Dressing for America's Birthday, Part I

Since this Friday is the 4^th of July / America’s Birthday / Independence Day / one of the best days of the year, I thought I’d share at least TWO patriotic / festive outfit ideas with y’all (one today, and anothertomorrow). And I thought I’d share them early for two reasons:

1) So you have time to go shopping for your festive gear if you are lacking in that department.

2) I plan to be on a boat or on the beach (or both!) for the 4^th in a festive bikini with one of my best friends and family, so, there won’t really be much of an outfit to share…Of course, I’ll be Instagramming & Tweeting pics of boating, day drinking, floating, beaching, frolicking, celebrating, and general debauchery.

Up first, a layered look. White pants, a festive burnout tank with stars (so. much. glitter. everywhere), and a chambray thrown over the top. I went with metallic sandals to tie in the stars in my shirt, but I was this close to wearing red wedges. Obviously, comfort won out – as it typically does for me...

Check out last year’s festive 4^th of July get-ups: here and here

star tank: WalMart

chambray: thrifted

pants: Old Navy

Cleopatra sandals: Target

when traveling to Minnesota

wearing at least 6 layers. plus a scarf. and snow boots.

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I went to Minnesota a few weeks ago during the really really cold weather that covered most of the US over/right after New Years. 

And it was cold. 

Bone chilling, make your nose hurt to breathe cold. 

So, what does a Colorado girl who's used to snow one day, and 50 degree temps the next do? 

Pack as many warm articles of clothing into her suitcase, and wear the rest on the airplane. 

I've got 3 more outfits from this trip (plus pics from my cousin's wedding!) to share with you 

over the next few days.

I wore my warmest pants: corduroys. And a Christmas present from my sweetie: SOREL snow boots. Get this, the name of this style is "Joan of Arctic."

Bahaha. 

Too clever. 

Anyways, they'll keep my tootsies warm up to -25 degree temps, and they've got fur on the top. 

Plus, they're black AND brown, so my black vs. brown dilemma won't be an issue.

*whew*

So, I wore the boots on the plane. Plus the outfit you see above. And carried my down coat and vest in the airport. The boots are crazy warm, but after wearing them all around the frigid Twin Cites for several days in a row, my feet were a wee bit tired. 

Having all that warm & fuzziness makes for heavy footwear (and tired feet & legs - guess I should start working out more).

My extended family got a kick out of teasing me for wearing so many layers. One uncle called me "Anne-ook of the North." Hey, when it's cold, I don't mess around. #layersplease

So, look for a few more extremely-cold weather outfits. Although I was thoroughly chilled in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I'm glad that I got to practice my layering "technique" and look of "snow bunny chic." And of course see my cousin marry his lovely bride, and the rest of my sweet fam, too!

t-shirt: WalMart sort of similar below

button-up shirt: thrifted (Old Navy) sort of similar below

cardigan: from a friend (Banana Republic) sort of similar below

corduroys: thrifted (Joe Fresh) sort of similar below

scarf: Aéropostale

down coat: Coldwater Creek sort of similar below

snow boots: SOREL

CHECK OUT SOME SIMILAR ITEMS BELOW

Festive

This outfit is several weeks behind - it's what I wore Christmas Eve. I had to work (bummer, huh?), but we did get to go home early, so I was able to take outfit pictures outside during daylight! Woot woot! I figured if I had to work on Christmas Eve, I might as well wear something with a bow, something sparkly, and something red - it doesn't hurt that the item with the bow was in the form of my new bulldog tee. 

Christmas Eve started my 5 days in a row off. I'm going to be completely honest with you - it was aaaaamazing. I slept in, wore sweatpants, drank lots of coffee with Irish Cream, and spent lots of time with my favorite men & woman (husband, bulldog & bulldog). I had a huge list of things I wanted to get accomplished, but I hardly did any of them. Instead, I lounged, relaxed, soaked in the time with my sweetheart, and truly enjoyed my down time. We had no plans to go anywhere for Christmas, so the two of us stayed at home and laid low. Going back to work was TOUGH. OY. SO. TOUGH.

Now that Christmas is about three weeks behind us, do you think I'm the worst blogger ever? 

Or, are you thankful that I keep reminding you of the holidays & celebrating well into January?

We're having (belated) Christmas with both sets of parents this weekend - I'm a fan of drawing out the celebrating :)

linking up with:
Two Thirty Five Designs for Casual Friday
Simply Lulu Style for What I'm Loving Friday

shirt: J CREW Factory similar below

sweater: from a friend - Banana Republic similar below

pants: Aéropostale similar below

shoes: KMart similar below

Hemingway-ed

I don't know if you know this, but I really love my local library. They've saved me tons of money when it comes to reading - I can just check a book out, read it, and turn it back in, rather than purchasing a book I might not really like or want to keep. I also check out audiobooks on the regular, and listen to them on my drive to & from work. I'm finishing up Jane Eyre, and this time last year listened to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, among several others. The Mr. listened to all 5 books of A Song of Ice & Fire, sparking our interest in the TV show "Game of Thrones," and subsequent Halloween costumes. 

So, anyways, I love the library. A few weeks ago I finished The Paris Wife. It's a novel about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, and their life in Paris as he was working on some of his first works.

Finishing The Paris Wife piqued my interest in Hemingway, so, on this fine (read: not freezing) day, I went to the library and headed to the H section of the fiction area. I checked out two books by Hemingway, and am halfway through the first one, To Have and Have Not.

Now, my knowledge of this great American author is limited to The Paris Wife, the novel I'm currently reading, and what I read on Wikipedia (I never read The Old Man and The Sea in high school). Based on this small bit of information, I don't think Ernest Hemingway is someone I would have gotten along with. Seems to me he was a bit of a womanizer (he left his first wife for her best friend), and kind of selfish. That being said, I AM enjoying reading To Have and Have Not, although I wish it provided more background & detail for each character.

So, since I knew I was headed for a literary center, I wore a hat. I don't know why a hat makes me feel more cultured and traveled, but it does a little bit. Maybe it's the fact I don't normally wear them? Or that a fedora seems a wee bit old school? Either way, I wore a hat. And checked out some books by Hemingway. And took some pictures of my outfit.

linking up with:

Vodka Infused Lemonade for Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday

Color Blind for Thrifters Anonymous

shirt: GAP similar below

sweater: thrifted

jeans: thrifted (True Religion) similar below

shoes: thrifted similar below

hat: thrifted (Target) similar below

Onward

losing my balance. kinda sorta.

As you read this post, know that I'm in super chilly Minnesota for my cousin's wedding. I don't know that the temperature has gotten above zero all day. Or even this week, for that matter. So, I'm layering and staying inside, on the couch, under plenty of blankets. Pretty groundbreaking game plan, huh?

At least I'll be toasty warm!

If you read a lot of fashion/style-based blogs, you'll see that many other bloggers have rounded up their favorite (or least favorite) outfits of the year, and/or are blogging about their New Year's resolutions. While I'm not going to round up the past year in outfit posts (you can search them by month to the right, or by label down on the bottom of this page), I AM going to state that for 2014, I really want to grow my blog. Grow my readership, grow as a blogger, grow as a "writer," and force myself to grow when it comes to styling outfits, putting myself together, and grow up when it comes to my closet. I'm trying to put my foot down when it comes to buying cheap clothes that don't wash or wear well, and stock up on quality basics - pieces that I'll have for a long time and are timeless. 

I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm really going to try to focus on quality over quantity. Now, know that that phrase means something different to everyone, and it's not going to happen overnight, but I am RESOLVING to give it my best effort! I'm not perfect, and I won't be able to kick my habit (finding clothes on sale gives me such a rush) right away, but I really want to fill (ok, first empty/get rid of/pare down, and then not completely refill, but somewhat fill up) my closet with nice (possibly luxurious!) pieces that I love, and am truly excited to wear*. 

So, that's my blog resolution for 2014 - GROW.

GROW. GROW. GROW.

Wish me luck!

this is my red peacoat. you know, for when it's cold out

When I was packing for this trip, I had the hardest time deciding what to bring. I wanted to bring really warm clothes (below zero temps, my friends), but in looking at a lot of my sweaters, I wasn't excited about wearing them. In fact, I was, not disgusted, but a bit annoyed with myself. I kept asking myself "Why do you still have this if you don't ever want to wear it? Or it's so itchy that you can only wear it for a few hours? Or only fits when you're feeling really skinny?" It motivated me to want to go through my sweaters (again), but as I still needed to pack, get ready for bed, and get a good night's sleep before a day of travel, that will have to wait until I am home again. I'm going to have to ask myself the tough questions, be honest with myself, and get rid of some oldies. But, I think I'm ready!

Baby steps, my friends. Getting rid of some sweaters = baby steps. And getting rid of more stuff = more and more baby steps that combine to make several larger steps (right? I'm no math expert, but I think that's how it works).

Baby steps for a New Year :)

polka dot blouse: Kohl's

sweater: American Eagle

jeans: Kohl's

shoes: KMart

peacoat: gift (Old Navy)

linking up:

Walking in Memphis in High Heels, The Fashion Canvas, and The Parlor Girl for Trend Spin Link Up

Mr. Picks Mondays: Obnoxiously Festive

The handsome Mr. picked out the sweatshirt dress, and I chose the RED tights. Because, if you can't be obnoxiously festive this time of year, when can you? Besiiiiides the 4th of July, obviouslyyyy.

I kind of love MPM because my Mr. tends to pick out stuff I don't wear too often, and it forces me to get creative. He also reminds me of some goodies hidden in the recesses of the pretty little room I call my closet

P.S. Get ready for some good ole' American pride this February - the 2014 Winter Olympics start in 6 weeks!
USA!
USA!

sweatshirt dress: WalMart

tights: Target

shoes: Kohl's

linking up:
Still Being Molly for Funday Monday
The Style Record for Monday Must Haves

Black and White (and Red...All Over?)

double black & white polka dots, for the win!

If you didn't know, I love polka dots. Lovelovelove. Large, small, medium, doesn't matter - I dig 'em. If I see something in a store with polka dots, I'm highly likely to leave with it (how's that for a statistic?). I was picking out my outfit the night before (which I should ALWAYS do, but don't always ACTUALLY do), and had a thought "What about DOUBLE polka dots??" 

Obviously, I thought it was a great idea. And I'm thinking you do, too...right?? 

Hope you had a great day today, friends!

shirt: WalMart

tank: Kohl's 

sweater: Banana Republic (via a clothes swap)

pants: Aeropostale

shoes: Kohl's

inspiration for this outfit: that brain of mine - sometimes I dream up great things in my sleep! 

linking up over here and here, since my beautiful red sweater is 100% merino wool!

Dogs & a Dress & a Hat

 

Did I tell you my secret? My secret when it comes to hats, I mean.

I wear them when I'm having a BAD hair day - noamountofdryshampoobabypowderorteasingisgoingtomakethislookpresentable bad day.

Whew. Feels good to have that out in the open.

Alas, another secret.

The day I wore this, my hair wasn't THAT bad. True story. But I did want to make sure I wore a hat so I could link up over at Marionberry Style. Do you see what I did there? Added a little something to my outfit to make my blog better! Ta da!

And I realized as we were walking the dogs today, that they were featured the last time I wore this dress on the blog. I just can't help it - they're so cute! And they have to get walked, and my outfits have to be documented, so, sometimes it's just easiest to do them at the same time. And by sometimes, I mean most of the time.

Happy Friday!

linking up over here today :)

Dress: Old Navy (thrifted)

Hat: KMart

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: Rack Room Shoes

melting like a popsicle on the 4th of July

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We slept in, lazed around, and I got some pool time in before we went out to dinner with a friend and then home to watch the fireworks from our patio. It was great to have a day off in the middle of the week - now if I could take the rest of the week off...

Anyway, let me tell you about these anchor shorts. I found them while shopping with my sister-in-law at our family reunion last week. I was ready to pay a whopping $10 for them, and then, lo and behold, they rang up at $5.49! You betcha they came home with me. And I've been hoarding them for the 4th of July. As for my shirt, I don't have a lot of red in my closet, so, I opted for obnoxious patriotism. Again. And my flip flops aren't that fancy, BUT the straps have fancy beads on them, so let's pretend they're like sparklers :)

Happy Friday - have a great weekend!!

tank: WalMart

shorts: Gap Outlet

flip flops: Rocketdog via DSW:

bag: thrifted

linking up today with Coffee Beans & Bobby Pins and FACE IT Catalog over here

oo oo! and over here, too!