Black...

Why hello.  Things are getting somewhat crazy as my finals continue and I prepare myself for France and now ITALY!!  Eva is officially coming to Paris to stay a few days and Jeremiah and I have decided to spend the last week or so in Florence and Rome.  Exciting ideas but we're a little overwhelmed on the planning front.
Our new roommate, Adam, is moving in tomorrow which adds to the stress but I'm excited to have another person around the house to pester aside from J.
Last night was spent at the Thin Man with Ashley and Spencer and a man/woman covered in bacon.
Last Monday was spent with my two brothers and Addy eating a great meal and playing games.  I've missed hanging out with them.  Mike's shoulder is doing really well after surgery.
Tonight I will be going out.  Somewhere, anywhere.  Most likely to Lost Lake for Shane's bday. 

 OUTFIT!  This is somewhat cute but the weather was too cold to wear.

 Dress&Jacket: F21 Shoes: Nine West Sunnies: Walmart

 My hairdresser informed me that I have "a big enough forehead" and refused to trim all of my bangs because they would accentuate my too big forehead.  I was so surprised she would say such a thing I didn't retort, and I didn't even tip her less...  But I did trim the rest of my bangs.  Big forehead or not!!  I think my hair is cute, thank you very much!

Day and Night...

This is the exact outfit as a few back but with a different shirt.

 Day look.

This would have been my night look BUT....

 The look isn't flattering.  The button up bunches under the pencil skirt making me look like a mama kangaroo.  Cute idea, but not cute.  #1 Fashion Rule: If it's not flattering, don't wear it.  So I didn't.

Ouch...

I am sick.  Painfully painfully sick.  So this is how I will be spending my day along with scouring websites for Paris Fashion ideas.

 And here's a picture of Jeremiah yawning.

Weekend update...

Cows! Cows! Cows!

 Jen and Kyle's lovely engagement party!

 

 Jeremiah and Patrick.

 MARK!

 

 Amazing Twin!

 Hair too long!

 Hair just right!

 Long hurr!

Bang Bangs!

 And looky what I gots!

This weekend was highly successful.  Thursday night was spent at Travis's house eating some insane BBQ.  Chicken, corn on the cob, salad with avocado, and wine.  DELISH. 

Friday was an errand day.  Jeremiah and I got haircuts together and then had the most successful shopping trip of my LIFE at Ross.  I found two dresses but the clothes I found for Jeremiah on sale are brilliant.  Three pairs of pants and at least 10 dress shirts or sweaters for very cheap.  I was exhausted after the shopping spree but felt good knowing J would have some nice clothes to wear in Paris.  Only a few weeks now!!

Saturday, Jeremiah and I headed to the ranch to herd cattle.  The herdin' wasn't as successful as last time but I could tell Jeremiah had such a great time saving my ass and getting the cows pointed in the right direction.  Jeff was almost bucked off Samantha but got lucky when a neighbor helped to calm her down.  On the upside, Sherman has been getting a lot more sweet to me as I continue to learn what's what.  I can't quite explain how I know but he doesn't shove me with his head with frustration after we're done riding anymore.  He now gives me a softer nudge, looking for a scratch and nuzzle and doesn't run away.  PALS!

J and I had lunch with family friends Dan and Suzy which was another DELISH meal.  Hamburger, baked potato, salad, and wine.  I know no one cares what we ate but whatevs!  We also got to hang out with Phillip and Erin at lunch which was not only fun but informative as they gave Jeremiah and I some much needed advice on traveling in Europe.

Saturday night was spent at a bluegrass concert for Jeff's bday which ended up being surprisingly fun!!  Five old dudes played some amazing bluegrass for hours and hours and by the end of the night we were all tuckered out.

Today had it's ups and downs.  I wasn't impressed with the church service we went to but it made me want to find a decent church in Denver to sing some legit hymns.  The new-age bullshit a lot of churches seem to be headed towards is so horrible.  After church we had another great meal of roast and mashed potatoes with Jeff and Debbie.  We then went to check on the cows and gave the horses some grain as a treat on their day off. 

Happy Weekend.

Pink stripes...

OUTFIT! OUTFIT! NEW FAV OUTFIT!!  Saturday shopping at Forever 21 is not ideal.  People everywhere, clothes strewn about in random piles, insane lines at the fitting room and check out... BUT I got lucky with this pink and black striped beauty.  Very comfortable too.  Goody goody gumdrops!!  I have to give a speech tomorrow about a strange custom in a strange culture.  I think I might talk about those dudes who have to bungee jump and hit their heads on the ground to prove their manhood.  That's pretty interesting, right??  I'll let you know how it goes.

 Sunnies&Sweater&Shorts: F21  Tights&Boots: Nine West

 Necklace: F21  I LOVE IT!

 Oh, socks also from Nine West.  Big deal though, right?

 Boyfriend: Larkspur, Colorado

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the BEST horseback riding experience of my entire life this morning.  Herding cows is infinitely better than riding around a pasture with nothing to do.  And the funny thing is, I almost decided not to ride because the wind was so horrendous.  We got to our destination this morning and first herded 97 head of cattle to an adjacent pasture across a busy road.  The road we crossed is so busy we had to get the police to block it off before moving the cattle.  Despite the cops being there, that part was majorly boring.  We just walked the horses and didn't hardly do any work.  After that was done, I wanted to ride more but the wind was getting so bad I was ready to call it a day.  Jeff convinced me, though, to go with him and John to get 15 more head to help Samantha (the horse) get used to the cows and herding.  I really like to help and see Samantha's progress, so I couldn't say no.  The wind started to lay off as the three of us traveled through a valley and when we found our cows, John left Jeff and I to herd them back the way we'd come.  (John had to go get some other cows out of the way).

So, the first thing that happened was the cows were following a fence in the complete opposite direction of the trail so I had to run after them, make a big cirle around, and then face them so they'd turn around.  After that, the cows missed the trail we wanted them to go down so I had to do the same thing... circle around them to change their direction.  I was just happy they didn't scatter and went down the trial as instructed.  After that, Jeff and I did some very scary riding (for me).  We were going down a steep valley/gully (idk?) crevasse? of land that was crazy uneven at an extremely fast clip for me in that kind of terrain (trotting, cantering) and although I was loving it, I was also so totally freaked!!! 

Along with the variety of riding we did this morning, I loved how excited Sherman was to be doing his job.  Most often when I ride him, he gets restless at a certain point and I know he's like "Why the hell are we out in this pasture doing figure eights.  Dumb.  Over it."  And then he takes it out on me by either trending towards the barn or bouncing around like a looney.  Today was different.  Even though the wind was outrageous (horses hate wind) and he had an unexperience rider on him, Sherman was great.  He had a job to do and he did it.

After the crazy speed in the crazy crevasse, Sherman and I had to turn the cows around one last time to get them through the gate and across the same road.  Seeing the cows go through the gate was such a proud moment for me!  I felt on my way to being a real cowgirl at that moment!  EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so happy Jeff made me go and also made me do all the turning around of cows.  I'm also SO lucky to have Sherman teaching me what's what.  Here are some pictures.

Sherman boy, himself.

 Hanging out with J.

 WINDY.

 Jeremiah and Paint.  Badass.

Lovebug.

So happy.

Gray day...

I have a month left of school and have officially begun the process of becoming insanely stressed out for no real reason.  I tend to get myself worked up to hysterics and then Jeremiah gets to deal with me in freak out mode for a solid three weeks.  So, I know he's excited for that.  Irregardless, I still need to get up and get dressed everyday and today's outfit turned out pretty alright.  

This green sweater from Target has been shrunken to the max (not on purpose) but I like the difference in proportion the shrinkage has created.

 Sweater: Target  Shirt: Gap  Skinnies&Sunnies: F21  SHOES: La Sportiva  Bag: Nine West

 A friend in creative writing makes fun of me for wearing hiking shoes to school everyday but I think it's brilliant.  I see girls hobbling around in heels and tall boots all the time on campus and just shake my head.  Comfort and style shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive.

 This is what J is working on lately!!!  Our back patio, privacy fence, and pergola.  Ow Ow!!

Blogs I love...

I've had some dear friends share a couple different blogs with me lately and I realized I've never talked about the blogs I follow regularily.  First of all, I love blogs.  They are fabulous.  And so much more personal and genuine than magazines or TV or whatever.  When I started this blog, I thought blogging was dumb and really just wanted to fit in with my friend Eva.  She insisted blogging is wonderful and I have to say, she's right.  I love being able to look back at my journey in Colorado with all my photos and random fizzwhiz commentary but even moreso, I love reading about other peoples lives every day.  Call me a creeper, call me a vouyer, but reading blogs helps me gain insight on what it's like to have a husband in Iraq, be a new mother, be an elementary school teacher, and have kick ass style.  AND SHOES.  Here are the blogs I follow every day:
--Sima shared a link for Sea of Shoes with me today which is so perfect as this was the first blog I started reading.  Sea of Shoes is written by a high school girl in Texas who has an insane amount of designer shoes and fantastic jewelry (much thanks to her former model mama).  Out of any of the blogs I read, she has the most individualistic style.
--do.think.wear.see.love.dream. is written by a young mother from Iowa whose husband is in Iraq.  Her blog is the most personal of all the blogs I read.  I also just love them Iowa gals.
--M loves M is written by Mara.  She's newly engaged and shares about her upcoming wedding, daily fashion and life in CALI.  Her boyfriend is pretty hot too;)
--Style Scrapbook--Some bloggers are lucky and committed enough to gain thousands of followers.  This blogger has something like 14,000 followers and is invited to all kinds of fashion weeks.  I like her because she started out with a clunky, kinda shitty fashion blog and now she's the BIG TIME.
--Cupcakes and Cashmere--I like this blogger because along with sharing her style, she gives cooking and home deco tips as well.  She even got a book deal out of her blog... no one can say blogging gets ya no where!!
--Kansas Couture--This chick is sweet.  Midwest girl like me with really alternative style.  Reminds me of Meredith a bit.
--B. Jones Style is another style blogger who has the most dramatic style of any of the bloggers I follow.  Very much like Carrie Bradshaw.
--Tick Tock Vintage--Tick tock is one of my FAVORITES!!  This girl is an elementary school teacher living in Philly who only shops vintage and usually only wears dresses/skirts.  Very classic.
--Orchid Grey is the newest fashion blog I started following.  This girl has her septum pierced which is inherantly badass but she also comes up with a lot of different (also badass) outfits.
--Yimmy's Yayo might be my absolute favorite blog as his focus is all around sharing visually stimulating images.  He focuses most on sex and the female body but also touches on war, drugs, pop culture, landscapes, violence, art (especially photography as he's a photographer himself), etc etc etc.  The list goes on and on and on.  I've spent the most time checking this blog.
--Whenever I'm feeling wedding OBSESSED, I visit Once Wed, 100 Layer Cake, and The Inspired Bride.
--I visit a lot of my friends' blogs intermittently to check in on what's new, as well.  My favorites are Paul's (badass climber), Victoria's (new mama), Jenn's (newly engaged), Michaela's (photobug), and of course Eva's (world traveler).

What are your favorite blogs??  Mine??  I THOUGHT SO!!!!!  Happy browsing, ya'll!

Shoe heaven...

 As mentioned before, I got a chance to organize the lovely shoe closet Jeremiah made for me!!  No room for flats.... but heels are the most important anyway...

 I was even able to fit J's cowboy boots in the closet.  So these aren't ALL mine...

 I also organized all of J's clothing today as well.  Very productive day!!

Flowers...

Today has been the most productive day I've had in months.  I cleaned and organized all of the upstairs which amounts to four rooms stuffed full of clothes and shoes EVERYWHERE.  J and I washed the sheets, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the floors and I finally feel like I can breathe.  I'll show you some pics of my shoe closet heaven just as soon as I upload the pics.  Until then, here's what I wore yesterday.  My brother has his shoulder surgery tomorrow; hoping all goes as planned.  I leave for France in exactly one month.  ZOMGZ!!!

I like this blouse.  You can't quite tell in the pics but it's ever so slightly see through.

Blouse&Skinnies&Sunnies: F21  Bag: Nine West  Shoes: Steve Madden