From My Own Closet : (And My Childhood Dress Up Jewelry Box)

It's good to be back.This blog is my baby, and I think about it far more than it appears! I had a hectic end to the fall semester (So far, I have known no other type of end to a semester. You know how it is, when, two weeks before finals, you still have practically an entire semester's work ahead of you, as well as the last thirteen weeks to review in your mind as you try to figure out what exactly you were doing that kept you so busy, because it's obvious what you weren't doing? I sure do.)

After finals, I still had all my Christmas shopping and wrapping and cooking and cleaning (well, if I have to be honest, the last two were accomplished 99% by my sisters and mom), followed by a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Here's a little proof of the fun we had...

...as well as our creativity...

...and all-around cuteness...

 I'm a shameless braggart. And then Christmas morning...

... I sneaked around with some of these shady characters, leaving behind no trace but these candy canes on our neighbors' doors.

Now that life is more or less routine again, I think it's time to start a new habit, aka blog. This has nothing to do with the fact that it's January. Blogging is not a procrastinated, two-weeks-late New Year's Resolution for me. OK, OK, you all can see right through me, so ... I have never kept a New Year's Resolution in my life, even though I have put together a comprehensive list of resolutions every year from the time I was 11 years old. I didn't (and it's painfully clear, still don't) have time or self-discipline to tackle all of it at once, miss one day of doing this or that, and then never pick it up after that day. Nevertheless in 2012 I somehow managed to start doing two things regularly: studying the Bible and exercising.  The Bible study was started probably around April or May, and the exercising sometime in the summer. I've missed quite a few days here and there- especially with exercising since there are more days that I don't do it than do- but they're still something I can say I do. I do it, maybe not consistently, but persistently; I haven't stopped studying the Bible or exercising since. So I've decided to approach my blog the same way. I can't say I'll post three times a week or on Wednesdays or anything like that. But I will post persistently.

Did you know...

• White button-up shirts are hard to wear without looking too professional for a low-wage retail job? I can't wear jeans to work, but that would look cute with this outfit. I should do that for one of my days off.
• The lacy cardi only has three-quarter length sleeves, so I had to roll up my shirt cuffs to make it work? (And you never would've known if I hadn't told you =)
• I have worn these shoes (scroll all the way to the top to see them) in every outfit I have posted so far?! No, they're not my only pair. Yes, they are my favorite pair. No, I don't have nearly as many shoes as a lot of girls I know. And yes, if a girl is only allowed one pair of shoes in her life, I firmly believe they ought to be a pair of black pointed-toe 2-inch heels with designer detail (2-inch only because she's gonna have to walk at some point)!
• My necklace came from a box of jewelry my sisters and I used to play dress up with? We didn't have a whole lot of money when I was growing up, so my parents were sometimes creative with the gifts they gave us. When I was about 6, for Christmas my parents gave me and my sisters a box of scarves and hats and jewelry they got from the thrift store. We loved it! It was probably cheaper than buying dress-up clothes from the toy store, and we got to fashion the scarves and shawls into skirts or dresses or whatever we wanted them to be. (It might have been the same Christmas or another, my parents also gave us a huge box of toy food- only it was carefully salvaged food packaging that my mother had collected over the last year. We had the best food set ever!) Anyway, my sisters were cleaning out the hall closet and came across the box of thrift store dress up jewelry and asked if I wanted to use any of it as supplies. I saw the necklace and thought, I can wear that! Bonus: the purple-ish beads in the necklace match the color of my sweater! It was meant to be!

So tell me, where is the strangest place you have gotten a fashion accessory or garment? I'm sure someone reading this blog has a much better story =).