Inspiration Monday - Rockin weekend

Good morning bloggy peeps! Did you all have a nice weekend? I did, went by way too fast once again.  Friday we were off for the Fair as I mentioned last week.  We had a great time - definitely ate a ton!  The rest of the weekend was good too - more on that in a moment, but first, here is today's Inspiration Monday - Selena Gomez.

This mama isn't doing any mid-drift baring shirts these days, but I still managed to semi re-create this inspiration for a girls karaoke night on Saturday with none other than our Inspiration Monday hosts - the lovely Megan and Nora of two birds!

It was fun, a couple of other gals I've been lucky to meet through blogging - Kimi and Erin, came out for the fun too along with a couple of other gals the birds know. And let me tell you - those ladies know how to rock it and have a good time!

Dress as skirt - American Eagle (old)

Shirt - Motherhood Maternity (thrifted)
Vest - Vintage Lee, Mighty Swell Vintage

Jewelry - Stella and Dot

Shoes - Target

Kimi was nice enough to take some pictures for me before we left Megan's house - can I just say her house is seriously the most adorably decorated house ever?  I absolutely love this wall up above here!

And yes...this happened -

I was joking that I usually need a little more liquid courage to get up and do karaoke, but they all were having so much fun that I just gave it a go.  Sang a little Sarah McLachlan and also some Walking on Sunshine.  Not my standard fare - hard to sing pop when you're not used to it, but it was still pretty fun, I will admit that.   The others are definitely better at it than I am - I'll have to practice a bit more for next time!

And finally, you have to see this adorable gift that Megan and Nora gave me for the baby.  I laughed so hard and when he saw it, so did the Pants Monkey.

A Diaper Monkey onesie in honor of his Pants Monkey daddy.  Too funny and too cute!  It was so sweet of them to do that - thanks again ladies!

The rest of the weekend I pretty much laid low, it got very hot on Sunday.  I am so glad we went to the Fair when we did - this whole week is going to be miserable!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits, check out two birds over here.

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!

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!

Pin-spired

Yep, I'm still on the Pinterest bandwagon.  I know some have moved on from it, but I still can't get enough of it.  And today's outfit is inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest.  This is a color combination I've never tried, but fell in love with when I saw it.  Here is the pin:

And here is my take on it:

I don't have a cute scarf like that, but I thought this little sweater would be an acceptable substitute.  I need to invest in more scarves this year I've decided, but that's a whole other subject.  Anyway, I like how this came together.  Not to mention, it's super cozy since it's much more like Fall outside today!

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

Sweater - F21

Pants - Lee, handed down from cousin

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Mossimo, thrifted

I'm running low on sleep and not enough caffeine yet, so that's about all I can manage today!  But I do want to direct you to this awesome post I took part in over at Practical Paralegalism.  Lynne hosted a Goodwill Goldmine post and it's so fun to see all the awesome thrifty ladies out there.  You can check it out here.  Thanks for hosting Lynne!  I'm getting a Goodwill dangerously close to my office in December - I'm not going to lie, very excited about it and I see where my lunch hours are going very soon!

Flat Bethie

Today's This or That Trend choice was platforms or flats.  I was all set to wear some platform sandals that I have with a skirt, but then the weather today has decided to flash forward to Fall, so I decided to have a pants day and go with my tried and true all time favorite flats.  If you're a regular reader of the blog, you've seen these before.

My mom found me these a few years ago now at DSW, the tweed/herringbone type pattern totally drew her to them because she knew that I would love them.  Funny story though, while I did think they were adorbs the first time I saw them, I didn't wear them for a good two or three years on a real regular basis.  Yes, you heard me right, these shoes mostly sat in my closet not getting any love.  Why would I do that?  Because I used to think I was too short to wear flats.  I have changed my thinking on that in the last year or so and now I can't get enough of flats, especially these!

So as I said, I was cold this morning, so not only did I wear pants, I grabbed a sweater too!  It's a bit stuffy in my office though, so I can always take off the sweater if need be.  Minnesota summer is so fickle.  It will be hot again in a few days.  I'm enjoying this taste of Fall while I can, I don't really like the super hot stuff unless I can spend time in a pool or at the beach!

As I was getting ready to write about my "Flats" I couldn't help but think of "Flat Stanley".  Ever heard of that?  Or those of you with kids, have your kids had a chance to do a "Flat Stanley" project?  It's the cutest thing, I believe there is a book about him, but basically teachers have their students mail a "Flat Stanley" that they made to someone and have them take him on adventures and take pictures of it to send back to the students along with him.  My in-laws did a "Flat Stanley" for some relatives from Texas.  They took pictures of him in front of the Mall of America, the Spoonbridge and Cherry, and even just out in the snow to represent Minnesota.  It was really quite cute.

I gotta say, these flats sure are comfy!  I do like the additional height from a platform shoe, but there is something to be said for a shoe that is so comfy you think you're wearing a slipper to work!  If it's warmer tomorrow I will probably wear the platforms with tomorrow's outfit instead, so you'll still get to see them!

Don't forget you can head over to Megan Mae or Keely's blogs to check out other bloggers doing this week's This or That Summer Trend challenge!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Maurices

Sweater - Lands End

Pants - Lee (From cousin)

Necklace and earrings - Charming Charlie

Flats - DSW

Sunshine on my shoulder

It is such a beautiful spring morning outside.  Seriously could not be prettier, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and it's starting to get green outside!  Makes me think of a wedding - and speaking of weddings, I'm guesting over at the blog Live A Lot while Cristi is on her honeymoon and I'm talking about my wedding!  So head on over here to check it out!

So I got this pink top when I took my mom out for retail therapy a couple of weeks ago.  And no, I didn't break my ban because I didn't buy it.  For my cheering up efforts and the fact that I drove, my mom bought it for me as a little treat.  We picked it up at JCPenney's - anyone been in there since they've changed to the "one fair price" concept?  I admit, I do like the idea.  And I'm a bargain shopper if there ever was one, but there is something to be said for the simplicity of this concept.  I like they way they are displaying things now too, it feels cleaner and less cluttered, at least at the JCPenney I most often visit.

Took a shot without the sweater so you could see more of the shirt, it came with a cami attached to it but we  detached it so I can use it with other things too if I wish.  Sadly, as nice as it is with the sun, it is chilly outside, so I promptly put the sweater back on after this picture!  Brr!!

Outfit rundown:

Pink shirt - Heart Break, JCPenney

Sweater - Old Navy

Pants - Lee

Shoes - DSW

Necklace - Stella and Dot