fall break fun

dress, Macy's

necklace, Haitian Beads

shrug, Ross

    I've always thought of this dress as being red, white and blue, but after looking at the photos more closely, it's more of an off-white. I wondered whether the mismatched neutrals would look odd together, but it doesn't bother me in real life or in the photos.
     I haven't worn this dress to work often because it exposes more back than I prefer. I'm looking forward to wearing it regularly now that I have a shrug to make it more professional!

     Today is the last day of Fall Break. I had a good week off. On Saturday, I rode a horse for the first time! I enjoyed it but let me tell you, 90 minutes is a long time to sit on a horse when you never have before. I'm still feeling it!
     We signed up for a scenic trail ride at a working ranch about an hour out of town. My husband was disappointed that it wasn't sunnier, but I enjoyed the overcast weather - it meant it wasn't so hot.

 Our first look at the ranch

My dashing steed, Bonita

Beach view

Stole husband's cap for a selfie - and kind of like the look

my riff on the lady tie

Merona buttondown, hand-me-down

skirt, Target

necklace, eBay

silk tie, from Banana Republic top

      Thursday was school colors day (red, white and blue). I grabbed the silk tie to lengthen the necklace, and initially had the bow tucked in the back. Then I decided that the bow was too pretty to hide. I wish it was white instead of celadon to pick up the dots in the skirt, but I do like the overall effect. It's my take on the lady ties that Gracey of Fashion for Giants rocks with such flair. It's a novel way to lengthen a necklace, and the silk drapes so beautifully. I'm thinking about sewing my own silk necklace extenders by repurposing some thrifted ties - it could really pep up an outfit with a little color and pattern.
       I like the idea of this navy buttondown, but for some reason it's difficult to tuck. It could be because it's a size too big, but I've noticed that it always puffs up and looks terrible.  I tossed it on my donations pile, and hope I have the willpower to restrain myself from snatching it back up.

      The first two days of break were pretty glorious. Admittedly, I didn't do any grading or lesson planning, but I did:

• make apple oatmeal for breakfast. It was lovely to not have to wolf down my breakfast in 10 minutes, the way I usually do on a workday.
•  play around with Mod Podge for the first time. (It kind of smells, and wow, you really have to be careful where you stick your paper, because it will be there forever, crooked edge, air bubbles, and all. I just don't think I'm cut out for decoupage, but it was fun to try.)
• start "Women Who Run with the Wolves" by Estes
•  take a long nap
• make it to 6 a.m. aikido class, which is one of the things I miss about my full-time-grad-student schedule
• run a few long-overdue errands

    It doesn't sound like much, but they were nice quiet nonproductive days at home. Sometimes it's restorative to do nothing, right? ;)