Local

After getting home at 3 a.m. this morning, I was up for a low-key Saturday. We kept it local. Beefy and I had lunch at Skool and shopped the OliaModa pop-up shop. Then we walked around the corner for cake and cheesecake at Rick’s Dessert Diner. Finally, we finished the day off at the club: a hot tub soak for me and treadmill time for Beefy.


Jacket, H&M (thrifted). Scarf, OliaModa. Shirt, Passport. Skirt, Mural (consignment). Leggings, We Love Colors. Boots, Vince Camuto.



Photos by me, the tripod, and a remote.

Screen Time

I didn’t go shopping on Black Friday, but I didn’t #optoutside either. Instead, I spent way too much time looking at screens: computer screens, phone screens, movie screens. But I did it in pattern mixing style.


Kimono, Carole Little (thrifted). Dress, Express. Belt, Lucky (consignment). Tights, Jockey. Boots, Sofft (consignment). Sunglasses, Earthbound Trading Co. Earrings, Francesca’s Closet. Purse, Rebecca Minkoff.


My battery died before I got to take a detail shot of the belt pattern, so I snagged one with my phone.


I didn’t manage to snap a photo of my Thanksgiving outfit. The day was a blur (and included a mid-day ballet class)! The only pictures I took all day were of the dogs playing outside before all the cooking (and dancing) started.

Fur Tango

I’m not a follower. This has made partner dancing difficult. I frustrated the men in my attempts at ballroom dancing by fighting for the lead. I gave following another try this evening at my first tango class.


Vest, Vero Moda (thrifted). Dress, Under Skies (consignment). Shirt, American Apparel. Tights, Target. Boots, Steve Madden. Bag, Nordstrom Rack.

For my class, I removed the vest and changed into character shoes. I wore shorts under my dress, but tango is much more reserved than I expected and they were unnecessary.


The class went really well. I received instruction in how to follow for the first time and we spent at least ten minutes just connecting with our partners and paying attention to their shifts in weight. Most of what I’ve learned in ballet is easily transferable to the steps and movements. The trickiest thing was keeping my knees and heels together in proper Argentine tango fashion. Following, once I knew what to do, was the least difficult part of class. In fact, I rather enjoyed letting someone else be in charge.



It probaly helped that, before class, I loosened up with a glass of wine. Room-temperature and white, since I had just left the dentist’s office with another filling. Doh.

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Conference of the Fall

Beefy competed in two contests at this weekend’s District 39 Toastmasters conference. I’m very proud to say he placed third in the humorous speech competition with his speech, Sitcom Husband. (Beefy is a funny guy!) Competition is fierce at the district level as these speakers have already won club, area, and division contests.


Dress, Ella Moss. Dress worn as a slip, Parker (consignment). Boots, Lauren Ralph Lauren. Sunglasses, Earthbound Trading Co. Earrings, self-made. Bag, Aldo.

I’m wearing my leopard Parker dress as a slip underneath the sheer, floral Ella Moss dress. I thought it might look a little weird, but the colors and patterns played nicely together.



Beefy after his big win! (I changed into cocktail attire for the evening competition.)

I Like Big Bags

Is there anything better than carrying a giant bag? I managed to fit a cutting board, 12-inch knife, and loaf of apricot-orange bread in this wool blanket bag. I wouldn’t take those contents through airport security, but I did take them to my Masters swim social.


Jacket, Mossimo. Dress, Express. Boots, Madden Girl. Sunglasses, Meow Meow. Earrings and brooch, vintage. Belt, Lucky Brand (consignment). Bag, El Paso Saddleblanket Co.


I think Jackson could smell the lingering odor of warm quick bread because he was awfully snuggly at picture time.


Too bad I couldn’t fit my egg white powder in here, too. I’m working on getting HUGE!

Group Photo

Group photos are the worst. The larger the group, the greater the chance that someone will be blinking, speaking, or picking their nose. Then there’s always the joker that ruins the photo by giving the person in front of them bunny ears. I prefer single portraits.

No bunny ears here! (And I never publish the awkward, “not ready” pics.)


Shirt, Banana Republic. Skirt, Carole Little (thrifted). Shoes, Isaac Mizrahi. Sunglasses, Coco Sunglasses. Belt, H&M. Bag, Aldo.


I did take a photo of our Toastmasters group tonight, in honor of two special speeches given by James Jeffley, 2014 and 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking Finalist.

And yes, at least four of the takes were ruined by bunny ears. You'll never guess who the culprits were.

Cute Overload

My 365 photos for the last three days are all Jackson. What can I say? He’s cute and he’s moderately cooperative.


Dress, Gap. Belt, Sugadaminka. Heels, Seychelles. Sunglasses, Target. Earrings, Stardust Remembered. Bag, SheBoBo.


Saturday and Sunday 365 pics:

Burst Seam

One of the dangers of wearing your garments for years (after finding them secondhand) is that they’ll need repairs. I’ve resewn a few seams on this apparently handmade dress that I scored at a swap almost five years ago. Getting dressed, this morning, I discovered new holes, along the right seam of the bodice, but didn’t have time to fix them. I just tried not to raise my right arm all day.


Dress, Swap. Tunic (worn as a slip), Rachel Rachel Roy (consignment). Earrings, flea market. Belt, gift. Bag, Nordstrom Rack. Shoes, Seychelles.