Day 1

So...some of you might remember the 21-Day Fashion challenge that I participated in back in late August.

Well, the wonderful April is hosting a Winter Edition that is only 10-days long! I'm really excited about this because I have been getting bored of my closet, but I have a hard time doing something like this challenge on my own. (I know, I should be better and try to do it....but it's just HARD!)

So, today is Day 1: Layers.

So, I went with my white sheer blouse (Kohl's) from the last challenge (it was my mix-in item) with a white DownEast shirt underneath, my brown jean jacket (shopko? who knows, I got it in high school) with my skinny jeans (target) and my awesome brown boots (shoe carnival).  I really like this outfit. I hardly ever wear this jacket. It is a tad on the small side - I don't think I could button it up if I wanted to, and it's very, very stiff which makes it hard to wear.

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

p.s. I had a wonderful weekend and time spent with this new boy toy of mine...I'm working on his 'nym and then he'll probably get a Dating Battles post. ;) Have a lovely Monday!

Day 21 - FINAL DAY

I am going to miss posting pics of my outfits all the time! I have loved this challenge!! It has been so fun to step out of my comfort zone. :o) Today's challenge was to take everything we learned and put together an amazing outfit.

Today was my day to teach Relief Society so I wanted something comfortable, cute, and that an outfit that I felt confident in. I even woke up early enough to do REAL makeup. In other words, I actually wore base and stuff today. Go me. I got several compliments today on how pretty I looked and I felt good, so that's all that mattered.

So without further ado: my outfit

{skirt: JC Penney's as a gift, white DownEast, sweater: JC Penneys, belt: Target, Flower: made by me}

So, I went with a black pencil skirt (that i LOVE) and a gray sweater with a white undershirt for a mostly monochrome kind of look. I paired this with my sexy 5" (yeah...I was tall at church today. It's fun.) and felt awesome! I belted, tucked, monochromed, and accessorized. ha! It's amazing how much I've learned so much about putting together outfits and I'm excited to practice the things I've learned on a regular basis.

I have a VERY girly story for you about Surfer Boy that just might get expanded after the zoo trip that is happening with a group of peeps from my ward. :o) So look for that at the beginning of next week sometime. :o) HAPPY LABOR DAY!!

Day 20

So, this was outfit was for Saturday. I didn't wear it for very long (only in the evening for a bit) mostly because I was in workout clothes for a good chunk of the day. However, i did wear it and I was happy with it.

The challenge? to wear Sunday shoes on a not Sunday. I LOVE doing this. I love wearing heels with just about anything and I do it quite often. I also made this my third and final time of remixing my item. (see outfit 1 and outfit 2)

I love this belt and I paired it with my hot pink heels (which I LOVE.) I think next time I'd tuck in the shirt...but I'm not sure how I'd like it and I really didn't take time to check it out. :o)

Oh thank goodness...

I am so extraordinarily happy that it is Friday. Life has been crazy, but I've been able to live and let live and not complain too much. :o) I'm just excited that I get a 3-day weekend, a 3-day work week and then another 3-day weekend. Go me! ha ha ha.

It's day 19 of the 21 Day challenge dear friends. Today's challenge is to wear somethign on your head. Now, Kayla told us it could be absolutely anything - even a flower clip! However, I wear ribbons, flowers and headbands on a very regular basis, but I have two hats that I just don't wear that often. I decided to bust out one of the hats and push my comfort zone a little bit. I have a hat I love that my mom gave me for Christmas that I don't wear very often, at all, BUT my hair wasn't going to cooperate with that hat. So instead, I went with this:

{hat: Target}

cute, huh?! I paired it with this new top and jeans:

{sweater shirt: JC Penney, tank: DownEast jeans w/belt: JC Penney}

I couldn't get the colors to come out right on my iPod touch w/instagram...but the sweater shirt is a really pretty cider orange kind of color. And my new jeans? Love them. They are so comfy! and I love a good dark wash jean. :o)

It's Labor Day weekend y'all. Officially the end of summer, or something like that. It's starting to feel like fall a little bit around here. The weather has definitely been cooler in the mornings and evenings, and I love it.  Here are just a few things that I'm doing this weekend:

• Going to the gym and running tonight - meeting with my trainer tomorrow morning. I'll probably be dead by the end of it.

• Watching a movie with friends and then going to a dance party tonight. I think.

• Teaching choreography tomorrow morning.

• Cleaning the church building tomorrow morning.

• Watching my BYU Cougars. Oh how I am excited to see them on the field again. They make my heart happy.

• Helping my roommate sort out kitchen stuff. It will be fun times, I'm certain of it. :P

• Hopefully making some good headway on Sister B's wedding gift. I want to get it finished.

• Teach my Relief Society lesson. Here's hoping it goes well....

• Watching the CES Fireside. love.

• an adventure of some sort on Monday - maybe the zoo?

Should be a busy weekend. I'm rather excited. Have a great weekend y'all!!

Thursday Things!

• Friends - the workplace is CRAZY today. Seriously. The first of the month is always insane, but today....today is majorly insane. Just sayin' - not complaining. ;)

• It's Thursday. I love me some Thursday. I'm rather excited about Blue Tango tonight. It should be good times y'all. :o)

• I need to do laundry. I should work on that.

• Roommate A is moving out - anyone need somewhere to live in UT county and want to live with me?

• I'm an awesome roommate, I promise.

• Going to a movie night tomorrow night. Will cute boys be there? Possibly. Am I excited? hecks to the yes yo.

• I have awesome friends. The end.

• I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday. I'm a tad nervous about this.

• Went to the gym last night - ran and walked 2+ miles. It was awesome here's the results (including my warm up/cool down)

• I'm loving my pink running shoes. They make me feel awesome.

• Played volleyball last night. In my pink running shoes. See above statement. yup, it was the best game ever.

• Today is Day 18 of the 21 Day Challenge. It is so quickly coming to a close! I can't believe it! Today's challenge? Statement Jewelry! I was uber excited about this challenge. I had bought some earrings w/Sister B last week - hoping that I could pull them off, and then I found out that today's challenge was statement jewelery...yeah they totally fit that category so, without  further ado, my outfit:

{yes, i'm wearing giant feathers. LOVE them - JC Penney's}

{I also wore this necklace again. JC Penney's}

{the whole kit and kaboodle! pants: Target, shirt: JC Penney's/DownEast}

•  It is September First y'all! I LOVE the month of September. My littlest sister is turning 16 - and that's just insane!! Also, my half birthday is this month. woo hoo!

• I am ready for the change in season - I just hope that fall lasts a LONG time and that winter doesn't just go forever and forever like it seemed to do last year.

I think that's everything. Life is good. I am very very busy these days, but that's okay. I like busy. :o) Have a great Thursday y'all!!

oh the joys....

There are so many things I could complain about today, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to not complain and instead think happy thoughts while I share with you my outfit for today's 21 Day Challenge. It's Day 17 and the challenge was to take something from your repair pile, fix it and then wear it.

Problem: I don't have a repair pile. I have had one in the past...but the last item in said pile was my favorite black pencil skirt. It didn't last more than 5 days in that repair pile. That was a month ago. (I think I'm just lucky right now nothing needs fixing or anything.) So what's a girl to do when she can't really heed to the challenge set before? She emails the founder of said challenge! Kayla was fabulous and offered an alternative challenge: Break a fashion rule. Oh man. I was all excited to do this...and then I started googling fashion rules. There are so many variations on fashion rules and what's okay and what isn't. However - I decided to break the one fashion rule that makes me shiver whenever I think about breaking it - wearing black and brown together. Now, I've read a lot of things in the past 24 hours and there are many fashionistas out there that say this is okay. They're both neutrals, wear them together, be brave. And...well...I can't help but think that said fashionistas are a little CRAZY. I even bug my mom for wearing black and brown together - and she does it subtly with just a brown belt and a black skirt or something. She's going to roll her eyes and then say I TOLD YOU SO when she sees today's outfit...so without further ado: my fashion rule breaking outfit

{leopard print top: JC Penney's black shorts: Banana Republic}

So there you go - brown leopard print (I swear there is no black in that top...AT ALL) top with a black tank top and black shorts. I paired this with some brown accessories (watch, bracelets, flip flops) and off I went. I'm feeling....okay about it. Will I do this on a regular basis? Probably not. Am I worried what people think when I'm out and about today? A little bit. Will I still mock my mother for wearing brown and black together? Probably. ;) It's just the way I roll. Also - let's make note of this style of shirt - I have like 5 shirts in this style all in different colors, patterns, and slightly different necklines. I LOVE this style of shirt. I super cute in it and I KNOW it makes me look good. That's all. ;)

Have a great Wednesday y'all!!

Good Morning!

Good morning everyone!!! Even though I am saddened at the thought of a 9-hour work day, at my desk, inside....I had such a GREAT weekend, that I'm happy. Also, I've decided that I'm going to work on one of my Day Zero goals this week: Don't complain about anything for a week. I'm a pretty optimistic person, but there are times when I complain about EVERYTHING! So...this week I'm going to consciously make an effort to not complain about work, my love life, or the weather. I think I can handle that. I am allowed to voice my complaints on how sore I am after working out. ;) But basically I want to not be a sour puss, or a pessimistic person this week. I think it will be a good exercise for me. :o)

In other news, I have a new crush at church. His 'nym: Surfer Boy. :o) We went to a concert in the park randomly Saturday evening and then back to his ADORABLE house (that he owns!) to watch a surfing movie. He also came over to game night last night. Some of you might be wondering about other men in my life. They've pretty much all fallen off the face of the earth - although BM2 might resurface and Grizzly Bear is....confusing. It's okay though! I'm having the time of my life and it's great fun. :o)

Today is Day 15 of the 21 Day Challenge. I am going to be sad to see this challenge end. It has been such great fun to use style prompts to get ready in the morning. It has definitely helped me to add variety and newness to my wardrobe. Today's challenge was to do something new with your hair. I LOVE experimenting with my hair. I was using Pinterest one day and I discovered this blog with lots of cute hair ideas. I couldn't watch her tutorial for the hair do I went with and I wasn't wanting to pay for it...so I just looked at the picture and did my best to recreate it. I like how it turned out. :o) A great way to hide very dirty hair that I didn't feel like washing this morning....shhhh...don't tell anyone.  The result!

{3 buns! I love it. A great summer hairdo!}

And for your viewing pleasure, the outfit I wore with this hair do:

{plaid shirt w/belt: JC Penny paired with a brown shirt from Walmart, shorts: thrifted and cut off by yours truly}

For cute, right?! :o) I am a huge fan of JC Penny's these days. It's one of my favorite places to shop - but not for dresses. I want a cute new dress, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. It might just have to wait until Christmas though. sigh. C'est la vie.

Well....that's all from me dear friends. I hope you have the best Monday in the world. and just as a reminder...there are only 5 days until BYU Football kicks off their first season as an independent! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!! Have a great day y'all!

Day 14

What a Sunday today has been! So busy! I do love it, but it is very tiring at the same time. My weekend pretty much seems to have disappeared, but I have had a blast. :o)

Anywho, today's outfit prompt was to copy someone. I've seen a lot of this one style and when I went shopping with Sister B I wanted to add this outfit to my wardrobe. So, I sort of cheated and bought most of my outfit today, but here's the deal - I have plans on many ways to wear the top/accessories that I went with and I'm okay with the fact that I bought this shirt and necklace yesterday and made it work.

So, I've seen a lot of people wearing things like the following:

{a shirt like the one here}

{a necklace like this}

I've always wanted to try it. So...when shopping with my sister i tried on things that reflected the images above and styled my outfit like so:

{top and necklace: JC Penny, skirt: roommate's from Gap}

So...I really LOVE this top. Also, I was never sure if I could pull off this style of necklace, but I took the risk...and I'm VERY happy with result.  I wore this shirt over a blue downeast top, but I could so wear it with jeans, paired with boots, oh so many ways! Also, it came with a belt, but I ditched it by the time I got home from church. I was just done with wearing a belt at that point. ;) I think it looks cute both ways! Go me!!

Day 13

Today's outfit for Day 13 went pretty well. I went with a black neutral base and a pink sweater accent. Very chic, me thinks. :o)

Day 12

I just love my days off. So far today I have: slept in, gone to the gym, and watched Project Runway. Which, if you didn't see, my sweet friend who was booted off in week 2 is back again! This made my heart SO SO SO happy. :o)

Also - the gym? It was hard. Day 2 always is, but I rocked it out and finished strong. Week 4 day 2 was the same workout as Day 1, so my results are basically the same.:

I'm pretty happy with myself!

As far as the 21 Day challenge goes, today's Day 12 challenge is to jazz up the jeans. I love jeans. I really do. I wear them all the time. :o) So...here's my outfit!

{shorts: thrifted and altered by moi shirt: JC Penny}

I'm pretty happy with the look. Chic, but casual. :o)

I hope all y'all are having the most marvelous Friday. The weekend is here (or almost here for some of you) and I hope you rock it hard core! Still on my agenda: a visit to the temple, get my car inspected for registration, get my car detailed for its birthday present, drop off a birthday card for Grizzly Bear and decide on what I want to do with my evening - because I have options!! :o)

Love all of you. Hugs!

It a new day, a new dawn....

and I'm feelin'.....good! Oh my. I just love Michael Buble. He makes my heart quiver with joy. He's the best. :o)

I am seriously feeling so good right now! Part of that is because I got my hair done last night and I just love it. I went a dark, chestnut brown with red highlights and new bangs and it just looks fantastic, if I do say so myself. Let's move on to some Thursday things shall we? I have plenty for ya!

• Not only do I have new hair, but on Saturday I am going shopping with Sister B to get a few new items of clothing. Life will be good with new elements to my wardrobe. :o)

• Speaking of wardrobe, I am LOVING the 21 Day Challenge! It has been SO fabulous for me and I'm discovering new ways to wear things that I already have in my closet. It is rocking my socks!

• Speaking of the 21 Day Challenge, today is Day 11 and the challenge was to wear a dress or skirt. Easy enough! I love wearing skirts, especially during the summer. Keeps me cool. :o) Today I not only wore a skirt, but I went with remixing my item from Day 1. So without further ado, my outfit:
  

  

  {skirt: my roommate's from Gap, shirt: Kohls/DownEast, belt: Papaya}

  
  

  I sort of love this...Tucking in this shirt does feel weird and I feel like it does funny things...sort of. Overall, I like it. I added a pop of color with my bright pink heels (which you can't see). I almost wore my pink belt that I have...but it just didn't flow right.

• I love pencil skirts (which is what I'm wearing today.) They make my heart happy.

• I don't work tomorrow. This makes me SUPER happy.

• I am teaching my company for the first time tonight and I'm rather excited. It will be fun times for sure.

• I've mentioned this a few times this week, but I just can't contain my excitement. I'm going dancing tonight!!! Oh yes! This just might be the highlight of my week!

• I'm in love with Instagram. It is so fun to play with.

• I went grocery shopping last night and then made taco meat. I froze some of it for future meals and then ate a taco salad. Yummy.

• Work is insane. It's driving me crazy.

• This week's running schedule is sort of crazy. I'm trying to decide what is going to work best. It's a little up in the air.

• However, going running means I get to wear my awesome new, bright pink running shoes and that just gets me all excited.

• I have tickets to a UVU Volleyball game tomorrow night. I want to go, but not by myself. I need to find a friend to go with me.

I think that's all for now. Pretty much, I am loving today - even if work is insane and driving me to be slightly cynical. :P Oh well...c'est la vie!

FINALLY!!!

I am so happy today is finally here! I have  been waiting impatiently for today for 3 weeks now! See...3 weeks ago today I was supposed to get my hair done. That's my normal 8 week time period and I'm usually ready to get my roots taken care of by then. However, three weeks ago I had the final dress rehearsal for AIDA and was unable to go to my hair appointment and so I had to reschedule. Because of the show and my hair dresser's schedule...the next available appointment was tonight at 5:30pm. I am SO so SO excited to finally get my hair done! I haven't really done much with my hair this week  because I've been hating on it. I'm excited to feel cute again!

In other news today is Day 10 of the 21 Day Challenge. Today's challenge was to find a "closet orphan" aka something that you never wear and save it. Well....here's why this challenge was hard for me - about 7 months ago I went through my closet and turned all the hangars one way. In the next few months Every time I wore a shirt - I turned the hangar the other way so down the road I could see what shirts I wasn't wearing. I then, in May or so, went through my entire closet and got rid of everything that was, basically, a closet orphan. The only exception to this was my work shirt and a few skirts that are super fancy that I don't wear that often, but still fit and I still love. So what's a girl to do? Well...I went with my work shirt. It's a Land's End shirt and when I got it, it was very much too big for me. I had my mom take it in for me, but it still fit funny. I can count on one hand how many times I've worn this shirt in the past 2 years. My biggest beef with this shirt is that it seems to ride up when I'm sitting, so I'm constantly readjusting and that's just annoying. Since doing day two, though and discovering that I can pull of the whole tucking in thing, I decided to try that to see if I can love this shirt more seeing as how I'd love to get rid of it, but probably shouldn't. Here's the result:

{shirt: Land's End w/work logo, pants: JC Penny} {I realize it's sort of cut off the collar...sorry, I was in a hurry this morning - running late!}

I actually really like this outfit and I definitely like this shirt more now that I see it on my tucked in. I've always loved the color, so maybe now I'll wear it a little  bit more often. ;) I think pairing it with these higher waisted (no pockets, HATE that about these pants) gray slacks definitely helped out. I feel super long and lean, which I'm not on a normal basis - so yay for me!

Anywho, there you go! I'm loving this challenge. It's definitely pushing me, and my closet, to new heights. Now, here's hoping the work day goes quickly and smoothly so I can enjoy sitting in the salon tonight. :o) Ciao!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 35th Edition

I have been thinking a lot the past few days on what I wanted to post about for my Tender Mercy Tuesday today. I was struggling with finding something to share that would be appropriate, but nothing was coming to mind. Then yesterday happened. Friday was a really awful day at work and I was not looking forward to coming into work yesterday. However, I knew that we should be fully staffed and that would make a huge difference from Friday where I was the only customer service specialist in the office. Well...my one coworker called in sick. So we were only partially staffed yesterday. It ended up being an okay day - and I attribute it to the fact that I was able to find the good in things as the day went on. This isn't always the easiest thing in the world to do, but finding the good in life has always been a talent of mine and I was glad I was able to put it to good use yesterday. blessings. :o)

In other news: I bought new running shoes last night. They are hot pink and full of awesome. See?

I think they made me run better last night than I would have otherwise. :o) After a 2-month hiatus from the gym, I got my butt on the treadmill and pounded out Day 1 of Week 4 of the Couch 2 5k program. With my warm up/cool down this is what the treadmill said I did:

I feel pretty good about that. I'm a little sore this morning, but as I saw my pink shoes on the floor of my bedroom, a part of me wanted to go running again today! Even though today is not a running day. :o) I think the pink shoes are going to be good for me! huzzah!

Finally, today is Day Nine of the 21 Day Challenge. I took a HUGE risk today and I'm pretty sure I look like some sort of vegetable today, but I wanted to push the envelope on Monochrome outfit day. So...without further ado, my outfit:

{skirt: made for my sister's wedding by my mom, jacket: BYU bookstore, shirt: DownEast bracelet: Gardner Village. not pictured: headband sash made to match skirt and earrings: green discs from claire's}

I'm pretty sure I look like a green bean, or lettuce or something. I am not sure I'd ever wear a monochrome outfit like this again...but who knows. maybe? I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I can wear mostly black, mostly brown all the time, but any other color and it makes me nervous. sigh. Anyways. There's Day 9!

It's Tuesday, and that means first day of ballet classes! woo hoo! Here's hoping you all have a great second day of the week! ciao!

hello monday!

Hello friends! This week is full of new and exciting things and as much as I LOVE my weekends, I was really excited to get through it so I could attack this week with vigor. :o)

Things that I am doing this week:

• continuing to work on the 21 day challenge. This week's prompts look like a lot fun while still being challenging for me. Watch for my outfits each day!

• While ballet classes for my studio officially started on Thursday, I was out performing at BYU Education week, so I had a sub. My first official classes of the year are tomorrow and I'm stoked for the new year! I'm teaching a new class this year and I am just so excited!

• I'm getting my hair done on Wednesday. I have never looked forward to a Wednesday so much in my life! My hair is driving me bonkers and I am excited to feel cute again.

• I don't work on Friday. I'm not sure all what I'm going to do that day, but I'm just excited to not have to work.

• I am going to Blue Tango on Thursday! I haven't been to Blue Tango in way too long due to the musical and I am so excited to see my friends again and dance the night away with them.

• I am going shopping with Sister B! I love shopping and my sister. So going shopping with her is a pretty awesome thing to have happen!

• I am getting back into my exercise regimen starting TODAY. I am going to do the couch 2 5k program again, but I'm starting on week 4. I've already scheduled the time in my calendar for when I'm going to the gym so there WILL be NO excuses. :o)

Doesn't that sound like an exciting week? I sure think so!! And now, the moment you've all been waiting for......Day 8 of the 21 Day Challenge! Mixing fancy with casual...I struggled trying to pick out an outfit - especially one that  I could be comfortable in all day at work. I almost went with a different top with jeans, but then I settled on this outfit:

{top w/belt: Papaya, jeans: DEB}

I LOVE this top. I feel so super cute in it and it's the first official outfit that I belted - mostly because it came with the belt. This top feels fancy to me and I always wear it with slacks or a black pencil skirt - but I totally dig it with jeans. One day I'm going to try mixing the fancy and casual with jeans and my Japanese top that I made....but not today. :o)

and.....that's all folks! Nothin' much is happenin' these days. Grizzly Bear and I are still friends....I think he still likes me, but he needs to ask me out on a date in order for me to want to be with him more. And really....that's about it. :o) until tomorrow dear ones!!

day 7

Today's Challenge: layer accessories.

Not going to lie, this was my least favorite challenge to date. I layer bracelets all the time...but any other accessory, it just doesn't happen. I wanted to push myself with this challenge, and so just layering bracelets felt like cheating to me (although i'm sure it isn't). Sooooo....I tried the layering necklace thing. I did it....but I'm not sure I loved it. That's okay though, because for me, this is all about pushing my boundaries on what I normally do. :o) the results:

{necklaces: one target, the other a gift skirt: my roommate's, top: DownEast, belt: JCPenny
bracelets: two gifts one american eagle}

So....there you go. This next week's list of challenges looks interesting, I hope I'm up for the challenge! :o)

day 6

Day 6: Unconventional. Aka wear something in a a creative way. Today's outfit i had envisioned one thing...and then I changed it to this:

{shorts: thrifted and modified by me, shirts: downeast, belt: a tie from my dad, bracelets: American Eagle necklace}

I love this tie, but never really wear it as a tie! I decided to try my hand at having it as a belt today, which meant I needed to tuck in my shirts. I mostly liked this look. It worked for my Saturday of teacher meetings and running errands. :o)

P.S. Closing night ROCKED the house! I'll write more about it when I have more time. ;)

CLOSING NIGHT!!!!

I can't believe that it is CLOSING NIGHT. Unbelievable! The time has just flown. It feels like yesterday I was auditioning and then finding out that I had made the cast. In reality the entire time I've been doing stuff for the musical has spanned about two months. I have loved making new friends, learning new things, and performing the same show several bazillion times. I've never done a show so many times in my life and, in my mind, it definitely makes all those crazy hours of rehearsal worth it.

ANYWAYS. I know tonight is going to be bittersweet, but I'm ready to move on to other new and exciting things that I know life is going to send my way.

Not only is today closing night of Aida, but it is also Day 5 of the 21 Day Challenge. It was a "belt it" challenge and I knew once I saw this prompt that this challenge wasn't going to be hard for me. I have several tops that have belts that come with them and look super duper cute on me. However, I wanted to try something a tad different, so I pulled a belt that I haven't worn in like 7 years (it doesn't fit like a normal belt on my pants anymore) and paired it with a shirt that I never belt. The look works, I think, and I just might try something like this again!

{short: thrifted pants that I changed into shorts top: DownEast belt: Target? I have no idea...}

I think this works rather well. And I'm not wearing a skirt!!! ha ha ha. :o) Anyways, I'm going to finish this post with a Friday Fill-Ins. Just Because. :o)

1. It's fun to dance around your house in your underwear. Haven't tried it yet? I highly recommend it.

2. Rhubarb crisp is easy to make.

3. I like to be organized and on top of life.

4. I sometimes wonder about things that I will never know!

5. Something I'm very much excited about is the change of seasons. While summer has been all too short around here, I'm excited for the smells and sights of Fall.

6. Auditioning and then participating in the musical was well worth it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to closing night and the ward campout (I think I'm going), tomorrow my plans include a meeting, a mani/pedi, and some chick flicks and chocolate and Sunday, I want to feel accomplished and put together!

a sleepy Thursday

Dearest internet friends, I am so excited that it is Thursday! Let's do this thing and get through my muddled thoughts shall we?

• First off, I was a stupid girl last night and started a new book - Unsticky by Sarra Manning. You know it's a good book when you stay up reading for 2.5 hours and get half way through. I'm dying right now because 1) I'm sleep deprived and 2) the book is at home and I'm at work. TORTURE!

• We only have TWO more performances of AIDA. I'm going to be sad to see the show end, but at the same time I'll be glad to have some sense of normalcy in my life. If normal is even possible. :o)

• Speaking of AIDA, we had a SOLD OUT audience at BYU last night. It was INCREDIBLE. They were an amazing audience that laughed, clapped, cheered, etc. It was so great.

• I am totally rocking the 21 Day Challenge. Day 4's challenge is Color Blocking. I realized while putting this outfit together that my only really colorful, solid colored bottoms (skirts, pants, short, etc) are skirts. I don't really have brightly colored bottoms - mostly neutrals. So, even though I've worn a skirt the past two days, making today day three (I promise I do wear pants!) I chose the following outfit:
  
  

  

  {skirt: thrifted, jacket/shirt: modbe outlet tank: downeast}

  The colors are a lot brighter than this picture shows. I couldn't get a good picture no matter how I tried, and seeing as how I got ready for work in like ten minutes this morning, I just didn't have time to try to get a better picture. oh well. The skirt is a bright pink and the top a bright spring green. The top was only $5 at the Modbe outlet center in Springville. Love that place. All in all, I'm counting today as a success!

• I've had two of my guy friends in the past 24 hours tell me that I look really good these  days and that they both think I've lost weight. I think they're smoking something because I actually feel the grossest I've felt since my sister's wedding....but still, it is nice to get complimented. 

• This weekend is turning out to be quite busy. After closing night on Friday there's a combined ward campout with the neighboring ward in our stake. I'm not sure I'm going to go over to it at all....but I might. I also plan on being girly this weekend and treating myself to a mani/pedi because man alive do I need one!!

• Also this weekend, I have a third date with Blindman2. I think he needs a new name....I'll think of something one of these days. We're actually going out on our own, without our mutual friends of Truit and Truit's husband. While I love Truit and her husband, I'm excited for it to just be me and BM2 (maybe I'll just abbreviate it?) so we can better get to know each other and see how things flow. Also... this date got set up a month ago because our schedules just weren't gellin'. The anticipation for this date has been killing me.

• Percy and I continue to have a conflict of schedules...I think we're going to shoot for sometime next week.

• I have such great guy friends! The Australian came last night with his sister and friend from Japan to my musical. It was SO GOOD to see him, since I haven't seen him since rehearsals started with the musical two months ago. Basically, I love The Australian and seeing him made me happy.

• What else do I need to tell you.....oh! Ballet classes start today. I have a sub for my class tonight because of AIDA at BYU. I'm sort of sad that I have to have a sub for my first company class....but oh well. It will be all good later.

• Also, just because I feel like you need to know: Peanut Butter M&Ms combined with Dark Chocolate M&Ms is the BEST combination in the whole wide world!! If you know what's good for you, you'll trust me when I tell you to go by a bag of each and put them together in your mouth. You can thank me later.

• I want cupcakes SOOOO bad  right now. I have a Groupon for the Sweet Tooth Fairy and I think I might need to cash that in this weekend. :o)

Well....I think that's all for now folks. I hope your Thursday goes splendidly. :o) Cheerio!

Wednesdayness

In past years I haven't really been a fan of Wednesdays. They just aren't usually the best of days. Last Wednesday was a decent day - it was my first day off during the week that I'd had in a long time. Today's Wednesday has started off dealing with a ticked off customer and moved into lots of tasks to accomplish. I'm hoping the work day moves quickly so I can get into performance mode. Last night's show felt like a glorified dress rehearsal (aka a dress rehearsal with a sold out audience - well....almost sold out) but it went well for the most part and it's a different feeling inside the de Jong concert hall vs the outsideness of the SCERA Shell. I will say this - dancing on a real floor is nicer than concrete although it is different to turn on and I wasn't amazing last night. I will be better tonight!!!

In other news it is Day 3 of the 21 Day Challenge. Today's challenge? Mixing patterns. Oh man was I ever so nervous for this challenge! Like my dear friend Hilary, mixing patterns scares the bejeebers out of me. Something I realized last night as I was planning my outfit...I don't wear a ton of patterned clothes. At least, not patterns that can mix with each other - meaning they are completely different color schemes, etc. BUT! I did find an outfit that I actually like quite a bit and I'll probably wear it again in the future. So without further ado.....I present my Day 3 outfit

skirt: custom made by my mommy, top: Kohls/downeast tank

So this is a pale blue skirt with emobroidered flowers all over it - the thread goes from white light blue, to teal, to dk blue to black. The top is teal, blue, yellow, aqua and white. I love both these pieces but usually pair the skirt with a plain blue, teal, or black top and the top I usually pair with black slacks or pencil skirt. As nervous as I was for this outfit, I very much like it. I feel confident, sassy and cute. I would have paired it with my awesome teal heels, but my feet are tired from the show today so instead I went with my black gladiator sandals instead. :o)

Happy Wednesday all y'all! Have a great day!!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 34th Edition

Hello dearest internet friends. Here we are, another

I just love Tuesdays. Sometimes. Tonight is our first night performing at BYU in the de Jong concert hall. I am SUPER stoked to get to perform in this venue. We were on stage last night for just a short while and it definitely felt different.

My tender mercy this week has been the fact that last week was temple week. Temple week was the most marvelous thing for me and I spent time both at the temple, in the temple, and at home studying. Having my focus being on the temple last week was wonderful. I got to spend time with several of my friends at the temple both outside just sitting on the grounds and then in the temple doing work for our ancestors. Such a wodnerful week. I hope to have more weeks like that in my future. It will be great times.

In other news, today is Day 2 of the 21 Day Challenge. I'm sorry if you get sick about hearing about this and you don't come here for fashion. BUT I'm trying to do the whole challenge and one way I'm keeping myself honest about it is by blogging about it. Don't hate okay? :o)

Anywho, today's challenge is to tuck it in. I'll be honest. I hardly ever tuck a shirt in. I just don't like to do it. 90% of my shirts are tunics/blouses that I just wear untucked. (because I think they look best that way) I struggled trying to pick a shirt that I thought would look good tucked in and finally picked the following outfit:

{shirt: JCPenny/DownEast tank, skirt: Walmart (i think?) Belt: I have no idea}

So yeah, this shirt is a half-sleeved snap (i love snaps!) up shirt that is super cute and tailored and I have never worn it tucked in...until today. The great thing about this is that I wore a belt - which I don't do often because you'd actually be able to see it! I through on some flip flops with this outfit...also, pretend I made my bed this morning okay? And there we go! I think Day 2 has been a success and now I know I can tuck a shirt in and I won't die! :o)