Inspiration Monday - Still Winter

Happy Monday!  It's a snowy one here in good old Minne-snow-ta.  They always say we get hit with storms around basketball tournament time.  And yet, when it happens, everyone still complains.  I'm trying not to do that - I do choose to live here after all - yet I will say it's hard to take after we've been having nice spring weather!  

Since it was snowy and gross today, I decided to dress for two birds Inspiration Monday because the look they chose this week seemed like it would work well for a yucky kind of day.  This is actually a repeat outfit they chose, Nora Bird has just moved to California (sniff, we miss you here Nora!) and they both took some time off this last week from the blog to make things easier.  I didn't do this look the last time they chose it though, so you'll all be seeing it for the first time here anyway!  So here is Emanuelle Chriqui (again, who??  I am guessing a model?  Singer? Actress?  Why am I so old??)

I chose a printed t-shirt I had thrifted a couple of years ago, a nice warm sweater and basic black pants with ankle boots for my re-creation.  Comfy, chic and easy on a winter day!

T-shirt - Express (thrifted), Sweater - H&M (thrifted)

Pants - Denzien (Target), Boots - Target

Necklace - Camy Couture

And of course being that it was cold and snowy outside and I didn't really have time before work, I had to do lame indoor pictures in my office today.  And of course, they're a bit fuzzy.  Dang you fluorescent lights!  Oh well.  As I always say - at least you get the general idea and well, I'm not a photographer or professional style blogger!  Amateur Hour starts now.  Grab a drink.

And also?  Hair progress!  I kind of started combing it a bit differently on Friday and realized it has grown quite a bit already.  I have managed to figure out how to style it without it looking like a horrible shaggy moppy mullet right now, so hey, that's something!  I'm pretty pumped about how much it's already grown, but even more excited that I don't actually hate it right now.  I'm sure that won't last forever, so I'll revel in it while I can!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits head over to two birds!

Inspiration Monday - Simple

Well happy Monday one and all!  Today I'm doing a total "if you blink" interpretation of two birds Inspiration Monday model Kate Bosworth here.  I wasn't remembering the floral pattern on her dress so I went for a neutral one - oops!  I do like this pretty dress she's rocking here though.  It's a nice simple look and so is the dress I chose today, so I guess maybe I went for that overall approach?

And then it was raining so I had to take my pictures indoors - which I'm not super good at yet with Nate's camera.  I played with the settings and did the best I could do.  We'll be filing this post under "I am not a photographer" once again!  Anyway, I haven't worn this dress here since I was in my early pregnancy with Oliver, it's fun to pull it out again, it's so flirty and fun.

Dress - VS (gift from Nate), Necklace - DIY by me

Shoes - DSW 

Lots going on this week on both the blog and in my world - I have a short work week because some of Nate's St. Louis relatives are coming up to visit and we'll be doing some fun stuff with them.  I have some fun posts planned on the blog this week too - a post on homebrew beer, a post about my volunteer experience with some other MN bloggers and my usual Thrift Style Thursday and TIGF posts will be here this week too. Tons of fun ahead, stay tuned!  And be sure to visit two birds for other Inspiration Monday outfits that probably match better than mine!

Thrift Style Thursday - Bold Brights

Two posts in one day, craziness! I wanted to still do my Thrift Style Thursday, but Oliver's monthly birthday required a separate post. So it's a two-Bethie day!  Anyway, this week's Thrift Style Thursday is bold brights.  I knew right away I'd pull out this fun bright blazer I thrifted on Mother's Day and that I actually featured on another TST post shortly after that.  It's easily the boldest, brightest item in my closet so it only made sense!

I am also experimenting with Nate's Canon EOS camera for my outfit pictures - I am hoping to get some better quality by doing so instead of using my extremely old Nikon Coolpix.  So far I think I like the results!

It is a seriously beautiful day outside, I think when Ollie wakes up from his nap we'll have to go for a little walk!  And later I have that dang dentist appointment I mentioned yesterday, but I fully intend to enjoy the day with my boy until then!

 Blazer - Sweet Child (thrifted), Tank top - Motherhood Nursing top

Jeans - American Eagle (thrifted), Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

 

I'm looking forward to 4th of July festivities tomorrow too, we have some picnicking to do but before that we're checking out another flea market since Nate is on a holy mission to find old school Nintendo games.  It will be a full day I think, but hopefully a fun one!  I may or may not get to post tomorrow - so I shall wish all my fellow US friends a happy and safe 4th of July now just in case!  

For more bright and bold looks, head on over to these other awesome thrifter's blogs!

Spoolish//Sandpaper Kisses//Sincerely Miss J//Confessions of a Refashonista//

Alligator Toe//Buttons&Birdcage//Snippets With Alex//Eclecticity//Being Zhenya//

Erika's Style Diary//Sistas from Cali//Rachel's Lookbook//

The Two Cent Chick//Lipstick And Yarn//Nuttier Than Nutella

Birds fly

I still need to charge my regular camera battery, but I had to share this adorable shirt today - this was another purchase from an Instagram shop - and it has freaking birds on it!  I had to have it.  I'm such a nerd.  But it's birds!!

Bird shirt - Gap, via Court's Crazy Closet on Instagram

Sweater - Decree, JcPenney

Pants - Express, consignment

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Boots - Target 

And beyond that I have nothing terribly witty to share today - the baby had a rough night, there is no coffee in my office yet and I pulled a muscle in my back so I'm kind of in a fog right now.  And it's snowing again, but when isn't it lately?  I did get a new washer and dryer delivered to my house last night and I'm kind of excited to go home and wash clothes in it - that just tells you the level of excitement in my life these days!  I'm such a mom.  And a 30 something.  Woo hoo!

Doctor, doctor, give me the news

Man, I really need to get back to taking my pictures at home again you guys.  I am failing at this photography thing lately!  This is an outfit from last week and I tried several different spots in my office and it just wasn't working great!  Sigh.  Also, I'll try to get back into the habit of jewelry close ups again, had some requests for that yesterday.  Again, this outfit is from last week though, so what you get is what you get for today!

Anyway, I pre-planned this post, I have a routine OB appt today that is at a later time than I usually take. Because the practice I go to has several OB's on staff, they encourage you to at least meet everyone once because any one of them could be the one that's there for you on the big day.  So while I have a doctor I like there quite a bit, it was time to start spreading it out a bit and meeting others as well.  There is one doc I really do not want at all, he put the fear of God into us months ago at our first appointment when he couldn't find the heartbeat and while I appreciated him being proactive about it, the alarmist approach was not appreciated.  So I'm really hoping he won't be the one on call that day!!

Shirt - Oh Mamma, thrifted

Pants - Liz Lange, consignment
Necklace - DIY by me

Overall the staff at my clinic is really great, I can't stress how important it is to be comfortable with where you're going when you're pregnant - in order for me to do that, I actually chose a practice that isn't the health practice I work for.  I just figured it would be awkward and uncomfortable to be having those kinds of exams by people I talk to on the phone for facility type issues!  So while I think it's good to support your own business, it's also important to protect your own privacy too!

So once upon a time it was winter and I was skinny

I was going through photos on my iPhone the other day and found an outfit I never shared here - mostly because the quality of these pictures are not the greatest, but I figured, why not share an outfit from winter when I was definitely not pregnant, while I'm away from the blog for a bit?

This outfit was worn to dinner for my dad's 60th birthday in December.  And the jacket and sweater dress both were from a two birds garage sale event that very same day.  I got these two items home and realized, I really want to wear these together!  The outfit was comfy and yet dressy enough for dinner at Erte, our favorite steak joint in NE Minneapolis!  I really wish these pictures had turned out a hair better, but I think you get the idea.

 Dress - H&M, two birds garage sale

Jacket - F21, two birds garage sale

Leggings - Target

Boots - Payless

Necklace - Stella and Dot

I think I had just gotten a haircut that day too.  It looks pretty fresh and chic here.  I don't think I'll be looking quite this chic and put together come this December though!

Blooper reel

So for laughs, I thought one of the posts I'd throw out while I'm gone would be a blooper reel.  I've been saving my oops photos for awhile now and thought maybe people would get a kick out of them.  Here we go.

 There's the time that the tripod fell and then the camera timer went off.  Hello face!

 I don't even know what I was thinking in this one.  Cut off head, no amount of editing would fix it!

 At least you can see my arm party - set the camera to two second delay by accident

 Tried like crazy to edit this one.  Looked like an alien no matter what I did.  It was a cute outfit, maybe I'll try it again sometime.

Another ill timed camera timer shot.  I don't even know what happened here!

What can I say - I try to keep it real you guys!  I'm FAR from a professional, that is most definitely true!

Inspiration Monday - No hiding it now

Hello!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had good weekends!  We did, but it was a busy one.  We finally got nice weather on Saturday so in addition to our golf lesson we did some work in the yard - harvested almost ten pounds of rhubarb.  The Pants Monkey mowed the lawn.  We went to an anniversary party for some dear friends of the family celebrating 50 years of marriage and we sat outside on a patio for a little meal too because the rain held off long enough!

And now it's Monday and thankfully I'm not at Jury Duty today, so I can do Inspiration Monday.  Here's Katherine McPhee in a fun maxi skirt and denim vest.

And here is my take.  It's a bit cloudy/foggy today and not quite warm enough to go sleeveless.  Also, I'm noticing it's starting to get harder to hide my bump.  I am going to be 14 weeks this week though, so I guess it was inevitable!  In the end, I guess this look is a tad on the frumpy side, I did try tying the shirt but it just isn't quite long enough for that to work, and I really didn't want to tuck it in.  I think these next couple of weeks until I really pop may be a bit more of a challenge for dressing, but I'll do my best.  At the very least, I'm super comfortable because this skirt is like wearing PJ's!

The lighting was posing a challenge outside this morning too.  The sun is sort of poking out from behind the fog a little bit, just enough to wash me out a little bit and make my necklace look more or less invisible.

 Shirt - Talbots, consignment

Tank top, skirt, sandals - Old Navy

Necklace - S&D

The other perk is, these are my regular clothes.  It's nice that my closet is still working a little bit!

Head on over to two birds for more Inspiration Monday outfits that I'm sure are far less frump girl than me!

EDITED to add - ok, I tucked in the tank top and I like the result a little better - so here's a quick shot of that.  I should have just done this from the start!  Oh well, we learn as we go sometimes!

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!