Carrying the Banner

About a week ago, the Newsies broadway show was in town.  I have been waiting for this for years, because well, I was OBSESSED with the movie when I was a kid.  I'm not exaggerating when I say I watched it several times a week (maybe daily) over summer break for at least a few years.  I could probably still quote most of it by heart even though I have no idea when I last watched the movie. So, you can imagine my expectations were high for the show.  And while I was watching it, I just felt very conflicted.  Apologies in advance for my crazed ramblings here.  I obviously care a little too much about this particular topic.

As a standalone show (not comparing it to the movie), I think it was pretty fantastic.  The performers were super talented, and the dancing was insane.

When I compare it to the movie, I just felt disappointed.  As with any book-to-movie type transition, they made changes.  Some of them I liked, some I didn't like but understood, and some were just unnecessary.

For example, in the movie, Jack falls in love with David's sister.  She's basically in 3 scenes.As a boy-crazy elementary kid, I didn't understand why he liked her because she barely said or did anything, but that's beside the point.  The reporter in the movie is a middle-aged guy who helps the newsies.  In the musical, they combined these parts.  So Jack's 17.  The girl is working as a reporter, so I assume she's older than that?  And the whole dynamic is different.  And then she's randomly Joe Pulitzer's daughter?  I understand why they made this change, because they wanted the love story to be more central to the plot, but I hated it.  The actress was great, and I actually loved her songs and chemistry with Jack, but I didn't like the way it changed the plot dynamic. And I hate hate hated how it made Pulitzer less of an enemy by the end.  No, Jack would never have gone to work for the paper directly.

But can anyone explain to me why they changed SO MANY of the song lyrics?  And Medda's songs were completely different!  Where's High Times, Hard Times when you need it?  Santa Fe was the first song (and then showed up several more times), which started things off on a slow note.  And the "full" version of it was a lot different than the movie version (which is fabulous, even if Christian Bale is embarrassed about this role).  Besides, if musical Jack is an artist, shouldn't he love living in New York?  Musical Jack wasn't even in the diner for King of New York!  And don't even get me started on the missing Spot Conlon quote "I object... on the ground of Brooklyn!"

And I never really thought about it, but the Newsies rally all the other child laborers in the city, and then Jack makes the deal with Pulitzer, but what happens to all the other kids?  Do they get better treatment??

Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about this particular topic, but I should probably stop ranting now.  This isn't a Broadway review blog!


Scarf: Gap
Cardigan: Gap
Belt: NY&Co
Dress: Loft Maternity
Boots: Madden

Remix Kickoff - Two Favorites

Okay, kicking off the Top 10 Remix with 2 items:  navy dress and mint scarf!  

I have to make fun of myself a little bit.  I recently mentioned on Brynn's blog that I don't really like infinity scarves, and then I turn around and tie this long scarf into one.  The hypocrisy is great.  But something about this outfit on this day just looked better with a scarf/necklace than with a hangy-down scarf.  

Pay no attention to the sun/dust spots all over these pictures.  I tried to clean them up in editing, but I obviously don't know how to photoshop very well, so I gave up and left them as is.  It's artistic, okay?  SO FANCY!  

Scarf: JCF

Dress: Loft Maternity

Cardigan: Old Navy

Belt: NY&Co

Shoes: Old Navy

Winter Book Challenge

Well, after almost completing the summer book challenge, I'm going to try this again.  I think the categories are much harder this time, so there's a good chance I will be distracted by reading things that don't apply, but hey, it's still fun to try!  Details on Megan's blog.  The challenge starts on Nov 1st if anyone wants to join in!

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.  Probably The Rosie Effect (411 pages), but I suspect I will read a few books that don't fall into any of the other categories. 
10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books. - Funny Girl: A Novel (464 pages)
10 points: Read a book of short stories - My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories(320 pages)
10 points: Read a book with a food in the title. - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (274 pages)
15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!). -
The Eyre Affair (374pages)
15 points: Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language. -
Love in the Time of Cholera (348 pages)
15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or from your country if you live somewhere else). - My Antonia (232 pages)
20 points: Read a "bookish book" (in which books play an important role-the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books -
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (260 pages)
20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (e.g. north, south, east, west or any combination of those).  East of Eden reread (601 pages) or I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High (264 pages)
25 points: Read a book from a genre you don't usually read.  - Not sure yet
25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well!  - maybe Peace Like a River(312 pages)
30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch update: meals like feast, banquet, picnic will also count, but try not to get too "creative" with your meal words!). - Breakfast of Champions  (302 pages) and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (303 pages)

And a huge thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!  I had a very nice birthday weekend celebrating!  More about that later this week.

Jacket: JCrew Factory: (exact)
Scarf: J.Crew Factory (exact)
Dress: Limited (similar, similar)
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

#21- Wind Machine

When taking outfit photos, I usually forget my wind machine.  But some days, when I'm taking frantic photos on the side of Kohl's so I can grab a quick dinner of champions at Chick-fil-A before taking care of the 2-year-olds at church, the wind decides to show up.  And the reflection of my pink blazer on my face makes it look like I'm wearing blush.  No need to spend extra time on make-up!  Just wear bright colors!  

I'm so excited that Bri picked a Third Thursday Threads theme that fell into the rules of my 30x30.  LBD for the win!  Go check out the other looks here.  

And please take my survey if you haven't yet!      

Blazer: Gap (option, option)
Necklace: InPink (exact)
Belt: NY&Co (similar)
Dress: Ann Taylor (similar, similar)
Shoes: Old Navy (similar without captoe)

Dress Week - Summer Essentials

It's Third Thursday Threads day!!  Again, it's working out that my theme weeks play nicely with Bri's themes.  And we had a little ESP(n) going this month, because I sent her a guest post all about Summer Must-Haves before I saw the TTT theme.  Great minds, I tell ya!

So here's a pretty typical summer outfit for me:  light dress + bright colored cardigan + belt + comfortable shoes.

That's a formula for easy summer style.  Plus, this dress is famous!  It was on the season 2 finale of New Girl!  I wish that Zooey Deschanel had been wearing it (that would be cooler), but it was just Schmidt's girlfriend.  Anyone else get excited when their clothes are on TV?

Dress Week is still going strong!  Linkup below!

Dress: Target (similar)
Cardigan: Gap (similar)
Belt: NY&C0 (similar)
Shoes: Old Navy (similar without captoe)

Dress Week - Three in One

Get excited!  It's time for another theme week.  This time, we're featuring dresses.  My lovely co-host is Heidi from Literate & Stylish.  I'm starting off the week with a three-fer of iPhone mirror photos.  Because I do what I want!

These three outfits are from my work conference last week.  My hotel room didn't have any good location to build a makeshift tripod tower, so I just ended up doing iphone mirror selfies.  And I forgot to take a picture of my Tuesday daytime dress. (it was this one)

JCF jacket, Old Navy Dress, Chinese Laundry Belt, Sperry Shoes

First up, this is what I wore for traveling on Sunday.   It was comfortable but not too casual.  When I got to the conference, I traded my jacket and Sperrys for a navy cardigan and navy flats for the opening happy hour.  Then I switched back into this outfit for dinner with my team. 

JCF cardigan, Gap Dress, NY&Co Belt, Old Navy Shoes

This was my Monday outfit.  I was in meetings all day and then took clients out to dinner, so I needed to have comfortable shoes, but still look polished.  Also the meeting rooms were like 60 degrees, so I was very happy to have a cardigan. 

Gibson&Latimer Dress, NY&Co Belt, Old Navy Shoes

Tuesday evening was the finale dinner.  I kept it simple in this floral dress, which has been one of my favorites in the past year or so.  I did not have a cardigan to go with it, so I just froze. 

Over 4 days in St. Louis, I barely went outside at all.  We were right by the arch, but I never had the time even walk over and see it properly.  I'm glad I have been there quite a few times, so I wasn't missing out on my only chance to see it! 

Now it's your turn - link up your dresses below (after the jump).  I'll be sharing 4 more this week.  And make sure you check out Heidi's blog to see what she's wearing.   If you want to join in on Instagram or Twitter, you can just use #dressweek.

Also, go check out my guest post all about Summer Must-Haves on Work Clothes, I Suppose.  Spoiler alert - dresses are on the list! 

Signs of Summer

I love summer.  I don't think I'm genetically engineered to thrive in warm weather (my family tends to be fair-skinned and a tad sweaty), but I hate to be cold all winter long, so summer is my favorite.  There are just a few problems.

Spring/Summer in Nebraska means tornado season.  It seems that most people who grow up in Tornado Alley develop some immunity to tornado warnings and hang out on the front porch looking for storms.  Despite spending most of my life in Kansas, I am not one of these people.  You'll find me cowering in the basement. 

It's finally light in the evenings, so I can take outfit pictures when I get home (yay!), but my neighbor is ALWAYS doing yard work.  Like every day.  I'm terrified he will ask me what I'm doing, so I have to be stealthy.  After sneaking outside to take pics, I heard his mower getting louder, so I rushed back inside.  Then I realized that if his wife was in her kitchen, she probably saw me.  They have to think I'm a total weirdo.  They may be right.     

    

Tank: Gap

Belt: NY&Co

Skirt: Loft

Shoes: Old Navy

Long Weekend Recap

Happy Tuesday!  I'm going to pretend that I purposely skipped posting on Monday for Memorial Day, but really, I just forgot to schedule something.  This outfit would have been perfect, because it's all red, white, and blue.  Anyway, enough about my outfit.  How about a weekend recap??

On Friday, I left work early and had a late/long lunch with a friend.  Then I had the rest of the evening to myself and decided it was time to really do a full closet inventory.  I got about halfway done before I had to take a break for dinner.  Then I binge-watched Netflix while ironing for a few hours.  And I'm at a point in my life where I'm content with spending my Friday night ironing.  (Sometimes I still feel like I'm 19, but there are moments where I can believe I'm almost 30.)

Saturday involved more closet sorting, more ironing and folding laundry, AND a lunch/movie date with John.  We went to the new X-Men movie.  It was pretty good, but I have a lot of questions now.  I mean, time travel is always pretty sketchy, so it will be interesting to see where they go from here.  And how long Hugh Jackman can play Wolverine.  He's just getting a little old.

After church on Sunday, I spent the afternoon helping to make wedding mints for my friend's wedding.  It was fun to hang out with her, and the mints are delicious!  Then John and I went over to some friends' house for a good old-fashioned cookout.  Good food, fun people, and my team won at Catch Phrase!

On Monday, I finished my closet inventory (post coming soon), and did a few other things around the house.  Then we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant.

I'd say it was a pretty nice weekend!  Did you do anything fun with the extra day?  (my apologies if you had to work!)  

Top: Michael Kors via TJ Maxx
Cardigan & Shoes: Old Navy
Skirt: Target
Belt: NY&Co