Thursday's Threads: Shark Week Edition

Happy Thursday friends! It's warming back up here, so I'm much less grumpy than on Tuesday. I think some rain today, though it should be over by riding time this evening. But you're not here to talk about the weather, you wanna see some clothes! I have three outfits to share since I ran THREE miles this morning. And I didn't die. It was a close call, but I made it. I'm going to start with my work outfit today, since it's the most Shark Week relevant.

Sharks! You all should know by now I can't pass up a good theme. Just can't do it.

Dress: Peach Love

I have this dress in a pineapple and watermelon print, and it's really comfy. So when I saw it also came with sharks and was on sale, I clicked add to cart with almost no second thoughts. Normally elastic waists of any kind are the worst, but for whatever reason, this one works ok. And even if not... SHARKS!

Shoes: TUK Shoes

Heh... I mean... Yeah. I've had these on the watch list for a long time, but couldn't really justify a need for shark shoes. Then my size sold out and I was a little sad. BUT THEN, I saw the dress (on sale) and my size had been returned! Fate. I'm telling you. (Sorry about the pale legs. I ride horses.)

Arm Party!
Lefty:

So I don't have any shark jewelry. (Maybe next year!) But when I think of sharks, I think ocean, beaches, boating... And with all of those things you think sunny, right? So a sunglasses bracelet seemed fitting. This one is from Kate Spade. You've seen it before, it's one of my favorites.

Righty:

Righty is donning some shark colored bracelets. The first is one I knotted myself, and the other I think came from Zulily? Not 100% on that. I found it in the jewelry box!

That's what I am wearing at work today, but don't worry, there's plenty more to see! Here's my riding outfit from last night:

Yes, that's right. I rode with my shirt untucked. The horror! But these very ancient breeches are super high waisted (and maybe a bit small in the waist...) so I folded them over, and you can't tuck in such a circumstance. Before you say, how is this shark week related? I will show you my sharky secret:

Shark Socks! These are from dreamers and schemers. I probably should have grabbed a photo prior to putting them on. My calves are so big they kind of distort the socks. Still awesome though. Ok, let's look at the rest:

T-shirt: OTTB Outfitters

I saw this tee when OTTB Outfitters was having a big sale and decided to grab one. It's cute, and I love the message.

Breeches: Ariat

These bad boys are OLD. I kind of miss the looser fit of this style. I don't miss the waist up to my boobs however.

Boots: Ariat Heritage Ellipse

Some real talk here. I got these boots last winter, but they totally didn't fit. I've had them sitting around trying to decide if I should sell them. I've lost a few pounds since then, and thought I'd give them another try. Low and behold, they fit! Yay! I love the snakeskin accent at the top and didn't even realize until yesterday that there's a little patent piping on the toe caps. Very cute. They hurt to break in, but also seemed to soften up pretty quickly. I'm glad I held on to them.

Helmet: One K Defender Snakeskin

I've been curious about the One K helmets for awhile. They seem to be less popular than the Charles Owen or Samshield but I'm always game to try new things (sort of). I thought the snakeskin might be fun to wear with my crocodile trimmed boots (and now these Ariats too!) but the price tag was a deterrent. Tack of the Day had them recently for under $200 and I decided to give it a try. They do run a touch big. I was worried that choosing the small might be too small, but it's actually a good fit. I might even see about getting a smaller liner as it's borderline a little loose? I'm not sure. It doesn't move around, but I think if I did some head banging it would move. Anyway, I rode in it last night, and I am a HUGE fan now. The air flow is incredible, possibly better than my Samshield even. It also sits down lower, so looks less bulky. I still prefer the look of the Samshield, so would definitely not switch for showing, but this helmet is one I'll wear a lot for schooling.

And lastly, my running outfit, which sadly is not at all shark week related.

I kept this photo low light, cause I can assure you, running tights do not flatter me. But they don't ride up like shorts. Comfort trumps attractiveness when it comes to running.

Tank: Hind

Nothing too special about this one. It's a very light weight, moisture wicking material. And it somehow matches the tights almost exactly which is surprising since they're not the same brand.

Tights: Kyodan

These are kind of fun. There's some pink up there by the waistline and the bottoms are actually mesh. They're nice and cool feeling even when you're all hot from the torture of running.

Sneakers: Mizuno Wave Sayonara

I probably don't have to keep telling you this, but I will anyway. I LOVE my Mizuno Wave Sayonaras. I have a few pair, and they all make my feet really happy. I have much less hip and knee pain when using these sneakers versus most of the others I've tried.

And that's finally it for today! Have you been watching Shark Week? (I haven't really sadly.) Have any favorites from today? What's your helmet preference? Have you tried the One K's?

What's Up Wednesday

It was a mostly quiet week here at the farm. It was pretty hot (yes!) so I didn't want to overdo it with the ponies. Not that Romey was in any danger of that!
Jampy just flatted most of the week. He's really starting to feel stronger and I can get a much bigger trot out of him than earlier in the summer. His canter is still so-so, but also better than it was. My weekend helper stuck the fake cats up on the rails of my diagonal jump, and I thought it would be fun to get a picture over it. Assuming he'd jump it...

He didn't care at all. I was thinking he'd take a look and I'd get a really cute jump, but no. He literally just cantered over. Oh Jampy. He jumped a little cuter out of the combination though:

It's a terrible screen grab from video, and I couldn't get it to stop at the right part of the jump. But you can tell his knees were going up at least. And he even has an ear forward! I'm thinking I should probably put the noseband back on soon now that his face is healed up. On the other hand, I'm super lazy, and kind of enjoying having less buckles to deal with. Maybe I'll wait until it's obvious I need it.

Romey is starting to come around. I have no media of him this week though, sorry! He's not attacking me at the mounting block anymore which is really nice. I don't share his sense of humor clearly. The last two rides when I asked him to walk away from the block he did so immediately and willingly, so that's definitely progress. He'll halt and walk off throughout our ride. Unfortunately, he's still fighting about the trot. Once he decides he's ready, he'll trot off just fine. But it's completely on his terms at the moment, which I'm not ok with. Our vet appointment last week had to be postponed until this coming Friday, so I'm curious to see if there's any reason for that stuff other than attitude. We shall see!

Rio of course is perfect. I've been riding him every other day, and very lightly. I don't want to stress the old man in the heat. But he's been happy, and especially enjoys when we "walk" out on the grass. Obviously there's a lot more eating than walking happening though.

I got to sit on Badger Saturday. Unfortunately, he's tack walking again. So that's all we got to do. He gets new shoes again this week and we'll see where he's at with that hoof. If he has enough growth and he's feeling better, he'll go back to Vermont next week. If he doesn't, he'll come to my house to tack walk for two weeks. Much better to do that than send him to the horse show and throw away all that money. Plus, then I'll get to have Badger at home!!! Woohoo!

The only fun and exciting thing I did this past week/weekend was our family's annual lobster fest. Normally it's in August, but they moved it up this year to accommodate my step mom's family visiting. It was so nice to see everyone! She really has a great family. As usual, my dad went a little overboard in the purchasing of lobsters... This is everyone cleaning up the leftovers:

I'm not complaining though. I got to take home enough lobster to feed me for 3 full days. YUM! And in case you're wondering what ridiculous thing I wore to lobster fest:

Lobster sandals obviously! These really are something. I'm not sure what exactly. But definitely something.

And that's all that's up this Wednesday. What's up with you?

Truthful Tuesday: the one in which I complain about being cold

So it's July, right? The time of year where I see and hear lots of people complaining about various heat waves. We had a stretch of 90+ degree days going strong this past week. I'm gonna be honest with you. I LOVE the heat. Seriously. I do. I love every second of it. (I mean, maybe not if I lived somewhere hotter for longer.)
There are of course exceptions. I don't like to run in the heat. But then again, I don't really like running ever, so there's that. I don't like it TOO hot for working the ponies. Not for my sake, but theirs. I have mostly dark horses, and I imagine it's extra hard on them. But me personally? 99% of the time, I love the hot weather.
Somehow though, here in Connecticut, it went from 85 degrees on Sunday to 55 on Monday. Sure, 55 degrees is awesome if it's, say, February. It's also not so bad first thing in the morning. But when that's the high in July? This is where I have a problem. I have Hashimotos disease which makes me over sensitive to being cold. Which leads to today's confession:
I'm freaking freezing, and I'm turning into a grumpy old shrew.
Seriously! I was pretty good through day one. But day two? Today, I woke up grumpy. I got to work, which has been a poo-show to say the least, and now I'm like mega grump.
If someone could bring me a cupcake and some hot cocoa, I'd be extremely grateful!
So that's my confession today. I'm wearing a sweater in July and super unhappy about it.

What kind of weather makes you grumpy? Or are you immune to weather related angst?

Thursday's Threads

Outfit DAY! I'm embracing our heat wave and actually wearing some of my cute summer dresses to work this week.

I love wrap dresses because for the most part, they fit whether you're plus or minus a few pounds. I'm currently plus about 20, but this dress doesn't show it! Good dress.

Dress: Fantastic Fawn

I got this dress and a second one in a different pattern from the now out of business Moxie.Style. While my wallet may not agree, I miss Moxie tons. I love these dresses and Jackie, the owner, offered them up at great prices. This dress may be a tad short for work, but we're pretty lenient here, and besides, I sit a desk most of the day anyway.

Shoes: Kate Spade

Sorry about my disgusting feet, but how cute are these shoes?! They're jelly shoes, and as they literally say, they're FUN!

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is wearing the cutest ever Pug bracelet. It has an adorable pug face on one end and pug butt (complete with curly tail) on the other.

Righty:

Righty is donning an obviously FUN bracelet also from Kate Spade. I love how quirky she is. Though I do wish the letters were the same colors as the shoes.

I also have a pretty silly riding outfit to share:

Yep, pink again! But this time NEON!

Helmet: Charles Owen AYR8

You saw this guy last week. He's finally getting his day in the sun! Literally! Ha!

Tank Top: Signature Tshirts

This awesome 80's inspired tank has those weird super wide arm holes that I didn't realize it had when I ordered it... But I wore a black cami underneath which made me feel ok about it. It might be fun with a neon pink cami too. I'm way too old to have my bra showing though. Do any of you youngsters even know what those things are on my shirt?!

Belt: Royal Sports

Have you all seen the Facebook ads for Royal Sports tack? I was curious about them as the prices are crazy low. They're not top quality leather, it's Indian, and vegetable dyed, but they're pretty nice for the money. They had a large 60% off sale so I grabbed a couple bridles and a two belts. This is one of the belts. I love that it's patent leather AND has fancy stitching.

Breeches: Tuffrider

These are on sale absolutely everywhere for around $30. I got mine awhile back and paid a little more, but I've worn them enough that I'm not sad about it. I like the gel patches on these.

Paddock Boots and Half Chaps: Broghini

I warned you last week about these. Are they as amazing as you imagined?! Yes, yes they are. Pink piping AND pink stitching, Patent leather... What more could you want?! Oh and also I paid under $60 for BOTH the half chaps and the boots total.

Obviously, if I'm going to be all decked out in neon pink and black, I had to carry my matching stick:

This was one of those I need $15 more dollars for free shipping purchases. No regrets here!

That's what I'm wearing today! How about you? Any favorites from today? Thoughts on Kate Spade and her quirky accessories?

What's Up Wednesday

Wednesday... Thursday... I don't even know what day it is! My morning was spent watching my computer update itself rather than typing out an exciting edition of What's up Wednesday. Super fun. Like watching grass grow.

No kidding it will take awhile. An hour and a half to be exact. Should have slept in!

This past week was far more fun and exciting than my morning computer update thankfully. As you all know, I've been having some troubles with Romey and his unwillingness to move. But I've been trying every day. And I think I may know what some of the issue was. Many months ago I started Romey on a supplement called Total Calm and Focus. I haven't found that it really makes him lots calmer (he's more or less a pretty chill guy, except for when he's not) but I think it does help with focus quite a bit. The place I order it from made a mistake and sent me a one day tube in error the last time I ordered. Because I ordered a bit late, I ran out of the daily powder before the replacement arrived. THEN, the replacement was wrong too. So he was off it for almost two weeks. Just about the same amount of time that my #inanimateottb problems arose. The correct item finally arrived Monday, so he's been back on for two days now. And today, he finally moved. I got him to walk pretty willingly for a decent amount of time. We walked, we halted, we walked again. There was a battle initially, but he finally gave in. We battled once more over the trot, but he gave in there too. We shall see if he continues to improve or if I just got lucky today....
But let's not dwell on Romey. It was a busy weekend full of ponies mostly, and a trip to the local carnival.
Saturday morning started early. I had a few horses to braid for Derby day at a local horse show. I planned to meet them at 6:30 to get started. Fortunately, the local venue is the barn where I grew up riding, which is only 15 minutes from my house.

I haven't done tails in awhile, but they all came out great (phew!).

I was done braiding by 10:00 am but I stuck around and watched for a little bit. My friend's daughter (also the junior from my green eyed monster post last week) was catch riding a medium pony in the 2'6" derby. I was dying to witness the #ponysquishing! She did a great job with him, and they wound up 5th.

Then I went to leave and got stuck waiting for a horse to load that REALLY didn't want to. There's one long driveway to get in and out of this venue, and that driveway is NOT the place to load horses.

I couldn't believe that's where these people decided to load. Thankfully the second horse got right on the trailer.
And then it was back home to work my own kids!

Jampy had a jump school, and he was mostly great. I say mostly because he did for some reason keep spooking down the one line I have set up. Eventually he got over whatever it was that was scaring him.

He's definitely getting stronger and jumping better. Hopefully he'll keep it up! I think we're ready to start putting the jumps up a little more. Nothing crazy, but I'd like to get him jumping around 3' so MAYBE we can get to a horse show. Or maybe he'll just be a derpy model forever:

Rio was perfect as always.

Even if he did want to meander the barn before getting untacked. He's such a voyeur, I think he was just checking out the new neighbors.

After ponies, I headed out the carnival a few towns over. I wasn't sure if I was going to go, so didn't make plans to meet up with anyone. But I had a great time on my own. I played some games:

In between gaming I stuffed my face with a baked potato and then more than my fair share of cotton candy. By the end of the night, I accumulated all sorts of crap prizes. I won this magical creature:

My friend asked me what I was going to do with it. I had no answer for her other than it was awesome. I mean, do you need a reason to have a neon green unicorn? Perhaps it shall be the new Winthrop Corner mascot.
I also won poop emojis for the pups and stocked up on candy apples for the tall kids:

Sunday morning I slept in a little cause I'm lazy. Then headed to town for a breakfast sandwich and the farmer's market.

There's a stand there that always has carrots, and they gave me a bag full of carrot greens for the ponies. They really made out well with the snacks this weekend!
Then it was back home for more riding. Rio and Jamp just flatted, and Romey pretty much did nothing while I tried to ride him. Thus, Romey lost his candy apple privileges. Jampy devoured his:

Rio ignored his. He normally likes them, but he can be picky. I gave his to Jamp eventually. No point letting it go to waste.
Post pony time I decided to walk down to the lake to listen to the band for a bit and have a lobster roll.

I would eat a lobster roll from the Snack Shack everyday if I could.... So buttery! So delicious. Monday brought high humidity and temps in the 90's so we've been taking it semi easy. We're still riding every day, but keeping it short and easy. It should break by Friday, so I'm hoping to jump Jampy around after work.
And that's what's up this Wednesday (or Thursday as the case may be). What's up with you?