Come on take a ride on the Indiana weather roller coaster!

It's almost halfway through November, and it was 70 DEGREES outside today!!!! I have no problem with this, though for fall I'd generally prefer it to be a little cooler. The only issue is the attempt to appropriately dress yourself for the varying temperatures that occur on a day to day and even hour to hour basis.

We'll start with last week. I have no idea what the actual temperature was, my guess would be somewhere in the 50's most of the time, but it was cool enough to need to keep yourself covered. (Not to mention the room I've got all my classes in is an absolute icebox). This was an absolutely comfortable yet not lazy outfit from one day of class last week. Old navy black t-shirt dress and grey cardicoat, zippered grey leggings, and the ever trusty black UGGs which I'm afraid I've drug through hell and back (The other day Kelly asked why they don't stand up straight on their own when I'm not wearing them. Haha, they're WAY worn in).

Today, I get up and see the temperature is 70, and almost start freaking out because I just don't know what to wear. I've always had a transition issue, and tend to just mentally dive straight from warm weather into cool weather, and vice versa, and put all old outfits out of mind for the time being. I ended up wearing a black t-shirt with a small ruffle around the neck, arms, and bottom (I know, I wear black a lot- but always try to accessorize with color!) and a purple scarf from Target, paired with Jeans and my Old Navy silver sandals. I ended up being a little cold thanks to not taking into account the wind chill or the fact that my classroom is freezing, so I'd say as far as being weather appropriate this outfit was a fail.

I guess the point of this story is that I'd really just appreciate if this whole global warming thing could cut it out, or if the Indiana weather gods could just get their act together and start regulating the day to day stuff a little better... anything to take the guesswork out of trying to get ready in the morning!!!!

Hello from the Windy City!

SUCH a gorgeous weekend in Chicago! Though definitely windy, as one would expect.

Kelly and I drove up this weekend to visit my dad, as he just moved in to an apartment up here for his new job located just a few blocks east of Michigan Ave and just a bit north of Soldier Field. One of the best locations I could possibly imagine! Here's the view from his balcony...

Last night we went to dinner at this wonderful restaurant called Opera, located a few blocks west of his apartment on Wabash. It was sort of a Chinese fusion type restaurant, and was absolutely delicious. It's so awesome how close the apartment is to so many cool places like that. The inside was really dark with this gorgeous, colorful, dim lamps hanging from ceilings, and the kinds of tables with mismatched chairs that went surprisingly well together. Our service was also great, and I'd totally recommend this place for anyone looking for somewhere cool and a little out of the ordinary!

After Opera, we went to see KISS at the Uniter Center. (Yes, they're still alive. Yes, they still kick ass even if you CAN see their wrinkles through their makeup). If you've never seen KISS, and you're even a LITTLE bit of a fan, you have got to see them before you die (or before they do). It's such a great show, with all the flashy stuff along the lines of fireworks and flames, flamespitting, blood, flying, you name it. This picture taken during ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT pretty much captures the mood. CONFETTI STORM!

Today we went for lunch at Joe's Stone Crab, which was SO SO good. We got the crab claws, and Kelly and my dad got the chopped salads: Seafood and Chinese Chicken, both of which were fantastic. I got the Garlic Sauteed Gulf Shrimp which was just as good.

After that we headed to Michigan Avenue for shopping, and let me tell you: BIGGEST FOREVER 21 (XXI) I've ever seen in my life. Twice as big as that in the St. Louis West County Mall. Almost overwhelmingly big- it's hard to direct your attention and focus on anything. I did manage to get two summer dresses and a shirt that were on SUPER Clearance, as well as a pretty cute dress that wasn't on clearance, but was only $25 dollars. Overall, I got three dresses, a shirt, a clutch, and three pairs of earrings for $60. I'm not complaining!!!

Tonight I think we're staying in to do my dad's always delicious cooking, as well as cocktails, of course! It also looks as though I'll be relying on my camera phone for pictures for the rest of the trip since my camera battery cover (Which has been on the fritz, per se, for a while) finally fell off and was lost in the KISS confetti storm, and now the stupid camera won't even turn on. I'm so over all of these technical issues with computers and cameras and everything else! I guess this is just a sign that I finally need to take it in for repair- something I've been meaning to do for a while but haven't had the time with Halloween and various trips I didn't want to be camera-less for!

RIP Halloween :-(

So since my laptop isn't working it's going to be a bit until I can get MY pictures uploaded, at which point I'll have some good ones of the costume, Tink and Peter, and various others. For now we'll have to suffice with those stolen from other facebook pages or e-mailed through my phone...

Halloween was pretty good. Not as crazy as years past but we did manage to find an amazing house party with good dancing and free booze! I also apparently have a new boyfriend in the form of the 60 year old Russian late night bus driver who hits on my every time we ride the bus. "You have a nice night, pretty lady!" Other highlights include me in a verbal throw down with the douche bag dressed as Nick Carter on the bus about who knows what (I get feisty when I drink dark liquor, I guess), meeting the entire crew of Sesame Street, and COMPLETE confusion that ensued with the time change.

Not only could I not remember whether it was forward or back an hour (Even with the saying "Spring forward, fall back" I kept getting it confused) but the time changed automatically on our phones, which NEVER happens on mine, and we couldn't figure out if the bus schedule would still be the same since it was technically a different hour. I still don't remember if it was or not... because when we got to the bus stop there was a guy dressed as Michael Jackson with a babydoll pinned to the crotch of his pants which I obviously found way more amusing and then found myself in an intense discussion about Marketing and which professors to take grad school with. (Another habit of mine, serious drunk conversation? I don't know why this always happens...)

Here's a preview of the Tink and Peter couple costumes Kelly and I did.... in all our glory...

Here is my best friend Lauryn, sporting her makeup job I provided her with for her Lady Gaga costume. :-) I think we should just drop out of school and go pro at being Lady Gaga and a Makeup artist. Though I did just notice the bottom right part of the lightning bolt is a little crooked and my OCD will never let me live that one down. (By the way Nickie- I saw pictures on your facebook of your outfit and you were one hell of a Lady Gaga too!!!)

I'll leave you with one more group shot, where I unfortunately have my eyes closed, but you get the picture. I'm hoping a real update will come sooner than later!!!

IT'S HERE!

Halloween weekend is upon us!!! I am so excited, but so sad it's almost over. Tonight I'll be going out as the Pit Crew Girl from last year... though I think since we're adventuring to the Villas via bus and will be outside dancing in what may be a muddy yard, I'll probably switch out the Steve Madden stiletto boots for my trusty old comfortable UGGS. Haha. It will be dark and crowded anyways, so I highly doubt anyone will notice the difference. I am however excited as always for a legitimate excuse to wear my patent-leather-ish leggings!!!!

The Tinkerbell costume is ALMOST DONE! Finally. As of this moment I only need to add a few more darts so the fit is a little more snug and then add a jagged overlay on top of the tulle. I will be more than thrilled when it's finally ready to wear- my room and mental health have been a mess with this little adventure (Especially before Kel and I managed to get over the hump of the zipper misfortunes- who would have ever thought it'd take an Apparel major and someone who has been sewing since childhood THREE tries to get a zipper on right side up, front side out, and in the right spot!!! A little embarrassing, but it's ok, we got it eventually.)

Aside from that- I don't know if any of you have happened to hear about the latest "Octomom Controversy" but apparently everyone is in an out roar that she dressed as a pregnant nun for Halloween and dressed all of her littlest ones up as Devils. I'm sorry, I think this is absolutely hilarious. Let's just accept the fact that this woman is CRAZY and anything the media says about her, good or bad, clearly delights the hell out of her (Literally in this case?). I don't know why people like this are even relevant. At least this time she did something entertaining enough to get a laugh out of.

Side Note: Thank you SO MUCH to Kelly for letting me steal her laptop while she's not using it to update and do all that super fun online business school homework. I'm dying without my laptop and without you I don't know what the hell I'd do!

NEW MASCARA!

Alright Alright- I've pretty much convinced myself that the only things I've ever seen on advertisements or commercials that I've ever decided "Ohh, I'd like to have that" are cars, alcohol, occasionally food, and MASCARA. I don't know why, but they make those commercials so damn good every time that when I see them I've got to try it out.

The latest buy is L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara of Penelope Cruz fame. It's not QUITE as good as they make it out to be, and it really only looked anything similar to the commercial when paired with another mascara (I do this a lot... combine different kinds for volume/length/separation, etc).

Here's the telescopic with the other two I usually use: Rimmel London's Glam Eyes and CoverGirl's Lash Blast. I don't really like the Lash Blast unless it's applied OVER something because otherwise it is too difficult to remove. The Glam Eyes is great, but I usually throw on a little lash blast to add volume.

The Telescopic was a little difficult to put on due to the tinier brush, though that did help get all of the lashes, as the commercial claims. I also had a little bit of trouble with TOO much mascara coming out on the brush, so I kind of had to use the brush on the tops of the lashes to almost "comb" them out a bit.

Here's a close up of the Telescopic paired with the Glam Eyes. It is a lot more subtle when it's not right up close, which is good for day to day wear, but maybe not so much for going out.

Today I did the same thing, but without any eyeliner and very little mascara on the bottom lashes. It was hard to get a decent picture thanks to the quality of my camera phone and the lighting of my bathroom (and pardon the VERY sleepy under eyes) but I really liked the way it turned out in person. It looked a little more natural and subtle.

Overall I'd say I like the Telescopic, but it is quite different than it appears in advertisements, but I guess most things are. It definitely works best when pairing it with Glam Eyes. I look forward to trying it when I'm heading out this weekend and see what kind of drama we can stir up with it.

Halloween Decor

It's no surprise to any of my friends that I'm a sucker for ANY holiday, and I LOVE decorating and celebrating in anyway possible. Obviously Halloween is one of my favorites (Anything involving costumes is always the best), and I try to take full advantage of the month of October. We've got baskets of candy out, pumpkins, fabric leaves strewn about our living room, and even this adorable table runner Kelly made...

We also couldn't help ourselves at the grocery while strolling through the seasonal aisle and ended up buying this acorn decoration to hang above the stove and a fall/thanksgiving themed decorative towel to hang on the over. We think the squirrel salt and pepper shakers are probably thrilled with the new addition.

Another habit I try to get myself into around holidays is the sending of CARDS! My family has always been big on this, and I usually get a card from my mom, aunt, and grandma, at the very least, for every holiday from Valentine's Day to Christmas. My best friend Ashlee has also always been SO cute about sending cards for various holidays or sometimes just because, and I know how much I love getting mail so I always try to return the favor and spread it to others. Now, a card would not be sufficient enough from my point of view, and half the fun in sending them is decorating the outside of the envelope! Here are a few I sent out this week...

I found the sparkly little stickers at Joann's in the dollar section, so obviously I had to buy those. I think the funniest part about the holiday cards is picking out which cards to send to which friends. Jenna always gets some form of "Princess" card ever since she told me she wished people would just call her Princess all the time. I usually send my best friend Katelyn some card "For Moms" since she's been the motherly one of our group all throughout high school and into college taking care of us when we happen to find ourselves a bit too intoxicated. Once you get into it, sending mail for stuff like this is usually even more fun than getting it! :-)

I'm sure you'll all be getting an update of our Christmas decor sometime in late November- and I can assure you THAT will be a post worth looking out for, because I think Kelly and I just may be going all out this year for Christmas in the Jungle. I smell a possible theme of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, stress the Rock. We'll be starting to get our Christmas cards together soon.

Stress Will Be The Death of Me.

As always my level of stress has built up from a million minor things that don't even matter, and I'm back to just wanting to curl up in a ball in my big comfy bed until the semester is over. This semester is flying by, which is generally good, but with ICORE it just means the looming realization of finals and the dreaded case. I will be SO glad when that is all over. This no computer thing is really starting to cause anxiety not being able to keep up with the little things for school without hanging out in the business school computer labs (as I am now).

In other news- I bought the most wonderful sweatshirt from Target yesterday. It's a relatively thin but very warm material, with the SUPER soft insides that I'm absolutely in love with. Plus it's got a lower neck so I don't feel strangled when I wear a scarf with it, and it nicely shows off whatever I wear underneath. Here I'm also wearing the extra-long ribbed tank I also got from Target.

New Addition to the Wonderland Blogging World

So I've decided to branch off (Thanks for that idea Nickie- as if I need to spend more time on here ;-P) and add another blog dedicated entirely to all the cooking we do around our apartment. Since my computer's down, it will probably take a bit to fully start up, but hopefully I'll get an entry or two in by the weekend. Now hopefully I can just keep the two straight....

Creative Cuisine- Alex in Wonderland Side Project

Unhealthy Obsession With Cowboy Boots.

I guess I've never really thought about it until last night, but I truly do wear these boots damn near everywhere. Not necessarily all the time, but they've had quite their share of bonding time with my feet. I got to my friend's last night to have one of my guy friends asking why I was wearing cowboy boots, only to have all my girlfriends respond with "What? She ALWAYS wears those!" They're actually surprisingly warm for winter, but go great with short summery sundresses, so ta-da... year round Taylor Swift-esque style, I suppose.

Gap 3/4 length cardigan
Forever 21 Strapless Dress
Old Navy Grey Leggings.
(These actually have a zipper detail at the bottom that I wasn't sure about but now LOVE, though you can't see it with the boots on)

This picture was from friday night. I didn't manage to get a picture of the full outfit from last night but it involved a t-shirt style blue dress from old navy that cinches at the waist, black leggings, a metallic grey belt, and the cowboy boots. I think I'm really just a fan of the contrast between the black leggings and chestnut boots....

I think I've had a million people ask me where I got these, and surprisingly enough, they are actually from a real Western store. So given, they weren't the cheapest shoes, but they're actually surprisingly comfortable if you're not walking a TON, and completely durable, so they're all up for the wear and tear of nights out drinking.

Lily, My BumbleNiece

Spent last night hanging out with the old crew from High School over at my best friend Emily's house for her 21st, and got to see my favorite little pseudo-niece, Lily, in her first Halloween costume! She's going to be a bumblebee, and is absolutely precious!

Her costume even has a little stinger on the back of it!!!

We also, for the sake of old times, spent plenty of time sitting on the driveway drinking, and dancing to the White Stripes, Sublime, and E-40 (What a spread). And it wouldn't have been a proper reunion without as many (sometimes awkward) pictures as possible... I don't so much miss high school in and of itself, but being 16 and sneaking around with half gallons of Dark Eyes vodka? Oh yeah.

(You know you're best friends when someone says 'Just make the creepiest face you can' and you all unintentionally do the same thing.)