Dress Week - Three in One

Get excited!  It's time for another theme week.  This time, we're featuring dresses.  My lovely co-host is Heidi from Literate & Stylish.  I'm starting off the week with a three-fer of iPhone mirror photos.  Because I do what I want!

These three outfits are from my work conference last week.  My hotel room didn't have any good location to build a makeshift tripod tower, so I just ended up doing iphone mirror selfies.  And I forgot to take a picture of my Tuesday daytime dress. (it was this one)

JCF jacket, Old Navy Dress, Chinese Laundry Belt, Sperry Shoes

First up, this is what I wore for traveling on Sunday.   It was comfortable but not too casual.  When I got to the conference, I traded my jacket and Sperrys for a navy cardigan and navy flats for the opening happy hour.  Then I switched back into this outfit for dinner with my team. 

JCF cardigan, Gap Dress, NY&Co Belt, Old Navy Shoes

This was my Monday outfit.  I was in meetings all day and then took clients out to dinner, so I needed to have comfortable shoes, but still look polished.  Also the meeting rooms were like 60 degrees, so I was very happy to have a cardigan. 

Gibson&Latimer Dress, NY&Co Belt, Old Navy Shoes

Tuesday evening was the finale dinner.  I kept it simple in this floral dress, which has been one of my favorites in the past year or so.  I did not have a cardigan to go with it, so I just froze. 

Over 4 days in St. Louis, I barely went outside at all.  We were right by the arch, but I never had the time even walk over and see it properly.  I'm glad I have been there quite a few times, so I wasn't missing out on my only chance to see it! 

Now it's your turn - link up your dresses below (after the jump).  I'll be sharing 4 more this week.  And make sure you check out Heidi's blog to see what she's wearing.   If you want to join in on Instagram or Twitter, you can just use #dressweek.

Also, go check out my guest post all about Summer Must-Haves on Work Clothes, I Suppose.  Spoiler alert - dresses are on the list! 

Floral Week - Dresses (and a guest star)

So remember how I went to Minnesota over the weekend for my cousin's wedding?  I should be fired from blogging, because I took exactly 2 pictures at the wedding/reception.  Not of the bride and groom, or anything wedding-related, but of my dad and his brothers, posing by a tractor license plate.  They are so silly.

We got back to the hotel and I remembered that I was supposed to take pictures of this outfit for floral week.  So, we are stuck with grainy indoor pics and a hotel room background.  But there are some bonus items today to distract you from the picture quality!

First up - Who Wore It Best, featuring my niece in a dress that my mom made 23 years ago!  Delia has worn it quite a bit over the last few years and doesn't seem to mind that it is SO early 90s!  The turquoise tights really help modernize it!  

Me in 1991 and D in 2014

 Second bonus - a silly picture of us!

You still have a few days to link up your florals (after the jump below)!  It seems like spring has arrived in Nebraska, so I hope that is true wherever you all live!

Scarf & Shoes: J.Crew Factory
Cardigan: Old Navy
Dress: Gibson & Latimer
Tights: Target

Winter Flowers

It is now the time of year when winter needs to go away!  March is spring, right?  Unfortunately, Nebraska didn't get the memo, so it's still in the freezing range most days.  I'll just keep wearing my summer dresses with ALL THE LAYERS!

Linking up with What I Wore Wednesday

Cardigan: Gap

Dress: Gibson & Latimer

Boots: Madden

Belt: Chinese Laundry

Nebraska

You might have noticed that my background is a little more interesting than usual.  That's because these were taken at the Nebraska Capitol building.  John had an engineering ceremony, so we stayed afterwards for the free tour.  It's kind of weird that I lived just a few blocks away for 3.5 years of college and never went inside this building!  

It's pretty cool, I guess.  The tour guide declared that this is the best of all the state capitol buildings, and asked if any of us had toured any of the other ones.  I was the only one, and then she asked me to verify that Nebraska was better.  I didn't think it would be an appropriate time to disagree, so I didn't really answer her.  For the record, I'm partial to Kansas, because it looks like a capitol building ought to look.  Some short internet research leads me to believe that Alaska and North Dakota are tied for least impressive capitol buildings.

Can you tell that I passed along my necklace?  It's pretty sneaky of me!

Necklace: Limited
Dress: Gibson & Latimer
Blazer: H&M
Boots: Steve Madden

Pinned It & Did It - Dots and Florals

When I pinned the J.crew version of a floral dress with a polka dot cardigan, I didn't have a floral dress. Then I found this beauty at Dillard's. Then I was perusing Pinterest one morning when I didn't know what to wear, and saw my inspiration. Brilliant.  

Go check out the other Pinterest inspired looks over at Style Journey.  I'm also linking up with Agi for Tres-Chic.    

Dress: Gibson& Latimer
Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Limited
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Shoes: Born

Exciting Shopping News

In the past couple of weeks, I've heard 2 very exciting things about the shopping situation in Omaha.

1. The outlet mall between Omaha and Lincoln is being completely revamped, and will actually be pretty legit.  I've heard rumors of Gap, Loft, J.Crew, and other favorites.  The mall opens in November, so I need to save my pennies! 
2. H&M is coming to Omaha!!!  Opening in Spring 2014, so I have to be patient, but it will be worth the wait.  

Omaha is really upping the retail game with these changes.  This will greatly reduce my desire to shop when I am on vacation in "real cities" AND I'll get to hit up the J.Crew outlet to actually try stuff on instead of ordering online and just hoping it fits right!  

It's the little things in life, right?   

Dress: Gibson&Latimer
Jacket: Izod
Purse: Dooney&Bourke
Sandals: Love Culture

**I realize I should have written about this with an outfit actually containing J.Crew Factory and H&M items.

6 Years!

This is a couple weeks late, but as of July 28th, John and I have been married for 6 years.  It also marks 7 years since our first date, because we are cool and got married on our date-iversary!  Last year, I did a full week of anniversary posts, so I will keep it simple this year.  Since we were driving back from Montana on our actual anniversary, we went on our official anniversary date last weekend.  Nothing too fancy, just a nice dinner and a random movie.  You can tell it was a special occasion because I actually put on eye makeup.

I don't want to get to sappy on the internet, but I will just say that I am so happy this guy decided to keep me.  I think he's pretty wonderful!   Here's to 70-ish** more years of marriage! 

Dress: Gibson&Latimer via Dillard's
Cardigan: Gap
Sandals: Carlos Santana
Necklace: H&M

**or maybe more?   I heard a rumor that life expectancy may be on the rise - although living to 100 seems like a really long time.  This post just took a weird turn.  More evidence that I am lucky John puts up with me.   

Golf Pro

These pictures have nothing to do with golf, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures at the US Senior Open on Saturday, and I wanted to blog about it.  I also wanted to show off my new dress.  I found it when my sister was in town, and I sort of love it.  I mean, floral with lace details and buttons up the back!  It felt a little too fancy for work, but I think the cardigan and flat sandals helped keep it casual.

Anyway, about golf...

When John asked me to go to the golf tournament with him, I reluctantly agreed.  The more I learned, the less excited I was, for various reasons.  Golf can be a tad boring.  The forecast was hot, sunny and humid.  It started at 8, so I would have to wake up at 6:45 on a Saturday!?  No cell phones or cameras allowed?!  But I thought it might be fun and I should give it a try.  A few random thoughts:

• I had no idea what I should wear.  The internet is NOT helpful with this question.  I found the following advice:  
• Wear comfortable shoes, as you will be walking around a lot
• Wear wedge sandals, because you shouldn't wear tennis shoes, but heels will sink into the ground.
• Dress like you would if you were golfing
• Don't dress like a golfer, or you will look like a moron.  You wouldn't wear a swimsuit to a swim meet, for example. 
• Wear a sundress 
• Don't wear anything sleeveless
• So....???  I ended up wearing my pink shorts, a v-neck tee, and tennis shoes.  I felt like I was dressed appropriately and was very glad I didn't wear wedge sandals.
• I have no short-term memory when it comes to golf.  I watch the ball and see it land.  John was looking away and asks me where it is.  No idea.  This type of thing happened pretty regularly.  I kept trying to really remember, but it was no use. 
• Watching golf in person is way more interesting than watching it on TV.  It was actually really cool, because you can be in the front row most of the time, unlike other sporting events where you are so far away from the action. 
• When it comes to golf (both playing and watching), men are all of a sudden into bright colors and crazy patterns.  I saw so many pairs of bright colored and plaid shorts, it was ridiculous!  
• Being away from my cell phone for a day was really nice.  I wasn't worried about checking email or social media or taking pictures.  I should remember to do that on a more regular basis.  
• Allegedly, the high yesterday was only 88.  It seemed much warmer as we were trekking across the hilly course. Thankfully, there was a pretty good breeze to keep us from being miserable.    

Overall, it was a really fun day!  I would happily attend another golf tournament!  

What did you do this weekend?

Dress: Gibson&Latimer
Cardigan: Gap
Belt: Limited
Sandals: Carlos Santana