Proud as punch

Guess who just got a job offer at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country?

This guy!

With his summer internship ending today, Spencer was offered a position for a real, adult job post-graduation. He has worked extremely hard these past two years, all for this offer, which he very much deserves. I'm so proud of him!

It's crazy to think that what we've been dreaming of and working towards for so long is finally here. And yes, I say "we" because I can never be truly selfless in any blog post. "We" are also looking forward to a third and final year at law school, which, with an offer in hand, should hopefully be a smidge less stressful. Here's to hoping, and here's to Spencer! Huzzah!

Updated: I just realized the saying is actually "pleased as punch," not "proud as punch." Whoops.

Pink pants remixed

Melissa asked me over to her blog to talk about remixing. What better to remix than my pink pants! Go here to see the post.

Non-manic Monday

Cardi:hand-me-down, Tank: Nordstrom's, Pants: H&M, Shoes: thrifted

Yes, I am obsessed with both that cardi and those shoes.

On Monday, Spencer and I found ourselves in the happy occasion where both of us were home at a decent hour on a weekday, something that hasn’t happened for weeks thanks to my working late and him having nightly work events. So, naturally, we headed to my gym. Actually, we usually just turn on a movie, but for once, we decided to get off our lazy bums and do something. Using my almost-expired guest pass, Spencer and I used some cardio machines and then kicked it in the pool and hot tub along with large, old men in speedos. The entire time, Spencer kept exclaiming, "I can't believe you've never used this before!" talking about the hot tub. But I'm not going to go to a hot tub alone; would you? Either way, it was one of those blissfully nothing nights that can only be ruined by a bad case of the “tungries.” (Which ours almost was. Whoops.)

What do you like to do on a free weeknight?

Read, read and then read some more

I like to read. A lot.

As a kid, I was always getting in trouble for bringing a book to the dinner table and not much has changed as an adult. Due to my speed-reading ways (Spencer likes to joke about how my eyeballs zoom back-and-forth as I read), I go through books in a matter of a days, sometimes hours. Here's a sampling of what I've read this summer:

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (read twice)

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever by Maggie Steifvater

Matched by Ally Condie (read twice)

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas

The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly (read twice)

via

My favorites were Kindred and The Little Women Letters. Kindred is a mixture of my two favorite genres, historical fiction and science ficton/fantasy, and tells the story of a modern-day black woman who is called back in time to ante-bellum South when her white, slave-owning ancestor is in mortal danger. It is not a light-hearted tale as it obviously deals with racial tensions and slavery, but it is gripping and well-told.

via

The Little Women Letters can be summed up in one word: lovely. Set in modern London, it follows the Atwaters, a family of 3 sisters who are descendents of Jo March from Lousia May Alcott's Little Women (which book I love). The middle sister, struggling with the transition to adult-life, finds a case full of letters written by Jo and find solace in her ancestor's struggles and joys. Having many sisters myself, I loved reading the interactions between the Atwaters and their parents. I laughed, cried and was thoroughly entertained. Also, I now have a renewed hankering to visit London.

So what books have you read lately? Any recommendations?

Bedhead bun

Cardi: hand-me-down, Tank: Old Navy, Skirt: Kayla swapped, Heels: thrifted, Headband: me

If you've been keeping tabs on my hair-dids, then you might notice that I've never done the "blogger bun" before. Not because I didn't like it, but because my hair wasn't long enough. For example, the entire backside of my head is littered with bobby-pins because 70% of my hairs are too short to be included in pictured bun. But finally, my hair was somewhat long enough for the bun to be attempted, and in this heat, heck yes I'll try any up-do.

But as the title suggests, my bun should be called "bedhead bun" because that's exactly what my version is. I put my hair up before I went to bed, woke up, liked what I saw, threw in a some bobby pins and hairspray, and called it a day. Ahh...*sigh of content* I love easy hairdos!

 

In other news, I went thrifting on Friday for the first time in 3 months, and I got those Seychelles heels and a tie for Spencer. Aren't those heels fabulous? In case you are unsure, they answer is yes, yes they are.

City Scenes: Engrish

This site has given my family hours of merriment and mirth...especially the signs discussing bathrooms or bodily functions. But as I've discovered in my young life, we don't need to import examples of "engrish;" we can find some right here in the good ol' US of A!

 Here are my engrish contributions as found around Manhattan:

I don't know what "creat" means, but I'll take 2!

It used to say "Well Come to Coffee House." Good thing they got someone to proofread their sign.

 

Located at the corner of Forty-Thirth St. and Tenst Ave.

Yum! Those differences is really good!

Note: This isn't meant to be mean, because goodness knows, I use poor grammar as well. But it is meant to be funny because if you are paying for a sign/menu, you really should have someone proofread it first.

Average Joe

The other day I was wearing one of my "off-day" outfits. These are outfits that I don't photograph and don't put any thought into because we all need a break. I started with this:

But then, two thoughts crossed my mind: 1) Kayla's Fashion Blogger (for a day) Becca talking about keeping an outfit interesting; and 2) Tania talking about just looking better than the average Joe.

So I tucked and added a belt:

But I knew I could do just a little bit better, so I added fun shoes and a necklace:

So there you go. Nothing fancy-pants or creative, but hopefully a little bit better than the average Joe.

You are going to wear that?

After a long day of work for both of us, Spencer and I went out for a quick walk the other day to go to the drugstore and get Chinese takeout. I quickly threw on an outfit, and Spencer gave me an incredulous look and said, "You are going to wear that?"

This is what I wore:

Oversized button-up: thrifted, Cuffed jeans: Levi's, Loafers: hand-me-down

I laughed at him and said, "this has to be blogged." And of course I wore the outfit anyway. Do you think this is too frumpy? I mean, that drugstore and Chinese takeout are fancy stuff. Gotta look the part in this city!

When your ovaries get to burstin'

Sometimes, I get a little baby hungry. What do you expect when snuggling with this guy?

My sister Jenna's sweet son

Or seeing this adorable smile?

Image. He's even cuter in person, if you can believe it.

But then...

I remember that I was able to sleep for 12 hours Saturday night (thank you afternoon church!),

and also...

I see this:

A present to Kayla from her boys.

Ya know what, I think I can wait for a little while longer.

What I learned from the 30 for 30

1. I'm sick of pink. Between the pink pants and the pink skirt, I sick to death of pink. This tomboy can only take so much.

2. I need more cropped trousers. With the heat of summer, I wear a lot of skirts, but those get old after a while. Every now and then I just need to wear pants. Since I can't wear shorts to work, it's up to cropped trousers to fill the pants-requirement while keeping me somewhat cool. Again, this tomboy can only take so much.

3. As mentioned before, it's easier to be creative when it's cool enough for layers. Summer heat, and my resulting 1-layer policy, make my outfits more formulaic.

4. I am an experienced remixer. Also as mentioned before, the second time was much easier than the first. I feel fairly confident in my remixing ability and think the 30 for 30 will not be necessary in the future. At least not for a long time.

Have you done the 30 for 30 or any other remixing challenge? What did you think? What did you learn?

P.S. I know I was a Debbie Downer in this post, but I do love blogging. That's why I do it! It's just in the summer there are so many things I'd rather do than stare at a computer screen.

What would a gypsy wear?

Skirt: gift from Kayla, Shirt: thrifted, Sandals: Forever Young, Necklace: Old Navy, Earrings: giveaway win

As I planned this outfit, I asked myself, "what would a gypsy wear?" and then acted accordingly. I usually avoid wearing long necklaces with waist-cinching belts and big earrings with statement necklaces, in order to not be too absurd.

But does a gypsy care about being considered absurd? Oh no, a gypsy embraces those wild combinations with gusto! So I too embraced them with gusto, and was rather pleased with the outcome. I was also happy to end the 30 for 30 on an outfit that I liked and not just pooping out in the end.

If this gyspy trend continues, maybe I'll pick up dancing on the streets, help out a hunchback and fall in love with a Parisian soldier. That's what all gypsies do, right?

Aren't these earrings sweet?

Chinese food makes me sick

 I've spent some time the past few days thinking about blogging in the summertime. This is my first time "blogging with a purpose" (as a wise friend put it) over the summer, and I find myself with a serious lack of desire to blog. Not just writing my own, but reading others as well. Who wants to be glued to a computer screen when the weather is lovely and so much is going on? (And when I've spent 12 hours at work staring at two wide-screen monitors. Dual monitors, baby!) Does anyone else experience this adversion to blogging, whether reading or writing them, in the summer? If no one responds, then I will assume the answer is yes. And if you hadn't thought of at least one line of LFO's "Summer Girls" while reading this summer, then you are dead to me. For that summer, for that summer.

Shirt/cardi: hand-me-down, Pants: H&M, shoes: thrifted

 Seriously though, does anyone still wear Abercrombie and Fitch?

Same old, same old

Shirt/shoes: thrifted, Skirt:?, Belt/watch: Husband's

Spencer knows that eyebrow-raise all too well.

Another day, another button-up, another belted outfit.

I realized that being creative with my outfits is hard in the summer because I.love.layers. But in the heat of the summer, I.hate.layers. I try to wear a few layers as possible, and in doing so, all my outfit creativity is out the window. Help me please!

How do you get creative with clothes in the heat of summer?

Otter pops: the poor man's A/C

Pants/Cardi: Anthro, Tee: thrifted, Shoes (not pictured): Gap gifted

 As the temperature rises, so does my consumption of Otter Pops. 

My diet is not so much raw these days as it is artificially-flavored ice. But what do you expect? We have no A/C. What I mean to say is, Spencer refuses to fix our A/C unit because he knows if he fixes it, I will want to use it, and in the mean time, I need something to keep me cool.

Utilities here are astronomical. And that's no joke. In Utah, for our large 1-bedroom, we paid utilities of $15-$20 a month. In Manhattan, for our tiny studio, we pay $55-60, and that's with us unplugging everything, being gone during the day and never using A/C. In fact, I have yet to hear of anyone else paying less for utilities in the city.

So until trees outside our windows start growing money, I have to resort to consuming large quantities of Otter Pops in order to stay cool. Oh darn.

Slow sink of victory

Skirt: thrifted, Button-up:hand-me-down, Shirt: H&M, Shoes: Steve Madden DSW

Spencer learned long ago that if he wants me to do something, all he has to do is tell me I can't do it. (or give me chocolate, but that's another post.)

For example, right now I'm transitioning from water-skiing on two skis to one (a.k.a slalom water-skiing). While it's taken me a few weeks to get it down, this transition hasn't taken nearly as long as it took to get me up on two skis. Oh my, it took so long! I spent an entire summer trying to get up but to no avail.

After about the 50th time of trying (no joke), Spencer finally said to me, "Erica, I don't think you can water-ski." Well, of course that just got my dander all riled up, so I announced to all of Whaley Lake that I would indeed water-ski, grabbed hold of the rope, and told the boat to "hit it." Sure enough, I popped right out of that water, criss-crossed the wake a bajillion times, and when I felt I had proven my water-skiing worth and then some, I defiantly tossed up the rope, thrust my arms into the air in triumph, and enjoyed that slow sink of victory awarded to all those who end a water-ski run on their own terms.

As I come to the close of another 30 for 30, I find myself enjoying a proverbial slow sink of victory for a remixing challenge well-done. Or at least done. Huzzah!

(Don't worry, Spencer was very encouraging the entire time and totally believed in me. He never actually doubted me; he had just finally figured out how to motivate me.)

P.S. Yellow shoes for a yellow-themed EBEW. Yay!

It's travel-size for my convenience

Skirt/shirt: thrifted, Loafers: Hand-me-down, Belt: Meredith swapped

When Meredith sent me this belt, she failed to mention that it was "fun-size." When I pulled it out of the box and saw it's miniature length, I wasn't sure if she accidentally sent me B's belt by mistake. Of course, she is pretty tiny herself, so it's a wash as to whose belt it might have actually been.

Maxi: F21, Sandals: Forever Young, Belt : Meredith swapped

Just how tiny is this belt, you ask? Let's just say that you may see this belt around my ribcage or around my waist, but around my hips? Never.

An outfit and a raw(ish) recipe

Skirt/blouse/shoes: thrifted, Belt: Joey's NY

Summer is the perfect time for eating raw (not that I've been doing much of that lately). Cold food that takes mere minutes to prepare? Yes please! Mostly, I throw a bunch of veggies in a bowl and call it a salad. My favorite has been a corn and bean salad that goes great with pita chips, on top of lettuce or by itself.

Here's what I like to mix together:

Corn cut off the cob

Can of black beans

Grape tomatoes (halved)

Bell peppers (green, red and/or yellow)

Red onion

Jalapeno chile

Lime juice

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Hot sauce

Cumin

Let it season and enjoy!

Do you have any cold summer recipes? I'd love to hear them!