and I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I think the two weeks before midterms might be the most exhausting ones of the semester, but maybe that's just because it isn't time for finals yet.  Right now I've got a ten page paper to write, and I really need to be putting a lot more effort into my math and micro-econ courses.  Unfortunately, when you have no interest in a course, it's pretty difficult to talk yourself into working on it.  Oh well - I'll get through it.

Today's post is pretty much going to be a long-overdue dump of outfit pictures.  I'm sure you're thrilled (probably not).  This is going pretty far back through this summer, so brace yourselves...

Shirt - DEB | Skirt - F21 | Shoes - Payless | Scarfbelt - Meadows Museum | Necklace - Jeweliq

Pretty much the only thing I remember about this outfit is that I went to the Feast of the Assumption (a street fair in Little Italy) in this after work, and that I was pretty exhausted from work that day.

Blazer - A'gaci | Dress/skirt - TJ Maxx? | Shoes/bracelet - thrifted | Belt - ? | Ring - Jewelmint | Earrings - Grandma

I was able to speak during freshmen orientation about one of my clubs, which was really exciting! And it gave me an opportunity to be really fancy, which was wonderful.

Dress - The Limited | Shoes - some store in Rockville, AR

Job interviews.  Apparently, I was so terrified of the interview for the job I have now that I completely forgot jewelry was a thing.  And I showed up an hour and a half early.  On the other hand, first grown up dress!  (It was so expensive, and it was ON SALE how do adults do this stuff).

Shirt - JC Penny's | Skirt - F21 | Shoes - H&M | Ring - Jewelmint

I don't remember a story with this outfit beyond the fact that yes, I DID take a bathroom picture because I had to change for PE, and goodness knows I wasn't going to be changing again.

Shirt - JC Penny's | Shirt/necklace - F21 | Pants - LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl's | Shoes - H&M

I don't know how this outfit happened, but it me feel either like I was french or my mom.  I think the latter's a bit more accurate, somehow...

Vest - thrifted | Shirt - from Mom | Skirt/shoes - F21 | necklace - Rue21 | Ring - Jewelmint

This is the outfit that made the ladies who work upstairs of my office decide that I'm awesome.  Also, if anyone ever doubts the power of dressing professionally, let's take a moment to realize they thought I was a senior or graduate/professional student, not a sophomore, because of my clothing.

Shirt - Kohl's | Skirt - Uniqlo | Shoes - Lulu's | Arrow&infinity rings - F21 | Claddagh ring - ? | Necklace - Jeweliq

As some of you know (or you found out last week), I'm in a business fraternity.  I wore this to go out for brunch with my big and my twin (a twin is someone who you share a big with).  It was really fun.

Blazer - A'gaci | Shirt - H&M | Jeans/shoes/belt - F21 | Necklace - Rue21 | Ring - Jewelmint

This outfit was worn when I got my bid for my sorority!  It was pretty exciting, although I was not what you would call prepared for getting out of the elevator on my floor to find ten people standing around waiting for it...

Necklace - Amazon | Dress/bracelet - F21 | Shoes - Payless | Headband - ?

The main thing I know about September 10th was that I was completely exhausted the entire day.

Jacket/shoes - F21 | Necklace - Rue21 | Tights - Target | Shirt - JC Penny's | Jumper - my old uniform

Apparently this is from September 13th, but I messed up with formatting, so nebulous Friday go!  The main events on the 13th were watching A Knight's Tale at the sorority I'm pledging, and going to a fundraising event for my fraternity (we titled the event 'Suit and Tie', if you wanted to know).

Shirt/skirt/ring - F21 | Purse - Target | Necklace - Jeweliq | Shoes - Charlotte Russe

I wore this to my first work event!  We had Robyn Ochs, a writer about sexuality, in for a talk, and it was a pretty fun event.  (Especially since there was food, and any leftovers were free to be taken home by us after the event).

On another note, I was turned into a zombie on Tuesday, after surviving for a total of about seven days (which is pretty good for your first time playing...though it was expedited by how often I'm in formal clothing, admittedly).

What have you all been up to while I've been doing things?  (I mean I'm going to figure it out by stalking your blogs for a while, but that's going to take ages...)

Have a lovely next week, and I'll see you next Friday!

everything absurd

It's been a bit of a nutty time for me recently, as you mighta noticed by the approximate two-week absence.  Starting class definitely took a toll on my time (a Case grad I was talking to recently told "you're fucking insane!" when I told her I was taking a class while working) as did going back to Texas.  Seriously, visiting my parents made me less energetic than running around with friends the whole weekend would have.  Granted, hanging out with friends would have been severely lacking in feline and canine perks, soooo...

Anyways, here are some things I've worn over the past few weeks, presented without much commentary - I didn't get any good pictures in Texas, because there was nowhere to shoot from (seriously! All my old places are GONE, somehow).  I also only have one picture from Cleveland Pride, since I spent the entire parade holding a giant sign.

Shirt - F21 | Short - Wet Seal | Shoes - H&M

Shirt - Kohl's | Skirt/belt - F21 | Necklace - great-aunt's

Shirt/skirt/hairthing - F21 | Shoes - PayLess | Bracelet - made by me

Skirt (as dress) - TJ Maxx | Scarf/necklace - presents | Belt - Papaya | Shoes - Charlotte Russe | Headband - ???

Dress - F21 | Shoes - thrifted | Bracelet - Jewelmint

And finally...the promised picture from Pride! Let's take a moment to appreciate how short I am, compared to my friends...

How have you been these past few weeks?


ps: Since Google Reader's ending today, you should follow me on Bloglovin' and let me know! Odds are that if you're one of my regular readers, I already follow you. (And if you're not...if I like your blog, I'll be following).

"are you wearing that for something?"

Today's post inspired by the many people who don't know me who frequently question the fact that I dress "up" nearly every day (apparently skirts and dresses aren't casual?)  Occasionally, I even get this question from people I know fairly well.  I especially get this question from guys, who can't seem to comprehend the fact that a) I like wearing these clothes and b) there is absolutely no reason for me wearing them other than that simple fact.  It's actually really annoying to hear this question on multiple occasions from the same exact people, but I just kind of deal with it at this point.  Anyone else have this happen to them?

Anyways.  One of my highlights this past week was when I forgot my hair ties at home, I was actually able to use BOBBY PINS to make my hair stay up and off my neck.  It's actually finally long enough for that!

Anyhow, back to last week...

So Monday was just kind of an "enh" day, but I wound up deciding that my goal for the week was to wear two skirts I don't wear as much, and my boss told me she'd selected me to go on this Housing and Residence Life staff retreat, which was pretty cool.

Shirt/shoes - thrifted | Skirt - F21 | Scarf/belt - Meadows Museum (at SMU in Dallas)

Tuesday was another "enh" day, though I did drag myself to Southside for a barbecue that the RSA's were putting on for the start of summer, and got to sort of hang out with people (till they went off to scale the roof of one of the buildings... I actually never did find out how that went...)

Shirt/skirt/necklace/earrings/hair-thing - F21 | Belt - thrifted | Shoes - TJ Maxx | Bracelet - JewelMint

Wednesday and Thursday were 'grouchy, lie in bed and feel extremely bored and tired and not quite care' sort of days, basically I worked and came home and did blog things and went to bed, though I did get ice cream with a friend on Thursday (and froze...but let's not go there).  Friday, I hung out with people and watched some Battlestar Galactica (damn them for getting me interested in watching it...) Also talked a lot until like four am despite intending to leave and go to bed at around one am... (Also this picture was taken at four am, go me...  Can you tell how exhausted I am?)

Jacket/shoes - F21 | Shirt - Mom's | Skirt - Charlotte Russe

Finally, Saturday I literally just slept all day, other than getting food at about six pm (after which I went back to bed) and a brief spurt of consciousness from eleven pm till two am.  It's sad, as I'd intended to go to the Cleveland Flea Market, but I suppose it's better for my wallet that I didn't.  Next month? And then Sunday I didn't really do anything.  (Okay, full disclosure I'm writing this Sunday at like four pm, maybe I'll get in some human interaction later?)

Shirt - shit I forget... | Skirt/necklace - F21 | Shoes - thrifted

How was your week?

two hours in the rain

I would like to preface the beginning of this post with my incredibly deep apologies for the selfies you will encounter within it.  I began work with the impression I shouldn't bring anything with me to do during breaks other than my planner and a pen so that I could try to, well, plan. Unfortunately, that occupies me for like five minutes.  My savior, these past few weeks, has been my camera and a constant barrage of increasingly weird selfies.  I mentioned them in my recent I Can't Believe post, and well, they're below, for your viewing pleasure/judging of my sanity, and will be followed by clothes to make up for scarring you with my weird faces.

I like Dr. Pepper?

So, past that showcase of what I do on break... Monday, I wound up watching The Bachelorette with my suitemates.  Kind of a weird show, honestly quite a few creepy people, but it was entertaining enough, I guess.  I think I might wind up watching it with them again this Monday (aka today) if only for the social interaction, since I've noticed I get pretty starved for that during the week.

Jacket/skirt/shoes - F21 | Shirt - J.C. Penny's | Tights/purse - Target | Headband - idk

Tuesday was a dull day, though I did begin to work out that day, which is one of my summer goals, and I walked to Little Italy to buy things.  Wednesday, I was so disgusted by the cleaning I had to do (someone had "alone time" in a music room I had to clean, and well, that should NEVER happen around a piano EVER) that the only way to feel better for the rest of the day was a shower and dressing nicely.  Luckily, I'm a simple enough person that dressing nicely can actually usually make me happy.

Vest/shirt - thrifted | Skirt/bow/necklaces - F21 | Shoes - Payless

Thursday was a good day, other than cleaning bathrooms (it's pretty disgusting to do that, guys) and managing to get my arm kind of...burned by chemicals, which I managed to not notice that I'd done for the next like three days.  Apparently the only sort of pain I don't have an abnormally high tolerance for is itching... Anyways.  I read poetry and finally fixed my Great-Great-Aunt Elizabeth's old necklace.  She gave it to me shortly before she died when I was about fourteenish, and through poor handling, I managed to not only have pieces come apart from one another, but all but one of these delicate hollow beads (they're not glass but not plastic so I dunno what they are) broke on it.  I spent several hours with my jewelry pliers and determination, tightening all the loose wires and restringing the pattern as well as I could.  I had a few screw-ups, but overall I'm pretty proud of it!  Friday, post-work, I went to hang out with my friends Nick and Kelly at a bar in Coventry, because Kelly wanted to watch a baseball game. Well, that wound up cancelled (and Nick and I actually had to walk all the way to Coventry, which is not fun when you're exhausted from work) but we had fun just eating and talking, so it was great!  (Plus Kelly drove us back, which was really nice!)

Tank/skirt/jacket - F21 | Necklace - my great-great-aunt's | Shoes - Payless

Saturday, I had to take buses like everywhere.  I returned some things I'd thought I'd need for my job, bought some new things, and got back on campus just in time to meet up with Nick and Kelly to go on my first visit to the West Side Market in Ohio City, an area of Cleveland.  It was really fun, and I ate a bunch of good food (and bought some good food for later).  We also went on a Target/Whole Foods adventure, where I finished the rest of my grocery shopping.  Nick and I hung out again later and we wound up playing this game called Things until about 3:00AM at Theta Chi, because we went to pester my friend Denise who is living there over the summer.  It was a pretty fun day, definitely!  (Fun fact, this dress normally is just a low back, but I flipped the back to the front by accident and wound up liking it, though it is preeeetty lowcut when you do that).

Shirt-vest-thing/dress/shoes/hairthing/necklace (which you can barely see) - F21

Sunday, I pretty much just did laundry and worked on blogging things, other than one jaunt out to Chipotle.

Shirt - H&M | Skirt - F21 | Shoes - Payless | Bracelet - gift | Ring - someplace?

How did your past week go?

adult in training

I actually had a really good week and weekend (other than getting locked out of my suite twice but...we'll get to that). This is probably because working was the only truly responsible thing I did. I spent WAY too much time playing Skyrim. And if you've been following a while, you know this isn't unusual, but it was actually beyond ridiculous, especially on Sunday. I played almost non-stop from 11am to a little before 11pm. Yes, it was that bad. At least I did laundry at some point and had the excuse of being locked out of my suite? It was still ridiculous...but I finished one of the main questlines, which had been seriously impeding me in dealing effectively with the others, so I can't call it too bad a waste of time considering I couldn't actually do anything else for a little over half the time I was playing... Ramble aside, I swear I did actually do more than work and play Skyrim. Just...not that much. I spent a lot of time talking to one guy who lives in my building and lacks people on his floor, and I went to Theta Chi and played pool once. I even managed to pack most of my clothes and books.

Basically, other than that exodus to Theta Chi on Wednesday night, though, the first part of the week was pretty boring. Thursday saw me wearing something other than...no, it was still shorts and a tank top, like every previous day. But the tank top was cooler!

Top - H&M | Shorts - F21 | Shoes - Payless | Bracelets - DIY | Necklace - present

Thursday and Friday were more work, buuuuut Saturday was fantastic! I went to MOCA, which is absolutely beautiful, and it was tons of fun. Fun fact about my necklaces, though I'm not sure you can see them: I had on an eagle necklace, a scorpion necklace, and a phoenix one. I'm a Scorpio, via astrology, and three of the big symbols for that sign are scorpions, eagles, and phoenixes. They're supposed to be a sort of hierarchy of personalities, and it amused me the entire day.

Shirt - JC Penny's | Skirt - Charlotte Russe | Necklaces - F21, gifted

How was your weekend? Did you get to do anything fun?

it's not feeling like summer

Cleveland's spent the past three days raining and being cold. Upside - the winter clothes I was about to pack don't have to be packed, thus saving my effort. Downside - it's cold, so I can't run around like an idiot in the rain, because COLD.

The outfits today include one from the week before last. I know, yeah...

That outfit was worn on a day when Cleveland was being so nice to spite all of us who had finals. April 30th. I had an event party thing to go to for some graduating seniors, so I dressed up for it (and I was just happy to be fancy...)

Dress/hairthings/bracelets - F21 | Belt - DEB | Shoes - Payless | Necklace - gifted

A week later, after a lot of stress, I

Shirt/bracelets - F21 | Belt - Papaya | Skirt - TJ Maxx? | Necklace - thrifted

Then, sadness occurred as friends left, I might've had a meltdown, basically ALL THE SADNESS happened in the span of a few short days (I am still dealing with the sadness... Don't go to college only to realize that one of the reasons you've been unhappy all your life is that you're an extrovert who's been trying to force yourself to be an introvert... Well, DO realize it, but realize it before college so you can relearn how to function, don't be me...)

Saturday was crazy busy, and I ran all over the place doing things on errands. (And I watched My Neighbor Totoro!) It was tiring enough that I went to bed at 9PM on Sunday, still tired.

Chambray - JC Penny's | Shirt - found (it's college, don't ask questions) | Skirt/boots - F21 | Socks - Gap

Also, does anyone else ever find themselves rushing to get a post done before work? Or is today just a first-timer's thing for me? At least my work is very close...

How was your past week?

leather skirts and excitement

Well, last week was the last full week of classes, and it saw a great resurgence of energy. I even got started on my papers this weekend, finally! I'm excited for doing things with my friends (in-between studying) and getting done with finals. I managed to be decently fancy this week, so I'm pretty pleased with myself! Now if I can be fancy while I'm doing nothing...

Monday was a somewhat uneventful day, just the standard class, work, Skyrim kind of day that I seem to do.

Shirt/skirt - F21 | Tights - WalMart | Shoes - Target

Tuesday was similarly uneventful, just projects and more of the same as Monday.

Sweater - The Limited | Shorts/bracelets - F21 | Necklace - Claire's | Shoes - Payless

Wednesday was...more of the same.

Headband - ? | Necklace - gift | Shoes - F21

Thursday was more of the same, until about 4AM (okay that's 4AM in what was technically Friday, but I was doing laundry, so), when I hurt my knee trying to kneel to put stuff in the washing machine. Apparently I screwed up one of my tendons somehow, so I've started doing exercises to try to make this stop being a thing, since this is the second time I've had that issue.

Cardigan - Deb | Shirt/necklace/pants/boots - F21

The weekend wasn't particularly fancy or outfit-picture worthy, but it was spectacularly fun - I went to dinner with my friend Ally's parents and a bunch of my friends, since they came up to see us, and then I smashed cars and played a boardgame at a frat (it was an event for smashing cars, they like, picked them up from the junkyard and basically best stress relief EVER). Saturday, I worked at Springfest for my fraternity for a few hours, went to Writer's Club, did homework, and wound up at another frat playing card games. Sunday I went to a concert, and here we are now, Monday, looking at a week where I go to even more events, even though I'm also frantically studying and writing papers. This is the kind of busy I like.

How was your previous week? Does this week look like a good one?

Cleveland Spring

Cleveland Spring, the phenomenon of spring in Cleveland, is probably the most bizarre season I've witnessed. By which I mean...it's not so much a season as it is the Frankenstein's Monster of seasons, with all of them stitched together. We had an 84 degree day last week, followed almost immediately by a snowy day, and we've had everything in between, all just to mess with us as we try to push through the last few days of classes before finals. Needless to say, I've been crazy busy, and I only managed to get one of my outfits from last week. Not that the rest were anything that great, but still.

Last week was, overall, pretty stressful and busy. I don't really remember more than a quarter of it, other than that I accidentally skipped one of my classes because everyone else was unintentionally late. I also went to Relay for Life at some point, and ate a bunch of s'mores, and worked on papers. I think that's an accurate summary of what I remember from last week. Monday, the day I accidentally skipped class, was the only outfit I managed to shoot.

Dress/belt/ring - F21 | Shoes - thrifted

This week is going to be as crazy as last week, but hopefully it'll actually be worth remembering.

How was your week last week?

just breathe

Last week was the kind of week you generally try to pretend didn't happen. It was stressful thing after stressful thing after yet another stressful thing. I only looked decent twice, and spent most of my time in my room because I just couldn't function around people for the better part of it. I'm too exhausted to really write much, and this week's going to be a light one, due to my continued existence in a swamp of needing to do too many things.

Monday was probably the easiest day of it all, other than the crippling migraine I developed in the evening. Playing soccer indoors on a tile floor in a very echo-y building is a bad idea and hopefully people will figure that out sooner, rather than later. I didn't really have to deal with too much, beyond a paper and studying for my pledge class final.

Jacket - thrifted | Shirt/ring -??? | Shorts/boots - F21 | Necklace - Claire's | Purse - London Fog (from TJ Maxx)

Tuesday was just "paper awkward conversations paper paper paper paper PANIC". That's pretty much all I actually remember, honestly. Wednesday was panicking some more over the paper, and Honor Court for my fraternity, which added a bit more stress. Thursday was my pledge class final, the day I received another project in Accounting, and the day I scared everyone by falling down the stairs (and then brilliantly decided to go attempt my final anyways, despite being in enough pain I couldn't control my crying... It wasn't a good idea, shall we say...) Friday...I slept most of the day and had Mongolian food for dinner. Saturday I just didn't stop moving until I collapsed to sleep, and Sunday was pure homework.

Blazer - thrifted | Dress (as shirt)/necklace/shoes - F21 | Skirt/tights - Target

My only hope for this week, right now, is that I spend less of it freaking out over things.

How was last week for you? Do you think this week will be better?

Cleveland Broke Me

If last week was a bit of madness, this weekend was a bout of concentrated and wasted energy. I sleep when I don't want to do anything, and I slept a lot last Saturday (17 hours...) It was my friend Ally's birthday, and if you've been following for a while, well, Ally died over winter break, and sometimes it gets a little difficult to function. I managed to get things done on Sunday, at least, and I'm looking forward to a week that gets a little less mad after...okay, it never stops being crazy, I'm just trying to be optimistic. I have a research paper, that is currently very half-baked, due tomorrow, have to watch a documentary and do a discussion of it for one of my classes tonight, Wednesday, I have Honor Court for the fraternity I'm pledging, and Thursday we have our final. Friday's a brief moment of sanity, Saturday will feature several important events in a very short timeframe, and Sunday, maybe I'll be lucky enough to sleep. Maybe.

Last week was quite nice - or, if you judge by the fact it was 43 degrees Fahrenheit when I left for class today, and I decided to leave in shorts and was comfortable, Cleveland's simply broken me - and presented some fun events.

Monday was unremarkable, other than an Arabic test. Tuesday was much more interesting - there was an event featuring LGBT professionals discussing their experiences being out in the workplace, which was really interesting. It also featured the lesson to not wear stretch bracelets where you can access the place the elastic has been tied - I start to fidget with the knot, and it just comes undone and beads fly everywhere. Highly embarrassing.

Trench - thrifted | Jacket/Dress/Shoes/Belt - F21

Wednesday happened next, and featured pledge class - our last one! - and planning for our event this Saturday. I'm terrified and excited, since the event is one of the determinants of our acceptance as a pledge class. Fingers crossed for it to be good! Wednesday also featured the arrival of my new sunglasses, which was very excited. My roommate though I looked really cool with my trench unbuttoned and my sunnies on, so, naturally, I had to get a picture of it. (We might have traded my sunglasses back and forth taking pictures for a while, but shhh).

Jacket/pants/boots - F21 | Shirt - DEB | Sunglasses - 80s Purple

Thursday was the day I abruptly realized I really needed to begin working on my research paper for SAGES - I don't think I'd really thought about that "due next Tuesday" deadline much until then. There was also another event, sponsored in-part by the fraternity I'm pledging, which involved networking with alumni. It was pretty fun, although I'm hoping that the more often I attend events like that, the less awkwardly nervous I'll become. At least the first person I spoke with seemed to appreciate my babbling about how Humans vs. Zombies is currently played at Case... I'm afraid HvZ was literally all I could think about the instant I started talking. I suppose it helped that someone in his class had started it at Case! I might have also joined yet another organization that night as well... I may yet achieve my goal of becoming my friend Celena. (I probably won't - she's too unique for that, but I can try). (Also of note, y'all...shirtdresses can be very awkward, invest in ways to make them not be staticky and clingy and you'll be a lot more comfortable in them...)

Dress/shoes - F21 | Belt - swiped from Mother | Cuff bracelet - thrifted

How was your past week? I hope, as always, that this week will be a little less frantic for you than it is for me!