An outfit for driving.

• Hoodie: Maurices (buy)
• T-shirt: Old Navy
• Jeans: Maurices (previously)
• Boots: Clarks via Craigslist
• Socks: Hanes

Since the beginning of the year one of our ongoing projects has been to get rid of some excess stuff, either by taking it to consignment and thrift stores, or by selling it on Craigslist. This plan has a flaw I have recently discovered: other people on Craigslist have things I want, and so I end up "window shopping" the other listings. And that is the genesis of this outfit. I found a listing for a formal dress on the cheap, and while I have no "reason" to own one, I found myself realizing that it would be really nice to try one on, and own one "just in case", and the seller was offering an excellent deal, and really, this is all just rationalization for the fact that I want to make up for wearing a tux to my HS prom. So I sent an email, and scheduled a time and place to try on the dresses to make sure they fit. I realized that since I would mostly be driving and trying on dresses, I might as well dress how I wanted. And so after a pleasant and chilly afternoon drive, I am now the proud owner of a formal dress, and pleased with my outfit for the day. Even though this outfit spent more time in the vehicle than it did outside.

And of course today's pictures were taken by my wonderful wife. And I am slowly getting back into the swing of things with blogging and commenting, it only took the first two months of 2011 to do that. Thanks everyone for your comments and reading my blog!

Lounge wear?

• Button-down: Covington via Craigslist
• Vest: Maurices (previously)
• Skirt: Sag Harbor via Craigslist
• Pumps: Naturalizer via Craigslist
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

This was Wednesday's outfit, and it was almost completely created from recent Craigslist purchases. It's definitely a little different from my normal style, but the long wool skirt was really calling to me. Of course, that's probably because after warming up just enough to a relatively balmy 40's and 50's, it was back below freezing again.

I also wanted to take a minute to mention that I love answering reader questions, and a few posts ago, Cara from the wonderful Cara's Closet asked a question: An odd question, and possibly a question you don't want to answer (in which case, ignore me!!), but does your love of women's fashion stretch over into lounge/sleep wear?

First, within reasonable bounds, I will try to answer any question I can, and I certainly don't mind discussing lounge/sleep wear. I actually have been interested in extending my interest in fashion to lounge and sleep wear, but right now, I don't actually have anything like that. My current sleep wear is a pair of a cotton shorts and a cotton t-shirt, both from the men's section. It's actually fine by me, but they are getting a little worn out, and I have been shopping for some more "feminine" replacements. I haven't met with much success though, as most of what I've found either hasn't really inspired me, or has been too impractical, or just looks to... um... "granny-ish" for my preferences. The story is similar with lounge wear: I've looked off and on, but I haven't really found anything that has inspired me.

I think part of this is also because when I do go shopping, its easier to get excited about things I can put into my daily rotation, or a new pair of shoes. I have a similar problem getting excited about basics and layering pieces, and I have a similar gap in my wardrobe for those pieces. There are also many days where I don't get to dress how I want through the day, and I frequently try to dress up in the evenings, so, somewhat ironically, many of the outfits I post on this blog might be classified as "lounge wear".

Again, I love answering questions, so please feel free to email me, or leave them in a comment, and I will try to do my best to answer them in a future post! I tag all my answers if you would like to read past questions. And of course, the pictures in today's post were taken by my fabulous wife.

A blue kinda day.

• Top: Maurices
• Cardigan: Old Navy
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci via Torrid (buy)
• Pumps: ? via Craigslist

The blue, in this case, is for the cold as well as my outfit. Yesterday barely got above freezing, and we had the additional fun of a fresh layer of snow on top or more ice and snow that had not yet melted. But that's okay, on Saturday, my wife and I followed a Craigslist post to a wonderful lady selling a large lot of shoes, and I ended up with several new-to-me pairs of shoes on the cheap. And since it was way too icy, snowy, and cold to be outside much today, I decided to wear one of my new pairs of heels. I just love the blue color of the shoes, and so I decided to keep piling on more blue and neutrals.

Today's post is my first outfit of 2011, and it feels like I'm starting to get back on track. I just want to thank every one for bearing with me while I've been so busy lately. I feel so disconnected, and I just can't wait to go read everyone's blogs and see what been going on. I also wanted to introduce a friend of mine who has just started blogging: Just A Small Town Girl.... Oh, and if you're interested, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to CSN Stores.

I hope everyone is having a great start to their year, and as usual, my fantastic wife took the pictures for today's post.