Get a Job

On Friday, Brynn shared 4 jobs she has had over the years.  I thought it was fun to read, so I decided to steal it.  Because that's what blogging is all about!  So here are the jobs I had before I graduated from college and got a real job:

• Babysitting - one summer (I think I was 10 or 11), I babysat my cousin all day every day.  When I think about this now, it seems crazy.  I don't think my nieces who are 10 even stay home by themselves, let alone taking care of a toddler.  We watched The Lion King about 4000 times.  And I'm pretty sure I got paid $25 per week.  So, it wasn't a high-paying job, but at the end of the summer, I was able to buy myself a boombox (with a CD player) and a Shania Twain CD.  At the time, it seemed like a fortune.  I babysat a handful of times after that, but I wasn't really the babysitting type.  
• Mowing Lawns - my brother started a lawn-mowing business and I was his employee.  Again, I don't think I got paid enough for my efforts, but we had fun, and I got a pretty great farmer's tan.  And a lot of girls I knew didn't even know how to start a mower, so I am glad I have that particular skill, even if I haven't used it in many years.
• Law Firm Runner - in high school, I got my first "real" job, where I actually got a paycheck.  One of my friends had been working for her dad's law firm as a runner, and she quit to do something else, so they hired me.  This was when I thought I wanted to go to law school someday.  I quickly changed my mind.  But it was a pretty awesome job.  Filing was super easy, if at times boring.  I loved running errands around downtown, and going to the different courthouses.  Plus some of the other runners were cute boys, which was a nice bonus to a teenage girl. 
• Receptionist - when I moved to Indiana, I worked for a gastroenterology office as a receptionist.  Here's the thing, I hated answering the phones, so this was not an ideal job for me.  Plus patients would call with extremely gross complaints, when they really should have just asked to talk to the nurse.  And I had to file the pictures from the colonoscopies, which you can't do without looking at the pictures.  The best part of this job was that we worked 9 hour days, and then closed at noon on Fridays.  
• Target - another summer in Indiana, I ended up working at the Target.  It was weird, but pretty easy.  I got very tired of wearing red and khaki.  Whenever I am back in Indy at that Target, I sometimes see people who I was friends with for 3 months, and I'm sure they don't remember me, but I feel awkward like I should say hi.  
• Hotel Gift Shop - during college, I got hired at a local Husker gear store.  I didn't realize the owner also ran the gift shop at a hotel, which was where I mostly worked.  Again, not a high-paying job, but it was perfect during college.  I usually worked the closing shift, from about 4-10, and it was usually really slow, so I could do homework or just watch TV or read a book.  The worst part was on Husker football game days, because we ALL had to work ALL day, but he let us leave for the game if we had tickets.  So I'd wake up at like 5am, work until game time, run to the stadium where my friends were hopefully saving me a seat, and then a few minutes before the game was over, I'd run back to the store and work until 10pm or so.  In hindsight, I'm not sure how legal that was, because we didn't get breaks other than for the game.  Anyway, the Huskers were pretty terrible those years, so I started going back to my apartment during the game to take a nap and eat something.  

So there you have it - my random jobs over the years.  The law firm was probably my favorite.  What was your favorite part-time job?

Cardigan: Gap
Top: JCF
Pants: Old Navy Maternity
Shoes: JCF

Starry Skies

This tee shirt makes me happy, because it's just a basic navy tee, but then it's covered in glitter.  It reminds me of a starry sky.  And more specifically of that line from the Incubus song where he says "the sky resembles a back-lit canopy with holes punched in it".  Which I thought was a super romantic and profound description when I was about 15.  And I still think it's a kind of cool line.

As a city girl, I don't get to see the stars as much as I wish I did, especially in the winter when it is too cold to be out at night.  I don't particularly like camping, but I do love getting out away from the city lights to see the stars.  I took an astronomy class in college, and I've forgotten most of the things we learned.  My professor was an old British guy with a terrible stutter who apparently was really into medieval instruments on the side.  He was a character for sure, but I wish I remembered more of what he tried to teach me.  As is, I can pick out just a few constellations.  My favorite is Cassiopeia, because it's just a big W and pretty easy to spot most of the time.

Cardigan: Gap
Tee: Gap Maternity
Jeans: Old Navy Maternity
Shoes: Old Navy

Snowy Week

As usual, I'm about 2 weeks behind on posting pictures, so this outfit wouldn't work at all this week, due to the excessive amounts of snow we currently have.  After a big snow on Saturday/Sunday, schools were all canceled on Monday, and then more snow early Wednesday morning means schools were cancelled yesterday. Of course, I still had to go to work.  Anyway, it's really cold and snowy and the roads aren't great, but that is to be expected this time of year.  And January was mostly nice, so I can't complain too much.

I wore this particular outfit to Sunday evening church a couple weeks ago when it wasn't freezing out.  I was happy to break out my polka dot flats instead of wearing boots every single day!  

Scarf; Target

Top: Kohl's Maternity

Jacket: JCF

Jeans: H&M

Shoes: Gap

Currently February

A couple weeks ago, I had the idea of wearing my new black pixie pants with this green blouse and my gray sweater.  I put it on and the proportions were just not looking right.  But I had in my head that this blouse needed to be paired with black and gray.  And then I happened upon this skirt at the Gap and it all came together.  Just pretend I ironed the skirt before wearing it, okay?  And hey, none of these are maternity clothes, so that's kind of exciting!

Oh, and it's the first Wednesday of the month, so I'm linking up with the Currently ladies (Anne and Jenna)!

Reading - Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.  I've never been into collections of short stories, but I've liked a few recently, and I have to read anything by Neil Gaiman.  I've only read the first few stories, but I like them (no big surprise there)

Pinning - ALL THE BABY THINGS!

Eating - whatever sounds good at that very moment.  I'm not one of those pregnant ladies who wants to overshare about all my symptoms, but I think I am done with the"feeling pretty good" portion of pregnancy.  I'm now in the awkward part where I will be starving, and then 10 minutes later feel completely stuffed, even though I didn't eat anything.  I think it has a lot to do with where the baby is deciding to hang out compared to my internal organs.  So weird.

Anticipating - May 4th is exactly 3 months away, so I'm anticipating having a tiny human arrive soon!  And sort of panicking about all the things I want to get done before then.

Sweater: Gap
Blouse: Old Navy
Necklace: InPink
Skirt: Gap
Tights:Old Navy
Boots: Madden

PMT - Try a New Hairstyle

I basically have 3 hairstyles - down, top pinned back, bun, braid.  But PMT's challenge for this week was to try a new hairstyle, so I went with it and tried this braided half-up-do thing.  And my hair was extra fluffy because I tried to skip the mousse and just use my leave-in conditioner.  All that added up to me feeling very much like a medieval princess.  You know, since they loved wearing denim jackets.

Another big win for fake spring - light jacket!  no tights! outdoor pictures! (Granted - we got totally spoiled last week and then it snowed all weekend, so I'm back to many layers!)

Jacket: JCF
Scarf: H&M
Dress: Old Navy Maternity
Belt: Chinese Laundry
Boots: Madden

Wooden Accessories

Just so you know, I've been wearing these sunglasses a lot, and I still like them!  And they really seemed perfect with my wooden necklace and this outfit.  I just need more wooden accessories, I guess!  Or maybe one necklace and one pair of sunglasses is a reasonable amount for my "not very earthy" style.

And just a little weekend review - Saturday was another busy day getting stuff done around the house.  Then John's parents came over and the guys painted in the baby's room.  I'm so excited to see it coming together!  And then it snowed all day Saturday and into Sunday morning, so church was canceled, and we just stayed in on Sunday.  The snow is so pretty, but I'm not excited to go outside any time soon (too bad I have to work today!)  And since my posts are about 2 weeks behind reality, I'm looking back fondly on the day when I could stand out on the deck in just a cardigan and take pictures!

Sunglasses: HF Eyewear
Cardigan: Gap
Dress: Younkers
Necklace: Israel
Belt: Madden
Tights: H&M
Boots: Madden

Budget Rewind - January 2013

Well, I had so much fun with the January 2014 review that I decided to go back to 2013.  This means I have 2 years of reflection instead of just one. 

Good

• Gap Always Skinny Mint Jeans - $13 - I wore these 9 times on the blog, and I think quite a bit undocumented.  I just recently sold them on ThredUp, and got a few dollars, so I'd say these were well within the $1/wear that I'd like to shoot for.  A super impulse buy, but I loved them while I had them!
• J.Crew Factory Classic Cardigan in Vibrant Flame - $14:  I love these JCF cardigans!  So glad I got this one, because I don't have a lot of orange in my closet, and I think it is a fun color to wear!  
• Gap Boyfriend sweater - $6: this was a replacement for my prior Gap navy sweater that was falling apart because I wore it so much.  For $6, I was super happy to snag this one.  
• Gap Boyfriend Fitted Shirt - $12:  I've been neglecting it lately (and most recently due to inability to button), but this is a great basic shirt to have.  I wore it a lot in the first year I had it.  Hopefully I will be able to wear it again sometime!

Medium

• Gap Striped Scoop-neck Tee -  $9:  I really loved the contrasting sleeves and pocket in thinner stripes on this top, but since I almost always wore it with a jacket or cardigan, I noticed I was picking my other navy/white striped tee or tank, because those just fit better.  
• Mossimo Lady Satchel - $12: I used this purse for quite awhile, and I still think it is super cute, but then I got a couple nicer purses for birthdays, and I mostly just use those.  With that in mind, I recently got rid of all my random cheaper purses, because I am not a purse-hoarder like some women (I much prefer clothes and shoes!)
• J.Crew Factory Tissue V-Neck Tee  - $5 - I mean, it was $5, but I've only worn it a couple times. Still in the closet, but I'm not sure it should be.  

Bad

• Merona Kylan Fur Ankle Boot - $10 - I guess I wore these more than I thought I did, so they've been promoted from the 'ugly' category.  I just sold them on Thredup, as well.  But these were an impulse buy that I probably should have just left at the store. 
• 
  

Ugly (aka already removed from my closet):

• Old Navy Polka Dot shirtdress - $19 - I really tried to make it work, but the length on this shirt/dress/tunic whatever just wasn't working for me at all.  I cringe that I spent almost $20 on something and only managed to wear it a few times.  But I'm defenseless against polka dots.  

Honorable mention:

• Old Navy Striped dress - $10  (Update: I had to return this, due to a giant hole appearing!) - I think this would have been in the good category if it hadn't been ruined the first time I wore it.  I'm still sad about this one, because I loved the varying width on the stripes.  

So 4 good, 3 medium, 2 bad, and 1 ugly.  With 2 years of reflection, I don't feel super ashamed of those numbers.