Leopard Loafers

Loafers generally aren't for me, but when I saw these leopard ones on Gap's website, I had to have them.  I wanted to try them on, so I was waiting for them to show up in stores, but never saw them, and then they were gone from the website.  I was pretty bummed, but then my sister came to the rescue and found a pair for me!  Sisters are good for so many reasons!  I've worn them quite a bit, but this is the first time they've made it into official blog photos. 

Tomorrow is link up day!  Brynn and I will both have the link up posted in the morning, so make sure you stop by and share your leopard looks!  (spoiler alert: my outfit features sequins AND leopard print.  It's pretty crazy!)

And just to be clear, my TOPIO item is the denim jacket.  I'm passing the belt along for tomorrow.

Scarf: Calvin Klein
Jacket: Izod
Dress: Ann Taylor
Belt & Shoes: Gap

Leopard Scarf Again

Yes, I'm wearing my leopard scarf again with a striped dress, but I just really love the way leopard and stripes look together.  Plus I think it's fun to show the versatility of this scarf, and how little things can change the feel of an outfit.  Switching out my cardigan for a denim jacket and changing my boots for pumps makes a big difference.

After feeling pretty terrible all weekend and most of Monday, I think I'm finally back to almost normal.  I can breathe through my nose again and don't have a constant headache, so I'm counting that as a win! 

Just 48 hours until the Leopard Link-Up party happens!  Are you getting your posts ready to join in?  Make sure you keep up with Brynn to see what she is wearing this week.

Take One, Pass It On - Week 2 Day 3

Jacket: Izod
Dress: Old Navy
Belt: Gap
Scarf: H&M
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Acai

I didn't mean to skip yesterday, but I was pretty busy being as lazy as possible all day, and I wasn't super excited about my "carafe" outfit.  Maybe I'll post it next week some time as an example of a not so awesome outfit.  I'm jumping back in for Acai, which I was pronouncing wrong for a couple years, but apparently it is purplish, so I'm wearing my color blocked purple dress in the hope that one of them is the appropriate hue.  Go check out the rest of the Pantone Inspired Challenge with  Marissa  and Heidi.

In other news, I'm 29 now!  For the first time.  The problem with turning 29 is that older people always joke on their birthday that they are turning 29.  So I have to explain that I'm REALLY turning 29.   I'll be celebrating my birthday as much as possible over the weekend, so I'll probably do a summary post next week some time.  For now, I'll just say I had a really nice day.  I took off work, got a manicure/pedicure, and went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant with my favorite guy.  Then I went to the mall for a bit and felt kind of old at Forever 21, and took refuge at The Limited where I found 2 items from my Wardrobe Wish List.    Pretty great day! 


Dress: Limited
Scarf: H&M
Jacket: Izod
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Stripe Week - Sweater and Link-up

Stripes Week is coming to a close, but I'll probably have stripes on the blog most of next week, because I kind of over-prepared.  I could probably keep this going through the rest of the month, but I'd get tired of that (maybe).

Anyway... you guys!  FALL!  I mean, BOOTS and LAYERS!  There are even recently fallen leaves on my shoe in the first picture.  Seriously, though - it got kind of cold over the weekend, and we had all the windows in our house open.  I think it was about 50 degrees inside when we woke up on Saturday.  Not awesome.  But I did bust out the boots on Sunday.  And then it was 80 again on Monday.  I'm hoping we won't see snow until December.  Come on, Nebraska!

Fall Time

 

I wore this to work on Monday.  Then I went to the library to pick up a few books, and figured I'd take my outfit pictures in the parking lot.  I got my tripod all set up and started taking pictures.  After taking a few, I walked back to my camera to see how they looked.  At this point, an invisible bully jumped out of nowhere and knocked me to the ground!  Okay, I may have just fallen down of my own accord, but it sounds cooler to blame someone else.  I think I stepped on a parking lot rock and my shoes weren't equipped with proper balancing skills.  I'm just clumsy, I guess.

It was probably hilarious to watch, and it felt like slow motion to me, but I ended up sprawled out on the pavement with bloody knees and feeling very embarrassed.  No one came to my rescue, so I'm going to assume no one saw me.  I'm just glad I didn't break my ankle or arm (or anything else).  Scrapes and bruises are no fun, but I prefer these small injuries to the alternative.

And here you were probably expecting a post about autumn. 

Dress: Daniel Cremieux
Jacket: Izod
Belt: Gap
Shoes: Gianni Bini

Weekend Recap and Next Week's Theme

So, I may have mentioned that my mom was visiting this past weekend.  It was a quick trip, but I think we had a pretty good time.  On Saturday, we drove out to Grand Island to visit one of her best friends.  It was fun to take a little road trip and so wonderful to catch up with our friend.  I hadn't seen her since my wedding and that was 6 years ago!

Saturday evening, we went to Les Miserables at the Omaha Community Playhouse.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the local theater group, but I was very impressed!  I'll definitely be interested in future shows!  A few random thoughts (because that's what I do):

• It always bothers me that the actors have British accents.  Shouldn't everyone be French?  
• Gavroche was probably about 15.  I suspect they couldn't find a younger actor.  I just think he's supposed to be much younger and it loses some of the impact when he's a teenager.
• One of the actors' bios said she didn't realize she could sing until she had her tonsils out.  This makes a lot of sense, because I'm pretty sure I should be on Broadway, but I can't carry a tune.  I will be scheduling a tonsillectomy ASAP!     (kidding, kidding)  
• Eponine will probably always be my favorite.  She just has the best songs!  I find it so hard to believe that Marius would pick Cosette!  Eponine is always prettier and smarter and better! 
• The actor who played Marius was better (IMO) than the guy from the movie or the guy from the Broadway Across America version.  And his day job is being a sewer inspector!     
• It's weird that these actors are just regular people around Omaha.  At intermission, John and I were discussing who we liked and didn't like and then I felt awkward because we could be sitting next to someone's mom!

Anyway, the above outfit is what I wore to the show.  Which leads me nicely to my second point:

I'm doing another theme week!  I had a lot of fun during Polka Dot Week, so I'm going to try doing a theme week every so often.  Next week, I'm taking on STRIPES!  I even have an awesome co-host - Kate from A Journey in Style will be rocking stripes all week, and then we will have a linkup on Friday, October 11th. 

So get your striped outfits ready, and come link up!  

Scarf & Shoes: Target
Jacket: Izod
Tee: Gap
Skirt: Old Navy

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.

Pinned It & Did It

Pinterest is pretty cool.  I don't spend waste as much time on there as some people (you know who you are - I'll judge you as I play Candy Crush Saga), but I do love using it as a source of inspiration when I am just not sure what to wear.  I try to pin outfits from my favorite bloggers throughout the week/month/whatever, and then when I am staring at my closet, I can pull up my inspiration board and have several ideas at my fingertips.  So of course I have to join in on Heather's Pinned It & Did It Link Party! 

I love green and I love leopard, so when I saw this collage that Jill (from Good Life for Less) put together waaaay back in January 2012, I immediately pinned it, because PRETTY!  I've worn green tops with my leopard print skirt 2 times (here and here), but somehow forgot that I should wear my green skirt and my leopard top together until I saw Heather's version!  So easy.  So classic.  Pretty much a perfect outfit.  Jean jacket optional for freezing office.

Do you get outfit inspiration from Pinterest?  

Also linking up with Summer Style and Tres-Chic.   

Top: home made by me
Skirt; Target
Jacket: Izod
Sandals: Carlos Santana

Jean Jacket Remix

It's Friday!  I'm very ready for a weekend with absolutely no plans.  It's been a crazy summer and is about to get crazier because my sister and nieces are coming to visit next weekend and staying through the following weekend.  I'm SUPER EXCITED to see them and need to think of some fun things to do while they are here.  Any brilliant advice for entertaining two 8-year-old girls?  I'm sure we will go to the zoo one day, and probably try to find a pool at some point.  Of course we will sneak in some shopping and probably some crafty projects.

Speaking of craft projects, my stats have blown up this week with visitors to my DIY 4th of July shirt from last year.  If you are interested in making a fun and easy flag shirt, look no further!

I've been a slacker the last few weeks and haven't remembered to do a remix post.  I'm taking the easy way out this week and showing you 8 other ways I have worn my denim jacket.  I wear it quite a bit, so for the remix collage, I'm only including 2013.  I bought this jacket in April of 2007, when I was visiting my sister in Chicago.  I think it was from a JC Penney Outlet.  I don't remember how much it cost, but I can pretty much guarantee I've gotten my money's worth.  

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

I'm linking up for Friday Favorites and Casual Friday!

Dress: Target
Jacket: Izod
Sandals: Carlos Santana

Copycat Copycat

This outfit is a copycat of myself copycatting someone else.  I really liked that outfit this winter, so I thought it'd be fun to try a more spring appropriate version for dinner Saturday night.

It was also a good excuse to wear my new shoes!  These were a lucky score at Target when I popped in really quick to buy some travel-sized toiletries for my trip to Orlando.  John dropped me off at Target and ran into Lowe's for something, so I was killing time after finding everything on my list, and just happened to wander into the clothes and shoes.  I found a really cute dress (worn last week, but not photographed - blogger fail), and 2 pairs of shoes.  These were an online return, so they were marked down to less than $10 -  I was sold!   

Linking up today with Agi's Tres Chic, Look What I Got, and What I Wore to Work.

Top: H&M
Scarf: Calvin Klein
Jacket: Izod
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Target

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

I'm Sorry

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.

Here's a short list of things I am generally sorry about:

• Sorry that my thinking face looks like I'm super angry
• Sorry to anyone who ever sits directly behind me - my hair is big - good luck seeing anything
• Sorry to anyone who sits on my left at dinner - I will probably hit you with my elbow
• Sorry that I talk so loudly and probably can't hear you unless you are also a loud-talker
• Sorry that I will order something very customized at most restaurants - I'm sure it confuses the staff and embarrasses everyone else at my table

I'm probably forgetting something, but I think I apologize many times a day.  I think I read (or probably saw it on Oprah) that women say "I'm sorry" more frequently than men do.  I don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me.  Based on my observations and some discussions, I think women (or at least I) say "I'm sorry" whenever something bad happens (I'm sorry you got a flat tire), even if I'm not responsible for the bad thing.  It seems like men (again, I'm generalizing here) tend to say "I'm sorry" only in cases where they are really apologizing for something they did.  Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, this would be another perfect dress for the owner/manager of an awesome candy store (explanation here)

Dress: Old Navy
Scarf: H&M
Jacket: Izod
Belt (that you can't see): Limited
Sandals: Carlos Santana via DSW

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)

  

Guys and Ladies/Girls/Women

Have you all noticed there isn't a good female alternative for "guy"?  I mean, if I am talking about a male co-worker, I would say "this guy at work...", but if I am talking about a female co-worker, I'm stumped.  Woman?  Lady?  Girl?  Gal?  No, those all sound weird.  Is there a good alternative I am just forgetting?  These are the things I worry about.

In other news...

You guys, I finally found a leopard print scarf, and it was only $7!  I really wish there was an H&M in Omaha.  Although it might be trouble.  I also found these polka dot shoes on my shopping adventures in Arizona.  If you are wondering how many pairs of polka dot shoes a lady/woman/girl needs, the answer is at least 3 (exhibit A and B).

Scarf: H&M
Shirt: Gap
Jacket: Izod
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Gap Outlet

Bloglovin'

By now, you've probably heard that Google Reader (and maybe Google Friend Connect) is going away.  When I heard the news, I switched to Bloglovin for my daily blog reading.  It was really easy to make the switch, and I was able to import my Google Reader blogs into Bloglovin.

Pros:

• It was a good time to trim down my list of blogs.  The list had grown so much that I was missing out on the ones I really wanted to read.
• Bloglovin seems easier to make groups of blogs, and mark certain ones as read.  

Con:

• I have to open each blog to read the full post.  Google Reader had the full post most of the time (depending on the blogger settings).  I don't think it actually takes longer, but it seems annoying to have to open each blog in a new tab.

One thing I have heard/read from other bloggers is that it will be nice for GFC to go away, because then we won't all be so focused on the number of followers.  I don't really get this, because Bloglovin' still tells you a number of followers.

Anyway, if you are currently using Google Reader, I would recommend Bloglovin as an alternative.  You can import your GR subscriptions, or just start fresh.  You can find and follow me here!

PS - I'm being an outfit copycat again.  I don't think I would have thought of combining yellow, pink, and purple, but this picture inspired me!  I was going to wait until it was warm, but I got impatient, and I really like how the denim jacket and gray boots tone down the crazy bright colors. 


Shirt: Gap
Scarf: Charming Charlie
Skirt: Sunny Leigh via Macy's
Boots: Wanted via Piperlime