COOTD: WHERE'S ASHLEY?

Here I am!

Right HERE!

I didn't leave you all, I swear.

I've just been busier than my wee little self can handle.

That's a lie. I've been really fucking busy, but not to the point of not being able to have a life, just to the point of not having time to blog or even prep-posts to be blogged at a later date and time.

Please don't think that this is me complaining about being busy. In no way am I complaining. I am extremely fucking excited about being this busy!!! The new job is going well, I've just completed my first week. Rugby practice has started again--THANK GOD! I'm training a new guy at the liquor store/night job so that I can finally have what resembles a life, and not have to work 6 nights a week in addition to the day job I work. I've been a busy little bee, and it is A-Okay with me.

With that said: how about a COOTD post to make up for my absence?

Would you like that? I sure know that I would.

Here are a few outfits from my first week and second week (this week) of work (I forgot to take pictures on the other days, but I'll try to get better with it once I get into the new morning routine that I'll be starting this week--it includes the GYM in the AM before work. We'll see how this goes.)

// Top: Forever 21 // Pants: Banana Republic // Shoes: Flats from Alloy //

(who is excited about the new full length mirror at the new job/bathroom?? MEEEE)

// Top: unknown via Marshalls // Skirt: Gap // Shoes: Lands End Canvass //

// Top: H&M // Skirt: GAP // Tights: Hue //

 // Scarf: Vintage from my Uh-Uh // Tank: GAP // Jeans: GAP // Sandals (in hand): Target //

// Blazer: GAP // Shirt: Old Navy // Skirt: Marshalls (I think) // Shoes: Kenneth Cole //

 // Top: New York & Co // Scarf: Vintage from my Uh-Uh // Skirt: Marshalls // Shoes: Lands End Canvas (not pictured) //

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!
If you happen to be on the East Coast I hope you all are staying dry and that your neighborhoods aren't flooding!
Things are getting pretty crazy out here in MD!

Adios!

Outfits: Skippy Doo for New Shoes!

March 11-

I scored myself some sweet little gray oxfords from UrbanOg, as well as two other pairs of shoes I don't need but wanted anyways. You can see them/buy them HERE if you like. I'm kind of wishing I bought the camel ones now, but too late. The gray ones are plenty cute and I think I'll be able to wear them with more outfits.

Anyways, I'm quite proud of this outfit. I managed to combine a chiffon dress with a "boyfriend" sweater (don't ask me why they named it that, they just did) and not look like a total bum. Well, at least I don't think I look like a total bum.

March 12-

These new lovelies are some flat ankle booties. I should have taken a picture of the insides... they have the cutest floral print in there. I really wanted the brown version but those didn't come in my size. Boo! You can check them out HERE.

Hope you are all having lively Saturday afternoons (I meant to type "lovely", but I suppose lively works, too)! Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Outfit: Amazon --- A Few Notes

 

You may be wondering why I am standing next to an empty clothes rack today. Well, I just wanted to brag about the fact that I carried said empty clothes rack up a flight of stairs today while wearing high-heeled boots. The darn thing was too wide to carry it next to me, too, so I had to hold it out in front of me which made it infinitely harder. But I prevailed in the end and now I'm trying to decide what clothes I'm going to put on it. Me = Amazon. 

And yes, I am aware that I look wholly unfashionable/boring today. I needed a lazy day.

A Few Notes:

-There is seriously a flash flood going on outside my store today. I can hardly even see the buildings across the street because the rain is so thick. If I never blog again, you can assume I have drowned. Cry not, my friends.

- I have not forgotten about the giveaway. I just had a bunch of other, more important stuff to tend to this weekend (like, you know, watching the Oscars for 5 hours). I will try to get everything figured out and get it ready to go next Monday, so keep your eyes open for it!

- My boss is giving birth to twins today, so if you're the praying sort of person, prayers are always appreciated.

- Downton Abbey is awesome. That is all.

-Oh, and Amanda, I though Sandra Bullock's was okay... I thought it was the best red of the night (there were  lot of funky reds out there that clashed hardcore with the carpet), but I wasn't a fan of the top/bustline. 

-For those of you who don't know (which I imagine would be all of you), Amanda and I both love red carpet stuff, and we always disagree on who looked good and who didn't. 

-I may or may not be doing a Music Monday post today. We'll see how it goes.

-I've been playing guitar almost non-stop since I started about 2 weeks ago, and I proud to say that I can finally no longer feel my fingers tips. Typing feels kind of weird, but I suppose I'll get used to it.

- OK, I'm off to try and figure out what I'm going to put on that clothes rack now. Ta!

Outfit: What the HECK, Oregon?!?

Dear Oregon, it is almost March. Please stop this nonsense. Thanks. -Leanna

So this is what I woke up to this morning. That, and all my still-in-high-school buddies crying up a storm on facebook because school wasn't canceled. Waa waa. I still had to go to work, quit your blubbering. 

My dear puppy Pippin loves the snow. Don't ask me why, because I would think it was make him cold and uncomfortable to run around and cover himself with snow balls (seriously, I had to blow dry him when he came in this morning because he was covered and it sets into his hair). To torture him, I asked him if he wanted to play ball with me, and promptly starting throwing snow balls for him to chase.

Poop little guy (ETA: I have been informed of the typo, but shall leave it for comedic purposes. Thanks, Allison!). He would run   around trying to find where it had gone, and if he did manage to find it it just fell apart when he tried to pick it up. Also, I'm amazed my lame microphone picked up my dopey dog-voice from all the way across the yard. I don't normally talk like that, I swear. :)

Anyways, this is not what I was planning on wearing at all today, but I hadn't planned on a freaking blizzard rolling through Oregon (not really a blizzard, but annoying nonetheless) so I had to make some last minute adjustments.

Question: Does it look weird to wear a necklace and cowl at the same time? I keep on going back and forth and it and I can't make up my mind. So what say you?

Outfit: Leanna Cartoonified

 

 Well, this morning I left my camera at home by accident, so no pictures for you. Instead, you get to admire this stunning piece of artwork that I drew using my touch-screen laptop. That's right folks, I drew this using my pointer finger. Fear me.

Also, just wanted to say thanks to Ashley at Piloting Life for giving me the "Stylish Blogger" award. As part of getting that, I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself. Those of you who have been around since the beginning of the 30 Day Challenge know that I had to write 30 things about myself on Day 6, so I won't be repetitive. You can read any seven facts you like by clicking HERE. 

I'm also supposed to tag 7 other people to  get the award. Hurrah!

1) Meg at The Modern Mode. Fashion and music combined. What more could you want?

2) Kira at Rain or Shine. She interned at Betsey Johnson, and once got to sit down and make a shopping list of make-up with Betsey Johnson herself. If that's not stylish I don't know what is.

3) Savannah at Sweet and Savvy. I don't know how it is possible that this girl only has 4 followers. Her clothes are soooo cute. Excuse the extra o's.

4) Mckenzie at March Rielo. I'm fairly certain she has already got this award, but if not I'm giving it to her now.

5) Jennifer at The Blair Affairs. I'm pretty sure she must have gotten this already as well, but whatever. She deserves it!

6) Amanda at Farmgirl Writes. She likes to blog about the red carpet styles, and we always find someone to disagree on. :) It's kind of fun, though!

7) Emma at Behind the Leopard Glasses. She collects Toms! That reeks of stylish-ness.

Outfit: What to wear when you just don't care...

There are a few thing I ask you to excuse:
-My boring outfit
-My dopey facial expression
-The lack of prices
-My wild-woman hair
-That I was too lazy to cut this out.
-This entire outfit blog. I don't even know why I bothered putting it together.

There's actually a reason I am dressed so uninterestingly (totally not a word, but whatever) today. I have grand plans of redecorating the store I work at, and that involves a lot of heavy lifting and pushing stuff around. So no skirts and heels for me today!

Outfit: Safari --- SuperBowl Commercials

The only reason I titles this one safari is because I have a tiger and a jaguar on my shirt. Lame, I know.

So what did you guys think of the super bowl commercials this year? I actually fell asleep during the beginning of the 2nd quarter (a lack of sleep has precedence over football any day), so I may have missed some good ones, but there are more than enough articles online about the best ones this morning. Who needs to watch the game anyways?

Let me just say I hated all of the Pepsi Max ones, and the Doritos were not up to their usual standards. It seemed like the car companies really got their stuff together this year because my two favorite commercials are car-related.

I'm not really sure why I like this first one so much, it's just really fun!


And of course, who can resist this one? Soooo cute.


And I know this commercial came out long before the Super Bowl, but they did air it during the game so it still counts. I love all of the AllState "Mayhem" commercials, but this is by far my favorite.

Outfit: Hair Insecurity --- Day 20: Education

I realized that it's been, like, centuries since I've worn my hair back. OK, well really it's been like 2 weeks, but it feels like forever. I love having my hair down. Maybe I have one of those deep psychological issues that make people view their hair as a security blanket or something.

Day 20: How Important You Think Education Is.
At the beginning of this challenge I thought these topics were really fun, but as I've been going along they have been getting less and less fun. I don't know why that is, but it kind of sucks. I'm super glad that Mckenzie is a day or two ahead of me in this, though, so I can steal her ideas for the days that I don't like. On her blog, Mckenzie talked about her own educational experience so I think I'm just going to do the same thing.

I have probably the weirdest list of schools ever. Are you ready for this?

Preschool: Some place in Australia where all we ever did was play. It was pretty sweet.
Kindergarten-5th grade: Homeschooled by my mom
6th Grade: Homeschooled for all core classes, went to middle school part-time for Band, PE, and AR (Accelerated Reading).
7th Grade: Homeschooled for math and science, went to public middle school for Band, PE, Language Arts, Social Studies.
8th Grade: Went to public middle school full time.
9th-10th grade: Went to public high school full time.
11th-12th grade: Did online high school full time.

So I've pretty much done it all, and let me tell you that homeschooling is AWESOME. You get to sleep in and eat lunch whenever you feel like it, and when you get done with one subject you can just go right to the next one. Online school is equally as awesome, because you get to do all the same stuff as homeschoolers, but you get online teachers instead of your mom (don't get me wrong, I love my mom. But having her as my teacher for high school probably would not have gone well).

The low point of my educational experience was definitely going to public high school. I really liked it in middle school because it was something new and different, but when I finally got settled into the routine, the novelty wore off for me. Both of my older sisters had similar experiences with being homeschooled and then going to public school and both of them went through all 4 years of high school with out any problems, but I just couldn't stand it. The amount of time wasted in the classroom was beyond ridiculous.

But that's all behind me now and I'm looking forward to the future! I can't tell you guys how excited I am for next year. I've been getting more information about the school I'm planning on going to and it's perfect for me. Hurray!

Outfit: It's Not Easy Wearing Green --- Day 17: Highs and Lows

So I messed around with my camera a wee bit, so now my pics aren't as grainy, but the lighting is also a bit. funky. You give some and you take some, right?

Anywho, these are my new green pants! The green is a great shade for me... kinda an army/sage green. One has to be careful when wearing colored pants, though. Wearing colored pants with a colorful or over-designed top  can make you like like an emo/hipster hybrid, and no one wants that. A solid, neutral colored top is the way to go.

Fun fact: My bracelets are made out of old airplane parts. Cool, right?

Onto the 30 Day Challenge! Click HERE for the whole list of prompts.
Day 17: Your highs and lows of this past year (2010).
Lows:
-Not being able to get a job over the holidays. I had two interviews but no luck.
-Spending too much money on clothes.
-Realizing that the school I wanted to go to was way more money than I could afford.
-My dad getting a job that requires him to travel a bunch. I mean, I'm glad he has a job, but it's not much fun when he's gone for 3 weeks at a time.
-At the beginning of the year I thought that staying home a year and working before going to college was a real low. Now I'm so happy that I did, but back then I was kind of grumpy about it.

Highs:
-Graduating from high school and getting to give a speech at graduation.
-Going to France for two weeks in the summer.
-Getting a full time job! (well, technically that happened early in January... oh well)
-Discovering that thrift stores are really cool and that there are not scary monsters living in them.
-Getting to continue to meet with Charlene, a wonderful lady from my church that has been my mentor for the past 2 years. We meet every other week to do a bible study and memorize passages from the Bible together.
-Going to State in tennis with one of my best friends.
-Discovering some really awesome fashion bloggers that inspired me to have more fun with clothes (and try thrift stores!)
-Having 3 bedrooms all to myself!
-Learning how to sew.
-Getting to teach Sunday School at church. I teach 4th and 5th grade girls and it is so awesome to get to be involved in teaching them about God.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are lots more of both, but it's hard to remember (oh gosh.... I must be getting old.)

Outfit: Return of the Jeans - Day 10: Love/Kiss

Today I'm giving my cowl the day off. The poor little guy is curled up at home with a cup of tea and watching a movie, trying desperately to recover after being so over-used lately.

I also realized today that it has been almost two weeks since the last time I worn any jeans. Considering I used to wear nothing but jeans, I can tell I've come a long way in the past few months. Go me! I had been thinking about doing the style challenge of going a month without wearing jeans, but I've kind of already been doing that lately so I don't think it would be much different than usual.

And now for another very short short paragraph for the 30 Day blogging challenge, which you can view in it's entirety by clicking HERE.

Day 10: Discuss your first love and your first kiss.
Ha. Ha. Ha. Hahaha.
OK, so kidding aside, I've not been in love nor been kissed. I'm not one of those people that is planning on saving my first kiss for my wedding or whatever, but I am also not one of those people that would just go around kissing any guy that liked me. There is no doubt in my mind that God has a guy for me out there somewhere, and I just have to wait on God's timing and He'll work everything out.

1/3 of the way through the challenge!

Outfit: Cozy

This outfit is mighty cozy. It is cozy right now as I'm wearing it, and it was also cozy 2 days ago when I took this picture. Confused? I was planning on walking to Target the other day so I got dressed and did my make up and then it decided to snow. They were very small flakes and weren't sticking at all, but it was enough to make me realize I had two options:
A) Walk to the store and risk it starting to snow hardcore/rain. Walk home in the miserable weather.
B) Stay home, and it will surely not snow or rain and I will feel like a dummy.

As Option B did not involve me getting soaking wet, I opted to stay home (and naturally, it stopped snowing and never rained). And as not to waste a perfectly good outfit, I immediately changed out of it so I could rewear it to work today. Cheating? I think yes.

And yes, I am wearing socks over my pants. It's pretty fabulous, if I do say so.

Outfit: Red Pants

I was so stinking scared to leave my house wearing red pants. I thought for sure someone was going to throw something at me. Thankfully, no such occurrences took place, so perhaps I will be brave enough to wear them out in public again some time... right after I get done posting a picture of them for the whole internet to see. My logic is not so great sometimes.

Outfit: The Casual Thrifter

This sweater is American Eagle, which means the rich soul that bought it the first time around probably shelled out a good $30-$40 for it. It is also cut rather strangely, which leads me to believe that the rich soul that bought it was, in fact, a man. I am not above cross-dressing, however, and I shall wear this sweater proudly. Besides, girl argyle is always pink and purple. Lame.

Outfit: Snow Day

It snowed last week and you would have thought the whole of Oregon had not seen a snowflake before. I logged on to facebook and I'd estimate over 90% of my friends' status updates were along the lines of,"It's Snowing!". So I looked outside to see this wondrous event that had everyone in a tizzy, and was frustrated to find I couldn't see any snow. I actually had to walk outside in the cold in order to see the teeny tiny microscopic flakes that were falling. Lame!

And of course, because snow is soooo dangerous (I'm being sarcastic, if you can't tell), school was canceled. For this:

Only in Oregon...

Anyways, to prove how much I couldn't care less about freaking 2 millimeters of snow, I did my picture outside. Take that, Mother Nature.

Thrifted Mock-Neck Sweater: $1.64, St. Vincent de Paul's
Black Skinny Jeans: $22.42, Alloy
Gray Socks: $?, Unknown (Gift)
Black Union Bay Heels: $18.06, Kohl's
Striped Scarf: $2.50, Kohl's

Cut-Out Circles Stretch Bracelet: $4, Charlotte Russe

I went to St. Vinnie's for the first time the other day and was pretty impressed with it. Very neat and organized, and I didn't leave feeling like I needed to run home and wash my hands. I found 4 tops that I really liked and when I took them to the counter to check out, this is the conversation that took place:

Checker Dude: "Find everything OK?"
Me: "Yup."
[Checker Dude quickly looks at the tops I put on the counter and then punches some numbers on his register]
Checker Dude: "$6.54"
Me: [Silent, because I'm waiting for him to ring up the rest of the shirts]
Checker Dude: "Uhm... $6.54?"
Me: "What, for all of them?"
Checker Dude: "Uh, yeah."
Me: "No way!"
Checker Dude: "All the clothes are 50% off today."
Me: "Marry me."

OK, so I didn't ask him to marry me, but I was pretty happy.

Outfit: Fall Lighting is Awful

So I know the lighting on this pic is pretty much sucky, so I apologize for that. But taking pictures in the fall in Oregon is extremely unforgiving, so unfortunately we're just going to have to get used to it. At least I don't live in Alaska like my crazy sister because then I'd never be able to take any pictures.

Ivory Leopard Tank: $10.46, American Eagle
Gray Ruffle Cardigan: $17.99, Target
Paris Blues Skinny Jeans: $22.42, Alloy
Gray Felt Buckle Flats: $10, Target
Feather Earrings: $3.80, Forever21
Green Silk Rosette Brooch: $14 (trade), Brydferth

A few things about this outfit:
1) My quest for a pair of skinny-jeans-that-aren't-skin-tight ended at Alloy when I discovered they have inseams up to 37 inches. Which, when you're 6 feet tall, is kinda a big deal. And not only that, but they were having a buy one get one 50% off sale, so I got this pair and a similar pair that's black. They aren't even close to Buckle jeans in the quality department, but they'll do the job for a year or two until I inevitably change my mind about skinny jeans and throw them away. Such is the cycle of clothing in Leannaland. And for $22, that's a cycle I can afford.

2) LOVE this brooch. It was part of the trade I did with Miss Hailey of Brydferth. I never saw myself as a brooch person until I got my paws on this little cutie, and now I'm constantly trying to wear it with every outfit.