Snowy Weekend

Early last month, I spent the weekend in the mountains with my parents. Sadly, my Mr's work kept him from coming at the last minute. However, I know my folks weren't TOO upset that they had me all to the themselves ;)

my Mom and I did Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer - it's a 3k & 5k in snowshoes. The snow that day was UNREAL. So heavy & thick - think big, wet flakes that immediately soaked anything and everything they touched.

my OOTD - ski jacket, snowpants, & lots'a layers

rented demo snowshoes for the event

we found this neat chair by Colorado Ski Chairs - now I've got a hankering to get some adirondack chairs for our backyard...

before Dad and I headed out skiing Sunday - we're good skiing buddies

I put my monogram on my ski helmet, obvi

Dad and I skiied together all day Sunday. He's a part-time ski instructor, so he's a pretty good skiier.
He had me doing drills down the mountain and "watching film" - gotta say, I think I'm on my way to becoming a much better skiier! Thanks for the help, Dad!

Are you into skiing? What about snowshoeing? What about...dog sledding? Look for my post on that soon!

Oh oh, and HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY! Although, nothing in this post is a trick :)

Mr. Picks Mondays: Dressed for Spring (oh, and Ireland)

I last wore this orange skirt over the summer (oh, summer! how I can't wait for your arrival!) for a Bachelorette Party in Las Vegas (here). It's been hanging in my closet screaming (literally screaming, because it's so bright) "WEAR ME! I'M FUN! WEAR ME! I can go with tights and boots or wedges or sandals!"

I've come close a few times but haven't been able to pull the trigger and actually do it. 

Enter my Mr. and Monday.

He chose this bright, lacy, funky skirt and pronounced "This."

So. Boom. I had to wear it! And wear it I did! I tried to tone down the neon-ness of the skirt by keeping the rest of the ensemble pretty neutral and covered up. It's a spring outfit if I ever saw one - bright skirt, jacket, scarf, tights & booties. But, when it's ALMOST spring in Colorado, you can only roll with it and mix & match your sweaters with shorts and sandals snow boots the best you can.

Oh, and, I'm not even Irish (the Mr. is, though), and look at me - wearing orange & green like the Irish flag! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

SHOP THE LOOK...OR SOMETHING SIMILAR

shirt: from a friend similar below

skirt: WalMart sort of similar below, they're along the same vein - bright! orange!

jacket: thrifted (Land's End) similar below

scarf: thrifted (Lucky Brand) sort of similar below

booties: Old Navy similar below

Colorado-ey

In looking at this outfit, I don't know that I could have been more "Colorado-y" if I tried.  If you're wondering, that was not my intent, originally. I was just trying to wear one of my favorite t-shirts with a plaid flannel that I really love to wear. The scarf was to keep me warm and the boots, too - they're also comfortable, no matter how much people hate on them. But in retrospect, I think I pulled off cute-mountain-lady-chic-showinf-off-some-state-pride pretty well without going completely over the top. With a Colorado flag shirt, flannel, a scarf & UGG boots, the only things I would add if I were headed to the mountains would be a Subaru, a North Face jacket, my skis, and a Nalgene bottle.

Thanks for stopping by!

linking up with:

The Style Record for Monday Must Haves

Fizz and Frosting for Mix It Monday

Everyday Fashion and Finance and Perfectly Coutured for Three-Fer Thursday

DC in Style for Monday Bloom

Style Elixir for Style Sessions Link Up AND Friday's Fab Favorites

Life's a Party Dress Like It for Stylish Tuesday

Still Being Molly for Funday Monday

t-shirt: store in Breckenridge sort of similar below

flannel: Old Navy similar below

scarf: thrifted similar below

jeans: GAP similar below

boots: UGG exact below

SHOP THE LOOK...OR SOMETHING SIMILAR

The Liebster

You saw this outfit in a picture on Boxing Day - a lunch date with one of my best friends. We stopped on our way home to take these pictures just before the sun went down. It's easy for me to get annoyed at our crazy, ever-changing weather in Colorado, but beautiful 60 degree days in December (and January. and February.) and really pretty sunsets & drives remind me that this is a beautiful place to live.

************************

Last week, I was nominated by Paige over at Life's a Party - Dress Like it for The Liebster Award, which is given by bloggers to new blogs with smaller followings but lots of potential. Thanks so much, Paige!

The rules of The Liebster Award:

- Mention the person who nominated you with a link to their blog (check!)

- Answer the 11 questions they asked (below)

- Nominate 11 other bloggers with a smaller following, but a lot of potential (I would, but to be completely honest, I don't know know 11 other bloggers with a smaller following than myself - I follow plenty of other bloggers, but I don't know 5, let alone 11, that are smaller than myself. We all have to start somewhere!)

- Create 11 of your own questions for them to answer (see above)

- Notify your nominees (and again, see above)

Here are Paige's questions for me to answer:

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Hmm, definitely spelling & grammatical errors

2. Where is your dream vacation?

Somewhere on a beach

3. Statement necklace or arm candy?

Statement necklace - I just got several more this past week at Old Navy!

4. Where's your favorite place to shop?

Hmm, anywhere with pieces I love [that I can afford!]

5. What is one thing in your closet you could not live without?

Any of my skinnies

6. Why did you start blogging?

Several reasons: 

1) to help to develop my personal style

2) I love reading other blogs, so I thought "Why not?"

3) to make me dress up a bit every day, rather than jeans and a plan t-shirt

4) I have a lot of clothes, so what better way to wear them and then share them? 

7. What's your favorite phone and/or tablet app?

Instagram - lovelovelove

8. What's something your readers probably don't know about you?

I'm driving a new (to me) car, and I just love that it's a sports-meets-luxury car...it goes fast...and it's awesome

9. Favorite fashion trend?

Print mixing

10. What's your biggest blog goal for 2014?

To grow. growgrowgrow.

11. Favorite TV Show?

We don't have cable right now, so I'm watching re-watching all of Ugly Betty on Netflix

sweater: Aéropostale

leggings: Target

boots: Rack Room Shoes (sort of similar below)

SHOP THE BOOTS (sort of)

Merry Christmas

This is the Christmas card we sent out this year, and as it's now officially Christmas (mountain time)...

Merry Christmas to you and yours

from our little family to yours

Cold Snap

Recently in Colorado we had a cold snap. By cold snap, I mean the temperature didn't get out of the single digits, or even teens. For DAYSSSS. Denver set record-breaking temps (so many days in a row of a really cold temp; coldest temps for so many hours; temps for this early in the season - I used to work with climatologists, so I'm in "the know").

And I know it's winter, and it's almost Christmas, and why am I whining about cold weather when I live in a mountain state (that's a can of worms I don't think you want to open #beachloverforlife #everytimeitsnowsiwanttomovetothebeach)? However, 40 degree days are a whole lot different than barely freezing temps, which are a whole other ballgame compared to temperatures that stay in the single digits for days on end. When it's that cold, it hurts to breathe, and your nose hurts after being outside for 2 seconds. Forget about dashing outside for a quick second without your coat - you'll be a popsicle before too you can get back inside.

So, what's a girl to do when she experiences temperatures that usually wait until January or February to show their ugly faces? Several things:

1) sweaters
2) multiple sweaters
3) scarves
4) down vests over sweaters
5) sweaters UNDER down vests UNDER down coats
6) start the car a good 10 minutes before she needs to leave
7) lots of coffee/hot chocolate/warm drinks & blankets
8) not venture outside. for any reason.
9) make sure the puppies go in & out really quickly, so they don't freeze their little wrinkled selves
10) whine a little bit and dream about moving to Florida, specifically the Gulf Coast

while I DID all of the above, I've also decided that by having the appropriate "gear," I can save myself a lot of coldness. i.e. coats, sweaters, scarves, and new snow boots (an early Christmas gift from the Mr. - they're essential so I don't complain to him about how my toes are cold, even though I'm wearing 3 pairs of socks).

Interested in seeing my cold weather gear? I'll be honest, cold weather clothes make up way more than half of my closet, and our coat closet is quite full of coats for all different temperatures. 

Any other good strategies for dealing with the cold? And I mean REALLY cold, like "Since when do we live in Siberia?" cold?

sweater: J Crew (thrifted)

scarf: WalMart

jeans: GAP

boots: Rack Room Shoes

Saving 2nd Base

As many of you know, October is a BIG month for breast cancer education, awareness, research, and fundraising. What you might not know, is that my sorority (Zeta Tau Alpha)'s national philanthropy is breast cancer education & awareness. What you also might not know, is that several NFL teams have paired up with ZTA for a "pink-out game." Depending on the organization, some teams keep it low-key, while other teams go all out and sports pink jerseys & cleats. The Broncos allowed us to hand out ribbons, magnets & programs at every gate of the stadium hours before the game, and for at least an hour after kick-off. There was a large number of active collegiate members, and a good group of us local alumni.

Zeta's philanthropy is one of the main reasons I chose ZTA over any other house during recruitment. Breast cancer is something that has affected several women in my family, and several women in friends' families, so the cause is near and dear to my heart. And pink is my most favorite color, so the match was really meant to be ;)

Luckily, I got paired at a gate with some of my good friends from the house, so it was really quite the fun little reunion. We handed out countless pink ribbons that say "Think Pink! Think Zeta!" which is trademarked by ZTA, so that's pretty cool. Another corporate sponsor of the event was USBank, and they were with us, handing out pink ribbon magnets - mine is proudly displayed on my car (one on my husband's car, too). 

The downfall to the day was that inside our gate to the stadium, we were completely in the shade. So, within 20 minutes we had chattering teeth and numb fingers - not conducive to handing out little safety-pinned ribbons. However, we took shifts warming up in the sunshine, and handed out pins, magnets & programs with smiles on our faces. It was really fun seeing some people get so excited to wear pink for a great cause, and even more fun seeing some dear friends I don't get to see too often.

the whole group before going into the stadium

the alumni group, with some active collegiate members in the background

this girl is one of my oldest friends from Zeta - we lived in the house together and spent many nights sneaking snacks from the kitchen, staying up late studying & writing papers, and early mornings going to an aerobics class :)

back at home, after the game. glad to have some downtime with my pups

the shirts we all wore

I made sure to layer up, because I knew it'd be really really warm, or really really cold (like always in Colorado!). I got stuck at a chillier gate and was still a little chilly, but at least I had some layers & a scarf to help ward off the chill!

I didn't stay for the game - my friends and I went to get a bite to eat at a sportsbar, then I headed out before the end of the game to avoid that awful post-game traffic. All in all, it was a good day, but I was pooped and slept like a baby that night :)

t-shirt: local ZTA alumni group with the Denver Broncos

chambray: thrifted

scarf: gift from my sis-in-law

pants: Old Navy

shoes: Nike via Finish Line

linking up over here today!

Kacey, Eric, Kenny & the EYB

yes, those are croakies attached to my sunglasses - my brother & sis-in-law got me hooked. this pair came from a CO Rockies game, but for my next pair, I'm thinking something with my monogram...and yes, they are essential to my everyday life

This is what I wore to a concert last Saturday. Not just any concert. More like a get together of some old and new friends. Old friends like Kenny & the EYB, and new friends Eric & Kacey. We're such good friends that we're on a first name basis. 

*I wish*

I saw Kenny at Cheyenne Frontier Days (the mother of them all!) in 2009 with my Little, who is also named Annie and is blonde. And then I saw the Eli Young Band at the Grizzly Rose in 2010 with my roommates - the guys dressed up like the characters from South Park since they were performing in Colorado (nice touch). Great shows by both.

My sweet Mr. got tickets to see Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, the Eli Young Band, and Kacey Musgraves as part of the No Shoes Nation Tour at Sports Authority Field at Mile High (where the Denver Broncos play) for our first wedding anniversary in June (the first anniversary gift is paper). He told me I could take anyone I wanted to the show and I said "You. Obviously!" and he said "Are you sure? You can take ANYONE." (he's not a fan of country). But I think he enjoyed himself at the show - he even liked a few of Eric's songs, and some EYB tunes. And he admitted that Kenny puts on a good show. Cause he really does. 

NO SHOES NATION forevaaaaa!

in the car on the way to the show

don't worry - we were at a complete standstill. we sat in traffic for well over an hour to get to the stadium

in our seats, watching the Eli Young Band. gosh, they're so good!

his Corona, my marg. typical.

Colorado sunsets - nothing better

Kenny! Kenny Chesney!

Thank you for the tickets, and for being my date, sweetheart! You know how those 4 musicians speak to my soul. Them and Jimmy Buffett, of course. (I'm a HUGE Parrothead - did you know?) No one else I would have wanted to go with! Now it's my turn to go to a show of your choice, I guess ;)

and I'm linking up over here today for Friday's Five Link Up, so check it out!

Dress: Kohl's

Boots: Steve Madden via DSW

Hat: Target

Bag: thrifted

30 for 30: Day 10 & Day 11

Day 10

 

Day 11

Not a lot of words for you today. The fire is still raging. My parents just evacuated their home, along with several thousand other people. I know too many friends & their families that have lost their homes. I'll be watching the news coverage all evening, and all day tomorrow to stay updated.