A Random Winner

This is what I wore on Friday to work and then to dinner and Motown.  It was a very randomly thrown together outfit, but I absolutely loved it.  The thought process went something like this:

Hmm... it's cold outside, I should wear jeans.  No, I want to wear a dress for the show tonight.  But I'm so tired of wearing boots.  I'll try my footless tights and flats and just let my ankles freeze.  Okay.  Now what should I actually wear?  All my dresses that fit are in the laundry except for this gray one - yeah, I like that one.  And it will look okay with black tights, just add a black belt.  Sleeveless, so I will need something warm to layer.  Scan through my cardigan drawer - ooh, stripes!  Well, now I'm all gray and black.  Quick add a bright scarf!  And done.

And now you know all my deepest secrets for outfit planning.

Cardigan: Gap outlet
Scarf: Charming Charlie
Dress: Loft Maternity
Belt: Limited
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Target

Camelot

This is what I wore recently when I went to see the Camelot musical.  I'll be honest, most of my knowledge about King Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere is from the movie First Knight, which I thought was just about the coolest movie ever when I was 10.  The broadway show didn't quite measure up.  I mean, it was okay, but just not amazing like I expect my musicals to be.  None of the music stuck with me at all, I didn't sense any chemistry between Guinevere and Lancelot, and honestly, King Arthur just seemed way more likable, so I don't understand why she would even be tempted to leave him for Lancelot.  But whatever.  It was a fun way to spend the evening.  And it was warm enough to not wear tights, so all around a pretty good day.

Oh, and I might be a jerk for saying this, but theaters really need to have something in place for larger folks.  These seats are pretty tiny to start out with, and I was unfortunately sitting next to a guy who really needed 2 seats.  Southwest would have totally kicked him off a flight.  And yet, I had to make myself as small as possible and lean into my MIL's space to avoid contact.  I wondered if I should speak to an usher at the intermission, but what are they going to do?  And then I'd really feel like a jerk.

So maybe I would have enjoyed the show more if that hadn't been an issue.  Hopefully that guy doesn't also have season tickets.

Cardigan & Scarf: Gap
Belt: Limited
Dress: Loft Maternity
Boots: Madden

Thanksgiving Recap

This outfit has nothing to do with Thanksgiving week, but I managed to take almost zero pictures when I was visiting family, and I didn't want a pictureless post, so that's how it's going to be!

John and I drove out to Indy last Tuesday, and started getting anxious phone calls from the 10-year-old nieces as soon as they got out of school.  They were just slightly excited for us to arrive.  On Wednesday, they had to go to school again, so I went to meet them for lunch.  Then my other sister's family arrived Wednesday afternoon, and my brother's family arrived Thursday morning and the house was full!  We had an awesome week hanging out with everyone.  So much food.  So many board games.  Multiple laughter-induced tummy aches.  Not enough sleep.  Perhaps a few tears as we drove away.  I really wish my family lived closer!

Anyway, it was a really fun week and I'm very thankful for these crazy people that I get to call my family.

Oh, and it's Tuesday, so go link up with Laura!

Dress: Younkers (similar)
Cardigan: Gap (similar)
Belt: Limited (similar)
Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Defying Gravity

Last week, I got to sit in the front row at Wicked.  This is one of the perks of having season tickets to the Broadway Across America shows - I get early access to the good seats, and I don't have to pay as much for them.  It's such an incredible show, and sitting up front was even more amazing.

I was so excited about the show that I completely forgot to take outfit pictures beforehand, so I took these when I got home.  You can kind of tell I am slightly drunk on musical theater.  If I had an ounce of singing/dancing/acting talent, I'd probably quit my job and move to New York.  Okay, I wouldn't do that, because I'd miss John too much.  But you know, if I was talented enough, I bet he'd come with me.  And when I failed, I could always come back and do local theater.  That would be fun, too.  

Anyway, I took it as a good excuse to wear my airplane dress again.  Because Elphaba defies gravity, and so do airplanes.  See what I did there?

Cardigan: Gap
Dress: eShakti
Belt: Limited
Necklace: inPink
Shoes: J.Crew Factory    

Tribal & Freesia

 

Back in my day, the Freesia scent at Bath and Body Works was my favorite.  It was light purple, so this is really throwing me that Freesia is yellow.  But Pantone says it, so it must be true.  And it's a good reason to wear my newish yellow cardigan again to link up with Heidi and Marissa

I'm also getting down to the tricky themes in Sarah's April Looking Lucky Style Challenge.  I was stumped on Tribal print, and then I remembered this dress.  I'm not sure if it's quite tribal print, but I think it should count.  It's a little on the short side for work, and especially when it's windy/somewhat chilly.  I decided to get creative and tuck it into my new pencil skirt, but the elastic waist of the dress was too high and looked awkward, so I went with a little make-shift peplum look.  It's a little weird, but I liked taking a risk!  Taking photos, however, was a whole different mess.  So windy and cold!  I wasn't brave enough to keep trying for a non-wind-blown picture, so you get what you get!      

Happy Weekend!  I hope you all have a lovely Easter!    

Top (really a dress): Target
Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Belt: Limited
Skirt: Gibson & Latimer
Shoes: Gap outlet

Three Closet Orphans Combined

I love this scarf, but somehow it got buried under my other scarves and I haven't worn it in over a year (according to my blog archives, which are probably pretty accurate).  I'm happy to rescue it and start wearing it more regularly again.

The dress also got lost in my dresses.  I think I've been picking my black/white striped skirt more often and forgetting to grab the dress.  

The cardigan is a tricky one.  I bought it when Gap was having a Friends and Family sale, and I wasn't finding much, but I was just in the mood to buy something, so this cardigan came home with me.  It's a pretty thick/itchy wool fabric, but it's pastel purple.  So it's sort of confused about whether it belongs in winter or spring.

I wore this a few weeks ago, and then Heather posted a super similar outfit!   I guess great minds think alike when it comes to putting lavender and stripes with a floral scarf!  We must both be ready for spring to arrive. 

Scarf & Cardigan: Gap
Dress: Old Navy
Belt: Limited
Boots: Steve Madden

Valentine's Week - Pink Dress

Well, I ran out of pink and red things that would look good together, and I'm saving the grand finale for tomorrow, so today is just a pink dress.  But it's very pink, so that has to count for something.

I just bought this dress in January, and this is the first time I've worn it.  It should probably be the last.  I really love the style, fit, and color - but it's just too short.  It seemed a reasonable length in the dressing room, but it must have shrunk on the drive home, because it's barely fingertip length now!  And the there's no seam allowance to let the hem out at all.  I've just been wanting a fit-and-flare shirt dress like this for so long, I think I was blinded to the flaws.  Oh well - at least it was only $6!  I should be able to make most of that back at the consignment shop, right??

Although, I do wonder if I could chop out the lining and add a few inches of solid pink.  Would that look pretty or stupid?  And please don't say "yes."

Dress: Gap
Sweater: Urban Outfitters
Belt: Limited
Boots: Steve Madden

#21 - Forever Young

This is an outfit I created on Polyvore, and it looked like a good idea on the collage.  Then I put it on, and decided the polka dot scarf was too much.  Then I felt like I was trying to look younger than I am.  Each of these items is somewhat "junior-ish," so combining them all just didn't quite work out.  But I had to get to work, so I just went with it.  Not my favorite look, but hopefully no one judged me too harshly.  Be honest, do I look like a 29-year-old pretending to be 19?  Because if you can't trust strangers on the internet to give reliable feedback, who can you trust?

Jacket: Target
Dress & Tights: Old Navy
Belt: Limited
Boots: Steve Madden

Weekend Fun

So, Monday!  It was a pretty busy weekend (well, with a certain amount of laziness on Saturday!).  Here's the short version:

• Friday afternoon, I left work a little early and went to the outlet mall to do a little Christmas shopping.  I now have only 2 people left to shop for, and I know generally what I should buy them, so I'm feeling pretty good. 
• Friday evening, John's office had their annual Christmas party.  We had a great time and stayed out entirely too late.
• Saturday, I may have slept until noon.  It's hard to say.  Then I did pretty much nothing all day, except read.  I guess I did a little bit of laundry and cleaned the kitchen.  
• Saturday evening, we went to see the new Hobbit movie.   I liked it more than the first one.  It does deviate from the book quite a bit, but I thought the book was kind of boring, so I'm not going to complain too much.  Plus it's been about 5 years since I read the book, so I don't remember the details. 
• Sunday was church, lunch, gym, church, and then we went over to our friends' apartment.  They recently moved to a cool apartment downtown and I hadn't been there yet.  It was fun to see their place and get to hang out!

Anyway, it's going to be another busy week, and then next week is Christmas!  So excited!!!  I need to get serious about wrapping all these presents that are stacking up. 

Oh, and these pictures are from a few weeks ago - now our backyard is covered in snow.  

Dress: Gap
Cardigan: Urban Outfitters
Belt: Limited
Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Steve Madden

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

Throwing Leaves

So many things to discuss today!

• I'm passing along the cream boyfriend cardigan.  I bought it at The Limited on my birthday and want to wear it every day, so it just made sense.
• Leopard week continues with this H&M scarf.  
• Halfway through the day, I changed my belt and shoes.  So, here's a little bonus outfit.  You'll be seeing more of these shoes later in the week. 

• When taking outfit pictures, John was very inspired by the leaves on the ground, so he started throwing them at me.  It was pretty awesome.  I had to make a collage:

Oh, and I'm starting a new weekly collage for TOPIO.  Mostly because iPiccy runs out of collage options between the ranges of 5-9.

Dress: Gap
Scarf: H&M
Cardigan & Belt: LImited
Boots: BareTraps

Turbulence

Another day, another ridiculously named color.  Turbulence = gray.  But we can't just say gray, because FASHION!   

I'm linking up with Marissa and Heidi again today.  Go check out the other gray, I mean turbulence outfits. 

Sweater: Urban Outfitters
Dress: Old Navy
Belt: Limited
Boots: Wanted

Polka Dot Week - Dress

Polka Dot Week continues with an oldie but a goodie!  This dress is from way back in 2008.  I've worn it a lot over the last 5 years.  I remember when I bought it, I wasn't sure how to style it, but it has actually been pretty versatile for me.    

It's a good reminder that something you love may not seem like a closet staple, but it very well may become one!  Do you have any items that you bought on a whim and then became frequently remixed pieces?

Remember to play along for the Polka Dot Link Up on Friday!  I want to see your polka dot outfits! 

Dress & Cardigan: Gap
Necklace: InPink
Belt: Limited
Sandals: Carlos Santana

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

Off to College

Classes start at the University of Nebraska this week.  This got me thinking about my freshman year.  In August of 2003 (wearing a really cool blue camo print tee), I packed up most of my belongings into my Civic and my dad's Grand Marquis, and we drove up to Lincoln where I would know exactly no one else in my dorm.  

When I think about that now, it makes me so nervous!  What was I thinking?  I had awesome friends in high school and most of them were going to K-State.  For some reason, I had decided several years prior that I was going to UNL and I never seriously considered any other options.  I didn't even apply anywhere else.  I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was crazy, and they were probably right.  

That whole first week was sort of a blur, but here are some random things I remember:

• About 4 hours into the 5 hour drive, my dad asked my mom if she had packed his shirts.  She hadn't. They were going on a 1-2 week road trip after dropping me off in Lincoln, so I think they went to the mall to buy him some shirts on their way out of town.  
• I felt very "freshman" when I went to pick up my books.  I was in line next to a girl who was so obviously (to me) not a freshman.  She seemed like she knew what was going on and not at all nervous.  I later learned that she lived across the hall from me, and was a freshman, and she thought that I seemed confident while she felt nervous.  I quickly became best friends with Anne and her roommate, Brooke.  You may remember them from Friendizona Weekend and other various shenanigans.  
• My roommate thought the dorm showers were gross, so she just didn't take a shower for the first 3-4 days.  It was August in Nebraska.  Daily showers are kind of important when it is 100-ish degrees outside and you are carrying boxes up to the 3rd floor.  This was not the weirdest thing about my roommate.  She moved out without telling me at the beginning of second semester.  I didn't miss her.  
• That first weekend, I was invited to a BBQ cookout for the Campus Crusade group.  When we got there, somehow they didn't have any meat, so it wasn't much of a BBQ.  The main thing I remember is playing ping pong with Collin, who ended up becoming a great friend.  You may remember him from the Montana trip.  
• I was in the Honor's Program, and we were "required" to read Seabiscuit over the summer.  For being a pretty good kid, I was very rebellious about certain things (particularly things that I deemed worthless).  I thought it was stupid to have required summer reading for college so I just went to the movie and skipped the book.  I bluffed my way through the discussion groups after our Honor's Welcome luncheon.  Most of the other honor's kids were shocked and appalled that I hadn't read the book. I was sort of proud of myself.  I still am.    
• My first day of classes, I was kicked out of my Poli-Sci class for being a Sophomore (my high school had a lot of concurrent credit classes).  The TA just said "If I read your name, you aren't allowed in this class!" and then read a few names, including mine.  I asked him what I was supposed to do, and he said he didn't know and didn't care but I couldn't stay in that class.  I went outside, sat down on a bench and cried.  Then I called my mom.  Then I met with my adviser and got my schedule fixed.  I still don't know why they let me register for that class if they were just going to kick me out on the first day.  It was the only class I was excited about, so it was pretty disappointing.  

Do you remember anything interesting about your first week of college?  

PS - this outfit has nothing to do with going to college.  It's a little but outside of my comfort zone (tucked in shirt, AH!), but I really like it.  

Top: Sunset Rd
Blazer: H&M
Necklace: gift
Belt: Limited
Skirt: Loft
Sandals: Carlos Santana