30 x 30: Eighteen

J. Crew polka dot shift dress
Dress, J. Crew (via eBay); jacket, Tommy Hilfiger Factory; belt, Anthropologie; shoes, Old Navy; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

This is a cute and perfectly serviceable outfit, but it falls on the boring side of the fence I seem to straddle. So instead of talking about the clothes, I will do what is starting to come naturally: distract.

With pictures of my cute, loves-to-ham-it-up kid.

Footloose!!
Footloose!!

I’m guessing every toddler has an inner Oscar-winning thespian inside, but mine is a triple threat: a dancing, singing, melodrama-on-wheels machine.

Everybody get footloose!
Everybody get footloose!

30 x 30: Seventeen

Old Navy chambray dress
Dress, shoes & vest, Old Navy; bag, MbMJ (via consignment)

You guys are probably going to think that I’ve lost my damn mind, but I love this outfit. Capital-L-love. I know there is no rhyme and reason to it – we’re talking about a potato sack and Jesus sandals, after all – but I can’t help it. Do you ever feel like your mental image of yourself doesn’t quite match the reality? Like, you think you’re cool and effortlessly chic – in other words, Charlotte Gainsborough – but, in fact, you are a klutzy, suburban basic bitch? Yeah, I’m talking about myself here because – obviously. But, somehow, this outfit made me feel a little bit more like the former, and less of the latter. Of course, CG would probably (exquisitely) side-eye this outfit if she ever laid eyes on it, but whatever. Capital-L-love.

I even managed a close-up!

Old Navy chambray dress
Bracelets, RACHEL Rachel Roy & Simons

I only just now realized that this is a head-to-toe Old Navy outfit. I must say that I’m enjoying my re-discovery of ON. (thanks, maternity leave budget!) The quality can be hit-and-miss, but they do really nice casual basics for shoestring-budget prices. This dress, vest & sandals combo came in just under $45. What’s not to love?

Old Navy chambray dress
My summer “uniform”

30 x 30: Sixteen

Adriano Goldschmied Stevie cropped cords
Pants, AG (via Kijiji); top, eBay; cardigan, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Tory Burch; bag, Kate Spade (via Kijiji)

Nothing to see here …

But, guys … Game of Thrones: did it blow you away last night, or what? A bow to the guts can do that …

I finished the books a while back, and have been enjoying watching the story unfold on the show. I actually like being “spoilered” because I don’t think I could otherwise stand the shocks the show delivers on the regular; it’s hard enough when you’re reading some of these plot twists, but watching them is on a whole different level. Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to the Tyrion/Tywin showdown for a long time, and GoT brought it.

Here are my thoughts on last night’s season finale (spoilers etc.):

1. I’m still pissed about last week’s episode. I know everyone went gaga over the technicalities of the battle for the Wall (mammoths! giants! ginormous wall anchor thingie!), but I kept waiting and waiting. And then waiting some more for Stannis to show up. So … an episode late but better than never next season. I’m #TeamJonSnow forever so I may be biased, but the North just got a whole lot more interesting. I cannot wait for this storyline to develop next season.

2. Tyrion working out his daddy issues – that felt cathartic, amirite? Also, happy Father’s Day.

3. Valar morghulis! In the books, Arya’s storyline bored me to tears up until this point, but then suddenly became intriguing from hereon out. By the end of Book 5, she was one of my fave characters, or at least one of the ones who interested me the most. So you can expect, um, a lot to happen in Braavos.

4. Speaking of Arya-related things, that whole Brienne-Hound fight was a nice surprise. But it was so anti-climactic too. It just reiterated what bugs me the most about Brienne: she always fucks up, good intentions and all. Even when she wins, she loses.

[ I refuse to devote an entire point to Daenerys, whose storyline is just so …. zzzzzz. Character development, blah blah blah. Wake me up when Book 6 is published.]

[But I missed that sexy bastard Petyr Baelish, and goth Sansa Stark. So they get a square bracket too. I know a lot of you are creeped out by Littlefinger, but he’s got a evil-sexy-older-guy vibe I’m definitely enjoying. I love his Machiavellian machinations, and if the Seven Kingdoms were a meritocracy, he’d be near the top of my list of people who should sit on the Iron Throne. Right after Jon Snow, of course. (For different reasons, obvs.) Yup, I said it. Flame away.]

5. Much like Arya, Bran has bored the hell out of me ever since he got defenestrated by Jaime Lannister. (For the record, reading that scene in the book nearly broke my easily manipulated mommy heart.) But, again like Arya, his storyline just got a whole lot more interesting. I’m starting to think that the Stark kids might just be a pivotal part in the whole fight-the-Others business, dragons be damned. Still, I’m sad about the Love, Actually kid. I guess the show just spoilered the books on that score.

Bring on season 5!!!

Adriano Goldschmied Stevie cropped cords
#TeamJonSnow

Ok, back to clothes talk tomorrow, I promise.