Please don't go

Ahoy there mateys! Oh wait, today isn't international talk like a pirate day? Zut! Well, I guess I am just getting in some good practice then. You know what else I practiced today? What it will be like when I don't have this amazing job that lets me amble on in at 10:15 (ish) every morning and instead I work in a place that believes that you can sleep when you are dead and I have to resign myself to racing in at 8 am on the dot. Did I lose you there in that lovely run-on sentence? Basically, I got up early this morning to drive roommate to her meeting on the Hill. Though I hated hearing my alarm at 7 instead of 8:30, I did feel very productive when I had already done a favor for a friend, been to the post office/paid my rent (yay!!), drank two cups of coffee and enjoyed some piping hot oatmeal by the time I sat down at my desk this morning. Impressive, non?

So I bet you are all just sitting on the edge of your pants to find out whether I'm walking around sporting a birth-marked eye, could be labeled an attempted murderess or if I'm a world traveler and have stepped foot on four continents. How do I say this without scaring away every last one of my readers? Well...

Do you see it? The brown spot in my right (actually it is the left but when looking at it this way it is in the right) eye. Yes, that is a birthmark. Yes, I am aware of it. No, I don't have crap in my eye. Thanks. So that is one down...

Studied abroad in China. One continent...

Spent four months in Paris. Two continents...

And I live in the U.S. so that makes three continents. What does that leave us with loves? Yes, I can see you are putting two and two together and getting a little nervous. The only thing that is left is that I once tried to kill my brother... Should you run away from crazy could've-been-a-killer lady? Now before you get all wonky over this revelation, let me explain. I was three, he was a few weeks old. He was cute. He was stealing attention. I (the formerly only child) did not understand why I was suddenly no longer cute. So one day my genius friend's older sister convinced me that I would definitely be cute again if he wasn't always hogging the spotlight. Flash forward a few minutes and my mother comes running up the stairs (mother's intuition, thank goodness!) to see me poised above the sleeping "angel's" bassinet with a doll raised above my head. Who knows what I was really going to do, but to this day anytime my brother wants something out of me he casually reminds me that I once tried to kill him and thus owe him... for life I guess.

Blouse: Kohl's, Blazer: Elie Tahari, Skirt: White House Black Market, Tights: Kohl's, Booties: Steve Madden, Belt: Kohl's, Jewelry: Personal Accents

So as I scan back through my previous 20 outfits, I am realizing that anything with this blazer in quickly becomes my favorite outfit. It's been worn belted and un-belted prior to today, and though I am a fan of both looks, I think belted is best. It breaks the outfit up in a good way, gives definition to my waist and brings the whole outfit together. I think my post shopping ban shopping list will certainly include a few vintage belts.

I have not given these fantastic booties nearly enough loving in this remix. I think it is mainly because they have a very slippery bottom and I nearly killed myself walking down our hill to get to my car the last morning that I wore these. But, I am smart now and wait to throw these puppies on until after I have conquered the treacherous slope. How's that for putting my college education to good use!

Oh hello there pattern mixing! Maybe we can be friends? I realize that this is just a teensie mix, but you have to give me credit for wearing florals and stripes in the same ensemble. Mixing is not my forte, but it is something I am trying hard to master. Not there yet, but I think I have made progress throughout the 30x30! I originally had this outfit without the blazer, but couldn't handle it. Blazer to the rescue.

Nine to go, and then I will surely have an over dramatic tear-inducing reunion with my closet. We have missed each other so. Do those of you who have already finished your remix challenge have any special celebration plans? Do you have your first day of freedom outfit picked out? I do and I have just been itching to wear it for weeks now! If I stay on schedule I will wrap up next Friday and be able to finally don the outfit I am dreaming of. Surprisingly, the shopping cravings subsided rather quickly and now the hardest part of the challenge is resisting the urge to remix my entire closet! Who would have guessed.

Bisous!