Weekly Recap #35, 2023

I love three-day weekends, but they always throw me off schedule! I definitely feel like I’m scrambling this morning. I spent Friday through Sunday at my first anime convention with my boyfriend and his friends, and while I’m glad I gave it a try, I can safely say it’s not for me… I have seen a few anime shows and movies but not a ton, and it was generally just a very chaotic and unorganized weekend—not really my vibe. I do love costumes though, so making my cosplay was a blast, as was seeing everyone else’s. I guess this week was just full of trying new things because I also went curling for the first time! Yes, curling. Such a weird thing to do, right?

Monday, August 28

I didn’t actually wear this pretty navy dress for my casual work-from-home day, but I slipped it on to snap a few pics in the afternoon and never put real clothes back on. Lately I’ve been getting into making crockpot meals on the days I work from home, so tonight I tried a new-to-me chicken tortilla soup recipe—it was just okay. I didn’t realize how similar tortilla soup is to chili and I already have my mom’s chili recipe that I love and wouldn’t stray from. I’ve been having a lot of fun trying new meals lately, though.

Navy Dress: Thrifted, $1, last worn here | Navy Heels: DSW, $40 ($10 per wear), last worn here | Lavender Floral Purse: Kate Spade New York, gift, last worn here

Tuesday, August 29

This beige linen dress doesn’t photograph particularly well but it’s one of my favorites for the summer—so comfy, keeps you cool, doesn’t require a special bra to wear, and has pockets! I’ve decided I need more linen things in my closet.

After work, I surprised my boyfriend with an hour-long curling lesson for beginners at Rock Creek Curling. He’s always been interested in curling, especially watching it during the winter Olympics, so I’ve been wanting to gift this to him for a while. I didn’t know much about curling going into it and was surprised that it’s a lot more physically demanding than it looks! You have to be pretty flexible and have good balance. To explain how it works, you start in a squat on a little block for your foot and push off with the stone in your hands, stretching out into a lunge to produce power. You wear two different shoes and the left one (if you are righthanded) is slick as snot to help you fall gracefully into the lunge. For us, there wasn’t a whole lot of gracefulness happening—but definitely lots of fun!

Beige Linen Dress: Dress Barn, $24 ($6.00 per wear), last worn here | Denim Jacket: JCPenney, $19 ($0.10 per wear), last worn here | Snakeskin Sandals: DSW, $30 ($2.50 per wear), last worn here

Wednesday, August 30

Usually we go to trivia on Wednesday nights, but pretty much everyone was busy. I stayed home to work on our cosplays instead! I haven’t worn this rose-colored bodysuit with this polka dot skirt before but thought the combo was really cute (the bodysuit has fun flirty ruffles for sleeves).

Rose-Colored Bodysuit: Cavender’s, $36 ($18 per wear), last worn here | Denim Jacket: JCPenney, $19 ($0.10 per wear), last worn here | Polka Dot Skirt: Francesca’s, $23 ($1.35 per wear), last worn here | Beige Flats: Nordstrom Rack, $40 ($0.75 per wear), last worn here

Thursday, August 31

I don’t usually work from home on Thursdays, but I did today so I could spend the commute time taking care of a few chores around the house. In the evening, a group of my boyfriend’s friends and I met up to carpool to the Gaylord Rockies, where the convention was being held. We planned to stay there ‘til Sunday instead of driving back and forth each day since it’s a bit of a drive and a lot of the convention activities don’t end until very late.

We all went to the onsite steakhouse Old Hickory for dinner, hence why I’m a little dressed up. I’m absolutely obsessed with this dress and outfit. I thrifted the dress earlier in the summer but this is the first time I wore it. How cute is it with my yellow sandal heels? I also threw on my lavender floral Kate Spade purse. It was a very summery outfit—definitely more suited for earlier in the season—but I loved it nonetheless (and got tons of compliments).

Blue Gingham Dress: Thrifted, $13 ($13 per wear) | Yellow Sandals: DSW, $20 ($2.86 per wear), last worn here

Friday, September 1

Everyone else did convention activities today, but I stayed in the hotel room to work. I lounged by the pool for a bit afterwards and then we all toured the convention hall, which had lots of merch as well as individual artists’ works for sale. Most of the people there dressed in cosplays Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I only had one outfit I was saving for Saturday. I decided to wear this blue velour clubbing dress with bright blue eyeshadow and bubble braid pigtails for an anime-inspired look.

This is actually the first time I wore this dress—I thrifted it in Scotland to wear to a Y2K-themed party but didn’t end up going because all my friends got Covid. I think it’s really cute and got several compliments, but this pic is not the most flattering angle (and I learned very quickly that the dress has a tendency to ride up as I walk, per usual with bodycons).

In case you’re wondering, this character is No Face from Spirited Away, one of my favorite movies!

Blue Dress: Thrifted, $10 ($10 per wear) | Black Sandals: Dillard’s, $30 ($0.44 per wear), last worn here | Star Purse: Francesca’s, gift, last worn here

Saturday, September 2

Saturday is kind of the main day of the convention. My boyfriend and I lounged by the pool in the early afternoon and then got dressed in our handmade cosplays—we are characters from the video game Persona 5. (Since I don’t really play video games or watch anime, I told him I would dress as whatever female character made sense for the group.) Turns out, I’m a villain, ha!

I thrifted the black dress and a mesh top and then made several alterations, including cutting the sleeves off the dress, cutting the slit, and sewing in the mesh panel on my chest. I’m really proud of how it turned out! The tall black gloves and shoes I already had, so I just had to buy the fishnet stockings and hat (to which I attached a few fake flowers and playing cards). My boyfriend also made his costume using a red button down, a white button down, and lots of trim (and the mask was 3D printed by a friend)—how cool is that?! His turned out so well.

At the convention today, we wandered around the exhibit halls again, took pics, grabbed dinner, and went to the “masquer-rave”. The whole thing was a little too chaotic for my taste but I did love crafting my cosplay.

Sunday, September 3

The others wanted to do more convention things this morning but I split off to wander the grounds and take some blog pics. In the evening, I met up with two of my girlfriends for a girls night, complete with Mario Party and face masks! I think these overalls are super cute but I do wish they were a little longer—I was feeling a little self-conscience today. I also broke out my newest pair of shoes from UIN Footwear, which have passport stamps on them! So cute.

Lavender Bodysuit: Macy’s, $10 ($1.00 per wear) | Denim Overalls: Local boutique, $40 ($13.33 per wear) | Shoes: UIN Footwear, gifted by brand

. . . . .

How was your long weekend? Get up to anything fun? And which of this week’s outfits is your favorite? Mine is hands-down the blue gingham dress—I haven’t been that excited about an outfit in a while.

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace