Elephants on Parade

This is my new elephant scarf that my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday.  I like how from far away it just looks like a generic print, but then when you get closer the elephants are more obvious!  Plus it has a lot of different colors going on, so I can wear it with several color schemes.  Here's a closeup shot: 

Speaking of animal print....  Remember that next week, I'm rocking leopard print every single day!  It's going to be tricky because I'm going to keep TOPIO going, as well.  And then Friday will be a link-up, where you can share your looks with me and Brynn.  I'm pretty excited! 

One week of TOPIO down, 3 to go!  

Scarf: gift
Sweater: Gap
Skirt: Target
Boots:  Steve Madden

Fall Floral

The jacket was passed along!  It's that time of year when I can get away with wearing some of my lighter coats, so I'm trying to make the most of it.  It's also the time of year when I have fewer days that I can wear non-boots, so I try to take advantage of those, too.  I'm hoping to avoid tights as long as possible.  My unofficial goal is to make it through November, but I don't know if that is going to happen.  Rumor has it that some snow made an appearance yesterday around 2am.  I was asleep, so I'm going to pretend it's not true.

Oh, and another reminder that next week is all about the leopard print!  I'm excited to announce that Brynn will be co-hosting the theme week, and you can link up with us on Friday!

My TOPIO collage is growing....  Be sure to stop by Sarah's Real Life to find other participating bloggers.

Jacket: Relativity
Scarf: H&M
Sweater: Gap
Skirt: Target
Shoes: Born

Smile

This sweater was one of the super cheap impulse buys in my July shopping.  But I really like it, so it's all good!  And I really like these jeans, because they have polka dots on them, and that's a good reason to smile!  See what I did there?

In completely unrelated news - I'm doing another theme week and link up next week.  It's going to get a little crazy with TOPIO and theme week, but I think I've got it all figured out.  The theme is leopard print, so get your outfits ready to link up on Friday the 15th!

I feel like my Take One, Pass It On collage is going to get kind of ridiculous as the month progresses.

1/2/3

Will tomorrow's post feature non-boot footwear?  Maybe.

Jacket: Relativity
Sweater: Gap
Jeans: Limited
Boots: Wanted

Pass It On

It probably won't surprise you that I'm taking the most basic item from yesterday's post to pass along to today's.  And if you described these two outfits, you might say the same thing: white button-up shirt, pink, polka dots, cardigan, boots.  But they are really quite different.  

Also, this outfit was inspired by Brynn, who styled her polka dot jeans in a very similar way the other day.  I love it when my blog friends have items like I have, so I can steal their ideas!

And finally, these are my new birthday boots!  Hooray!  I've been looking for a nice pair of flat black boots for a few years and I love these!  I'll probably be wearing them a ton this winter.  Now I just need to find a similar pair in cognac!  

1/2

You'll never guess what I'm passing along for tomorrow!  Or maybe you will.  I really don't know.  You have about 3 options, so your odds are pretty good.

Shirt: Gap
Cardigan: Marisa Kristina
Jeans: Limited
Boots: Steve Madden

Take One - Take Two

Back in February, I did the Take One, Pass It On Challenge with Sarah from Sarah's Real Life, but I kind of cheated and made up my own rules.  She's at it again and I'm going to do it for realsies this time.  We're starting off with an outfit that I wore a couple weeks ago for the Pantone color challenge, but never posted, because I was lazy on my birthday.  If anyone asks, my boots and cardigan are "carafe."  Not brown.  

This is another outfit that seemed like a good idea in my mind, but just didn't translate when I actually put the clothes on.  Maybe if the cardigan was longer, or maybe if the top was shorter, or the skirt was a pencil instead of a wrap.  I tried tucking the top in, but I felt fat when I did that.  I added a belt, but then it felt like I had too much going on.  After work, I played around a little bit and actually liked it best when I tied my shirt. Which is what I did the first time I wore this skirt.  Maybe it's just a tricky skirt.  Who knows.

Anyway, make sure you come back tomorrow to see which item is being passed along!  It's so SUSPENSEFULLLLL!!!

Top & Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Chaus via Dillard's
Boots: Rampage

Book Review - The Storyteller

Where to begin with this book?  I guess I'll start with some background on my feelings toward Jodi Picoult.  I read My Sister's Keeper in 2006, and liked it (even though it made me cry).  Then I read Handle with Care in 2009, and it felt like the EXACT SAME STORY.  Then someone told me not all of her books are the same like that, so I gave her another chance and read Perfect Match.  It was different in the sense that it wasn't about 2 sisters and health issues, but as far as the emotional blackmail, and use of current/controversial topics and "surprise endings," JP pretty much has a formula for writing her books.  I decided I wouldn't read any of her other books.

Then my Literary Junkies book club picked The Storyteller.  After skipping the September and October books, I figured I ought to jump back in.  Plus the synopsis on Goodreads sounded kind of interesting. 

My synopsis (which doesn't contain any more spoilers than the one on Goodreads) is that Sage Singer is an emotional wreck, and then she meets this nice old man, and then he tells her he was a Nazi war criminal and asks her to kill him.  And then she struggles with what to do.  Oh, and her grandma is a holocaust survivor, so Sage has a more personal connection to the situation.  Kind of an interesting idea, right?  And it was kind of an interesting book, but there were just things that I couldn't get over.

The first half of the book had me rolling my eyes on almost every page (spoilers in white font).

• Sage is named after the spice.  Her sisters are Pepper and Saffron, because their dad was a baker, and that's really normal for people to name their children after items from their career.  Also, she's got a scar on her face that prickles when she's feeling emotional (a little too similar to Harry Potter!) Oh, and she's having an affair with a married guy because she feels too ugly to have a real relationship.  And it's supposed to be a surprise at the end, but it was very obvious how she got her scar.  
• Her co-workers are ridiculous.  I mean, the one guy only speaks in Haiku.  First of all, that's just cheesy and unbelievable, and secondly, SO DISTRACTING!  I found myself wondering if we are supposed to believe he does that all the time, and why his family hadn't sent him to therapy or something.  I can't imagine he has any close relationships because how would you have a conversation?  And this is really not the point of the novel!  I shouldn't be worried about Rocco's social issues.  
• Enter Josef:  90-something German guy.  After knowing Sage for a very short time (like a few days, I think), he announces that he wants her to kill him, because of crimes he committed during WWII.  This revelation was really awkward, because they barely knew each other at this point.  I don't understand Sage's conflict at all.  She barely knows this guy.  I would have preferred it if JP set the stage that they had known each other for many years, and then I'd buy the turmoil that Sage is going through.  
• Then we meet Leo (the DOJ Nazi-hunter) and he's a total creep!  I know it's supposed to feel like fate brought him and Sage together, but it mostly just seemed like he was a predator.  
• The best parts of the book were the grandma's life story and her work of fiction.  After that section of the book, I liked the grandma so much that I started to transfer my positive feelings to Sage. 
• After the middle of the book (which is the Grandma telling her stories from WWII), it was hard to jump back to Sage's problems.  I was more interested at this point, but the juxtaposition of the 2 stories was kind of jarring.  
• The ending was just okay for me.  Pretty typical Picoult.  I really hated the fact that Sage and Leo are supposed to be starting a life together and right off the bat she is lying to him about some pretty important stuff, but I think that was kind of the point - that there was no good way to resolve the situation.  

Anyway, we are having our Twitter chat in a couple weeks, so I'll be interested to see what everyone else thought of it.  Have you read this book?  Or any other Jodi Picoult books?  What are your thoughts?

October Goal Review

 

Happy Friday!  Happy November!  Oh, I have to do a goal review for October?  Blergh.  My excuses this month involve mostly birthday activities.  Here's the deal:  

• Do a project, mostly sewing - nope.
• Work out 3x a week - ummm...  I don't think so. 

• Tackle a project around the house - nope, I barely kept up with the routine chores! 
• Cook a "real" meal at least 3 days each week - Probably not.  I feel like we were busy in the evenings more this month, so we aren't always home for dinner
• Stick to a clothing budget - Success!  I'm using up my overages from earlier in the year, but I'm still under budget for Year-to-date.  Plus, I have some bonus birthday present money!  
• Read 50 books in 2013 - October was a good month for reading!  I finished 7 books, so I'm back on track for the year. 

Basically, if being a person was a job, I'd be fired.  Why can't exercising and home-making be as easy as reading books and shopping the right amount??

Blazer: Jones New York
Top: Von Maur
Jeans: Limited
Shoes: Gap