The Joy of Shopping

After my "Schlumping" post, I decided to go out and do something about it. Namely, online shopping! Target came out with their new GO collection, which is a little borderline Victorian frilly and over-the-top 80s, in my opinion. But I bought this cute black shirt dress, and have gotten a lot of compliments on it so far. I just bought a whole bunch of other tunics from the collection online, we'll see how it goes. Also had to buy the black tights to go with the outfits so I can wear them during the winter. I haven't worn black tights under dresses since the 5th grade. So in the next few weeks I'll either look really cute or 10 years old. I must add black ballet flats to my wardrobe too. And a basic white button down shirt. Oh, and this adorable blazer from J.Crew, and maybe some herringbone brown slacks. Ah, the possibilities are endless!

I also have fallen in love with a new show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. As with What Not to Wear, these makeover shows are superior by far to all the other ones. The stylists actually know what they're talking about, and they know the difference between just buying clothes and buying "fashion." I've realized now that I should never wear a skirt that falls below my knees or capris, because they make me look stumpy (stumpy+schlumpy=bad combination). My new black dress, for instance, falls right above my knees and holy cow! I've got nice legs and don't look as stout as a teapot! Anyway, there's also this great blog from the Bravo website, Steal vs. Splurge. I added a link to the side of my blog; I hope this blog continues because the writer has some great suggestions on what fashion pieces to splurge on, and what cheaper versions you can buy: http://www.bravotv.com/blog/stealvssplurge

It doesn't help G out much, but maybe for the rest of you fashion mavens, there's some fun tips!

This is where the magic happens

That's what he said! Sorry, just had to throw that in there! G said it to me the other day, I had completely forgotten about that classic phrase ML got us hooked on. Anyway, I finally finished my "office" and cleaned it up. I'm so proud of how it looks I thought I'd take photos. This is where all the creative sparks fly. Here, and downstairs in front of the plasma TV. :)

The view when you walk in the door

My little laptop and desk area

The thought spot, where little thinking actually takes place

The work table (inspired by my previous place of employment)

Elfa storage for all my t-shirts, neatly folded and organized thanks to Container Store

The napping nook

My wall of inspiration, notice the awesome "Christmas Darth Vader"

Schlumping

I love my new career as a freelancer, don't get me wrong. But I've noticed that lately, my sense of style has been......schlumpy, for lack of a better word. At my old job, G was always there to quip about my fashion choices. And more often than not, we'd show up wearing matching outfits. But now that it's just me working out of my sister's bedroom, well.....half the time I'm in my pjs and the rest of the time I'm in work out clothes. Goodbye dazzling, funky, cutting edge styles, hello sports bras and flood pants! I think I mentioned in my last post that I was going to look for new jeans. Well, I bought 2 pairs of Citizens that left a huge hole in my pocketbook, but they were well worth the money! I know low rise used to be the thing, but I am SO digging these higher rise! It just keeps everything in place, sucks everything in. Genius! And no, G, they don't look like "Mom Jeans."

On a different subject, I've hired a real life matchmaker. My very own yenta. She gave a talk at a networking dinner I attended, so I met with her and signed on. She goes to various events around town but also approaches men during her every day routine (grocery store, etc.). Her approach is to date as many guys as possible in order to find the right one. Her price was very reasonable, so I thought "what the heck." If I get matched, great! It'll be a great story to tell my grandchildren. And if not, well, it only confirms my belief that there are absolutely no guys out there that match my criteria (which, btw, I didn't think was that hard, but apparently it is!) and it's not for lack of trying that I haven't found a bf. If a professional matchmaker can't find him, what chance do I have? It's a win-win situation. I signed up a few weeks ago and haven't heard a thing. Eh, we'll see!