14x30: Western

With all the saddle brown going on and chambray shirt, I feel a little *country and western* today. And I kinda sorta love it. :)
I've been playing with idea of this outfit in my head for a while... I grew up in the 90's where mixing black and brown was, like, totally not cool. ;) I consider it my biggest fashion risk to date. Baby steps, right?


Outfit-du-Jour #14:
- black and white tribal-y print skirt
- chambray button down
- leather cognac belt w/ gold studs
- cognac heels

P.S. This is the swingy-est skirt ever. I love it's swishy-ness.

See you all tomorrow!

xo ~ Jess

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

Here's to 30 years of love!
We love you both so much! Thank you for being such an amazing example in marriage..

Hugs,
Tyler & Jessica

13x30: Plaid

Ya, ya, I'm back to the same old background.. I know, I know! But due to housecleaning, prepping for supper (kabobs tonight!) and leaving for my spin class at 4pm -- this is as good as it's going to get today!

Outfit-du-Jour #13:

- A-line denim skirt

- white v-neck tee

- plaid blazer

- wood wedges

Just cuz I felt like some close-ups! You're welcome!

{HA! not.}

That's it for today folks, outfit-wise....

But just a quick Get-Fit update: Day One has been going great so far! (It's 3pm on the first day; it should be!! haha)

I'm watching my portions and even looking at the suggested serving sizes.. what a novel concept! :) And I am headed to my spin class at 4:25-5:25... it's always a killer, but I leave feeling elated (hello, endorphins!! ha!) so I go every week even if I have to ddrrraaaggg myself there.. :) After spin, I'll come home and make supper and then head back the gym for strength training... :) I will certainly be ready to have the head hit the pillow tonight I am sure!

Happy Monday to you all!

See you tomorrow!

xo ~ Jess

6 Week Get-Fit Challenge: Let's Get Started, Shall We?

*insert scared face here*

So, here it begins. An actual documentation of a fitness challenge.

:O

I'm a wee tad bit scared. Scared of failing. Sacred of *copping out*. Scared of my own personal laziness. It always starts out with fear, doesn't it?

I think that's why we do these challenges, as human beings. Because there is something in us that wants to overcome that fear and to accomplish a little milestone and say, "ya, I did it. Heck yes!"

And documenting it? Well, that is just going to make me all the more committed. Right? Right? *insert me nodding my head vigoriously*

Now I'm not set out to climb Everest or run a marathon or surf the waves of Hawaii... My goals are pretty simple. Eat better. Train harder. And fit into The Evil Capri's. And I'm gonna take six weeks, commit myself to this little challenge & just. do. it. {Does Nike still have that trademarked? Whoops.}

I'm pumped actually. Why, you might ask? Check out this gorgeous gal below:

Everybody, meet Annamarie!

Annamarie, meet my blog!

*hi, hi, mummur, mummur, nice to meet you, hi there, hello, mummur*

Now that small talk is out of the way..

*whispers*

{oh, one more thing: um, are those not the cutest sandals ever?? I thought they deserved a close up.. ok, that's it.. carry on..}

This is my fitness buddy! I am beyond excited about this! We are going to be each other's cheerleader's and motivator's and each other's *punch in the arm*... obviously, that last bit was not meant to be taken literally. Especially if Annamarie takes up kickboxing. Then there will be no punching of anyone's arms *waves white flag*

:)

We are going to keep in contact via email and texing, as we do live in separate cities. And she is also going to do a couple of guest posts on here about her journey through this challenge, what she wants to accomplish and how she does it all with two kids and a husband! Whew! You go, girl! :)

So stayed tuned!! There will be so much motivation pouring out of this blog, it will make you want to... paint your house!.... or trim the hedges!.... or some other nasty task you've been putting off!... maybe...?

You know. Or not. *ahem*

Oh and FYI:

Official Start Date: Monday, May 30, 2011 (my parents anniversary, BTW!! 30 years!)

Official End Date: Monday, July 11, 2011

See you tomorrow all!

xo ~ Jess (& Annamarie!)

2001-2011: 10 Years Since We Said 'So Long!' To Highschool

Day 12: Experimenting

DAY TWELVE!

(And the experimenting with taking photos outside begins!)

The sunshine is back!! It's a delightful day today and I cannot wait for more of this -- all summer long I hope!

I hope you will excuse my squinty-ness and the low skill level I possess of taking photos outside.. hopefully they will get better... I'll have to play around with the settings on my camera and see how things go! :o)

Hey, I'm standing on our new deck! It's all done, minus the stairs, so yay to that! And this is just a peek into our backyard, too.. it's not that big, but we heart it. :o)

Outfit-du-Jour #12:
- pink floral dress with side ruffles
- off-white cardigan (this is the new one! that replaced the orange ink-stained one!)
- skinny cognac belt with gold studs
- white stacked-heel wedges

I thought this outfit suited the day.. light and bright... I love the airy-ness of summer clothes and I'm so excited this is just the beginning of a whole bunch of summery goodness to come! :o)
{Weather-wise & clothes-wise!}

*fuzziness.. whoops!*

See you all tomorrow!

xo ~ Jess

11x30: Unplanned

DAY ELEVEN!

(Y'all love my creative collage depicting Day 11? HA!)

A lot about today was unplanned. My outfit included.

This morning, Candace & Colin spontaneously invited us to the farmer's market with them, including a drive so we wouldn't have to park 2 vehicles, so that was fun.. I was also suppose to meet up with my friend Jesse, but that didn't work out.. boo... But I think we have a farmer's market date next week! YAY to that!

We tried wannawaffles for the first time at the Market!! They were sooooo unreal good! Like mini donuts in a waffle form! So healthy, too! haha.. not. It pretty much set the tone for I how I ate for the rest of the day. Yuck-o. Good thing for fresh starts tomorrow.

So, due to only having 20 minutes to get ready this morning, this whole outfit was thrown on in a haste to get out the door.. I have a boat-load of ironing to do and the outfit that I was originally going to wear was all in the ironing pile. Whoops. So, leggings and long button-down it was... :o)

Outfit-du-Jour #11:

- black leggings

- chambray button-down

- black woven belt

- black canvas ankle boots

- thick grey wrap sweater as outwear

(good thing I brought this! Farmer's Market was freeeezing!)

Please ignore my totally unoriginal hair for the last few days... top knot, top knot, top knot, top knot... ya, ya, Jessica, we get it.. the top knot is your go-to hair-do! I promise more interesting hair-do's to come.. :o) If you care... hahah..

That's it for this day folks! Totally a snooze-fest, but it worked for today, so I guess that's what matter's...

See you all tomorrow for Day 12! Almost half way done!
*insert {sarcastic} cheering here!*

xo ~ Jess

YouTube Vlog

{I wrote this blog post about a month ago, but my vlog wouldn't upload properly to Blogger at time, so I put off on posting it for a while... Well, I have tried ALL day again today and it just won't upload, so I put it up on my YouTube channel, so you can check that link out below! If you want. You don't have to.}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppodj0-uxUQ

Here is a little blurb before you watch the video....

------------------------------------------------

Heeeyyy everyone!! :o) So I am being lazy and instead of writing/taking pictures, I'm just posting a vlog and calling it a day! You're welcome! hahah... No, seriously, I did a little vlog of our exterior renovations.. I figured it would just to be easier to do a video than write a 10 page blog (there is no exaggeration in that statement whatsoever) on the reno's we are doing.. :D Anywho! Just a couple of things before you watch this video...

1) The paw prints in the concrete are from the previous owner's pet, we think... I don't know if they did it on purpose or if it was an accident, but it's kinda cute actually.. I just want you all to know that they are NOT Bronze's paw prints.. hahah.. it must have been a pain to clean that wet concrete on that little pet's paws though, let me tell you... :o)

2) The garden that we took out was a really yucky, weedy and overgrown and as I mentioned in the vlog, we do not have green thumbs, me and Tyler... no sirreee, we do not.. and due to lack of grass in our backyard already, we thought it might be nice to have more grass space anyway... ANYWAY! When I was watching the video back, I realized I sounded so noncholant about ripping out a garden.. but it was a yucky, weedy, overgrown (with nothing growing in it anyway) graden.. not a garden bursting with vegetables and herbs and other goodness, so don't worry... :o)

Dear me, that was a bit excessive on those two points was it not? :o) hahah.. please forgive me, will you? Ok, you can watch the vlog now. Yes, you have my permission. :o) (jokes all around, jokes all around)

xo ~ Jess

10x30: Grey

DAY TEN!

(No idea what I'm going to do tomorrow when I run out of fingers........ha!)

There was no other way to describe today other than grey.

Every now and then we would get a burst of sunshine through the clouds, but mostly it was grey & the big finale of the evening? A thunderstorm.

Wow, I talk about the weather a lot don't I? It's one part fascinating and one part totally lame.

Everyone can relate to the weather. It affects how we dress, what we're going to do that day and even our moods.

On the other hand, do I seriously have nothing else to talk about than the weather? Don't answer that. :o) Because it's most likely true.

Boo me and my boring life. ha!

Outfit-du-Jour #10:

- white/yellow/grey/brown floral maxi dress

- grey top with "butterfly" sleeves

-tan belt with gold clasp

- wood wedge shoes

There is a possibility of some farmer's market action tomorrow... I am really going to try to buy my produce all summer long from our farmer's market... support local!! :o)

Hope you all had a great Friday night.. see you tomorrow!

xo ~ Jess

9x30: Olive

DAY NINE!

(Yes, I forgot to take a #9 hand pic yesterday. Whoops.)

I literally had 3.4 seconds to take photos on my lunch break yesterday. I kindly asked my husband to move, but he thought it would be hilarious to stay in the photos and make silly faces. This is my completely unamused face. Hahah. Totally annoying at the time. Funny now.

He eventually moved. Thanks, babe. :o)


I really like this outfit. Remember my little "coastal city fantasy" yesterday? Well, this is the outfit I would be wearing in that fantasy. It seems like a perfect fish-and-chips-by-the-water date outfit! Ha! :D

Outfit-du-Jour #9:
- olive green dress with satin ribbon belt
- black tank
- black leggings with lace trim
- grey tuxedo vest
- black canvas biker boots
- navy flower in hair (H&M)


DETAILS!

Multi-tasking on my lunch break!! The doctor's office called and by golly, when the doctor's office calls, YOU TAKE THAT CALL!! haha ..

{Sidenote}

.......I love how the doctor's office calls you and then puts you on hold for like 10 minutes! What is up with that?!

{Sidenote over.} haha

Hope your weekends are shaping up to good ones! We are headed to a potluck tonight, rain or shine!! :o) Should be fun!

I don't like how I am a day behind on my outfits, by the way... I am hoping to get all caught up today, so maybe we'll talk to ya later on!

xo ~ Jess

8x30: Humidity

DAY EIGHT!

It's been so wonderfully rainy this week... I am certainly ready for some sunshine now, but I cannot get over how green everything is in our beautiful city! Thanks, liquid sunshine!! Coming down the big hill into downtown... oooohhh, I should really stop and take a picture.. it's gorgeous! Pretty much all the trees are green and leafy now and the lawns around town look like velvety rolls of emerald carpet... hmm, I just love it!
But naturally, with the rain, comes extra humidity in the air. Which I secretly kinda love, even though the volume of my already-thick-hair doubles.. :o) Here's why: I pretend that I live in a coastal city as I go about my day instead of the small prairie town that I currently reside in.. :o) I do, I really do! I have these conversations in my head with my husband asking him if he wants to meet for fish and chips after work by the water and then maybe we could take a walk on the wharf... haha! These little mind fantasies are even better when a gull just happens to be flying overhead.. totally adds to it.. :o)
I'm so lame, seriously; why do I even let these fantasies escape my mind for you all to read? I really wonder sometimes..........

ANYWAY! On with the outfit!


THE DETAILS:

Yup, knee highs with my heels. Love it. :o)


Skinny cognac belt.... :o) Best $6 purchase I've made this month!

Outfit-du-Jour #8:

- black linen shirt dress

- white v-neck tee

- yellow cardi

- cognac skinny belt

- black knee highs

- cognac heels

- saddle brown purse (not pictured)

And guys, I'm super excited for some posts coming up! There's a fitness challenge involved inspired by The Evil Capri's... my goal: to fit into them in 6 weeks! And I have fitness buddy who will be doing the challenge with me and also doing some guest posts, which I am pumped about!! So more on that! Plus a little tribute to a very special monument that Tyler and I hit this year! MORE TO COME!!

Hope you are all having a superb (a word not used much anymore! Let's bring it back!!) evening! I am off to an open house hosted by some friends of ours and their business... it's a health and beauty open house which means free facials and beauty gift bag! Yay!

And then gym time. The Evil Capri's are mocking. You're going down, EC! *insert mean face*

See you all later!

xo ~ Jess

7x30: Whistling

DAY SEVEN!

Betcha all your gonna be able to notice in these pictures now is my "errant hair"... hahha... But you really can't help BUT notice it it's so obvious!! Maybe my errant hair has something to do with the fact that I got dunked hardcore in the pool last night after our workout... which means wet hair.. that I did not want to get wet.. and then I overslept this morning and didn't get a chance to washed my now kinked and frizzy hair.. Enter: Mousse. It made it manageable, but it's still kinda crazy today. Oh well. :o) That's just life, right?

Round two with my straight-leg cargo's is going mucho better!! I guess it all comes down what you wear stuff with and how you pair things in your closet... It was really really really really chilly today, too.. so bonus to covered legs and feet! (minus the toes and heels on the feet)

Outfit-du-Jour #7:
- straight-leg taupe cargo's
- white tank with sheer white wrap blouse
- white/stacked-heel wedges
- cream and brown trench
- mustard flower in hair (Le Chateau)
- mustard pashmina (yes, friends, it was cool enough for a scarf today..)

This is me whistling "Singing in the Rain"... I'm such a good whistler, hey? (not)

See you all tomorrow!
xo ~ Jess