tgif {frocktober, day 8 and 9}

Outfit 1: Dress (remixed): gifted

Outfit 2: Top: zulily, Dress: borrowed, 

Leggings (remixed 1, 2): Pink Blush Maternity

This weekend has already been speeding by. Any time we spend working on the house seems to eat away at our days. A full day seems less effective somehow. So many projects, so many minutes slipping away. It's hard to feel like real progress is being made until you take a peek at those "before" photos and realize how incredible the difference is already!

Yesterday we finished the wood floors (!!!!!) downstairs; the only room that still needs them is the front office, which will remain closed off for a while until after we move in. No rush to get that room finished. I'll confess, I took a little break from working on the house to have a little girls lunch to celebrate the return of Reign. Season 3 premiered this week, so we had a themed lunch with Scottish Potato Leek Soup, French Bread, Madame Macarons, and Nostradamus' Brew. It was a blast.

The last two outfits of this past week were for basic comfy layering. As you can tell, I've been on a stripes kick. I don't think I've ever worn stripes with stripes before, but I really wanted to wear this cozy striped maternity top my mom got me for my birthday. I love the orange sleeves. I didn't want to wait until after Frocktober to wear it, so I needed to dressify it somehow. It's so long that it might almost be considered leggings-appropriate, but not quite. I used one of my borrowed bodycon dresses to add length and continue the stripes all the way down.

Now, I'm getting ready to don a big t shirt and workout shorts to go work on the house some more. I'll be dressing up this evening for a little belated birthday gathering with friends. Have a beautiful Sunday, friends.

coming face-to-face

Dress (shop!)(floral version!): Gap, Cardigan: Francesca's, Watch (shop!): Rumba

Happy Friday, friends. 

As I sit here typing, my arm muscles are protesting angrily due to the rigorous P90x3 workout we did yesterday in the name of New Year's Resolutions. Two weeks in, though, and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm only hoping that this spaghetti-noodle arm syndrome turns into stronger muscles. Otherwise, why on earth do humans do this?

This past Wednesday we went up to a bookstore in Tempe to meet our favorite author, Brandon Sanderson. I have a small handful of favorite authors, but he has most definitely been my favorite for the past 2-3 years. In that time I have read 10 of his books (follow me on Goodreads!). I felt stupid with giddiness, because how often do you get to gather with a flock of nerds to meet someone who has written some of the most awe-inspiring fiction you've ever read? His mind is a crazy tangle of brilliance. Although I have favorites among his work (The Way of Kings wins everything), I want to read everything he writes. He is a constant inspiration for me to keep writing. 

We were able to hear his thoughts on writing and creativity, as well as a reading from one of his unpublished works called Perfect State. It should be coming out sometime this year. As he read, I felt nervous on his behalf. He was reading to a room packed full of people, words and characters that he created - I was keenly aware that he is a real person, a vulnerable person. The fact that he is also a professor must help his confidence in situations like these, but I honestly can't imagine that feeling. Normally an author doesn't get that kind of instant reaction to their writing. Their books go all around the world to faceless readers, and they can only hope that their books are enjoyed and understood. But reading it out loud? I get a cold sweat just thinking about it. 

Overall it was pretty sobering, coming face-to-face with someone who has created a myriad of characters that seem as real to me as he is. We were able to get a few of our hardcovers signed, and I was able to ask him some questions about his writing process and glean some magical knowledge from his supernatural brain. (He recently wrote two books "on accident" while he was supposed to be writing something else. He's a robot). Dusty also asked him my bookish questions, which was fun. The book he would memorize is the Bible (or the Dictionary), which seems pretty practical for a writer. If he could become a book on a bookshelf it would probably be his own The Way of Kings, and the book he would recommend to absolutely anyone would be Harry Potter or Les Mis, which is his favorite classic. 

The entire evening was one of excitement and revelation. Dusty and I talked at length about the plot of my book, and I have pretty much started from scratch. With Dusty (and Sanderson) to help me work out all of the plot-holes and kinks, I can make my way through the writing of my rough draft with more clarity and confidence. Dusty is the logical one, the outliner and the plotter. Apparently I'm a pantser (a writer that plans nothing, and simply flies by the seat of their pants, so to speak). I'm constantly surprised when I write, and the story comes alive as I go. Unfortunately that means that by the time I've written for any amount of time, earlier segments can begin to unravel. 

So. With Dusty's structure, Sanderson's example, and my ideas, we should be able to come up with something pretty great. It was just such a cool experience to meet an author I revere and idolize, and to actually say to him, "So, I'm writing a book....". It has given me a fresh dose of motivation to push forward -- word by word. 

P.S. I'm in love with this dress, and a little bit obsessed with the jewel-faced watches from Rumba. 

the ugly button-up

This week has been rather record-breaking when it comes to skies-that-make-me-love-arizona. 

Big, never-ending, whimsical expanses of blue and puffy white. Several times this week I've had to pull over on my way home from work just to take a second and look at the sky, wide-eyed, without crashing the car. 

I'm sure the sky here has always been this humongous. I think I just treasure it a little more, it catches my attention a lot easier. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz. 

It's definitely a main reason why I love Arizona, and specifically this hometown of mine. I don't think I'm meant for city life. I just love the sky too much. I love the space, the land, the desert wildlife. They're all my peeps. 

In other news, this entire outfit is from another batch of shopaholic gifting. 

We went up to her apartment this week for a night of fun-hopping. We went and saw What If with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, which was positively delightful, by the way. It's going on the rotation for sure. We then went out for sushi. But before all that, we were at the apartment, and she dives in to her room for a sec and emerges with a large pile of clothes for me. Including a dress she bought on her birthday weekend in May. I was there. 

I'm not kidding when I say this entire outfit, either. Shoes, skirt, blouse, sweater. 

When I pulled this denim top out of the pile, I wrinkled my nose a tad. The shirt is sleeveless, and it's so long I almost mistook it for a dress. I hopped up and put it on over my shirt, which revealed that the hem hits me right below my bum, and showcases quite an extensive amount of my underarm area. The armholes are excessive. 

My shopaholic friend burst out laughing. "Oh man, I don't know. I'm not sure what I was thinking with that one!"

I don't know what that means to you, but to me it was like, challenge accepted. I knew right then that I had to try and wear it and make it work. It'd an odd little reject of a shirt, but the patterned denim is really cute, and I can already imagine the sweaters I can layer over it in the winter with the collar peeking out. 

I feel like maybe there's a life lesson in here somewhere. People and things can always surprise you, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, keep your mind open to potential, shoot for the moon, etc. I think it's really a gift to see things for what they could be. Like a rundown shack turned dream home. Live your life like the Property Brothers. 

Besides, no one has to know that if I yanked my skirt down in this outfit I'd be ready for a hoe-down version of a Risky Business dance number. 

Have to save that for a rainy day.

i'm ready

This has been quite a powerful week for me.

Mostly because I've had a sort of epiphany of change, taking the steps that are necessary to be what I want to be.

Fit, healthy, long-nailed.

I stopped biting my nails towards the end of 2013. It just happened, like suddenly I realized that if I wanted to stop biting my nails, I should just stop biting them. What a crazy world. I've been biting and tearing my nails for my entire life (well, I don't know about little baby Caitlin, but most likely she was biting everything she could get her hands on, including her own hands). Why?

Here's the truth: Dusty bought me some amazing super-glitter OPI nail polishes for Christmas. So I started painting my nails pretty much every night, completely enamored with them, wanting to try different patterns and colors. And I stopped biting my nails because they were so pretty. 

I suddenly had the will and the reason to allow myself long, strong, beautiful nails. 

I'm never doubting the power of glitter again.

The other part of my epiphany is that I've started working out almost every day.

Why haven't I always been doing this?

The epiphany part is that I actually enjoy it. I enjoy it because I grabbed a friend to do it with me, and it's a game changer when you start looking forward to meeting up every night -- to laughing while you do jumping jacks to a cheesy workout video, to having awkwardly great conversations while running outside, wheezing and so out of breath, so cold that your tears are freezing to your cheeks.

Then you celebrate and feel amazing and grab your water bottle and say, "see you tomorrow!"

All the while knowing that your body is changing and getting stronger and is so sore the next day because of a job well done. What's more straight forward than that?

Dusty and I started doing Herbalife last year and have really been enjoying it, and it has helped us lose some weight and feel so great. It has also inspired us to eat better and eat out much less (I also have to thank eMeals for that, which I'm so happy with that I would gladly do a million commercials for it. It's on Groupon right now, go buy it ASAP! It'll change your life. You can thank me later.)

But being healthy and fit is more than that, it's intentional and it's active. 

I'm not gonna lie, I have fallen into the typical marriage weight gain category. Both Dusty and I have slowly but surely gotten further and further away from our little high school selves, when we first fell in love and we were just babies, petite and darling.

I think part of it stemmed from moving away from Arizona so soon after marriage, and being really homesick out here in Virginia -- there were a lot of Taco Bell nights, trying to cling on to something comforting and homey (and fatty). 

We look back to pictures of our first year or so out here in Virginia, and we just giggle in embarrassment. 

I'm not truly ashamed, though, nor do I regret those inevitable pounds.

Because they were well-earned. By date nights, cuddling, sleeping in on Saturdays. By happiness, contentedness, (alright, and definitely laziness). By TV-show marathons and pajama nights. 

By a time when all we had was each other and some cheese. 

What a glorious time it was, my friends. I remember, and I won't forget.

But now I'm ready -- I'm ready to be an adult, to give up Taco Bell, to be healthy, for myself and for my husband and for my future children. To keep up with things and go on those hikes and run around the park and be at my very best. To finally decide that all of it is worth it, and anything that used to keep me back was just silly. To find that glitter that inspires me to action. 

I'm ready.

lady librarian

I work in a library.

Have I mentioned that?

It's a lovely job, really, although for the last two years I have worked in an office that is closer to resembling a closet than an actual workplace. 

Until now!

Over the past few weeks we have been settling into the brand new library building on campus.

It's absolutely stunning, and I have to say it has been rather thrilling being a part of the process. A small part, but a part nonetheless!

Before the official grand opening, Dusty and I wandered around the library after work one evening, taking in the peace and quiet before the onslaught of students in the upcoming days.
As you can see, there's a plethora of windows and it's a rather magnificent structure.
And there's a Starbucks.
Which is the only reason why I'm here.

Top: Old Navy, Jeans: Forever21, Boots: Zulily
Sweater/Vest: Gifted, Necklace: Inspired Tales on Etsy

This necklace was a completely unexpected gift from a friend of mine who owns an Etsy shop out of Canada. She's so creative and I always love seeing what she comes up with. 

She makes these little creature figurines using polymer clay for necklaces and other things (how cute is this Hedwig brooch?)

She does custom orders, and I had talked last year about how fun it would be to get a little necklace done of our two kittens, Luna and Eva.

She made it without telling me and sent it to me for Christmas!

It was such a sweet gift and she did such adorable detail on the little figurines. I would highly recommend her stuff, I love everything I've ever gotten from her (like this, this, these, all this, these, and this "i heart tea" mini painting!)

The bottom line is, I'm a cat lady, I work in a library, and I'm currently looking to buy a cozy cottage in the woods where I can wear shawls and make pottery and homemade stews.

visit me at Ruche

Happy Friday everyone!

I've been featured this fine day over at Ruche's blog, for a feature entitled "Playing with Prints"!
Go check it out!

I'm happy to say one of my favorite outfits of this month was featured, of the leopard cardigan, as well as a fun floral chambray/coral pants combo. Both outfits are featuring one of Ruche's many delectable necklaces, and I would highly recommend snatching a gem up for yourself (especially since mine came with a bonus pair of earrings to go with each necklace...but maybe they just like me a whole lot!)

The Leopard Cardigan

 Targét and the chambray way

Have a fabulous weekend!

Targét and the chambray way

I pulled into the Target parking lot last night, and right as I did, a deluge poured down upon me.
It lasted for approximately 1 minute - aka, the time it took for me to gather the courage to leave my car and sprint the length of the parking lot to get to the front door. I was unceremoniously drenched, and people in the store looked at me like I was nuts, since it had already stopped raining by then.

I love Target. It was the common shopping spot for my roommates and I throughout my time in college, since the Wal-Mart was sketchy and the mall was too much temptation.
Granted, we somehow managed to escape Target with empty pockets and loads of clothes, toiletries and furniture we didn't even need, but it still seemed the sensible option when we just needed "a few things".
That fond feeling of camaraderie with Target has remained, even though I live with a boy now and don't often make whimsical Target trips to try on sunglasses and stroll along the home decor aisle pretending like a fancy (ish, this is Target after all) woman who can totally afford to decorate with an ottoman in each room and giant wall art and lamps with crystals and dozens of ornate picture frames.
We liked to give Target the pseudo-French name of "Targét" (Tar-ZHAY) and waltz around like we owned the place.

I just now found out that people have been jokingly saying "Targét" since 1962, the year the very first Target was opened. I am shocked and appalled we didn't invent this ourselves.
You win again, Wikipedia. 

Top (shop!): Old Navy, Bottoms/Jewelry (shop!): Ruche, Shoes: Zulily

Chambray is the new way.
Most bloggers and basically all-around clothes-wearers own at least one chambray shirt nowadays.
I finally gave in, albeit cheatingly, with this thin $6 Old Navy top that boasts a sweet floral print and the spirit of the chambray trend.
I've really enjoyed wearing it (remixed here), and have also been told by at least four other people "I have that same shirt!"
The curse of living in an anti-shopping town with an Old Navy.
It could also just be the curse of Old Navy, no matter where you live.
But I'm not sure I mind having a few twinsies out there. I kind of enjoy an occasional matchy matchy moment.
So, hey! This top is $6. Go buy it!