Graphic Tee Week - Do What You Love

Graphic Tee Week is here!  Get excited!  Be sure to check out Priya's posts this week, and remember you can link up with us every day! 

Most of my t-shirts are of the concert/sports team/vacation souvenir variety, but the ones I wear to work are usually of the more fashiony variety.  This particular one was a steal ($2.50) at the Gap a few summers ago.  I like it because it kind of just looks like a flowery design from far away, but if you look closely, it says "Do What You Love."  Matchy-matchy seemed like the way to go, so I played off the blue of the shirt and added this skirt, and then played off the orange/coral in the skirt to add the cardigan.

Let me just say that this might be my most-complimented outfit ever.  My co-workers were really onboard with this look.

Cardigan: Old Navy
Tee: Gap
Skirt: Gap Factory
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

Boyfriends

I'm a big fan of boyfriend cardigans and boyfriend jeans, but the names don't really make sense.  I understand that it's supposed to look like I stole this cardigan from my boyfriend.  But let's be honest - I've never known a boy who wears cardigans, much less bright coral ones.  My gray cardigan is a little more masculine, but it looks more like I borrowed it from my grandpa (and I never saw either of my grandpas in a cardigan either).    

Also, I don't currently have a boyfriend.  My last boyfriend was so cool that I decided to marry him, and he was so smart that he decided to marry me.  Sorry - that got a little sappy!

Linking up with  What I Wore and What I Wore to Work.

Tee: Banana Republic
Cardigan: Old Navy
Jeans: Jessica Simpson
Shoes: Payless

Monday Again

Happy Monday!  The weekends just never last long enough.  If you are on Instagram, you may have noticed that I was in St. Louis all weekend.  We drove out Friday after work and then drove back yesterday after the Cardinals game.  It was a really fun weekend (recap post coming soon), but we got home really late last night and now I am exhausted!  I think this was the last crazy weekend of the summer, so hopefully I can get back into a somewhat normal routine! 

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Dress: Gap
Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Chinese Laundry
Sandals: Anne Klein

Southpaw Problems

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

I'm left-handed (very, very, very left-handed).  Honestly, I'm sort of proud to be a lefty, but there are some major obstacles.  Most right-handed people don't even realize how many things are specifically designed with handedness in mind.  Just a small list of my many troubles over the years:

• Scissors - using right-handed scissors is THE WORST!  The thumb-hole angle is all wrong and is pretty painful to use for very long.  I have a pair of lefty scissors that I got when I was in elementary school and I am very protective of them.  

• Sports - maybe I'm just uncoordinated (probably the case), but it was very difficult to learn sports when pretty much all of the coaches were right-handed.  In PE class, we all had to perfect a right-handed lay-up, even the lefties!  Not fair at all.  Equipment is also harder to find and usually more expensive.  A few years ago, I was interested in learning how to golf, and I had to buy a set of lefty clubs online, because I couldn't find any in stores (and I couldn't borrow any from all my righty friends).  In college, I played intramural softball, and I didn't have my old lefty mitt at school.  They said they had extra equipment available, but they didn't mention that the only lefty glove was no longer laced together (and also smelled funky).  I couldn't catch anything! 

• Writing - even if you find a lefty notebook (which I used all through school), writing is still a mess.  I don't hook my hand over the page like some lefties, so I almost always had ink stains on my hand and smeared writing on the paper.  In high school, my English teacher decided that we needed to hand-write our papers for a few months, instead of typing.  I still don't know the purpose of this other than to make my life miserable.  I frequently got points docked for sloppiness because the ink was smeared.  I wonder if life is easier for left-handed people who live in "right-to-left language" countries.  And don't even get me started about trying to write in a 3-ring binder! 

• Eating - at sit-down meals, I try to sit on the left end of the table, but it doesn't always work out.  When my neighbor and I inevitably bump elbows, everyone always blames the lefty.  

• Basic items - again, you've probably never noticed this, but several basic household items are made for right-handed people.  Can-openers, measuring cups, pencil sharpeners, tape measures. Even a plain old sauce pan is designed to pour out of the left side, meaning I have to use my weaker arm, or twist my left arm awkwardly to pour anything.  

• Desks - those stupid desks that pretty much make up every classroom from middle school through college.  There was usually 1 lefty desk in each classroom, but more than 1 lefty student.  True story, during my accounting final in college, I was sitting at a righty desk, and twisted sideways in the chair to write my answers.  In a moment of frustration (and back pain) I sat back regularly and propped my right elbow up on the desk, not realizing the catapult situation that would happen.  My calculator and pencil flew across the room.  So embarrassing.  I should have told that story the other day.  

• SAT/ACT discrimination - I hope this isn't a common occurrence.  When I went to take these big important tests, they corralled all the left-handed kids into a group.  I assumed they would take us to a magical room filled with left-handed desks.  No.  They took us to a dark, creepy room in the basement that still had long table desks.  It was pretty unnerving.  I maintain I would have scored higher if I had been in a normal room!  

So there's my big sob-story.  I try to make the best of it, and most of the time, it's not a big deal, but I like buying lefty-specific products when I see them!  Rumor has it that left-handed people have a life expectancy 9 years shorter than right-handed people, so that's sort of unpleasant.  It's probably because we have higher stress levels trying to work around this crazy right-handed world!  I also read somewhere that lefties have smarter kids, which I completely believe (my mom is left-handed, too!).  

close-up to prove the polka dots are stars

It's also Third Thursday Threads time!  The theme for this month is WORKWEAR, which is super easy, because most of my outfits are worn to work.  My office is pretty casual, so I decided to pick one of my dressier recent outfits.  I also learned that I shouldn't stand in front of red brick when I am wearing a coral cardigan, because it will look very orange.


Blouse: Alfani via Macy's
Cardigan and Skirt: Old Navy
Belt: Chinese Laundry via TJ Maxx
Shoes: Born via Dillard's

Give a Little Bit

Marisa Kristina Cardi, Old Navy top and skirt, Born shoes

At some point, I decided I would host my first giveaway whenever I got to 50 followers.  Well, on August 18th, this finally happened!  Then we went on vacation and life has just been crazy, but I am keeping my word, even if it is a month late!

I was shopping with a friend last week and we wandered into Charming Charlie (Have you been there?  It's fabulous!  Oh, and this is not a sponsored post at all, I'm just gushing on my own).  I picked up this necklace for myself, but then remembered I was supposed to do a giveaway.  I almost bought 2, but then I decided that was ridiculous and I would just buy one for the giveaway.

Thank you all for reading my silly little blog.  It has been almost a year and I still get so excited with every new follower and comment.  I mean, I started this blog as a creative outlet for myself, but the community of bloggers just makes it a lot more fun! 

I wish I could give you all a new necklace (or a new car), but I am not Oprah, so we have to settle for 1 winner this time.    Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below, and I will pick a winner next week.

a Rafflecopter giveaway