Going Local

I won't lie. I wore this outfit yesterday, too.

I was a pretty laid back day at work, and I didn't exactly get dirty, so I figured it wasn't a huge deal to throw it on again, today. It's going to be a laid back Saturday, too. We've got a baby fighting her teeth and an exciting new cold (either inspired by our return to daycare this week or the time we spent last weekend on planes to and from Texas for my brother's wedding). We have lunch plans with friends down at Local Taco, I haven't slept since 3:30 AM...

I have laundry to do...

look, not all bloggers live enviable lives of flitting about aimlessly in large cities buying, I don't know, fresh-cut flowers and caviar or whatever it is they're doing these days.

You know, I don't think I've ever actually eaten caviar.

I'm a terrible Frasier fan.

Easy is as easy does today. Just another variation on The Uniform: cardigan, tee, jeans, shoes.

The cardigan is from Target, of course, as most of my cardigans are. It's the closest to the right kind of mustard-color I'm always looking for in the fall, but which seems impossible to find both lightweight and affordable. Boden had the perfect one last fall, but it was way too heavyweight for South Carolina.

Ah, the travails of being a sweater-lover in the South.

 The jeans are Lands End.

I want to love them.

I want them to be perfect.

They are not perfect.

This saddens me.

 The jeans go from basically being a size too tight just after a wash-and-dry to being almost a size too big after about an hour of wear. They were kind of pricey jeans, so I'm thinking about sending them back, but the color and weight of them is just perfect. They need hemmed, too; hence the cuffs. I don't know. I love Lands End, but I have not been impressed with their jeans just yet. Sigh.

Life is hard.

The bracelet is a recycled leather belt piece I bought from the Downtown Farmers Market last year from a girl running a booth there. This T-shirt is really where the 'Going Local' shows up (um, other than the taco place we're eating later.)

This shirt is for PineBox designs. Ellison Brooks runs it; he's a local Greenville woodworker who makes the coolest Batman and Batgirl cutting board ever (and also built the counter system at one of my favorite local places, the Swamp Rabbit cafe & Grocery). I commissioned one for my brother's wedding and Ellison's wife Stephanie was able to drop it off right at my workplace, which was amazing. The cutting board was this gorgeous dark-toned wood and I was absurdly proud of myself for getting it for Bryan.

I'm probably going to get Jason and I one later this year.

In any case, I picked up one of PineBox's T-shirts while I was at it. All of the proceeds off the T-shirts go to Pendleton Place, a local charity that helps neglected and abused children and teens. I highly suggest you pick one up for yourself - they're supersoft and I am wearing this T-shirt basically all the time right now.

You can see what Ellison and PineBox Designs are up to on etsy, facebook, or instagram. He's a fun follow - I enjoy seeing what he's up to and what he's working on! Plus he's part of a network of some of us northern/northwestern Greenville locals kind of supporting each other... and I am all on supporting local business whenever I can!

(This post in no way sponsored, by the way. I just happen to think Ellison Brooks is a pretty cool dude.)

Outfit Details:
Cardigan: target, long since sold out but you can find similar stuff around... or just wait for fall.
T-shirt: PineBox Designs, here
Jeans: Lands End, here
Shoes: Old Navy, old, but they have them this year too
Bracelet: Farmers Market, don't remember name of vendor
Breast Cancer Pin: My mom is about to start her first round of chemo, so I'm wearing this pin on everything right now. She was supposed to start chemo Thursday, but her veins decided they didn't like that chemo drug and bam! allergic reaction. Because that's my mama. I've decided via the power of anxiety that it's because i wasn't wearing the pin, so I am now.
Red Face, Bizarre Hair: Thanks to steroids I'm taking for The Sinus Infection That Will Not Die.

P.S. I think my next post is going to be a Tomboy Rants about what it means to try and buy jeans as a plus-size woman whose legs are NOT ELEPHANT TRUNKS PEOPLE WHY ARE ALL THE LEGS ON JEANS SO GIGANTIC ARGH. Ahem. That it all.

Work From Home 2: Electric Boogaloo

So, I ended up back working from my house on Friday. My loaner laptop died and it was sort of an undignified death. I ended up at home working on my desktop, which is fine since my new work laptop was coming in the mail anyway, so I was there to take the delivery.

It was kind of a comedy, in its own way. I drove to work, went through Starbucks (they have coconut milk now, so I am... probably gonna become even more of a regular because coconut milk), made it into the office, and went to turn my laptop on and... nothin'.

I tried a few fixes I know for similar problems I've had on other computers. Nothin'. Pulled out my phone and looked up some possible other solutions.

Nothin'.

So I turned around, went home, and logged on to work stuff here.

Now I feel like my nice pants are kind of wasted. Oh well.

They're from Duluth Trading Company, ponte knit, which means they look like dress pants and feel like lounge pants. Duluth is the king of secret pockets every place, so they have a nice little side pocket. They're women's pants, but actually have pockets big enough to store things in, which is a huge issue that women complain constantly about and people who make clothing just ignore.

They are the best pants.

THE BEST.

This sweater is from a company called Bear Creek, and it's a men's sweater. I buy one at Mast General each year around Christmas when they're on mega sale. I'm going to write a whole post on this at some point, but I prefer to buy men's T-shirts and sweaters sometimes because they actually acknowledge that human beings have torsos, which women's clothing often does not.

I love this sweater. It's warm but not too heavy, and the silver goes really well with basically anything I wear.

The tank top is just a cheapie Target tank. I buy tank tops from Target by the truckload, or at least I would if I could afford a truckload of tank tops. They sell them in a million colors and you can either buy the basic tank like this, or the "long and lean" Junior's tanks, which I prefer but often don't like the color choices.

I don't even need to tell you where these socks are from.

The shoes are Skechers, an older style I found on clearance at JCPenney when I was heavily pregnant and needed black shoes that were comfortable to stand on when my whole center of gravity had changed. I like them so much I've kept wearing them since.

One of my goals for this year (I really do need to write a post laying that out, don't I?) is also to get a really good, comfortable pair of basic black flats that are not tennis shoes. These are fine, but they're not exactly good for dressier stuff, are they?

That said: so so so so SO so so comfortable.

The scarf is from Lands End. I love Lands Ends' scarves, although they're a little pricy for what is essentially a rectangular piece of fabric someone spent 5.6 seconds hemming and then sent on its way. I usually wait for them to go on sale, or for a friends-and-family sale, and then snatch up two or three and call it a (happy) day.

This scarf was part of an exchange I did, and I deeply, deeply, deeply love it. Deeply.

Deeply love it.

It's the perfect teal color and I wear it all the time.

The outfit idea here was this outfit from Loft's Lou and Grey line, although the item I got the idea from is long since sold out.. I saw that when browsing one day and thought it looked perfect, and realized I could (kind of) recreate it. It's now become an outfit that is on constant winter rotation.

Outfit Details:
Sweater: Bear Creek, men's sweater, available here
Tank top: Target, similar here
Pants; Duluth Trading, still available here but selling out fast
Socks; SmartWool, Jovian Stripe, here
Shoes: Skechers, JCP, similar here
Scarf: Lands End, sold out but similar ideas here at Target
Hat: Urban Outfitters, here.

It's Kind of Like Style - An Introduction

There aren't a lot of style bloggers out there who embrace frumpiness. Everyone's competing to be the skinniest, to wear the highest, spike-iest heels, to have on the teeniest pants and cropped sweaters, to wear cardigans in July for 'fall preview' and strappy tank tops in March as they 'gear up for summer'. There are those expertly draped in vintage, all swooshy skirts and perfect sweater-sets, nipped-in waists and 50's prints.

But how many bloggers are there out in the world who embrace the fact that they don't like skirts unless they're wearing bike shorts underneath, for whom men's clothing is a lifesaver in a world of shirts that aren't long enough in the women's section? How many bloggers are there who blatantly stare at women in stiletto heels trying to figure out how they don't all clomp around like horses, who aren't much for skin showing, and have no idea what they'd do with a ruffle if one was presented to them?

I say... not enough.

I've decided to add myself to the list of personal style bloggers out there in the world, but with one caveat; you're not going to see me showing off anything I wouldn't actually wear out in the world, because I'm going to be doing exactly that - showing you exactly what I wear, good and bad, whether it's stylish or not. If a Yoga Pants Day falls on a day I plan to post? Well, get ready to learn all about them yoga pants.

I'm 28 going on 29, married, a new-ish mother to a baby who just turned six months old, and I'm about to start a new job. It seemed as good a time as any to challenge myself to really start watching my outfits, to see what I can do to get myself to work a little harder on being presentable.

I'm still going to be wearing bike shorts under all my skirts.

If you just accept that, we'll all be better off.

Not interested in outfits? Head over to Stress and Stars, my personal blog. There you'll see my actual life, cute photos of the baby, my pets, and any other random bits that come to mind. This space is going to be just for outfits, just to catalog what I'm wearing and to try to challenge myself to be a little more creative and up my game a little as I enter a new profession and start staring down 30, realizing I can't dress like a college student anymore.

A little bit more about me:

- I have been a tomboy my entire life. I was always more interested in playing in mud puddles and climbing trees than I was in wearing skirts or ruffly socks. I'm the third and last kid in my family, which means I spent most my childhood waving my arms around for attention.

- I am a trained artist, although it's become a hobby and not a profession. Thanks, College Degree!

- I have a dog and two cats, so while I'll do my best to lint-roll, at a certain point we just have to accept that I live in the House that Pet Hair Built.

- I live on coffee.

- I'm not particularly rollin' in the dough, so this blog will be as much as exercise in trying to make better use of the clothing I already own as it will be showcasing anything new that comes into my possession. I spend most of my clothing-money on our baby right now (what is it about giving birth that suddenly turns you into someone who can't leave the store without onesies, sippycups, or parenting books?) but I am still hoping this year will be a good year to revamp and work on embracing my tomboy style and discovering a way to, um, actually have style.

- The hair does what it wants. Critique the hair to your heart's content; it won't do you any good. I've tried changing it. It makes its own choices.

I'll start posting outfits beginning on Saturday. Expect a lot of selfies to start off with until I can get the hang of things. Beginning in March, I'll be joining up with Budgeting Bloggers and will be giving out my monthly clothing budget, how I did, what I bought, things like that. Don't expect to see lots of purchases right off the bat. This job shift will mean I will need to invest in a more quality wardrobe, but it also means we'll be able to sock more away in savings and that's what my focus is going to be. 

One thing that's always bothered me about bloggers is that style bloggers often become shopping bloggers- with no discernable personal style, just buying up whatever item or trend is "in", leading all of them to look exactly alike.

While I'm all up for outfit interpretation and taking on trends in your own way, don't expect to me looking exactly like the newest "Wear Now, Wear Later" outfit in InStyle. You can expect to see a lot of men's sweaters here. And probably way too much discussion on why I hate most shirts made for women.

So, hi! Feel free to leave me comments, talk to me about my outfits, give critiques, advice, or just chat about style/fashion related stuff with me here. I do ask you keep off the body-snark; while it's my goal to get myself back into better health this year, I'm not particularly worried about weight loss and will delete any comment about my appearance that I don't like. So nyah.

Basically, don't be a dick. 

As long as you can follow that one rule, we are going to get along just fine.