Whoa, there I am.

Brief recap: I talked about participating in the Neiman Marcus beauty campaign (too many times, I do believe) here (making friends), here (the itinerary), and here (some things I learned). Anyway, my point of contact e-mailed me a few days ago to let me know that Neiman Marcus announced the campaign and the winners on Facebook and their blog, so I thought you might want to know more about the other winners and go read their brief bios.

Note: they say I'm from the D.C. area, but I do not actually live in D.C. I hail from Maryland, but D.C. is less than an hour from me. It might be the capitol of our nation and all, but it's pretty much a part of Maryland, right? Haha. (I'm better at geography than that; I can assure you. Sort of.) My face might be plastered all over this little corner of the internet, but it is still bizarre to see my face elsewhere in cyberspace.

Moving on, I kind of changed my system for getting pictures for the blog. I used to pick out my outfits on the weekend to prepare for the next week, but our weather (and my classroom) has been so unpredictable that I ended up changing outfits in real life. I want this blog to reflect what I actually wear, so I now have Mom take photos of most outfits after I wear them instead of before. Sure, they might be a tad wrinklier that way, but I also know before I have the pictures taken whether or not the outfit was practical for a full day of teaching/doing whatever I was doing when I wore it.

This outfit was really comfortable, and I just love the color combination. I also wore lime and cobalt last summer. I think that dress inspired my love of lime and cobalt together. Of course, we already know I love cobalt with pretty much anything. Can I now draw your attention to the cut of these pants? They're not skinny pants. Would you like to know how old they are? I will tell you: sixteen years old. My pants are as old as the students I teach. WHEN DID I GET HERE?

At least they haven't disintegrated like one of my dad's shirts. Honest to goodness, my Dad put on a shirt from high school, and half of the sleeve disappeared in a plume of smoke when he tried to put his arm in the armhole. The craziest magic trick I ever did see. If my dad is in his 60s and can still fit into clothes from high school, then I don't see why I can't be almost 30 and still fit into clothes from 8th grade. Combat boots and scrunchy socks aside, some of my adolescent style was classic. (Hey overalls, leggings, and crop tops made a comeback, and those were my wardrobe staples in the days of yore. I was so ahead of the times.)

I smirk at you.

The Look:

Shirt: Target

Cardigan: Target 

Belt: Target (whaaaat? I didn't even realize how Target-themed I was!)

Pants: Express via Gabriel Brothers (my favorite place to shop when I visited my grandparents' in Cumberland, MD)

Shoes: Sylvia wedges via J.Crew Factory (seriously, they are so comfortable.)

Earrings: local boutique

I wanted to show you my little earrings. They're so cute and tiny.