Thursday's Threads: Travel Edition

It's travel day! So it was completely unintentional but I actually match my luggage today... I'm such a dork.

I know it's a lot for a long weekend... but my helmet and boots are so bulky.

I was stupid excited when Vera Bradley made a print pretty close to my barn colors. And I waited very patiently for this pattern to get to 50% off and then I jumped on the new luggage set. I think I should have gotten two large bags though as they aren't actually that big. I'll pick one up after the holidays when they're on super sale. Anyway, we're not here to talk about my luggage. Let's see what I'm wearing to the airport today:

Layers! This cardigan isn't the most airport friendly as it has a metal zipper and a magnet inside. So I'll have to take it off to get through security. But not the end of the world.

Sweater: Sweet Rain

I LOVE this cardigan airport unfriendliness aside. But I definitely shrunk it some in the wash. (Yes I know I've gained weight, but I don't think my arms got longer!) I'm not sure if it's still out there in the wild, but if it is, I may try to get a size medium.

T-shirt: Sport Horse Lifestyle (I think)

I layered my sweater with this silly tee shirt that I think came from Sport Horse Lifestyle. I think it's a pretty accurate description of my riding skills. Fake it till you make it my friends!

Belt: LV

I used to plan to wear either a C4 belt or one with an easily removable buckle to the airport, but the last few times they asked that I remove the entire belt anyway, so I didn't bother today. This one is cute and matches the tee shirt nicely.

Jeans: True Religion

These photograph really bright, but they're actually a really dark inky blue with a coating on top. I think the waxy coating is what photographs funny. These are a favorite pair of mine.

Shoes: Steven by Steve Madden

These are from Steve Madden's fancy line. Which is kind of funny because they kind of look like they might be from the juniors line. But either way, they're super cute, and I got them on clearance at Marshalls for the junior line pricing.

Arm Party!
Left:

Lefty is wearing a photo bracelet featuring my best friend along with my trusty apple watch. I wanted to wear my Kate Spade #bestie bracelet too, but it's currently temporarily in an undisclosed (to me) location.

Righty:

Righty is wearing a pretty leather wrap bracelet from Blackcat Leather which is a local artisan right in my little town! The other is a vintage gucci bracelet, that I absolutely love.

So that's what I'm wearing to travel in today, but fear not, I also have a riding outfit to share!

It does not match the decor...

Helmet: One K

Jampy wanted to help model my helmet. I love that his tongue is out like that. He's such a weirdo.

Sweatshirt: Gray and Co Designs

It's no secret I love high octane coffee. And ponies.

Belt: generic, buckle Ovation

I used this cute Ovation buckle with a faux alligator belt to match my boots of course!

Breeches: SmartPak Pipers

I really like the gel patch Pipers. I have a few pair now. This one is a pretty close match with my sweatshirt!

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

These don't really match my outfit, but they spoke volumes about my day at work.

Boots: Caldene

You guys haven't seen these in awhile! I really love these boots, but the right one wrinkled the wrong way at the ankle and is completely digging into my leg. Any suggestions on how to fix that? Or do I just keep wearing them and they'll work it out? It's fine once I'm on but walking around is torture!

And that's it for today! Any favorites from today? Big plans for the weekend? I'm off to enjoy some sunshine and my yellow pony!

What's Up Wednesday

It's my FAKE FRIDAY! Woohooooooo!!!! Sorry everyone who still has two more days of work... I'm off to Florida tomorrow to visit baby Badger. I haven't seen him in forever! So excited! But that's not what's we're here for is it? Let's catch up on the past week.
I took over chore duty Thursday and Friday so my helper could have a long weekend with his family. I actually enjoy barn chores when I'm not rushing to get some place. I didn't have to join the family for turkey until 2:30 (or so I thought) so I wasn't rushed AND I had time to ride quickly. Less time than I wanted though because I had to wait for the ground to thaw out. Winter is the worst.

So I was super proud of myself for being on time...

And then as I was walking to the house to shower and get ready I saw that I had missed a text from my brother saying I should get to his house closer to 2 than 2:30. Yeah... It was 1:45. I texted back that they best start without me. Oops. But seriously, who changes the time at the last minute? Fortunately, everyone was just getting seated at the table when I got there, so i wasn't actually late after all.
It was a lovely meal but I forgot to get any feast photos. Sorry all, but let's be real. You see one Thanksgiving table you've seen them all. I was home by 6:30 to feed too, so it was a nice early day. Friday was another cold morning. So I decided after feeding that I should just crawl back into bed and do chores a little later when it was warmer.

This guy was pretty happy to hang out in bed!

The forecast called for mid fifties by late morning, so I figured the horses would prefer hanging outside a little later anyway. I was right. They stayed out forever! I rode both of them afterwards, but just flatted as it was getting a little late.
I can't even remember what I spent the morning doing on Saturday... All I know is that I didn't step foot in a retail store all weekend! I got on to ride in the afternoon and was hoping to jump Jampy around a little. Unfortunately, the local rafter of turkeys was at the neighbors house begging for a snack. I'm sure you can imagine what Jamp thinks about a rafter of full grown turkeys. I waited until they'd wandered back to the woods to get on, but Sir-Spooks-a-Lot knew they were out there somewhere. We had a pretty useless ride.

I cantered a few tiny jumps but decided to wait until Sunday for a real school. Freakin' turkeys!
Sunday I was up normal time to get some errands done. After that I treated myself to breakfast in town. I forgot it was the first weekend of the Holiday Market, so I was surprised to see Mrs Claus wandering around.

There were also some fiddlers:

My town is seriously the cutest. It's so small town CT, you almost want to roll your eyes. But it's adorable, and I love living here.
After my late breakfast it was time to ride. I decided to throw my wild stallion on the lunge line first. Jamp hates being outside and has never figured out that he can use his free time to get the ya-ya's out. So I have to let him do that on the lunge line every so often. I'm glad I did... He was wild! He even bucked a few times! (Jamp is very much not a bucker.) He was a freshy for quite awhile, but eventually settled down and I got on.

Jamp is honestly a really, really easy horse to ride. Except for that he's not. It's so hard to find the right horse in there. This time of year, he's usually a little too up and tense. But after the lunge I had a pretty tired horse. And you have to ride tired Jamp completely differently than worried Jamp. He's a little Jekyll and Hyde. I joke with my trainer that he's the hardest easy horse I've ever had.

It was kind of nice to jump tired Jamp around though. Not gonna lie... I haven't seen him in awhile! I kept the jumps small, I don't think any were bigger than 2'9". We haven't done much jumping at all in the last few weeks, so no need to break the old man. We did have one long one. I asked him to move up and he pretended not to hear me...

He decided to listen after that. It's a lot of work to stretch that long!

I'm sad to think this might have been our last chance to jump around until spring. It looks like winter is going to actually show up upon my return from Florida. But I guess we'll just wait and see. I want to make sure I get those dinosaurs put away before the snow though! I want to keep them around awhile.
After jumping Jampy around, I went to get Rio out. He tried to hide.

I let him finish his nap but we did get to have a nice ride. Look how handsome he is!

Take that EPM! Maybe next year we'll see if we can get that canter a little less hollow... I've been asking him to trot in a little more of a frame and actually use himself and it's been going well. But he's not interested in packaging up at the canter. I don't think he's strong enough, and at 21 he doesn't need to do anything that's too hard for him.
We were able to ride every night this week after work, which I was happy about since they're going to have five days off while I'm gone. We'll see what the weather does if it's longer... I'm hoping not!
But the best thing to happen this week is that my wash stall is all put back together and mold free!

Yay!

Did you have a long weekend, or did you have to work after Thanksgiving? Are you getting ready to wrap up riding for the winter? Do anything fun this weekend? Let's chat in the comments!

Truthful Tuesday

You guys, I was SO well behaved on Black Friday. I even made it through Amanda's (the900Facebookony) epic list of deals without buying ANYTHING! I was slightly less good for small business Saturday. There were a couple things I wanted to grab for my blogger gift exchange present, and whilst on the site I stocked up on a few things for the new trailer and the barn. But none of that was too bad at least. Sunday night is when things took a turn...

I was sitting down after I successfully packed myself up for Florida next weekend. Minding my own business. Paid a couple bills. Snuggled the pups. When it happened. The Connected Rider sent a 25% off SITE WIDE coupon to all current customers. Now this doesn't seem that impressive. Riding Warehouse has been doing that all weekend. BUT... The Connected Rider is one of a very few stores in the country repping the Pioneer boot line. If you don't know what those are, go google them. I'll wait....




Did you find them? I've been lusting after two pair in particular for quite some time. I just last weekend sold my Fama boots to a good friend. AND I've been hoarding all the money I've made over at Used Horse Stuff. Which mostly covered my accidental spending spree... mostly, not entirely. So fingers crossed the other boots I sent to Used Horse Stuff sell quickly. Because I didn't choose one of the two I was wanting. I got both. I know. Someone take away my credit card!

But enough teasing, I guess you'd like to see what I ordered huh? Ok first are these ridiculous ones that I'm stupid excited about:

 I didn't pick any different options here. I went right for the black patent with gold glitter because subtlety just isn't really my thing (at home). I mean, I'm super traditional in the show ring and usually in public. But at home I like to have fun!

And next up are these beauties that I've shown you guys once before:

For this pair, I am getting them in blue though, not brown. I already have brown boots. I sent my blue ones to Used Horse Stuff so obviously there is space in my wardrobe for them. They'll look pretty fab with my blue sparkly Charles Owen don't you think?
So those are my confessions today. I DO clearly have a problem. But there are much worse addictions.

An aside: If anyone wants to buy my extra Hermes saddle (16.5" regular flap) or my very old PJ saddle (16" short flap) that would be really helpful considering my recent confession.

Ok your turn! Anything you need to confess about this past weekend's spendathon? Did you behave and only get gifts for your friends and family or did you have a bad moment like me and get yourself a little something too? Any amazing deals you're dying to share?

Thursday's Threads

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you were able to enjoy the day with people you love and way too much food. I definitely did! My helpers had the day off so I did chores and then rode early before heading over to the family feast. Only problem was half my ring was frozen so we rode on a pretty small circle. Hey, at least we got to ride! Anyway, I like to go in order, so let's start with my horsey outfit.

I was going to wear my green George Morris breeches but it was so cold out, I decided corduroy would be a better choice. It wound up kind of monotone though.

Helmet: Charles Owen AYR8

Favorite! Also, I don't recall having a dimple?

Vest: Avalon Femme

I don't even know where this came from? It was in my closet though, so I'm assuming I bought it at some point.

Shirt: Ariat

Sorry this is kind of an awkward photo of my boobs... But it shows the cute hunt print really well! I think I'm turning into that weird elementary school teacher that wears silly printed shirts all the time (minus the school teacher part). I'm loving this one though!

Belt: Mane Jane

I probably don't need to gush over Mane Jane again do I? You should go get one. Mane Jane is having a black Friday sale: 20% off your order use code Black Friday, plus free shipping over $100.

Breeches: Horsewares

I have these in tan too. If you live anywhere that gets cold, get yourself a pair of these! They're in the clearance section on pretty much any site that carries Horsewares.

Boots: Horka

I really need to wear these more. They're almost as comfy as my Regals now.

Spurs: Centaur
Straps: Ovation

My favorite spurs! And I thought these fun straps were perfect with the distressed boots.

That's it for riding clothes, let's see what I wore to Thanksgiving!

Except you can barely see it because this photo is so dark... Sorry about that. I was told to be at my brother's at 2:30 for our feast. His house is 8 minutes from mine, so I knew I could cut it pretty close. Problem was at 1:45 I got a text that I should be there earlier. At 1:45 I was still in the barn and not yet showered. Thus, I was in a HUGE rush to get ready and had very little time absolutely no time for photos. Nor accessories, so no arm party today either. Booo.

Sweater: Cynthia Rowley

I was able to accessorize with some dog hair though... This sweater is the coziest thing ever. It's actually short sleeves, the sort of bat wing type and it has a hood. I layered a thermal tee underneath to cover my arms. It was cute, but not as cute as I thought it would be. (First time wearing it.)

Belt: Brooks Belts

I think every amateur equestrian is out to brand themselves these days, and at least five of them are making belts. Brooks Belts is, I guess, one of many, but the belts are cute and well made.There are options for buckles which is fun too. It's nice to support small businesses and fellow amateurs.

Jeans: Hudson

I really love Hudson jeans. They do a lot of fun prints and things. They're stupid expensive though. I only get them when I discover them on clearance at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. These however, came from Zulily but that's pretty much the same difference. I love this teal color, and the sort of houndstooth plaid print is really fun.

Boots: Lucky Brand

I got these boots I think two winters ago, and then at one point forgot I owned them. They're fantastic boots. Super soft and comfy. You'll see them frequently this season I think!

And that's it for today! Any favorites from today's outfits? How was your Thanksgiving? Have you taken advantage of any sales yet? I'm about to head over to The 900 Facebook Pony's famous black Friday list, so I can pretty much kiss my bank account goodbye right now...