Mr. Picks Mondays: Belated Black & White

I realize this latest installment of Mr. Picks Mondays is a few days late, but, as Wednesday was Christmas, my schedule has been all sorts of catawumpus. I've been thrown out of wack - having time off from work has allowed me to take a nap (almost) every day, lounge, have long lunches with old friends, and snuggle with my pups in the middle of the day. 

Let me just say, I'm loving having a few extra days off.

My Mr. pulled this out of the closet for me to wear. I'm really trying to "winter-ize" my white pants and wear them into winter, but they are such a mental hurdle for me! I just want to wear them with loose & flowy summer tops and sandals. I KNOW it's possible (and even chic!) to wear them in the winter, I'm just having a hard time making myself comfortable with it. Any tips?? And also, I tend to spill anything&everything on white pants, so, there's that...

Actually, let me clarify what I said above ^ My Mr. chose the polka dot top and white pants. I added the blazer, shoes, and the striped top underneath for some black & white print mixing - adds a bit of dimension, dontcha think? ;) 

polka dot top: thrifted

striped top: Express

blazer: thrifted (Target)

pants: Old Navy 

flats: Kohl's

linking up with...
Simply Lulu Style for What I'm Loving Fridays
Two Thirty Five Designs for Casual Friday Link Up
Style Elixir for Friday's Fab Favorites
Simple Sequins for Fashion Item Friday

Purple Pants, Polka Dots, and a(nother)...Bulldog Shirt?

Cali loves blog pics. but mostly shirts with her silhouette on them

I think the title of this post really says it all. The only thing I didn't mention up there is that these purple pants are my only pair of coated/waxed denim, and I wore black boots.

This bulldog shirt was another Black Friday find. I spotted it at J. CREW Factory weeks ago but didn't pull the trigger. But when I popped in on Black Friday Thanksgiving Night, only a few shirts were left, and only one in my size. 'Twas fate, my friends, 'twas fate. Oh, and isn't this polka dot cardigan fab? You know I luuuurve me some polka dots, so really, 'twas a no-brainer - and I'm a fan of those, especially when it comes to shopping. 

However, when I showed it to the Mr, he said it looked like something I already had. 

I asked to clarify:

"Something I already have? Or something I would wear?"

His response:

"Something you already have."

"Oh, honey, I sure don't have a black & white polka dot cardigan in my closet. 

However, this one will fit right in..."

shirt: J. CREW Factory

cardigan: J. CREW Factory

pants: Kohl's

boots: KMart

linking up:

here, here, here, and over here

check 'em out!

30 for 30: Day 27 & Day 28

Day 27

I feel like I spent this day running around like a chicken with my head cut off – work was BuSy! And then, since I’d been slacking, I had to go to the store after work to get everything for our Thanksgiving Dinner. The grocery store was a MADHOUSE. [Note to self: don’t ever, ever, ever, EVER wait again until the day before Thanksgiving to go shopping] People were blocking the middle of the aisles (pet peeve of mine), cutting each other off, and generally not being very “thankful” the day before Thanksgiving. 

*harumph*

However, I did make it out alive, and with all the fixin’s we needed for the next day! Oh, and the liquor store was a happenin’ place – I gave them some business, too, in the form of wine (white for myself & my mom, and red for my Dad). The Mr. had plenty of beer in the fridge, and my mother-in-law likes to bring her fancy cocktails when she comes to visit. This time it was “Hot Apple Pie" (she threw a Halloween party this year and made a “Dumpster Sludge, which was a really gross-looking brown-ish gray color, but was really quite yummy). I didn’t have any (I just love a good Pinot Grigio, or Riesling), but imagine Apple Pie, but with vodka & caramel & other yummy flavorings instead. Sounds pretty delicious, right??

Day 28

Day 28 was Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law came to visit, along with her sister and her husband. They are the first company we had in our new house (my folks came up Saturday - Sunday, so they were a close second)! Everyone loved our new home (we do, too!) and our meal feast was AAAAAMAZingggggg.

My sweet Mr. wanted to be in charge of the turkey – he didn’t let anyone else do anything to it. 

He also made sweet potatoes and apple dumplings (from my new Pioneer Woman Cookbook!).

He followed the recipe and prep and carving instructions in the book for the turkey, and it. 

Was.

DELICIOUS. 

I’m not normally one to go gaga over turkey at Thanksgiving, but as soon as the delicious aroma of turkey began to fill up the whole house, I couldn’t wait to dig in.

We had a nice Thanksgiving Dinner, just the 5 of us. There wasn’t a lot of stress – we’d told our visitors we’d still have boxes everywhere, so they weren’t expecting our house to be put together. We didn’t end up having boxes EVERYWHERE (we grouped a lot of them in the basement or the garage…aaaah, the joys of having a basement AND a garage!), but we did have them placed in corners and a few in every room.

All in all, a nice & relatively quiet Thanksgiving, made even more special by the fact that we celebrated in our new home – just one more thing to be thankful for :)

linking up here today

30 for 30: Day 12 (and some new schtuff)

yes, that is Turbo's tongue in the lower right - it's a very long dog tongue

Here is the new coat I mentioned the other day. Fancy, huh? I'm a HUGE fan. I was really drawn to it initially, then "hem-ed" and "haw-ed"over it while I perused the rest of the store. 

"Is it ME?"

"Is it too trendy?"

"White? In the winter?" 

(It comes in navy, too. So that added another 30 minutes to the decision making process)

But as you can see, I overcame all of those objections and got the coat. I've been on the hunt for a new, shorter coat. I've got a red peacoat, which I love, but it's very dressy and comes to my knees; a knee-length purple down coat, and several fleece jackets from The North Face/Columbia. I was looking for something nicer than my fleece jackets, but shorter, more casual, and not quite as heavy as my other coats (that's a lot of criteria!).

I love this coat for many reasons:

1) it fits my above criteria

2) it's got (faux) leather sleeves, which is SO on trend for this year. AND, who doesn't love (faux) leather?

3) it's two-toned - do YOU know anyone with a two-toned coat? I don't.

4) it dresses up jeans, but not TOO much

5) it was provided to me courtesy of Aéropostale, as one of their VIPs for this season

Needless to say, I'll be wearing it a lot this winter, until we hit below freezing temps for weeks at a time.

YUCK.

this pink peplum top really doesn't photograph well, does it?

I matched the pink polka dots in my pants to my top

 

Yes, that is a bulldog. On a pair of socks. They are my (2nd pair of) bulldog socks. I love them.

I can't find this sweater online (boo), but it's much prettier in person - the pink is not as blinding, I promise. I'm envisioning it with leggings (most likely these, also from Aéropostale), boots over my new bulldog socks, a large cup of coffee, and a good book (currently I'm in the middle of 2 books, and 1 audiobook)...

For something similar to this sweater, imagine:

this Sheer Striped Knit Sweater, mixed with this Marled Slub-Knit Sweater, topped off with this Sheer Ribbon Yarn Sweater.

A scarf with hearts, that masquerade as black polka dots. Could this scarf be any more darling? I think not. Can't wait to wrap myself up in it - it's nice, and big, and square-ish-ly shaped, without being too heavy, although it does have a nice weight & bulk to it. Good job, heart/polka dot scarf.

And the gray infinity scarf I wore the other day, that my husband said I didn't "NEED", is here.

Aéropostale keeps hitting it out of the park - keep it up! Can't wait to see what else they've got in store!

Hooray for the weekend! Any fun plans in store?

linking up this BRIGHT top [that looks neon in these pictures] over here

30 for 30: Day 6 - when I MET THE PIONEER WOMAN!

me & Ree - so worth the wait in line! and the drive! and the time off from work!

Last week, The Pioneer Woman came to Colorado on her latest book tour (A Year of Holidays - recipes for a whole year of holidays, beginning with New Year's Day, and ending with New Year's Eve). 

You better believe I went. And I got a picture with her (above, from my Instagram. 

And she signed my newest cookbook (and my previous one, too).

My sister-in-law introduced me to her sometime last year, and I'm so glad she did (thanks, KB)! P-Dubs has THE. BEST. recipes. Seriously. Everything I've made from her book is a HUGE hit at our house. I read her blog daily, and have her show on The Food Network set up to record on our DVR every week. I like to think we would be best friends in real life. Can I tell you I was SO awkward when I met her? I feel like I know so much about her, and she has no idea who I am 

*sigh*

I even took the afternoon off of work to make it to the signing, and my best friend came with me, and patiently waited in line with me. She's such a good friend - those are hard to find!

I could go on and on about how much I love the Pioneer Woman, but I'm going to suggest you check out her blog/cookbooks/show - let me know which of her recipes you make (and subsequently fall in love with). We're hosting Thanksgiving at our (NEW!) house, and have already drooled over the Thanksgiving section of her new book. And Christmas. And New Year's. And Valentine's Day...

my best friend is such a good blog photographer - she "directs the shot" and helps pose me

I was really proud of myself for this outfit for several reasons:

1) I don't care to wear tights, as I think they're uncomfortable. However, I wore these all day, and even longer than I normally would, as I didn't get home and into my pajamas until waaay past my bedtime.

2) I did some MAJOR print mixing here. Stripes AND houndstooth?? I patted myself on the back for this one. 

3) I think I look a teensy bit Parisian chic, which is something I'm obsessed with lately. We were sitting in the "fashion" section of The Tattered Cover (the location of the book signing), gleaning as much information about Paris fashion & becoing "tres chic" as we could without taking the new books home with us, as both of us agree it's more important to buy food and gas than books about clothes...

*sigh*

Someday...

thanks for coming with me, L. I really had the best time <3
also, I'm sorry I have blurry picture taking skills

linking up over at Simply Lulu Style, because I LOVED meeting the Pioneer Woman, AND spending the afternoon/evening with my best friend :)