Funky office casual.

• Blazer: Maurices (previously)
• Tube top: Maurices
• Cropped pants: Torrid
• Pumps: Payless

I've had this tube top in my closet for a while, but I've not been satisfied with my attempts to style it until now. And while a tube top is not something I think most people would count as acceptable office attire, I think it works well under this blazer. Admittedly, since I work from home, any discussions about acceptable office wear are purely theoretical. (And let's face it, in my case, most people are going to get stuck on that whole "crossdressing" thing instead of noticing the tube top...). And while I'm not sure if it shows up in the pictures, but the shading on the pumps are actually polka dots that slowly get bigger and more dense toward the toe.

I have one more outfit from my backlog to post, and we're still having to share computers in our household (not much longer I hope!), and of course in addition to being so gracious with her laptop my amazing wife took the pictures for today's post.

Too many patterns.

• Dress: Maurices
• Belt: Maurices (came with dress)
• Button down: Old Navy (previously)
• Pumps: Payless
• Pantyhose: Just My Size

This is another outfit from the backlog that was trapped on my old computer. When I put this outfit together I decided to have fun with pattern mixing. The shoes are plaid, and both the dress and the button down have vertical stripes in them. And in writing this post, I realized this outfit has a certain resemblance to the previous one in which I wore this button down. I guess that means I just need to get more button downs. And the temperature around here has been up and down lately, so it's just been too chilly for bare legs, but I've had this dress for a few months, and I really wanted to wear it, so I opted for the pantyhose.

And I am slowly getting caught up(and I'm still borrowing my wife's computer that she is graciously sharing with me until my new one gets here). And of course, my awesome wife took the pictures for this post.

Trippy heels.

• Top: Maurices (previously)
• Cardigan: Maurices
• Trouser Jeans: Maurices
• Pumps: Nine West
• Bag: Target (previously)
• Necklace: Maurices (previously)
• Bracelets: Torrid (previously)
• Umbrella: Crabtree & Evelyn (previously)

Some friends of ours had some guests over this past weekend, and I took the opportunity to dress up. I was really excited about my new trouser jeans, and I really wanted to wear heels with them, so I paired them these heels which I have never really worn other than the initial try on, despite owning them for a while. The weather was pretty rainy and dreary, and I briefly thought about switching things out for my rainboots, but I knew we weren't going to get any good outside shots, and I figured we would mostly be making a few brief trips to and from the car.

After a fun evening with friends though, in the dark and rainy night, I mis-stepped on their stairs walking to the car and tripped. The biggest casualty besides my pride, was my pair of heels, as you can see above. The jeans are mostly okay, but I will probably be demoting them to much more casual purposes due to the blemish on the knee. (I realize that logic may be flawed since I have a matching blemish on my leg...)

I admit I'm a little bummed out about the shoes, but I got to spend a couple of days dressed how I wanted last week, and it helped my mood out a lot actually. And I will have more on that (and the outfits) in a future post. Plus, it turns out there may be some hope for the shoes after all! I talked to some friends and did some searching and I found a cobbler, and when I dropped the shoes off yesterday, they didn't seem to think it was too big of a deal to fix them. And honestly, while replacing shoes in my collection can be a little difficult due to sizing, I feel a lot more bold about going out these days and this blog has definitely played a role in that. And frankly, I'm happy I wore the shoes outside to an event with friends, even if they did get damaged in the process. There was a time when I would not have believed that I would ever own a pair of shoes like this, much less severely damage them from wearing them out and about.

So I look forward to seeing how the shoes come back from the cobbler (this is a new experience for me), and hopefully I will be figuring out a better balance of blogging with the rest of my life. I really miss everyone! And of course, my beautiful wife helped with my hair and makeup and took the pictures for today's post! (She's also still letting me borrow her computer!)

What we actually wore: Valentine's part 2.

My Outfit

• Button down: JC Penney (previously)
• Pants: JC Penney (previously)
• Tie: JC Penney
• Oxfords: ? (previously)
• Belt: JC Penney

My Wife's Outfit

• Dress: Maurices
• Belt: Maurices
• Pumps: Maurices

I'm a little later than I meant posting this. (Wow, take a day off and the rest of the week goes nuts.) But I wanted to post what we actually wore for the big date. And some of the pictures from the evening. The evening started when my wife got home from work about 10 minutes after my previous post.

I was afraid my wife might be forced to work late, so our reservations were late enough to provide some extra time which we didn't need. So instead, I took back roads that my wife is less familiar with, and slowly drove by a lot of restaurants which also would have been suitable for the day. (Okay, and I also drove past a few fast food restaurants too, just to add more suspense...). The good news is that when she finally saw the restaurant sign, she was too confused to guess if it was our destination or not.

Neither of us had been to a Brazilian steakhouse before. But I have to say if your budget can afford it, I highly recommend the experience at least once. Unless you're a vegetarian: while they did have a pretty cool salad bar, the meats are what makes it awesome, and its not exactly a vegetarian/vegan friendly sort of place. For those who don't know, the staff is constantly circulating through the restaurant with skewers of steaks, and they constantly stop at your table and cut off whatever you want in whatever quantity you want. And it's all you can eat. I had the funny idea I wanted to sample one of each thing on the menu, but I couldn't make it. We did save room for dessert though. I'm not sure how. So after the restaurant, I suggested coffee at a Starbucks near the hotel, which my wife agreed to, still in shock over the pleasant surprise of the restaurant. After coffee, I feigned getting lost only to pull into the hotel parking garage a few minutes later. My wife was speechless at this point. I later showed her the previous blog post and everyone's comments, which she thoroughly enjoyed reading. The only real downside is that I have no clue how to top this next year.

And of course, my very surprised wife took some of the pictures in today's post, and I took the rest for once. I hope everyone has a wonderful (and possibly long) weekend, and maybe someday I'll get caught up on everything I'm behind on (including your wonderful blogs...)

What I would have worn: Valentine's Day.

• Dress: Asos (buy)
• Belt: Torrid (previously)
• Cardigan: Torrid (previously, borrowed by my wife)
• Pumps: Nine West via Amazon (buy, the color is Dark Red)
• Bracelet: Torrid (previously)
• Necklace: Maurices (previously)
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

Okay, this is going to have to be a quick post since I'm trying to get ready for Valentine's day. And while I would love to wear this outfit tonight, this is not what I will be wearing. But if I weren't wearing actual menswear for Valentine's Day, I thought this fun little black dress I recently got from Asos would be perfect. I realize it's a bit short, but hey, it is Valentine's Day, and I definitely felt really cute wearing it. The cardigan and hose are still necessary because it's still way too chilly here for bare legs and arms. Also, the cardigan masks my stellar "farmer's tan" nicely as well.

Since today is also Monday I need to post 3 positives as part of Melissa's and Hope's Fabulous in February.

1. I love planning elaborate surprises. This one is related to today. My wife knows nothing about what we're doing. And since she won't read this post before tomorrow, I'm going to let you in on the plan. We're going to a new Brazilian steakhouse in a nearby city that she's wanted to try for a while but our schedule has not permitted. After that, we're going to hit a Starbucks for coffee, and since it will be kinda late, the big surprise is the hotel room I got us in the city for tonight, which I already checked into. I drove out and back today, to check in and take our overnight bags I secretly packed, and decorated the bed with a stuffed animal. So tonight we can go straight to the room, and she won't see our overnight bags until it the last minute. Or something like that.
2. I have a very good memory. Sometimes this frustrates me because it means I remember all the things I'm behind on and get some slight panic attacks, and regrets and past mistakes live on in my mind far past everyone has forgotten. (I still feel guilty over things I've done wrong to my wife year's later, and I'll bring it up, and she's completely forgotten about it). Despite all this though, I'm very glad to be able to remember all the positive things that have happened to me over the years, and all the people who made it happen.
3. For my last one today, I'll pick something physical. I like my hair, and I feel really lucky that it's healthy, and I can grow it long and that it looks nice.

And I'm still trying to get caught back up on everyone's wonderful blogs! And of course, today's pictures were taken by adorable wife.

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.

Shopping.

• Cardigan: Old Navy (previously)
• Cami: Maurices (previously)
• Belt: Maurices (from a dress)
• Skirt: Old Navy (previously)
• Pumps: Nine West (previously)
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

I previously wrote about finding some shoes for sale in my size on Craigslist. During the visit, the lady selling the shoes mentioned that she was also doing some end of year cleaning out of clothes that no longer fit her, and many of them were in sizes near my own. I told her to let me know if she ended up with some clothes in my size. Luckily for me, she did, and sent me an email this past weekend, so we scheduled a meeting time on Sunday for me to visit and "shop".

This was my shopping outfit for the day. My wonderful wife did my hair and makeup, but she ended up having pre-existing plans for the afternoon and didn't accompany me on the visit. I ended up getting a lot of wonderful pieces for a great price, and I will be incorporating them in future posts. It was a fun day, and this was an interesting first for me: making a solo visit to a stranger, and I enjoyed the opportunity to get out and about. Of course, I was careful. This trip was also a good confidence builder for this weekend, but that will have to wait for another post.

I also want to take a second to thank Melanie, of Dressed to IL for mentioning me in her post on authenticity.

I also need to thank LaToya of A Chameleon's Closet for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award in her post Leopard and Purple. So here are seven more things about me as part of the award.

1. Since I mentioned music in my previous post, I figured I would share some more. I like a lot of music, so this is just another sample of the randomness that is my playlist. Here are some bands that showed up on my playlist in the past few minutes: Cage the Elephant, Gogol Bordello, Beck, Muse, Hybrid, Rage Against the Machine, The White Stripes, The Killers, and Movits!.
2. Last time, I also mentioned that I liked bad movies. Well, I also frequently like cult classic movies, and as an example I have to mention one of my all time favorites. Krull. Which has an epic soundtrack by James Horner, and a young Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane in early minor roles. Its not a movie for everyone, but its one of my favorites.
3. I have no siblings.
4. I am scared of have serious reservations about flying. Every movie I've watched where things go wrong with airplanes makes it worse. My wife finds it seriously unpleasant to fly with me.
5. I don't drink, this makes the previous fact even more difficult to cope with. I once had a fellow passenger (whom I did not know) offer me some of her drink, in fact, I was so visibly nervous.
6. I also don't smoke.
7. I dislike raw tomatoes, but I enjoy Ketchup and nearly every other tomato based product you can imagine.

Things have been incredibly busy lately, and I look forward to being to get caught up soon, I haven't forgotten about everyone, but this month hit the ground running, and hasn't let up at all. Thanks so much for bearing with me. And of course, my amazing wife took the pictures for this post.

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.