Craftyminx

Librarian Wears... and other random life things.

I don't know how often I'll do this, but I decided my first weeks on the job as a librarian I would take a photo every morning of my outfit. They're not the greatest since my remote decided to stop working. But here you have it... What I wear to work.

It's funny how different my wardrobe is now that I'm not working at a desk all the time. I wore skirts all the time at my old job and now I've only worn a dress twice. It's hard to work in the stacks when you are wearing a skirt. 

Another big change is tattoo coverage. We don't have a policy against tattoos at our library, but I did move from working in an office to working with the public so I try to keep my tattoos covered for the most part so people don't judge me before they get to know me. I'd rather be known as a great librarian than the girl at the desk with the tattoos. I haven't had any problems with them, but I do sometimes notice people staring.

Also something that I randomly notice in these photos are how needy my dogs are. We're needy dog enablers. 

You may have noticed how quiet it has been around the blog lately.  I am truly loving my new job, but it is taking up a lot of my creative energy. It also takes up more time than my old job. I used to spend 9 hours a day getting ready for work going to work and coming home. Now that my commute is longer I spend about 10.5 to 11 hours a day on those things. So I basically live out of my car and spend all my spare time cooking, spending time with friends, and sitting on my couch with my feet elevated. It's a glamorous life I lead friends! 

We're currently working on our back yard makeover which is really exciting! We're getting a back door installed and will start working on a patio area, landscaping, and building a fence. It will be so nice to have another area to use for entertaining. 

I'm finally starting to miss blogging so hopefully I'll be able to find more time for crafty projects and blogging this month! 

What I Wore - First Date Dress

 

It has been ages since I have done a "what I wore" post so I thought I would share my new favorite dress with you. I wore this to brunch on Sunday.  If you don't know about Red Velvet, it is a boutique owned by Elsie Larson who blogs at A Beautiful Mess. I was so excited when she announced that her Fall line would have a couple of dresses in plus sizes because her designs are so cute! My mom got me this one for Christmas and I still need want the Sewing Kit Dress.

I'm in love with this dress and I'm not ashamed to admit I wore it Friday night too when we went to see The Addams Family Musical. It was super cute with the coat I made.

My hair was still huge from the night before thanks to Levi and his teasing comb so I just went full on Jackie O for the day. I felt glamorous and cute all at the same time :). 

 Outfit Details

Dress: Red Velvet First Date Dress 

Pink Cardigan: Calvin Klein (I think. I got it at Sam's last year hah)

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Tights: Eloquii

Shoes: t.u.k.

Dog: Brody (Levi's beautiful Great Dane)

 

And for fun:

Sheldon loves to make fun of me. It's probably his favorite past-time.

What I wear when it's cold.

It has been a really long time since I posted an outfit post over here (it was summer time!). I know a lot of you really enjoy seeing outfit posts from me, so I thought I'd do this little round up of iPhone photos of outfits to show you what I wear when it's cold out. 

Lots of cardigans and tights... (pro tip: put lotion on over your tights to keep your dresses from sticking because of static. Re-apply as needed)

Hat: Target -- Sunglass: Ray Ban -- Dress: Lane Bryant -- Cardigan: Ross -- Belt: from my Bettie Page Dress -- Tights: Target -- Shoes: T.U.K. 

I just recently started wearing belts over my cardigans and I really love how it brings in my waist!

Cardigan: Target -- Sweater: Addition Elle -- Jeans: Lane Bryant -- Shoes: Chucks -- Belt: Eloquii

Tights and Cardigan are the same as above. Dress: Maurice's -- Shoes: Target

As it gets colder, I break out my scarves and my lighter coat and my super warm snow boots (I don't care if it's not snowing I wear them all the time to keep my feet warm). 

Coat: A million years old from Burlington Coat Factory. It's literally falling apart -- Scarf: Handmade by me -- Dress: Old Navy -- Tights: Lane Bryant -- Boots: Sorel

This isn't the greatest photo but I just got this super warm wool coat to wear this winter and I love it! Coat: Wilsons Leather Outlet -- Sweater Skirt: ASOS Curve -- Tights: Target -- Shoes: ASOS

I wore this outfit to work for our Christmas luncheon. I think I'll wear it for Christmas dinner next week too.
Sequin Top, Ruffle Cardigan and Necklace: Talbots Outlet -- Pants: Lane Bryant -- Shoes:  T.U.K.

You will also notice that I wear a lot of black. This isn't really my doing. It's more of a plus size clothing thing. Everything for Winter is Black or Grey. There's usually some Red and metallics in there but ughhh soo boring. I always try to beat the winter clothing blues by wearing something bright with an outfit like a bright scarf, belt, cardigan, shoes, or tights. 

Yesterday was unseasonably warm so I got away with this new 3/4 sleeve dress.

Dress:  Thrifted (from the 80's or early 90's) -- Belt: Forever 21 Plus -- Tights: Lane Bryant -- Shoes:  T.U.K.

At home I wear these:

I just bought these footie pajamas the other day kind of as a joke to see what Sheldon would say. OMG you guys I LOVE them. I'm only slightly ashamed to admit it now, but they are so warm and comfy. Like a snuggie but cuter (they even have pockets!). I'm seriously wearing these all winter. Now if I can just keep Dash from chewing the ears and eyes off of them. 

What are your cold weather staples? 

What I wore - Bettie Page

Two outfit posts in one week?  Watch out!

I bought this dress in Vegas. They have two Bettie Page stores on the strip. This is always a bad thing for me, because 1) their dresses are fairly expensive and 2) their dresses are sized up (down?) like crazy! I normally wear a 2x or 22, at Bettie Page I often don't fit in their biggest size of a 4x.  This usually means I get really depressed if everything I love doesn't fit. This is pretty much true for every reproduction brand. 

This dress though? It was made for me! The high waist, pleating to a full skirt, and the neck line are all perfect for my body type. Full skirts are a must for my big ole hips. It's really important for me to know what styles fit my body best when I'm shopping. This saves me lot of time when I'm in the Bettie Page store especially (remember sizing issues). I cannot wear a wiggle dress to save my life! So I just pass those up no matter how much I'm drawn to them. Trying them on just makes me sad.

Oh and the best thing about this dress?! 

the cute back!

Outfit Details: 
Dress: Bettie Page
Purse: Thrifted long ago
Apple Sunnies: H&M
 Shoes: Payless
Bow Ring: Target 
Nails: ULTA Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in Peach Parfait with an OPI sparkle-icious fade on the tips 

Oh and just for funsies...

Levi took these photos for me after we went to the drag queen brunch at the Boom one Sunday. He just had to strike a pose as well ;) He may kill me for this haha.

FYI: Everything was purchased by me. I'm not affilitated with any companies.

What I wore - Poolside Edition

I had been eyeing this apple-print romper for about two months before our vacation. I loved the print (it reminded me of the Hello Kitty apple), but I never ever wear shorts. And I wasn't about to buy something I would probably never wear for $60. When it was put on clearance for 50% off, however, I knew I had to have it. But I still wasn't too sure about showing off my thighs.

With a little twitter encouragement (read enabling) from Larissa I bought it. I'm soo glad I did. Who cares if my thighs are huge and dimpled? I threw out all my worries and wore it to the pool. It needs a little altering before I can wear it normally -- it's a little big. But I absolutely love it!

I paried it with a big floppy hat and some reading material and had a great time poolside with my family. 

Romper - ASOS
Hat - Target

On the nails - Tip Toe Nail Polish in Seal the Teal (I bought it at Old Navy) and the sparkles are ULTA Glitter Salon Formula Nail Laquer in Pinata-yada. 

I had three new posts up yesterday so make sure you check them all out :)

Today...

I'm wearing Bettie Page but channeling Jackie O. These sunglasses make me feel like such a diva! I usually end up wearing them inside until I get to my desk to change into my glasses since they have Rx lenses so it only enhances the diva in me. 

More about this dress later, I have an outfit post for it. I just need to edit photos. I still haven't touched a single photo from our vacation. 

I just wanted to pop in today to tell you I'm still here and have tons to do and share. But you know, sometimes I just need to not share, so I took some unplanned time off from the blog last week to work on some projects that I've had on my to do list for ages. Who knew my blogging time (and granny square making time) could be replaced by embroidery and spending time with friends and I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all?! I'm not even going to make up the granny squares I didn't make! Liberating, I tell you! I'm just going to pretend those 4 days didn't happen and move on. There's no need in pretending I didn't take a break. 

We went to Texas on Thursday so I could see the last Harry Potter movie with my best friends, John and Bri. It was just what I needed. I haven't seen the two of them at the same time since our wedding! I have to say Bri and I were not pleased with the movie. We both felt like big cynics but I think we wanted more from it. I'm going to go see it again soon. Now that my expectations aren't as high, I think I can appreciate it as the movie (not the book) and actually like it. I've never had a problem separating the two and enjoying the movies for what they are, but I was really invested in the book this time. Also, Sheldon and I were sitting really close to the screen and the three of us didn't even get to sit together or stand in line together so I was in a bad mood from the beginning. 

Like I said, I got some embroidery done. It's a little something for a mini blog update. I have answer vlogs to do for your questions and a million photos to go through from our trip. You may not see me until October. ;)

What I Wore: Double Chevron

 
Dress: Old Navy Women's Plus (I looked and they don't have this in the regular Old Navy line but they do have these great chevron skirts!)
Cardigan: Target
Shoes: Payless
Necklace: Sunshine and Carousels (bought at Renegade Austin)
Yes I realize my legs could use some sun. They've pretty much always been translucent.
My nails are a fun summery pink ombre.

When I got this dress (and its partner which I'll share some other time) in the mail I knew it was going to be part of my summer uniform. Pool party = chevron dress, cook out = chevron dress, laying around the house = chevron dress minus the awful strapless bra I have to wear with it  :).  I'm in love.

Erin tweeted a photo of the necklace before Renegade to show a sneak peek of what she would be selling. I was smitten with it at first sight and knew if she still had it in her booth when I went I would be buying it. It's a new favorite of mine and I keep coming up with outfits it will look cute with. Her new jewelry pieces have artistic hand-painted elements and I love them. Check out her etsy shop! There's a 20% off sale going on right now.

How was everyone's weekend? This was one of our busiest weekends in a  long time. I've said before that I like chill weekends because of hectic work weeks. I don't like to have to live by a schedule on my days off and will usually decline most invitations to do things on weekends if I feel them starting to get that way. But our June weekends are full of stuff we just can't say no to. This weekend there were two visits to the theater (X-Men First Class and Kung Fu Panda 2), a farewell party, two birthday parties, one bloggy deadline for me to work on and a dinner with friends. Too much for me, even if I had fun. I'm dragging now and am late posting photos of granny squares. They're all still sitting in my camera. I also got in a little embroidery. I'm as surprised as you. Now if I can just get some sewing done. I'd live up to my name again ;)

What we wore in Austin

I'm usually really bad about over-packing for trips. I bring clothing for every possible occasion. However, I've been trying to get better about this and practiced just taking what I needed with minimal "what if" additions. We were only going to be there for two full days and the last day would be a long travel day so I needed something cute but comfy to ride around in the car all day.

I finally got to wear my favorite dress ever to Renegade on Saturday.

 
 
Dress: ASOS Curve
Tights: We Love Colors
Shoes: Dollhouse (from a pre-vacation Ross trip)
Swollen Ankles: c/o a fall during last year's Austin trip that has forever jacked up my ability to have cute ankles.

I was really nervous about wearing this dress. It's really short. Way shorter than I ever wear because of my hand-me-down thunder thighs. I have worn a thicker, darker, pair of leggings with it before and felt a little more comfortable, but these mint tights were cuter. I could never wear this in Oklahoma because of the wind and I may or may not have flashed a few passersby after taking this photo because of that very reason. haha!I felt great in this outfit and got about a million compliments on it at Renegade, which made me feel much more confident about it.

My nails that day were also pretty cute:

 
Blue and Orange to support the Thunder! I'm a big fan of blues and greens with Coral.

I wore a different dress on Sunday and didn't even think about taking a picture of it because it's a million years old. Still cute though. I just wasn't as excited about it I guess. :)

 I have a secret to tell you. I wore this next outfit EVERY evening while we were in Austin. After very hot and humid days in cute dresses, I didn't want to have anything to do with them in the evening when we went out. So I just kept putting this outfit on because it worked for me Friday night. 

 
Top: French Laundry... another pre-vaction Ross purchase.
Jeans: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Jeffrey Campell

And because I entitled this post "what we wore"...

 
I often take photos of Sheldon to get my camera settings right before he takes my picture. This one made me laugh because he looks like a catalog model so I had to share it. This is Sheldon's summer uniform, which is a lot like my uniform; Tee Fury Shirt (this one is the Bluth Family Crest), shorts, and chucks.

Oh, and this is what I wore on our drive home.

 
I'll have to do another post on it later with good photos because it's a really cute outfit.

The dress is a thrifted mumu with a crocheted neckline and peasant-type sleeves. I wear it with leggings because it's really thin and with a belt because it looks like a sack otherwise. This is my perfect traveling outfit. Stretchy pants so I can sit in any position comfortably and a flowy dress or top. I'm also partial to maxi dresses for traveling.

I realized yesterday that I didn't share our Renegade purchases so expect a post about that sometime this week. We're missing a couple of them so I'm going to have to do a house search before that happens. :)