this cat is back

{jeans, skinny belt -forever 21; tote bag -banana republic; flats -old navy; leopard shirt, watch -target; middle finger ring -gifted from grandma; sunnies -wayfarer}

hey, o.

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I'm sorry, to all eight of you, but on the bright side -I'm back. As I hope all of you already know, it is the year two thousand eleven and this girl is pumped. Last year I had two pretty excellent resolutions and I somehow accomplished both. (Yay, me!) Since it seems, I'm on a roll, lets try again this year. For the record books in 2011 I would like to:

1. be a better blogger. with more frequent (or at least more interesting) posts

2. freaking relax. take a chill pill. yoga. meditation. whatevs.

3. learn to play the accordion. Joan may or may not be a major influence in this decision.

4. kick booty at my job -I really like it and kicking booty. Seems obvious, really.

5. positivity. the secret. good karma. just goodness, ok?

Back to the outfit, do you like it? I do, a lot. I felt like a really hip sixties housewife when I left the house. Since my new job requires a sadly unfashionable uniform, I've been using my days off to rock some serious style. I've updated my inspiration board for 2011 and I've got some good stuff lined up.

until next time.

cheers,

mc

works cited

{skinny jeans, skinny belt, fake glasses -forever 21; tweed blazer -jcrew; otk boots -modcloth; flannel shirt -his, ralph lauren; honors pin -vintage}

I stole this outfit. Not literally, from its respective retailers, but from a more legitimate blogger. See, it's not technically stealing if I cite my source, which I now have. This is all so clever because I'm chit chatting about MLA format and what-nots and I look all collegiate and important in my (fake!) glasses. Also, I live in College Town America, USA and the old Hubs teaches freshman English.

full disclosure: he is currently cringing at my inaccurate use of commas. I'm sorry baby!

fuller disclosure: I have access to the smartiest pants man on earth and still my blog is one grammatical mistake after another. What a jerk I am. A very lazy jerk. I'm sorry baby!

Lets keep things positive, shall we? Can you see the honor pin on my jacket? That was my great-grandmother's, isn't that awesome? It has her initials engraved on the back and the year 1926. Hello! What a steller gene pool to be swimming in.

All for now

xo's

-mc
ps: this is the 100th post on imagemonsters!!!

cone head

{ice cream cone dress -modcloth; black cardigan -hallelu; otk sox -target; black oxfords(not pictured here, but here) -jeffrey campbell}

when the weather turns grey I reach for the sun. Yellow, that is. This dress is so sweet with the funny faced ice cream cones. What could be more fun than that? I've been drinking the over-the-knee-sock kool-aid and couldn't be more thrilled about it. I love when trends go the fashion and function route. Two birds, one stone ya'll....

weekending

{the Hubs and the home of the chestnut chicken sandwich -perhaps the best sandwich of all time}


{downtown wilmers, all decked out for the holidays}

{jeans -jcrew matchstick; striped tee -forever 21; red beret -american apparel; silver skinny belt -plato's closet via old navy; black cardigan -kohl's; silver ballet flats -target; purse -michael kors via tj maxx}

the Hubs and I really enjoyed our short visit back to Wilmers. It was really nice to spend some QT with our family, friends, and frankly each other! Our weekends have been chalk full of work and paper grading/writing it was really a pleasure to have weekend together. We headed downtown one dreary afternoon for a chestnut chicken sandwich and a shot of nostalgia. They say you can't go home again (which was the prompt for my UNC application essay), but I disagree T-Dub. We came, we went, we had the best old time. Wilmywood will always be our home away from home.

thankful

{purple wrap dress- target; necklace -thrifted; nude fishies -marshalls; headband -forever 21; brown wedges -target; bracelet -jcrew}

{pumkin trees & arragement via trader joes}

I couldn't be more thankful this year, ya'll. I am one happy and very lucky lady. The Hubs and I hopped in the car and headed North for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Jed and sweet K Lou hosted the whole fam at Casa de McDonough and it was glorious. The Hubs made a turkey-stuffed-turkey; the boys played football; and there was a lot of wine consumed. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing family.

*I'm also extremely flattered and honored that E commented on my sweet old blog, wow!

{the Hubs and his Turkey; Moms squared & A. Janet}

{sweet brothers/cousins -americana at its finest}

{the patriarchs -gary not pictured}

{future leaders of America}

{K Lou and her stunning table -what else is new}

{eat your heart out/food-coma-to-be}

{the best friends a girl could ask for}

world cup

{leggings -forever 21; watch, striped tee, and trench -target; red flats -old navy; world cup scarf -gifted}

gooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!

I'd like to think I look euro-chic today. Something about leggings and stripes always conjures up visions of Audrey, circa Roman Holiday. It's finally cool enough for scarves and I'm thrilled to bust out my Spain vs. Netherlands scarf for the first time. My brother was in the Netherlands during the World Cup and all I got was this lousy scarf -I kid, I really think this thing is awesome.

The Hubs said these pictures look like I'm in a barren eastern bloc country. Joke's on him, because we took them on his campus...

I'm off now roasted chicken for dinner (my fav!) and maybe a pineapple upsidedown cake and definitely a mani. Now what color? Decisions, decisions.

duck huntin'

{duck boots -bass; otk sox, watch -target; cord skirt -jcrew; denim shirt -forever 21; gold belt -old navy; motorcycle jacket -mango; scarf -lands end via my father-in-law; sunnies -ray ban}

Well shoot,

I am so happy about this outfit I could just scream. The socks, the boots, the scarf, I am in love. The socks, because they're so fun and yeah, trendy. The boots, because they're so practical and rugged. Lastly, the scarf because it's so soft and I love the colors. Also, I think it actually belongs to my father-in-law. (Sorry Gary!)

The Hubs and I took these pictures in the parking lot of our new favorite Jamaican restaurant. They actually do most of the grilling right there in the parking lot-what could be cooler than that?!

I'll try to be a better internet fashionista next week. If this outfit is any indicator, I'm going to kick some serious cyber style boo-tay. Until then, xo's

-mc