Vacation...

....I'm on it, so I can't promise to post much this week. Not that I'll have too many exciting outfits to post about. I'm thinking my choices will go something like this: running clothes, swim suit, shorts and a tee. I'm looking forward to a week long vacation on Fripp Island, South Carolina! Check me out on instagram at rupie514 to see what we're up to. :)

Go Shorty...

dress: Walmart, shoes: Kohl's, bracelets: from Jenn (seriously Jenn - I can't stop wearing those bracelets!!)

necklace: birthday present from a friend/co-worker 

...It's your birthday...well, it's my birthday anyway. And I did have a co-worker rap that 50 cent song to me this morning. It was pretty entertaining and a reminder of why I really enjoy the people I work with! :)

So I'm officially 28, but still deciding how I feel about that. I had a great lunch with co-workers, then my husband and I got dressed up, went to run errands to get ready for our family vacation to South Carolina that we leave for on Saturday, then went to a really nice dinner. I remember when the short, cute birthday dress was saved for going out on Saturday night. One of my best friends is exactly a week younger than me (fun fact - she's also a triplet!), so in the years right after college we used to pick the Saturday between our birthdays to go out downtown and celebrate! Now the dress is perfect for Giant Eagle, Sam's Club, and dinner on Tuesday night because I plan to spend my Saturday in sweatpants. Totally acceptable in my book.

Anyone else use their birthday as an excuse to get a new dress?!

I See A Pattern

tee: Target, shoes/belt: Old Navy, jeans: NY&Co, bracelets: from Jenn

Apparently I decided it was the week of t-shirts. I jazzed them up just a little bit with fun shoes and accessories, but I guess there was no denying that I needed comfort this week! Do you have a favorite look you default to when you just don't have the energy for anything else? We can clearly tell what mine is!


Because I think it's noticeable in today's outfit picture, I figure I should explain the bruises on my arm. I thought I felt some swollen lymph nodes in places I hadn't had them before. That led to a sick day and doctor's appointment on Monday. By the time I made it to the doctor, I couldn't find any swollen spots, but the doctor ordered blood work anyway. The doctor doesn't seem concerned so I'm not either, but I'm now on a round of antibiotics based on the results. The bruises on my arm are from the phlebotomist drawing my blood...I don't think that's normal! I'm certainly not looking forward to return for the follow up test next week!


Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Plenty of family and friends time scheduled for me, with some baseball watching in the mix. :) 

Cranky Pants

tee: Nordstrom, jeans: Gap, shoes: Gap Outlet, necklace: Walmart, belt: Forever 21, watch: Kohl's, bracelet: thrifted

By the time I left work today I was a hot sweaty mess as you can probably tell from these outfit pictures. After a trip to the pharmacy and grocery store, I came home to this:

After I partially drove through my yard to be able to reach my garage, I had to take a picture because I just couldn't believe that someone would park like that. It just irritated me so much that someone would park like this when there are so many options for parking on the street.  Turns out the car was someone visiting the neighbors across the street and to the right in this picture...the same neighbor that owns the tan car also pictured above. Look closely and you can see the flat tire that has kept that car in the same exact place for at least a week now.


I probably would've been a lot less irritated if it weren't for also feeling exhausted, run down, and being a little frustrated with my work environment. The best part of my day? Getting a chance to relax and read through all your thoughtful comments on my recent posts! You all really know how to make a girl feel good about herself and I appreciate that. I can't wait to visit all your blogs more often and get a chance to know you! Thanks for visiting and I promise after a good nights sleep, I'll be back tomorrow and won't be so crabby! :)

Catching Up

Friday's work outfit:
tee/flats: Target, jeans: Shopper's World, necklace: gift, bracelets: from Jenn

Bachelorette Party outfit:
vest: Forever 21, tanks: Old Navy, jeans: Kohl's, shoes: Target, necklace: gift, earrings/bracelets: from Jenn (check out rupie514 on instagram for an up close view of those gorgeous earrings!)

Saturday's outfit:
tank: Old Navy, skirt: Target, bracelet: Forever 21, necklace: gift

Hey everyone! This past weekend went by way too quickly! I had a bachelorette party to go to on Friday night, my training run on Saturday, then my parents came down to visit and spend the night on Saturday. That never happens! We had such a great time going shopping and taking my parents to our favorite local brewery, then to a new restaurant on the Scioto River for dinner. When they headed up on Sunday after we had lunch and my dad gave me a lesson in baking (I learned how to make popovers!), I focused myself on a work related project that I hope I can share more about later. It took away the time I usually enjoy relaxing and enjoying all your blogs, but I think it'll pay off! :)

EBEW: Color Blocking

tee: Walmart, skirt: Target, shoes: DSW, necklace: Francesca's

Last night, when I remembered that it was EBEW time again I thought so hard about what I could color block. Seriously, I fell asleep picturing outfit combinations! When I woke up, I still hadn’t thought of anything so I threw on a non-color blocked outfit and added my trusty old yellow wedges.  Right before I headed downstairs and out the door, I had an epiphany…teal skirt with my navy blue tee! I have to admit, it’s possibly the only color blocking I’ve tried. I decided to keep the yellow shoes for color overload, but let me tell you about the dilemma I had first…

I’m a Buckeye, born and raised. Going to Ohio State was the only major life decision that I didn’t seek guidance from my parents about. I just knew. One of the things about being a typical Buckeye fan is that you really can’t stand the University of Michigan. I’m sure it’s a fabulous school and maybe even in a fun city to live in, but you just don’t like that school in that state up north! 

Getting back to my dilemma, when I looked down at my final outfit choice for the day, I realized that my shirt and my shoes are U of M’s school colors. Ew. I’m not kidding; that thought stopped me in my tracks. I don’t think I’ve ever mixed these two colors together, but I finally decided that the teal skirt broke up the colors enough. Does anyone else have crazy aversions to color combinations for reasons that make no sense at all, or am I all on my own here?! :)

New Jewelry And A New Blog Friend :)

So excited about so many great bracelets! 

I can't wait to wear these to dress up an outfit!

Big outfit plans for these gorgeous things for Friday night (girls night out!) - check back this weekend to see!

Aren't these accessories great?! I was lucky enough to be partnered with Jenn from Party of One for Shanna's Bauble Swap and this is what she sent me! It was so sweet of her to send me the perfect silver bangles that I knew I "needed" after completing my shopping ban! The second I received the package, I had to put on the chain looking ones and wore them the whole weekend. So fun! Check out below to see how I wore them today...

bracelets: gift from Jenn!, tee: Family Dollar (are you thinking what?! because I sure was when I found it!), necklace: JCPenney, belt/skirt: thrifted, shoes you can't see: Target

Left arm - See! I knew silver bangles were a must to wear with my new watch! :)

Right arm - Loving these!

Thanks Jenn for such a thoughtful gift! Do yourself a favor and head over to Party of One! Her blog is full of some pretty inspirational and fun stuff. We all need a little bit more of that in our lives, don't we?!


Do yourself another favor and head over to Because Shanna Said So. You still have until July 15th to join in!

Polka Dots

shirt/belt: thrifted, jeans: Gap, shoes: Target

Hard to see, but the bracelets are from Target. The pink one is from a giveaway I won, full picture below...

My first ever giveaway win, from Beth at The Fashionable Adventures of Bethie the Boo. Thanks Beth! Please do check out her blog - you'll feel like you know her in no time. Promise! Such a genuine person and that really shows on her blog!

Do men wear polka dots?  Because this shirt looked a little bit like a men’s shirt to me. Either way, I liked it. All I had to do was roll up the sleeves and add a belt to give it a more feminine look. I added the heels to make the look even more feminine.

I know I said I’d try to keep the complaining about the heat to a minimum, but looking at all my recent pictures, it is wrecking any possible chance of my hair looking cute! It’s like I’ve surrendered to pony tails, so I’m not so sure you should expect to see my hair done until about September. :) Thankfully my hair has stayed pretty frizz free, but maybe I just can’t stand to have it down on my neck in this heat.

I hope everyone has a good weekend! Anyone have super fun plans? We’re headed to Cleveland for a night. We’ll be hitting up some old favorite places from when my husband and I first started dating and he lived in Cleveland. We might go to the Indians game, but may go hang out in air conditioning and check out their brand new casino instead! Looking forward to some fun time with just the two of us, spending time doing whatever random thing sounds fun next!

Linking up with Two Thirty Five Designs for Casual Friday!

The Casual Pencil Skirt

shirt: Target (I have 3 of these gray tees - a bit obsessive, I know - and this may be the one that's thrifted), skirt: thrifted, shoes: Gap Outlet, belt Kohl's

My elephant bracelets I wore today. $1 each at a local antique fair!

I’ll call this looking “dressing down a pencil skirt”. I chose flats because my legs hurt, and this tee with no tank top underneath because it’s too hot in our offices for anything else. Ugh. I promise to try to keep my complaining to a minimum this summer, but I am ready for some fall temperatures!!!

Side note: even though I love this skirt, I haven’t worn it in awhile. I know pencil skirts tend to be more restricting, but when I put it on this morning, it seemed a bit tighter than I remembered. I’d like to say all that running I’m doing must’ve caused me to add on a few pounds of muscle, but I’d say the fact that I ate my weight in potato chips over the past week is more likely. :)

Joining another link up this week...

How Embarrassing

shirt: Old Navy, shorts/shoes: Target, necklace: Charming Charlie

It's so hot in the building I work in that I decided to bust out these shorts that I haven't worn in years. I'm glad I never got rid of them! As much as I liked this outfit and it kept me as cool as possible, I have to share an embarrassing story. I wore this outfit all day on Monday and it's comfortable enough that I even hung out in it at home with my family all evening, swapping out the wedges for flip flops to take a walk with everyone to get ice cream. When I changed for bed, I realized that they had a huge hole!

Yep, a hole right along the seam...

I'm really hoping they ripped that evening and that I didn't walk around all day at work like that! I plan on wearing this again, but promise to fix them first! :)

Catching Up

Since Thursday, my life has been packed full of family time. One of my cousins came to Ohio from California with his wife and two kids to visit. I’ve still had to work my usual schedule, but we took my cousins kids to a baseball game while my cousin and his wife went to his high school reunion, had a cook out at our house, drove two hours north to my parents house for the rest of the weekend to get everyone together for more cooking and hanging out, then back to our house last night. On top of all that, Ohio had some pretty crazy weather with high winds that caused damage, but thankfully didn't affect our house or plans!
When I get off work today, family will be at my house again where they’ll be until tomorrow morning. As much as I love you all and this blog, I just couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice one second of all that togetherness to do outfit pictures and a post. :) I’ll be back tomorrow, but wanted to share my weekend through some instagram pictures until then. You can follow me at rupie514 and I’d love to follow back!