Weekend Adventures

This is what I wore to church on Sunday.  My sister and nieces came out for a quick visit, so we had a wild weekend!  We used to be on the go nonstop when they visited, but we are now somewhat limited by Mr. Baby's schedule.  But we still managed to squeeze in quite a bit of fun.  It's so sweet to see how much the girls love their baby cousin!  He's not really sure about them yet, and probably confused about the whole twins thing, but he gives them lots of smiles, so I think he likes them.  

We went to a few of the girls' favorite restaurants that they don't have at home, had a picnic and walked around the lake, did a little shopping, walked to the park and let Mr. Baby try the swing and slide (he wasn't really impressed, even though I told him it was fun).  At home, we played a lot of games.  Sorry lasts forever sometimes.  They liked Scattergories more than I expected, and had some very clever answers.  And we laughed so hard playing Scribblish, which is way more fun with kids.  It's basically like telephone crossed with Pictionary.  My favorite was when "Playing piano with your toes" turned into "CAMEL ATTACK!"

My sister and I finally remembered to get a picture together.  We have failed on the last 2 visits.

The girls weren't interested in taking a nice picture, but I tricked them with Photobooth, and we got this winner.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend!  And I really liked this skirt from LeTote, too.
 
Cardigan: JCF (similar, similar)
Tee: Gap (similar, similar)
Skirt: LeTote
Shoes: Target (similar)

Birthday Recap

My birthday was a week ago, so I guess it's about time that I wrote up a recap of what I did, huh?  Well, here it goes:

I had a meeting at work in the morning that I couldn't really skip, so I went in for a couple hours.  Then I met John for a quick lunch at Which Wich (my favorite!) before heading to the salon/spa for a pedicure and massage.  Best decision ever!  I was so relaxed afterwards. Seriously, I want to get a massage every day.  I should at least do it more than once a year!

I heard a rumor that Gap was having an additional 50% off all sale, so I stopped in really quick and picked up a few things, and then ran home to get changed for dinner.  Then I picked up John from work and we headed downtown to meet his family for birthday dinner!  There's a restaurant with the most delicious smoked gouda mac and cheese, and we never go there, because it's kind of annoying to deal with parking downtown.  But for my birthday, we made an exception.  Dinner was excellent, and then we went over to their house for presents, dessert, and a quick game of Dutch Blitz.  As usual, I was sufficiently spoiled.

The other fun part of the day was just getting random calls and texts from friends and family.  It just made me smile all day long!

And I completely forgot to take any pictures the whole day!  Because I'm the best blogger ever.  Oh wait, opposite.  But as I've said before when I forget to take pictures of big events, sometimes it's important to just enjoy the day without trying to document everything.  I did wear a really cute outfit for dinner, so I'll have to repeat it and take pictures before it gets too cold! 

On Saturday/Sunday, John and I took a little road trip, and I did actually take pictures throughout the day, so I'll have to sort through those and write up a little recap on that soon as well.

Oh, and Happy Halloween, I guess.  I'll probably just pretend to not be home this evening, because I'm a Halloween Grinch.  So stay safe and have fun if you are out and about.  Or I guess stay safe and have fun even if you aren't out and about.

**This outfit is almost an exact replication of what I wore for John's birthday, which I also failed to take pictures of.  Seemed fitting to put it on my birthday recap with no relevant photos, right!  Plus, I was having a really good hair day in these pics. 

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Top: Gap Factory (option, option, option)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Skirt: Target (similar,similar)
Shoes: Target (flat version)

#26 - Last Hurrah

Well, I think this skirt has come to the end of the road.  I've worn it about a million times (okay, maybe 20) over the past 2 years, do I think I've gotten my $8 out of it.  I'm a big fan of knit pencil skirts, because they look nice, but are really comfortable, and don't need as much ironing.  But they do tend to get worn out faster than a woven pencil skirt.  It's probably good I don't spend more than $10 on them!  I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for a new green skirt! 

It's Tuesday, so I'm linking up with Laura!  

Jacket: J.Crew Factory (exact)
Shirt: Gap (option, option, option)
Belt: Gap  (similar)
Skirt: Target (exact, similar)
Sandals: Target(exact, similar)

#20 - Two-Thirds Done

Outfit #20!  Which means only 10 more outfits in the challenge.  Here are my middle ten looks.

I think my favorites are the floral skirt and the pink blazer (#11 and #13).  Which one do you like the best?

Also, if you haven't yet, please take my blog survey!  

Cardigan: Gap (option, option)
Necklace: F21 (similar, similar)
Tee: Gap (option, option, option)
Skirt: Loft (similar maxi, similar mini, similar knee length)
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

J.Crew Addict?

About a week before I left for Indiana, I ordered 3 things from the J.Crew factory.  These shorts (in bright yellow) arrived before I left.  I love them, but they are a little too small, so I think I will have to return them, unless I lose about 5lbs before I make it out to the outlet mall.

My 2 other purchases (the Clare cardigan in brocade blue and this top in vibrant fuchsia) arrived while I was gone, but John was still home, so he rescued them from the front porch.  Then I bought this skirt at the regular J.Crew in Indy.

I wore this outfit on the first day back to work, and met John for lunch because we had no groceries at home.  He commented on my skirt, and I said it was new - from J.Crew.  Then the conversation went something like this:

John: Do you have a J.Crew addiction?
Andi: no - well, maybe a little.
John:  And is J.Crew more or less expensive than the Gap?
Andi:  welllll...

I then explained to him my new-ish shopping philosophy, where instead of buying 3 t-shirts at the Gap for $7 each and then rarely wearing them, I would buy a maxi skirt at the J.Crew for $22 and wear it more frequently.  It's just math!

Anyway, this is my new skirt and I love it.  For the first outfit, I went with the most obvious pairing of a white tee and cognac accessories.  I felt very fancy all day long!   

Tee: Gap (option, option, option)
Belt: Gap (similar)
Skirt: J.Crew (exact)
Watch: Fossil (similar)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Sandals: Target (similar)

Skirt Time

I'm finally linking up for Skirt Week with Katie, Liz, and Sarah.  I mean, I love skirts and I can't resist a good old-fashioned theme link-up.  This is the second time I've worn this skirt.  I wore it right away after buying it, and it was a little baggy.  I thought it would shrink up a bit in the wash, but it didn't  It's just too big.  I'm going to have to see if I can take in the waist, because I was in danger of losing it all day.  On a positive note, it's SUPER comfortable!

It's been a crazy week.  Yesterday was one of those "back-to-back meetings for 4 hours straight" type of days.  I finally got to sneak out for lunch around 3pm.  Not awesome.  I'm headed to a conference next week, so there's just a lot of work to get ready for it, and never enough hours in the day.

I'll be busy packing tonight and tomorrow, and then we're going to see Ben Folds on Saturday!  Have I mentioned he's my favorite?  I've lost count of how many of his concerts I've been to, but I will keep going because he's amazing.  I'm just hoping the 60% chance of rain doesn't happen to be at concert time!

And finally, since I love you guys, here's an outtake.  I don't even know how this happened.  I guess I was flipping my hair.  Model material right here!

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Tee & Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Old Navy

Green Week - Skirt

I finally remembered to bring my wind machine with me for outfit photos! Or maybe the windy season is just upon us. I actually love windy days, as long as it's not too cold outside. Blame it on growing up in Kansas!  Unfortunately, windy days are not ideal for taking pictures. There are a lot more outtakes than usual, and most involve my hair obstructing my face or me trying to prevent my hair from obstructing my face. Hashtag StyleBloggerProblems.

This is what I actually wore on St. Patrick's Day. One of my co-workers said "I see you are wearing lots of green today!" and I thought "not LOTS, just a skirt!"     

I was inspired by this outfit, and then obviously made some changes based on the items in my wardrobe. I thought my bright blue cami would show through the sheer floral pattern on my shirt, but it actually isn't noticeable at all. Maybe I should have worn my lace shirt instead. Maybe next time!

We are halfway through GREEN WEEK.  Remember you can link up any day! I'm also linking up with Pinned It & Did It and Style Swap with Ginny and Jenn. 

Blazer, Tee, Cami: Gap
Skirt: Target
Necklace, Shoes: Old Navy

Linky info is after the jump!