Harper is as nervous in New York City traffic as me.

"Fashion" Blogs

In the interest of full disclosure this is a typical day heading into the office.  I work in a fairly casual environment.  I am not claiming I am a fashion plate. 

I wanted to discuss fashion blogs.  Some blogs are great, and I love seeing the outfits, and I am not talking about you.  In fact, go over and check out Ali at Food Fitness Fashion (though she's not posting because she's on her honeymoon) or Marcia at Marcia is amused. , they both genuinely have good fashion sense, and are worthy of putting up their daily outfits.  I'm talking about the people that put up their outfits, name their blog something to do with fashion, and yet look like they put on a big old box of crazy.  I am not naming names, but, really?  Since when does "unique" equal "fashionable"?

I know better than to put my fashion choices out there.  I have my own style I suppose, but it's pretty much hippie maternity wear.  And, no, I'm not pregnant.  I even drive my husband nuts with my loose, flowy clothes, loud prints, and bohemian vibe.  Do I enjoy my clothes?  For the most part.  I could probably move in a more professional direction.  But do I think they're worthy of sharing on a daily basis?  Absolutely not!  And, no, I didn't choose a "good" or a "bad" outfit for today.  It's just what I was wearing after running across yet another crazy fashion poster. 

We are absolutely all entitled to our own style.  And I think that my Maid of Honor and I did a great job of acknowledging that with our respective weddings.  When we went shopping for her wedding dress, we even started labeling stores "my style" or "her style".  This is not saying ANYTHING negative about her choices, they just aren't mine.  When it came to wedding dresses, she wanted a satin, princess, ball gown, and I wanted form-fitting lace.  Neither is a bad choice, but just unique to our personalities.

I think, though, when you have a very off-beat style, you run the risk of looking off your rocker if you are a fashion blogger, and perhaps should consider how well your advice will be received.  Maybe I just don't get it.  

Troubled Times

I have very sad news.  Yet another "person" in my life is pretty sick.  I feel comfortable sharing this news, however.  Please keep Brutus in your thoughts:

Brutus is the adorable, though somewhat loutish bulldog belonging to my brother.  Because my brother and his wife decided to take a break after he graduated with his MBA from University of Chicago (yes, my brother is a smart cookie.  Congrats Jim!), they left Brutus some of the time with both of their parents, but for a brief period, he was boarded.  And during that time, the Bru contracted one heck of a case of kennel cough.  He'll be ok, but the little dude is pretty miserable right now.  As are my parents, because he is sleeping on their bed, and keeping them up all night with his hacking.

Not only is he sick, he doesn't realize that he's moving.  Jim and Sara are moving to NYC for my brother's new job, and since Brutus isn't a fan of moving vans, and uprooting his life, he is arriving a week later with my parents.  Best of luck to Jim, Sara, and Brutus on their next great adventure!

(obviously, he was much younger/smaller in this picture)

Blog Hop

Well, I'll join in on the fun.  Feel free to add to your blog addiction by enjoying this great list of blogs put together by Jenna's Journey!  I'll be checking them out myself!

Weekend in Review

You would think that not doing too many house projects for once would make for a relaxing weekend.  And...you'd be wrong.  Chris only relaxes when his hands are tied and he is absolutely FORCED to.  And by this, I mean he has a concussion or there is a tornado warning while he's working in the back yard (true stories).  This weekend, Chris's parents and some dear friends came to visit...and Chris still managed to take down the old basketball pole in the back yard.  Don't get me wrong, I love that he's driven, I just get tired.

I felt absolutely terrible about *our friends'* baby's dog allergy.  (*Edit: sorry, I wasn't clear)  He doesn't react to fur, but licking?  Huge, scary hives.  Immediately.  And anyone who has ever met Harper knows that there is nothing she likes to do in this world more than lick people.  Particularly if they're sweaty, and it was 100+ degrees on Saturday.  She was an angel, though, and while she watched the munchkin the entire time, once she was told to lay down and leave him alone, she did.  So proud of my girl!  Chris and I talked later about how difficult it would be for us if we had a child that was allergic to animals.  Obviously, we're more than a little attached to Monster and Harper.  Can't think about it.  I might cry.

Apologies to Keith for this picture, but it's up here because Michael is making truck noises and it's just too cute.

Harper also REALLY wanted to play with Misty...but the little dog was just too intimidated by her size.  No one loves her.  The cat won't play, the pomeranian won't play...what's a girl to do?

Obviously, come hang out with mom.

Hope your weekend was great, too!

My Olive Obsession

We like green.  A lot.  Our guest and master bedrooms were already "Bamboo" (a VERY light green), but this past weekend I painted the living room, dining room, and hallway "Tate Olive".  I like it a lot.  I understand many people would feel like they're living in a rainforest, but to each their own.  The entire house has wood floors and wood beams on the ceilings.  That being said, I need help!

Our color scheme is generally fairly "primary".  We accent with deep red, gold, and navy.  (Let's just ignore the fact that I have a purple bathroom.)  The living room has incorporated all FIVE colors.  (Red, yellow, blue, green, and brown from the floors)  I'm starting to feel it's too many colors, but I can't decide what to change.  Also, the room is pretty bare.  But I can't decide what to put in it!  Here's some pictures, and then advice would be great!  (Just don't tell me to change the walls!)

Alright, these are not the most helpful pictures (though obviously the dog IS).  However...

Any suggestions?

One Step at a Time: My Plan Going Forward

Ok.  This week I can breathe.  That's saying a lot ya'll!  Obviously, though, I've got to make some changes going forward.  I still am not going to fully discuss what all went down, but one major thing was career-oriented, and the other...well, health related.

So, what am I going to do about it?  Let's talk about the health side of the equation.  Here's my current plan:

1)  I would like to run either the 1/2 Marathon in March or Full Marathon in November 2011 as a fundraiser.  To that end, I need to start running again.  I used the foot as an excuse for too long, the x-ray never showed a fracture, and I need to start.
2)  I WILL be running a 10k October 23.  Mostly as a warm-up.  I need to send in the registration.
3)  I WILL continue being healthy with my diet.  I have not touched meat in a week.  I have had ice cream and Chinese food, but I'll chalk that up to stress-eating, and that's over.
4)  I am up 5 pounds from the wedding.  That means I am 10 pounds from my goal weight.  I give myself until I turn 30.
5)  Oh, yeah, I'm turning 30 in 5 months.  I plan on getting myself on track so that 30 is even better than 20.  (ha!  Ok, 20 I was terribly underweight, so...in a different way)  I may turn this into some way to make myself accountable, but...to be determined.

I think that's enough for now.  Even putting any of this out there was hard.  Onwards and upwards!