so i'm a nerd...

ok, so some people may laugh at me for liking science and planets and dark matter and all that... but it's just plain cool.  i'm already halfway through my first donated magazine and can't wait for the second, even if some of the good articles have been ripped out by teenage girls who only bought them because they had a project for school. this is my reading material for the next couple of days and when i start spouting off facts like the passage of the magellanic clouds through our galaxy creates a wake through the dark matter which in turn causes a gravitational disturbance that explains the warp observed by martin weinberg in 1998, you'll know why.

 

DAY 7, yes i'm a week in, and this isn't a sweater per se, but close enough because it kept me warm in the freezing calgary weather.  turquoise cowl neck sweater *wink*... anthro, bootcut jeans... addition elle which ps were way too long the last time i wore them but i was so excited to have a new pair of jeans that i wore them anyway.  and stepped on them all day.  now they're stitched up nice and neat!

best primary kids...

DAY 6... outfit from friday that just didn't get posted.  i'm lazy.  the blue top was a smash success though.

then i got a sweet little surprise today.  a bunch of kids i go to church with made this really cute thank you board for myself and my pianist. yes it's pilfered a little, but who can pass up werther's original?  these kids are the best best best!  they sang their hearts out today and it made me soooo happy.

it was a sparkly day...

DAY 5 and i'm not kidding, it really was sparkly.  this shirt is one i've been admiring from the new addition elle catalogue and believe me, it's a lot more sparkly than it looks!  this top, combined with my super soft and fuzzy (and majorly shedly) sweater made me real happy today, and you can't see it, but i wore my shiny bow necklace too... soo cute!

hip hop makes my hair messy...

DAY 4!!  and it feels like i've been doing this forever.  maybe because i almost always wear a sweater, even in the summer!

coral knit sweater from anthro, cream tank from ruche, black bootcut slack from lane bryant.  speaking of lane bryant, they're shipping now to canada (much more user friendly than before), and how pretty is this??? 

shout out to my hip hop peeps... they keep me jumping!  tonight was a little pyt a la michael jackson and stephanie let loose enough to show them all a new hairstyle!  anyone that knows me well knows that my hair is sacred.  no one is allowed to touch, rub, pull etc.  however, tonight there was, dare i say, just a little craziness.  see below for details.
  

blue blue blue...

DAY 3 of my challenge... is it sad that i already want to repeat sweaters?  i'm glad i wore this one today, i haven't pulled it out for a while and it just reminded me how much i love blue!

bootcut denim and lace tank... addition elle... i have no idea where i got this faux wrap sweater, i've had it so long!

yikes...

wish me luck... if you don't see me tomorrow you'll know my battery replacement didn't go as planned.  on the plus, at least my laptop will have a new battery.

60 sweaters in 60 days does include blazers...

here's my offering for today.  entire outfit via addition elle...

60 sweaters in 60 days...

so a while ago i actually counted the amount of sweaters hiding under sweaters in my closet.  i've decided to issue myself a challenge.  i will wear one sweater a day until i've gone through them all.  no repeats.  this will be hard because i'm sure you, like me, have a few sweaters that i really love and wear all the time.  enough.  if i'm going to spend the money buying these great sweaters i may as well wear them! 

DAY 1

sweater of choice... black sweater vest from back in the jacob days.  it's got great deep pockets for me to hold my chapstick!

as a side note... shout out to my hip hop peeps!!  we had a killer class tonight and it just goes to show that sometimes trying something new or different will add a whole new layer of loveliness to your existence! 

to read or not to read...

so, i am in awe of my brother.  he is one of those people that has a library to rival alexandria, with the same kind of diverse and classical selection.  (he was not too long ago in the midst of learning some ancient greek, just for kicks).  anyways, i also have a great library, with a lot of books that i have either never read or never had any interest in.  it begs to say that some of these books were inherited from my father when they hightailed it to mexico. 

i have now given myself a challenge to read some of these books that have been collecting dust for a few years.  first off...  opinions, reviews or warnings anyone?  i've only just begun but it reminds me a lot of downton abbey.  my aspiration is to be able to read and retain significant literature so my mind is filled with words of yore and tales of ye olden tymes.

and one of my recent outfits...

i would just like to mention that when i wore this tank on thursday, i didn't realize that i had been wearing a blue & white striped t-shirt the day before.  i do love my stripes!!!!

grey sweater... jacob
striped tank, belt, jeans, addition elle

the charming and the tai chi...

oh today.  it was just one of those days that i couldn't seem to find success.  two drill bits and a migraine later i was joined at the studio by some great girls, we busted it out the j hud and did a little tai chi *read cool swag move* that astounded some and baffled others.  beware girls, i think i saw bailey recording some of that sesh.  hey, it's all in good fun right?

here are some charming little charms from the new anthro collection...

people asked me why the ladder... i don't really know, it just speaks to me.  however i did realize that it's in perfect conjunction with this blog... i mean who aspires more than me?  i'll use a ladder to get me a little higher in life.  and i did snag the only ladder we got.  yay for me!  actually, my heart wanted all the charms.  i mean hello, the vintage pencil that actually works??  come on now, how can you resist?

setting goals...

so tonight we had some great girls from iviva come to the studio.  they let my students design their dream dance clothes, try on cute iviva outfits and set goals for themselves.  seriously, i just about died when i saw this paper.  the author is a sweet little 7 year old who has some major plans for herself.  i'm not sure why she thinks the third goal is necessary but i love it anyways.

here's what i would have written if i was doing a goal sheet...

1) to be able to do the splits better than this by January 2015

 

2) to go back here before i die

3) to learn how to do magic (or to draw better, either/or)

sorry for all the pics but here are some outfits from the past couple of days...

this one is mostly anthro, nothing new from previous posts...

this is a brand new lace skirt i got from ASOS... just a note, i ordered it on tuesday and had it by friday.  and it came all the way from jolly ole england.  impressive i know.

finding the fun...

so we've been trying really hard to find the fun at work this week.  our challenge was to make great connections with people and have a story or experience to share.  well, can i just say that it made for a great week. 

everyday i had girls sharing stories with me, gentlemen thanking me for all my help with their gift giving,  ladies feeling great about fitting into a large instead of extra large as expected, racks and racks of beautiful clothes, some of which were put aside specifically for a great new customer, lots and lots of laughter, so much that we could have been heard from kernels.  i just love love love my team and all the great fun that we get to have with our guests!

this is one of my ruche blouses... tucked in for a different look!  see here for my last outfit with this blouse... (and yeah, i know i wore it twice in one week.)

all right girls...

need i say more??  competition's going to be awesome!

biggest smile i could muster...

ok so it has been brought to my attention that i never smile in my pictures.  well, i'm not really that happy of a person, i don't laugh very often and smiling hurts my cheeks.  so this was a real stretch for me.  i hope you appreciate it because you won't see another one again any time soon.  :)

sweater... anthro, morning jubilee top... ruche,  crop jeans... addition elle

 shout out to the girls in my lift class tonight... way to build those muscles.  and for those of you that haven't starting watching downton abbey yet, what are you waiting for???  so so so good.

all things new...

i got my ruche order!!!  this is one of the beautiful tops that i got, i was so excited to open the box and even remember what i bought.  delivery time was a little longer than i hoped for (perhaps because i was so looking forward to getting it), but i love everything i ordered.  even these... which i don't know if i'll ever be able to wear to work because they're a lot higher than they look.  super comfy though.  girls, a word of advice, the fit chart is accurate even if the size 'label' is higher than you may be used to.

another new thing, CAR!!!  i went and picked it up yesterday morning.  this seemed like the best choice for carrie and i, a lot smaller than our x-terra though.  it was very sad saying goodbye to the car that has been our good little buddy for the last eight years.

some other new things... newly appointed choir director, keys to the store, renewed relationships with my much loved nephews, two tubs of cookie dough,  three musketeers, new episodes of all my favorite shows **work of art**,  fun fun fun trim, adult hip hop and zumba classes...

the drawing challenge...

so today we were coloring pictures during dance class (i saw lots of great things like a beautiful heart, a big sailboat and her baby sailboat friend and, as one girl put it, 'i don't even know what i'm drawing, just a lot of lines')... oh i love my girls.  anyways, i was challenged by my student teacher sarah to draw a phantom. 

as requested... well, i was told that my picture looked 'weird', not scary as intended. 

  well, excuuuuuuse me.  this car is actually the phantom she meant, which incidentally retails at approximately $400,000.  this is apparently the car that my sister would buy, but only if she won at least $20 million in the lotto.  any less and she'd go with an escalade. 

no fashion pics today, i'm still waiting and waiting for my ruche order to come in...  how about this to tide you over.



train stop 8 is right up my alley!!!

i love treats...

i work with this great girl who is always bringing us delightful and delicious treats to snack on... today it was pumpkin cookies and chocolate zucchini carrot cupcakes.  not gonna lie, i had one of each (sorry to everyone that worked the night shift).  but i wasn't the only one drooling in ecstasy, i seem to remember a certain someone shouting out "hey, stay away from my lunch!" when i merely sat down on the table where they were placed.

          

hilary, how i aspire to gain some of your amazing culinary skills, you are so generous with your time and talent, someday i will make your delicious pizza dough!

this is actually my outfit from yesterday since i didn't take a picture today.  empyreal cardigan from anthropologie, (this is seriously the softest sweater i have ever owned, jill will attest to that),  patterned blouse, black shorts and diamond printing tights from addition elle. 

still waiting for my ruche order... it just cleared customs today!

hearts in hand...

these two girls are big hearts in my life...not only are they a couple of the sweetest and kindest people i know but they are both so talented in their own way.  i aspire to learn from lori's generosity, she is so genuine and cares so much for the people around her, that hug today made me so happy!  jill is one of those girls that you find yourself laughing with, even though you don't know the joke, just because you want to be a part of whatever she's doing.  both of these girls are also fashionistas extraordinaire, we're always jealous of their super amazing outfitting skillz... today i give hearts back to you both.

then there's me.

nothing new today although i'm waiting for my order to come in from ruche... should be any day now!

a bunch of pics...

ok, so i'm sorry there are a lot of pictures but this is what happened on my car ride home...

then my outfit from yesterday...

and my outfit from today...

good times in the lebaron life.  ps... anyone have a new fall favorite show?  i'm currently obsessed with hart of dixie.  even though i'm definitely not a rachel bilson fan.

happy thanksgiving...

just wishing you all out there a super happy and stuffed full thanksgiving!  i'm going to make some pumpkin pie this year, can't wait!  i do aspire to be a better baker, sometimes i don't follow the recipes so good.

cowl t... inc via macy's

blazer... forever 21

rolled denim... addition elle

i was also wearing my brown booties and now my feet hurt.  boo.

yay for friends...

oh what a day we had today.  there was lots of laughter and a little bit of yelling, maybe some blushing and lots of inhaling.  not what it sounds like, believe me... there was just some spraypaint in the air!  there are many people i admire in this world, and i get to see a good lot of them every day.  i aspire to be the kind of gal that can set a good example yet still embrace a bit of the unexpected.  i think that the more we stretch out of our comfy little pockets, the better we can make ourselves. 

hilary, thanks for introducing me to the new love of my life, ruche... she's a little heart in my hand.  and she's got plus sizes... i'll take some photos when my new purchases arrive.  excited!

my outfit for the day...

i capital ell oh vee ee this sweater (look at the pin!!).  now, scotch & soda, you are my friend, but don't try to outdo the masters of beautiful.  you tried to make a sweet little book vignette...

but it doesn't quite have the same impact as this...


good on ya for trying though!

the lying game is anthro crazy...

ok, so i've been catching up on my tv shows by watching three episodes straight of the lying game.  not really a big fan of alexandra chando but she sure does wear a lot of anthro!

    

anyways, today i am trying to be more enthusiastic about my life.  sometimes it hurts to put a smile on my face but i figure the longer i try, the easier it will get.  right?

the bits and pieces...

the whole...

the entire outfit came from addition elle at some point or another and the turquoise loafers are from anthro.  just a side note, there is currently an additional 25% off sale apparel and lounge at anthro and shipping is free to canada until monday!

cute things...

i really love to look for the beauty all around me... here are some ordinary things made inspirational just because i chose to look a little differently.

my yummy phil's hot chocolate

our super fun and inspirational studio chalkboard

the label off my water bottle that i made into a tree while waiting for paula's dad

and here's my ood... no new pieces this week but sometimes you just gotta mix up what you already got!  jean skirt & top from addition elle, lace sweater from anthro, scarf from jacob, keebler elf shoes from payless.  hearts for everyone!