playing closet: Tate

This is my friend, Tate. And she is great (my rhymes – do you appreciate?).

We joined Zeta at the same time, and we fell in love just after Bid Day. She spent two years with the Peace Corps in Botswana, and came back to the States almost a year ago (I know we’re all glad to have her back – me, her family, her friends, me, her boyfriend, her animals, me).

She’s a smart lady, who loves science, and loves to help people, so she’s going to med school, natch. She starts this summer and asked for my help in putting together an updated wardrobe for this next chapter in her busy life. Being the interested-in-fashion-and-style friend that I am, I wholeheartedly agreed (and by that, I mean I replied with a very enthusiastic “YAAASSSSS!”).

We started by Tate sharing her style "Pinboard" with  me via Pinterest, so I could get a better sense of her style, especially after living abroad for the last 2 years. We discussed her between-jeans-and-business-casual dress code for medical school, and the her style: boho meets young professional. Then we were finally able to get together one evening (after several weeks of planning and "would this evening work? what about this time?" discussions), with the company of her dog and cat.

Currently, her clothes are spread between a few different places, all over the State, so we tackled what she had in her closet currently. We went through each and every item and discussed:

Could she wear this for med school?

What about clinicals in a few years?
Can she pair this with items she already has?

If not, what are some pieces that would complete several outfits?

We came up with a list of items that would be worthwhile to add to her closet, a few of those items are: a black pencil skirt, some new Converse, a chambray shirt, flowy cardigans, and a faux leather jacket, as well as a list of items to replace when she happens upon the perfect item: an LBD, a polka dot shirt, and a big black belt.

We also discussed several ways to wear some of the items she already has, such as her flannel shirt under a pullover sweater, or a cardigan, and the easiest way to print mix: florals and stripes, or polka dots and stripes.

And, just this weekend, we were able to get together again and work on her closet. I don't have any pictures to share, but we did pretty much the same thing as before. And she took a few items off my hands for me, including a really cute floral dress that she might wear for her white coat ceremony this summer...!

fun, not stuffy

my friend, Cat, in her new Lilly Pulitzer for Target dress from our shopping expedition

Chelsea, our distinguished alumni scholarship recipient (she's working on her Master's - woot woot)

with her scholarship award
not pictured: me standing up to cheer and make her smile for a picture as she received her award.
she called me her Stage Mom...#stagemom #stagemomforeva





Remember a minute ago when I mentioned styling a fun, young professional outfit?

Here it is. A classy dress, classic jacket, and solid pumps – yet together, they create something a little offbeat and unexpected. 

This is what I wore for a scholarship brunch (my friend was the alumni recipient!! #stagemom #smilesweetie). I wanted to be classy, age appropriate, scholarly (even though I, myself, was not a scholarship candidate), yet stay far away from stuffy.

So I decided on lace, suede, and tweed. All of those elements by themselves are classic, and even paired together they would create a very timeless look. What makes this look hit all the points I wanted to cover is the color pairings (navv blue with varying shades of pink), and the different textures (plus the fun printed clutch). Regarding color, these shoes go with everything, turns out. And you know I luuurvvvvve navy blue. This jacket was just begging to be worn after a long hiatus of sitting in a box in a spare bedroom.

And then the textures – lace, tweed, and suede. By now I’m sure you know I’m a huge fan of different textures – whether it’s actual texture, or the appearance of different textures by using different prints. I think I really hit the nail on the head with this look – it was perfect for a Saturday morning brunch at a country club to celebrate Panhellenic scholarships, and, the icing on the cake - it was pretty comfortable, too. No pulling at Spanx, or complaining when I overate, which of course, I did…I mean, we were served breakfast burritos, and those are my love language.

dress: GG Boutique

wedges: ALDO

jacket: consignment (Express)

clutch: Lilly Pulitzer for Target

Sadly, this is the last picture you’ll see of both dogs – our handsome Turbo passed away a few days after these were taken. He went very peacefully, in his sleep, but completely unexpected. We are missing his sweet & grumpy old self quite a bit. However, Olaf is reveling in the attention of being an only dog.

linking up with:

The Closet by Christie // I do deClaire

Sydney Fashion Hunter // For the Love of Leopard

Cassidy Lou // Dressing Dallas // Cappuccino and Fashion

Zeta Day

me & Cat. love love love.

Chelsea. you know her!

I'm a bit behind on a few outfit posts, especially this one. My Zeta Tau Alpha alumni group recently hosted Zeta Day/State Day/ Colorado & Wyoming Zeta State Day (whatever you want to call it - I call it Zeta Day). All of the Zetas in the great state of Colorado + Wyoming get together for brunch/lunch and celebrate being zisters.

This year's theme was "Zeta Carnival." Unfortunately, I was a bit too busy manning corn hole to take pictures of the rest of the decor, but trust me when I say that my fellow alum did a bang-up job with the decor. We had a photo booth, carnival games, raffle tickets, popcorn buckets, oversized lollipops, and lots of Zeta, everywhere (no clowns, though).

This year's event was held where I live, so my commute was about 10 minutes, which is a nice change from driving to Denver and beyond. I know a few current collegiate members, so got to catch up with them, and reminisce about living in the house (triple room. 2 years in a row).

The attire for these types of events is always "pin attire" - business casual to professional to brunch to what you'd wear to see your classy grandmother. I chose a Lilly (after much discussion and trying on of outfits) and some shoes that don't get out much. They're a fun t-strap with tweed & faux-croc on the toes (I never know what to wear them with!).

My bestie helped me come up with the idea to wear my pretty white Lilly (that can lean a little Stepford, depending on the accessories and styling) with some darker shoes and a distressed fish tail braid. I'm often guilty of taking a look a little too far (tweed + pearls + kitten heels + nylons + Stepford wife/Martha Stewart extraordinarie/Suzy Homemaker). Not that that look is bad, but I tend to take it a little bit too far, so I am really trying to tone it down and go with more "mixed" looks: classy Lilly meet dark shoes and casual hair + accessories (or another look you'll see in a few weeks for another Zeta brunch - scholarly meets a young, fun, maybe a little funky, professional).  Or sometimes it's preppy meets studs, or casual meets business professional. Follow?

All of that to say, I think I hit the nail on the head with this look - appropriate, age-appropiate (I'm not 21 anymore *sigh*), comfortable, pretty, and the receiver of lots of compliments :) 

What's your best trick to styling, or juxtaposing looks in one outfit?

And, I'm still alive after yesterday's race. Look for an update in a hot minute...

white dress: Lilly Pulitzer

shoes: Mudd via DSW

linking up with A Touch of Tartan

Blizzard-ing

Sunny Sunday errands call for Dairy Queen Blizzards. Can you believe I got away with bare legs in November?? It was really short lived though - we had snow the following evening.

This look is composed of a few layers. First, a black American Apparel tank dress with Zeta Tau Alpha running down it in neon pink, layered under a slouchy pink striped sweater from Aéropostale. Secondly, a gray statement necklace paired with gray faux pearls. I'm all about adding dimension and texture, especially when it's the same color, or within the same color family - gives it a little something extra.

Accessories here include: jewelry, sunglasses, bag, and my fave - the Blizzard.

dress: ZTA Recruitment via American Apparel

sweater: Aéropostale

shoes: Payless

purse: T.J. Maxx

gray faux pearls: Kohl's

gray statement necklace: WalMart

Blizzard: Dairy Queen

So Sweet

I call these my "ballerina shoes," simply because they're pink, have a bow, and a slightly boxy toe-shoe shape. However, I do not have to tear them apart, lace them up, and they do not make my toes hurt and bleed.

I made these bracelets a few months ago. By made them, I mean I bought the beads and the stretchy string, then strung them together, then threw them on my wrist.

Before Halloween I attended a Dessert Party hosted by the collegiate members of my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. This event is an annual fundraiser, and the proceeds go to benefit Breast Cancer Education & Awareness, Zeta's national philanthropy.

I sported my event t-shirt from 2009, when I was one of the girls hosting the party, but subtly covered up with a cardigan and a scarf, but still showing my Think Pink! support :)

shirt: Zeta
sweater: thrifted (Kohl's)
scarf: gift from my sis-in-law
pants: Ann Taylor LOFT
shoes: Coldwater Creek

linking up here

30 for 30: Day 9

I wore this easy ensemble for a brunch this past weekend with some local alum from Zeta. Some of my old roomies were there, and several other friends from when I lived in the house (did that for 2 and a half years - I like to think I can live anywhere now). 

We had brunch, then some of us headed over to the local J. CREW Factory store, where I proceeded to fall in love with 1 of everything. Specifically these really great houndstooth cropped pants, which I can't find online anymore (just simply imagine cropped houndstooth print trousers)...after I wore my houndstooth skirt last week, I fell in love with the print all over again, and would love to add more of it to my closet.

Let me amend the above statement.

I would love to add a few, selective & tasteful houndstooth pieces that I LOVE to my closet, and they must be pieces I would wear often. So, while those pants were DARLING (you'll have to trust me, since I can't find them), they might not get as much wear, as say, a pair of gloves, or a scarf. 

That being said, if those pants did show up in my closet, or under the Christmas tree, I wouldn't hate it :) 

Mr. Picks Mondays: Zeta Colors

sorority girl pose - we call it the "chicken wing," or the "skinny arm"

wearing a lot of turtles lately - they're considered good luck in Japan

This sweater was a gift from my Grampa the Christmas before he passed away. However, instead of trying to guess my size & what I would like (although the man had great taste and always did a great job), he took me shopping for my Christmas present. I had just joined Zeta (this was several years ago), and had all things sorority on the brain. The official colors of ZTA are turquoise blue & steel gray, so I picked out a sweater that would allow me to show my Zeta pride, even if I wasn't wearing letters.

Imagine my surprise when my Mr. picked out turquoise & gray for me to wear! I added some warmth with a chambray under the sweater and a scarf, but really, staying pretty true to my ZTA roots :)

Looking at these pictures, I don't think I'd pair this chambray with this sweater again - the chambray is too casual for this cashmere sweater. In some light, the chambray looks almost white, and that could possible match this look a bit better. Anyway, this is what I wore!

that's the Zeta hand symbol: a 5 pointed crown. ya dig? Turb would try it, but he doesn't have thumbs...

chambray: Kohl's

sweater: gift from my Grampa via Kohl's

scarf: thrifted

pants: Target

shoes: Kohl's

linked up over here today

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!

Itty Bitty Strawberries

Hope you noticed all of my little strawberry details - I try to sneak 'em in there. Strawberries are just one of Zeta Tau Alpha's symbols, and I try to show my ZTA alum pride without being TOO over the top. I don't wear these shoes often, so with every closet clean out I "hem" & "haw" over them, but when it comes down to it, I can't toss my sweet little strawberry Keds!

Sad story about this vest: I found it at a thrift store this past summer, and was thrilled to have found a denim vest (and in off-white, so it's not the same as everyone else's). I brought it with me to go visit my parents one weekend, and my mom and I went to get pedicures, a favorite activity of ours. While I was picking out my color (SO. MANY. CHOICES.), I dropped a bottle of hot pink OPI nail polish. 

Onto the tile floor. 

It shattered. 

Pink nail polish splashed all over the floor. 

All over my sandals, my legs, my shorts, my tank top.

And onto my new (to me) vest. 

However, after much application of acetone with cotton swabs, I was able to get out most of the pink from my vest. 

Whew. 

Now you can sleep peacefully tonight knowing I got the pink nail polish out 

of my new (to me) cream-ish colored vest.

I just know you were on the edge of your seat. 

The end.

;)

Hey, smile! It's Thursday, which means it's almost Friday!

shirt: Target

vest: thrifted (Levi's)

pants: thrifted

shoes: TJ Maxx