Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I want to thank you all for the love and support you showed on my previous post - it really helped to write that and be honest and while it isn't like it will change overnight, I do feel a lot better than I did before.  For now I stick with my usual mantra of "one day at a time".

So Valentine's Day seemed like an appropriate day to wear my red Mr. Rogers sweater.  It's a good thing it's warm, it's cold outside again and it's been cold in my office too.  Someday winter will be over right? Seriously.  Looking at these pictures too I'm like man, I need a haircut.  Badly.  No time this weekend either. Maybe I'll let it get longer....who am I kidding though?  I am such a short hair person!

Sweater - Vintage, Hill Valley Boutique

Shirt/dress - swap

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Boots - Target

Necklace - jerseymaids, gift from friend 

I wanted to do a close up of my very special necklace - my sweet friend Jes, who happens to be the person who did all of Oliver's newborn photos as she is a professional photographer, had this made for me from jerseymaids.  I wear it most days to keep my baby close to me when I'm away from him, and I realized I hadn't showcased it yet.  So, here it is.

I'm looking forward to the day being over and spending Valentine's Day with both of my boys.  The Pants Monkey is going to cook us a rather elaborate feast from what I understand, so I'm quite excited to see what all he has up his sleeve, he's keeping it a surprise.  I sure do love being married to a man who loves to cook! I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and a wonderful weekend as well!

Comfort and warmth

It's getting to the point that I'm dressing for comfort as much as anything else.  If I can be stylish, well awesome, but man, the bump is getting big guys.  It's getting to be more and more of a challenge.  And then you throw lows in the single digits above zero this morning and it becomes about comfort AND warmth.  So this outfit is basically a repeat, I wore this combo earlier this Fall - but today I added my Mr. Rogers sweater for extra warmth.

You know what is not so much fun when you're pregnant and it's freezing cold out for the first morning of the season?  Getting up early to take your car in for maintenance.  I wanted to get it to the auto shop right when they opened - which didn't go exactly to plan, but I was still there within the first half hour so that counts right?  I'm not excited to do this, it won't be cheap, but should keep my vehicle going for a bit longer and with the baby coming, it's still more cost effective than buying a new car.

Shirt - TM Style, consignment

Pants - Oh Baby, consignment

Sweater - Vintage, Hill Valley Boutique

Bag - 31 Gifts

Necklace - Stella and Dot

Shoes - SO, Kohls 

I also got a haircut yesterday.  I try to go about every five weeks - so my next haircut may not happen for a bit depending on this little guy's arrival!  Crazy to think about that.  Thankfully she cut it pretty darn short so if I have to put it off for awhile post baby, that's ok.  Besides, I think I'll probably care a little less about it at that point in time!  That's what hats and headbands are for right?

Pencil skirts and snowstorms

Well, we here in MN are now under a Winter Storm Warning tonight through Thursday.  You know, the second week of April.  No big deal.  Seriously, it is this kind of weather that makes me question why I continue to live here sometimes!  Not much we can do about it though, so we're just going to go with it I guess!

So I already packed away most of my boots and didn't feel like digging them out this morning, so I went with my booties instead.  Maybe not as nice looking as taller boots would have been with this vintage pencil skirt, but you know what?  I'm comfortable and my feet are dry, so right now I don't care!  It's not snowing yet, but it is raining, so dry feet are important!

T-shirt - St. John's Bay, JCPenney

Jacket - unknown, thrifted

Skirt - vintage, Hill Valley

Tights - Target

Boots - Payless

Necklace - S&D 

So those of you who are enjoying sunshine and 70's - will you please, pretty please, send some to me?  I am craving Vitamin D!!  Spring in Minnesota.  Gotta love it.

Fish and chips and vinegar

I stand by my decision to have chosen bare legs yesterday, but I did end up a little chilly in the end!  So today I decided to go for a maxi skirt instead.  Not to mention, there's no sun today and it's supposed to cool off as the day goes on. I am still sans tights though!

Shirt - Vintage Lee, Hill Valley Boutique

Skirt - Old Navy

Necklace - S&D

Boots - Mossimo, Target 

Not much else exciting to share today.  It was fun sharing guilty pleasures with you all yesterday!  And I see I'm not alone in some of mine!

Tonight Mr. Monkey and I are having a rare weeknight date night.  There's a fish and chips place we love but it's so hard to get into on the weekends, so we decided to try on a weeknight.  Actually what we plan to do is pick up the fish and chips and then go across the street to one of the newer taprooms in town as they let you bring in your own food and enjoy our dinner with a couple of pints there.  It should be fun!

Basket Case

No, the title of this post is not referencing my state of mind, but is instead in reference to the Green Day song, specifically the opening lyric "do you have the time, to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything all at once." Because I'm a little whiny today, I'm not going to lie.  Yesterday was a DAY my friends.  You know those kind of days that every time you turn around you want to scream?  Yeah.  Most of it centered around getting a new PC at work.  This was supposed to be a very good and exciting thing since my old one was really getting slow, going through cycles where it wouldn't load anything, etc.  But, nothing ever goes smoothly with these kinds of things!

The problem is, I run a program on my computer that allows me to print the employee security name badges.  And this program is not super cut and dry.  Oh no.  So, my IT guy spent all afternoon trying to get it to work and then we called the outside vendor that supports the program, who wasn't available until the last half hour of my day.  We got it all solved just under the wire.  But while this was going on it was next to impossible to do my job, which ok, wouldn't normally be so bad, but my boss is on vacation right now so things are a little busier than usual, so it was mildly frustrating.

I got home and was all thumbs with stuff there it seemed, I needed to boil potatoes so we could make pierogis last night (I married a good Polish boy after all) and I kept dropping them everywhere, but fortunately they seemed no worse for the wear.  Then we made the pierogis which led to a delicious dinner, but we made a double batch, so it took a couple of hours.  My back was killing me by the time we were done. (Side note - if you're on Vine, I made a video of what all goes into them)  So we crashed on the couch for a bit and then more or less went to bed.  So I felt like I didn't get much downtime after my crazy day.

Sweater - LOFT, thrifted

Plaid button shirt - Vintage Lee, Hill Valley Vintage

Shorts - Old Navy 

Tights and boots -Target

Bag - Vintage Coach, Rewind NE

Necklace - S&D

Today I hope is better, but I'm not going to lie, I'm not feeling great in the lady department and I am missing out on a super cool event at the Minnesota Institute of Arts tonight that is all about fashion - specifically vintage - so I'm sad panda about that, but I had other plans I couldn't miss unfortunately.  So I wore a cute outfit that includes some vintage in the spirit of the event and I'll live vicariously through my other blogger friends that I know will be attending (looking at you Miss Cambria - I expect a full report!)

So there you have it.  Told you I was whiny today!  It's all so trivial, first world problem stuff, but I gotta say, I feel better getting that off my chest!  Here's to a better day today!

Thrifty girls

I really heart my outfit today and wouldn't you know, my camera battery died halfway through my photo session. Sad panda.  It was my own fault though, I knew the battery was getting low but I thought, hey maybe I can squeeze out a couple of more.  Well that's what you get today, the couple of more!  Photo quality is so/so, but I still adore how this outfit turned out.  It features two of the goodies I bought on my day off last week.  I love that this entire outfit, minus my necklace and boots is thrifted and gifted.  Thrifty girls for the win!

 Sweater - Polo Ralph Lauren, thrifted

T-shirt - Express, thrifted

Skirt - Vintage, Hill Valley

Socks - gift from Megan Mae

Boots and leggings - Target

Necklace - Maurices

Speaking of thrifty girls, I had a wonderful visit with the fantastic Amanda of Salvaged Strawberry last night.  She had a dress in her Etsy shop I'd had my eye on for ages and since she lives in my area I finally just said, hey can I come over and try it on so I know that it fits?  She was more than willing to have me over, so I headed to her place after work.  We had the most lovely chat over a beer, talking about blogging and our significant others and just life stuff.  I was sad I couldn't stay longer.  And the most important part - the dress fits me like a glove, you'll see here very soon!  I can't wait to get together with her again!  Maybe next time we'll go on a thrift adventure.

Still lots of snow on the ground.  We're bad, we didn't shovel yet.  I hear there is potentially a bigger storm coming this weekend.  That could be interesting!

Below here is a close up of my jewelry and also so you can see the pretty purple horse on my sweater.  I keep forgetting to do more detailed shots like this, I'll try to be better.  I snapped this on my iPhone since my camera died!  Have a great day!

Inspiration Monday: Lee then, Lee now

Back to the grind after a fun three day weekend.  I can't complain too much though, I have another short week.  This week does promise to be a bit more crazy though.  I'm just going to take it one day at a time.  I also decided to start the week off right with Inspiration Monday.  Today is Annasophia Robb - I don't know if I know who she is.  But I do love her paisley shirt!

I love a super simple outfit like this.  I picked up this fun plaid shirt on Friday at my favorite vintage shop.  I like that it has some ruffles to give it a more feminine touch.  Funny story, it's Lee brand from back in the day and my pants are modern Lee brand.  It's a Lee day apparently.

Blouse - Vintage Lee, Hill Valley Vintage

Pants - Lee (from cousin)

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls 

I really did enjoy my three day weekend, it went by way too fast.  The beer festival ended up being loads of fun on Friday night.  Saturday we finally saw Les Miserables in the theater, I know it's had some mixed reviews but I've been a fan for years and I loved it.  Saturday night we worked on our appetizer for the Super Bowl yesterday and then yesterday we watched the Super Bowl over at my in-laws.  And we made our own jokes about the blackout as I'm sure many did.  It started getting a bit long towards the end but we made it through the whole thing!

So it's hard to be back in work mode today, but I shall do my best.  For other Inspiration Monday looks make sure to pop over to two birds over here!

Giddy

I'm so crazy excited today.  I am enjoying a nice day off, I got to do some shopping and found a few goodies and in a little while, Mr. Monkey will get home and we'll be off to Winterfest!  It's going to be a fun night for us.  I picked out a warm, yet fun outfit for tonight.  I stole this idea both off of Pinterest and also from Heather of H&K Style Journey.  It's cozy and warm since it's frigid outside.  It's also red, for Go Red for the American Heart Association - I might not be at work but I can still participate!

Sweater - Hill Valley Vintage

T-shirt - St. John's Bay, JCPenney

Jeans - Old Navy

Boot socks - American Living, JCPenney

Boots - Target

Scarf - ModCloth

I had some success in my consignment sales this morning - enough to take a little money off of a purchase for myself of course! I also made it to the Goodwill and to Hill Valley Vintage today and will have a small amount of new goodies to share on the blog soon.  Told you I'd break that unintentional shopping ban!

And now I'm going to settle in and watch Ellen while I wait for Mr. Monkey to get home.  I'm just so giddy right now, it's hard to settle down and do anything!  Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

The hypocrite

Yes friends, I'm wearing these pants again!  Someday I'll count how many times I've worn them in the last year.  I love them, I can't help it.  And it's my Friday, so I'll wear what I want to.  I added this vintage collegiate feeling sweater.  It also reminds me of Mr. Rogers for some reason too though.  I doubt sweet Mr. Rogers would have ever worn pants like these though unless he was on crack or something!

Sweater - Hill Valley Vintage

T-shirt - Decree, JCPenney

Pants - No Boundaries, thrifted

Shoes - Madden Girl, thrifted

Necklace - S&D 

Speaking of Mr. Rogers on crack (that's a statement I never thought I'd say) have any of you seen the Mr. Rogers Remix video on YouTube?  There is also one for the Bob Ross Joy Of Painting show.  Someone basically took a bunch of clips and auto tuned them into something new and semi-musical.  When the Mr. Rogers one came out, a lot of my Facebook friends were just going on and on about how awesome it was and I was sitting here going, this is bastardizing my childhood!  It's just wrong!  Mr. Rogers and auto tune?  No!

Well then this week, a new one came out featuring Reading Rainbow.  And I kind of geeked out.  I loved Reading Rainbow even more than Mr. Rogers for some reason when I was a kid.  I had a little kid crush on LeVar Burton.  Yes I just said that, I can't unsay it now.  Anyway, I watched the Reading Rainbow Remix video and I kind of loved it.  But then I thought, I can't go geeking out about this after bashing the Mr. Rogers one!  I'd be a hypocrite!

Well, call me a hypocrite.  I love this!

 

This is my confession

It's finally Election Day here in the US.  I voted on my way to work today, I was so ready to get in there and get my vote in.  I've done my duty and I feel good.  (PS, for those wondering about my stance on that issue from yesterday's post, I'll say this much, my vote was NO).

Today's outfit is not my voting attire though.  I'm all messed up on my outfit posts, I've been planning ahead with Thursdays being so goofy right now, so right now you're rarely seeing what I wore on the day I wore it. I know that is how many of you do your outfit posts too, I have to admit, it isn't all bad!

So this look feels very 1960's collegiate to me.  I found this adorable cardigan at this cute vintage shop not far from my house several weeks ago and I've been waiting for it to get cold enough so I could wear it - it's very warm wool.  Yesterday it was chilly and damp, I'm always colder when it's damp, so I decided I could finally bring this sweater out. Then I had to decide if I was going to go for the old fashioned college student look or more of a Mr. Rogers feel - because the sweater feels a bit like him too!  I chose college this time, perhaps it'll be Mr. Rogers the next time I wear it.

I did buy myself tights and a pair of leggings this weekend.  Enough of you told me that those items are essentials so I don't have to count them on my "ban."  And how can you resist Target's famous $5 colored tights?  I wanted to grab a pair in every color but didn't.  I replaced my torn gray ones to start, we'll go from there.  I'll tell you a secret though - I'm not doing too well with this shopping ban.  I may have also hit the Goodwill this weekend too.  I just was so in the mood to go thrifting so I just went for it.  I found a couple of items that you might see during next week's Fall Color challenge with Megan Mae and Keely. (You should check out their blogs to sign up if you're looking for a boost of creativity this Fall!) I'm weak you guys.

Speaking of being weak, I also bought a new purse off of Ebay a few weeks ago before I had declared myself on a "ban".  I couldn't resist it.  It's a Coach and I got a great deal and dang it, I have a problem and I can admit it!!  But truthfully I wanted a gray bag to go into the winter, this one had some sparkle to it so it feels fun for the upcoming holidays and so I took the plunge.  Darn you Coach, I just can't quit you.

Sweater - Hill Valley Vintage

T-shirt - St. John's Bay, JCPenney

Skirt - LOFT, thrifted

Tights - Target

Shoes - thrifted

Bag - Coach via Ebay

Necklace - Jerseymaids via Etsy

In all seriousness though, my ban is back in affect.  I have no further plans to shop for anything else before my birthday or Christmas for myself.  I have to get a birthday present for the Pants Monkey and my dad and then start shopping for Christmas gifts.  So, the focus needs to shift off of myself!

Phew, I feel better now, I've been totally honest and confessed all my shopping sins!!  Also, before I forget, keep watching my blog over the next day or so, I have a super exciting design change coming up and I can't wait for you all to see it!

Inspiration Monday - The Best Laid Plans

Well it is Monday again!  I love today's Inspiration Monday outfit from Rachel Bilson - so cozy and comfy looking while being a little chic.  I had a great outfit planned that I was going to wear out on Saturday night, but our plans changed kind of last minute due to circumstances beyond our control.  In the end though, the weekend was good, I have no complaints and our night in on the couch was just what the doctor ordered I think!  And we got a lot of work done on some stuff yesterday, so it was all for the best.  But I wanted to do this inspiration, so I was forced to get creative and make it work for work.

So here you have it.  I feel a bit goth in how this all turned out.  I think it's all the black, not to mention, I finally got cute booties - but they have buckles that make them feel a little gothic I guess.  Hopefully this isn't too dark feeling!

I got this skirt a while back at a vintage shop and I do like it, but I think next time I'll pair it with something a little more colorful!

I wanted to give you a close up of the booties.  I got them on sale, so that made me happy.  Now I just need a pair of brown or tan ones and I think I'll be all set!

So there you have it.  I did my best with this one, but it's not my favorite I think.  I'll have to try the outfit I had in mind for Saturday another time!

As always, head on over to the two birds blog to see other Inspiration Monday outfits!  Isn't this new button they have cute?

Shirt - F21

Blazer - two birds vintage

Skirt - Hill Valley Vintage

Booties - Payless

Necklace - Vintage Pearl

Earrings - Butterfly Boutique

Worker bee

So yesterday and today have been a little crazy at work as I mentioned yesterday.  I was able to dress down both days, but I can't just do that and not be a little stylish still.  So here are my "worker bee" outfits.

It doesn't help that it's getting super hot outside again.  Today is going into the mid-90's.  Tomorrow I hear we could hit 102.  Ugh.  I want Autumn darn it!!  Oh well. I  should be able to at least tough out the heat back in a sundress tomorrow.

While doing the "grunt" work both days, I switched out of sandals and into tennis shoes.  Cause I don't want my pretty feet to get hurt!  I'm getting a good workout, I know that much is true!

Later today I'm finally posting my Vlog!  It's done and edited and ready to go.  Big thanks to my Pants Monkey for helping me solve some syncing issues I was having.  So anyway, stay tuned later today for that!

Outfit one:

Tank tops - Old Navy

Necklace and bracelet - S&D

Jeans - Maurices

Sandals - Xhiliaration, Target

Outfit two:

Tank top - Hill Valley Vintage

Capris - Dockers, thrifted

Sandals - Merona, Target

Jewelry - S&D, F21

Ruffles have ridges

Definitely dating myself a bit here as I'm sure you younger gals don't remember the Ruffles potato chip commercial with the little boy going "rrrr ruffles, have rrrrr ridges."  Heck, I think it was already in pretty old rotation when I was a kid, but I do remember it!  Anyway, why am I talking about ruffles having ridges?  Just because I'm all sorts of ruffle-y today!

I got this shirt at the same little vintage shop I bought that whimsical denim shirt at.  I've been all over pretty girly things like this lately, so I just had to have it.  I thought it would look nice with my maxi denim skirt that sort of feels ruffle like and of course I'm back to my Gussy bag since it's all full of ruffles too.  So I'm just triple the ruffle-y fun today!

It's quite odd that it's already Friday.  These holidays that fall in the middle of the week are SO strange.  I keep saying we should petition Congress to change Independence Day to be observed the first Monday of July.  Then you'd automatically get a three day weekend!  That will be the first thing on my agenda when I become President.  Cause I'm so going to run someday. (Um, yeah right!)

So if you watched my little video yesterday - first of all thank you for indulging me in something a little different.  Secondly, below is the result of the nail polish I was talking about.  If you missed the video, I'm testing out the Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color for Influenster.  They provided me with the nail polish in the color of Polar Purple.  I have to say - I LOVE it.  It was so easy to use, unlike some of the other Sally Nail Art products.  You apply two coats and hold this little magnet over your nail for 10 seconds - and this is how it turns out.

Pretty neat huh?  It's recommended after it drys to put a clear top coat on, which I didn't do, so I'm sure this won't last long, but I'll enjoy it while it does.  I would love to get another color of this stuff.  It's fun and again, I can't stress how easy it is!

Onward to the weekend!  Here in MN we're finally getting some relief from the heat wave.  I cannot wait.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Outfit rundown:

Cream cami - Mossimo, Target

Ruffled top - Hill Valley Vintage (NE Mpls for the locals)

Skirt - Old Navy

Sandals - Merona, Target

Bag - Gussy Sews

Necklace - Premier Jewelry

Bracelet - Bead for Life

Influenster provided me with the Sally Hansen nail color free of charge for testing purposes - review and opinion are strictly my own.

Whimsical

Picture heavy post today! There is so much detail in this one shirt, I tried to catch as much of it as I could. I'll try to keep my comments short.

So I went from having NO denim or chambray shirts to now having two.  I bought this one at a vintage shop, it is so cute, it has embroidered flowers, sun, bunnies, etc.  It doesn't quite let me button it closed, but I just had to have it.  So, I wore it with my new cherry tank top from Maurices when we went to go see the movie Moonrise Kingdom on Sunday.

It was such a cute and whimsical movie.  I highly recommend it, especially if you are a fan of Wes Anderson (we totally are).  And this denim shirt just totally feels whimsical to me!

Below here is a shot of the back, sort of a picture of the sunrise.  It is quite a unique shirt!

Now here is a look at the sleeves - flowers and grass.  Awesome colors.  This will go with anything and even if I can't button it, I can throw it over something very easily!

My favorite part is below here - the bunny on the shoulder.  How cute is he?  I love this shirt!

Earlier this same day, I ran to Clothes Mentor with my mom and found another chambray shirt and it was quite a steal - a brand new Talbots shirt with tags still on it, originally $69 and I got it for $18.  It's definitely more of a "dressy" style than this one.  So now I have no reason to whine about my lack of denim tops in my closet!  Now if it would only cool down a bit!

Outfit rundown:

Tank top - Maurices

Denim shirt - Hill Valley Vintage

Capris - Maurices jeans cut off by me

Sandals - Xhiliration, Target

Necklace - Clothes Mentor

Bag - Tommy Hilfiger, Clothes Mentor