Snow Leopard Harlow Blouse on a Cloudy Day!

First things first--I am in a bit of a funk today. I have heard that if you get no sleep one night and you get plenty of sleep the next, it doesn't matter because you actually are fueled with the sleep from the night before last. So right now I am running on the fumes of the two hours of sleep I got on the night of the fire.

I also PROMISE to respond to all of your awesome comments since yesterday afternoon, but it may have to wait until later this evening. But if you regularly read my blog, you know I am pretty good about responding to everyone!

By the way, since so many of you are keeping my neighbors in your thoughts and prayers, they seem to be doing okay, but still have so much to cope with. We walked over there last night and their home is a shell and there is trash, debris, and burned items everywhere. The home on the left of theirs even sustained some damage (the shutters actually melted from the heat of the fire).

My outfit today is okay. Neither here nor there, really. I like it...and think it is professional and pretty. But it is not as colorful as I usually am. But since I am not feeling all that colorful myself, it is a good mood-matcher!

This is the polyvore of the outfit. The cords, blouse, and belt are all J. Crew. The coat is actually a Banana Republic trench I got a few years ago for a song. The watch is my Fossil watch and the shoes are Nine West that look exactly like these from J. Crew.

The link to the polyvore is here: http://www.polyvore.com/snow_leopard_harlow_blouse_on/set?id=7137804

Now for those of you that are regular followers of this blog may recall seeing this blouse on me before, but belted with a yellow-patent belt. The last time I wore this blouse, I also wore the claire pants in white, the grey herringbone aubrey jacket, and the etta peep-toe suede shoes.

The link to the last time I wore the blouse is here: http://mysuperfluities.blogspot.com/2009/01/sophisticated-in-school.html

I personally am amazed at how I styled the outfit very similarly, even though I hadn't intended to. I knew that I would use my new patent belt in dusty rose (thank you, Ashley) to belt it but I thought I would be making a whole new look. Well, not really.

Doesn't matter because I like the look. I will point out one thing...I do notice a difference in the way pants fit me. I believe I weighed almost 7 pounds more in the January version of this outfit. I think I lost all of my weight recently in my lower-half, which if you are a pear like me means it's time to CELEBRATE. Nothing like a picture to remind you of how far you have come!

Here is the outfit with the trench unbuttoned. I think (now that I look at the picture) that I will add a colorful brooch to the lapel of this jacket. I bet that would really make the jacket seem less boring!

Here is the jacket closed. A nice, well-fitting jacket, but definitely in need of something! If the brooch approach (heehee) doesn't work, maybe a fun, lightweight scarf could...

Just so you know, the jacket is more accurately depicted (color-wise) in the second shot. Something funky went on with my camera's flash in the first photo (the one with the jacket open) so all the colors are off.

Please Keep My Neighbors in Your Thoughts and Prayers...

There will be no outfit of the day for me today. I will post the outfit I wore yesterday, but I had no energy this morning to put towards making an outfit. (The one I am wearing is fine, but I just didn't have the heart to photograph and make a polyvore for it.)

Last night, after getting home from yoga at 8:15 pm, I decided to start dinner for myself. I went into the sunroom to talk with Jim and Rex, and I saw a firetruck coming down the cul-de-sac. To me, this is not really anything special. We live two houses from a nursing home and they ALWAYS (unfortunately) get visits from our local firehouse. Assuming that the truck was there for them, I started to move back to the kitchen. That is when I saw it, the bright orange flames. Freaking out, I ran out of the house down in the direction of the fire. I wanted desperately to know the people in the house were okay (must be because I am a mom). I was the third on-looker. This house was located five houses from us.

The other two people outside assured me that the family had moved out and were remodeling the home. The firemen needed to be sure so they (VERY BRAVELY) jumped through the flames and started busting windows open. There were fireworks going off, flames jumping through the air, plumes of smoke, and here they were, risking their lives to make sure everyone was okay.

Once the firemen determined the fire was too out of control (happened really fast--like 2 minutes after I showed up on the scene), they moved to put out what had become a towering inferno. This fire had grown so large that the houses on either side were in danger of become casualties themselves. The trees were started to burn and the gas line had exploded (that was awful to see). We live on a VERY forested area (my backyard, as well as the burning house and others, back onto protected parkland), so this means with the right conditions a fire can spread rapidly.

By 11 pm the fire was out (mostly), but even this morning, the house's foundations and foliage were still smoldering.

The family was not in the house, but they obviously still own and love their property. Please, if you could, pray or keep in your thoughts this family who lost so much last night.

Here is what the Washington Post had to say about this fire:

Fierce brush fires raged across sections of Prince George's and Fairfax counties yesterday, threatening houses and prompting vigorous efforts to protect property.
A woman living near the Fairfax fire, which was in the Baileys Crossroads area, said the blaze there appeared to have engulfed a house in the ***** block of ***** Lane.
It's "such a huge fire," said the woman. She said the neighborhood, off Seminary Road, is known as Dowden Terrace and is heavily wooded.
By last night when the Fairfax fire was reported, the day's strong winds had apparently abated.
****************************************************

The rest of the article mentions (ANOTHER) fire from PG County:
But fire officials in Prince George's said the wind helped spread a brush fire in the 9200 block of Allentown Road.
About 3 p.m., the swiftly moving fire was heading toward back yards of homes on a cul-de-sac in the 3400 block of Wayneswood Road, said Mark Brady, a spokesman for the county's fire and emergency medical services department.
Brady said the fire consumed sheds, patio furniture and other yard items.
It was a few feet from homes when firefighters arrived and stopped the advance, he said.