Just Okay

This outfit is from a few weeks ago.  I don't love it.  I don't hate it, but it's just kind of blah.  I should have added a belt or something.  Plus these tights just make me look like my legs are kind of tan, and it's going to be very disappointing when I'm actually showing my knees and they are just slightly darker than the white wall behind me. 



Top & Cardigan: J.Crew factory
Dress (as a skirt) & Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Steve Madden
Necklace: Charming Charlie

Misadventures in Racing

My father-in-law's birthday was last week, so we celebrated on Saturday.  For something fun/different, we ventured into Iowa for some Go-Kart Racing.  I had no idea what to expect, but it sounded like fun.  I'm kind of competitive, so I was hoping to make a decent showing.  My goals quickly changed as the day progressed.  Originally, I wanted to win.  Then we had to sign a waiver about death and severe injuries and my new goal was "win and don't get injured/killed."  

Me, Becca, Nicole - smiling before the first race

Cecil and John before the first race

The teenager running things gave us a quick rundown of the rules and I immediately forgot about 90% of it.  I figured I could just catch on to what everyone else was doing.  Then he said I was in the first cart.  Not cool, dude!  Then he told us to tie up our hair, because it can light on fire (new goal - don't burn my hair off!)

Starting scoreboard - the last time I will be in first place.

I got off to a rocky start - I didn't realize how hard I'd have to push the gas, and how tight the steering wheel would be.  My goal quickly changed from "win" to "don't get last!"  Success!!  I got 4th out of 5th place.  Pretty sure my MIL was just being nice and didn't want to risk running into me when she tried to pass.  Just to give you an idea, the race is 16 laps.  By the time John finished, I was only on lap 14.

For the second race, I just wanted to beat my average lap time (23.66), and my fastest lap time (20.86).  I thought it would be pretty easy now that I had the hang of driving these crazy machines.  Oh, how wrong I was...

It started off pretty well.  I was going faster and thought I might not get lapped twice this time.  On my 5th lap, I don't know exactly what happened, but I somehow crashed into the barriers, like really hard.  This is pretty normal, so the guy came to rescue me, but then he realized that he couldn't, because I had crashed so hard that my go-kart actually went under the barrier and was completely stuck.  Don't worry - there were several spectators laughing at me, so that made it much better!  At least I had a helmet on so they couldn't see how completely mortified I looked!  They had to stop the race, get a few guys to free/fix my vehicle, and then I got to keep racing.  But at this point I was totally freaked out.  My average lap time for that race went down to 33.4.  I did beat my previous fastest lap time (19.02).  It's just that my 5th lap had an extra 2 minutes for the rescue.  I only finished 10 of the 16 laps that time.  So embarrassing!  

Me and Becca before the 3rd race - I'm still fairly embarrassed at this point

For the 3rd race, my new goal was to not crash.  That's all.  I tried to be quick but cautious.  This was the best race for me.  I got my average down to 22.97, and I didn't draw any embarrassing attention to myself!  I call that a win!  I mean, unless you consider that I got last place, again.  But I finished 12 laps!

So fast it's just a blur!  

Anyway, that's my go-kart story.  It was about 82% fun and 18% stressful/embarrassing.  And I felt like I had been in a legit car accident, so that wasn't good.  Probably not something I do on a regular basis!  I'm more of a mini-golf type of girl!

**Special thanks to Becca and Nicole for sharing pictures.  I'm so fired from being a blogger!

Announcing GREEN Week

Hi there!  I don't have a whole lot to say about this week or about this outfit, but I do have a fun announcement for you all!  Theme weeks are my new favorite thing, and with St. Patrick's Day coming up, it made sense to focus on all things emerald/kelly/lime/olive.  I even planned ahead this time, to give you all plenty of days to prepare!  

The week of March 17th, I'll be blogging green outfits!  I have 2 lovely co-hosts this time:  Heather and Ashley, so be sure to follow along with them as well.  You can link up with us any day that whole week to share your posts about anything green (outfit, home decor, food).  You have 10 days to prepare!  Well, really more than that, because the link will be live until the 24th, but you know what I mean!  

  

I hope you all have a great weekend!

I'm linking up with Casual Friday and Favorite Fashion Friday with Penniless Socialite & Delusions of Grandeur

Sweater: Old Navy
Chambray: J.Crew Factory
Necklace: Limited
Jeans: Gap
Boots: Madden

Dance and Twirl

Another day, another summer dress with winter layers.  Remember back in November, when I thought this dress was done for the season?  I'm so glad you all told me to buy some navy tights, because this dress makes me happy.  And I know that's silly, but LOOK AT ALL THE STRIPES!  I'd like to think that I would have eventually realized navy tights were an option, but who knows when that would have happened.  The only problem is that these tights sometimes look purple instead of navy.  And purple is about the only color not represented in my dress.

Anyway, this was from a couple Sundays ago.  The good thing about Sundays is that John can take pictures for me when we get home from church, and it's light outside!  The bad thing is that Sundays are the earliest morning for me each week, so I usually sleep too late, and then rush to get ready.  The weird thing about John taking pictures is that he usually convinces me to act crazy, and then sometimes he peer pressures me into posting the goofy pictures on the internet. (Exhibit A, B, C).

I believe the instructions were to dance and twirl, because standing still is boring.  I think I was doing something more like The Twist.  So here you go:

I think I prefer standing still.  But I guess this does really show the movement of my necklace! 

Today I'm linking up with Tres-Chic Fashion and What I Wore to Work

Cardigan: Old Navy
Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Belt: Gap
Necklace: F21
Boots: Madden

Winter Flowers

It is now the time of year when winter needs to go away!  March is spring, right?  Unfortunately, Nebraska didn't get the memo, so it's still in the freezing range most days.  I'll just keep wearing my summer dresses with ALL THE LAYERS!

Linking up with What I Wore Wednesday

Cardigan: Gap

Dress: Gibson & Latimer

Boots: Madden

Belt: Chinese Laundry

Trendy Tuesday - Gingham

I think it is so fun that Danielle and her co-workers do Trendy Tuesday each week.  One of my co-workers tried to institute "Flannel Friday" every week, but I didn't have any flannel.  I think mostly 3 of the guys participated.  Anyway...  today's theme is Gingham and/or cords.  I don't have any corduroy items at the moment, so I went with my one gingham shirt.  And I got my inspiration from this pin.  

I really want a blue/white gingham shirt.  This one is dark blue and light blue, and I just don't like it as much as I want to.  Plus it is a really flimsy fabric and doesn't look as sharp as others I have seen.  So this is an item on my wish list.  I think this popover from Target would be perfect, but it is not available in my size online or in stores.  On Friday, I went to Old Navy looking for this option, but it was really boxy on me, so I ended up getting a random polka dot blouse instead.  I keep hoping to catch a 40% off sale at JCF and snag this one, because I'm not willing to pay $50.  So the search for the perfect gingham button-up continues.  

Also linking up with Pinned It & Did It and Style Swap with Ginny and Jenn

Sweater & Top: Gap
Skirt: Target
Boots: Madden

Weekend Happenings

Well, it is Monday, so how about a quick weekend rundown!  I was supposed to just rest all weekend, but I got distracted with a few fun things.    Friday evening, we went to a hockey game.  As far as hockey games go, it was pretty fun.  UNO won, so that was good!

Saturday, I was as lazy as possible.  I mostly just binge-watched Netflix while editing blog photos and taking occasional breaks to switch loads of laundry.  Saturday evening, I decided that we should go to a BBQ place for dinner and learned that there aren't many options in town.  We went to once place and they were out of smoked turkey (which was very specifically what I wanted), so we went to the other place and it was actually pretty delicious!  Some of the good BBQ places in KC should franchise up here!

Sunday was FREEZING, but we ventured out for church and lunch.  Evening church was canceled due to the frigid temps.  I think we were supposed to stay home and stay warm, then some friends invited us over for dinner, and that's more fun than staying at home!

Overall, it was a pretty great weekend!  Did you do anything fun?

Outfit notes - I've been neglecting my polka dot jeans for a few months, so I pulled them out again.  I feel like they are a little ridiculous, so I tried to keep the rest of the outfit more mature.

Scarf: Calvin Klein
Sweater: Gap
Jeans: Limited
Boots: Madden