Challenge Accepted

Here's an outfit I wore last Friday.  And a bunch of words not about outfits at all.

Spoiler alert:  having a baby kind of wrecks your body.  Especially if your body wasn't in the best condition before getting pregnant, like hypothetically if your immune system attacks you.  Anyway, I gained a bunch of weight in the year and a half or so before getting pregnant, because I was dealing with RA, and some of the medicine I was taking made it impossible to lost weight.  Plus, it's hard to exercise when your body hurts so bad (also, cookies made me feel better).  So fast forward to now, almost 4 months post-partum, I'm trying to figure out how to get as healthy as possible.  But like, I have this baby who needs me all the time, and my body still hurts, and I still like cookies.  

Since I'm working with a busted body and limited free time, my plan is to start small.  I hesitate to even blog about it, because I tend to be a quitter, and then it will be embarrassing, but you know, accountability and whatnot.    

In August, I started 2 of those 30-day challenges that I always see popping up on Pinterest.  Squats and planks.  I'm almost done with both of these (and doing more than 100 squats in a row is super hard!), so I'm trying to think of what to do next.  I'm might pick up this challenge on day 6, to continue working on holding planks for longer, and maybe try these variations on squats .  Or maybe try to get my arms all sculpted in time for winter when they are covered.  

I don't have a real specific goal (I mean, I'd love to lose about 50 lbs), but I'm hoping to build my core strength back up so I can start actually working out (true story: I tried doing this ab challenge and couldn't even do the first day, because I have absolutely no core at the moment. I'm hoping that we will have a couple months of cooler-but-not-freezing weather so I can go on more).  Also, my baby is heavy, and I want to get stronger so it's easier to haul him around.  Rumor has it he is going to get quite a bit bigger before he can walk everywhere himself!    

Anyway, that's my story.  Any advice on easy/fun workouts to try?  So many on pinterest are like "Beginner workout: do 10 pushups!" and I'm like "I can't even do 1 pushup, thanks!"  

*and now I need to go do 190 squats before I go to bed.  Who thought this challenge was a good idea??

Cardigan: JCF

Tee and Skirt: Gap

Shoes: Sperry

#13 - Navy Week - Striped Skirt

Hey, it's the confetti shirt again, because GUESS WHAT?  Some of the dots are navy, so it goes with this navy/cobalt striped skirt.  I just really love clothes with so many different colors, because they pretty much go with everything.

And I'm still pretty excited about this pink blazer.  It's not getting much play in the remix, because layers are not needed when the weather is consistently in the 90s.  Good thing I don't believe in "fall colors," so I will be wearing this a lot when it starts to cool down.  And no, I'm not part of the blogger coalition that is anxiously awaiting fall.  Let's keep summer around for awhile longer, okay?

Blazer: Gap (option, option)
Tee: Gap
Skirt: Gap (similar, similar)
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

#10 - One-Third FInished

This outfit is simple, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet today.  I wore this the other day.  It's my 10th outfit of the 30X30.  For those of you who are good at math, that's 1/3 of the way done!  So here's a little collage showing my first 10 outfits of the challenge:

If this collage tells me anything, it's that I look more tan inside, but my face looks prettier outside.  Also that I haven't been going to gym as much as I ought to!

And although all of these outfits contain navy - the official "Navy Week" starts tomorrow.  You can link up any day of the week!

Tee: Gap
Shorts: Old Navy (exact)
Sandals: Love Culture (similar, similar)

#6 - Big Scrabble News!

Are you all so excited that Scrabble is adding 5000 new words to the playable list?  Or are you just confused that I'm supposed to be a fashion blogger and I keep talking about nerd stuff?  Be honest, if you've stuck around here very long, you might be a bit more on the nerdy side of things.        

If you don't care about it from a Scrabble perspective, here's some bloggy relevance.  A lot of the new words are technologically inclined, so I can now play obnoxious words like "selfie" and "vlog." 

If you do care about Scrabble, you should definitely read Word Freak.

Anyway, I'm excited that there are new words to be played, even though I might not remember them.  It does make the game much easier when you have more 2-letter words to play off.  Not too many years ago, they added "za" and "qi" to the dictionary.  Which means those 10-point letters aren't really difficult to play at all.  There's almost no risk of getting stuck with them at the end, so it really changes the dynamic of the game. 

Also - look!  I'm wearing an outfit.  It's #6 in the 30x30.  You can't see my pink sandals, but I promise I'm wearing them. 


Tee: Gap
Belt: Chinese Laundry (similar)
Skirt: J.Crew (exact)
Sandals (not that you can see them): Love Culture (similar, similar)

Safety First

 

So, one weird thing about being married is that you end up with all these inside jokes, and no one else has any idea what you are talking about.  BUT, since I spend the majority of my free time with John (who is in on the joke), I forget that other people don't know what is so funny.  And it probably isn't funny, but we think it is, so that's all that matters.  Maybe this isn't a weird thing about being married.  It might just be a weird thing about being married to me.

Anyway, "Safety first!" is one of these things.  Last summer, John bought a few of those fancy workout t-shirts off the clearance racks and they are obnoxiously bright neon, which is probably why they were on sale! Like, I need sunglasses to look at him.  Since I'm the best wife ever, I was teasing him about his ridiculously bright shirts, and now every time he wears one, I say "Safety first!" in an obnoxiously nerdy way.  It's hilarious, trust me (it probably isn't).  This has evolved into us saying this and discussing the level of safety of any person we see wearing neon items.  And these people are everywhere!  Especially on a Caribbean Cruise - there was a lot of neon swimwear.  Needless to say, we felt very safe on our vacation.

All that to say, neon is the last theme I needed to tackle for Sarah's April Looking Lucky Style Challenge.  I don't have a whole lot of neon options, so I knew I needed to plan an outfit around this belt.  Then I remembered my confetti t-shirt is kind of neon-friendly, and then I added my bright yellow cardigan to be extra safe.  It was nice to be dressed so cheerfully on the dreaded first day back at work after vacation.

Tee & Shoes: Gap
Cardigan: Old Navy (dyed by me)
Skirt: Target
Belt: Chinese Laundry     

Vivacious

It's an exciting week for 2 reasons (well, maybe more, but 2 that I know of):

1. My birthday is on Thursday.  I'm kind of obnoxiously enthusiastic about birthdays (particularly my own), but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.  
2. Marissa and Heidi are hosting another Pantone-Inspired challenge this week.  I participated in the spring, and met some of my very favorite bloggers, so I'm excited to see who I find this time!  

So, today's color is vivacious, which is basically just a bright purplish pink, so I figure this skirt qualifies.  I want to know who gets paid to come up with these color names, and then I want that job!  

Also, this sweater and boots combo will be back tomorrow, because they are TURBULENCE-colored.  

Tee&Skirt: Gap

Sweater: Urban Outfitters

Boots: Wanted

Necklace: Phoenix gift shop

Back to Reality

 

The first few days at work after a vacation are rough.  It's been such a busy week, just trying to get caught up on everything I missed, and on top of that, we are having some internal training this week, so I'm in meetings most of the day.  Trouble.  I'm tempted to go back to the mountains where the internet doesn't work.

I'm hoping to find time this weekend to sort through my vacation pictures so I can share them with you. Warning - Glacier National Park is sort of beautiful, so you might want to go there!

Top, Cardigan, Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Michelle D

Bridge to Iowa

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that my nieces are visiting this week.  We are having WAY TOO MUCH FUN and I love every minute of it!   On Sunday, we ventured downtown to the Pedestrian Bridge.  It was a beautiful day, and we had fun taking silly pictures at the border line.  

 

 

We are sort of weird, I guess

We're trying to fit in as much fun as possible, so I'll probably be posting more about our adventures.  If you come here for the clothes, I'll still include my outfit details.

Shirt: Gap
Cardigan: Old Navy (dyed by me)
Shorts: J.Crew Factory
Purse: Target
Flip Flops: Old Navy

Confetti Shirt

When I saw Whitney and Kate wearing confetti shirts, I added it to my "want" list, so I was pretty excited when I found this one at Gap for $10.  Yes, it's exactly the same one Whitney has.  I have a feeling I will be wearing it a lot this summer.  You may remember it from my Orlando recap post.

The early evening light was not working out at all to show the fun colorful dots, so I had to go inside for a few close-up shots.

Also, I hate to beg for followers, but since Google Reader is going away, here's your friendly reminder to keep up with me on Bloglovin.   I migrated everything over a few months ago, and I actually prefer it to Google Reader, so I'm not as sad as I was at first.

Linking up today with Agi's Tres Chic, Look What I Got, and Summer Style.

Top and Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Limited
Belt: Chinese Laundry
Necklace: Macy's
Shoes: BCBGeneration