Car Karaoke and my first selfie

I went home for a Dad and family visit recently. Normally when I rent a car, I bring a clutch of CDs along, but this time I relied solely on the radio to get me through the 7+ hours (actually, 8+ thanks to Loop traffic and my stupid error of driving up 94 through Milwaukee on the way up; an hour delay due to a lane closure between EC and Osseo on the way home) there and back. I had a surprisingly successful run of it, including:

1) Hearing "Lightning Crashes" three times and "I Alone" once. Are the kids bringing Live back? Did someone die?

2) Singing what I considered to be outstanding versions of "In Too Deep" by Genesis, "Oh Sherrie" by Steeeeeeeeeeeeeve Perry, and "Roll On" by Alabama (in particular my hammy performance of the "Somebody upstairs was LISTENIN'!" segue into the final chorus).

3) Learning all the lyrics to both "Carry On" and "Some Nights" by fun. (I had to Google-pod them on my YouTube; I guess THEY'RE the thing the kids are listening to these days) and "Trouble" by Taylor Swift. I heard each of these songs a total of six times on six different radio stations. Runners-up included Adele's "Rumor Has It" and the new Avril single (I refuse to Google-pod how to spell her last name) where she listens to Radiohead while falling in love and gets thrown out of bars and also sk8tr bois her eyeliner into being a hero with Chad Kroger's.

Also: are we sure that fun. isn't just a Queen or Kansas cover band who also have original material?

As I was leaving Dad's, I tuned in to Acoustic Sunrise on Cities 97, which was one of my very favorite radio shows when I lived in the area, and was just in time to catch this:

And I was pretty much a mess for the next ten minutes. Curse you, John Denver's Ghost, and sweet Brandi Carlisle and also Emmylou Harris (but not really; you my girl, Emmylou). Home is not West Virginia, but that song (along with "Calypso," for some oddball reason) has always made me melancholy. Add it to driving away from a too-brief visit with Dad, and it was super sad sack town in my rental.

Good thing I had three more rounds of Taylor Swift to look forward to, right? And also John Tesh's weird radio show where he plays lite FM and then shares Paul Harvey-type thoughts, only for rich white granola types?

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I haven't taken a lot of outfit photos--my outfit yesterday, in particular, was designed by I Could Care Less by the House of Ugh--but today's is pretty cute:

Don't worry: I adjusted my cardigan belt after this photo was taken.

That's a Loft cardigan I bought from eBay paired with a Dress Barn tulip-print skirt also purchased from eBay (the pink tank is Loft, and it's a Large so it's therefore a little boobtastic). I feel like if I'm going to work out of being in a funk, I need to at least dress the part.

Also, my sis-in-law Joy informed me that a "selfie" is a pic you take of yourself and post to your booger (I had a fit of laughter over that because that is not what I imagined the definition of a "selfie" to be). So that's gotta happen:

BooooooooooooooooOOOOOOoooooo I'm the headless booger poster!

This is not an eBay purchase. This was a splurge, because I've never been able to fit into Banana Republic sizes before and because it's the Mad Men collection (and a Peggy dress at that; Peggy Olsen, like Emmylou Harris, is my girl) and it has emerald green in it. I'm thinking it could be a work dress, but I love it so much and feel so heartybeans about it that I almost want to save it for special occasions only. I wore it out with my sis-in-laws to dinner at an Ecuadorian restaurant--super, super delicious, and any cuisine which features seasoned potato pancakes filled with cheese is absolutely acceptable. I think I'll wear it again to dinner out at The Portage next Wednesday as well (they're making a dandelion cocktail! Mmm, weedy!).

Duse also bequeathed to me a metric ton of clothes as she transitions into her next teeny size, so I'm looking forward to adding those items into the rotation. Guess this means I have to stop trolling eBay like a creeper, right?

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I'm continuing along with functional training. I imagine it is doing good work--I feel pretty good right up until I feel like someone hit me all over with a 2x4 and then pushed me down a few times for good measure--but about 40 minutes into the session, I often find myself making horrid whiny noises, particularly if the trainer says the phrase "30 seconds to go."

I'm also preparing for the 5K (in theory):

Pretty much, Homer... pretty much