i am in denial that the weekend is over

I am having a lot of [pretty meaningless] thoughts right now, so bear with me.

This was our Thanksgiving break:

Doctor Who
Bejeweled
mashed potatoes and gravy

repeated for four days straight.

I also finished reading Into Thin Air about the 1996 Mount Everest climb that went horribly wrong. Aaron's been obsessed with the idea of mountain climbing lately for no known reason, so he really wants to trek to Everest base camp. After reading that book, I never want to step foot on a mountain EVER.

This was meant to be its own post, but what the heck, I'll just tack it on here: I went shopping by myself on Saturday for Christmas clothes. I think it's a law of nature that whenever you're ready to spend money on clothes, you can't find anything you like, but when you can't buy anything, everything looks amazing. This seems to be especially true at Urban Outfitters, which currently seems to have the goal of "How ugly can we make this shirt and still charge $60 for it?" Seriously. Some ugly things going on in that place right now. Also, a lot of sheer things. Actually, that was true for every store. I find sheer clothing extremely annoying, because I am sick to death of wearing undershirts under everything I own, and now I have a if-I-can't-wear-it-without-anything-under-it-then-I'm-not-buying-it policy. They did have a beautiful princess pleated peach maxi skirt that I did want to buy, but: sheer. I also have no idea what I would wear with it. Also discovered: I would really like some polka dot tights, and I love really long loose shirts. I am all about cozy these days.

I did find two shirts at H&M that met my long, cozy, not sheer criteria, so victory me. I also found a beautiful quiche dish at Crate and Barrel for $10 plus 15% off plus free shipping. No intention of making quiche (I hate eggs-omelettes, quiche, breakfast burritos, scrambled eggs, eggs on sandwiches, etc.), but it will make a lovely tart dish or serving dish. I love free shipping so so so much. The only time I shop online is when I can get things shipped for free. Good thing we have Amazon Prime so we get free shipping all the time!

Okay, I think this has gone on long enough. I wish every weekend was a four day weekend.

watching this debate is making me uncomfortable

Fall in Philadelphia has been pretty glorious. I've been wearing boots and cardigans and eating 3 loaves of pumpkin bread in three days. I think these sweatshirts from Everlane would be the final thing to make my fall complete:

How is it even possible to look so comfy and put together at the same time? This sweatshirt must be magical.

Also, I listened to this video three times today:

Isn't it epic? I'm really sad because a) this show is too scandalous to watch and b) I still haven't found anyone in Philadelphia with whom to discuss Game of Thrones. 

c) Aaron and I watched The Walking Dead last night and now I'm irrationally afraid to turn on my blowdryer because it'll make too much noise and alert the zombies to my presence. Awesome. 

Edit: apparently my new favorite adjective is magical, having used it in three of my last five posts. I don't remember the last time I actually used this adjective while talking in real life.

fringe? booties? nearly knee-high?

I'm trying to decide what boots I want to buy on Zappos, and this is basically how it's going:

via

I got a Zappos giftcard last Christmas from my mother-in-law, and I bought a pair of boots with it (after a month of deliberation), but they were the wrong size and I sent them back, and Zappos lost them in their warehouse, and it wasn't until August that I finally contacted them about getting my money back, and they gave me my money back and then upgraded me to free two day shipping. (Zappos and Amazon have the best customer service in the world.) But, now I'm back to square one on boots:

???

I just need them to be cute, waterproof, snowproof, and able to withstand me walking 3 miles a day several times a week in them. It's really not that much to ask. 

(I kind of love those ridiculous yellow Big Bird fringe boots.)

rawr

My brother who's in France is kind of a hoot. In an email a couple weeks ago he said he was sending us a package with "some good stuff" in it. 

What was that stuff might you ask? Pictures (which he hasn't sent us in 8 months)? Chocolate?

Oh, no. Much better:

Cheetah sort of harem pants. 

From Jeff:

"I'm glad you liked my present! Now you know what every muslim girl in mulhouse feels like every day."

Basically, they're the most comfortable pants I've ever had the pleasure of wearing, and I never want to take them off. Every Muslim girl in Mulhouse must be really happy about life. 

a dilemma

Also, turtlenecks:

am I the only one who still likes them? I almost bought a black long sleeved one at H&M, but then I thought to myself, "do people even wear turtlenecks anymore?"

So, I ask you, reader, do people even wear turtlenecks anymore?

Cause I have a $5 off coupon, and I need to use it on something.

i miss back to school shopping

Lately I've discovered some great style blogs, and I wanted to share my discoveries with all of you! I love these blogs because most of the outfits they feature feel like something I could actually wear, instead of being so high fashion that I would feel completely ridiculous wearing it. And, all of them are quite well-written, which makes reading even more fun.

Kendi Everyday

Married Kendi decided to have a blog instead of a baby. Ha. She always has great outfits and incredible photography.

Sidewalk Ready

Hairstylist, photographer, and fashion maven Kayley blogs about her life with husband while wearing great clothes. She also has a ton of great hair tutorials (hello, she's a cosmetologist).

The Other Emily

Recently graduated from grad school in architecture, Emily is currently traveling the world with her boyfriend for nine months on a design fellowship and manages to look fabulous while living out of a suitcase.  

What Would a Nerd Wear

Tania is a British literature grad student (so all of her posts are exceptionally well-written). I particularly love her blog because she features a lot of outfits that are dressy enough for teaching/TAing a class, but casual enough to be comfortable. 

Have you found any fashion blogs that you enjoy perusing? Do tell!

(This post is slightly inspired by the fact that my sister is coming to visit this Saturday, and I will finally have a shopping partner!!! I've gotten a lot of inspiration from these sites.)

out of print

For my birthday I got this awesome t-shirt of one of my favorite novels:

This company sells all of these different shirts with sweet designs of classic novels, and for every shirt you buy, they donate a book to a community in need through Books for Africa. Anyway, I love this shirt with all my heart. I'm dying a little bit to buy this one too:

Because who doesn't want to bring literacy to Africa?!!

(and look really cute and intelligent while doing it?!)

Interested? Click here.

Guys. I need your opinion.

What do you think of high waisted dresses, jeans, skirts, etc on girls? Think high waist pencil skirts, jeans with shirts tucked in, etc.

See exhibit A:After a very eye-opening conversation, I came to the realization that what I think is cute may not actually be attractive. Help me out here!

what kind of blue are you?

I've been meaning to write this for some time now, but thank you to all of you who recommended jeans to me! In the past three weeks I have tried on H&M, Forever 21 (can't beat $13 skinny jeans), 7s, It! jeans, Vigoss, Express, True Religions, and...one other that I can't remember right now. The point is, I was willing to plunk down $120 for True Religions at Nordstrom Rack, but they didn't fit. How lame is that? I have a friend who works at Buckle who's going to set me up with a jean fitting, so hopefully I will be able to find some that fit like a glove (for lack of a more interesting cliché).

Also, I miss Rockband.

Dear Family,

Can I maybe borrow it and the Xbox for a week? Probably Jeff would kill me, but it would do wonders for my stress levels.

Love, Katie

inspired by the sheetless bed in my room

Miss Laura just tagged me to fill out this little survey, and thank goodness, because I can't seem to come up with anything to say lately. :)

What is your current obsession?

Well...there's always the ongoing blogging obsession, and more recently farmer's markets and etsy shops. Oh! Sneakers! I might have to do a post on that later.

Coffee or tea?

Haha. Neither. Although I must admit apple cinnamon herbal tea is pretty darn good (thanks to the 10th grade tea party and croquet tournament for that piece of knowledge).

What's for dinner?

Uh...tonight? Wedding reception food? Although I'll probably throw something small together before we go. I really like food.

What was the last thing you bought?

A pepperjack cheese and ham sandwich from the Cougareat. Sooo delicious.

What are you listening to right now?

The hum of the swamp cooler in my very empty apartment (Kellie, come back!!!).

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

I would much rather have gelato than ice cream and my favorite gelato flavors are hazelnut, alpen caramel, and donatella. As for ice cream...that one chocolate and raspberry one that Kellie loves is pretty darn addicting. Same with moosetracks.

What is your favorite color?

Blue and green. They're both favorites. (Brian Regan anyone...?)

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?

Oh man. Well. I love my:
loose gray vest from Urban Outfitters that I may have worn with just about every shirt I own...
hot pencil skirt with leopard lining from Express
my splatter paint NYC tee I bought while on tour
all of my skinny jeans
my Limited Too knit unwaterproof boots
my gold braid headband from Forever XXI
my fabric stud earrings shown in a post below.
They'd make one heck of an ugly outfit, but they're all my favorites. :)

What is your dream job?

Running my own research lab in some exotic location, having full freedom to research whatever I wanted.


How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?

I don't press the snooze button. I turn off my alarm and then fall back asleep...and miraculously become conscious enough to get ready in time (or at least not super late...)

Pikachu! I choose you!!!

Alyssa
Kim
Jody
Zach
Anthony

Now go and fill it out yourselves. :P