Indecisive

shirt: Old Navy, scarf/skirt: Target, shoes: Payless

why I was late to work this morning...

For the amount of time it took me to get dressed this morning, my outfit should be a lot more fabulous! I tried on all the pieces in the photo above until I realized that I was really super late to work and I just went with what I had on. I am happy that I went with these shoes though. For only $15, they were money well spent. I think they give the outfit a different look than any other options in my closet!

Better Luck Tomorrow

skirt: Old Navy, skirt: Loft, shoes: thrifted, necklace: gift from my mother-in-law

I don't feel pretty today. We all have those days, right? It'll pass. Maybe some heels tomorrow will help me snap out of it. Doing my hair may help too. :)

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We spent Saturday afternoon doing a charity bar crawl, then watched my husbands' cousin compete in a middle school state track meet on Sunday. I had a lot of things I wanted to accomplish on Monday, but all I accomplished was a run, some grocery shopping, and going to the movies. I never even put on real clothes. As much as I love putting together outfits, I just couldn't bring myself to do it yesterday!

Copy Cat

dress: Sam's Club, sweater: Target, necklace: JCPenney, shoes: Target (even though you can't see them...)

The look I copied from Lauren with From My Grey Desk

Our manager was nice enough to let us leave at 2:30 today to start our holiday weekend. Lunch and sangria followed with two of the girls from work. By 5:00 I was just settling in on our couch at home watching HGTV when my husband texted to see if I wanted to meet up with his new team at work for happy hour. Pressure! I stood in my closet, trying to decide what outfit would keep me cool enough in close to 90 degree weather while still looking appropriate.  So what'd I do? I copied a look a fell in love with! Lauren wore this look earlier in the week. The sweater gave me just enough extra coverage to feel comfortable while the necklace gave the outfit some more personality. Thanks for the inspiration Lauren!

Target Should Pay Me

tee/skirt/shoes: Target (apparently I'm a walking Target ad today...)

I feel like I'm fighting cold. That's never fun, but at least in the winter it's expected. Who gets sick in May?! I'd say it was allergies if it weren't for the sore throat. I have a pretty large collection of these boyfriend tees from Target. The days you find me in them at work, they're usually paired with running shoes and jeans and that's because what I really want to do is wear sweatpants and curl up on my couch. Determined to step it up a notch today, I paired one with a skirt and some flats instead!

Pattern Mixing Rookie

tee/jeans: Old Navy, tank: Forever 21, scarf: Giant Eagle, shoes: Kmart

Well I did it: I pattern mixed and nobody yelled “you don’t match!!” at me, which I think I was convinced would happen. I’ve noticed that when I see other bloggers pull this trend off effortlessly, I’m drawn to the mixtures of patterns that are calmer tones. When I realized that I had the pieces to do the same thing, I decided to give it a try!

Take Two

tee: Target, vest and skirt: thrifted, belt: Marshall's, shoes: Kohl's

This outfit looks a whole lot like this one, but I liked it so much I just had to do it again! I don't know why, but I really wanted to pair this shade of olive green with black. Two of my co-workers did that on the same day last week, so maybe that was my inspiration? 


I'm finding that as the weather gets warmer, it gets harder for me to find outfits that I feel like are unique and interesting. Jackets and sweaters are such great items to finish an outfit, so I'm worried I may struggle a little by the time summer comes around and I just can't stand to wear the layers! Anyone else have that same struggle?


Linking up today with Life of Meg, Thrifters Anonymous at ColorBlind, and Watch Out for the Woestmans.

The Half Tuck

tee: Target, shorts: Gap outlet, shoes: Old Navy

My husband willingly went to the outlet mall an hour from our house yesterday. Willingly because he needed some new clothes, but willingly nonetheless! The majority of my spending was at the Nike Factory Store. I'm 99% sure my husband has talked me into running a marathon in October, so I decided that I needed more running shorts to get me through the summer. I picked ones with bright colors and fun patterns of course!


I wore the outfit pictured above today to be with one of my best friends while she tried on wedding dresses for the first time. Although there's nothing more beautiful than a bride in a wedding dress, I figured I'd still step it up a notch from my usual Sunday uniform. I would've never paid the original price of $44 for these shorts, but gladly forked over the outlet store price of $15. When I got home, my husband asked me why my t-shirt was tucked in just the front. I responded that I thought it made the outfit look less sloppy, but what I wanted to say was "gosh...don't you read style blogs?!" :)

Getting Old?

tank/necklace: Old Navy, blazer: Walmart, skirt: thrifted, shoes: Kohl's

In my early 20s this could've been a good example of taking an outfit right from work into happy hour, then out for the night. Now as I'm quickly creeping up on my late 20s, it goes more like this: work, home to nap, throw on a jean jacket for a few drinks with friends, and still make it home to go to bed at 10:30pm. :)

You Win Some, You Lose Some

shirt: Macy's (forever ago!), sweater: Target, jeans: Walmart, shoes: Payless

Looking at this picture, today may have been the last time that shirt gets worn...it is not flattering to my arms! Maybe I should've listened to my gut instinct, because I threw on this sleeveless cardigan this morning because when I looked in the mirror, I thought there was something about the outfit that I wasn't crazy about. 


Because I prefer not to be completely negative, I'll talk about how fabulous these jeans have been to me.  First, the $12.88 price would've likely won me over anyway, but I wear these things all the time! Between these jeans and my skirts, I feel like I never wear my dress pants anymore. Is it wrong to think that just because they're black and a straight leg misses fit rather than a skinny leg juniors fit, that they qualify as dressing up? Probably!

M.I.A.

(outfit from Friday) shirt: thrifted, pants: Old Navy, shoes: Kmart

M.I.A...that's how I've felt for the past week. I took a sick day last Monday that I'm declaring a mental health day. It worked and I went back much more focused, which is good because I'm now in the middle of a big project at work that's stressful and taking up most of my time.

The week brought a break from work, but involved a lot of traveling time to see both my family and my husbands' family to celebrate the wonderful women who raised each of us. Worth it, but exhausting! Below are some pictures to sum up the weekend...I swear if anything convinces me to have children, its going to be this adorable, fun little girl I get to be Aunt Jess to!

Goofing off while waiting for her pedicure to dry! :)

A true girly girl.  Likes manis/pedis, shopping, and at only 3 1/2 can walk in heels better than Aunt Jess!

(Please ignore my kind of disgusting hair) Me with my wonderful momma, brother, and brother's girlfriend

We celebrated my beautiful mother-in-law's 60th birthday...can you believe she's 60?!

Big day in our household...its our one year wedding anniversary! We're celebrating with Chinese take out, chocolate martinis/scotch, and some wedding cake. I think I'll separate myself from my phone and computer for the rest of the evening and give my husband some well deserved attention. I can't wait to catch up with you all soon!

Excited to stick with tradition and eat some more of that cake tonight! :)

Nautical

long sleeve tee: Charlotte Russe, cardigan/shoes: Target, skirt: Old Navy, necklace: JCPenney

I'm linking up today with Everybody, Everywear with my take on the nautical look, although you'll probably never see me wear this on a boat. Apparently boats terrify me, small ones at least. A family sailing trip in the San Francisco Bay had me so scared that I sat on the floor of the boat practically hugging the legs of the table in the middle. I had no idea sailboats rocked back and forth so much! I didn't learn my lesson and 6 months later attempted a whale watching trip while on a motorized ocean raft like the one pictured below while visiting Maui with my husbands family. His adventurous family thought we needed to sit on the side of the raft at the front of the boat.  That's right, the part that's in the air! I gave it a try, but you can bet I joined the group in the normal seats at the very back of the boat by the end of it. So much for an adventure...I prefer to spend my vacation days poolside with a good book and a good drink! :)

Fun for a Good Cause

tees and fedoras: Target (isn't my niece's artwork fabulous?! haha)

Yesterday we went to visit my sister-in-law for the What a Girl Wants events. Proceeds benefited the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer and The Pink Ribbon Girls of Dayton. The girls started the afternoon at the fashion show while the guys went golfing. I didn't get any pictures of the actual show, but they started out the event by having breast cancer survivors gather on the runway, then each survivor shared their name and their number of years as a survivor. Years ranged from 38 years as a survivor, to a woman who just had a mastectomy 5 weeks ago and starts her treatments this Wednesday. I didn't know a single person up there, but had a hard time holding back the tears!

L: sangria!, R: breast cancer survivors up on the runway

After the fashion show, we did a little shopping. The dress below was a steal on sale for $28, but there was a cutout in the back of it that would've required me to find a specific kind of bra to wear with it and I didn't feel up to that challenge. At first I thought that was lazy of me, but maybe it was smart since it left me more money to spend on accessories! I tried to talk my sister-in-law's friend into buying these outrageously expensive, impractical white shorts, but she was smart and put them back. One of the models in the show wore them and they are GORGEOUS, but none of us could justify the purchase! I'm determined to buy a sewing machine, learned how to sew, and make us each a pair though!

shopping at Urban Ava in downtown Tipp City, Ohio

After shopping, we had a cookout.  Good drinks, good food, good company!  We spent the rest of the evening at the Concert for a Cure part of the event, a free concert by The Menus. Fun show by what seems like a crazy group of guys and a lead singer who likes outfit changes that include women's clothing and swimwear! :)

L: message from The Pink Ribbon Girls, R: husband stole my fedora!

why yes, he is wearing a women's swimsuit and a shark hat :)

Is anyone else sad the weekend is over? I'm looking forward to spending what's left of mine recovering from all the fun we had!

Sister, Sister

sweater: thrifted, jeans/shoes: Target, necklace: Walmart

Happy Friday! I'm so excited for the weekend! My sister-in-law and I are going to a charity fashion show to benefit breast cancer research. Be prepared for pictures of matching pink outfits! This is what happens when it takes me 26 years to get a sister...I'm sure my husband is thrilled. :) What are your fun plans?!

Not Feeling It

tank: Old Navy, sweater/necklace: Target, jeans: Walmart, shoes: Payless

I'm not such a fan of this outfit today, or maybe it's that I'm not such a fan of this picture of myself. I thought about continuing the trend this week and wearing another skirt or dress, but just wasn't feeling it this morning. I was really comfortable today, I just don't feel like this outfit was anything special. I suppose if I'm going to have a blog, I should share the good with the bad, right?

A Smart Purchase

tee and necklace: Target, skirt: Loft, shoes: Payless

I've been super thrifty lately, but I had to let myself buy this skirt. I did use a 40% off coupon to buy it, but it was still more than my cheap self usually spends. I'm glad I bought it though! I made the look more casual with flats and a tee, but will easily be able to dress it up with a different shirt and some heels. Now I just need to convince my husband that we need to dress up and go out some weekend! :)