My Skillz and My Scarf

Scarf season is coming and while I feel like most people feel happy about Fall, I am not one of them. I want endless summer and  I guess that is why I pay crazy rent to live in the Bay Area. Contrary to popular belief though it does get cold here (like 50!) so I have to pull out a scarf every once in awhile. But I can't tell if this scarf is too bulky. (It doesn't look too bulky in this pic, but keep scrolling).

You can tell a little bit more how bulky it is in this picture below, and you can just ignore my robotic poses (however if we ever meet, I'm more than happy to share my robot dancing skillz with you, I practice at least 10 minutes a day while dancing with my Kindergartners). But try not to be too distracted, focus on the scarf around my neck. Too bulky??

Leopard Print: Classy or Trashy?

 One of the very first questions I ever had for the Duplex was about the appropriateness of leopard print (see here).

Still, six months later, I still don't know the answer.  

Cardigan: TJ Maxx T-shirt: Shade Belt: Thrift Store 

Jeans: Gap Outlet Shoes: TJ Maxx

So, what do you think...classy or trashy? Is leopard print something that can be work appropriate?

READER SUBMISSION

One thing is for sure.  We LOVE meeting new roommates.  Today we have Becky here from That's What's Up needing some roommate advice on lipstick.  I can't wait to see what you guys have to say because I have been wondering the same thing!

When I was itty-bitty, I use to sneak into my mom's bathroom, climb on top of her vanity, and dig into her makeup collection as one would a Thanksgiving Feast. No, I actually wouldn't eat it. But a lot of it did end up mangled in some way after I'd gotten my pudgy little fingers all over it. Generally I would be caught in the act by my mother--mascara brush in hand, 90s eye colors all up on my eyelids (and eyebrows... and forehead...), eyeliner everywhere but above my eyelashes, and most importantly lipstick. Lipstick everywhere! Enough lipstick to thoroughly lipstickify every resident of a thriving senior living community. The look of shock on my mother's face would melt into laughter as she swipe all that color from my cheeks. So began my love of makeup.


But somewhere between kindergarten and high school I developed a fear of lipstick. No other makeup presents the trouble that lipstick does. Nor does any other accessory have the same amount of power as lipstick. It can make or break a whole look, regardless of how cute the outfit is. I've seen it transform an "Oh no, I didn't have time to do my makeup before work" day into a glorious success in 5 seconds flat. I've also seen it transform a very sweet looking face into that of a Las Vegas showgirl at midnight--if you get my drift.

Lately I've been experimenting to try and build up that love of and confidence in lipstick that I had as a child. But I don't know exactly how to go about this. (First off, why am I always wearing aves?)

So here's what I need to know, ladies. Are there rules to lipsticking? I mean...Can a blonde pull of coral? Should hot pink be confined to the Spring and Summer? How about nude lipstick--how and when do you wear that?
Can you help a sister out and tell me what's up with the lipstick rules?

Have a question for the Duplex?  Email us at asktheduplex@gmail.com

Lunchable

It is only fourth week of school and I'm already running out of lunch ideas. My school is a Nut Free school, which means I can't pack peanut butter and jelly which has always been my go to (although I have been packing sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches, have you guys had that stuff? It's pretty good). Anyway, I've eaten the turkey sandwich pictured below for the past two weeks and I'm about burned out on it.

I should be a hand model, look at those George Costanza hands.

What do you eat for lunch? What is your go-to? I am in serious need of some ideas.

Minnie

Every time I put this shirt on my husband says, "Hey Minnie" and I always roll my eyes and retort, "Oh, hey Mickey" (good come back, huh?).  

I never really thought much of it until a few weeks ago when two people on the same exact day commented with, "Hey, that is an..... interesting shirt... it reminds me of Minnie Mouse" and "That's a big bow....uh...did you put it on there?".  Then that same week I heard Michael Kors say on Project Runway that no one should ever receive inspiration from Minnie Mouse.

I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something here.

So, let's get real here, folks.  No beating around the bush.  Does the shirt look like I'm trying to channel Minnie Mouse?

 Shirt: TJ Maxx Skirt: Ross Shoes: TJ Maxx

I never knew that neck vein existed until I started taking a million awkward photos of myself. 

 It keeps showing up everywhere.  Like right here.

And would it look less Minnie-Mouse-ish if I lost the braid and paired it with something else?

Work Pants or Pajama Pants?

sidenote: I LOVED reading about your pet names, I laughed out loud a few times while reading them. I also never thought about how it is funny to have a pet but then give it a human name, I hadn't thought about calling a dog "George" or "Frank" and how funny that is.

If you thought I was going to stop posting about work pants... guess again! You're probably like, "How many times can she ask about pants??" Giiiirrrlll I've got pants questions for days. So I think everyone is a fan of seersucker, right? Well I am too and that is why I bought these pants seven years ago. However, I haven't worn them in public in about five years. I usually just lounge in them.

this is me lounging

Since I am in somewhat need of non-jean pants I decided to pull these bad boys out, but I haven't gone as far as wearing them to work. I think it's because they might look like pajama pants??

 

Or maybe because I look a bit frumpy?  Or is it just because I haven't worn non-skinny pants in a long time? Should I just keep these for lounging?

Elastic

I think it is pretty safe to say that elastic and I have never really gotten along.  I avoid certain underwear because of the pesky elastic, I go nuts if my sleeve has elastic on it, and I'm even picky about my ponytail holder elastics.

I've somehow ended up with this shirt that has ELASTIC on the sleeves....and even worse....elastic around the waist band?  Seriously?  I don't know about you guys....but I don't know how I feel about elastic squeezing my love handles.  As evidenced by the photo below.

But, I own the shirt- so I need to wear it.  Even if the elastic bugs me.

Can I wear the top with the elastic waistband poofy-ness showing?

Undershirt: Shade Top: TJ Maxx Pants: TJ Maxx Shoes: TJ Maxx

Or, should I just keep that pesky little elastic waist band tucked?

 Undershirt: Shade Top: TJ Maxx Pants: Gap Belt: Thrift Store

READER SUBMISSION

One of our favorite e-roommates is Audrey from Putting Me Together.  I religiously check her blog every single day.  I mean, look how cute she is.  How could you not love her?  And her hair makes me want to chop all of mine off and cut it into a perfect bob just like hers.  I can't wait to see what you have to say about her "ugly cute dress".

Hey Roomies!  I'm so excited to ask you about this dress today because I've been wondering for a year about what to do with it!

I inherited this dress a year ago, but I haven't worn it once yet.  You see, the friend who gave it to me described it as being "ugly cute."  She said, "You know, like it's kind of ugly but in a cute way.  Like, you look at it and you're like 'Is it ugly? Or is it cute?'"  Now, every time I put on the dress her voice runs through my head and I can't help but wonder, "IS it ugly?  Or is it cute?!?!"  I've never worn it in public because I can never decide, so I need your help!

What do you say?  

1.  Is it UGLY or CUTE?  Do I toss it or should I keep it?

2.  If I keep it, what other styling suggestions do you have?  It's too short for me to wear without leggings, but I can't think of other ways to wear it.  

Thanks, ladies!

Have a question for the duplex?  Email us at asktheduplex@gmail.com

Pet Names

I don't have a dog, but recently I was housesitting and with the house came Snickers. I feel like Snickers is such an appropriate dog name, especially since this Snickers is snickerish colors. I am curious though why when people are given the oppurtunity to think of a fun/silly pet name they choose human names like "Max" and "Sadie". I feel like all pets should have funny names since we can't name humans bizarre things. Do you have a pet? Does it have a human name? If so, I'm curious what your reasoning is?

Okay, onto the real question. I am always on the hunt for "work pants" that I like. I have a pair of gray pants that are great, here they are:

So the other day I was at TJ Maxx and I was like "Oh hey, those pants are a much darker gray and they're on sale, maybe I'll get those and have two different gray pants". But they're not different, they're pretty much the same.  Here they are:

Should I take them back?? Is it silly to have two of the same-ish pairs of pants? I can't decide.

On Target

I bought this dress at Target on clearance for 6 bucks.  Pretty good, right? That's cheaper than the dresses at our local thrift store (our thrift store is a little over priced).

But it's been sitting in my closet until I could ask you guys a few questions about it.

Dress: Target Flats and Heels: TJ Maxx

Question #1-  
For the most part, whenever I expose my cankles, knees, or calves, I like to have heels on.  But for some reason, something about this dress makes me think that it might need flat shoes.  Maybe because the dress is a little bit shorter.

What do you think? Flats or heels?

Flats

Heels

Question #2-

Because of the detailing along the neckline, I never know if I should accessorize this dress with something. Do you like it plain how I have it? Or, should I be jazzing it up with something?

Oily

Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure to only post pictures of me looking my best in really stylish clothing. The problem with that is: 1. I'm not super stylish and 2. That isn't really the point  of this blog. The point of the blog is to ask questions and get answers (to, ya know, life's most pressing problems). Sooo, I might sometimes have other questions that need answers...

Like today. I spend about 98% of my weekends wearing the same long sleeved blue nike running shirt. Bret and I do a lot of hiking/biking on Saturdays, so you can imagine my dismay when Bret took this picture and I looked on the veiwfinder and saw two huge oil stains. Uhh?? How had he not noticed and told me, or more importantly, where did they come from? and what the heck was I eating that is so oily? oh donuts? pigs in a blanket? kettle chips?

I've looked online for some remedies, but I'm curious if any of you have ever had success getting oil out of clothing?? Any tips would be VERY much welcomed, because if I don't get it out, I'll probably continue to wear it, but if I ever have my picture taken, I'll have to turn to my side:

 

We do most our hiking in Northern California in a place called Point Reyes that I LOOVEEE. I'm curious, where is your favorite place to hike/spend outdoors time? (I ask because I love doing things outside when I visit new places, so I can add all of your recommendations to my list).  

Here are some more pictures of Point Reyes (on this particular hike there is a lake with a rope swing and then at the end a waterfall onto the beach):

$16.99

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! You guys are the best.  Seriously.  

As I've told you before, I love wearing black.  It's true black is slimming, right?

But...I'm not sure black can cover up the homemade bread, starburst, birthday cake, McDonalds Fruit and Yogurt parfaits, these amazing cinnamon roll pancakes, 9 reeses footballs, goldfish, 1/2 a box of Cracklin Oat Bran, handfuls of craisins, amazing homemade brownies (an amazing gift from an amazing friend), half of a Mellow Mushroom Pizza, a box of Hot Tamales, Goofy Sours, and Diet A&W Root Beer.  (Good thing I drank diet soda....I'm watching my girlish figure).  And yes, I ate all of that (and more) in one day.  And no, I don't regret one calorie of it.  You can eat anything you want on your birthday.

But, let's not dwell too much on my caloric intake.  I have another important question for my roommates.

Besides eating every food item I come in contact with, I also love going to TJ Maxx on my birthday.  I bought this black shirt at TJ Maxx because I felt like it was "different than any other black shirt that I own".

But, let's get real here.  How many black shirts does a girl need?

Everything on my body: TJ Maxx

I know you can't really see the price tag...but it says 16.99.  I am pondering how many hours I'd have to work to earn 16.99.  

This thing cost me 16.99.  Way more than I usually pay for a shirt.  Is it worth that much?  Should I take it back?

they say it's her birthday

Today is Monica's Birthday! I decided to hijack the blog and tell all of you some funny facts/stories about our beloved Monster.

• When Monica made the Varsity Cheer squad in 7th grade, her mom took her out for a 20 piece chicken mcnugget. I remember laughing so hard when she told me this because you don't normally see a 13 year old girl downing a 20 piece nugget (to herself) in celebration.

• In 3rd grade Monica wrote a paper about monkeys and had written "monkey" so many times that she accidentally wrote her name as "Monkey Thomas" at the top.  Then she got points marked off for not writing her name.  

Monica, A Mickey Mouse sweatshirt tucked into pleated jeans? Too bad you didn't have the Duplex back then.

• Monica makes AMAZING cookies and homemade bread.  
• She's 26 and halfway through a PhD program... I guess if any of us have questions about productivity we know who to go to.

• In our freshman year biology class Monica accidentally sat on a fruit roll up. Neither of us realized this and she walked around for most of the day with a fruit roll stuck to her butt. 

I could write 3,000 more bullet points, but I know Monica likes things brief and to the point. But one last little thing- ever since her 9th birhtday, Monica has been planning out her birthday meals for weeks in advance.  You should see the amount of calories she intakes in one day.

So, why don't we all give her a nice little birthday shout-out and also tell us what you eat on your birthday--Because I know I definitely miss talking about food with my roommates.

Crazy Cousin

Disclaimer: these pants are NAVY. In all posts they will always look black. 

I don't always make the wisest choices at 6:50am when I'm getting dressed. On the day I wore this I came home and Bret said, "Wow that is a lot of color". I laughed and asked if it was a little too rainbow brighty, he said it was more like Rainbow Bright's crazy cousin. 

shirt: Thrift Store pants: TJ Maxx shoes: Salvation Amry sweater: Urban Outfitters 

How do you guys feel about this? I know it's just a cardigan and a shirt but I don't want to color vomit all over all the school children. 

I think it might be  a little too much color, but I only look crazy when I make this face:

What are your thoughts? Too many colors? Did I mismatch these? Or is it fun?