How to Prepare for Snow, or Why is There Only One Decent Grocery Store in My Town?

Right now, it is 70 degrees in my town.  A cold front is coming tomorrow, and you might equate it with the second coming of Christ, or at least Thanksgiving or Christmas week.  Because that's what we're doing here.  To be fair, there IS a pretty good chance of snow, and there's a slight chance some of it might stick, and an even slighter chance that we'll all get a snow day and get to stay home and enjoy it.

CJ and I went to the grocery store at lunch today.  It was AWFUL.  Imagine your local grocery at 5:00 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving.  That's what today was like.  Bottled water was flying off the shelves.  Older ladies weilding oxygen tanks were wheezing at their husbands to Get More Starter Logs!  I got in a fist fight with a 4 year old over the last jar of Jif.

Ok, I may be exaggerating.  But I'm not exaggerating a lot.

All I wanted was some lunchmeat to last me the rest of the week.  Is that too much to ask?

So be looking forward to my outfit tomorrow.  If I trust the weather, I'll be in full Eskimo regalia - parka, snow boats, and some handwarmers to avoid frostbite on the walk into my building from my car.  If you don't hear from me, just know that I'm probably stranded freezing to death in some snow bluff off the highway. 

Or there really is a Snow Day at my office.

Fingers crossed - hope, hope.

List Lesson Friday: Restaurant Etiquette

Things you probably shouldn't do at a Chinese Buffet:

1.  Proclaim that you hate the city of Houston...and realize that everyone else from your table just moved from there.  Really, why are their so many Houstonians here?!
2.  Insult the brand of fortune cookies, then open yours to find something amazing like "You will fulfill all your dreams."  Just kidding, this one's great!
3.  Go to a Chinese buffet and only eat Totino's pizza.  $10 buffet for $1 pizza - nice.
4.  Be too nervous to order from the stir fry guy because he doesn't look like he can speak English.  (and you know for damn sure you don't speak Chinese).
5.  Purposely sit next to the chair that your husband's jacket is hanging on while everyone is at the buffet - only to learn once everyone sits down that your husband's jacket was actually on the opposite side of the table. (Why, no, I DIDN'T want to sit next to him anyway...)
6.  Invite the only alcoholic at the table to happy hour.  That's a bit of a faux pas, huh?

Confidence

From Kathleen Tessaro's Elegance:

"Your fashion sense has changed dramatically," she concludes.
"I think that's a good thing."
She peers at me over her glasses.
"I'm dressing more like a confident woman," I explain.

"And how does a confident woman dress?" Her voice is challenging.

"Like she knows she's a woman and she likes it.  Like she expects people to notice her."

Here's to all you confident women, putting yourselves out there everyday, in the workplace, in your town, in the blogosphere.  Here's to being noticed.

Love Letters to the Future

Dear Brittany of Tomorrow:

Two cups of coffee and one giant cinnamon roll is not sufficent fuel for your fire.  Or your brain.

You should learn to eat better.

Give a Pop-Tart a try (fruit filled!).  Or a breakfast burrito (extra bacon!)  Or some yogurt (lots of granola).  A bagel (ugh, cream cheese).  Toast (bleh, butter).


Dear Brittany of Tomorrow:

I'm determined to hinder your healthy food intake. 
Good luck digesting this chicken alfredo.

Love,
Brittany (of Today)

what we DO and DON'T have in common, my dog and I

I have a five pound Chihuahua at home.

He pushes his stomach as flat as it can get to the couch, folds his legs and tail under him, and flattens his neck against the cushion.  His big ears fold against his head, and he is the personfication of pathetic.

That's what he looks like when its 20 degrees outside in the morning. 

This is what I look like.

I bet it would look better if I was only 3% of my body weight and had bigger ears. 

Cheap Bourban Whiskey and Pearl Snap Shirts

I'd probably feel a lot more school-marmish in this outfit if I didn't know just HOW COOL my shirt was underneath.  Worn cotton, breast pockets, and pearl snap buttons - it don't get much more West Texas than that.  Extra credit if you know who sings my Title.

I decided NOT to wear my Target gray/black riding boots again today, thanks to my Husband's critical advice ("You can't wear them everyday, Brittany.")  Hmmph.

Did you have a good weekend?  It was beautiful on Saturday (high 60s) and not so pretty yesterday (30-something on our way to church).  High of 64 today and chance of snow flurries tomorrow.

There is no way I'm not getting the flu this week, is there?

List Lesson Friday: Riding Boots

Appropriate places to wear riding boots:

1.  To work

2.  To the bar

3.  To ride a horse

4.  Walking in the country

5.  Hunting in the country

Inappropriate places to wear riding boots:

1.  To Starbucks with yoga pants haphazardously stuffed into them
2.  With your nightshirt to move your car into the garage
3.  Running down your driveway in your nightshirt after your dog who escaped out the back door while you were moving your car into the garage

4.  In the shower

That last one was a joke.  Of course you know not to wear your riding boots in the shower.  That's what rainboots are for.

10 Things I Thought While Watching American Idol Last Night...oh, and an Outfit Post

1.  Jennifer Lopez managed to win me over 42 minutes into American Idol last night.  I liked her attitude, but I REALLY liked her makeup.

2.  My dog is 5 pounds and ate 4 times last night.  I've learned two things from this:
     a.  My dog has a metabolism that I envy.
     b.  I am the beta in our relationship.  I mean, I FED MY DOG FOUR TIMES LAST NIGHT.

3.  Steven Tyler is very unattractive.  Wait, I already knew that.

4.  Sex appeal apparently has nothing to do with attractiveness.  Because Steven Tyler is still a little sexy.

5.  I get that Jennifer Lopez is Latin with a booty.  But anyone who describes her as anything other than "skinny" is delusional.

6.  I probably didn't need the second glass of wine.  But I did enjoy it.  And everyone sounds better when I'm drunk.

7.  I wasn't THAT drunk.

8.  I feel bad when my husband leaves for the gym, and I'm on the couch in my pajamas looking at blogs.  But not bad enough to go to the gym myself at nine o'clock.  Silly.  That one didn't really have that much to do with American Idol.

9.  Seriously, I wasn't drunk.  I'm a grown woman and I can have two glasses of wine if I want to.  Quit judging me!

10.  I still miss Simon.  And he was way sexier than Steven Tyler.

Speaking of sexy, whose this girl?  :-P

Neutral Blues

What days do you consider appropriate for Happy Hour?

I can't even think about going out for a drink until at least Wednesday.  I associate Happy Hour, or just a social gathering with friends after work, as an "end-of-the-week" activity.  I've gone to Happy Hour on a Monday before and was left wondering on Wednesday why I was getting angry calls from my boss.  Oh, it's not the weekend yet?

You may have noticed that today is Wednesday.

Any takers?

On an outfit related paragraph, I'm so glad I went with this outfit today.  Every second I've felt stressed today (there have been about 16,200 so far today), I've glanced down at the soft blue palette I'm covered in and felt another second or two of relief.  Maybe I should bring my yoga mat to work?

Nah.  Happy Hour it is.

Too Much Information

It's that time of the month.

That time of the month when I realize that I haven't done near enough stuff at work, my desk is piling over, and I'm going to have to stay late or get here early in order to get organized.

That time of the month where I'm just a tad bit stressed.


That time of the month that I'm just craving a comfortable outfit to get me through my day.

Oh, yea.  It's that OTHER time of the month too. 

Stealing from Sweden

I've been searching for the perfect denim button-up, and finally found it during my haul a few weeks ago at the Tommy Hilfiger outlet.  $16, what?!

I do have a confession, however.  Practically this entire outfit was stolen from Rebecca at See You in Sweden. 
There,  I can not tell a lie.

My back issue of InStyle from this weekend told me:  "Next time you wear a ponytail, take a page from Jackie and use a tortoise shell clip.  It lends a sophisticated vibe to the style."

So here's to you, Jackie, and the tortoise (shell) that never gives up (or goes out of style).

2010 Favorites

Just took a little time this morning to revisit my favorites from each month last year. 

Back in January, I still had a Flickr account where I posted pictures.  Since then, my blog takes up my free time on the computer, so I've had to retire the Flickr.  However, this pictures still gets hits all the time.  I call it my Alice Goes to Work in Wonderland outfit.

Last February, I went to Dallas for my best friend's baby shower.  I also introduced you to my bf, Kimberly, at that time, who has since given birth to a beautiful baby boy, James.  This is the outfit I wore home.  I had just tried boots + knee high socks and loved it, and a lot of you did too!  I'm definitely breaking this look out again once it gets a little warmer here!

Honestly, I don't love this entire outfit from last March, but there is something about that scarf under the collar of the polo shirt that I've remembered ever since.  I don't have a lot of things in orange either, so this sweater is a fun pop of color for me.

Back in April, I must have lacked any editing skills.  That being said, this post is my number one visited page.  I think it has something to do with my title about Being Preppy, but regardless, I wish I had used a shine-editor on it!  Oh well, new readers can get the diiirty side of this girl while shopping around.

Hey, there's that scarf again, showing up again in May.  I'm not sure if anyone else likes this outfit as much as me, but I love this purple/blue pencil skirt.  Mixing it with simple pink, my go-to hue, makes me happy. 

I was back in Dallas for this picture, over Memorial Day weekend (hey, it counts as June since that's the post date!), and my sister-in-law and and I were getting ready to do some serious shopping at the Allen Outlets.  I love my hair color in this picture.  I should take it to my hairdresser.  I'm feeling a bit "brunette" these days.  Ugh. :P

I made the comment back in July that I loved this outfit because it somehow made red seem neutral.  This is such a great career casual outfit.  I think the "casual" part comes from the amount of thigh I'm flashing.  Hey, you be 6 feet tall and find work skirts!

A Favorites post has to include an outfit with this belt.  I think a lot of people throw around the description "vintage" these days, but this is the Real Deal.  It was my great-grandmother's when she was younger than me.  We were going out to a dinner and a cigar bar in this picture, and sat out on the patio afterwards.  Perfect for an August evening!  I miss you, Summer.

September means that Football Season is starting.  Which means I was breaking out the Red and Black in support of my favorite team!  Texas Tech made us proud this year, and just won their bowl game earlier this month.  Wreck 'Em Tech!

I can't even tell you how much I loved this outfit from October.  I was participating in Melissa's Blogging for Breast Cancer A-Wear-Ness Challenge and was wearing pink everyday.  It wasn't as much of a challenge for me as a treat to wear all my pink without apology.  This is a sweater dress layered over a slip dress and I felt so soft and romantic and sexy and pretty and fabulous in it.  And if that's not the definition of stylish, what is?

I had been wanting to pair navy and animal print for a long time, and in November, I finally did.  We had a lesson on the difference between cheetah and leopard print, and I decided my pants were too big.  That's probably not a problem currently, but I'm planning on hitting the gym...tomorrow...or Monday.  Quit judging me!

This was my favorite outfit from December.  I felt so hourglassy in it!  My mom and dad bought me this skirt last Christmas, and I was afraid I wouldn't like the longer length of the skirt (you know, I do claim to not be able to find long skirts...see above).  That was until I tried it on.  Love!  Eat your heart out, Joan Holloway.  (Probably she's not.  But it makes me feel snarky and superior to say it, all the same.)

That was so much fun!  Thanks so much for taking the time to review some outfits with me!  I loved seeing the changes I went through last year - mainly in the way I styled my hair (as in, I DID) and also my photo quality.  I still want to work on that experience on my blog, but for the time being, I'm happy with where I'm at.  Thanks so much for reading, and I can't wait to take on 2011 with you all!! :)