Second hand gray

I wore this little ensemble to go visit my parents with Thomas this week. Thomas loves to snuggle up with his grandma every chance he can get, and I love to leave the house! This gray dress is the result of another exciting leaving-the-house moment: thrifting with Erin. It's pretty darn comfortable and might become a wardrobe staple.

Something that's not going to be a wardrobe staple? Necklaces. Thomas, at two and a half months, is now a grabber, and this necklace came off pretty quickly because he was all about it. Isn't it a great necklace, though? Hot air balloons are the best! As seen from the ground! Or represented in jewelry! I think in reality I would be terrified to go up in one. (I went up in a tethered one once. So doesn't count.)

These are my new red moccasins, and I am in love. They were purchased from eBay and have already been broken in by someone else. Thanks someone else! I might have to get a few more pairs in different styles/colors because they are so cute and so comfortable.

Please note that black ball of fur behind me. That is my precious Sunshine Dog. She is not the star of the show anymore now that Thomas is on the scene, but she is still the best, most loved puppy! And by "puppy" I mean 13-year-old dog. Such a sweetie. She's been making my outfit photos cuter for years.

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...

1. My dog looking dapper in a tuxedo baby's bib
2. Watching Charlie Rose
3. The countdown to spring break
4. Thrifting baby clothes (So cheap! So easy! So fun!)
5. Flowering trees

Dog Park

Just hanging out in a sweatshirt with a giant M at the dog park.

The dog park is one of the happiest places on Earth. Sunshine loves, loves, loves it. There's a big one near our house that has lots of room to run around.

I've been a little under the weather thanks to a flu-type thing I caught from my adorable nephew. (At least I think that precious little kidlet is the culprit.) The dog park was my first venture out. I dressed like a 15-year-old who goes to a high school that starts with the letter M.

Sunshine sported her adorable Christmas sweater scarf gifted to her by our dog sitter. Isn't she a stylish puppy dog?

Loving It

Lately I've been loving...

1) Sunshine Dog looking fabulous in her feather boa.

2) Hosting Thanksgiving, seeing family, eating lots of food!

3) My adorable pirate/sailor niece!

Crunch

 One of the best things in the world:

Walking my dog through crunchy leaves.

More giant clothing

Look at my doggy run! Run, Sunshine, run!

I am wearing these wide-legged pants every chance I get. They make me feel like a cool kid circa 1977. (Sunshine's look is classic and timeless and does not evoke any particular decade.)

 My husband, like so many husbands and boyfriends (and wives and girlfriends) in the blog world, is my official photographer during outfit photos. His question when I asked him to take a picture of my shoes? "What shoes?"

Fair enough. But my fabulous side-lace boots do peak out just a bit here, and they sure did provide me a lot of warmth on that brisk, late-fall walk.

Both my striped shirt and sweater situation are thrifted. I love the combination a whole bunch. I'm carrying on with my wearing-of-giant-things trend that I have going this week. Giant things are so often comfortable things.

My dog really works with my outfit too. She makes the whole thing look very outdoorsy and comfy and sweet and adorable. Thanks, Sunshine! You always help me look good.

Crowder's Mountain hike

We don't have to drive all the way to the mountains to visit a mountain. Crowder's Mountain is just about 20 minutes from our house, and it has a very strenuous hike and a stellar view.

I wore workout gear and a tiny ponytail. We took our dog, Sunshine, and she had the best time ever!

I, on the other hand, found all the up-ness of climbing a mountain very challenging. But we made it!

And the reward was gorgeous. Look at that rewarding view!

Look at that happy doggy face!

Two things

Let's talk about two things: My dog and my foyer.

There they are -- my dog and my foyer or, I guess, my dog in my foyer.

First of all, I'm pretty pleased that I am living a life that involves a foyer. This is my first foyer, and I so prefer having a foyer to having, I don't know, unruly roommates and a cement block front porch. Just sayin'.

Second of all, my dog has an awesome scarf made out of T-shirts created by my dog sitter (who is also a friend and really into DIY projects). My dog is hipper and cooler and more hipster-cool than I can hope to be.

Third of all, my foyer has this giant, very nice oriental rug in it. We inherited it. It matches the art that I did not inherit and instead picked up from consignment shops and thrift stores and artist friends who are awesome. I like this rug in the foyer. It makes me feel a little bit like a rich European lady even though I am only one of those three things (I am a lady. I am totally a lady.).

Fourth of all, part of me is not so sure about this rug. Do I like it? Do I really like it?

Fifth of all, all of me is absolutely sure about my dog. I love her so much, and she loves the rug because it makes it easy to grip the floor. With hardwood floors, she was always having traction problems and skittering about like a Looney Toons character. So the rug stays because the dog stays and no one wants to live in a Loony Toons cartoon. No one.

This one time, I matched my couch

I didn't realize my dress matched the color of my couch exactly until I looked at these pictures. Now, I'm going to pretend this was on purpose. I am super in control of my life. I think of these things. Obviously, a couch should match your lazy-day maxi-dress. Clearly. And so mine does.

You might have noticed, you've already seen this dress. See, the thing is, I wear my clothes more than once. You probably do too. I'm pretty sure I might wear this dress every Saturday and/or Sunday for the rest of my life. So if you're following this blog, perhaps you should make friends with this dress. Why wouldn't you? It's a very nice dress. It totally wants to be friends with you. Seriously. It's always talking about you and saying that you're just really very lovely. 

The reason I decided to take pictures of my look was actually my crazy hair. I have been obsessing over buns for months now, but I haven't actually been putting my hair into a bun. And then, one lazy day (today), I fell in love with my accidental messy bun. I think it looks great! It's definitely worth growing out my hair. Sunshine Dog agrees. She expresses this by climbing up on the arm of the couch and giving me a look that says "PET ME. Seriously. Pet Me."

Things I like

I really like books, art and polka dots. You can tell that from this photo. 

And Sunshine. I like my dog Sunshine a lot too. And shoes. (And cupcakes and my husband and movies from the '60s and Willie Nelson, but I'm not sure you can tell those things from this photograph.)

I like shoes that make me taller. I'm 5'8" in real life. In this shoes I'm 5' more than 8".

I'm not sick anymore. I totally kicked that cold! I showed it what was what. I was all like "Take this zinc! And this Vitamin C! How do you like that punk?! Now I'm going to sit on the couch for two days watching Netflix Instant. That's right! Whatcha gonna do about it?" And the cold was all like "I am going to go away. That's what I'm going to do about it."

Life is better when it is filled with red shoes, books, art, polka dots and dogs. Life is better when you are not sniffling and coughing. True story.

Feeling blue

I had big plans for Easter. Spring Break started on Good Friday, and Robert and I were going to visit all sorts of relatives in a five-day span. I was really looking forward to it. I love my family. I love Robert's family. (Therefore I suppose I love "our" family. Being married is wacky!) Sadly, I got sick. AGAIN. 

I had a nice good chunk of non-sickness after my bout of bronchitis, but it ended with a no-nonsense cold. The majority of the relatives we were going to visit are elderly and ill, and when you're elderly and ill, you really don't want to be around someone with cold. So plans were canceled. I've spent a couple days on the couch. Am I feeling a bit blue? Yes. Did I decide to express this literally through my outfit? Yes. I wanted to see family, and I am so tired of being sick.

Luckily, on this lovely Easter Sunday, I am feeling better. There's an adorable, flowery sundress I've worn the past two Easters (thrifted, clearly), but it was too cold today to wear it so I went with a maxi dress and sweater (both thrifted last fall). I also wore my wedding shoes, which were Isaac Mizrahi for Target shoes I already owned. (I had a low-maintenance wedding. My main budgetary priority was our fabulous honeymoon in Ireland.)

This is really the comfiest of comfy outfits, which is a must when you're under the weather. I've been in the house the past two days being sick, and Robert and I have watched all of season one of "The Walking Dead." Eep! So good and so gross! Today, we're going to venture out to do exciting things like drink coffee and go grocery shopping. It's much more low-key than the big Easter dinner we were originally planning to attend. SIGH.

If you're going to feel blue, you might as well do it in something cozy and beautiful. I really dig the colors of this outfit and the pattern of the dress. Maxi dresses are pretty much the most comfortable things ever. Wearing one is like wearing a nightgown in public.

Sunshine has been by my side the whole weekend. She seemed to get pretty stressed out by "The Walking Dead." Seriously. That show is not playing around! I should really switch on something like "Easter Parade" next. Much lighter. Fewer dead things. I should also note that my cranky mood is dissipating with my cold. If you're working with kids for the first time in a long time, you're going to get sick! That's biology. And all this recent sickness has really made me start to value my general health, but that's a post for another time. A post  that might have something to do with kicking the sugar habit. Or not. Robert made cream puffs yesterday. They're kind of a-mah-zing.

Seriously delicious. You do not kick the sugar habit with cream puffs around. These were eaten when we were not watching "The Walking Dead." It is impossible to eat anything when watching that show. Even delectable puffs of cream.

Sunshine spazz attack

This outfit is 100 percent thrifted. Pretty much everyday, my outfit is 90 percent thrifted, but there's always a pair of leggings or shoes or something that keeps it from being 100 percent thrifted. That's not the case here. Shoes, scarf and dress are all thrifted, and I threw them together to make a springy outfit. It's going to be 80 degrees today! Officially, it's still winter, but it feels like we're venturing into summer.

Hello to you yellow polka-dotted scarf. You are beautiful. Let's go out. 

 We took Sunshine for a walk. She can be a little spazzy. Spring has sprung and that means lots and lots of animals frolicking about. Sunshine is all about this...

As seen here. This is the crazy face I made when Sunshine ran after a squirrel. She's really strong for being so little. I had to hold on to that leash tight!

Dog on a mission. (Also: I want our house to have ivy like this. It is pretty.)

After Sunshine's spazz attack, we decided it was time to stop taking pictures and walk on home.

I walked home in these shoes. They're enjoyable. The above picture looks a little strange. If you can't tell, I'm standing on a wall that has climbing flowers. So many flowers this spring!

It took me a while to realize that it's St. Patrick's Day. I needed to put some green on! So I switched my shoes. Green flip flops on an 80-degree day? Sounds about right to me.