Neon & Polka Dots (these are a few of my favorite things!)

Yes, this sweater is just as bright as you think it is. 

And I LOVE it (I love bright colors - couldn't you tell?). 

It's very lightweight, so pretty much perfect this time of year. However, I've got plans to wear it this fall. and winter. and into spring - a sweater, is a sweater, is a sweater. And with crazy fall/winter/spring weather, you can never have enough ways to wear a favorite sweater. 

Completely unrelated, I'm thinking of doing another 30 for 30 in November (June's start here, and recap here). I have two major reasons: 

1) I have a lot of clothes and really need to appreciate (and WEAR) what I currently have, without purchasing more (and more. and more). My. Goodness. 

2) The husband, pups, and I will be moving at the end of November - HOORAY! However, I really don't enjoy moving (I did it enough when I was in school). But, based on reason #1: having a lot of clothes means having to move a lot of clothes out of our current place, and into a new one. So, by completing another 30 for 30 in November (the month of THE MOVE), I can pack up the majority of my clothes before we ever have to move! Genius, right?? Packing AND moving AND getting dressed made easier, all in one fell swoop! Ta da!

Now, you might say "But Annie, just get rid of some clothes you already have, so you have less to move." And I agree, my friends, that is a wonderful idea! And I intend to do just that. And also to be selective about what gets to live in my NEW closet in our NEW place, as I unpack. 

However, 30 for 30 is kinda fun, not to mention challenging. AND it will allow me to pick out the items I'll wear in November before the month starts, so I can purge, get rid of & pack everything remaining well before our move out date (I typically am a haphazard packer, most likely adding to why I dislike moving so much), in turn avoiding a lot of stress, and being able to devote more time to organizing & carefully packing other important things, like my grandmother's china, and antique furniture. 

This is one of my top 10 best ideas ever (top 5 include: dating my husband, marrying him, adopting 1 bulldog, and then the other, and taking a cruise over Christmas). Are you a teensy bit impressed? If you're not, or even if you are, care to join me on my November 30 for 30? It'll be fun, I promise!

sweater: Old Navy

scarf: Aeropostale

jeans: GAP Outlet

flats: KMart  

P.S. Since I just announced I'll be completing 30 for 30 in November, I guess I have to follow through now! ;)

linking up over here today!

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!

Stripes, Plaid & Running for ME

digging this zipper detail on this shirt

showing off my purple mani, with a pink "party nail"

I wore the above to drive an hour to stay the night with my bestie before our race the next morning. I wore my ankle booties under my jeans, and deliberately mixed the stripes on my shirt with the plaid on my scarf. You like? I sure did. I'm debating wear this whole thing together again, but maybe this time to work, so that more people besides my husband and my best friend see it, and can appreciate my print-mixing & fall tones ;)

before the race, from my Instagram 

hot chocolate (hence the name) & treats after the race. marshmallows & pretzels never tasted so. good.

My best friend and I did the Hot Chocolate 15k several weeks ago (15k = 9.3 miles). She is currently training for a marathon (!!!), which is 26.2 miles, and although the race was more mileage than she was up to on her long run that week, she really blew the race out of the water! For the first 4 or 5 miles, we stayed together and consistently jogged for 3 minutes, then power walked for 2 minutes. Eventually, I was dyin'. I couldn't catch my breath, my feet were hurting & starting to develop blisters, and my legs. My legs got so tight & sore, even though we had stretched out before the race (it's awesome when your bestie is taking classes to become a certified yoga instructor - she tells you HOW to stretch, how to increase the stretch, and tells you what you SHOULD be feeling). So, I sent her on ahead - she was doing so great, and I could tell she was loving this run (the HUGE smile on her face was a giveaway). She really was doing so great, and I was holding her back. So, she finished significantly before me, since I walked (almost) the rest of the race and listened to my booktape :) The pain & frustration I felt with this race are due to my lack of training - it's no one's fault but my own. 

I mentioned that my Dad and I were planning to do another half-marathon together, but that race was postponed due to the major flooding we experienced in Colorado in September. Once it was postponed, I completely stopped training and thinking about training (I assumed the race would be postponed until the spring, due to the major destruction of the course). Imagine my surprise when the race was rescheduled for a weekend that my Dad & I already had plans, and I had stopped training. I sold my entry for a fraction of what I paid for it, which was a bummer. 

But, after the Hot Chocolate race, and after talking with another friend, I had this "epiphany" about running: I like LOVE it when I'm not training for anything, when I'm doing it just for me, when I'm not trying to get in mileage, when there's no pressure, when I run to clear my head, and get a quick (and cheap!) shot of endorphins. 

Maybe signing up for a race causes me to put undue pressure on myself, and coincidentally tear up my feet with bad blisters. Maybe I should just keep running for fun, for me, for whenever I WANT to do it. Because, if I do go run, and I don't want to, it's hard to snap out of that funk - I spend the entire run wishing it were done already, or that I hadn't even started. So, I'm going to run for me, and for me only. It's not worth it to pay for a race, stress out about it, and not enjoy training for it - it's so much more enjoyable (for me), to run WHEN and IF I want to,  and not because I should.

That being said, I am so proud of one of my oldest friends for doing so well in this race (kicking my butt, really!) and training for a marathon - you are going to be SO great! So proud of you, sweets! Namaste ;)

striped shirt: Ann Taylor LOFT via Clothes Mentor

tank: Abercrombie & Fitch

scarf: thrifted (Target)

jeans: thrifted (True Religion)

booties: Old Navy

running gear: a combination of my stuff, hand-me-downs from my mom, 

and layers borrowed from my friend

Print Mixing (before it was cool)

I wore this a few weeks back, and have been scrambling to make sure I got it up in time to link up with Bri for Third Thursday Threads over at Work Clothes, I Suppose. Is it just me, or is this time of year so much busier?? I can't keep up! Especially on this little blog here :(

So, I've been dying to wearing this sweater vest again. You won't believe how long I've had it...

High school. 

And not just right before I graduated...more like sophomore year-ish for DECA competitions. Interested in hearing more about DECA? I've got a whole schpeal I'd love to share! Basically it's a marketing club. I was the President my senior year, and went all the way to Nationals in Orlando once, and to the State competition all 3 years. It's fun playing grown-ups for a few days and getting to dress up. Oh, and traveling to cool places with your friends. And winning at competitions.

I must give credit for this sweater vest and the striped button-up underneath it to my sweet Mama. I remember she found both items on the clearance rack at GAP. I would have never thought to put a striped shirt under a striped sweater vest! (to be honest, I would have never thought to look twice at a sweater vest) My mom was print-mixing before it was cool, you guys. Oh, and she helped me pick out these loafer/oxford style shoes, too (again, they were purchased in the same "time period"). The layered necklaces above were wholly my idea, but all 3 belonged to my grandmothers before me. You could say inspiration and style run in the family ;)

shirt: GAP
vest: GAP

jeans: Kohl's

shoes: DSW?

necklaces: 2 Grandmas with good taste

Mr. Picks Mondays: Blue-ska-doo

Blue shirt. 

Blue sweater. 

Blue pants. 

It's all blue over here, y'all! My Mr. is really into this monochromatic thing lately - I think he's trying to see how many we can put together from my closet. Bad (is it bad?) news is, we could probably do a lot. And without repeating many items. Have I mentioned I have a lot of clothes? Like, a lot.

Along that vein, I'm trying to empty out my closet, so help me out by checking out my closet on Poshmark (link in sidebar, too). See anything you like? Purchase it on Poshmark, or shoot me an email at sweetbananie@gmail.com

Hope your week is off to a great start!

shirt: thrifted (Liz Claiborne)

sweater: thrifted (J. CREW)

pants: thrifted (Joe Fresh)

shoes: thrifted (Not Rated)

P.S. Didn't realize my entire outfit today was THRIFTED! Would anyone be interested in seeing entirely thrifted looks put together? I'm coming up with ideas...!!!

Falling Into Plaid

 

This ensemble made an appearance at a college football game tailgate. Not the game, just the tailgate. Very important distinction. I did originally wear different shoes to the tailgate, but swapped them out for something a bit fancier for dinner with that handsome husband of mine. I wore rain boots earlier in the day, as the weather called for precipitation, and I knew that the tailgating would take place in a field (of sorts). However, the sun came out and there was not a cloud in the sky. But, rain boots are a lot easier to wipe dirt & mud off of than almost any other shoe, so they were ok. 

I knew the day would be chilly, so I layered up accordingly, with a long sleeve shirt under the plaid button up, and threw this sleeveless sweater (vest?) on top, then had a jacket, a scarf, and gloves in the car. I didn't end up needing those last few accessories, but was glad I brought them - I'm almost always cold. 

I'm so glad I was finally able to comfortably wear my leggings with the faux leather panel - last time, it was still pretty warm out. I've got a feeling these will be on repeat a lot this winter. 

Today I'm linking up with Walking in Memphis in High Heels, The Fashion Canvas, and It's Not That Deep for their weekly Trend Spin Link Up, featuring gingham & plaid. I wish I'd gotten a picture wearing my rain boots - they're a black & white plaid, so I would have been able to showcase plaid (times two!) AND a bit of print and texture mixing. Better luck next time!

plaid shirt: thrifted

sweater: Eddie Bauer

leggings: Aéropostale

shoes: Jessica Simpson

Pants Decisions

I wore this combination on a particularly gray & rainy day. Sometimes I like to wear brights when the weather is cold & gray, but sometimes I like to blend right in - it really depends on my mood. 

And what items are not in the laundry...

Lately, I'm loving purple in all shades. Sometimes I just want to put on every purple item I own and dance around and pretend to be a grape. Or an eggplant (it's always food...). Anyone care to join me? 

I got this pair of coated denim on major clearance this past May at Kohl's, from the Lauren Conrad line. It was between these and a pair of (vegan) black leather pants (vegan leather is a fancy way of saying faux leather, because as you know, it is trendy to be a vegan/paleo/gluten free in this day & age). I agonized over this life-altering (hardly) decision for a good 20+ minutes. As you can see, I ultimately went with these pants. I'm just not sure that my blonde hair, blue eyed, sometimes-gets-confused-for-a-high-schooler-self could really rock (vegan) leather pants. However, as my bestie pointed out, this pair of coated denim fills that hole of "badass-ness" in my closet. 

AND, they're purple, instead of typical black. 

AND, purple was my favorite color in the 6th grade.

linking up here, here and here today - check it out!

gray lace shirt: Victoria's Secret

sweater: Maurice's

pants: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

flats: Jessica Simpson