Satisfies.

I have this dress.... that I have a love-hate relationship with.  It's got a surplice neckline which my husband loves, but makes me feel like I'm lactating.  Some days I'm good with the earth-mother mood that the top-heaviness engenders, and at other times I go to Forever 21 and buy a new outfit in the middle of the day.  Voici...

Bomber:  Marshall's.  Top:  Forever 21. Skirt:  Forever 21.  Tights:  Gift.  Shoes:  Miss Bisou.

Today was a great day at work, despite!  I recently bought a voice recorder last week and have been taking it with me on my breaks to record snippets of funny stories, jokes and one-liners.  Today marks my 38th joke, and I figure that should be enough to harangue a crowd for the requisite 5 minutes, so... I plan to go to an open-mike night in Columbus this up-coming week and try my hand at some stand-up comedy. 

Ring: Forever 21.

I have to credit my brother-in-law for instilling me with the courage to do such a thing... in fact, he's kind of started a wave amongst our friends.  Speaking of wave, best to duck if I'm wearing this ring when I want to say hello to someone.  I have not had great luck with two-finger rings on account of the whole not-just-fitting-one-finger-but-two-and-there's-no-interchangeableness-about-it thing, but me and this little zebra are a match made in accessory heaven.  I hope nothing ever happens to him, but as it most likely will now that I've written that, I'll now a) knock on my wooden desk  --knock, knock-- and b) enjoy the time that we have together, now. 

Giddyap,

Elissa.

T-shirt Menagerie.

 Cardigan:  thrifted.  Skirt:  thrifted.  Shoes:  MIA.  Belt:  Urban Outfitters.  Tank:  Insight via Cultist.

Even though I'm elated to have an 8-5, and to have the knowledge of where I'll be from day to day and be able to plan things at night, it really is astounding how much time 9 hours is to one's wakeful life.  As someone who has typically done things on a variable schedule, it's definitely something to get used to, in terms of re-organizing one's schedule. 

I've been waiting weeks to build up the chutzpah to iron this skirt and wear it, and happily I did and I am in lurve.  The longer length feels almost subversive, and khaki is something I trot out every once in a never.  No many detail photos today, as it was raining and dark and my camera dislikes both of those situations, but my needlepoint belt is a point of interest, and the very first thing I ever bought from Urban Outfitters way back in the Nineties, ya'll!

As for the top, I have a small, but growing collection of these animals-in-costume tanks from Insight.  The one I have on, of course, features a little kitty in a beret with a paint brush.  It was a toss-up between that, and the raccoon with the whisk in the chef hat; hopefully I can grab that one soon! 

Here's the rest of them... let's all drool along, shall we?  If pastel animals on tank tops fail to arouse your interest, I redirect you here...

Insight Floral Flutter Tank

Insight Fly Mel, Fly! Tank in Mint Delight

This one I love because it reminds me of the cake-toppers at our wedding...

Insight Fly Mel, Fly! Tank in Transparent Blue

Insight Cooking Class Tank in Lilac

What about you guys?  What items of clothing do you collect?  Are they part of a series, or are you on a "see scarves, buy them" regimen?

Yours,

Elissa.

Playing Catch-up.

It's a been a busy last couple of days!  Saturday, we threw a surprise party for our friend and I wore the following...

Sweater: Urban Outfitters.  Leggings:  Old Navy.  Shoes:  Grandview Weekend Outlet.  Tank:  Target.  Necklace:  Homako.

Dressing to look Sexy Pahhty is not really my strong-suit; coupled with the fact that I really like to get down, it's a downright SAT-problem of an outfit planning.  Though I doubt anyone would care to emulate this particular look, I will tell you that FLATS and a sports bra are a girl's best friends if she wants to do this all night...

Oh, you heard me all right.  And lest I be judged to be Liz Lemon's sartorial cousin, feast your eyes on my feet.  Those sandals have lion's heads on them.

Sorry.  Lions.  Sorry.  Lions.

I truly apologize for making you look at my feet.  It's one of those things you just can't unsee... but it was worth it, right??  I mean, c'mon... lions!!!  My friend Wanda Petunia took the following amazing photo of that evening with her Hipstamatic for iPhone...

...it's a little slug crawling on my arm.  Seriously, this makes me wish all my photos looked like this.  I'm still holding out for Verizon to offer the iPhone, but the Hipstamatic is about to send me tumbling over the edge!  Imagine how much more palatable pictures of feet would be!!

Alrighty, time for me to decide whether to go get some Chinese food or workout...  hmm...

Yours,

Elissa.

Does Earth Day even happen any more??

Just squeezing under the wire (I think) to present you my Earth-day themed post.  I don't know about you, but Earth Day is getting less and less fanfare each year, it seems.  Today, I almost didn't realize it was here... we had a big party at work for Take Your Kid To Work Day (also today), for which I made Watergate salad (omnomnom), which is green, so I very possibly inadvertently celebrated Earth Day.

Tralala!!!

In line with my inadvertent celebrating of Earth Day, I wore a rather boho top, if I do say so myself.  In a previous post, I mentioned that I hate all things hippie, but upon saying so, I issued a challenge to myself to find and incorporate something of that ilk into my regular rotation.

Jeans:  New York & Company.  I highly recommend them, especially if you are on the curvier side.   Shoes:  thrifted.  Top:  Francesca's.  Hat: thrifted.

My main concern with flowy tops is I think they make me look dumpy both by virtue of shapelessness and drab, dinge-making colors.  This one is slightly more fitted (hurrah!) and is a pale, metallic gold.  I'll be sad --if and when-- metallic gold leaves the fashion scene... we're so tight.

Shoes:  Thrifted Eddie Bauer.

What you're seeing on the ground there is one of many beer cans that get thrown into the yard.  If only the neighborhood drunks knew, every time you litter, a little baby bunny gets whacked.  It ain't right. 

Earrings:  Urban Outfitters.  Ring:  Macy's.

Also of mild, hippie-ishness is the fact that I'm not wearing any make-up in these photos... and these I took right as I was saying to myself-- do I have the energy to even take these clothes off before I crash out on the couch??

Is eating dandelion fluff bad for you???

Well, I never did get that nap but I did enjoy a brisk walk, some Pilates, and an episode of America's Biggest Loser.  It's like a chick flick to me; I cry every episode!  I seriously hope Sunshine wins, but don't tell me because I'm actually a couple of weeks behind.  It takes a lot of emotional steeling of myself to bear the rollercoaster of Biggest Loser, that, and I can only watch it if I'm alone.  I know.

What do you guys do for Earth Day, if anything?  Was there a big deal made of it in your town?  What's your TV guilty pleasure??


Yours,

Elissa.

"Eli-" peaked in the 1880s.

I'm a g-man.  A suit.  That's right, a state-employed clerk.  My new assignment leads me to a researching/red-stamping/archiving position for the Department of Health; specializing in birth records.

Sweater:  Thrifted.  Dress:  thrifted.  Belt:  thrifted.  Bag: Grandview Weekend Outlet.  Tights:  Target.  Shoes:  Nine West.

Despite it's seemingly dry nature, I actually have a lot of fun with this; going through birth records and thinking about people's names; noting that before they stopped recording people's occupations on birth certificates in the mid-1960's in Ohio, that most Ohioans were machinists or insurance salesmen.  Another thing I really like is the ability to recognize name trends... that names that begin with "Car-" were most popular in the 1950's, names that start with "Mad-" were most popular in the 1990's.  If you haven't checked out Baby Name Wizard's blog yet, they have an awesome visualization tool to show you how names rank in popularity nationwide throughout the years, starting in the 1870's or so, to present.

  Pocketed, for her pleasure.

I'm still acclimating myself to dressing for this office.  Today I was subjected to a series of non-smiling, head-to-toe looks from only women; which lead me to my first conclusion-- run and hide in the first sweater set and ass-obscuring khakis that you can find.  But more recently, I settle on my second conclusion, which is that the outfit pushes boundaries, but the overall impression is good.

The tote bag is a special new get for me; I traipsed off to the tiny, backwoods hometown of a friend a couple of weeks ago, and they have an outlet there that only sells new Target merchandise that is super off-season, for like, $1.  This golden tribute to Timex set me back 97 cents.  I also came away with some sandals from the Miss Trish for Capri thing they did last year-- the golden ones with the lions on them, for $2, and a long, olive green, racer-back maxi dress-- they'll mosey on here as soon as June rolls around, I'm sure!

Til next time,

Elissa.

Wakie wakie!

While you're shaking off last night and enjoying a lazy Sunday morning, I thought you might enjoy this video...



Thanks to an extra special reader for sending this to me!

Yours,

Elissa