Friday, May 31, 2013

[OOTD] Black and White, 5 Ways: With Red

How about black and white...with a huge pop of red? This is one of my favorite color combos.

Top: Forever21 | Jeans: ? (Charlotte Russe maybe?) | Shoes: Shoe Carnival




Wednesday, May 8, 2013

[OOTD] Black and White, 5 Ways: Head to Toe

Today's Blog Every Day in May challenge: A piece of advice you have for others.

This one is actually pretty simple for me - my advice is this: take every opportunity you can, even if it scares you or puts you out of your comfort zone.

I try to be pretty proactive about living this way - I moved to Atlanta, even though I knew no one, I really didn't want to, and I was terrified it was the wrong choice - but it turned out so right. I left a great job for a chance at an even better one...that turned out to be crap. However, my next step from there was my dream job, the job I have now, the job that doesn't feel like a job.

Some decisions are scary. As someone who is terrified of the unknown (remember?), I've hesitated on some great opportunities in disguise. So my advice to you is don't hesitate. Live life zealously. It's yours for the taking!!

Again, these pics were taken on manual, which I have yet to master. Please overlook the crappy quality.

Today's black and white is a full blown, head-to-toe, black and white outfit. A black and white dress, made work-appropriate with a blazer, pull the look together without being too fancy!


Dress: Macy's (old) | Blazer: Burlington Coat Factory (super old) | Shoes: Shoe Carnival | Necklace: New York & Company




Would you wear head to toe black and white??

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

[OOTD] Black and White, 5 Ways: With Leopard

Today's Blog Every Day in May prompt: The Things You're Most Afraid Of. There are a lot of things I'm afraid of. Something bad happening to my husband. Physical pain (drastic, like a broken bone or massive surgery, not things like a paper cut). Death, especially in terms of my parents. I don't want to think about life without them, they mean so much to me. The unknown. There are so many things in life I worry about because I'm scared of them, and they all have to do with things unknown in the future. Childbirth. I do NOT do well with pain, blood, or needles, all things that can come into play there. Losing my dog. Even though I know it's the nature of having a dog that they will one day have to leave you.

What a Debbie Downer of a post. Let's talk about clothing to pep it up.

Does anyone else out there think of leopard as a neutral? I've definitely come to think of it that way. So for my next iteration of black and white, I added a leopard accent to the outfit.

Top: Express | Tuxedo Skinnies: Target | Leopard Cardigan: Thrifted, Goodwill | Flats: Old Navy





Monday, May 6, 2013

[OOTD] Black and White, 5 Ways: Accessorized

This week I'm going to focus on a trend we've seen a lot of lately: black and white. I've got 5 different ways to wear it, starting with today's look which focuses on black and white accessories! Before I get into that, I need to catch up with Blog Every Day in May.

Seems all it took was a weekend to throw me off my daily posting. And frankly, I didn't even really do anything this weekend but spend a lot of time organizing, straightening, and purging. So without further ado, let me catch up.

Favorite quote (Saturday's post):





This is not the first time this quote has appeared on my blog, and it's probably not the last. This quote just hits something in my heart and has been a favorite for many, many years.

Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends (Sunday's post):

Ok. I'm not going to on into why - you'll have to visit these lovely ladies to find that out - but here's a short list of my very, very favorite bloggers who have my undying love and devotion!!
Molly. Shanna. Sharon. Amy. Caitlin. Amanda. Mish. Emily. Bonnie. Marion.

And today's: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would answer the question 'what do you do'? As usual, what a great question. I would say...have fun, make people happy, and take advantage of every available opportunity!

Whew. Now on to today's black and white. I'm posting the worst pictures first. I got home late and had to take these in less than ideal lighting, so they're a little dark. For this outfit, I went with a white top and a black and white tweed blazer on top. My pants were a neutral grey, and I added more black and white with the scarf.

Blazer: Target | Top: Express | Scarf: Ebay | Pants: Forever 21 via Alexis Suitcase | Heels: unknown (old)

And can we talk about how huge this angle/scarf combination makes me look?! Wow! haha...


How do you accessorize with black and white?

Also linking up with Molly.

Friday, May 3, 2013

[Linkup] Are You Comfortable?

Today we're writing about things that make us uncomfortable in the Blog Every Day in May challenge. Honestly, I had a really hard time coming up with this list, although I know there are plenty of instances in my life where I feel thoroughly uncomfy. Maybe I'll add any I think of, but for now, here's my list:
  • Some heels. I think almost every woman can put this on their list. It's especially annoying for me because my right foot is half a size bigger than my left, so shoes rarely fit both feet the same way.
  • Underwear with no stretch. Talk about constricting!!!
  • Being trapped in a giant crowd. Think leaving a baseball game or a concert. Being stuck in traffic is the same. It all makes my anxiety spike.
  • Hanging out with people who are fighting. 
  • Spin class after I haven't been in awhile. Not the class itself, but how I feel the 48 hours after. Bruised. If you know what I mean. Haha.
Crappy list, I know. If I think of more I'll come back.

Now to the outfit. Can I just say I love hats?? I don't wear them nearly enough but I love them. And I have probably way more than it's healthy to have. I've been trying to work them in more and more.

Coat: Old Navy | Jeans, Hat: Target (both older) | Boots: Boscov's | Scarf: Made by me

Again, I was playing with my manual settings and didn't realize how blurred these pics are. Sorry guys!






Happy Friday!!!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

[OOTD] Do You Know How TV Works?

Today's prompt from the Blog Every Day in May challenge is right up my alley: Day 1, Thursday: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Well then. You may or may not know, but I'm a technical trainer by trade. This is what I do all day - teach. So let me give you a little glimpse of my daily world.

I'm in the TV industry. No, not the glamorous world of celebrities and on-air personalities, but the stuff no one thinks about. I mean, really. Have you ever thought about how TV gets to your television set?  No. No one does. Unless you're me. My company makes computer equipment so that TV gets out in the world. We own a very large percentage of the market, so I'm guessing that no matter who you get your television service though, they probably own/use some of our equipment. I teach customers how to use it. But I also teach customers exactly how television and it's surrounding technology works. So let's have a little lesson.




So, what is television? Or even more specific, what is video? It's a series of still frames presented at a pace that is so rapid that our eyes perceive the pictures to flow into each other, or move. It's this thing our brain does, called persistence of vision. We hold on to still images for 1/24 of a second. So video, and in turn, television, is simply a series of still pictures moving at a rate of 24 still pictures per second or faster.

The other thing our brain does that makes television work is to blur things when we get far enough away. If you think about an electronic image on a screen - what's it made of? Pixels, right? These little square or rectangular (did you know pixels don't have to be square??!!) blocks side by side all across the screen. If you get super close - or if you project your computer monitor or television onto a much larger space - you can see the individual pixels. But what happens when you walk farther away? The edges blur.

If our eyes and brain didn't do that, we'd have no way to represent video on a screen that would look true to life. This is a really cool example of what I just explained. If you pay close enough attention when you're watching tv, you can see the individual pixels at the edges of things on screen. For instance, a jagged edge on someone's shoulder, or little blocks in a fast moving scene.

What am I?

Ok. So, we basically capture these still frames and make them into digital pictures made of pixels. But in order to get them to your television, they have to travel there. How? Well, there are currently 4 ways of doing this: terrestrial, satellite, cable, or IPTV. Very few of us have terrestrial any more, because interactive tv (including on demand!) doesn't play well over terrestrial. Terrestrial is over-the-air, kind of like cellular networks. Satellite beams television content up to a satellite in the sky and then back down again to a large group of customers. Cable travels over coaxial cables that run through the ground. IPTV utilizes fiber or copper cabling to transport television. If you have Dish or DIRECTV, you have satellite. If you're a Comcast, Cox, Charter, or other "cable" company customer, you have cable. If you're a user of Verizon FIOS or AT&T Uverse, you have IPTV. Most IPTV television providers are phone companies (or telecoms) because their telephone networks can carry IPTV signals. 

And I could go on. But hopefully you learned a lil something. Onwards to the outfit today. Sorry the pics aren't very clear - this was me playing with my manual settings. The lighting was also pretty crappy.

Tweed Blazer: Goodwill | Mint tank, Shoes: Target | Polka Dot Tank: Old Navy | Jeans: Charlotte Russe | Sunnies: New York & Company | Necklace: Gifted from SIL





And a Lexi-Bomb...featuring my work badge!


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

[OOTD] The Story of My Life

Today starts the Blog Every Day in May challenge. The first prompt? Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less. Jeez. We're not starting easy here. But here goes...

Nazareth, PA. Parents. Brother. Elementary School. Middle School. High School. Volleyball, Basketball. High Hurdles in Track, 21 year old hurdle record broken. Graduation. University of Pittsburgh. Pathfinders. Delta Zeta. Tower A, Forbes, Sorority suite. Best Friends. Fun. Semester at Sea. Internship. Published books. Best 4 years of my life. First job. First car, manual Mustang GT. South side apartment. Second job. Love of my life. Atlanta. New job. New car. Engagement. Join dance team. Make friends. Wedding #1. Wedding #2. Buy house. Get dog. Get dream job. Live happily ever after.

Whew. Now how about an outfit?


The inspiration for this outfit came from a look by Marion that I had pinned:

Via

I added the scarf, and then a camel trench and gold bag. I was really happy with the color combo of the shirt and scarf!!


Outfit Details:
Top, Trench - Old Navy
Scarf - London street market
Jeans - Express (old)
Wedges, Bag - Target
Bracelets - F21, gifted
Watch - gifted







Aaaaaannnnd a couple Lexi bombs:










Also linking up with Catherine!




Whatever Works Wednesday link-up party on smalltownbigwardrobe.com