Bridesmaid

I definitely tried to make this dress more casual for daytime wear by adding the texture of a cardigan + belt _ boots. Military green + Bordeaux may be my new favorite color combination. The original use for this beautiful dark ruby dress? It was from my beautiful cousin's beautiful wedding early this summer! Here's the original look, which I just love! Red + pearls = makes any girl feel like a million bucks! 

Early Summer wedding or Autumn Layers, this dress fits the occasion!

Psstt...this isn't the first time I've reworn a bridesmaid dress. Here's the other outfit, one of my very first.

Style Secrets

Dress: J.Crew, via cousin!

Cardi: Gap

Belt: Thrifted

Boots: ancient, falling apart, need replacing desperately

In Bridesmaid Pic: All details courtesy of bride

Shop Your Closet

I was so surprised to see two items nearly identical to items already in my own closet in the month's issue of InStyle and the latest (fantastic!!! drool-worthy, of course!) J.Crew catalogue. I just had to show you! It was uncanny!

Left: J. Crew, $285.....Right: Mine, F21 a few seasons ago, $25

Savings: $260

Closeness match: 75% (theirs are leather and have a slight platform)

The heels on mine are almost identical. You can see them in an outfit in this post!

Left: Burgundy w/ wooden handle Gucci, $2,990.00 (inset is vintage carried by French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy), featured in October 2011 InStyle p. 145

Right: Mine, vintage Henri Bendel, $10 

Savings: $2,980.00

Closeness Match: 75% 

The bags are strikingly similar, with the clasps, handle, color, and shape. The wooden handles on InStyle's are bamboo, mine is carved wood, but it still has the similar indentations 

Goodness, gracious, see, I just saved, ohhhhhhh......$2,945.00. 

This is such satisfying 'shopping'!

What an Honor

I'm SO excited and thankful that Indiana University, my alma mater, and Jessica Quirk of What I Wore, chose my outfit to be the winner of the Indiana University Style Contest! Gah! Thank you all SO much, it is an honor to help represent all of the stylish IU alums :-)

Click to read more 

Monday Mid Day: Weekend Finds

Hello lovelies! I hope you had a great weekend! I did, and I wanted to share some of my weekend favorite finds with you:

Vintage "Grandpa" Ties...winter wool + summer plaid

{to be determined what exactly these are for}

 His + Hers mugs from a local potter

Sparkly tank top from a tag sale

Very cute J. Crew sweater from a tag sale

1/2 off these Thank-You notes I've been wanting for over a year! Patience is a virtue!

{I wanted them for my master's graduation thank-yous, but found some cheap-o copies at Wal-Mart that were even better: a mini graduation cap illustration that said "thanks"}

1/2 off one of my favorite Yankee scents 

{I ADORE their regular buttercream, so had to try the strawberry}

I've eaten this dinner for 3 nights in a row, it is SO my new favorite. This gluten-free pasta is the best I've ever tried. I hope you can find it :-)

 And, of course, I had to make a simple new arrangement for my new candle!

Retro?

 Hmmm....retro?

 flats + little autumn leaf

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Local Store

Headband: Dollar store

Scarf: Gap, thrifted

Leopard Tote (in first pic): Reiss,Thrifted

Tank: ?

Sheer blouse: Local store

Belt: from another shirt

Jeans: Karl Lagerfeld, via TJ Maxx

Retro coat (nubby fabric with 3/4 sleeves and big, fabric-covered buttons): F21

Flats: F21

Phone: Not an iPhone

Boss

Be the Boss(aNova) of your Friday today! Lol....

No, I am not advertising for Bossa Nova (but I should be! GoogleAlerts, pick this up!), but this drink is SO yummy (and my color!). Try it! 

Tonight

Do you ever have one of those nights where something weighs heavy on heart and spirit, but you're not sure what? And you sit there, and you mull it over, and you say, "God, what is it?! What are You preparing me for? What is on Your heart that you are trying to impress upon mine?"

Lord, show me. I am Yours.

Shop Your Closet

I've been really wanting a nude patent belt with gold accents to add to my wardrobe. I've been stalking them on J.Crew and Ann Taylor. This particular J.Crew one is my favorite: 

J.Crew Version, $34.50

I've been checking the belt section at my local thrift store, trying to find something close. And I think I hit the jackpot: 

My version: Salvation Army, genuine leather, 99 cents

Can't wait to throw it over some fall dresses!! Remember: everything old is new again, so you can find just about any trend in a thrift store if you look. That's one reason I love thrifting!

Here at 23

I've got some Relient K lyrics stuck in my head. Not too unusual.

But it's almost 11 and I'm totally pumped, and I'm dancing around the house cleaning & rocking out.

"17, 18, 19, routine, and here at 23 it's the same old me...."

"Gotta break the cycle of the double-edged sword of being lazy and being bored."

 sa

Cleaning and listening to Relient K at 11 at night can be rather freeing, and rather deep at the same time. 

Because a few of those lyrics are hitting  little too close to home tonight. 

Hmm...cleaning & conviction. 

Also, I heart Relient K.

{end random post}

Wednesday Work to Weekend

and Weekend...

Hump day = checkmark. Weekend? Yoo-hooo! Weekend! I'm waiting for you!

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Thrifted

Colored Bobbies: J.Crew

Necklace: Target

Tank: Old Navy

Sweater: American Eagle

Belt: Thrifted

Pencil Capris: Gap/thrifted (super score)

Heels: MaxAzria, consignment store

Earrings: Forever21

Weekend Look---

Linen Moto Jacket: Charlotte Russe

Tank: Old Navy

Jeans: Target

Flips: Havaianas

Monday Mid Day

Hello lovelies! How did it get to be mid-afternoon Monday already? Oh boy! I'd better keep on workin' on that to-do list and maybe grab some iced tea. You?

Cutest Late Summer Skirt:

Land's End Canvas skirt, found here

Cutest Late Summer Hair Accessories:

From Forever 21, found via Suave Beauty 

{Check it, these are $2.50 for the whole set! Adorbs!)

A Sweet Little Monday Song:

{also, I want her skirt. just sayin'}

Enjoy the rest of the day! Catch ya later with a Work to Weekend outfit :-)

Remembering 9/11

Of course, I couldn't let the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001 go by unnoticed on my blog. My heart has been processing the events again today, especially as I've been looking through the videos, galleries, stories, and memorials online the past few days/weeks. It takes an emotional toll. It is hard to imagine that was ten years ago that I was in high school, heading outside with my ecology class, desperate to call and make sure my dad was OK in Washington, DC. (he was, just stuck in town for awhile). There are thousands of stories much more emotional than mine, but still...

I think: What if it had been me, during a normal sleepy morning at the office, who suddenly went up in a fireball?
What if it had been me, terrified, panting down 80 flights of stairs?
What if it had been me, trapped and unable to escape?
What if it had been me surviving, living with the horror of what I saw every moment?
What if it had been me, at home, waiting for dad to come home? For mom to come home? For brother, sister, fiance, husband, to come home?
What if it had been me, knowing my husband/boyfriend/father/brother had rushed into the flames, to save others, and ended up dead?

And I get a little bit paralyzed, you know? It's too hard to carry all of those burdens. Like I have to always hold everyone so close that nothing could ever happen to them. I think, for a moment, I'll never get on a plane again. I'll never go in a high building again. I'll never go to a big city again. I think, who gets to decide it was time for those nearly 3,000 people to die? 

But I remember a quote from the (boring, not that great, sort-of-interesting) movie I watched last night, Princess Kaiulani: Make room for the living. And I take a deep breath, and I turn off the horrifying audio and video from 9/11, and I will text my parents, and my boyfriend, and everyone I love and tell them how much I love them and thank God for them. And I will pray for the families of the victims, and I will remember that God is in control.

So, well, I guess I'll keep on getting on airplanes and going in tall buildings and maybe one day I'll visit New York City....and I'll try to make room for the living, as best I can.

Quick Post

Hi loves! Just popping in for a quick post today because my to-do list is a mile long (post an outfit IS there, but at the bottom!)....

Thought I'd show you my two new favorite pairs of winter socks....the darker ones are from Target, and the lighter ones are SmartWools (from my sweet, sweet boyfriend). These will definitely make my winter brighter! Have you picked up your winter socks & tights yet? This is definitely the BEST time to get them, when the stores are fully stocked. Target & TJ Maxx (my favorite sources) get picked over pretty fast. In fact, it's on my list today----off to TJ Maxx, dears! Enjoy the weekend if I don't catch you!

Labor Day Weekend

And because I was feeling fancy, a black and white: 

Totally loving this beautiful new thrifted frock, originally from Anthro. The embroidery, the shoulder bow, and the pleat down the back are so pretty and feminine. There are birds hiding in the embroidery! I can't wait to wear this with fall clothes!

Hey guys....be happy, ok? 

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Target

Dress: Anthropologie (thrifted)

Belt: Thrifted 

Shoes: Thrifted

Smile: Compliments of a wonderful long weekend

The Good Things

I think I found the good things this weekend. 

Y'know...

*Picking tomatoes from the field. And broccoli, and basil, and peppers. And having the entire car smell like basil on the ride home.

*Playing in the corn rows until drip---drip----DOWNPOUR! And screaming and running for the porch!

*Spending an hour or two shooting the breeze...until deciding we definitely need some ice cream with hot fudge to round out the evening.

*A revolving door of family comings & goings.

*Devotions to start off the morning.

*A continually full coffee pot all day long.

*Giggling until three in the morning.

*And taking a Sunday afternoon nap to make up for it!

*Trying to take a self-portrait of me + boyfriend (80 million times)

*Taking note of what color the street light in town is from the window--very important, of course.

And I tell you what, I didn't once think I missed my computer, or my cell phone, or my quiet space (ok, there was that time that I was trying to nap that that revolving door kept revolving). I didn't miss my Twitter, my GoogleReader, my hot water pressure (ummm....maybe that last one).  But my point is this: The priorities felt right this weekend. The ground felt firm beneath me. The days felt meaningful and relaxing, too. The time felt well-spent, even while watching the news and giving the dog some good pettin'. It felt fulfilling, in a way that, oftentimes, my own little life doesn't. And that was wonderful to soak up, and to remind me that the simple life--well-lived, deeply rooted in family & faith, is the best life. 

Gap Carharrts

These pants are basically Carhartts but from Gap. The material is the same, the color is the same---and I'm sure they'd work just fine on a construction site. They also happen to work just fine in an office. Not sure how I feel about this outfit, but it's what I have to offer on a Friday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Style Secrets

Navy stripe/lace tank: Gap/thrifted

Blazer: Tommy Hilfiger

Belt: Linea Pelle/TJ Maxx

Pants: Gap/thrifted

Shoes: Steve Madden/thrifted