we interrupt the adventure...

...to show you the surprise ball I made for the nephew a-go-go! I have a large jar (okay fine, I have many large jars) full of nifty that I have been holding onto specifically to make surprise balls. It's still packed up but what with the nephew's birthday here and all of the surprise ball fun on the internet I thought this would be perfect for the oddball assortment of martian stuff we had for him.

 

 

Back in 2010 I did a diy for a surprise ball/egg for Easter...you can see the diy here.

the great capsule wardrobe adventure: days 10 and 11

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this winter has been funky! Our temps were the highest in the nation! Here, in little old SLO where last year at this time I was cold, cold, cold! Or chilly at least. Long sleeved weather at least. I think.

sunny day delight; items 8 and 6

It was a birthday day and it was warm. I pulled out the smock and paired it up with the black t-shirt as the other tops were in the laundry and we're now officially in a drought so I need to be extra mindful of our water usage (we're already silly mindful but you can always improve on mindfulness, methinks). I wore my grey leggings which I also wore with the linen skirt on day six.

The skirt of the smock kept sticking to my leggings....ah static...so I popped on my old lady petti-pants and went for it. They remind me of my old cotton split slip I wore with all my dress back in high school now more than two decades ago. Eeps!

A wee bit on the boring side; items 1 and 11

On Sunday I had a work meeting and knew it would be hot so I went for the comfy shirt that was finally washed. I was feeling blah and all dirty-haired so paired this ensemble with my happy orange flats. Meh.

Ho-hum...I'm getting tired of the too-warm January...and my hair. My hair is not playing nice. I've been trying to replicate the hair fabulousness from day 7 but so far it ain't happened. Tomorrow will prolly be a smock day...maybe I will pair it with the skirt too!

the great capsule wardrobe adventure: days 8 and 9

loving these mary janes but sheesh they are clompy sounding

Okay, the weather here has been freaky hot. Hotter than even our usual summer temps. I am now wishing I added another short sleeve top instead of all these long sleeves but I still have the smock to wear which will be worn tomorrow for sure! Sunday I have a staff meeting so will be wearing either the jeans or the trousers as I'll be camping out on the floor surrounded by children's books.

for a hot winter's day; items 1 and 11

So yeah, yesterday was 88 degrees. I had a dentist's appointment in the morning and then it was errands, errands, errands. It got hot. I got sweaty. It was not pretty. My hair was all clumpified and so right after I took this photo I jumped in the shower and pj'd it the rest of the day. Awwww.

teacher day in the summery winter; items 10 and 12

Thank goodness for thrifted linen trousers. It was another hot day, I think even hotter than yesterday. Spent the morning and early afternoon as acting teacher's aide for our Friday Enrichment class. It was busy and full and fun and I am really happy I have found this place.

My hair was too clean to cooperate. I'm never fond of my hair after a shampoo. Perhaps if I knew how to girlify it with product and stuff it would be more cooperative but I don't and so it's not. Though I do think it played well for this photos. It was weird though. All flat at the crown and flippy only on the left side. Oh well, its just hair, right?

 

I brought one of the kitchen rugs from the old apartment to the classroom for the kiddos to dump sand on when they come in from our tiny play yard. It adds a pop of color to the classroom and I like it. I also quite like the look of these flats I picked up at Target back in 2008 or 2009. My sad feet and back however do not like them as they offer not one iota of support. After being really good about wearing good shoes I now know that it isn't worth the pretty when yer in pain for the rest of the day. These shoes are now nestled in the trash along with my favorite, favorite glitter shoes. The holes in the toes keep them from being donatable. Sigh. I did love them though. Speaking of shoes I just got two pairs dumped in the porch from the UPS driver...only one will work. The other while super nifty in looks ultimately will be a wash so I better return them now and keep looking for the right one. Ooof! 

Tomorrow is birthday day for the nephew-a-go-go and so I can dazzle the family with my funky smock. I hope the temps cool but it doesn't look like they will. Ya gotta love global warming or you don't and have to really rethink how you live even though we can't really reverse it we can do small things to make our footprint smaller. Every little bit helps.

a picture of pretty and a heat wave

lookie! new pretty tape! *

It was 88 degrees today. Hot. It's also supposed to be winter. It was 88 degrees and what do I do? I bake a pie. Granted I baked said pie around 6:30 this evening when the temps were around 60. It has been noted that today in SLO our crazy summer temps are record breaking. We're hot and our fruit trees are sporting blooms and are not going dormant. The freesias are blooming a bit ahead of schedule and yesterday I ate a handful of homegrown strawberries that were delicious. We are also seriously lacking water. There is barely any snow in the mountains and our lakes are drying up like crazy. Ain't that grand? I won;t even go into how parts of our town are selling off agricultural land to build homes. Lots of homes. More homes than we have water for. Crappy homes that aren;t for struggling adults like me and the mister. Nope, homes for college students whose parents purchase the overpriced uglies then turn around and sell them for even more moolah.

It's enough to make me want to move. I troll zillow and trulia looking at homes in New Mexico (I'm not allergic there) or Oregon (a whole lot of people I enjoy live there) and wondering what we could do for income. I also hate that  because I love this area (I say area and not town because all of the people who own properties, all three of them, are raising leases and our downtown has all of these small businesses closing left and right)  and my job and our family.

Oy! Enough with the (poodles) whine already!

I also had a date with the dentist this morning and lucky me, I have a chipped twenty-year-old filling and a cracked twenty-year-old filling...they need to be replaced...and they will be needing crowns. I don't have dental insurance and now my idea of getting that lens finally for my birthday has gone out the window. I need to figure out how to make um...2500 by then....yikes! Anyone need a vintage dress or dilly pack or two or three or hundred? I can do custom garlands and/or packs...Wheeee!

The great capsule wardrobe adventure continues even through the heat! Man, I wish I picked out a few more short sleeves. Photos tomorrow.

*the tape has nothing to do with anything other than it being pretty and you can't really have a ranty blog post without a pretty picture. Right?

the great capsule wardrobe adventure: day 7

I'm in the thick of it; items 5 and 9 plus stripey leggings that are hiding

Week one has been conquered! Today the temps were in the mid 80s and it was hot! Even though I knew it would be chilly in the morning (it was 44 when I left for work), I planned for warmer weather. I got a bit heat sick as my delicate constitution often dictates (though it is possible it was the snow cone I doctored up with coffee and sweet cream but we'll blame the heat, okay?) but still felt cool and refreshed in my linen skirt and stripey leggings.

The boots are by Qupid and came from Zulilly. The little skull beads fell off within the first half hour of wearing them and all I did was sit. I do not recommend them. They are comfortable enough for a days work but again not good for any sort of zombie apocalypse.

And still the hair is rocking it! Oh and the lipcolor is Revlon's Just Bitten Lip Stain in Adore. Tomorrow is errand and laundry day so nothing fancy. It will still be hot so I think I'll be wearing either the checked dress  or jeans. Stay tuned!

the great capsule wardrobe adveture: days 5 and 6

nice bags...

So, the real days 5 and 6 were spent in pajamas in bed sleeping and drooling away the ick. The official day 5 took place on January 13 and as you can see up there, even with all the napping I have not been getting any real rest...cough, cough. I recently did however get my hair cut and colored and that makes me a smidge happy even though I was/am sick. Sick or not I had kiddos to teach and it was off to work I go (have I told you how much I love my job?).

my hair was acting up; items 8 and 11

This Worthington t-short from Penneys is really pretty cool. It is some sort of t-shirty material with a sheer fabric over the front that also makes u the puffy sleeves. Comfy and quirky. I tell ya, Penneys is a bit secret weapony for me. Everything I have worn from there (save for my skivvies) receives compliments. I do get my skivvies there but am not in the habit of showing just anyone how cool they are. Ahem. On my feet are my Keens sans socks (which always makes me think of Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? which makes for unpretty bare feet but is a sacrifice I must make in the name of style.

I know I said I hated belts but belts and sashes are not the same thing. I seem to really like this scarf. It's pretty nifty and has a cool print but I am blanking on it and feeling far too lazy to get up and look at it so I can tell you what the print is. Besides, I think I left it in the car...

I don't mean to brag but I think I nailed it; items 10 and 5

Okay, this makes me especially happy. It photographed as good as I thought it looked in my head. Also? My hair was super cooperative and that is so rare so a photo documenting it where I am not triple chinning it and my eyes are open makes for extra happy giggles. Yes. I giggled. The top was a Penneys purchase back when I was attempting another round of 31 Days of red, white, and blue. It was a super bright red and I was feeling so over the bright red I dumped it into a bucket of black RIT dye and it turned bergundy or wine or maroon or whatever you want to call this and I love, love, love it! Sure the sleeve length is probably a fashion don't for my not-so-fit arms but you know what? I don't care. When you love what you are wearing and you feel good in it, you ted to beam and spill over with joy and that my friends make you absolutely stunning. So yeah, I'm gonna say I felt stunning and I laughed a lot and I smiled my goofy, wonky smile and I did not worry or care how I looked. One big annoying thing though? Talbot's clothing fits large. The skirt is a large but I had to roll up the waistband three times to keep it from slip-slip-slipping over my gifted hips. It dyed super nicely and I think this shortened length is fantastic. I need to alter it so that I can wear it a little less clumsily. Even with all the tugging I was still pleased...though I did at one moment imagine I must have looked like a female equivalent to a nutty professor and that thought made me guffaw out loud. I hope no one saw that. I was at work when that happened.

These shoes? Oh these shoes were such a hassle but I think they worked out. They are Softwalk and the first pair I bought were the perfect length but the width at the heel was much more narrow than my actual heel. Combined with the smooshy soft sole and my um...sturdiness my body sank down, down, down into the heel so much so that the hard wood frame of the shoe bit into my foot and was quite painful. There was no way I was gong to be able to walk in them so I sadly returned them. Then the sister-a-go-go bought a pair and made me want them all over again so I bought them in a larger size (and on super sale) and am happy to report that the width works even if the right shoe is a bit too long for my foot. They have an adjustable heel strap that works for my larger left foot but the right foot needed one of those heel cushion thingies. They are comfortable enough to wear all day at work but I do not think I should pick them in case of a zombie apocalypse. They are also quite noisy...clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Oh fashion.