Seven Quick Takes

1. I've realized I have a little problem with the Stay-at-home Date Night posts, in that I like to be kind of snarky or sarcastic and worry that Hallie, who gave me her blessing to use her list for my project, might think I'm snarking on her ideas. That's certainly not my intention, I'm just naturally sarcastic and happen to like posts that are as well.
    
2. Monday morning I realized I might do a bit too much scheduling of posts when I opened my reader thinking “Ooh, I wonder what my post is about today.” (I do this because I tend to write in bursts or 2 or 3 or sometimes 6 posts at once, then nothing for several days or even a week.)
    
3. Also, I spend all week writing down quick takes here and there and hope by Friday I have seven. I think a lot of quick take people do this, though. I don’t always get around to posting them, which is why I have dozens of files on my computer named things like “Quick Takes 5-9-12.”
     
4. Panera’s radio ads make me want to vow to never eat there again.
    
5. Also, that Barack Obama "gotta [do this], gotta [do that], gotta vote" radio ad makes me want to take a hammer to the radio, Office Space style.
    
6. If you couldn’t tell, I’m in one of my radio phases at work at it’s not going well. If I have to hear that Flo Rida whistle song one more time I’m going to throw up. It’s just so gross. Why do I have to hear this at WORK? (Or in the car. Or anywhere, really.) I’m not even “think of the children” on this one, because I HOPE they don’t get it. BUT I DO. And I do not appreciate it.(I listen to online radio streaming, so I can’t switch between stations easily.)   
     
7. Today at Style All Over, I answered a reader question about belts and a couple of the rejects were so ridiculous I thought I'd treat you to them.
   
   
   On the left we have the Anne Klein Tortoise Patent Panel belt, originally $48.00, because you can't put a price on your love for The Lion King.
   On the right, the Michael Kors Logo Belt Bag. I think we all know they can call it a "Belt Bag" all they want, but really it's just a $55 fanny pack.

Should the dress stay?

I bought this dress at Target this summer, wore it once, then saw a picture of me in it and immediately wanted to throw it out. I think I deleted the full-length version of this picture, so here's the cropped one.

I guess it doesn't look that bad. Something about it just turned me off when I first saw the picture, though. For one, I don't think I look good in sleeveless. Also, the stripes make me look wider (which, duh, what was I expecting?), which is more noticeable in the pictures below.

Before getting rid of the dress, I decided as a last-ditch effort to change the outfit and see if it worked better. I added a belt and cardigan and actually got complements on it. I definitely like this better, but the dress is pretty short and still has the widening problem, making it harder for me to keep. It's super comfortable, though.

Should I keep the dress? Which look do you like better? I think a lot of people bought it this year - do you have it?

P.S. The belt is one of the New York & Company colored patent belts I recommended in this Style All Over post.