Last week sort of got away from me.  I actually started officially working full-time (it had been ~30 hours a week), so I had to adjust to not having a couple of hours a day that I’m used to having.

The reasons for not working full-time are mostly linked to (a) back surgery and (b) depression/anxiety.  I was off work for about 6 months after surgery.  It was a tough recovery, both mentally and physically.  My job got thrown in my lap about the time I was like “okay, money would be good here.”  It started with less hours, and has gradually grown.  Between ongoing pain issues, and the stress the idea of working at an actual larger firm caused me, I have managed to get by.

However, it’s a good thing this full-time shit happened when it did, since my car is pretty much death-rattling.  Well.  Not rattling.  LEAKING.  It’s drinking power steering fluid at an alarming rate, and I’m pretty sure the oil pump is bad.  It might be a sensor, but my luck generally doesn’t run that way.  I’m not paying more than the car is worth to keep it limping along for another year.  Also, it’s at about the mileage where I fear the head gasket’s demise is imminent, and “gasket” is like the magic money word to mechanics.

So we’ve been looking at cars.  I don’t want to buy something expensive, because I don’t want to pay for something expensive, and we don’t really put that many miles on cars. I just want something reliable, roomy enough for comfort, and under factory warranty.  I know buying used can be more economical but seriously? If I’m making payments on it and something breaks, I want to be able to take it back where it came from, get a loaner car, and not be charged any money.  I’ve been doing actual research.

I really want to hold out for a few months, though – to get some savings in reserve, and to wait till the end of the model year.  We’ll see if I can stand it that long.  Usually, when my brain says “I’m done” – I’m done.

Last week, I decided to self-challenge again.  I deemed it “Pantsless Week,” meaning dresses or skirts, not pants.

Of course, on Monday, the ban on black was lifted.

Shirt: Torrid.  It has dinosaurs, and is a size 4.  The fabric is a little icky, but DINOSAURS HELLO.  Overall dress:  ASOS Curve, out of stock of course.  Shoes: Comfortiva.  I don’t see these available for purchase anymore.  While I like these shoes aesthetically, they were not as comfortable the second time I wore them.  Also, the lacings (which are elastic) are threaded through an eyelet on the side of the shoe and knotted.  Today, the eyelet stretched, and the lace popped out. I had to use some of the length to double-knot it, and that made them a little snug across the instep.  They’re decent for just wandering around work, but if I knew it was an errand day, I wouldn’t wear them.  It makes me sad, because they really are cute.

Tuesday:

This is NOT black.  The website SAYS it’s navy.  I bought this in a 5 because I knew I planned to layer and I didn’t want an odd midsection lump.  The t-shirt is from ASOS Curve, and I think it’s a 24.  It may be a 26.  I may have ordered up because these shrink and I planned to stuff it in the dryer.  Shoes are Birkenstocks.  Why this has no pockets, I do not understand.

Wednesday:

MOAR DINOS.  This dress is way too pastel for me, really, but it has T-rex so I don’t really care.  It’s also very soft, and it has pockets.  REAL pockets.  The dress is from Hot Topic, size 5.  I probably could have gone with the 4, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t tight in the sleeves.  The cutout is kinda stupid, but luckily my pasty white skin made it non-obvious.  Shoes are Crocs, and they need to make more of this style.  My hair is kind of curly because I had to go file shit at the courthouse and then take it by an attorney’s office downtown and even though it was only like 4 blocks of walking total, it was stupidly hot at 9:30 a.m., so my hair got all sweaty and dried this way.   At least my bangs have the silly flip on BOTH sides.

Thursday:

By Thursday, I was growing weary of self-imposed clothing restrictions, but I pressed on.  The top is from Torrid via eBay, the dress is old from ASOS Curve, and the shoes are Dr. Martens, also via eBay.  The necklace is from Amazon, but the shirt is busier than I thought, so it doesn’t really show up and makes the shoe choice look like they were the only ones I could find on my bedroom floor.  That’s not true.  There were at least 2 other choices where both shoes were visible.

Friday:

Maybe I cheated a little.  The “skirt” is really a skort.  However, since it presents as a skirt, and since I would have probably worn shorts under it anyway, I decided it was fine.  It’s old from Catherine’s…I don’t exactly remember how old.  I do recall it was an impulse clearance purchase.  It has elastic in the waist, which I don’t always like (and I don’t know why it even matters, because I hardly ever tuck anything in).  The shorts kinda bunch up, and I’m considering removing them.  The shirt is from Torrid, but is out of stock.  I thought I was hosed on this one, but someone returned a 4 and I managed to snag it.  It seems to fit a little more loosely than the “Where the Wild Things Are” one.  Necklace is an atom pendant.  I think it came from ThinkGeek a while ago.  I wouldn’t entirely recommend it, as it’s pretty delicate.  But I needed something and it was on the right length chain, so.

This week, I’m not having any self-challenges.  Getting up and getting dressed is challenge enough.

Today:

I love this dress from Hot Topic (size 5).  It has giant armholes and I had to wear something under it, but the sentiment really cannot be matched.  I wore flip-flops because I didn’t feel like digging in the sock drawer to find a pair of matching no-show socks to wear with my tennis shoes.  Anyway, this dress is so incredibly soft and comfortable, and the pocket is shaped so things won’t fall out the sides.  It’s the little things.

I think this WTF Wednesday I’m going to have to address this fanny pack crisis, because it’s not going away and people on Instagram are still gushing over this shit and I really don’t understand.

Maybe this is the wake-up call the fashion world needs to start putting pockets in women’s clothes.  It is not Scotland.  We are not Jamie Fraser.  We do not need sporrans.