Back to the grind

I've never been that into first day of school outfits. Of course, I put thought into it but usually drift toward the casual look approach and save more interesting outfits for the not first day. That's just me.
Knowing that a) i have to walk about 100 miles to my class today and that b) I'll spend at least 12 hours on campus working for the newspaper, comfortable is best for mondays.
I (gasp) mixed patterns today, but I'm digging it. Also, I found this awesome ring at Saks off Fifth the other day. Pretty sure it was the cheapest item in the store at $30, reduced to $22 with the coupons they were handing out. Wish I could remember the original retail price.





Grey plaid shirt: Macys
Purple striped shirt: Urban Outfitters
Denim shorts:Gap
Grey wedges: Journeys
Flower ring: Saks off Fifth

Pearls and Cooking

I found an awesome piece of jewelry at an antique shop. It's a pearl rope and it only cost me $3.50. I was having fun trying to figure out different ways to wear it.











Black dress: Target
Black men's shoes: Vintage

Tonight my sister and I made dinner for my mom's birthday. We started with the cake, which prompted me to grab my sister's outrageous apron. Things kind of spiraled out of control from there.





I bake like this ALL the time.

We did chocolate with chocolate frosting. For the inside frosting we mixed cream cheese frosting and seedless boysenberry jam.



Unfortunately my sister majorly failed on the frosting and the cake came out too soft. This cake looks really ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure it will still taste amazing.



We also made stuffed pasta shells, which were soo good and really not too hard.

Step one: boil shells and mix together cheeses and eggs.




Step two: Stuff shells and lay on a bed of pasta sauce.



Step three: Spread on more sauce and bake.


Also, I've resized the photos in my last post so they displayed properly.

Boyfriend edition

Today my awesome boyfriend and I went shopping together. I have a boyfriend who likes to shop. It's a grand world we live in.
Zack only likes to shop for himself when he's on a mission. He wants to have certain items that he's looking for. Today's main goal was pants.
I introduced him to slimmer fitting jeans awhile ago, which work so much better for his tall and slim build, plus I think they're far more flattering anyway. Zack wanted to find some dress pants that were slim fitting like his levis. A quick stop in Express and we emerged with two pairs of dress slacks and a pair of black jeans. Success.
Yes, he agreed to be my guest on this blog today to show off the suit he put together for a music gig tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Then he wanted to try on his new jeans again.

*Edit: I've been using photobucket to upload photos. It's cropping the photos from the right in this post and I'm not really sure how to fix it. Is it just the display on my computer? For example, the second to last photo is supposed show both feet, but it cropped it down to one.






lots of excitement about the new pants





Of course, we didn't spend all day looking at stuff for him. I fell in love with some oxfords:





Can't wait to wear these. An older guy who was sitting in the shoe department and reading a newspaper commented that they were "cute" and "flattering" and "got his attention." Either this means they are totally awesome or I will be picking up old men.

Cold August Nights

Every year Reno hosts Hot August Nights, an event where thousands of classic car owners and fans flock to our city. These August nights have not been so hot.
While I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer weather quite yet, I was pretty happy to pull a couple of my fall and winter staple items out of the closet. Last winter I lived in this sweater, and I love tights because I'm much more comfortable with short skirts and dresses with them on.
Also, I bought these boots about a month ago and haven't actually worn them yet. I couldn't find anything summery for them to go with. I have to confess: these are the first boots I've purchased (aside from a pair of hideous red boots that go with my robin hood costume). I need to invest in a couple of pairs this fall. I don't like western looking boots, and I prefer shorter heels or flat shoes. Time to hunt.







I can't decide if I like the belt with this. Thoughts?




Blue t-shirt dress: Target
Grey cardigan: Kohls
Black tights: Topshop
Ankle boots: Madden Girl
Mother of pearl necklace: Random shop in Korea

Sex and the City Wannabes

This is kind of hilarious.

Too much shopping, too little posting

I've bought three dresses in the last two days. I better start wearing them.



I got this awesome dress today (and then stole the picture of it from whitehouseblackmarket.com because it's 1:38 a.m. and I'm not playing dress up right now). I am trying to think of how to tone it down slightly so that I can wear it a bit more casually. I love the pattern and the fit, but after all, this is Reno and we don't run around in stuff like this on a regular basis. Will sleep on it. Stay tuned.

Also purchased a simple cotton black dress and a bright blue t-shirt dress from Target. I think both will get lots of wear out of them. Is it sad that I'm sort of looking forward to school starting and having a reason to care about what I wear during the day? Will regret this statement as soon as I set foot into a classroom.