Kicking off the 250 Workday Outfits Challenge!

As promised, this post kicks off my self-challenge to put together 250 different outfits for work, from the huge wardrobe my sweet Sis has given me, plus my own puny closet.  I've decided that weekly posts with pics of the past week's fashions will be the way to go.  Now, this first week I was using trousers from my own collection, as most of Sis' are too long and I haven't had time to do any hemming.  So, in the following pics, the blouses are all from Sis' closet, with some of the new "bling" from the Clothes Mentor (seriously, can we get one of those in Nashville, please?) and from Savers, both in Austin.  This week, all the pictures are taken after work (because no one will get up early enough to take them before I leave in the morning), in front of our house.
Monday:  My grey East 5th poly-rayon trousers paired with a Notations Woman 3/4 sleeve striped blouse, with a Savers necklace of red, green, blue & brown beads and charms on doubled nylon cord. I wore my trusty plummy-brown pointy-toed fabric heels (ancient!) and carried a dark royal blue bag.

I have just a couple of pictures of each outfit, and I have been trying everything I have available on our home system to get these $^&#$ things to load in here upright.  They were all rotated & saved, edited for brightness, cropped (why my photogs can't get closer, I have no clue...), resized and saved, then compressed and saved -- all to (almost) no avail.  This first one is the only one I've been able to move into this format looking the same way as it's stored.  So...just tilt your head to the right, for the close up of the blouse below.
ETA: just remembered (was reminded) that these can be edited in Picasa.  Ta-Da!!

Tuesday, Day 2, sees me in a lovely "leopard" print with tiny silvery brads on the neckline trim -- no need for a necklace! -- by XCLUSIVE.  The tan stretch trousers by Westbound Woman still look good, after being in the rotation for about 3 years.  My black "shooties" by B0RN have boot-style top stitching,  The purse is a Rosetti belted bag in caramel.  Wow, I look remarkably fresh for having worked a full day...

Wednesday, Day 3, was for floral-like colors -- I actually think of Monet's flowers when I look at this blouse.  It's a Liz Claiborne Woman sheer, with its own deep purple camisole.  The slacks are my navy East 5th, the necklace is a very long silvery chain with blue & aqua stations and tiny rhinestone charms, worn doubled.  The purse is light blue leather, bought at Goody's in Springfield, and doesn't seem to have a brand name on it.  A.a.a.and we're back to sideways pictures.  Good grief.

It's late, and my brain is getting tied into knots with these stupid sideways pictures.  If they're stored & saved 18 times upright, how the heck are they uploading sideways?  Well, I'm just going to put the pics here and try to revise them tomorrow.

Thursday, 4th day, Lee Relaxed Fit twill trousers with a Jaclyn Smith semi-sheer rayon blouse, in an unusual "camo" print that almost looks floral.  The colors are tan and brown, leaf & olive green, and cream.  I paired these with my light brown strapped "shooties", and a tan purse.  The necklace is from the Clothes Mentor, looks Anthropologie-inspired, fake ivory and bronzey chains. 

Day 5 Friday at last!  We have Casual Day at work, and we can wear jeans.  So these are my skinny jeans, with a soft green Verve top, with a nice deep scoop neck,  Love this necklace, one Sis spotted and brought to my attention, at...I think it was Clothes Mentor again.  The sandals are antiques, and used to be my mother's.  Proof that taking care of leather shoes is worth the time spent.

The purse is a fun fake croc, in aqua, with lots of room inside.  I actually used it as my "carry-on" bag when I flew to Texas, stuffed with knitting and other important stuff.  I will go into more detail about the fun times there, in the next post.  Right now, I need to become horizontal for about nine hours.  

That wraps the first installment of the great 250 Workday Outfits Challenge!  Goodnight, Gracie.

6/22/15  I've been playing with these pics in Picasa, so some are now almost "ok".

Wait here; I haz a surpriz...

It's Friday, one of the few I haven't worked lately. I have been a poor host, leaving you all alone for so long! I actually kept a diary while I was in Texas, but have misplaced my notebook. The whole purpose was to have it together for the blog, but the wheels fell off. So there's probably not going to be a "blow by blow" account of my visit (until I find that notebook!), but Texas was lovely as usual. My nieces are both little lights in the wilderness, in very different ways of course. :)


To paraphrase Kliban, I love my nieces to pieces. The rest of the family? They're ok too. Pup is still an old fart, Sis is still wound a little too tightly, and her DH is still just the nicest guy.

And I got to visit with Sis' MIL again this trip, although she was a bit under the weather. Last but not least, I met the Stamper sisters, a really sharp-dressed & -witted pair of fine lady octagenarians, one of which may be Pup's "girlfriend". What a hoot!! We went out to dine with the ladies twice, and spent a few hours just sitting at their dining table & shooting the breeze. I hope I wasn't putting a crimp in Pup's "style".

I did work on some knitting, actually casting on in the airport. It was to be a lace scarf for DiscoDame's birthday buddy, but somehow I got lost in it and wound up with an extra stitch -- the bane of my existence, that extra stitch!-- so it was frogged when I got home. I crocheted a tiny charm bag for Neice A, and also got to teach her to knit. How bright is this kid? She picked it up in two hours, TWO HOURS, on the car ride from Sis's to the San Antonio Zoo. This craft, which I love & never have enough time for, which it took me probably two years to figure out, she picks up in two hours. I'm floored. Or gobsmacked, I'm not sure which.


**



Oh yeah, we went to the Zoo! Kinda necessary, as I had to be in San Antonio to catch my flight home, but my "driver" had up & left Sis's a day earlier than planned. Oops! But it worked out, as least as far as the transportation issue. Then I got an inkling of why Sis has been so wound up about Pup: he knew I was coming down, knew it weeks prior, but when we got to his house (he joined us at the Zoo), there was hardly any food there. Pup has a rather limited diet, hates cooking for himself, so he usually dines out. But after the whole day at the Zoo, we were both pretty tired, and I was famished. Now, I have believed for most of my life that I disliked tomato soup, can't stand it! Pup had no lunchmeat to put on the bread he had, no eggs, not even any cheese--but he had an extra large can of condensed tomato soup. I ate it all, two big bowls full, and absolutely loved it. But I'm almost afraid to try it at home--am I really hungry enough to enjoy it?

I am still working on the secret project for my pal, and am nearing the finish line. The collar is the final knitting, and it's more than half done. I've started on a five-part project for Neice T, something I'd asked her about while we were in the playroom. Neices A & T were playing, both on their knees at the train table (very low, has toy train set up on it), and I was watching them & looking around at all their toys. Now, A was never all that "into" doll babies (she seems to like Barbie well enough), but T has a large collection of baby dolls, and loves them. I aked her if she had enough blankies for her babies, because if she needed one or two more I could knit them. She thought for moment, looked around, then held up her hand with fingers spread. "This many!" she said. So Princess T has given me a commission which I'm honored to endeavor to achieve. I've started a Feather & Fan baby blanket, making a little smaller than the pattern calls for, but then I had a thought (why this didn't occur before I'd knit 4" of it, I'll never know): what if I could make these 5 different baby blankies in such a way that when T is past her baby doll stage, I can piece the blankies together to make her a lapghan. Yeah, it's ambitious; so I'll move out of my comfort zone, and just go ahead & frog the F & F blankie. It needs to be bigger. Kinda like everything else in Texas.

It's my party.

The heat has made me feel lazy all day. I've been sitting in front of the window, got the ceiling fans turned up, windows wide open all 'round, reading. Can't even work up enough starch to pick up some knitting, which is a shame 'coz I've been wanting to make something(s) for a friend & her new baby boy. He has the tiniest itsy little feets, just crying out for some hand-knit booties! And I'd like to give her a shawl, something she can wear or wrap about Baby when she carries him to church. For some reason, folks around here seem to wrap church-going babies in shawls. I guess the shawls are prettier than "regular" baby blankies? Part of the "dress for church" thing, wrapping some lacy froth around the babe. It'll have to be something that can be knit fairly quickly; I need to check my collected patterns for something more or less lacy without being slower than Christmas. I am not a speedy knitter. Usually, I don't mind taking forever to see a product; I think I'm a bit of a process knitter. But when it's for a baby, it needs to get finished before it gets outgrown. I have a ton of "baby" yarns, all acrylic unfortunately, but pretty. Too pretty for a boy? Well, I won't use acrylic for the booties, just the shawl. And that will make room in the storage bin for some of ny newer purchases. A very little room, unless I make a huge shawl. OK, what's simple & lacy? Feather & fan I can do almost in my sleep, but it's not particularly fast. And I'd like something a bit more open looking. So, what will I be working on on 6/14/08?
In the Into Each Life A Little Rain category of news, there will be no trip to Texas in our foreseeable future. I had no sooner booked & paid for airline tickets, then the Plaidman brings home the proverbial pink slip. I will be working all the OT I can tolerate for the next unspecifed length of time. This will undoubtedly leave me cranky all week, and I'm so glad I'm not one of the people I live with. On the plus side, when my vacation week rolls around, I know I'll have plenty of time for knitting. Or crocheting, or pretty much whatever else amuses me. I figure I'm being paid to have a good time, and by the goddess, I'll have it! And there's the little matter of being THE breadwinner of the household. I have a tee shirt that sums it up: You can agree with me, or you can be WRONG.

Love a plan?

I'm not so great without plans, myself. The ideas are around; it's the details that elude. I'll be brief: I want to write more about my visit with the folks in Texas, but I'm about to leave for bit. Got a photo or too, if I can figure out how to get'em to behave. Here's *my* DD modeling the hat for Niece #1:

Well, I have no idea whether that worked or not. (It didn't--gotta get my tech consultant over here). 6/25/08 Techie postscript: gotcha picha, lady. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I flew into Austin on Friday 4/18, meeting Dad at the airport, then on to my sister's house outside Austin. Siesta is part of the afternoon routine there, so Dad laid down for a nap, and I went up to my oldest niece's room to try it myself. But I work all day, and found I just couldn't sleep during daylight. I never did acquire the nap habit. I met the weekday nanny, a very nice lady, and watched my nieces romp on a trampoline out back. Memaw came over; she's fun. After the siesta, Sis came home from her shop, and her Mr. was able to get away from his desk, and we all piled into the large vehicle. That's Sis, her spouse, Pup (aka Dear Dad), me, and the two little nieces. We went out on a mission: acquire dinner & terrorize some waitstaffers. I got an absolutely sweet pic of the girls together, it's my desktop now. This was almost all we did all weekend, with varying members of the troupe stepping in or out. We hit the IHOP with Memaw but without the older niece. I made some progress on the socks, no pics while in TX nor since. I guess it would be nice to see some knitting on a knitting blog.... when I figure out how to make it work.

I'll fly away

I still haven't packed, and now the DH says we're gonna have to be out the door by 5:15 a.m. if he's dropping me at the airport before going to work. I figure I've got 3 hours to pack before dropping into bed at 8 p.m. Pardon me while I scream. %#(&%%$! Whew, that's done. I did the grocery shopping; I don't want the poor dears to starve while I'm out. I spent about 3 hours on Ravelry this morning, got so involved I forgot my coffee. I've checked, the TSA says I can carry my knitting on board, which is good. Looks like my airport time will be about 3 hours, without a computer. I may not be able to post while I'm on the road, so if you're looking for me just be patient -- this is going to be a long weekend. Well, time to pack.