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

Comfort in Neutrals

ever tied your scarf like this? fold it in half, loop it around your neck, take the 2 loose ends, and thread them through the looped end: one over then under, and the other under then over. clear as mud? 

new bow earrings! #fancy

While this outfit wasn't anything TOO super special, it did two things: 

1) was comfortable

2) incorporated several current trends: chambray, colored skinnies & a scarf

I've subconsciously tried recreating it several times because it was just so easy to throw together. 

Does that make me a bad style blogger? 

I prefer to think no, it makes me pretty real & normal - most mornings I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, so really, the easier, the better. 

But sometimes, I'm up for more of a challenge ;) 

Which do you prefer: easy to put together, or something requiring more effort?

chambray: Kohl's

pants: Aéropostale

flats: KMart

scarf: thrifted

A Pencil Skirt & Booties

A pencil skirt and booties - not two items I would normally pair together. But I've been trying to figure out a way to wear this skirt, and since the Trend Spin Link Up this week is boots & booties, I chose my new booties so I could participate. I think it turned out pretty well - whaddya think?

I don't have a Mr. Picks Mondays to share with you - my Mr. got called in to work this weekend and he didn't get home until the wee hours of Monday morning. Stay tuned for next week!

shirt: gift from an old roommate

sweater: Maurice's

skirt: Macy's

booties: Old Navy

belt: thrifted

Cream & a Pash

I found this little gem of a flowy top at Plato's Closet a few weeks ago with some store credit that I had (it's originally from Old Navy). I paired it with this beautiful pashmina from my sweet sister-in-law. She gave each of the bridesmaids in her wedding this scarf so we would have another layer to throw over our bridesmaid dresses at their wedding, in case we got cold. We had buttercup yellow dresses that looked great with these pashminas as a "wrap." If you're interested, I'm sure I could scrounge up some pictures from their big day ;) I don't remember using my pashmina as a wrap, since I spent most of my time on the dance floor, of course.

Lately though, I've been wearing this as a scarf, and I have to stop myself from wearing it every day - it goes with almost everything! I just knew it would go nicely with the color of this top, since it's not WHITE white, it's more cream. Oh, and my sassy leopard flats that I've had for ages completed this flowy-boho-young-professional-steps-into-fall look. 

Hope you're having a great Sunday - look for a recap about my race soon!

top: Old Navy via Plato's Closet

scarf: gift from my favorite sis-in-law

jeans: GAP

shoes: Kohl's

Polka Dot Overload

dots on dots

I feel obligated to tell you that this was not the outfit I wore when I wore this outfit originally. 

Make sense? (I feel a bit like a Dr. Seuss book...)

I wore this to work on a Friday. Fridays are "spirit days," so I actually wore a work t-shirt, instead of this polka dot chambray. I know, it's like I'm lying to you, but hear me out! I didn't think you would be too impressed with a boring work t-shirt, so I swapped out the shirts for this visually interesting combination. However, the sweater, pants & shoes are true to what I actually wore. So, really only a quarter fib. Can we still be friends?

While we're on the subject of substitutes, I'm running the Hot Chocolate 15K tomorrow morning! I was supposed to run it with one friend, but unfortunately she hurt her foot/ankle/leg, and is in a boot while she heals. However, she was kind & gracious enough to allow me to ask another friend (this friend) to do the race with me in her place. So, we'll be running & consuming hot chocolate tomorrow morning. Wish me us luck! ;)

shirt: thrifted

sweater: thrifted

pants: Old Navy via Plato's Closet

shoes: Target

linking up this over here, and this over here, cause I'm fab and I love it :)

Mr. Picks Mondays: More Monochromatic-ness & Mint

what? you don't make weird faces and post them on the internet for all the world to see?

always wearing a pink ribbon - it's Zeta Tau Alpha's national philanthropy

What is the deal with me being so behind on my outfit posts?! I wish I could explain, or at least have a better excuse than 

"I got busy."

But really though, I got busy!

My Mr. picked out this get-up, and was really excited for me to go monochromatic again. Maybe this will be a trend every week? We'll have to wait and see!

It's time for me to get to bed, so that's all the regularly scheduled programming for tonight :)

linking up this over here today, check it out!

jacket: Old Navy (from a friend's closet)

shirt: Target

pants: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

shoes: KMart

Yesterday

Before I tell you about our epic day yesterday, I have to wish my Dad a happy birthday. 

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

Happy Birthday to the best Dad in all the land! Have a great time with your bestie in the land of Jimmy Buffett, and enjoy your dives with my sweet mama! (My parents are with my Dad's BFF and his wife on a scuba diving trip. Offspring were not invited - bogus)

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

Now, onto what us landlocked kids did in Colorado...

Yesterday we did some serious adventuring. Don't believe me? Check out some pics on InstaGram. First, I must tell you that the theme of yesterday was my husband's birthday/our dating anniversary/we had several gift cards to use.

#giftcardsarethebest

First, we went to Cabela's. Dustin had a gift card from his parents for his birthday (which is tomorrow) and couldn't wait to use it. TWO Cabela's locations opened in Colorado this summer, and so far, we've only been to one. I'm sure there will be many trips to both locations in the future...

So, off to epicenter of hunting & fishing we went. The place is INSANE. And it smelt so good - there's a little cafe inside that was selling roasted almonds (my mouth watered as soon as we walked in). There were SO many people, and SO much stuff to look at. First, we did a lap around the store to do a little recon, with me asking: 

"What's this?" 

"How does this work?" 

"Why would you need this?" 

"Do you have this?"

and Dustin patiently answering my questions. I think he was a bit surprised to see me so excited about Cabela's. I don't hunt or fish, but I can appreciate it in others - namely the men in my life, especially when they get something that can stock the freezer for a long time. 

the entrance

hanging with a moose - I don't think I fit in

posing with some wildlife in the middle of the store

After our lap around the store, we went back to the hunting/gun section, and spent a good 20 minutes in this one little area, while D decided between this kind or that kind of rifle stick. Oh, and a strap of some sorts. I have no idea how it all works together, but I do know that new "toys" make my husband happy, and since his birthday is Monday, and work has been very draining, and our dating anniversary was Friday, I was in the business of making sure my husband was happy. Oh, and we had some delicious vanilla kettle corn in the parking lot.

Then, we headed to Little Man Ice Cream in Denver. A friend of ours is the manager, and if not for him, we wouldn't know about some of the best ice cream this world has to offer. The building is a milk jug, and it's in the middle of this super cute neighborhood, right off the interstate. This month was "Sweet & Salty September" at Little Man, so most of their HOMEMADE flavors reflected that. I chose Salted Peanut Butter Cup (YUM), and Dustin chose Salted Maple Bacon (also, YUM) - real bits of bacon in there, no joke.

the milk jug building - there's always a HUGE line for this place

don't worry, one of those cones was mine ;)

After ice cream, we headed to a golf course. Birthday Boy had a gift certificate from a work-sponsored golf tournament there this summer. He had the longest drive in the tournament, so he won a gift certificate to the pro shop. And while at this tournament, he lost his sand wedge. So he was in search of a new one. He found one, and of course, it came home with us ;)

And then, we went INDOOR SKY DIVING! Like I mentioned yesterday, we had a gift certificate from my in-laws from our 1st wedding anniversary in June. We each had 3 minutes in the wind tunnel with an instructor. 

SO. MUCH. FUN. 

If you ever get the opportunity to try it, I would highly recommend it. Our instructors were very knowledgeable, fun, and made sure we didn't make complete idiots of ourselves in the tunnel. Sky diving looks really easy (just hanging/falling), but it actually requires a lot of balance and positioning your body just so. We bought the video of our adventure, and since both of us were participating, I unfortunately don't have any photos to share. If I can find a way to get a freeze frame from our video, I will definitely post it. Or, if you REALLY wanna see the whole video, shoot me an email and I'll send it your way ;) But really, you should definitely try it sometime. I cannot recommend this activity, or Sky Venture Colorado enough. We will definitely be back.

bullie & hippo salt & pepper shakers at Pottery Barn. love.

Our last stop of the day was dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (there was a long wait for our table, so we did some browsing in the surrounding shopping center [pics above]). Long story short, we had a gift card from our wedding we wanted to use, so we ate lots of delicious food, and made sure we had plenty of leftovers for today :) I don't think this place has anything on the menu that isn't delicious. For the most important part (dessert. obviously.), D ordered the Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Galore™ and I had the Godiva® Chocolate Cheesecake. 

When we were done with dinner, we headed back home to our sweet pups, tried to watch a movie and fell asleep early - all day adventuring can really take it out of you. All in all, it was a great day, and I loved being able to spend so much time with my husband/high school sweetheart/birthday boy/best friend/hunting master/fellow ice cream enthusiast/golfer/sky diving partner/and adventure pal. 

Oh, and what I wore:

peplum top: Daisy Fuentes via Kohl's

jeans: GAP

shoes: KMart

purse: Kohl's