Floral Week - Skirt

Floral Week continues with this pencil skirt!  I'm still on the lookout for a floral pencil skirt with more colors in it, but I really like this one for now.  I don't have much to say today.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm keeping busy with my nieces this week.  We had way too much fun at the zoo yesterday, and today I'm going to surprise them with a trip to the pottery painting store.  I think they are going to love it!  Anyway, there's still time to link up your floral looks!  Info after the jump...

Also, I'm using this outfit for the pastel entry in Sarah's April Looking Lucky Style Challenge. 

Top & Cardigan:Gap
Belt: Chinese Laundry
Skirt: Bass
Necklace & Shoes: Old Navy

Windy City

Last week, Laura said she feels a little "4th of July" when she wears red and blue together.  I can relate!  One of my co-workers actually told me I looked patriotic in this outfit.  I guess that's okay, right?  At least red, white, and blue look nice together.  And there are not stars or stripes, so at least it's a subtle patriotism.  This skirt has been neglected all winter.  Now that it is officially spring, I should show it some love.      

The other day, I mentioned that the wind makes taking outfit pictures more difficult.  I spoke too soon.  On this particular day, I had a lot more trouble!  I got exactly one decent picture, where my hair isn't blowing all over the place.  An outtakes collage had to happen. 

Cardigan & Shoes: Old Navy
Top: H&M
Belt: Chinese Laundry
Skirt: Bass

Books!

It's time for the Literary Junkies Link-up again.  Before I get to the questions, just a quick comment about my outfit.  I've determined that this blazer makes every outfit my favorite outfit.  I'm excited to unroll the sleeves when it gets cooler, and then I can wear it with even more colors!

Anyway, books! Here are this month's questions and my answers: 

1. What are you currently reading? Tell us about it!

I just finished The White Princess by Philippa Gregory.  It is the final book in her Cousins' War series, which I really enjoyed.  I'll probably end up posting a review about the series soon.  Up next is Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  I've heard it is really good, so I hope that is true! 

2. What is one book you think every person should read at least once in their life? Why?

I'm sticking to fiction here.  I think everyone should read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  It's just such a beautiful story.  Also, the Chronicles of Narnia books are at the top of my list.     

3. Do you think you could ever write a book? If so what genre would it be?

I don't know.  In theory, I think it would be fun to be an author, but I don't think I have the creativity for it.  If I wrote a book, it would probably need to be a memoir (which I don't know if I'm quite interesting enough for anyone to read), or some kind of non-fiction. 

4. Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you look for the same things in an audiobook that you do in one you'll read?

I really like Audiobooks for long car rides.  Generally I am in the car with someone else (usually my husband), so I try to find books that we will both be interested in.  I also try to find a book that is a reasonable length for the amount of time that we will be in the car, so we will be able to finish it, but still have time for listening to music and talking to each other.   

5. Can you suggest a book of each type for others to try:
Fantasy - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Nonfiction - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Fiction - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Romance - eh, I can't really get into romance novels.  I guess I liked Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Classics - East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Young Adult - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Have you read anything good lately? 

outfit details:
Blazer: Gap
Top: H&M
Skirt: Bass
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Happy and I Know It

close up on my red shoes!

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy.

1. Playing in the ocean - and just being at the beach, in general
2. Really good music - and singing along if no one else is around!
3. Sleep - I think I require more sleep than the average person. I'm very cheerful on any occasion when I get 12+ hours.
4. Sno cones (it's the simple things in life, right!?)
5. Windy days - it's the Kansas girl in me, but I love the wind
6. Emails from my husband - best part of the workday!  
7. Slothstronaut - I mean, how can anyone look at him and not laugh?
8. Christmas and Birthdays - I love giving and receiving presents!
9. Funny stories/pictures of my nieces and nephews
10. Non-sporty sports (bowling, mini-golf, croquet)

So that's a pretty random list.  I'm a fairly happy person, so I'm sure I could go on and on.  What are some things that make you happy?

Shirt: Loft
Jacket: Izod
Skirt: Bass Outlet
Shoes: Target

Flowers and More Showers

  

Even though it hasn't really felt like spring very much, I'm excited to jump on the floral bandwagon and link up with Bri for Third Thursday Threads!  Plus I found my fancy flower umbrella just in time for more rain (and the flower-themed link up).

Whitney's recent post reminded me that I love how stripes look with floral.  If you are new to the idea of mixing prints, I'd recommend starting out by selecting prints in the same color family.  The navy and white of these prints "go together" and make it a little less crazy than some other print mixing options.

You may or may not notice that I chopped about 4 inches off my hair.  It feels really short to me, but I doubt anyone else will notice, since it is still pretty long, but it used to reach almost to my elbows!  It's sort of dangerously close to being triangle hair, but that is always a risk when I get a haircut.  My curls feel much lighter and springier, unlike the weather.

And finally, I had another wardrobe malfunction.  Around noon, I noticed a snagged thread on my tights and thought I could just snip it off.  Mistake.  A small hole appeared immediately, and as the day progressed, it turned into a giant run.  So, I will be looking for a new pair of gray tights, but hopefully not until next fall!

Shirt: Gap
Belt: Chinese Laundry via TJ Maxx
Skirt: Bass Outlet
Tights: Target
Boots: Wanted via Piperlime
Umbrella:  Birthday gift from my parents (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

On Confidence

On the day I wore this outfit, I had 2 different random women say things to me that basically boiled down to "Cool outfit!  I would never have enough confidence to wear that!"  I never really know how to respond to comments like that.  I just said thanks and giggled awkwardly at one of them.  I told the other lady that she should try wearing something kind of crazy, because it is fun!  I don't think she will.  

A few random thoughts:

• On the spectrum of confidence, I would put myself in the very average category.  I don't think it takes any confidence at all to wear neon purple tights.  As I was thinking about this, it reminded me of this post.  I think confidence is much like bravery (and most attributes that we consider positive).  It's not difficult for me to wear crazy colored tights, but for someone else, it might be terrifying.  But maybe they don't scream when they see a spider (not that I would ever do that). 
• Since I spend so much time reading other fashion and style blogs, I now think it is super normal to wear sort of ridiculous outfits.  I can think of one person I know in real life who has worn crazy colorful tights (in a non-Halloween situation), but most of my blog friends were colorful tights on a regular basis.  
• On a more serious note, it just made me kind of sad that both of these ladies seemed to think they weren't capable of branching out a bit.  I say wear whatever you want to, and don't worry about the crazy looks you may receive at the library.  

Other fashion bloggers, do you get crazy comments like this?  How do you respond?

The giveaway  is still open - don't forget to enter!

Sweater: Old Navy
Skirt: Bass Outlet
Tights: Old Navy
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Squirrelly

My photographer is easily distracted by the wildlife in our backyard.  This is one of many friendly neighborhood squirrels.  They are pretty cute, I guess.  They also destroyed our bird feeder last summer, but I definitely prefer them to the rabbits who destroyed our garden.  I'm glad we don't have too many crazy animals in our backyard.  My neighbor recently told me there has been a possum around, which totally freaks me out!  I haven't seen it, so I just pretend she was wrong.

When I was in high school, (actually the day of my junior prom), there was a wild turkey in our backyard.  We lived in the middle of a city, so it didn't really make sense.  Of course, I was the only person home, so I called my dad and told him about it.  I don't think anyone believed me, but I had taken a picture as evidence.  This was back in the olden days where we actually had to get film developed, so about a week later, when I got my prom pictures back, I had a very blurry picture of a turkey to prove I wasn't imagining it!

Shirt and Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Bass
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Paint it Blue

There's still time to enter the giveaway!  

We moved into our house in July of 2011.  One of my "top priorities" was to paint the front door.  It was a forest green color that I was just not excited about.  You can kind of see the original color in this post.  Well, approximately 14 months later, I finally painted the door.  I really love this bright blue color, and have been wearing it a lot lately.  I thought it would be a perfect color for the front door, too!

I also tried a new hairstyle.  I call this one "didn't have time to wash my hair and was bored of ponytails."  And then I wore pearls so I would feel fancy with my lazy up-do.

Top: Von Maur
Tank: Target
Cardigan: Loft
Skirt: Bass
Pearls: gift
Shoes: BCBGeneration

I'm linking up again today.  Go check out these fabulous blogs and the other ladies who link up!

Closet Ultimatum #8 - Navy Top

Last weekend, John and I ventured to Des Moines, IA with his parents.  The guys went to the Nascar race, and the girls went to the outlet mall!  Everyone wins! 

The above photo was my attempt to merge a new skirt with a shirt from my Closet Ultimatum.  This top is great, except for the fact that the neck is a giant scoop and completely indecent from certain angles.  So, this shirt is going in the sell pile!

Here's what I actually wore to work:

Much better!   And can I just add that this skirt was $8.80!  I love finding good deals.  And I am that girl who will awkwardly tell people how much my clothing costs if they compliment me.  I try not to, but I just can't help it!  Please tell me I'm not the only one!  

Top #1: DKNY
Top#2: Mossimo/Target
Belt: Francesca's
Skirt: Bass
Shoes: Anne Klein