30 for 30 : Winter edition

A little brainstorming went in to choosing these 30 items. And by a little, I mean this pad of paper sat by our bed for a week so when I woke with a brilliant combination or necessary addition I could jot it down.

Happy remixing!

Up for air

Hi. It's been a while. In case you are worried, I have not joined a nudist community.

In my absence I have done a lot of thinking, and here's what it's amounted to. I would like to spend more of this blog focused on my real passion. Photography. I still love to dapple in fashion, but that's not my niche. If I could convince my husband to be the fashionisto so I could take the photos....no, that'd just be weird. 

That being said, I did sign up for the Winter 30 for 30 challenge hosted by the lovely Kendi Everyday. So here's to a little more fashion and a lot more photography!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday night doing something a bit more exciting than updating their blog as their husband sleeps. :)

Interviewed

Interviewed here on Friday, interviewing for a coaching position tomorrow. Busy week. This scored me a job offer, let's see if I can pull together something equally successful for tomorrow.

I've decided to stop labeling the pictures, if you want to know where something is from, ask. Most of my pieces are fairly basic and therefore, easily located. If in doubt, assume Target. :)

How was your weekend everybody?!

Painfully Obvious

I'm trying to personalize the blog a little bit more. So bear with me as I experiment. (It's like my blog is playing dress up! )

Also new to the blog, our blue wall!

*simply

Do I do the "winter" 30 for 30? I'm pretty sure it was winter in Ohio last time we did it.  

Boots meet Blog, Blog, Boots.

Am I the only one that makes lists just to cross something off? Today's list looks something like this.

Get up

Check Email

Shower

Brush Teeth

Get ready

Eat Breakfast

Go to work

Blog

Laundry

Workout

Dishes

Pick up apartment

Unfortunately the things that remain on the list are the most important and require the most effort. Go figure. I feel so productive though! Maybe this is what my dad meant by living in a fantasy world.

And since you've never seen these boots before.....

I just love the little bit of color on the back. But I'm really tempted to go buy skinny pants in every color so I can wear them daily.

Sunday night update

Cuddled on the couch with husband. Munching on Jelly Bellies. Admiring our freshly painted beautiful blue wall and the gorgeous gowns at the Golden Globe Awards. Fed up with their not so subtle agenda.

This is my "I'm a mad, malnourished model." look.

And this is my "I eat carbs at almost every meal, but
thanks to this waist cinching belt you can hardly tell." look.

Not the most flattering outfit, but it's purple and grey, so I like that part.

I'm working on a little revamp for the blog header (since that's about all I can do without studying some HTML). Something that doesn't scream "I'm 18!". Oh, and guess who called me for an interview. Yup. That lady who immediately judged me as unqualified. Ironic.

Breaching the comfort zone

I usually don't accessorize. This necklace is big. Hence the mild discomfort.

 And these are the shoes I wanted to wear.

To all you professional accessorizers, how did I do? Can I do this necklace with a casual outfit? 

Once I conquer my fear of accessories I plan to tackle the issue I have with wearing skirts. They're so much fun and an easy way to break up my bad habit of color blocking. Why did it take me so long to realize this?!

Two for one deal.

Ok. Yesterday I was in a funk. I didn't want to do anything and that included getting dressed in something matching, remotely fitted or with less than an inch of warm fuzzy. So I did what every amateur fashion blogger does, they revert to their files of previously worn and loved outfits, grab the same pants, the same top, the same shoes and a different cardi, and before you know it, BAM! you're dressed and it works. At least that's what I'm holding on to. Haha. This is also known as a cop out. My most sincere apologies. I like purple. I don't know, diversion seemed like a good technique. And I really do like purple. I digress. Here's my cop out, cheat, laziness.

This is how cold it is in Ohio,
my ear looks like a freaking blue tooth, but no,
that is my ear.

Oh, and sorry about the return to the wall of boredom.

And since I haven't done an outfit post in a while, I'm doubling up, because I can. And here's the story with this one. Little miss productive today (me) spent the day dropping off applications to supplement my 2-3 days of work during wedding slow season. Here is what I learned during my outing. Apparently you must have a PhD but no life to work in clothing retail (Not to be confused with other types of retail). Funny, I didn't think it was so hard to convince a woman to burn her husband's hard earned money on clothes she doesn't need. Isn't that like our thing?! Now if I had to convince a woman not to...no, I think I could do that too. But seriously, "Wow! What are you?! Like a double zero?! The models don't even rock it like that. Oh, and what do you know?! It's on sale!" Yep, I think I could do it. Oh, and here's another favorite. When I was checking out at this cute new accessory shop I thought to myself, "Self! You could work here!" So I ask the nice lady for an application and she says, "Sure sweety! But how old are you?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Tell me YOU ALL didn't think I was under 18. Please!! If I were 30 or 40 this would rock, but I'm not, so it did not rock today. Oh and hey nice lady. I can drink too, shocker, I know.

A little "Here we go!" fist pump.

HIRE ME! (That's my resume!)

 I've had about enough of this snow stuff. And I have the insane ability to find all the bloggers that live in warm clients, which makes me jealous. Do bloggers who live in cold climates hibernate? That's a great idea. I may have to start something.

Weekend Safari

If this is the first time you've visited my blog I want to apologize quickly before you jump to the pictures. But if you're anything like me you'll browse the pictures and THEN read this, but I DID warn you. So don't yell.

I wanted to treat my weekend guests to a true Cincinnati experience, so we started on Friday with a trip to Jungle Jim's. A GINORMOUS grocery store with food and beverages from all over the world. I'd heard stories, but never experienced it myself so we bundled up and here's just a sampling of what we found.

 I wish I could have remembered the names of everything, but I'll know next time to document. Naturally I was drawn to the obscure meats, pretty fruits, funky vegetables and gag inducing seafood. Blame it on growing up with brothers. (Except the pretty fruits, that's the girl in me.) 

We also covered Goetta, Skyline Chili and Montgomery Inn BBQ Chicken on their visit. I can't wait for summer to treat visitors to Graeters Ice Cream and Reds baseball games!!

Where would you take me if I came to your city?!

If only I had a gorgeous gown to wear!

Like one of these.

Being fairly new to blogging, there are a few things I still haven’t figured out.  Like html coding, gadgets and posing. Blog awards are another thing, I was introduced to them by Miss Ramsey, and although I’m not 100% sure what it means, I’m 100% excited! I think it means they like me?!  Or maybe they just want to know seven random things about me. Either way. It’s pretty exciting. So thank you Ramsey.

Well you asked for it. Here are seven random truths about the crazy lady behind emilylime (me!).

#1 I too love hamburgers and fries. More the burgers than the fries. Our George Foreman may be the death of me. That or Smashburger.

#2 I met my husband on a blind date and was a total jerk. Fortunately the man was looking for a challenge. Almost 4.5 yeas later and I’m still a challenge.

#3 I like pretty food. I would definitely sacrifice a little flavor for a show stopping presentation. Poor husband. [Exception: Hamburgers]

#4 I really want to get my nose pierced and adorn it with the littlest, sparkliest post known to man; still classy but unexpected and a little rebellious.

#5 I am a graphic designer by degree and photographer by passion. Unfortunately I avoided all html classes in college because they were too reminiscent of high school math and the self-timer really throws me off when shooting pictures for this blog. Perhaps someday I’ll share some of my own work.  Until then, enjoy this.

#6 Socks are my least favorite article of clothing. They fall off your heels, get lost in the dryer, don’t keep your feet warm and make you wear a larger shoe size. Perhaps if I can start viewing them as a fashion accessory I will grow to accept them.

#7 The only pop I drink is Coke. And that is not interchangeable with Pepsi. It’s best from a fountain and second best in a cold can, which I religiously tap on the top before opening because I read once that it keeps it from exploding.

These blogs may be new to only me, but I like them, so you should too.

Mandi - Thinking about Pretty

Ramsey - Love, Ramsey

(Can I even do that?! Nominate the person who nominated me?)

Lindsey - Lindsey’s Loves

I’m still establishing my reading lists and I feel like I have two kinds of blogs that I am following. 1) The established ones that would giggle at the thought of being nominated by such a baby blogger. 2) Blogs that I’m following but up to this point have only been reading and I don’t want my first comment to be “I nominated you because I secretly stalk your blog but don’t leave comments.” So I'm just going to give you a few more blogs, among others, that I look forward to reading more of.

Hayley - The Cheap Girl in a Chic World

Kristine - Kristine. Or Polly.

Katherine - Thrifted Things

Jenny May - The Swede Records

Linley - Dwelling & Telling

To all of you lovely ladies who have left comments on my blog, thank you! It brightens my day and introduces me to hours of entertainment.  I will try to return the favor pronto.

A fashion adventure

I'm inside again. :( But you can still see outside, so I get some credit...right?

So I had planned to wear the sweet new boots I mentioned yesterday, but I picked out an outfit, tried it on and it didn't work. I was running late, as usual, so I had to figure something out...and QUICK! I've had this outfit laid out for a week or two now, but was scared to wear the red pants that have been sitting in my closet for at least two years, unworn.

And as if red pants weren't enough of a risk, I tried something different with my hair. A french braided poof. I like how it looks from the top...but from the front (how most people see it) it kinda looks like a gnarly bump-it. (In case you're wondering, my hands are not superglued to my jacket, that is apparently where they were most comfortable. Every. Single. Time.) I'm also sporting grey nail polish. Your thoughts?

Friends, I am taking a weekend off. I have visitors! So leave me some love and I'll see you in a few days!

Our fabulous guests. Brother and his gf.

Uhoh.

Someone give me $100 so I can stop complaining about cold feet. PLEEAASSEE!!

Ok. Confession.
I have a serious problem.
I LOVE SHOES!! (too much)
It's to the point of an OBSESSION.
Let me explain.
New boots yesterday.
Online shopping for fuzzy heaven today.
Must stop.

Whew. Now that I have that out of the way. 

 And now you know what it looks like on our balcony.

Just to clarify, these are not the new boots. They're old ones. from freshman year of college. The ones I wore through four winters on my hike to the fine art building (hence the kiss of blue paint on the toe). They're fuzzy, so they'll probably stick around until the bottoms fall off. Consider yourself warned.

And that's all I've got. Off to eat some dirt dessert. You gotta get some of this!

And now you can!

1/2 cup margarine, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
[combine in blender]

3 cups milk
2 packages (6 oz) vanilla instant pudding
[combine, whisk, allow to sit for 5 minutes]

16 oz Cool Whip, thawed
[combine with pudding and cream cheese mixtures]

20 oz package Oreo cookies, crushed

The rest is up to you. Stir it all up, layer it, top it, whatever suits your fancy. If you're doing it for a party it's cute to put it in individual cups and add a gummy worm or a fake flower. Mom says it's best eaten fresh, brother says it's good however. I agree with brother. Enjoy! :)

Slightly out of focus pictures give me chills.

And not in a good way. If you have a similar response...please prepare for a spine tingling experience. I couldn't pry Clint away from the last Sunday (all day and all) night football marathon. But I DID go outside, and for that I am proud. I grabbed my trusty tripod, locked the focus and ran into place. Apparently my face has a little more dimension than my front door. But look at the detail on that door! Goodness me!

Do you ever look at pictures of yourself and just giggle? Like who is that girl? What a goob. That's pretty much how I feel whenever I attempt a Tyra smize. Or anything remotely serious for that matter.

On today's agenda is picking out a paint color for an accent wall in our tiny living room. I finally got Clint to concede by letting me add some touches of "home" to this place and now I'm stuck, not knowing what color to choose. The wall has a collage of gold and silver frames. Perhaps I'll upload a picture. Any brilliant ideas you creative geniuses?!