three strands of gray freshwater pearls and a teapot charm)

Earrings via Etsy

We had a LOT of fun...well as much fun as a bunch of thirtysomethings only there for 2 days can have.  The rehearsal dinner was at Deannie's Sea Food, followed by a trip out into the French Quarter.  Saturday morning we got up, went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait (I got mine frozen!), wandered around the French Quarter some more, and then had lunch at Butcher (on the recommendation of an Anthropologie sales clerk, who noted "I wouldn't go there with vegetarians...").  Went back to the haunted hotel, took a nap, woke up and wedding-ed away.  Big time fun!

We didn't take CJ with us, but we did bring her back a little bit of New Orleans...

Feeling so blue...

Not really, just wearing lots of blue.

J Crew Jackie Cardigan
J Crew Naomi Top
J Crew Number 2 Pencil Skirt in Double Serge Cotton
Aerosoles shoes
Vintage Ballerina Brooch

Side note--you know you've been on your feet too long when even your granny-Aerosoles make them hurt.  Yeowch!  Glad to be in sneaks on a plane to NOLA tomorrow...Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Hanging around...

I feel a little weird wearing denim to work (on an actual workday, I'll wear basically anything to work in my office on a Saturday).  I guess the fact that it's a dark denim skirt (as opposed to jeans) was what made me comfortable enough to do it, coupled with the fact that I wasn't teaching, just working in my office.  

J Crew Jackie Cardigan

J Crew Perfect Tee

J Crew Denim Skirt

Francesca's Closet Necklace

Kelly and Katie Slides

An Exercise in Pointlessness

This should have been the title of the meeting I went to today.  Had to walk all the way across campus for a meeting that lasted 10 minutes (less time than it took to walk one-way) and was basically a trailer for the longer meeting we're having Thursday.  No seriously.  It consisted of one power point slide with a list of everything we're talking about in the meeting on Thursday and another one with a list of instructions that apply to us.  So I've been wearing this face all day:

Talbots Cardigan
Banana Republic Blouse
J Crew Minnie Pants
Kelly and Katie shoes

No-Shop-September Challenge

Woah, August hit our budget like a hammer.  Upcoming wedding, a few trips, shopping due to work stress (me) and boredom (also me), coupled with depleted savings from Furnacegate and some minor car repairs has us currently staring down the first week of September with not-so-much in our bank account.  Less than awesome.

I am a naturally competitive person--debating, coaching, shopping, eating, you name it, I will beat you at it.  (Not drinking though--it makes me sleepy.)  So this month I am competing against myself to spend as little as possible.  This is fantastic because I really don't spend all that much on big-ticket items, but I am the "latte factor" queen.  Lunch at the O-Club for $6?  Afternoon coffee at the Coffee Mess instead of in my office (doubly absurd as I have a Keurig)?  Random stuff I don't really need (but is shiny! and I am a magpie!) at Target?  Dinner out when I stay late for my debate meeting twice a week?

In the words of Liz Lemon (my spiritual guru), "Not on my watch, beyotch.  S that D.  Shut it down."

I don't know if you realize this, but Christmas is like 3 and a half months away, and in addition to a Imperial Princess of the Blood/Fashionista child, we have a pretty large extended family and lots of friends that we like to treat nicely, in case we need a kidney later; plus, we're going to CapitalismLand Disney World in December and we'll need some cash for that.  Further, I always make a pilgrimage to the J Crew Clearance Centers (yes, there are 2 in Lynchburg) when I take the debate team to Liberty in November, and I'd like to have a little surplus to use on myself and CJ there.

So it's time to save!

My strategies include:
*Cash, not plastic--I'm going to take out $40/week for "fun", max.  When it's gone, it's gone.  If I don't spend all of it, I'll take out enough to get myself back up to $40 but no more.  I'm still going to use the debit card for grocery shopping (we have the Target one with 5% back) and for gas (a fixed cost and easier to do when you're just swiping at the pump).
*People, not "stuff"--a lot of the food expenses I incur are from needing a social interlude to break up working in my office on Tuesdays/Thursdays.  It just dawned on me that I can still walk up to the coffee bar with friends for the chat and the movement--I just don't need to BUY anything.  Similarly, we can bring lunches and eat them together in our offices or the faculty lounge, instead of walking half a mile to the O-Club.
*STOP shopping online, including browsing--I do this out of boredom.  Shopping online feels like nothing to me; I don't feel the money leaving my hands (cash or plastic), I don't get whatever it is instantly, and when it comes in the mail, half the time I'm surprised because I barely remember ordering it.  This feels like borderline addictive behavior to me so it's best to cut it off cold turkey.

I hope to save up enough money in September and October to pad our savings account a little and to have money to Christmas shop with in November and December.  The good news is that my travel schedule is about to get ridiculous, so I probably won't even notice spending less, and after eating out all weekend with my team I'll probably welcome making my own food/coffee during the week.