Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Another Short Week

January is weird. It usually starts out with a short week, due to a New Year's Day holiday, not to mention a 12th Night celebration that makes me all distracted from work. Then, nary two weeks later, we have a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not complaining, just pointing out how odd it is & how the confluence of holidays makes for a difficult readjustment after all the "big" holidays of December.

Add to that my continued head cold *and* the fact that my department moved to a different building today, & I'm all sorts of discombobulated. So the rather blah outfits continue. Sorry...

What I'm wearing:
Purple ribbed turtleneck top, unknown brand
Black jeans, Levi's
Black crochet duster, Coldwater Creek
Purple & gunmetal tiered necklace, NY & Company
Gunmetal hoop earrings, random accessory store
Black buckle ankle boots, Aldo

Also, I'm taking on LPG's latest BatFit challenge: Give up one bad habit & replace it with one good habit. This is specifically inspired by my office move, because the new cubicle is on the fourth floor of the building, whereas the last few cubes have been on the second floors.

My bad habit is that I'm extremely sedentary. I despise exercise! I'm a supreme couch potato, & I pretty much hate all forms of movement other than walking to actually go somewhere (aimless "walking around the block" bores me silly).

Some years ago, I did Weight Watchers & forced myself to take up running. I did stuck with it for a while, even ran a local 10k race a few times in a row. But I never enjoyed it & always resented the time it took away from things I'd prefer to be doing, which is, oh, anything else. I've tried dance-as-exercise classes of various types, I've tried yoga & tai chi, I've tried Wii Fit, & I cannot stick with any of them.

However, I can walk up the stairs. Not all the time. But at least once a day. Four flights of stairs. Just once a day means I don't have to force myself to do it when I'm carrying my coffee (the espresso bar is on the first floor), & it won't be a huge travail on days when I wear high heels (because I love my fancy shoes & I'm not going to switch shoes just for this). I already walked up the stairs once today!

9 comments:

  1. Aw, I don't think that your outfits have been "blah" at all! I really love the way you put together something stylish, fun and comfy when you're not feeling 100%. As always, you're inspiring me to think outside the box. That necklace is gorgeous and really makes the whole outfit pop.

    Re: walking the stairs -- GOOD FOR YOU! Exercise doesn't have to be something special that you set time aside to do. Walking stairs, parking far away from store entrances, wandering woods, climbing trees, etc. are all awesome ways to get moving. Again it goes back to our catch phrase for the year, "mindfulness."

    On a side note -- I'm looking to purchase a heavy, duty sewing machine. It needs to be able to go through denim, cotton duct, drapes, etc. but light enough to do fancy work. Since you are the most amazing sewing guru do you have any advice for me? Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

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  2. I think this is a nice outfit; we all feel "blah" in clothes we have worn a lot, but to other people's eyes the outfit is still fresh!

    Have you tried simply taking walks? Maybe with a pooch, a friend, or some music? Walks are so much easier to get motivated for; when I'm too lazy to work out I just go out for a walk to the city center. Everything counts, just gotta get moving!

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  3. That outfit isn't "blah" at all, the turtle neck is a really nice color.

    Your goal is a realistic one! I made the same resolution when I lived on the 5th floor of my building - it does nice things for the glutes.

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  4. Your way of wearing jeans is far from blah! Crochet jackets simply cannot be blah.

    Excellent news about the stair climbing! It's a great workout, indeed. As for just walking, I get bored with it too but having a partner helps. As a rule, I don't socialize much at work (too much gossip and drama around here and you can't give just a little without people thinking it's an opportunity to drag you into the depths...) so I have a walk break each afternoon with one trusted co-worker who also avoids the drama like the plague. We keep each other motivated, and look forward to a little social contact that doesn't violate boundaries for either of us. Some days, those walk breaks are as much about mental health as physical. :)

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  5. Admittedly, that necklace doesn't get worn often enough & it's statement-y so throwing it on with any old shirt looks good :-)

    For sewing machine recs, I don't have any great tips other than maybe look for refurbished 1960s/70s machines bec. they tend to have more metal parts (more recent machines are full of plastic that falls apart easily). A friend has some better tips here: http://www.bovil.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=48

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  6. I love to walk when I'm going somewhere -- to a store, to the bus stop, to a museum when traveling in a new city, etc. But aimless walking around makes me feel like a hamster in a little wheel. It's not quite as bad as running on a treadmill, but it's close!

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  7. Heh, nice way to get a mental health break during the day!

    I *am* making a point of wearing jeans w/not just a t-shirt or a sweater; getting out of a super-lazy rut.

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  8. Definitely not "blah". Your crochet duster is far too fabulous for that <3

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