Olive and White

Ready for my philosophy on colors?  When people say they can't wear certain colors, I usually argue with them.  I think the only color that I like but don't wear often is blush/light pink, because well, my skin is kind of that color, and I get washed out pretty quickly.  

Now, there are some colors I just don't really like, and those are the traditionally fall colors.  Olive, mustard, burnt orange, maroon (although I will make small exceptions for maroon).  So I decided to jump in on an instagram style challenge thing last week, but didn't really think about it.  Day one was Olive and White.  It was too hot to wear my camo jacket.  A quick mental inventory of my closet made me realize I don't have anything else olive, except for the small portion of this top.  I was going to wear my white shorts, but they looked weird with the shirt, so I swapped in the skirt and called it a day.  

Also, wearing white after labor day?  #sobrave #notreally

Cardigan: JCF  (exact)

Top: Tinley Road

Skirt: Banana Republic (similar, similar)

Sandals: Target (similar)

Come Sail Away

I bought this skirt for $3 back in September, but hadn't worn it yet.  It seemed like a perfect summer option, so I paired it with my oft-neglected sailboat tank for a trip to the eye doctor.  It was a big day, since I left my baby with my MIL. I've been away from him a few times previously, but John was always home. It's one of those things where I didn't have any logical concerns, but I was still nervous to leave him.  Then it ended up being easier to leave than I expected, but the eye doctor took forever!   And then my eyes were dilated so everything was blurry close up for the rest of the day.  I always forget how annoying that is!

Top: Target

Cardigan: JCF

Skirt: old navy

Sandals: target

Weekend Recap

This weekend was busy!  This seems to be a trend lately - I guess we are packing in everything before baby arrives and then I won't do anything for a few months!  Anyway, here's what happened...

Friday night, I went to dinner and Motown with my MIL and SIL.  The show was so good!  Maybe my favorite of this season.  The sound was a little off at the very beginning, so I was worried, but they got it sorted and then the rest of the show was fantastic.  The music was just so fun - all the old songs everyone knows!  

Saturday I slept in way late because I am so tired lately, then I got a few things done around the house.  In the afternoon, I went to a tea party.  Seriously, because my friends are ridiculous and awesome.  The hostesses did an awesome job and it was quite a fancy little occasion.  Plus it was really fun to catch up with everyone.  After that, I met up with John and his parents for dinner.  

As dinner was finishing up, I started to get some pre-migraine feelings, so we went home and I just took it easy for the rest of the evening.  I never got a full blown migraine, but I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty terrible.  So Sunday was spent mostly trying to not get a real migraine while still accomplishing a few things.  

Anyway, that was my weekend.  And this outfit is from about a week ago when we had a random 80+ degree day.  I'd really love it if we could settle into a couple months of 70 degrees all the time.  So, let's do that, okay?

Cardigan: JCF

Necklace: F21

Tee: Target Maternity

Skirt: Gap

Shoes: Sperry

Copy an Outfit

Audrey's challenge for us this week is to copy an outfit.  So I figured I'd go ahead and copy one of hers.  This one, to be exact, from 2 weeks ago when she was doing the Wear a Dress portion of the challenge.  

It seemed like the perfect way to try out my newly acquired maternity dress from Loft, as well as dig my yellow cardigan out of the "spring/summer" storage under the bed.  Plus, it was a completely gorgeous day, so I even let my knees out to play.  And I didn't need a coat.  If only I had gotten home early enough to take pictures outside, it would have been super exciting.  As is, it was just an exciting day.  Not super.

Cardigan: JCF
Scarf: CK
Dress: Loft Maternity
Belt: Gap
Boots: Madden

Graphic Tee Week - Ben Folds

In addition to Cardinals t-shirts, I also have an unreasonable number of concert tees (mostly Ben Folds).  I just have to buy one at every show.  This one is from the most recent concert this summer.  I really like this one - the instruments and outline of musicians are just fun.  The only problem is that I forget I'm advertising my fandom, so sometimes people will be like "oh, you like Ben Folds?" and I will immediately think HOW DID YOU KNOW?!  Before realizing that his name is plastered across my shirt.  I'm so smart sometimes. 

Link up below!

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory (exact)
Tee: Concert souvenir (exact)
Skirt: Old Navy (similar, similar)
Shoes: Gap factory (similar, similar)

20 Things You May or May Not Know (or care to know) About Me

Well, if you want to know 20 random things about me, today is your lucky day!  You can thank (or blame) Brynn for tagging me.  She made a cool video, but I wasn't up to that challenge.  At first, I was just like "no, I hate seeing myself on video" and then I was like "Oh yeah, and I actually wouldn't even know how to do one anyway, so it doesn't matter."  So if you want to know what my voice sounds like, you'll just have to come visit.  I'll take you to the zoo.  Or maybe I'll figure out how to vlog someday.  It's not likely.  

Anyway, here are the questions and my answers.  

• How tall are you?  5'9"
• Do you have a hidden talent?  If so, what?   I don't think so
• What's your biggest blog-related pet peeve?  Probably just the weird rat race to get followers.  Sure, I'd love to have 1000 followers (although saying that makes me nervous, maybe I wouldn't love that at all).  I think I've mostly stopped following people who seem caught up in that.  But even now, I will get people who link up for a theme week and they aren't even remotely close to the theme.  I should delete them, but then I feel like a jerk if I do.   
• What's your biggest non-blog-related pet peeve?  Oh, where to even begin?  Probably grammar and spelling errors, especially online.  I know I'm not perfect, but seriously, the computer has spell check!  You should not be making these stupid mistakes! (and now I'm extra paranoid that I have stupid mistakes in this super long post!)
• What's your favorite song?  It's impossible to choose a favorite song.  I can't even pick a reasonable number of favorite songs to put on my iphone.  My favorite artist is definitely Ben Folds.  That man is a musical genius. 
• What's your favorite Etsy shop that isn't yours?  No idea.  I'm not into Etsy.  
• What's your favorite way to spend your free time when you're alone?  If I'm in a lazy mood, I will be reading or binge-watching Netflix/Hulu.  I also really like to shop by myself.  
• Do you have a pet or pets?  If so, what kind and what are their names?  Nope.  I really want to get a dog, specifically a Great Pyrenees, but the timing hasn't worked out for us yet.  We just aren't home enough.  
• What are your number one favorite nonfiction and fiction books?  Again, I am really bad at picking favorites.  I mean, I had 6 favorite books from just one year!  So, my 2 favorite fiction books from 2014 so far are The Rosie Project and Ready Player One.   I don't read as much non-fiction, but I really like Malcolm Gladwell's books.  
• What's your favorite beauty product?  I've been using Pantene Curl Defining Mousse for the majority of my life.  Other products just don't get the job done.    
• When were you last embarrassed?  What happened?  I do embarrassing things all the time, so these moments don't really stick with me as much.  So, I can't think of anything specific that has happened recently.  
• If you could only drink one beverage (besides water) for the rest of your life, what would it be?  This is tough!  I think I have to pick milk.  I drink a lot of milk, and I don't think I could do without it.  But I'd really miss drinking soda.   
• What's your favorite movie?  Ugh, why are there so many questions about favorite things??  I like lots of movies!  Probably the movie I've watched the most is Waiting for Guffman.  It's just so hilarious.  I really need to watch it again - it's been awhile.  Every time I watch it, I notice something new.  
• What were you in high school: prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist, prep?  Well, I went to a pretty small Christian school, so most of the groups overlapped quite a bit.  We didn't have a prom queen.  I was smart, but I think about 30% of the class had a 4.0 at graduation.  I kind of wanted to be a cheerleader, just to teach them that doing the "we're #1" cheer isn't appropriate when we are losing by 50 points.  I was definitely not a jock, band geek, loner, or artist.  And we were all preps, because we literally went to prep school, uniforms and all.  So, have I answered the question?  No?  Well, I don't know what I was.  There were a lot of things I didn't like about my high school, but I think the social dynamic was pretty good.  I honestly think I was friends with almost everyone.  Does that make me sound like I was actually friends with no one?  Longest non-answer ever.  
• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?  I would want to live on the beach!   I always joke about moving to Puerto Rico, but I should probably pick a place that mostly speaks English.  So maybe we should move to Hawaii?  
• PC or Mac?  I've always had PCs.  
• Last romantic gesture from a crush, date, boy/girlfriend, spouse?  Our anniversary was just at the end of July.  John sent me flowers at work, and bought me an opal ring.  So that was pretty nice.  Otherwise, we tend to be silly rather than super romantic.  
• Favorite celebrity?  I'm not super interested in celebrities.  The first person that comes to mind is Jimmy Fallon, just because he seems like such a nice guy, and appears to really love his job.  I remember loving him back in the day on SNL, because he couldn't get through a sketch without giggling.  Most celebrities seem like jerks, so my favorites are the nice-seeming ones!  
• What blogger do you secretly want to be best friends with? I don't think it's a secret that I want to be best friends with Kate and Danielle.  Well, and a few others of you.  You should all move to Nebraska and we can hang out all the time!       

Top: Kohl's (refashioned from a dress)
Cardigan: J.Crew Factory (exact)
Skirt: Gibson&Latimer (similar, similar)
Shoes: Target (exact)

Getting Old

Most of the time, I'm not too worried about getting older.  I mean, I'm on my last few months as a 20-something, but 30 seems okay.  Every once in awhile though, something happens that makes me feel really old.  One of these things happened yesterday at the eye doctor.  My previous eye doctor moved away, so I got to see the new guy who replaced her at the office.  He was great, but I think he was younger than me.  I mean, it's possible that he just looks young.  Anyway, if he is in fact younger than me, I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been older than a medical provider.  It feels kind of weird. But hey, my eyes haven't gotten worse, so that's something to be happy about! 

At least I still wear color combinations that a Kindergartener would approve. 

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory
Necklace: Dillard's
Top: Old Navy
Skirt: Target
Flats: Payless

Come Fly With Me

Note - this dress was provided by eShakti for me to review.  All opinions are my own. 

When eShakti asked me to let them send me a free item to review, I was like "YES, PLEASE!"  It only took 2.5 years of blogging to get something for free!  Any other companies want to send me free stuff??  Call me!  Or actually, email me.

It was tough to pick an item.  I probably should have picked a more practical dress, but I just loved the airplanes!  I kept going back and forth on getting just a solid color dress.  But then AIRPLANES!  So I got the airplanes.  Because while a navy blue dress would be very versatile, and airplane dress is unique.      

For my first time wearing it, I decided to play off the red belt and go for the primary color accessories.  I felt very adorable all day.  In a good way, I think.  I'm already thinking of other ways to style it, and wondering how frequently I can wear it before my co-workers notice.    

Anyway, here are my thoughts about the whole process:

• The ordering process was super easy.  I put my order in on April 11, and the dress was waiting for me when I got home from vacation.  So, I'm guessing it was about a 2 week turnaround.  Not bad for a custom fit dress!  I just wish I had been faster at deciding, so I could have worn my plane dress on my cruise!   
• My only complaint about the ordering process is that most of the items I liked gave me the "out of fabric" message when I clicked on them.  I don't know if this is a common problem on the site, or just on the list of options for review.  
• The fabric is a really nice cotton.  And there are pockets! The belt isn't great, but I probably won't wear it very often (you can see it's a little wonky in some of the pictures).  After sitting at my desk all day, the skirt was fairly wrinkled, but you can't really tell, so it isn't a real problem 
• Custom sizing is really cool.  I didn't fall anywhere on their size chart, and I assume most women don't fit perfectly into the proportions for each size.  It was nice to put in my exact measurements.  The dress fits really well in the bust and waist - which is usually a problem for me.  Oh, and it's long enough! 
• One note about the fit - basically the only measurement that I didn't have to submit is how "tall" my shoulders are.  Apparently my shoulders are shorter than expected, because I think I'll need to take the straps in a bit.  Not a deal breaker by any means, but on a dress that fits perfectly everywhere else, an extra half-inch in the straps was noticeable, and made it gap a bit in the front. 

In conclusion, I was pretty impressed with the whole process!  In generally, their dresses are reasonably priced for dresses (especially custom, sized), but a little higher than what I'm usually willing to spend.  I know that means my expectations are unreasonable!  I'll keep it in mind if I ever need a dress for something specific.  And I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who has trouble finding dresses that fit properly.  

I thought about trying to pass it off next week as aeronautical, but that seemed like cheating.  Remember to link up with me and Laura May 12th-16th to share your ocean-inspired looks!  

You can find eShakti on Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter

Dress: c/o eshakti (exact)
Cardigan: J.Crew Factory 
Shoes: Old Navy

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

Crazy Weekend

This weekend was crazy!  Don't worry, I was mostly busy watching things.  Friday after work, John and I went to see Divergent.  You can read my thoughts about it here.  Saturday is kind of fuzzy for me.  I was just getting caught up on some things around the house.  Then John and I headed out in the evening to see The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was really wonderful.  It's only showing at the artsy theatre downtown, and we were not expecting the long line for tickets, so we had to buy tickets for the next showing.  No worries, we just grabbed some dinner while we waited! 

On Sunday, I headed back downtown right after church to meet up with Nicole and Becca for the Sister Act musical.  It was pretty cute.  Then I got home just in time to change and head back out to evening services. 

All this was happening while I kept an eye on the basketball games, which shall now be known as March Sadness.  All my friends lost.  Nebraska on Friday, and then Kansas and Wichita State on Sunday.  I was really hoping WSU would win the whole thing!  I was just glad Creighton also lost, so I don't have to listen to their fans bragging anymore this season!  I don't really know who to vote for now.  I should probably just hope Kentucky crushes everyone else they play, but I'm a little bit mad at them.  Anyway, I don't actually pay that much attention, so this paragraph is already too long.

How was your weekend?  

Cardigan & Shirt: J.Crew Factory
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Old Navy