In which I am super fail at updating

Oh my goodness, I am sorry for my absence! Things have just been crazy here with my two jobs, and I haven't had the mental energy for blogging. I've still been taking outfit pictures but just haven't been posting them. I really hope to get back into the groove of things soon, especially with the swim team season finishing in a few weeks (noooo!). Tonight I am going to see my HERO Taylor Swift, and I haven't really decided what I'm going to wear, but I think it includes the Superfluous Bellows Hoodie. Yes, I broke down and bought this after two times in the store of hemming and hawing. I just didn't see anything else I really loved and needed to use my birthday discount. The SA was really sweet and had no problems allowing me to use my online discount in the store, which I was glad for as paying shipping (as I explained) would eat my entire discount online. I think this will work for a girly concert, but we'll see what I come up with.

I finally have a few minutes to myself before work, so I'm taking the time to upload a quick casual outfit. I wore this on the weekend to go shopping.


Skirt: OLD
Cardigan and top: Gifts from Mom for my birthday
Shoes: b.o.c.

I received this cardigan for my birthday, and while it's definitely not a color I would have picked out, I really like it both with my features and in making outfits. It's been surprisingly versatile and flattering, especially considering that I put together this outfit while a little upset and didn't want to really care about what I was wearing.

...

Am I still allowed to wear mini skirts at twenty-five? Especially ones that I've had since high school? Uh oh. Maybe I'm not. You won't tell, will you?

... What if I wear them with conservative cardigans? Maybe?

The big surprise!

Hi folks! You might be wondering what I did for my birthday. Well, turns out that on Friday, my OOTD looked like this:



... So I could look like this:



Yep, that's right: this cute scientist jumped out of an airplane on Friday! It was so much fun, and I highly recommend it. Yes, I'm a little crazy, but if you like thrills, I'm pretty sure there's nothing better out there. My instructor and all the staff were fantastic, and it was a great experience. I was actually much more terrified the day I did my oral qualifying exam. It was definitely the most exciting sixty seconds of my life. There aren't many things that are more awesome than Anthro, but the chance to fly might be on that short list. ;)

And to keep this post a bit on topic, here's an old outfit photo, which I hurriedly snapped before dinner with my visiting family right before a big storm:



Gathered Alyssum Dress, Climbing Cowlneck, Looping Lanes Belt (Anthropologie)
Cardigan: JCrew Warehouse
Shoes: b.o.c.

What's the craziest thing you've ever done? Would you ever skydive (or have you been)? If you have any questions about my first* jump, I will try to answer them!

*Yes, I'm going again. I've already bought another ticket. What is wrong with me??

Unexpected Surprise (OOTD)

Botanical Stroll Dress (Anthropologie)
Cardigan: JCrew Warehouse
Shoes: b.o.c. concept
Necklace: Kohl's

I was really happy with how this (old, judging by my nail color) outfit turned out! The color combination wasn't something I'd normally reach for, but I think it worked. I'm still a newbie at pairing colors together, so I always love it when an outfit like this really works for me. This dress was my birthday present to myself last year, and I still adore it. I love cats. Maybe to unhealthy levels. Yes, I am a Cat Lady.

I'm bummed that I still haven't found anything at Anthro worthy of being my 25th birthday present, though I'm liking the Superfluous Bellows Hoodie. Is this not the cutest jacket ever? It's a little expensive for a hoodie even with my discount, though, so I'm waiting for a sale I think.

Speaking of birthday presents, I'm doing something pretty crazy tomorrow that I will post about soon, but I'm going to keep you in suspense for now. :D

PS: Argh, my last picture would not resize. I finally got it to behave in an effort to show you that I attempt to do something not-boring with my hair. I swore that I was gonna just leave it huge if this last try didn't work, too!

Birthday Suit

Wright Dress, Zodiac Heirloom Necklace (Anthropologie -- mostly-proud Gemini!)
b.o.c. shoes (Belk)
Cardigan: birthday gift from Mom!

Well, that's right, folks! Today I am twenty-five! It's a pretty surreal experience, as I so don't feel like a "mature adult." Hey, let's face it, I do the Hokey Pokey with three-year-olds at work: I don't think I'm ever going to be all that much of a mature adult. But that's overrated in my opinion. There's a line in "In This Diary" by The Ataris (a song that reminds me of my youth as an inexperienced swim coach) that goes "Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up." I completely believe that that's true and thus have declared that I will never "grow up." I'm always going to be learning new things, expanding my horizons, and changing. I look forward to the new excitements that this year brings but am going to try my best to never lose the curiosity and enthusiasm that I see in my kids' eyes every day at the pool.

Also, my kids (an entire practice of them) sang Happy Birthday to me yesterday, and that's pretty much the best present you could ask for.

I've got a lot of fun things planned for the next few days which I'll recap later, but here's hoping I actually find something on which to use my birthday discount at Anthro before it's gone!

PS: My head is doing MUCH better, and thanks for your concern, everyone!

Stupid Swimmer Tricks + OOTD

Oh wow, everybody. I've really done it now.

So on Saturday, I was doing my usual laps in the pool when I decided to do butterfly kick with fins. In a charming display of stupidity, I decided not to kick in streamline (thus avoiding any chance of my hands stopping me from hitting the wall headfirst) and decided that five feet from the wall would be a great time to practice proper head position in swimming. Proper head position in swimming is looking at the bottom of the pool with the water line along the top of your head. This is great for swimming faster with more efficiency. It is not so great for avoiding running into the wall headfirst at full speed.

Um. Ow.

That cracking noise will stay with me for the rest of my life, let me tell you. I get chills every time I think about it. I have no clue what possessed me to be so dumb, but as of now I seem to be okay. My head and neck really hurt, but I'm taking advil and taking it easy. This unfortunately means that there won't be any exercise in my future for a few days. I don't think I need an MRI at this point, but I'm keeping tabs on the situation -- and I work in a hospital, so I think I'm in good shape should I need some help.

To take my mind off my stupid swimmer tricks, I'm gonna post an old outfit. I was trying to do something new with my hair which may or may not have worked. Enjoy it, though, because soon my outfit pictures will feature boring, maybe-not-brushed hair since fixing it has taken a turn for the painful these days for obvious reasons.





Guava Flower Chemise (Anthropologie)
Old Navy tee
b.o.c. shoes
(very fake) pearls from Kohl's

This is yet another entry in my "Katie likes to wear nightgowns outside the house" diary, and I was really happy with the way it turned out!

Well, I'm off to go nurse my poor head/neck and probably feel a little sorry for myself at work. The good news is that it's only two days until my birthday, and I'm taking Wednesday-Friday off! I need a vacation in all the worst ways and can't wait for doing nothing but relaxing by the pool, reading all the books I've started in the past few months, eating delicious food, and (of course) shopping. Hope you guys are having a better and safer day than I did last weekend!

How to distract people from the fact that you wore pajama shorts to a fancy restaurant:

1.) Spend the morning/afternoon at a swim meet. Make sure you are super exhausted. Sleep for at least two hours.
2.) Get hungry, but absolutely do not change out of your pajama shorts. This is a critical step.
3.) Look in your closet. Which items look soft enough to not cause you more discomfort? Put them on. No, it doesn't matter what they look like.
4.) Wear heels! This is especially effective if you are a shortie because then people will be too shocked at the fact that you are eye level with them to notice your shorts.
5.) Do not leave for dinner immediately. Instead, practice braiding your hair. Your hair will serve as a key distraction piece in our fashion disaster puzzle.

6.) Admire the results:



When all else fails:

7.) "My nail polish matches my sweater, SEE!!"

8.) "I spent six hours in direct sunlight screaming my lungs out at three hundred small children. What's your excuse?"

9.) Show people your pretty hair:



Optional Addendum: If you are a nerdy scientist, you will want to bring an astronomy book with you to read when you get to the restaurant. Make sure you are very calm and nice to the waitress and are not in a hurry, for it is a busy Saturday night and she will appreciate it and be inclined to bring you nice things.

Out of my comfort zone (again)

Anthropologie Circle the Globe Skirt
Super old Penny's top
b.o.c shoes from Belk

This outfit is another episode of Closet Resurrection. I bought this top before I learned how to trick people into thinking you know how to get dressed and accordingly had no clue how to wear it. I didn't think it looked good, but I didn't know what to do about it and I bought it because I Needed Something That Wasn't A T-Shirt. The other day I happened to put it with this skirt and noticed that the teal color almost exactly matches. It was totally a "rule-breaking" outfit for me because this shirt had been exiled to the Fashion Disaster Period of my life, but overall I liked how it turned out. And hey, I didn't even feel like a tent! (Holy wow, did I just put a flowy top with a flowy skirt? And tuck it in? What has happened to me??)

And finally, I wanted to post a quick shot of what I look like for several hours of the day during the summer. This is my 'dressy' coach shirt that I wear to meets -- it is fancy because it helps me survive 100-degree summers without fainting. Although I did narrowly avoid that at last night's meet when I had a run-in with heat stroke, but no worries, I'm okay now!



My busy day continues, so I've gotta run. Have a great day!

PS: I tried to post this earlier, but my pictures were hating me. I finally got them to an acceptable size, and I'm calling it good! I apologize if you saw the giant ones earlier!

A let-down of a sale and OotD

Well, I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the sale, everybody. Not a single thing from my wishlist got cut, so I'm sitting this one out. Here's hoping something hits sale before the end of the month that's worth spending my discount on!

This outfit is yet another adventure in Katie Likes To Wear Lounge-wear Outside. I thought the pastel colors were perfect for summer, and it was so comfy and girly. Did I mention that this "dress" only cost me $20? Because it did. And I love it even more because it was such a great deal!





Dress: Chantilly Chemise (Anthropologie)
Cardigan: JCrew
Necklace: Gifted
Shoes: Cupcake

Lost and Found

Word on the street is there's a big Anthro sale a-coming, gang! I wonder if this one will be more exciting than the last couple. I'm kind of bummed because I still haven't found anything I want to use my birthday discount on, but hopefully tomorrow that will change.

So this dress tends to do a disappearing act in my closet. Maybe it's the dark color, but I somehow end up losing it for months at a time and then rediscovering it. I always feel like a miracle happened when I find it again, as it's usually gone just long enough for me to forget I have it. It sure is cute, though, so I hope I can manage to keep track of it this time! Yet another really easy and comfy look for our miserably hot southern summers. =)




Dress: Old Navy
Shoes: Born Concepts at Belk

Have a great night, and I hope you get everything you want at the sale!

OotD: World of the Living

So despite the fact that my crazy busy life has driven me to thoughts like "I haven't washed my hair in three days, and you can't make me wash it today" or "Makeup takes five minutes, and that's five minutes I could be sleeping," sometimes I still like to get dressed up. Hey, this is me we're talking about here. This is what I wore to see Pirates of the Caribbean with one of my favorite labmates! (Excellent movie, but I think my favorite part was the mermaids. I have a bad habit of latching onto some random side plot that nobody else cares about. But, seriously. Mermaids.)





Chantico Tank, AG Stevie Cords (Anthropologie)
Shoes: b.o.c. at Belk

It was nice to join the world of the living for an evening, but then I had to get back to the world of a grad-student-slash-swim-team-coach! Which, coincidentally, is what I'm off to do now. See you guys later!

Rules, I break them (OOTD)

EDIT: My sister Ria is in search of a Linked Hasu Tote! If you see one in your travels, could you please email me? Azelma (dot) Roark (at) Gmail (dot) com. Thanks so much!

Hi guys! How are you? I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend. I sure did, but I need another break already. These 12-hour days are killing me!

This outfit is made up of things that are super old (I can't even remember where the dress and jacket are from) plus my new kids' shoes, which I have pretty much been wearing to death. I am a big fan of breaking fashion rules, so of course these photos were taken before Memorial Day. With the weather taking its annual turn into Miserably Hot Territory, I'm doing what I can to stay cool and reasonably work-appropriate.





That's all for me today; I've got a meeting to prepare for at work, so I'll catch you all later. Oh, and as you probably know, free shipping is back at Anthro for card holders! Yay! Just in time for my birthday. And the kind Anthro Gods blessed me with an online discount code yesterday. I'm turning twenty-five this month, so I'm excited to make this quarter century birthday special.