Accidental Matchers

Mornings have been tricky, because our child is a night owl like me, and then sleeps later in the mornings.  So we hadn't been to morning church in a few weeks.  We finally made it last week, and I accidentally wore a combination of what my two favorite guys were wearing.  In our defense, I was getting dressed while John was getting himself and the baby dressed, so I didn't realize we kind of matched until we were heading out the door, and it was too late to change.  

Church went pretty well.  Baby Smith slept for the beginning of the service and then woke up about halfway through the sermon, so we ducked out.  Then he fell asleep again for Sunday School.  

He's not really into outfit pictures!

Cardigan: JCF 

Dress: banana republic factory

Belt: gap

Sandals: target

Currently

Today I'm jumping in on the "Currently" linkup with Anne.  So here's what I'm currently:

Writing:  pretty much just blog posts.

Anticipating: October is birthday month for both me and John, and this is a big year for me as I will hit the big 3-0.

Missing: family that lives far away!  After spending the weekend with my parents, sister and nieces, I just wish I could see them more often.  And of course, I wish I had been able to see my other siblings and nieces/nephews.  (And I wish there was a word to describe all of my siblings' children, without having to say "nieces and nephews" all the time).    

Wearing:  All my summery clothes that will be unwearable in a month or so.  I'm in the end of summer panic where I want to wear shorts, sandals and sleeveless things as much as possible!  

Craving:  A relaxing vacation, preferably to the beach.  I've traveled quite a bit over the last few months, but it's all been pretty busy travel.  I'm ready for another lazy vacation!

Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Sandals: Target (similar)

Dance and Twirl

Another day, another summer dress with winter layers.  Remember back in November, when I thought this dress was done for the season?  I'm so glad you all told me to buy some navy tights, because this dress makes me happy.  And I know that's silly, but LOOK AT ALL THE STRIPES!  I'd like to think that I would have eventually realized navy tights were an option, but who knows when that would have happened.  The only problem is that these tights sometimes look purple instead of navy.  And purple is about the only color not represented in my dress.

Anyway, this was from a couple Sundays ago.  The good thing about Sundays is that John can take pictures for me when we get home from church, and it's light outside!  The bad thing is that Sundays are the earliest morning for me each week, so I usually sleep too late, and then rush to get ready.  The weird thing about John taking pictures is that he usually convinces me to act crazy, and then sometimes he peer pressures me into posting the goofy pictures on the internet. (Exhibit A, B, C).

I believe the instructions were to dance and twirl, because standing still is boring.  I think I was doing something more like The Twist.  So here you go:

I think I prefer standing still.  But I guess this does really show the movement of my necklace! 

Today I'm linking up with Tres-Chic Fashion and What I Wore to Work

Cardigan: Old Navy
Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Belt: Gap
Necklace: F21
Boots: Madden

Navy Tights

The last time I wore this dress, I said it was probably going away for the winter.  And then you guys were all like "Navy tights!" and I was like "OF COURSE!"  I didn't have any navy tights, but I promptly bought some, and now this is a year-round dress.  Brilliant.

Navy tights are a little weird for me.  They definitely remind me of my uniform-wearing school years. We had to wear quite unattractive skirts, that were also not great in the winter.  And we could only wear navy tights, so I had several pairs. I only wore tights on the coldest days, because I hated them.  Ten years later, I wear tights at least 50% of the time over the winter.  Funny how things change!

Also, ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Dress: Banana Republic
Belt: Gap
Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Steve Madden

Weather Talk

These pictures are from last Tuesday, when the high was 62.  The highs this week are mostly in the 30s.  Is there anything more interesting than a fashion blogger talking about the weather? 

Anyway, I thought I should wear this dress again before the winter months.  Most of my summer dresses are easy to transition to winter, but I'm not sure what color of tights/boots would work with this one.  Any thoughts? 

These shoes were pretty popular the first time I wore them on the blog, so I was happy to pass them on.   I saw them at Old Navy a few months ago, and almost bought them, but then talked myself out of it.  Then I put them on my birthday list, but didn't get them.  So then I just bought them for myself!  I really like them! 

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Dress: Banana Republic
Necklace: Forever 21
Shoes: Old Navy

Literary Junkies Day

 

Oh hey, 3rd Tuesday of the month! It must be time to talk about books with the Literary Junkies!  This is perfect, because I went to a book signing last week and got my picture taken with the brilliant Rainbow Rowell.  Yes, I may be biased because she has big hair and wears cool shoes, but she's also a great author who happens to live in Omaha!  I bought Fangirl at the signing on Thursday, and finished reading it Saturday afternoon, so I guess you could say I enjoyed it.        

Without any further ado, here are this month's questions:  

• What are you currently reading? Tell us about it!
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - book 5!  After loving #4, I'm really excited to see what happens next.  I'm also reading The One Hundred by Nina Garcia.  It's basically a dictionary of the basics every woman should own (although, I'm not convinced I will ever require a cape).    
• Autumn is coming! What's your go-to drink when curling up with a book at night?
• Well, everyone else gets excited about Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but I'm more excited that Starbucks can now make my Salted Caramel Mocha Creme Frappuccino!  No coffee for me, thanks!  At home, I'm usually drinking water, or if it is cold outside, I may opt for some hot chocolate.  
• Printed books vs. e-books: What are the pros and cons of each?
• Currently, I prefer printed books.  I don't have a Kindle or iPad, but I've read a few books using the Kindle app on my phone.  It's okay, but I'd rather have a real book with pages.  I'm sure I will change my mind at some point, but for now, I'll stay old-fashioned!  
• Buying books vs. library books: Which do you prefer and why?
• Libraries are made of magic!  I love my library and go there almost every week to drop off and pick up books.  Their website is awesome, so I just put a hold on books that I want, and then they email me when it is ready for pickup.  So efficient!  The only problem is when 7 books come up as available at the same time, and I only have 3 weeks to read them all.  Sacrifices must be made, and I just put them back on my request list.  I very rarely buy books these days.  The last few books I've purchased have been at book signings or the airport!  My bookshelves are full, and books are heavy and expensive, so I'm happy to borrow and return from the library! 

I'm skipping our book club chat on Twitter tonight because the book is Seabiscuit.  As I mentioned here, this was "required summer reading" before my freshman year of college.  I thought it was stupid to have summer homework before starting college, so I just didn't read it.  For some reason, my rebellious teenager attitude persists about this book.  I'm sure it's a great story, but I won't be reading it any time soon.  

Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Cardigan: J.Crew Factory

Crazy Busy Fun

Happy Monday!  I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, but I guess I just skipped Thursday and Friday.  Last week was crazy/busy/fun hanging out with my sister and nieces, and blogging just had to take a back seat.  I didn't take any outfit pictures all week, but I plan on blogging about our adventures over the next few days.  I'm headed back to work today, and dreading the mountain of emails I will have to sort through.  Oh well, it is totally worth it to spend time with my family! 

This outfit is actually from several weeks ago when I met Ginny for lunch.  Since it was my very first "blogger date", I was sort of nervous about what to wear.  Then I overslept that morning, and didn't have time to decide, so I went with an easy favorite.  I really love this dress, so I tend to grab it when I want to look and feel good without a lot of thought.  It was so much fun (and so weird) to meet another style blogger.  Ginny is awesome and it was cool to talk about all the blog stuff that my other friends don't know about.  If you ever have the opportunity to meet up with a blog friend, I highly recommend it!   


Dress: Banana Republic Outlet
Scarf; Calvin Klein
Shoes: Anne Klein

Weekend Shenanigans

The weekend was so fun and busy that I didn't even have time to write a Monday blog post about it.  Our friend, Ben, came to visit for the weekend, so we were having crazy adventures all over Omaha, including, but not limited to:

• Lunch at a never-before-visited restaurant recommended by Urban Spoon.  "GoldeeZ" was set back in a shady-looking strip mall, and the menu featured sections such as "AppetiZers, PiZZa, SandwicheZ, and Soup&Salad."  I'm sort of offended on behalf of Soup & Salad.  Why not "Zoup & Zalad" or "SoupZ and SaladZ" to fit in with the other headings?  We may never know.  Ben has a Z in his last name, so I felt like John and I should pretend to be Zmiths, or SmithZ.
• Bowling - in which I broke 100 in both games!  I usually fall apart at the end, but I got two strikes in the 10th frame!  (I tried to ignore the fact that the children in the lane next to us were significantly better than me.  10yr old girl rolls a strike - Andi rolls a gutter.  The boy (probably 8 or so) congratulated me when I got my first spare.  They were very polite, and way too good at bowling!)
• Dinner at my favorite restaurant in town, including my favorite dessert. 
• Settlers of Catan - not one, but TWO games.  I'm not allowed to say who won both games, so you can come to your own conclusions there.  
• The first miniature golf of the season!  Sunday brought warmer weather and excessive wind, but mini-golf seemed like a great idea.  I was still in my church clothes, so I ran into some difficulty with my dress and scarf, but we had a great time.  I'm also not allowed to say who won at mini-golf.  Let's just say I managed to get a hole in one on a couple of the holes.  

When I learned that the weather was supposed to be nice again, I took advantage of the opportunity to wear my new favorite dress.  Since my church is pretty casual, I thought a denim jacket and flat shoes would make it less dressy.  I still felt like a very fancy lady.  And then I felt sort of overdressed for mini-golf.  

Dress: Banana Republic Outlet

Scarf: Calvin Klein

Jacket: Izod

Shoes: Target

Purse: Dooney and Bourke (gift)

  

All the Colors

I'll be honest - I feel like a very fancy lady in this dress.  I found it at the Banana Republic outlet over the weekend, and was smitten by the colorful stripes!  I feel like a pack of Fruit Stripe gum, in the best possible way.

The necklace and cardigan are also spoils from the weekend of shopping in Arizona.  These were both items that I have been looking for over the past few months.  I decided I should keep a list, so I remember what I want to buy, and don't just make impulse decisions (even though striped dresses are great impulse buys!).

What's on your shopping list these days?

Dress: Banana Republic Outlet
Cardigan: Gap Outlet
Necklace: H&M
Purse: Dooney& Bourke (gift)
Watch: Fossil (gift)
Lapis Ring: gift
Shoes: BCBGeneration