Just like Pajamas

Have I ever said how much I love sweater dresses?! Yes. I adore them (please ignore the wrinkles — it was left in the laundry basket a bit too long!). 

dress — Weekenders (thrifted)

boots — Dansko (Dansko Factory Store)

belt — (thrifted)

I think it's hard not to look good in one (they're so forgiving), and besides that? They are so-o-o-o comfortable! To me, they're the closest thing to being able to wear pajamas at work.

And speaking about work ... I was laid off last week. Yes. Here I go again (read about how I got laid off last year here), worrying about money and wondering when and if I'll get another job. It wasn't entirely a surprise — the project that I was working on had ended last month, so I knew the ax was going to fall at some point. I just didn't know when exactly.

But on the bright side of things. . . good-bye to one hell of a commute. No more putting in 12-hour or 18-hour days, or even staying up all night because there was no point in trying to sleep before getting on the road. No more packing up in the wee hours of Monday morning to spend the next three or four days on the road. And no more getting dressed in the dark! Can you tell that I'm a bit relieved?

Even though it's scary to be unemployed, getting laid off is probably a blessing in disguise. My commute was just completely wearing me down. The days that I wasn't commuting, I was living out of a suitcase. It seemed like I was never home, and if I was home, I was so exhausted that I couldn't really do anything that needed to be done. I think that I spent enough time commuting in the past 6 months to last me a lifetime!

I do think the economy is getting better, and I got some really good experience that should help me find another job this time around. But still ...  keep your fingers (and toes) crossed that something will come up soon, and that it won't involve commuting for hours upon hours every day. In the meantime though, I'm going to start catching up on everything that went by the wayside for the past 6 months. 

Linking up to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday once again!

 

And since my dress (and my bangle and my belt) was thifted?

I'm going to link up to Megan at Brass in Pocket for  Thursdays Are for Thrifters.

Forgetting My Jacket or Not

I'm ba-a-a-a-ck, and it's not because I forgot my jacket.

"... As you can see, I’ve returned, and it’s not because I forgot my jacket. ... The real reason I’m back is ..."

LOL. 

And see, I really didn't forget my jacket.

jacket — Old Navy (thrifted)

dress — Dressing Clio (thrifted)

shoes — Bare Traps (DSW)

I look all flustered here because I can't get past his striking brown eyes. LOL! Anyway ... I actually wore my Blowfish booties with this dress on the day I wore it ... I got the Bare Trap shoes early in the fall, but they still look so pretty in the box that I've been afraid to wear them. (Yeah. I'm weird. I admit it. I have to save something for a few years before I have the courage to actually use it.)

 shirt — Rayna Morgan (can't remember)

shoes — Blowfish (DSW)

The dress was sleeveless, so my old faithful, older-than-dirt top was pulled into rotation once again. This shirt is probably my most used item in my entire closet. I've had it for more years than I care to remember, and I'm dreading the day when it finally bites the dust. It's comfortable and very thin, so I can wear it under anything — scratchy sweaters, sleeveless dresses, low-cut tops, you name it ... I've been looking for a replacement for the past few years, and I still haven't found one that is half as good.

So ... why am I back, and why was I gone? I'm back because the holidays are over ... whew! I bet you would never guess that I don't remain my normal calm, cool, and collected self during the holidays. (hahaha ... The three Cs — calm, cool, and collected — are rarely, if ever, used to describe me. Honestly? Sometimes it's just hard for me to keep my proverbial sh*t together.)

Even in the best of years, the holidays tend to wreak havoc on my day-to-day stress levels. I never have enough time to do half the things that I had set out to do or wanted to do and then before I know it I am running around trying to do a hundred things in the last 24 hours and then poof! It's over, seemingly in a matter of seconds! Breathe Kari, breathe ... And then ... this year ... it probably goes without saying that my job and my commute (and especially my job) sent my stress soaring to new heights!

Hope everybody had a happy and stress-free holiday season.

A thrifted dress and a thrifted jacket, so I'm linking up to Spunky Chateau and her Thursdays Are for Thrifters link party. 

Stained Glass

I used to be a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl or even a sweatpants and T-shirt kind of girl. I looked forward to Casual Friday at work, because I could get away with wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt (like here and here). It was just so easy and so comfortable.

shirt — ana (thrifted)

jeggings — 17/21 Exclusive Denim (Marshalls)

shoes — Blowfish (DSW)

necklace — thrifted

These days when I have the option, I am likely to forgo the jeans and put on something that's a little more dressy. Take this outfit, for example.

I wore this to work on Casual Friday a few weeks ago, and then, wonders of wonder, I wore it again to a high school cross country meet — the county championships. (I wore it with a pair of flat boots at the meet so I would be able to run around to all the vantage points on the course and see the kids running.)

It's not that I don't still love my jeans and T-shirts, I do. I'm just finding that it can be fun to wear something a little different and change up my look a bit. Okay. I know it isn't that much of a change. I mean, it's not as drastic or as different as sporting spiked purple hair or black leather and chains, but still ...

 

I love the colors in this shirt — the blues and the greens, and the pattern reminds me of a stained glass window. 

The cross country race was one of the best races that I had ever been to. The top race of the day, and one of the reasons that I went, was the girl's varsity race. It featured two girls — Julie Macedo and Haley Pierce. Julie is ranked number 1 in the country (yes, in the COUNTRY! from our tiny state), and Haley is ranked number 12. Two girls in our tiny state of Delaware are nationally ranked! Woo HOO! What made the race especially exciting was that they don't usually run against each other (they are in two different divisions — the big school and the small school division).

Up until this year, Haley had been the number one high school runner in Delaware (she placed fifth at the Nike Cross Nationals last year, and Julie was 16 seconds behind her). Then Haley was injured in August, and Julie exploded in the early season, becoming the first girl in Delaware to break 17 minutes for a 5K. I thought it was going to be a great race, and wow! Was it ever! I could not have predicted the result in a million years!

They literally ran each other into the ground! Neither one of them was going to concede or let the other get the better. Wow ... The two of them ran neck and neck for almost 3 miles. Haley pulled ahead with about 400 yards to go, and then, all of a sudden — she went down. She just crumpled. Julie kept going, but oh my! If you've ever seen somebody run who had nothing left to give, that was Julie. I wasn't sure if she was even going to make it across the finish line! As she was staggering up that final hill, up flies the girl who had been running in third place, and she won it all! WOW. I heard later that Julie and Haley ran their first mile in 5:10!

Haley and Julie ran in the state finals the following weekend. They ran on the same course, but in two different races. I was on pins and needles all day, checking the local running site every five minutes to find out what their times were. (I was pretty sure that they were going to win their respective races). And guess what?! They both posted a 17:28! The same time for a 5K in two separate races. Wow. They will most likely meet again in the same race at the Southeastern Nationals next weekend. Can't wait to see what happens there. (Haley won it last year, and Julie was 8th!) No matter what, it'll be an exciting race!

These girls have inspired me to start running again! 

Right now, however, I need to figure out what to wear to work tomorrow. It's Casual Friday, and I don't want to wear jeans!

With my thrifted shirt and my thrifted necklace, I'm linking to Spunky Chateau's Thursday Are for Thrifters. Stop on over to see some more thrifted finds.

Same Old, Same Old

Day 8 of the 21-Day Challenge was to mix fancy and casual. I almost skipped this challenge because I couldn't figure out what to do, and then I realized that I was doing the same old, same old.

shirt — French Dressing (Cost Co)

skirt — I.Q. & Co. (thrifted)
belt  — (thrifted)

sandals — Arizona Birkenstock

You finally get to see a picture of me in my muscle shirt, which is not to be confused with seeing pictures of my muscles. (What do you call these type of tanks? Everything I want to call them seems to be derogatory, and I'm uncomfortable using them.) And I can't believe that it has taken so long to get a picture of me in my Birks! I used to live in these all summer long! I guess used to is the operative word here.

I love my belt, in all its sequined glory. It was a spur of the moment purchase, and then I regretted it because I didn't have a clue as to what to pair it with!

But I think pairing the belt with casual items worked, and I'll probably do it like this again in the future. And honestly? I would have worn this outfit to work (I'm pretty much housebound these days, so my gauge is not whether I actually wore an outfit to work, but whether I would if given the opportunity.) It's a good mix of dressy with casual. I mean what is more casual than Birks and a tank? And what is more dressy than a sequined belt and a nice skirt? It's different and fun but not so far out there that I would feel silly.

What was my same old, same old? (If you think that I was talking about what to wear, you're wrong.) No, for me the same old, same old is my perfection streak that can get in the way of making a decision. I want something to be so perfect that I think too much, and I worry too much, and I make something way more complicated than it is. It really is my Achilles' heel. And most of the time, I agonize over these silly and inconsequential matters.

So c'mon, Kari — you're a grown a** woman, as I had a friend who was prone to telling me, just do it (and there's that Nike phrase again. For somebody who once said she hated that expression, I use it an awful lot.)! Whatever you do, it's not going to be the end of the world.

Do you have trouble making decisions?  

I'm also linking my belt up to Meagan's Thursdays Are for Thrifters at Spunky Chateau.