Mr. Picks Mondays: Bbbbblue Sweater

I like blue fair-isle so much,  I have two of these sweaters - this one, and
the same print & style in dark navy & light pink

When my Mr. picked this out for me, he really had it easy. When I come up with an outfit that looks good and I want to wear, I hang it up in my closet and loop a little brightly-colored foam 

door-hanger over it. 

This was one of those outfits - he hollered to me: 

"What if it has a thing on the hanger?"

"That means it goes with what it's hanging with."

"Sweet. You're wearing this."

He's all about keeping it simple. That's one thing I love about him.

Two more things before we call it a day (I'm wiped, and my comfy bed is calling my name).

1) I have a hard time styling this sweater and its navy & pink cousin - it's a short cardigan, so I don't want to wear anything too form-fitting, but it's a snug fit, so I can't wear anything very thick/heavy under. Any more suggestions besides a button up?

2) Just want to share that I haven't been able to wear these jeans in about a year, as they were too snug. However, with clean eating & lots of self control, I'm able to fit into them again. Ta Da! :D

sweater: American Eagle - Aerie

button up: J CREW (thrifted)

jeans: Old Navy

boots: UGG

linking up:
The Style Record - Monday Must Haves
Still Being Molly - funday MONDAY
lowercase letters - miscellany monday
Watch out for the Woestmans - Watch What I'm Wearing
Not Dead Yet Style
Claire Justine
Join the Gossip

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!

Mission 30 for 30: Complete

Here it is. All of my 30 for 30 outfits in 1 big picture & 1 post (my 30 items here). What do you think? How'd I do? I think this one went pretty well, considering I moved in the middle of it, and have been missing a washing machine since the move (surprise! we currently don't have a functioning washing machine - supposed to get one tomorrow...)

I'm not going to rehash everything like I did last time, but I will say, the items I chose for November's 30 for 30 seemed to jive better than the ones I chose in June. However, there still seems to be room for improvement - i.e. maybe you don't pick a navy leopard print skirt next time, or, if you do, make sure you have more tops you can wear with it, for example...

I'm glad I did this before Christmas - it's really helped to drive home that I don't NEED anything. I've got a full closet that I'm more than capable of remixing & wearing in different ways almost every time.

However, if someone were to gift me something for the upcoming holiday, I'd be happy to share my favorite stores & sizes...

anyone?
Bueller?

linking up here & here for the first time, and over here, too!

Mr. Picks Mondays: Black Friday Swag

Late on Thanksgiving night, I left the comfort of my warm house to pick up my friend, Amanda, to do some Black Friday shopping. We had BIG plans: we were going to hit up our local outlets, stop at a HUGE outdoor mall, check out Kohl's, maybe go to Target, and see what other places were open for the day that has now become  than Thanksgiving: Black Friday.

However, for all of our plans, bottled water, and coffee in travel mugs, we didn't make it past the outlet mall. After waiting in lines at several stores, and power-shopping & power-trying-on through several others, we made our final purchases and called it a night. I was home, snuggled in bed by 2:30.

This lacey sweater/sweatshirt was one of those final purchases. I picked it up at rue21 - don't think I've been in to one of those stores in a very long time, but good thing we went in that night morning. I found this lacey sweater/sweatshirt and another striped cardigan. I modeled my purchases for my Mr. later that day (after much-needed sleep), and when it came time for him to pick this week's Mr. Picks Mondays, he picked out this lacey sweater/sweatshirt & my mint jeans. He knows me too well - he knows that new clothes burn a hole in my closet and I just can't wait to wear them! 

I've got some more Black Friday swag lined up for you this week - find any great Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals you couldn't wait to wear?

lacey sweater/sweatshirt: rue21

mint jeans: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

boots: Rackroom Shoes

scarf: made by me!

linking up over here & here (for the first time!) today

30 for 30: Day 29 & Day 30

Day 29

Aaaah, Day 28. Day 28 was filled with turning in the keys to our apartment (!!!), a(nother) stop at The Home Depot, a trip to Kohl's, and some celebratory/farewell-apartment TCBY. Busy busy days, I tell ya! 

I threw on my chambray & corduroys with my oxfords - I've hardly worn those shoes during this challenge so I wanted to make sure I got another wear in during my 30 for 30. 

Day 30

The weather this day (and really all of Thanksgiving weekend) was beautiful - high 50s at the end of November! Unheard of! 

So, to commemorate the last day of my 30 for 30 challenge and this occasion of warmth & sunshine, I wore a dress. Without tights. For the last time until March/maybe April/probably May. I'm glad I got in my last bit of sun & bare legs - we've been hit with well below freezing temperatures this past week. It's so cold it hurts to breathe! And a short walk to my car in the parking lot at work is enough to make my whole face numb - BRRRRR! Good news is, I've been pulling out a lot of my sweaters...!

linking up here today

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: (No Day 24) Day 25 & Day 26

Day 24 

was another sweatpants day, simply because we were packing boxes/moving boxes/moving furniture/unloading boxes/unloading furniture/unpacking boxes all day. 

Aaah, the life of a fashion blogger - not always so glamorous ;)

Day 25

Sequins, polka dots, boots, a sweater, and my sweet Cali girl in our new home.

My idea of perfection.

Day 26

You'll have to trust me that in person, this dress does NOT make me look an inmate like the picture seems to do. Maybe it's the braid in my hair...? I really like this dress, but it just doesn't photograph well, which is a HUGE bummer, since, y'know, I like to take pictures of my clothes and post them on the interwebs. 

In other news, that dark square up above is my newest pair of tights. My new fleece-lined tights that I'm obsessed with. Everyone should own a pair of these. 

Fleece-lined tights for EVERYONE! 

They are the key to world peace, solving world hunger, and global warming, I just know it. 

Because, really, you can't wear these and not be cozy, 

and warm, 

and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

#trustme