17-22

I'm writing this with my windows open and a spring rain falling outside. Birds are chirping, crocus are peeking their heads out of the soil, and spring has finally and truly arrived, bringing with it my annual tendency to devolve into cliche and read a lot of Wordsworth.

Anyway! Briel came to visit me this week, which was absolutely lovely and involved a lot of vegan Chinese and Vietnamese food, shopping at the fabric store, and watching every movie preview we could find in succession (this took about three hours).

I can't believe my 28 for 28 remix is nearly over (and, with it, the month of February!). I am more than ready for March to come, bringing with it leaves on trees, a trip to visit Jessa in California, and hopefully a final decision about where I'm attending grad school in the fall!

17

top - Anthropologie (sale), sweater - UO, belt - J. Crew, jeans - GAP, shoes - Target

18

top - GAP, sweater - F21, pants - Loft, shoes - TOM's

19

dress- vintage, belt - J.Crew, shoes - TOM's

20

dress - Banana Republic outlet, sweater - Old Navy, shoes - Target

21

top, tights & boots - Target, skirt - Boden (gift), belt - J.Crew, necklace - Anthropologie

22

dress (as skirt) - Modcloth, tights, boots & scarf - Target, sweater - Ruche

It looks like I spent a lot of time this week being sleepy and slightly frumpy at work. Also, I need to learn a new pose!

Going to the Zoo + a bonus outfit!

Last week I spent a day off at the zoo--admittance was two for one because it's February, but on the particular day that we went it hit nearly 80 degrees! It was a perfect afternoon of basking in the sunshine and hanging out with animal buddies.

16

shirt - Fossil, jeans - GAP, shoes - TOM's

10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15!

Here are my next six outfits! I've found that Kendi's Remix Challenge starts to yield really interesting results about halfway through... that's the point where you're really forced to start wearing your clothes in ways you'd never thought of before. I think this set of outfits shows that, since I've started to be a little more creative with my pairings and accessories. It also doesn't hurt that the weather has finally turned nice, so I'm back to being out and about, at work and in classes, interacting with the world and wanting to make a good impression through the way I dress.

Ten

blouse - Modcloth, cardigan - F21, pants - Loft, shoes - UO

p.s. You might have noticed that my original set of items to remix only included 27 pieces--this floral blouse is my 28th piece, which arrived about a week into February.

Eleven

shirt - Fossil, cardigan - F21, skirt - Boden (gift), boots - Target

Twelve

sweater - Ruche, pants - Loft, shoes - Target

Thirteen

t-shirt, sweater & skirt - Target, tights - Hue, shoes - UO, belt - J. Crew, pearls - ??

Fourteen

blouse - modcloth, skirt - American Apparel, boots - Target, belt - J.Crew

p.s. This was my Valentine's Day outfit? Is it hearts-and-flowers-y enough?

Fifteen

long-sleeved tee - Target, blouse - Anthropologie (sale/gift), jeans - GAP, shoes - UO

5, 6, 7, 8, 9!

Hey, guys! Contrary to what you might assume, I have NOT given up on Kendi's Remix Challenge. I just need to get caught up on posting photos! February so far has been COLD and I've spent so long snowed in that these outfits are probably not as polished as they could be. BUT it's finally warming up, the snow is melting, and the crocus are starting to come up! I'm not sure that I'm ready to make the big "spring is here" proclamation, but I'm crossing my fingers and I think we're getting very close!

Five

dress - Banana Republic outlet, cardigan, tights & boots - Target

Six

I think this whole outfit is actually from Target. Oops.

Seven

cardigan - Old Navy, top & jeans - GAP, shoes - TOM'S

Eight

top - GAP, skirt - American Apparel, cardigan - UO, tights & boots - Target, belt - J.Crew

Nine

dress - Modcloth, scarf (in hair) - vintage, tights & shoes - Target

Now that it's getting warmer, it should be interesting how these pieces transition to a different kind of weather. I'm looking forward to getting back to my regular schedule this week - work, photography classes, yoga, and writing/coffee dates with myself.

Curried Lentil Potato Soup

So, I'm snowed in AGAIN. Actually it's not so bad; we only got five or six inches this time so hopefully the roads will be clear in time to get out of the house tomorrow or at the very least so I can go to work on Friday.

I had a few too many sweets yesterday, so I was feeling a bit off all day today. I usually eat in a pretty healthy way, but lately the winter blahs have led me to seek solace in sugar and carbs a bit too often. I wasn't even hungry at all today, which trust me is not a usual occurrence.

I decided I needed to make an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of soup... something warm and comforting on a snowy day, and a soup that would be full of all the veggies that I needed to use up. I started pulling everything I could think of out of the cabinets, and this is what I ended up with!

This is more of a method than an actual recipe, and could easily be adapted to work with whatever you have on hand.

Curried Lentil Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

4-5 medium-sized potatoes, diced (I used Yukon Gold)

3-4 more diced veggies (I used half a bag of baby carrots cut into coins, the rest of a bag of green beans, rinsed and trimmed, and 3 summer squash, diced)

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

6 c. vegetable broth

3 c. water

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 c. red lentils, rinsed & picked over for stones

1 c. brown rice blend

Directions:

1. Saute onions & garlic in olive oil in a large stock pot until onions become translucent and golden. Add spices, being liberal with salt & pepper. Add carrots, potatoes, and other veggies, and continue to saute until veggies start to brown.

2. Add vegetable broth, water and tomatoes. Stir thoroughly & bring mixture to a boil. Add lentils and brown rice blend. Bring to a boil again.

3. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover pot and let simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally (soup is done when rice is done).

That's it! This was easy, comforting, and healthy--exactly what I needed!

Snow Daze

1. Of course I wore a skirt with my snowboots.

2. Just after the snow ended, my neighborhood looked like another planet.

3. Giant snow pile, featuring my mom and my dog Lucy for scale.

At first I was elated about the blizzard that engulfed, well, most of the country last week. It was exciting! We received about 15 inches of snow here, which was an all-time 24-hour snowfall record (since 1905) for Tulsa! However, the downside of living somewhere where snow like this never happens was that it took days and days for the city to dig itself out. I finally went back to work for the first time today, after an entire week at home. I was so ready to get out!

For contrast, here's the lunch I ate on a restaurant patio in 80-degree sunshine three days before the blizzard took place. I'm trying to soldier through, but I have to admit the midwinter blues are really getting to me. I'm looking forward to getting out of the house for lunch and a movie tomorrow, though, and to waking up early for a Skype date with a dear friend who's currently on the other side of the world.

Does anyone have good winter cheer-up ideas? So far I've bought plane tickets to go to California in March. That helped :) Next, I'm thinking I need to give myself a Valentine's Day pedicure and maybe read in bed with some Sleepytime tea.

Sourdough Anadama Bread

Ever since Christmas, I've been a bread-baking fiend. I found sourdough starter and The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook under the Christmas tree, and I haven't looked back since. Sourdough starter is essentially a form of yeast that lives in your refrigerator. When you bake with it, you "feed" the remaining starter with flour and water, and it bubbles with the yeast bacteria. The whole process is somewhere between baking and a science project.

The great thing about sourdough starter is that you can use it to make sourdough bread, but you can also use it in the place of yeast in other baked goods. After making a loaf of basic sourdough, I branched out and made sourdough anadama bread. I grew up eating anadama because it's the one thing my mom likes to bake--she would always make three or four loaves at a time, each one laden with nuts and dried fruit. I did the same thing with this batch of anadama--I love it when one slice of toast from a loaf of bread is basically a meal.

Sourdough Anadama (adapted from The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook)

1 c. boiling water

1/2 c. cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill medium-ground)

1/2 c. non-fat dry milk (optional - I didn't have it on hand, so I left it out)

1/2 c. dark molasses

1 1/3 c. Sourdough Starter

1/4 c. butter or vegetable oil (I used butter)

4 1/2 to 5 1/2 c. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I used half unbleached all-purpose and half white whole-wheat)

1 tbsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Optional: 1/4 c. pecans, 1/4 c. walnuts, 1/4 c. raisins, 1/4 c. chopped dried apricots

1. Make the Sponge: Pour the cup of boiling water over the cornmeal ina large glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Mix in the molasses, dry milk (if using) and butter. Let cook to lukewarm and blend in 2 c. flour. Blend in the sourdough starter. Cover with plastic wrap and let this work for several hours (I left it out overnight)

2. Make the dough: After the sponge has grown, add 2 more cups of flour into which you've blended the salt and the baking soda. Knead this dough and, if you have time, let it rise once more in the bowl.

3. Shape: Divide the dough into two halves. Pat each half into a flat disc, and sprinkle the nuts and dried fruit equally across the two discs. Roll up the discs and knead each a few times to distribute the nuts and fruit throughout the dough. Form each half of the dough into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan. Let the dough rise in the loaf pan for 2 to 3 hours.

4. Bake: 15 minutes before you want to bake your bread, preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in loaf pans, then remove loaves and let cool on wire rack.

I recommend slicing into the bread as soon as it's cool enough and enjoying it slathered in some butter or earth balance! Delicious!

1, 2, 3, 4, Can I have a little more?

Is anybody except me STILL snowed in from the blizzard earlier this week? I elected not to go in to work today because the roads are still awful, and after it started snowing AGAIN this morning I got a call telling me not to bother coming in tomorrow, either. So.... six-day snowday? I guess I'll take it! I am definitely starting to suffer from cabin fever, and am hoping to be able to get out and do something--anything!--by Sunday, at least.

Under the circumstances, I'm pretty proud to have gotten the February wardrobe remix challenge underway! So far I've taken all my photos indoors, which I hate doing, but to be quite honest I'm just impressed that I haven't been in my pajamas since Monday. So, here's my first four looks:

ONE

shirt - Target, courderoys - Loft, boots - Target, hat - Talbot's (gift), scarf - Target

TWO

dress - vintage, tights - Hue, shoes - Target, hat - self-made, necklace - handmade (a gift)

THREE

skirt - Boden (gift), tights, shoes & shirt - Target, sweater - UO, hat - Talbot's (gift)

FOUR

jeans - GAP, top - NY & Co, cardigan - F21, boots - Target, hat - Talbot's (gift)

So far the remix is going pretty well, although I'm excited to get of the house and have a reason to get more dressed up! Tonight we went to the WalMart that's about a mile from our house to get a few groceries, which was my first time out in a week. I got so excited to have a reason to put on a more put-together outfit! Then I realized that I was dressing up to go to WalMart. Have I mentioned the cabin fever?

I'm having a great time perusing Kendi's list of 30 for 30 bloggers. There are so many, I don't know if I'll be able to make it through by the end of the month! I'm looking forward to discovering some great new blogs.

And now, to make up for the poor quality of my photos this week: a gratuitously cute picture of my cat!

28 for 28!

Happy February! The first day of the new month brought a HUGE snowstorm with it and, along with about half the country, I am thoroughly snowed in. I'm trying not to go crazy from cabin fever, but instead to look on the bright side... more time at home to burrow into my cozy bed, read books, and work on sewing projects! I hope I still feel the same way at the end of the day tomorrow....

Anyway, there's nothing I love more than a project, and to keep myself busy (and distract myself from the fact that it's February... ugh) I've decided to participate in Kendi's 30 for 30 Challenge! This will be my second time doing this particular wardrobe remix--last time was last summer, so it should be fun to tackle the project at a very different time of year. I'm putting my own spin on things, and remixing 28 items for 28 days (it is February, after all!). I'll probably be grouping my outfits into one or two posts a week, because I have lots of other things I want to blog about too!

Part of the remix involves a shopping ban, which is great because I've really been trying to cut back on my frivolous spending. I'm also putting myself on a fabric and books shopping ban, because I tend to spend more on those things than I do on clothes! I have all the fabric I could possibly need, and as far as books go, I need to get in the habit of visiting the library as my first resort when I'm looking for something new to read.

Okay, enough with the chatter--onto the remixing!

28 for 28!

8 Shirts:

L to R: Target, Target, GAP, Anthropologie, Fossil, Target, NY & Co, GAP

2 Sweaters:

L to R: Target, Ruche

5 Cardigans:

L to R: Target, F21, UO, Old Navy, F21

3 Dresses:

L to R: Vintage, Banana Republic Outlet, Modcloth

3 Skirts:

L to R: American Apparel, Gift, Target

2 Pairs of Pants:

L to R: GAP, Loft

4 Pairs of Shoes:

L to R: Target, UO, TOM'S, Target

I can't wait to get started! Hopefully the roads get clear soon so that I can get dressed to do something other than watch The Weather Channel and bake oatmeal almond cookies, which were my two main activities today.