Posing

My husband is extremely supportive of any crazy thing I get involved with.  He calls me a "dabbler" because I really do want to try a whole bunch of things before I die.   In my late twenties, a co-worker and my mentor passed away from cancer.  All this gentleman wanted to do was to retire, travel and spend time with his wife.  He passed away less than a year from being able to do that and that was my wake up call.  Life is too short to let opportunities pass you by.  Excuses can always be made, time is very short, but you never know if you'll get another tomorrow.  So, I dabble.  I try things out.  I learn what I like, what I don't like.  Some of it sticks and some of it there's no way I'll ever do again. 

Dave gets very involved in anything that I "dabble" in and he's currently very interested in my blog.  Last night, he plopped down next to me on the couch and said that he's been analyzing my blog and he had one point of constructive criticism.  He said all my poses were similar.  He then whipped out his Nexus and went shot by shot to show me what he meant.  I told him in my defense, it's hard to look natural when you feel like a dork taking pictures of yourself.  Plus, it's literally 5:45 in the morning when I take all my shots because it's the last thing I'm doing before I leave for work.  So, today I tried some different looks.  Well...I attempted some different looks.  We'll see if it passes the Dave test. 

Smiles!
Lori

Frogger

 

Excluding my bracelet, my entire outfit consists of items that are really really old, but fit now (yay!)  This is why I don't get rid of things often (or, it's my justification).

 



Smiles!
Lori

For the Love of Navy

My navy blue blazer to the rescue again!  This outfit is a bit loud, but the navy blue blazer tones it down quite a bit.  One of my co-workers even commented on how the blazer toned it down and then she said, "Well, navy blue tones everything down."  Yeah, she gets it!

I just got this necklace at Zara and it is cute, but uncomfortable to wear all day.  Around 3:00 today, I was making estimates in my head on how much it weighed.  I'm going about a pound.  The thing is really heavy.  I'm glad I test wore it today because I was planning on packing it for a seminar I'm attending in Washington D.C. next week, but now I'm not so sure.

Smiles!
Lori

Pattern Mixing

This blog has been good for me because it's forced me to try different things outside of my comfort zone.  It's also shown me what really looks good on me and what really really doesn't.  It's also shown me that I really need to wear lipstick because as I age, I've become paler and I look washed out if I'm not wearing it.  I've also found that I love wearing bright red lipstick - shocking!  One of the most interesting things I've discovered about myself is I actually am enjoying pattern mixing.  I used to think it was for the younger set and not for people of my age or profession, but I've found that if I don't go too crazy, I think I can actually get away with it!

Today's outfit was thrown together at the last minute last night.  I was thinning the blouses in my closet and came across this blouse and decided it really needed to be paired with my knit striped jacket.  I think because the blouse has cross stripes on it, it doesn't compete with the horizontal stripes. 

Smiles!
Lori

Bleeting Sheep

My darling daughter woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  It was on the wrong side of the tracks in a bad part of town kind of bad.  While I was finishing my hair, she was screaming MOOOOMMM MOOOOOOMMM from the family room because she wanted me to get her breakfast.  I screamed back WHHHHAAAATTTTTT several times, indicated I was finishing my hair and would be with her momentarily and continued what I was doing.  Then it hit me.  We sounded like bleeting sheep.  Baaaa

Smiles!
Lori

Vacation Day - Off to Ikea!

I'm not good at relaxation.  I never have been.  So, I took my third day off of the year and instead of lounging about, I went to Ikea to shop for an inexpensive floor runner for our foyer.  We've had this really ugly carpet down across the ceramic tile since Kira was a baby as a landing pad in case she fell.  She's nine now...she'll survive and it's time for something pretty!  It still had to be inexpensive because we have a dog, but I found something really pretty that would work and I'm very pleased that it is now gracing the floor of my foyer.  It looks so much nicer in there now!

Smiles!
Lori

Day Off

Tomorrow is my third day off of the year.  Yes, it's May 23 and I'm only on my third day off.  To make matters more pitiful, one of my days off I had the flu and I worked through part of it.  Sometimes you hit a bad patch at work and that's what I'm in.  At least I like my job.

Smiles!
Lori

The Splinter

I was waiting for a co-worker to show up at a meeting this morning when I looked down at my hand and noticed a splinter in my finger.  Dang it.  Now I knew it was going to bug me all stinking day until I had a chance to dig it out. I tried to ignore it because it really didn't hurt, but it screamed at me all day, "Look at me!  I'm not supposed to be in your finger!"  When I got home tonight, Kira was fascinated with my problem.  "Will it hurt?"  "Yes, it will hurt."  "Will you cry?"  "No, I will not cry."  "How will you get it out?"  "I will dig it out."  "Won't that hurt?"  " Yes, yes it will."  The splinter was in my right hand and I'm right handed, so it was a little tricky to get out.  At one point, I turned the tweezers over to Kira and let her try to dig it out.  She couldn't do any worse than I was doing.  She dove right in and tried really hard to get it out. Finally, we pushed the skin together under the splinter, popped it out and grabbed it with the tweezers.  Teamwork!

Splinter Free Smiles!
Lori

You Look Lovely

When I got to daycare tonight to pick up Kira, her class was outside playing.  I stepped outside to fetch her and sign her out, and a little boy about Kira's age came up to me, touched the lapel of my jacket, stood back and appraised my outfit and exclaimed, "Lovely.  You look lovely."  Honestly, I was caught by surprise.  First, I really didn't think little kids paid much attention to adults. Second, this was a little boy, not a little girl.  Third, he sought me out and intercepted me before I even had the chance to call Kira in from the playground.  It was absolutely adorable! 

Smiles!
Lori

A Funny Story

I steamed my clothes for the week last night and laid them all out across my room for this week like I normally do.   I had paired this outfit with a cute, light yellow blazer.  I got dressed this morning, took the shots for the blog, looked at the shots, and went off to work.  I did all of this thinking I was wearing the yellow blazer.  I got halfway to work this morning, looked down and thought, "This isn't a yellow blazer."  Then I thought, "What on earth am I wearing?"  It took another moment or two to realize I was wearing a pink blazer.  Then another couple of moments to determine if it looked ok.  Keep in mind, I had taken photos of myself AND looked at them this morning.  I honestly think I slept through it all and didn't quite wake up until halfway to work.  Kind of funny and scary at the same time.

Smiles!
Lori

The Remix

The weather really heated up yesterday afternoon and the outfit I wore in the morning was way too hot for the afternoon.  I didn't feel like completely changing, so I took the jacket off, rolled up the cuffs on my shirt and threw on my new obnoxious shorts from the Gap.  I kept the belt I had on in the morning because honestly, it was already out of the closet already, and voila - my Spring Fling Festival outfit.

Today, it's going to be in the eighties and I actually looked at the weather before getting dressed.  This outfit should make it through the day.  I purchased the capris on major sale at Loft yesterday and they are super comfortable!  Actually, to come clean, the shirt, the jeans and the necklace are all new.   I couldn't pass up the necklace at Talbots because a) it was 30% off and I had a $25 dividend coupon and b)  it has a nautical feel and I think I can pair it with a bunch of stuff in my wardrobe.  There were a couple of other acquisitions at Talbots, but I'll save that discussion for another day.

Smiles!
Lori

The Dotted Line

One of our goldfish got trapped underneath the bridge in our aquarium and died this morning.  I forewarned Kira the other goldfish isn't looking too hot right now either.  We've had this group of fish for quite some time, so it's always a little sad to see one go. 

On a happier note, Kira scored three goals at her soccer game this morning!

Smiles!
Lori

Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop

The Wright Brothers were from my home town, Dayton, Ohio.  They owned a bicycle shop that is now housed in a historical village in downtown and there's quite a few things named after the Wright Brothers in Dayton. A University (my alma mater) Wright State, Wright Patt Union, Wright Patterson Airforce Base, Wright Field, you get the picture.  When I saw this campy shirt with little bicycles on it at the Gap, it reminded me of the Wright Brothers.  Plus, I just like crazy shirts.

 

Smiles!
Lori

The Crash

My computer is quickly going downhill. It's only a matter of time before it crashes beyond repair.  Tonight, I spent a chunk of time backing up my files and making sure pictures are saved out to the cloud.  It made a horrific screeching sound last night to announce it's downhill slide and tonight it took a half hour for it to do its check disk thingy before it would come up.  I really don't want to buy a new one right now because I'm saving for a new flute, but I may have to.  Sigh.  I'm going to ride this thing till it no longer comes back to life, though.   Fingers crossed that it can wait a couple of months to die!

Smiles and Crossed Fingers!
Lori