Green With Envy

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!  I have been crazy busy at work and after. 

Here is what I wore to church yesterday.  I saw this dress in Target and knew it needed to be mine!  Peplum and an jewel green?!  Yes, please!  Add in my favorite necklace and we have a winner of an outfit!
Dress: Target
Necklace: Francesca's
Shoes: Bandalino via Amazon

Back in Business

I have no clue why I couldn't post pictures yesterday, but today there seems to be no problem at all!  Wahoo! 

So, this is an outfit for a month ago but I love it.  It involves several of my favorite items: chambray shirt...check, coral necklace from Ecuador....check, animal print sandals....check, and hair in a high bun...check!

Expect to see a lot of that shirt and necklace, in case you haven't already noticed them.  I fully expect them to be staples in my fall wardrobe as well...

Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt, Belt, and Sandals: Target

Necklace: Otavalo Market in Ecuador

Houston We Have a Problem...

Argh....my computer doesn't want to let me upload anything.  WHY, computer, WHY?  This is irritating.  So, look for a new post soon!

We Were on a Break

Okay, so I guess I took a little break from the blog.  Totally unexpected but things have been so busy since school started back.  Not a good reason, but an excuse nonetheless. 

I think mentally I have been in la la land.  I've been running from work to meetings to meeting up with friends to physical therapy (more on that in a minute) and just haven't felt like I was back in the swing of things.  Plus, coming back from Ecuador I managed to gain a LOT of weight.  I'm not feeling very good in my clothes, hence the impromptu break that I wasn't planning. 

I'm hoping after I get my knee straightened out-I found out I was double jointed and have very loose joints-I can get back into an exercise routine.  Because of my loose joints, specifically my left knee cap, my left knee has become irritated and the doctor ordered some PT in order to strengthen the muscles around the knee.  I was told I probably shouldn't run anymore-so I guess I will be looking into the dreaded elliptical machine and bike!

Anyhoo, this wouldn't be a style blog without a little style so here is an outfit from last week.  I love love love this striped sweater so look for it to be featured often.  Acutally, I pretty much love every piece of this look separately and together. 

Sweater, shirt: Old Navy
Jeans: Kohls
Sandals: Target
Necklace: market in Ecuador

Routine

Well, I'm headed back to work today.  I have to say I'm a little torn.  I like having a routine to follow because it keeps me more accountable for the time I waste BUT I really like being able to watch daytime tv and read books and go out to lunch with my friends. 

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts.  I think it has just taken me this long to get back into life here in the states and while I've been running around meeting people for lunch and dinner, I've just been using my old standby outfits so I didn't have to think too much. 

Here are a couple of pics from the last few days....

This one is of me and baby Theron!  He's the adorable son of my friends Joi and David.  We had a great visit with lots of smiles.  I think he likes Auntie Anna!

And then on Saturday evening my parents threw a party for my brother and sister-in-law.  This was for people that were not able to make it to the actual wedding.  Lots of food and conversation was had!

Now, I have to get in the shower so I can go to work.  yay.

Ecuador Day Ocho-the last day!

And just like that, the trip was ending!  I was sad to leave but ready to head home, but first we had some sightseeing to do!

Ready for our last day

 Oops, forgot we went to church at Advent St. Nicholas again first.  We went back and changed and then started sightseeing!  Martha, who is a member of the Kiwanis club and also worked as a tour guide for the Embassy, was our guide for the day.  She took us to a very nice lunch to start off our tour.  Then we went to see the Our Lady of Quito statue, which you probably noticed as the GIANT angel statue in the pictures from the unfinished church.

Our Lady of Quito statue

Closeup of OLofQ

 We had a great view of Quito from the statue!

Looking down onto Quito

Close up of Quito from near the Our Lady statue

Me with Quito in the background

 We then went down to Old Town, the historical part of Quito.  Our group did some of this earlier in the week and at this point I was just over it, so I didn't really take any pictures. 

With Christian, who works for Habitat Ecuador and their translator

We went to an interesting restaurant before going to the airport.  The menu had testicles, heart, entrails, liver, and other such treats on it.  YUCK!  I had french fries.  I figured those were safe!

Then it was airport time!  We said our goodbyes and started the process of checking in, getting bags checked, going through security, and then having my carry ons riffled through before I could enter the gate area.  But, we made it through and I was asleep before we even took off from Quito. 

I got home early Monday morning and boy was I exhausted.  I'm still not sure I'm fully caught up, but it was an awesome trip and I hope to return next year on the Habitat build.

Hope you enjoyed my recap!  We will now return to our regularly scheduled style blogging!

Ecuador Day 7

We are in the home stretch, folks! Day 7 is here with only one more day to go...

First stop.....Equator!  Yes, I've officially been in two places, two hemispheres to be exact, at once!  Below is the proof!  This was pretty cool.  There were some shops around this area as well as a bug museum (gross!).  Some of the group ended up going up into the museum, but I didn't because I thought it was too expensive.  Kind of kicking myself for that one now...

I'm standing in two hemispheres!

Melissa and I attempting to do something cool.  The photographer didn't quite catch it!

With our translator for the week, Erick, at the Equator

After visiting the Equator, we started making our way to the Otavalo Market.  It was quite a drive, about two hours, so we stopped for lunch along the way.  We stopped at a really nice little restaurant that was right against this lake.  The water literally lapped up to the glass walls of the restaurant.  There were some little bungalows that people could rent and stay there.  Also, there were llamas.  This lovely little place was called, Puerto Lago. 

Beautiful view at Puerto Lago

Pastor Lori, Melissa, and me

 We walked around Puerto Lago for a little while after eating and then loaded up and continued toward Otavalo.  Otavalo had a HUGE market.  Seriously, so big we only went through a fraction of it in a couple of hours.  This is where I got the majority of the stuff I brought home.  You had to haggle with the vendors, which I am terrible at, but I managed to get some good deals.  This was mostly due to Pastor Lori's great haggling skills.  Didn't really see animals at this market, it was mostly crafts, or at least the part we saw.

Shopping at Otavalo Market

Vendors at Otavalo Market

 Erick bought a hat at Saquisili and I could not be outdone.  So, I made it a point to get a similar hat at Otavalo, so of course we had to take a picture. 

Modeling our matching hats

 One last final look at Otavalo and we were off.  On the way home we stopped at a chocolate place.  I wasn't feeling well (to be fair, I didn't feel well the entire time-pretty sure it was altitude sickness) so I did not partake, but I hear the hot chocolate was awesome!

Goodbye Market!

We finished the evening at Pizza Hut for dinner and then went back to our respective hotels for the night.  We had to pack up because the next day was our last!