Cobalt + Black

Tuesday - shirt: Marshall's (I think?), skirt: Goodwill, shoes: Old Navy
Thursday - shirt: Old navy, pants: Kohl's, shoes: Payless, necklace: Target  

Nothing too creative about my outfit choices from last week apparently. Cobalt blue top, black bottoms with detailing on them, and flats. At least I put one day in between these two looks, right? :) So I hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend! We did a charity bar crawl yesterday afternoon with friends, which is always a fun excuse to act about 23 again. Today I turned down shopping with a friend, only to turn around and go shopping by myself. Does anyone else prefer to be a solo shopper? I guess it's just my time to relax on my own. I only went to a few stores and didn't find any great deals, but did buy a few things that I'll make sure I include in my May budget post. It's nice to have one more day work free after all that too. We're headed to a cookout tomorrow, then maybe checking out Hangover 3 if we feel like it. Too bad every Monday can't be like that!

Not Made for Walking

shirt: Target, pants: New York & Co., shoes: Kmart, necklace: Old Navy

I love these shoes, but my goodness they were miserable after deciding to walk the mile round trip to lunch with co-workers. That will teach me - I think it's about time a pair of flats permanently joined my rain boots and winter boots that currently reside under my desk at work! 

Linking up...

New Definition of Daring

shirt: The Limited, blazer: Sam's Club, pants: New York & Co., shoes: Target

It's funny what feels daring to me now versus a year ago. Some days I miss the nonexistent dress code of my old job...it was nice when jeans were considered appropriate everyday! Knowing that we could get away with a lot, I took way more chances with my outfits, but with this job I've had since the end of last August I have a harder time with that. So for today, daring was wearing a strappy shoe with my plain old black pants and matching blazer. 

Linking up...

P.S. - check out  Ada's Weeks Best Looks post...thanks for the shout out girl! :)

A Favorite

blazer: thrifted, tee: Target, jeans: American Eagle, shoes: Kmart, belt: H&M, necklace: gift

So today I wanted to wear my white jeans that I actually really do like, which are different than the white pants I just wasn't feeling yesterday. :) Today I'm joining in on the Blog Every Day in May challenge and sharing a favorite picture of myself....

From my wedding (obviously! haha). This was in this really small room tucked away inside the women's restroom. Me, my bridesmaids, and the photographer were just hanging out waiting for our guests to get settled so it could be my time to walk down the aisle. Maybe it's just me, but I think I look incredibly calm for someone who's about 2 minutes away from getting married! And I remember being calm, and just happy. I think that's generally my nature, but I really don't think I have a picture from that day with a straight face...I just couldn't do it. So anyway, happy to join in on a link up today that brought make such good memories, especially during the week of our wedding anniversary! 

Work Wear

blazer: thrifted, tee & shoes: Old Navy, pants: New York & Co., necklace: gift

When I saw that the Third Thursday Threads theme was work wear, I immediately thought of a blazer. Thankfully this one is really lightweight and works when the weather is in the 80s! I originally wanted to pair it with a pair of white pants, but then I put them on and couldn't stand the way they looked. Sigh. 

Linking up...

Strategic

blazer: Target, dress: Target, shoes: Old Navy

I wore this outfit out to our anniversary dinner we decided to go out to on Monday night (our 2 year anniversary was yesterday!). While I do really like this outfit, and had been just waiting for the perfect reason to wear this dress since I found it on the Kohl's after Christmas clearance racks, I was strategic when I put this outfit together. This dress is not at all form fitting, which was needed to still feel any kind of attractive for eating unlimited meat at the Brazilian steakhouse we decided to check out for dinner. (And that was after a weekend that included Doritos and powered donuts for breakfast one day!) I took Monday off of work and decided to tackle some landscaping, so the long sleeves of the blazer hid my arms that are covered in scratches from finally tackling some bushes that had gotten a little out of control. I wish I could take a little more credit for the outfit, but I guess I'll just have to thank my bad eating habits and just a little bit of hard work. :)

Linking up...

My Public Apology

the bride and I - road trip from Columbus to Kelleys Island!

starting the weekend off right

Friday night crew, just hanging out - I'm sad I didn't get a group picture on Saturday!

out for the party Saturday night!

Today's Blog Everyday in May prompt is to issue a public apology. Mine is going to have to be for disappearing for almost a week! This past weekend we had the bachelorette party for one of my best friends and I just got caught up in preparing for traveling out of town for the weekend. I love this girl like a sister, even though she doesn't need another one (seriously, she's a triplet - all 3 girls). It's a little crazy to think that we've known each other for more than 20 years now. We've been through so much! From those innocent days of elementary school, navigating high school, figuring out college, then probably the hardest part - navigating those years right after graduating from college...I'm so thankful we were practically inseparable during those years! It's because of her I met the man I was lucky enough to marry, and without me she probably would've never met the man she's about to marry next month (hey, I'm taking credit for that one - he was my neighbor!).  But I'm back! And with a few days off work even because girls weekends like the one we just had require a little more recovery time than they used to... :)

Closet Confusion

shirt and shoes: Old Navy, scarf and necklace: gift, pants: New York & Co.

This outfit feels way more like fall to me than spring! Maybe that's a sign that it's time to swap the spring and summer items into my closet? Something else I noticed - when did my wardrobe become so un-sexy?! Not that I need or want anything inappropriate, but my best friends' bachelorette party is this weekend and I feel like those are always a fun excuse to step up your game, right? :)

I Survived

jacket: thrifted, tank: Target, jeans: American Eagle, shoes: Kmart 

Well I survived the half marathon! It wasn't all that fun, it was my worst time I've had in a race yet, and my muscles are really achy today, but there's just something satisfying about crossing that finish line so I'm still glad I did it. Today was spent going to see Iron Man 3 with my husband, drinking wine and doing wedding crafts with the girls (we made props for the photo booth that will be at my friends wedding next month!), and then enjoying more wine and treating myself to spicy sweet chili Doritos. Since the yoga pants and sweatshirt I wore today aren't exactly blog worthy, I thought I'd share my look I put together for Ada's Blog Birthday Party instead. Happy belated birthday Ada! 

Nervous

sweater: Old Navy, jeans: American Eagle, shoes: Target

Happy Friday everyone! So um, did I mention I'm running a half marathon tomorrow? Probably not, since the amount of training I've done truly shows that I haven't been focused on it all. Now I'm at that point where my nerves are kicking in, and I just can't wait for it to be done and for me to back at home, showered and back in my sweatpants. :) Here's hoping I survive! 

Linking up...

Two Thirty-Five Designs

Pantone-Inspired Spring Color Challenge (a day late...again...oops!)

Me

scarf: Target, shirt: Old Navy, pants: NY& Co., shoes: Kmart

I’m a day behind, but when I saw Blog Every Day in May over at Jenni’s blog, I wanted to join in on yesterdays’ topic. There’s no way that blogging every day in May will happen for me, but I think it’ll make for some fun blog content. So here we go…today’s post – the story of my life in 250 words or less!

Grew up in a small town in Northwest Ohio. First born, with a brother 2 ½ years younger. Great family and a great group of friends. At 17 met a guy who was on his way off to college. He moved two hours south to go to Ohio State, we started dating, and a year later I did the same. Took me three years, but finally decided to major in Sociology, then freaked out about what to do with a Sociology degree and added Speech and Hearing Science. Graduated in 2006, got my first job in social services working with ex-offenders and still have never used that Speech and Hearing Science major. :)

Kept dating that guy (for a total of 6 ½ years…) but enjoyed the heck out of those first few years out of college. Having my best friend from home move to Columbus helped! Because of her I met my husband, but she never meant to be a matchmaker. Was still dating “that guy” (please don't judge!) but he moved to Iowa and I was finally strong enough to end it.  Spent more time with the one I knew was worth it, never looked back. Lived together after 6 months, started grad school, bought a house, got engaged. Continued grad school, planned a wedding. Got married, finished grad school, FINALLY got a job in higher education. No pets, no kids, just Aunt Jess and Uncle Kyle to two amazing little kids and that’s how we like it right now!

Whew! Alright that was 252 words, but I’d say that’s close enough, right?! 

Linking up, although I'm a day late for both...

Pantone-Inspired Spring Color Challenge

April Budget

Old Navy finds:  A 20% off coupon was put to good use!

V-Neck Sweaters - These sweaters are amazing and I want one in every color possible. They're so soft and comfortable!

"Slub"-Knit Tee - Mine is actually a gray tee, not white like the picture. I'm a sucker for a gray tee...

Lace Tee - I think this shirt is versatile and will work with skirts, pants, for casual wear on the weekend. And I just love the lace!

Waffle-Knit Sweater - It was cheap and I think it's quite possible that it's the only orange thing in my closet. I'm hoping the weather will stay warm enough that I can't wear it again until next year though!

Other Items:

Black blazer - This was $10 at Sam's Club so how could I say no. Plus it was the last one there and a size smaller than I usually wear so I was all over that. :)

Thrifted Target stock (teal pants, red pants, and black skirt) - I knew I would want new colored pants for work this spring/summer, so this teal pair was perfect. I had actually bought the red pair at Target earlier in the year, but returned them when I was feeling really guilty about spending the money. As for the black skirt, it never hurts to have one more, right?

Thrifted Loft skirt - This was brand new with the tags still on it. You can't tell in this picture, but there's a fun print there.

Thrifted cobalt jeans - These are H&M and I love the fit...I really think I need to remember to head there more often when I'm looking for a specific piece. 

Necklace - I found this on clearance at Maurices on a fun afternoon of meeting a friend and her daughter for lunch and some shopping.

Total = $85.40

That's still $10 over the dollar amount I was budgeting for, but I think I found some great items that will get a lot of use. In fact, I've already everything (and some things more than once) except the red pants and the Loft skirt, but that's mostly due to weather since the material of the red pants is heavier and best for colder temps, and it's just now warm enough to wear skirts again since I just couldn't bring myself to deal with tights anymore! 

One thing I did notice is that I tend to spend my entire budget within the first 2 weeks, and then that leaves me not being able to purchase anything in the second half of the month, so I need to get better about that! I will say that I had an extended break between work and a campus event tonight and initially planned to head to Old Navy and Target during that time, but talked myself into stopping at the grocery store for some needed items instead. Maybe I'm getting better, but I can guarantee that by this weekend you'll find me at Old Navy picking up some tees I've been eyeing! Baby steps... :)

Linking up with Fran for Budgeting Bloggers...