Reunited

shirt and shoes: Target, sweater: thrifted, pants: Shopper's World

You guys - I'm thinking this week may kick my ass. Work is really busy because class registration just opened up for us. The good thing is that it's meant increased student contact which is helping me feel more confident, the bad news is that I'm super tired already!! 

This outfit isn't even from this week, it's from Saturday. We picked the halfway point between where I grew up and where I live now, and I met my mom, an aunt, and a great aunt for lunch. It's pretty sad, but I realized it was the first time in awhile that my Saturday involved an outfit that wasn't my running clothes or my sweatpants! It felt good to be reunited with my red jeans and it let me show my Buckeye pride without resorting to an Ohio State hoodie. :)

Linking up...

CopyCats

shirt: Two Birds, SF, CA, vest and shoes: thrifted, pants: NY&Co.

original look from Marionberry Style

How adorable is Marion? As soon as I realized I had the pieces to recreate her look, I jumped right on it. The one thing I won't be copying from her? That baby bump! She rocks that look so well that I think I'll leave her to that one! :)

Linking up with with Sarah...

Talk of the Office

necklace: my grandmother's, shirt: Target, vest: some boutique in Healdsburg, CA, pants: Old Navy, booties: Payless

Our advising staff is divided into teams by majors we advise, and in a training today, a co-worker told me that her team was talking about me. Good things of course, I'm sure she wouldn't have told me if it was negative! :) She paid me such a compliment though - she said that they were discussing that I put outfits together with pieces they never would've thought of, and I pull the outfits off so well. She said that they thought maybe it could be contributed to my height, or maybe my glasses, but said she thinks the key to pulling it off is my "sparkle". I thought that was the sweetest thing to say to me! It reminded me of something my manager at my previous job told me: Surround yourself with those who inspire you to be better. That got me thinking...

I did just that in the blogging community. I've surrounded myself with others, like you all reading this, whose personal style has inspired me to try new looks I never ever would've consider before "meeting" you, to be confident, and to develop my own sense of style that works for me and my lifestyle. It worked! I'm a better person in that respect than I was last year before I had this blog - because of you all. I'd like to send a huge, heartfelt thank you out for that!

After seeing that concept in effect, I'm that much more excited about my new job. (Am I still allowed to call it new after 2 months?!) I work with an incredibly intelligent group of advisors   who have a lot of wisdom and experience to learn from and I'm looking forward to learning more and applying those things to my own advising. In addition, there's so many opportunities for personal and professional growth! I've felt so challenged already in this position, but in a good way - in a way that causes me to think a lot more critically about the work that I do and the environment of higher education.

Whew! That felt like some deep thinking for this little blog of mine. As much as I talk about enjoying my job, I'm so thankful tomorrow is Friday! Who's with me?!

Late

I may be a day late to the 5 for Five party, but yesterday I was home from work recovering from the race and I didn't even have the energy to open my computer, let alone write a post. Better late than never though, right? :) Before I get into this weeks goals, lets recap the ones from last week.

I finished! Whoop Whoop! :)

1. Don't skip a workout in my training plan. I skipped one run and cut another one short by .75 miles, but you know what? I finished the race on Sunday! That 26.2 hurt so much and I'm still walking funny today, but I don't think that extra 2.75 total miles I skipped last week would've made the race any easier, so I'm letting this one go. :)

2. Stick to my weekly budget. I went a couple of dollars over in two categories, but looking at overall dollars spent I was under budget so I think I could consider this successful.

3. Spend no more than 1 1/2 hours on my computer or phone each night. I need to pay closer attention to this one. I paid more attention to my husband this week, but doubt I stayed off my phone enough to stay under 1 1/2 hours each night. I'm saying it was a fail.

4. Do household chores for at least 20 minutes 3 times this week. Does throwing all my extra stuff into the unused spare bedroom count? ...didn't think so. :)

5. Blog 4 times this week. Looking back I can see that I didn't do that either!

Now for this weeks' goals!

1. Be a responsible home owner and do some dang landscaping. I'm the worst honestly and even after mowing the lawn yesterday, I still need to do some more work!

2. Do my hair the rest of the work week. Isn't it pathetic that I have to make that a goal? I'm quick to use the "but i just ran a marathon" excuse, but I think the past two days of messy ponytails just about covers that.

3. Maintain my weekly budget - I'm sure you'll see this one every week. Sorry to bore you, but it's the only way to hold myself accountable!

4. Find and try at least one new recipe. I'm getting bored with what we usually eat and need to bring in some new options.

5. Drink at least 60 ounces of water at work each day. I was good about this through the last 5 months of marathon training and need to keep it going.

Cheating?

sweater: Old Navy, scarf, tank & boots: Target, jeans: thrifted

My outfits are usually posted the same day I wear them, so I feel like I'm cheating because I didn't wear this outfit today. It's actually from last Friday, but when I saw Bri's link up, I couldn't resist posting about this outfit. Check it out to see how everyone styled their boots! I've liked the way rolled jeans look with booties on other bloggers, but this is the first time I tried the look myself. I have to say, it made an otherwise uninspiring outfit feel a little more unique for me, so I'll be trying this look again! What's your favorite way to wear booties?!

Of course the week before the marathon would be the busiest! I was out to dinner two nights this week, then it's the one weekend that somehow my mom ended up with free OSU football tickets. I really wish it was a different weekend so I could enjoy a few beers and the Danger Brothers (local band that plays on campus every game day and my mom loves them!) with my momma, but I know we'll still have fun. Not only is my mom going, but so are my in-laws and my husband's aunt and uncle. I'm so excited to have them all here and to hang out, but they'll just have to accept my 9pm bedtime tomorrow night since the race is early the next morning! :)

I also wanted to say thank you for the kind words that were left on my blog earlier this week. I'm so grateful to have such thoughtful blogging friends! Thanks for letting me have my mini-breakdown and putting my thoughts out there - it really did make a difference to me!

Remembering Christina

Me with Christina - the summer of 1999

I'm feeling sappy and emotional, so I'm about to treat this blog like a journal or therapist, or something like that. If you don't feel up for that, I understand, and I promise to be back to showing you my outfits tomorrow. :)

I feel like it happens way too often, a high school losing a student due to somebody's poor decisions while behind the wheel of a car. That happened to my friend Christina 13 years ago yesterday. We were 15. It was a Friday and we had our last class of the day with each other that year. I remember having backpacks on, goofing off with a few other friends, just waiting for the bell to ring. There was a home football game that night, but as she headed home with a few friends, most of us stayed for either cross country or volleyball practice first.

I ran cross country and Fridays were what we called our traditional practice. I'm not sure why we called them that, but since it was the day before a meet, we'd simply do our usual warm up, then just turn around and do our usual cool down. We got to do this without the watchful eye of our coach because he was meeting with the guys team, which always made it more fun. I remember passing the baseball field, then the practice football field, and as we turned to come back into the stadium and on the track, I remember laughing and having a good time with the girls. I know I saw the lifelight go by, the crash happened within a few miles of the school, but I never gave it a thought.

After we finished our workout, we swapped places with the guys and went into the school for our team meeting with coach. I'm sure we talked strategy and all that good stuff, but I don't remember any of that. We headed to the locker room to get our stuff, then walked out to the parking lot as a team. I remember a teacher who I'd had as a softball coach and is the aunt of my oldest and closest friends stopped us and asked one of the girls if she had talked to her dad. When she said no, she told her she better go talk to him before heading home. You see, that girl was Christina's cousin, the girl's dad was our assistant coach.  They grew up about a mile apart, and if she would've headed right home from practice, she would've no doubt gone past the crash site and seen everything.

Our immediate reaction was to all spend as much time as we could together. We had a pretty big group of us that were close and I remember spending each night that weekend at a different friends house with everybody, only leaving to go our cross country meet on Saturday. When my parents finally made me stay home, I remember being so mad that I told my mom I hated her, then pouted on the front porch. Freezing, but too stubborn to come inside. Thankfully she knew I didn't mean it, but I think it about broke her heart to see us all go through that.

I truthfully don't think it'll ever get easier. I can't speak to what my friends have experienced, but I know for me, the way I grieve changes. Most recently I've thought about the 3 boys her sisters had - nephews she never got the chance to meet. The past few years I've had so much fun being Aunt Jess to my niece and nephew, and I think that's why it makes me so sad that she never got to experience that either. The date of the accident is always a day that I think of her, but events have been hard too. Proms, graduation, weddings she missed out on. That 10 year reunion I had back in June? We had it at a bar that Christina's parents opened up a few years ago. I was fine until the end of the night, when the bar was closing and we were all getting ready to go home. I went up to the bar to close out my tab, and Christina's mom was the one behind the bar who helped me. I tried to keep my composure and focus on managing a signature, but the tears just rolled. I'm sure the excessive amount of Bud Light I consumed didn't help! Her mom noticed and came out from the bar and just hugged me. It was good to see her and to tell her that we all still think of Christina and miss her like crazy. She should've been able to be there with us that night and I know if she was still alive, that she would've been. She wouldn't have been one of the ones we hadn't seen since graduation - she still would've been one of the girls.

An Outfit And Some Goals

shirt: Walmart, sweater: Old Navy, pants: New York & Co., shoes: Target, necklace: gift

I'm switching it up a little bit today! I'm joining in on Jenn's 5 For Five Link Up in an effort to  be responsible and set some goals for myself this week - we'll see how I do! I still couldn't resist throwing in an outfit picture first though! :) 

1. Don't skip a workout in my training plan. It's race week and tapering is in full effect! With only 15 miles total to do in 5 runs, I have no excuse to not stick to it. I want to make sure I'm  feeling my best when I tackle that 26.2 on Sunday!

2. Stick to my weekly budget. I've accepted that I'm awful with budgeting and that needs to change. I now have an app on my phone where I have to record what I spend on groceries, gas, shopping, lunches during the work week, and "fun".  I'm hoping by keeping it simple I can stick with it and be where I expect to be financially by the end of the year!

3. Spend no more than 1 1/2 hours on my computer or phone each night. My husband deserves more of my attention, truly he does. Since my schedule this week includes working late one night, and girls night dinners two other nights (we all know those usually last all evening, right?!), this is especially important for me stick to.

4. Do household chores for at least 20 minutes 3 times this week. This could be anything! I need to clean, and I need to organize. 60 total minutes this week is at least a start!

5. Blog 4 times this week. I put more thought into what I wear when I know I'll be blogging about it, and I like that. 

Head over to Jenn's blog to check out what everyone else is up to this week!

Being Professional

jacket that I wore most of the day: thrifted

sweater: thrifted, tank: Old Navy, pants: NY&Co., shoes: Payless

Back to the boring dress pants today. I just couldn't help it! It took all I had to get myself out of bed and to work today, so I'm just happy I look somewhat presentable! I'm looking forward to tomorrow to be reunited with my jeans. This whole looking professional all week thing combined with me being too lazy to wear anything except running clothes or sweatpants on the weekend has made me really miss wearing them. I need to remind myself of this the next time I buy a pair of jeans to add to my already ridiculous collection. Is anyone else like me and left with no willpower anytime they see a good deal on a pair of jeans?! 

Linking up for Thrifter Thursday with Callie over at Coffee and Cardigans - one of my favorites!!

Cozy

sweater: Forever 21, tee: Old Navy, pants: New York & Co., shoes: Payless

Today was the best Monday I've had in a really long time. I just really felt settled into work today and like my confidence is finally getting there. I'm so excited about it!

I know I complained like crazy when the temperatures were ridiculously hot, but this morning felt a bit chilly! Cooler temperatures called for a nice cozy sweater, but I couldn't resist throwing on red shoes for a little bit of color. 

Linking up...

Ready

tee and shoes: Target, pants: Old Navy, sweater: thrifted

As I think I've mentioned before, I've recently become a little obsessed with cropped pants! Today was the first day I noticed enough of a chill in the air that I finally headed to the mall after work to pick up one more pair of black dress pants to feel like my wardrobe is really prepared for fall/winter in a more professional environment. I now have a pair that are best with heels, and a pair that are best with flats. I'm picky about the length like that!

In news not related to my outfit choice, today was the day I "went live" at work, meaning that my student caseload has officially been transferred over to me and I get to spend my days advising now that I've completed my training! I still have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to finally be working with students!

Linking up...