Thursday's Threads

Outfit DAY! And it's finally feeling like summer here again! Cloudless blue sky, should get up near 80... Perfect day! Too bad it's not a Saturday! I tried to wear something kind of summery feeling today for work.

Not really summer colors so much, but the top has a linen feel to it. It's very lightweight and airy. I really want to start wearing sandals sometime soon, but it's more convenient with Jamp still being on ice to wear boat shoes for now.

Top: Lucky Brand

I snagged this peplum top from the clearance rack at Marshalls for a total steal. It's a tiny bit longer in the back than the front, which makes it a lot more flattering than if it was just round on the bottom.

Belt: Mane Jane

This belt needs no introduction...

Jeans: Hudson

These are as plain as a pair of jeans can get, but they are SO COMFY! One of my go-to's for sure.

Shoes: Sperry Topsider

These are my least favorite pair of Sperry's. They're fine, I just don't like the shape of them as much as the others. Of course, they're one of the most neutral colored pair, so I end up wearing them a lot.

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is wearing a braided friendship bracelet from Ettika, and the cutest, daintiest little "H" bracelet. It's certainly far from authentic, but I think it's so cute. I kind of wish it just had my initial though. And of course, my apple watch is on too.

Righty:

Righty is wearing this adorable (I may be biased) sparkly stack that I made awhile back.

AND I have a riding outfit to share too!

All green everything for the most part...

Top: Brand unknown

This one cracks me up. I found it on Zulily and didn't even think twice about adding it to cart. It sums me up perfectly.

Breeches: Smartpak Piper
Belt: Noble Outfitters (I think)

I had forgotten I own this belt until I saw it this weekend. I like it, should definitely wear it more often! The breeches are the pipers with the tan patches. They're fine, typical pipers. I love the color!

Socks: Swanky Saddle

I love my custom Swanky Saddle socks. They took a little while to get to me after I ordered, but it was totally worth the wait.

Helmet: Charles Owen AYR8
Boots: Horka

I didn't get closeups of my boots and helmet, but you've seen them all before anyway. The boots are the distressed brown ones that I love so much and the helmet is my favorite Greenie!

Bradley:
Baby Pad: Wilkers
Half Pad: Mattes
Saddle: Hermes

I tried my Voltaire on Bradley last week and I really didn't like it on him. It was kind of wobbly up there, and I got off walking like a cowboy. So I decided to stick with the Hermes on him. This mattes pad I ordered during the winter from Equus now. They have the best price on them if you're looking. It's hunter green fleece with tan on the quilted part under the saddle. It has some brown trim too but that's under the saddle. The baby pad didn't work on Bradley either, it got all bunchy. I'll stick with regular pads on him instead, or maybe try the Lettia ones. They seem to stay put the best.
That's it for today! Any favorites from today? What are you wearing? How's the weather where you are?

What's Up Wednesday

I forgot how busy summer can be! Phew! There's a lot going on around here. My dad finally gave his retirement notice, and his last day is the end of THIS month. Of course he waited to make it official until June 1st, so we had very little time to throw together his retirement party here at work. But we've got caterers lined up, a tent coming, and even a cop for the event. So that stuff is moving right along.
I've had a few braiding jobs coming in as well. I guess I've come out of braiding retirement officially. Haha. These guys came out looking pretty good!

I got to ride my buddy Bradley on Saturday morning. My friend and I planned to ride together again, and we even got some media! Not only that, we jumped some jumps! I owe Bradley a big apology for making him jump out of the teeniest canter and closest distances on the planet... but he takes zero offense at anything, so it wasn't as bad as it should have been.

It's a little sad, I really was thinking that red jumped look awfully big. I think it's like 2'6". It's been so long since I've jumped! But honestly, Bradley is so big, it's like a cavalletti to him. He was all, "I got this chicken lady!" And he totally did. And we were just fine. Even if I seemed to be crawling up his neck a bit... Sorry dude. Honestly though, how lucky am I to get to ride this horse? He's so perfect and is really helping me out these days with all the emotions of Jampy being sick and Rio being hurt. And Badger being Badger.
I followed the major rule of the weekend after riding Bradley: No sitting down till bedtime! Because otherwise I would never have gotten back up.
My boys both had their hand walks, and Rio had a graze too. Plus mega groomies for both of course!

I took a brief break after tucking the ponies in with their dinner to watch the Belmont. Justify is an incredible animal. He never looked like he even had to work that hard. He was all, "how you like the view from back there kids?" to the other horses. And did you guys see the trot on him afterwards? Boy might throw some hunter babies in the future!
Anyway, after the race, I got in my truck and boogied up to Lowes. I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a freezer for the barn. Jamp's ice boots have taken over my entire freezer in the house, and there are shavings in all my food. Not that there's anything wrong with that really... but it would be a lot more convenient not to have to walk back and forth to the house 100 times a day. It was a good call, even if it's currently residing in an empty stall. It was too big to fit where I wanted to put it in the laundry room. Bummer. Another bonus? I can keep some ice pops in the barn now! Great treat in the summer!
After the Lowe's trip, I got home, unloaded that bad boy, and then headed straight to my braiding job. I had three manes, two tails (with fakes), and a mane pull to do. Busy night! I was home around 1:30 and was POOPED. 7 am came early for Jamp's boot change, that's for sure.
 I didn't ride Sunday, but it was kind of a gross day anyway. Not all that warm, and it was mostly pretty cloudy. I ran a few errands in the morning, and then spent much of the day doing laundry and straightening up my pigsty of a house.
The pugs got to have a little walk though, which they were super excited about.

And after that, they got to have a play date with Chloe, who is just the cutest:

Seriously. Cutest thing ever.
And then some friends and I headed to the lake to catch the musical act for the evening. It was an acoustic set, and it was great! We brought wine this time, and it was the perfect way to wind down the weekend.

All sorts of random other stuff happened too. I got the pool opened up finally:

Hopefully this weekend it will be warm enough to want to use it!
I had the septic guy out again to finish diagnosing the problem with the barn system. That crushed pipe we were expecting? It wasn't that. Apparently the whole system is failing because what was installed was too small. So that's not going to be cheap. Sigh. Is what it is right? On the bright side, it's a good year for all that to happen since I'm not using the ring right now anyway. And I'm saving all this money by not showing. Right? Sure.
And then the craziest thing happened on my way to work yesterday. I was driving along, minding my own business. Late for work as usual. And then just two cars ahead of me, this guy runs a stop sign at an intersection. The guy two cars ahead of me tried to stop, and then tried to swerve. He ALMOST made it, but ended up hitting the back end of the sign runner. Well both guys were driving work vans, so they're generally large, heavy, and taller than they are wide. The guy going straight wound up with a very messed up front end, but was upright and ok. The other guy, the one who ran the sign, wound up with his van on its side. He was ok too, luckily. But it was pretty scary to watch! And then of course I had to wait for the cops since I was the one that called it in. Fortunately, since everyone was ok, I didn't get stuck there too long. I was almost an hour late for work though. Good thing they're pretty understanding at my job!

I got to ride Bradley again last night, which was a total treat! My boys were a little neglected since there are only so many hours in the day, but they had their feet picked and got fed which is all they really want anyway. Bradley was actually a little "fresh" last night! And by fresh, I mean he carried his own pace a little and pretended to spook once which was pretty silly. But after about 25 minutes of good hard work, he was more like this:

Tired pony! He's so fun though, lazy or "fresh", he has a great brain. That's what I'm looking for in my next horse.
And that's what's up this week! What's up with you? Did you show this weekend? Or do anything else fun? What's new?

Truthful Tuesday: The one that should surprise no one.

Alternate titles:
Someone stage an intervention
Houston, we have an addiction
My boot closet is better than your boot closet
Shut up, these are emotional support boots.

I've posted all over the social to share the fun news that Fama 4 All is having a great deal on their custom boots right now, so you should already know that. I get no kick backs or anything for this, I just love my boots and wanted to share the awesome price.

They are marked down to 300 Euro which is currently $355 US dollars. Shipping is around $70 which is high, but they come from Portugal. Still a great deal for custom boots!
Thus it should come as no surprise that I MIGHT (definitely did) have ordered another pair. Yep. Right after I said I didn't need any more boots. (I mean, if I'm lucky I ride once or twice a week right now... Whatever. These boots are for my emotions.)
I'm not 100% sure what I'm getting yet as far as actual colors. Rebecca is hunting down some leather swatches for me and then I'll pick. But generally, they are going to be some version of brown or tan boots and the accents will be an exotic leather of some kind in green. I'm hoping for an awesome snakeskin. But we'll see what she can find. Whatever she finds will determine what color the actual boot is. I may even switch to black. We'll just have to wait and see! I also asked to have a strip of elastic put in to accommodate my swollen legs. Some days my boots fit perfectly, and some days I can't zip them. So that will help alleviate that issue.
But while I'm confessing my boot purchases to you all... I should also admit that I absolutely ordered both of the these last week too:

So yeah. Maybe I need help. But probably I just really need a horse. I could probably get one if I stopped buying boots.

Thursday's Threads

Outfit Day! It's another overcast chilly day here. But they're telling me it will feel like Summer tomorrow. For at least a day. So yay? In the meantime, it's still sweater weather here. But lightweight sweaters at least!

I try to balance out the fact that I'm wearing a sweater with pretty springy colors at least.

Top: Cupio

I haven't decided if I love this pale pink sweater. I like the idea of it, but it kind of lays funny. I think the material should have been slightly heavier maybe.

Jeans: Romeo + Juliet

I thought these pearl accents were super cute on these pants! They have a cuffed bottom which feels summery to me.

Shoes: Steve Madden

I actually found these at DSW with a YELLOW tag! Do you know what the yellow tag means? It means 80% off! That's a bargain my friends. I got them for something like $14. They're stupid comfy too.

Arm Party:
Lefty:

Lefty kept the pearl theme alive with these faux pearl bracelets. I have no idea where they're from, but they're super cute!

Righty:

Righty is donning a gorgeous macrame bracelet from Nicole's Creations. I LOVE the beads on this one! And then other two are both from Ettika. The last one was called a chevron bracelet, but I think they look hearts. So cute!

But that's not all today... Since I actually got to ride last weekend, I have a riding outfit today too!

I forgot to get a boot photo, but I wore my regals, so nothing exciting there.

Helmet: One K Defender Snakeskin- black

 I went with the black helmet today. Figured it matched my boots!

Top: Horsewares

I love this horse face they've been putting on stuff lately. I also really like when polo shirts have zippers. So clearly, this shirt was made just for me.

Belt: Mane Jane

I think I'm going to need to get a new buckle soon. This one's starting to look its age. But I do love my Mane Jane belts!

Breeches: Smartpak Pipers

These are one of the new colors this year. They're a little bolder than the color on my shirt, but they work together. And the trim/knee patches actually match the top almost exactly!

Socks: Sox Trot

I grabbed these from KJ's Creations during her spring sale. I like the Dreamers and Schemers patterns on their socks, but I really prefer this type that are more like nylons.

And that's it for today! I'm not sure yet if I get to ride again this weekend, so I'm not sure if we'll have a riding outfit next week. We'll have to wait and see! Any favorites from this week?

What's Up Wednesday

After several weekends with not much going on, this weekend was pretty full! And it was kind of nice to have a schedule and things to do again.

My dad recently announced his retirement date (June 29th 2018, so close!) and had his very last work trip to China scheduled for a Saturday departure. He normally spends the night at his place in NYC when he's going to be traveling over seas. Thus, he had a couple of theater tickets he couldn't use. I happily took them off his hands! They were for a tiny, little theater the next town over from me called the Ivoryton Playhouse. It has a rich history having been built in 1911 initially as a recreation building for a nearby factory and its workers. It was converted into a theater in 1930 and featured shows starring many well known names over the years. You may have heard of Marlon Brando, Groucho Marx, Katherine Hepburn, or Betty Grable. This month's show is "A Night with Janis Joplin."

I've obviously heard of Janis Joplin, and know some of her music, but I really didn't know much about her story. It was a great show. The actors all had incredible voices and tons of energy. Janis Joplin's story is so tragic, but the show was beautifully done.

Saturday morning I was up bright early to change Jampy's ice boots, but also because I was excited to go ride Bradley again! I'm seriously so ridiculously grateful to Katie for letting me ride him.

It was pretty hot Saturday in the high 80's with 90% humidity, so we didn't work for too long. But we did practice coming down on the bit and lifting that giant barrel of his. He was so good! After riding he got a rinse off and we went out for some grass.

I spent the rest of the day playing with my ponies at home. We had to dodge some snapping turtles that may or may not have been laying eggs in my ring.

But everyone had a nice walk and a good grooming.

I also cleaned up one corner of the feed room to make room for my new cabinet! I've been on the hunt for a nice cabinet to have in the feed room. I didn't want plastic or metal. But I also didn't want something made of particle board because that would fall apart in no time out in a damp barn. Looking for solid wood cabinets that weren't all fancy was a pretty tough feat. I eventually found one I loved, but it was going to be close to $1000 by the time I got it delivered to me. AND it came unfinished so I would have to poly it myself. But I had decided that was going to be the one since it was exactly what I wanted. I also decided to wait until after the winter to get it because it would be too cold for the poly to seal properly otherwise. I was just about to get organized and order the cabinet when an old acquaintance of mine posted one she found on the side of the road to her Facebook page.

She refinishes old furniture for a living, so she paid a friend to schlep it back to her workspace. I messaged her immediately and asked what she wanted for it. Lol. I paid $100. Granted it was the easiest money she ever made since it was free for her, other than whatever she had to pay to get it brought back to her shop. But $100 compared to $1000 was a great deal for me. It's not EXACTLY what I wanted, but it's pretty close, and will definitely do the job. I scheduled to pick it up Sunday morning at 10:30. Saturday afternoon/evening was pouring rain, and I needed some time to get the space ready.

Sunday morning I got up early as usual for Jampy's ice change. I had plenty of time to kill so I stopped over at my trainer's to pick up my Voltaire. Trainer got back from Florida this week. No, Badger isn't back yet. He is staying in Florida through June with another trainer. It's a long story. But at least my saddle is home! We talked a bit about Badger's future, and we're hoping this month will bring some answers to those questions.

I stopped for a coffee quick before returning home to wait for my friend to arrive. He was helping me retrieve the cabinet. Definitely not a one person job! It made the trip home easily, fitting perfectly in the bed of my truck. (Trucks are so convenient to have!) And it also fit perfectly in the space I had made for it.

The original cabinet I wanted was a bit taller than this one. But this will do just fine. I quickly made a few trips back and forth to the house to get all my boots to stuff inside. This was probably meant to be an older computer desk because it has a slide out tray build in. You know what that tray is perfect for?

Half chaps (in the back) and crops! What a nice little feature!

So I fit all my helmets in the top (excluding my show helmets) and boots everywhere else. Also excluding my show boots and the Regals. I'm excited because all of these boots have been residing in my dining room, and I was looking like a legit hoarder. (I mean I kind of am obviously, but I don't want to LOOK like one!)

I got everything tucked away in there just in time to meet up with a friend of mine who rides at the same barn as Katie and Bradley. We had so much fun riding together! That's the one thing I miss about having horses at home. You don't really get to ride with friends much.

Bradley and the horse my friend rides, Tally, used to live at another barn together, so they know each other from way back when. Katie actually used to ride Tally at the old place! Such a small world. I love that picture of them about to touch noses.

Bradley was a little tired from his work on Saturday, but he was still a very good boy. My buddy and I were on FOREVER (without realizing it) just walking around and catching up on life. But it was a cool day, right about 70 degrees, so the horses didn't mind hanging out.

I got home around 4 and took my boys out for their walks. Rio had a graze too. And then I headed over to the lake for the first band night of the year!

view from my walk over

These guys are actually good!

Of course I had a lobster roll for dinner! And I was surprised to see some family friends there that I didn't know were coming. So it was a lovely way to wind down the weekend.

Monday was really rainy. It had stopped by the evening when I got home from work, but I gave the ponies a day in anyway because I had a bunch of errands that needed running, and the ring was a bit muddy. They didn't seem to care as long as I fed them.

It's been cool here, barely hitting 70. So last night when I took Jamp out for his walk he turned into a Jamp Kite and I had to bring him back in right away. He really lost his poo there for awhile, and I was really worried he might have set himself back with his feet. I was also worried we might not make it back in the barn alive... Fortunately, nobody died on the way in. Though he only had two feet on the ground at a given time, he stayed out of my space. He gets a few points for that at least. And this morning his legs didn't seen any worse for the wear. He still has had a slight pulse in both legs, and they were about the same as they've been. So I don't think he did any damage. At least I hope not. I also hope he keeps himself together today for his walk. I really don't want to have to start him on sedation if I can help it. Hopefully this recovery process will move itself along so he can get back to being a horse again. Have any of you dealt with laminitis? How long does it normally take to strengthen the laminae back up and let them do horse things again?

That's about it from here really... P had to go to the vet last week because she had a nail grow too close to her pad. Turns out she was also brewing an ear infection, so I'm glad we went! She's on the mend.

and surrounded by friends I guess?

How was your week? Do anything fun this weekend? Horse shows? Something else? Tell me all about it in the comments!