Happy place.

Just let me know when it's time to go to work tomorrow. I'm set til then. Kthanks.

Five for Friday, vol 68

1. You get super excited to read my weekly photos posts, and now you like to submit some of yours.

2.  You make me a week's worth of espresso when you're going to be traveling because you don't like the idea of me drinking the free coffee at work.

3.  When I don't get up early in the mornings, you make a wall of pillows around me, which is amazing.

4.  Watching you hold, play with, or smile over pictures of our friends' new babies absolutely makes me melt.

5.  Whenever we have FaceTime conversations, you spend most of the time making funny faces at yourself.

I love you.

FaceTime fail.

Penny does it wrong.

Tuesday thoughts.

It's my busy season at work and blogging has taken a back seat lately.  It's hard to leave it all on the field and then also come up with puns to go with pictures of my dogs.  I've set the bar too high. 

Let's bullet point instead, shall we?

• The scene of Marley & Me when the Puppy Chow gets spilled and the dog lolls all around in it stuffing himself makes me laugh every time.
• I twenty-minute-ruled through half a C210k workout tonight and it felt like a marathon.  Tank is empty.
• New season of New Girl.  SO MUCH WIN.
• "I can make you any kind of balloon animal you want, as long as it's a worm or a snake."
• Birthday party might have to be rebranded to encompass the them "Danger."
• I like to read a full day's worth of tweets and then awkwardly respond to post from 4+ hours ago.  I am a zombie tweeter.  I don't let them die.
• I donated like $10 to Obama's campaign right after the DNC and now he won't stop emailing me.  Stage Five Clinger.  No, I don't want to go to dinner, jeez.  Get the hint before I report you as spam, Bamers.
• I am listening to one of the silliest series of audiobooks ever, but I can't quit.  I cut back on cheese in my diet and have resorted to listening to it instead.
• I think I should wear more red.  It could be my new pink.  
• I tried Fage yogurt.  I'm still on Team Chobani.
• I have been in a funk lately, but reading through Laura's WLJ posts this week have really helped me.  Thank God for internet strangers sometimes, you know?
• Late night workouts are not working.  Ask me tomorrow if I got up early instead.  Seriously.

How was your day?

Instagram Life, Sept 15-21

football season

kenny's office view

in bloom

boots!

quiet time

tj's haul

penny + hazel

happy hazel

penny got jealous and put herself in timeout

who gets the ball?

kickball begins!

week 2

my new favorite sandwich

monday night football, penny style

morning snugs

long overdue haircut

sweet divine cupcakes (not helping my issues)

sees a pillow.  takes over.

officially tights season

On the Weigh: Bust

No WI this week.

I am struggling, no lie.  It's been hard for me to get into working out lately.  I want all the carbs and all the sodium.  We had pasta three nights this week.  I know I gained and I just don't want to see it.  This seems consistent with how I've felt the last couple weeks.  September has kind of been a bust so far. 

So how to turn it around?  I have workouts scheduled for the next week.  Today I will be meal planning - like FOR REAL meal planning, so I don't just fly by the seat of my spaghetti all week.  Before I go to bed tonight, I will run at least 3 miles.  I will drink my normal 100 oz of water.

I really have no excuse not to do these things.  God, I am tired of making excuses.  I just hate feeling so off and blase about the whole thing.

What do you do to shake off a slump?

Five for Friday, vol 67

1. Your retelling of the time when Tucker and Penny banded against you on a walk, leaving you to trip, fall, and barrel roll in front of a mini van full of kids is one of the funniest things I've heard in weeks.

2. How's that egregious finger tip injury doing, by the way?

3. You collapsed into a giggle fit over a pony named Spiderman.

4. You always ask for five more minutes before Penny goes into her crate for the night.

5. You are full of practical advice and unyielding support. I might be coming apart at the seams, but you would be completely grounded. You keep me together. You're my rock.

I love you.

My Dog: The Paradox

From The Oatmeal...




May they live 1000 years!

A mantra for Monday

From the Transform Your Life iPhone app.

Happy Monday! It's a beautiful day!

Instagram Life, September 8-14

On the Weigh: 666

Bwahahahaha!

WI: -.6
Total: -6
Avg: -1/week

An odd coincidence, no?  Thanks to a .6 lost, it makes a six-pound-in-six-weeks total.  Should I be worried? 

Monday, on a whim, I decided to knock the dust off the old couch to 10k app. It wasn't pretty, but it was nice to see I haven't completely lost all my hard-earned stamina.  The weather is perfect for hitting the trails too.  I love this time of year!


I've signed up for the St Louis GO! 5k race, with an option to bump it up to the half marathon if I decide to go completely batshit crazy between now and then.  We'll see how this training goes and I'll decide later.  I'm excited to run for my company's corporate team, which means I will have lots of peer pressure during the week to keep me going between now and April. 

Plus, I love that the company is super supportive of healthy initiatives like this.  Does your company do anything like that?

Remember that must-have list?

The one from yesterday?

Scrap it all. Just send me these.



And follow them with the rest of the JCrew style book. Kthanks.

Five for Friday, vol 65

1. I woke up Sunday to find you making chocolate chip banana bread. And it was pretty good.

2. I like our rewards for working out.

3. You go along with it when I am on veggie kicks, but you also appreciate my all-carb dinners.

4. There are few things you appreciate more than clean sheets and towels at the end of a long day.

5. It's cute how much you like Ancient Aliens. (ALIENS?!?!)

I love you.

For every wardrobe ...

I recently came across one of the many fabulous lists created by Real Simple and I felt compelled to share. It's about a topic near and dear to my heart: must-have women's clothing. RS broke down the basics - every girl should invest in these ten items. And I have to say, unlike other slideshow articles on the Internet, I actually agreed with every point, so I had to share.

1.  Black Pants ...

via the Limited, aka Chez Black Pant.

 ... even though I rarely wear them, sometimes you just need a pair of pants.  They are one of the most versatile items you'll find in your closet. And I would argue the same goes for a black pencil skirt, which of course is my personal preference.

2.  French Cuff Dress Shirt ...

via Banana Republic

 ... a tailored button-down is almost as versatile as your black pants.  Hell, even wear them together.  Or with your pencil skirt.  Or with jeans.  Or whatever!

3.  Black Pumps ...

... I wore these to work today.

via Target

 I wish I had these instead.

Pour la Victoire, via Zappos

... Glorious. I would wear them every day and possibly sleep with them under my pillow too.

4.  Day Dress ...

... On our recent trip to Nashville, my friend Sarah and I spent a good amount of time drooling over the perfect lady dress we stumbled upon while her hubs was shopping for ties.  We both had visions of hosting power luncheons and running meetings wearing a dress like that.

via Boden

That's the beauty of a gorgeous, tailored dress.  It's feminine, easily accessorized, and perfect whether you want to be a university first lady or if your sights are set on corporate management.  Or going to a cocktail hour or a charity event or teaching a class or sitting in a cube, whatever! A dress like that can go anywhere with you - that's the mark of a perfect day dress.  At least in my office, black pants (see above) have taken over most wardrobes, but I think a dress like this can actually be just as, if not more, empowering and polished.  Long live dresses!

5. Black suit ...

 Here's mine!

separates via The Limited, aka Chez Black Suit

 ... a black suit is pretty much a no-brainer, right?  You can wear the pieces on their own or together.  They can be dressed up or dressed down.  I don't work in an office that requires a suit on a regular basis anymore, thankfully, but I like knowing I have one in my closet.  You never know when you'll get an interview for that big opportunity, or to lead that big meeting, or any other event that makes you want to look and feel like a grown up.  A suit will always make you feel put-together (even in a messy bedroom).

6.  Evening Dress ...
 ... Le sighe.  I wish I had more reasons to wear fancy, lovely, pretty dresses.  They are my absolute favorite.

via Nordstrom

via JCrew

via WHBM

Someone invite me to a wedding, STAT.

 7.  Dressy Jacket ...

Jackets are back in this season. *cue chorus of angels*

via JCrew

... I have loved this look since I was a major bar-hopper in and after college.  There is something so classic and modern and put together like a girl in a nice pair of jeans and a jacket.  It can be sexy, it can be sophisticated, it can be off-beat, or it can be completely ladylike.  I recently bought a bright red jacket and I can't wait for it to be cool enough to break it out.  I am still irritated that I got rid of the pink blazer that used to be part of my weekend uniform.  A sleek Chanel-esque jacket is at the top of my must-get-soon list.  I will gladly wear jeans if it means I can put a blazer on with it.

8.  Evening Clutch ...

I have a thing for clutches lately.  I want all of them.

via Tory Burch

Goodness, I just love Tory Burch bags.

via Kirna Zabete for Target

... And Target comes through if you're on more of a budget.

9.  Wrap...

... And you can't stop at just one.

via Wendy's LookBook

10.  Metallic strappy sandals...

...I'll be honest, I didn't agree with this one at first. But then, as it seems to so often happen in our lives, we got invited to a wedding.  None of my shoes made sense with the dress I wanted to wear, and I was kicking myself for discarding all those pairs of "just buy some strappy silver shoes" from my bridesmaid days.

via shoes.com

 I never did find a pair of silver shoes I liked for that wedding.  I wish I had seen these.  

But I don't think the list ends there.  This list is a great start to any wardrobe, but I think there are a couple more nice-to-haves, at least in my world.

• Cardigans in every color ... sad to say, I wear one almost every day.  The more the merrier.
• Pearls ... I got my first string of pearls when I graduated from high school and they spoke to my little yuppy heart.  Like the little black dress of jewelry, pearls are all-occasion.  Every body loves the girls in pearls, as those Kappas used to say.
• Ballet flats ... I love me some heels, but sometimes flats are so much more practical and comfortable.  Black patent ballet flats get a lot of mileage in my life.  One of these days I'll even get a pair that cost more than $20.
• Opaque tights ... for those of us who refuse to wear pants 90% of the time, tights are an absolute must-have as the weather turns cooler. I am one of the minority who find them to be more comfortable than even bare legs. I have the best luck with Target's Merona brand.  They are the perfect opaque and hardly ever run.
• Boots ... it just wouldn't be fall without them.  I struggle to find tall boots that fit my calves, so I treasure the few pairs I have.  Black high-heeled boots are completely appropriate in my office (I know not in all workplaces) and I really love the flat boot styles that have been out in recent seasons too.  I like boots enough to break a personal rule and buy a pair of skinny jeans.  I'm still trying to decide if I can pull that off or not.  Jury's still out, but the boots are in!
• Statement necklaces ... since I wear a headset most of the day, I have really gotten away from all those chandelier earrings I used to love so much.  Instead I tend to wear long strand or brightly colored necklaces.  I mean, who doesn't love the so-hot-right-now JCrew bubble necklace?  I know I love mine, even though it's like an outfit in and of itself.
• Red lips ... I am on the hunt for the perfect red.  Thanks to twitter, I have some recommendations to track down (Nars and Mac are major favorites).  I can't wait to make a red lip a regular happening in my life.

And also these. I must have these.

via Seychelles (my favorite!)

Now it's your turn!  What are your wardrobe must-haves? Would you add or remove anything from Real Simple's list?