Office Olympics

Last week, my company held the annual Office Olympics.  We do ridiculous things at work sometimes, like Rock Band Tournaments and Office Chair Parades.  The Office Olympics are just one of these things.  The day of this event also happened to be one of the first chilly days of the fall.  I thought it was a pretty good excuse to bust out my new Ben Folds Five hoodie.  (Seriously, blogger doesn't think hoodie is a word!)

My team got 8th out of 14 total teams.  This basically means we are the winners of the bottom half.  We also couldn't think of a clever team name, so the organizers just called us "Team MLDJS", which is the first initial of each of our last names.

Every year, I hope to discover a talent that I hadn't previously known about.  No luck this year.  I did learn I'm not particularly skilled at catching a ping pong ball with a lint roller or throwing a pool noodle like a javelin.  Maybe next year...

Shirt and Jeans: Gap
Hoodie: concert souvenir
Shoes: Converse

A Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

Yesterday was John's birthday, so we spent the weekend taking it easy and celebrating.  Friday evening, we met up with his parents at Dave and Busters for dinner and arcade games.  Not to brag (well maybe a little), but I totally won at Pac-Man!

Saturday morning, we woke up and realized fall had shown up!  It was about 56 degrees in our house, so we had to turn the heater on for the year.  Of course, today it was back up in the 70's again.

After church on Sunday, we went to lunch with some friends, and then met John's sister and her boyfriend for dinner.  It was a pretty laid back birthday weekend!  I tried to explain that since my birthday is coming up on a Wednesday, I get both weekends of celebration.  I'm not sure that's going to fly!

Sweater, belt, coat: Gap
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Guess
Purse: Wilson's Leather

Sometimes in the Fall

I'm not sure when it happened, but the tree in our backyard decided it was definitely fall!  The leaves are much prettier than our mostly brown lawn.  The photo-shoot didn't last long before I was throwing leaves into the air.  I was just slightly concerned about the potential for spiders or other bugs that might be in the leaves.  I really didn't want to throw spiders into the air.

Cardigan, top, skirt: Gap
Shoes: Target
Bangles: Charming Charlie
Ring and necklaces: gifts from my parents

Zombie Bait

If a zombie situation ever occurs, I'm fairly resigned to the fact that I will be one of the first to die (or you know, un-die, or whatever).  I mean, I'm not too worried about a zombie apocalypse actually happening, but if it does, I'm toast - I can't run very fast, and I totally fall apart in high pressure situations.  Even if I did manage to evade the zombies, I wouldn't do very well with scrounging for food and survival out in the woods or wherever we would be hiding out.

I recently started a one-month free trial at Curves, and when I went in to sign all the forms, the lady asked me what reasons I had for wanting to get in shape, other than being healthy and looking better. I completely drew a blank at the time, but when I got home and we started watching season 2 of The Walking Dead, I realized my goal for getting into shape should be to survive if zombies ever show up. That's a good fitness goal, right?   I really wish I would have thought of that and said it with a straight face when she asked.

Anyway, I also like my new skirt!  J.Crew outlet might be my new favorite store.

Blazer: Limited
Sweater: Gap
Skirt: J.Crew
Shoes: BCBGeneratio

Third Quarter Reflection

Where did Jul-Sep go?  I can't believe it is already time to review my goals.  My instinct tells me I am not doing very well, but let's have a look:

1. Be more active!  Um....pass?  Jul-Sep was not awesome for motivation.  I mostly blame my own laziness, but it was also ridiculously hot outside for most of the summer and we were traveling more than usual.  John and I played tennis a few times, but I have not had a consistent routine at all.  I have a coupon for 30 days at Curves, so I am starting that this week.  I've never been to a Curves, so I hope it's a good gym for me! 
2. Be a More Discerning Shopper.  This is so subjective, but I think I am doing better.  I have been trying harder to have list in mind of things I want to add to my wardrobe instead of just buying whatever is cute and on sale.  Just this past weekend, I had an armload of clearance dresses from Banana Republic that I was going to try on, because they were like $15 each!  Then I thought about it, and realized they were all summer dresses that wouldn't transition into fall/winter very well.  And I wasn't sure I would like any of them next summer, so I put them back without even taking the time to try on.  That's progress, my friends!
3. Be a better wife!  Mostly in the realm of dinner preparation.  I haven't been keeping track of this, but I think I am doing better.  I should really have a measurable goal for this.  I'll have to think about that and determine one. 
4. Be more creative!   The beginning of July was a good time for creativity.  I made the July 4th tank top, and fixed up my purse from Goodwill.   I also recently painted my front door, which is kind of creative, right?  I'm also re-decorating the hall bathroom, and am halfway through attempting this project.     
5.  Read 50 books in 2012.  It was a good quarter for reading, at least!  I read 17 books in Jul-Sep and am now at 40 for the year, which puts me 3 books ahead of schedule.   I was worried I wouldn't be able to hit my goal on this, but I feel like I am on track now.  Just have to read 10 books in the next 3 months - shouldn't be a problem!


Top: J. Crew
Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Old Navy
Shoes: Michelle D via Dillard's

Dress to Skirt to Dress

Remember when I chopped this purple maxi dress into a skirt?  Well, apparently I wanted to still have a purple dress, because I was inspired to make it into a dress for the day. 

Dress: Gap (refashioned by me)
Cardigan: Loft
Belt: from another dress
Shoes: Born
Necklace: inPink

The Best Imitation of Myself

Happy Monday and Happy October!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  John and I ventured down to Kansas City and had a pretty awesome time!  

Friday night, we went to the Ben Folds Five concert at the Starlight Theatre (really cool venue!).  I've been to several Ben Folds concerts over the years (in fact, I was trying to count and I can't remember all of them), but hadn't ever seen Ben Folds Five in concert.  

It was a really great show and they played mostly old stuff, but a few off the new album.  If you haven't seen it yet, you should go watch the video for their new single (featuring the Fraggles).

After the concert, we ventured over to hang out with one of our good friends who lives in KC.  Ben made a delicious breakfast for us on Saturday morning and then I tricked the guys into letting me go shopping while they went to the shooting range.  I only bought 2 things, but I am pretty excited about them! 

J.Crew skirt

Not exact, but I found similar boots to these that I pinned recently!

Then we met back up and did some bowling.  I'm not a great bowler, and usually do not break 100 in a game.  We bowled 2 games and (unbelievably) I got 100 in my first game and 102 in my second!  I even got a few strikes!  It was ridiculous!

Saturday evening, we went to a birthday party for one of Ben's friends in KC and it was a lot of fun.  They were very kind to let 2 strangers crash the party.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful weekend!  I just kind of fail at taking pictures.  I mean, I really should have taken pictures of us bowling instead of just the scoreboard.  Blogger fail!

How was your weekend?