Excessive

We've been under an excessive heat warning here in Minnesota the last couple of days.  Kind of rare to have a heat wave this bad this late into August.  The joke is that it always heats up for our State Fair - but not usually THIS extreme.  Some of our schools started back this week and some will start back after Labor Day next week.  I feel for the kids who went back this week - many of our schools do not have air conditioning because we don't go year round.  I can only imagine how awful that is!

As for me, I am keeping the lights down low in my office, drinking lots of ice water and rocking out my sundresses.  This one is one of my favorites.  I don't know how many years I've had it now.  It's been featured on the blog many a time.  Thankfully it fits over the bump like many of my sundresses do.  The pattern and colors are so versatile, it seriously goes with everything.  Sadly when I went to iron it though I noticed some fraying and a small tear along the back edge - so I think it may end up retired sooner rather than later, we'll see.

Dress - Ragstock, old

Cami - from cousin

Sweater - Old Navy

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Bracelets - S&D

Sandals - Italian Shoe Maker, from cousin 

My hair feels like a hot mess these days too.  I haven't been drying it, it's just too hot to do that.  I feel like I need another trim, but I'm trying to stretch it out to five weeks now instead of four.  Hard to do with a pixie, but I'm trying!  I may give in though before the week is over - especially if this weather continues.  Gross.  I definitely do not want to rush the season too much - but I'm pretty much ready for Fall I think!!

Improvement

Oh my goodness what a difference a day makes my friends!  I am in a much better mood today.   Last night the Pants Monkey and I ate one of my favorite meals and just zoned out to television for about three hours (no joke) and I got to bed nice and early and just woke up on a better side of the bed today!  And I love my outfit today, so how can I possibly not be in a good mood?

And I have a very exciting blogger lady date to look forward to this evening!  I am finally getting to meet the fantastic Maca from the Spanglish Life.  You may remember she guest posted here while I was on vacation in August.  Anyway, she wasn't able to make it to the MN Blogger meetup and since we've been wanting to meet for ages now I just said, ok, then let's plan a lady date!  So we are meeting up at a place called Cupcake in St. Paul to have cupcakes and cocktails and just be fancy ladies!  Or something.  No matter what, I'm looking forward to it!!

I had to get a close up of my bracelets - two of them you've seen, they're from my Stella and Dot party, but the third one I just picked up last weekend at the newly re-opened World Market.  You guys have no idea how happy I am to have World Market back in my life!  They pulled out of MN about three years ago and I was devastated   We loved shopping there for gifts, stocking stuffers at Christmas time, unique kitchen and dining pieces, etc.  They have everything for such great prices.  So this summer I was at my regular Clothes Mentor which is in the same strip mall that World Market once was - and saw the sign back up on the building and about had a hyper spasm.  They opened up about two weeks ago and I just had to go there this weekend, it's the same place I've always loved, possibly even better than before.  And I bought this awesome little bracelet for only $4.99!

To top everything off, it's another beautiful day outside.  We are suffering a drought, so I know we need rain, but the beautiful sunny days have been so nice and the leaves are getting so pretty outside!  I love this time of year!!

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - Boutique in Pequot Lakes

Dress as skirt - Ragstock

Necklace - S&D

Bracelets - S&D, World Market

Shoes - Steve Madden, thrifted

Belt - JCPenney

*Edited to add - I'm trying out Disqus as a commenting system again.  I know some of you really dislike it, but they seem to have made some improvements so I'd like to try it out.  I hope this will make it easier to have conversations.  Please bear with me as we see how this goes!*

Inspiration Monday - Dot, dot, dot

Well here we are on Monday again.  As wonderful and reliable as Friday is at showing up each week, it's annoying sibling Monday is just as reliable at coming back each week too!  At least Inspiration Monday makes it a little more tolerable!  Here is Kristin Cavallari from The Hills - a show I just never got into back in the day.  But I still like her fresh look here.

I chose to dress it up a bit for work.  I don't really have the right kind of striped top, but I figured polka dots were the next best thing right?  And a purple skirt instead of pants too.  And another excuse to wear these sandals from Old Navy so I can feel like I'm making them more worth the purchase!  

So as I said in my post yesterday, I'd talk more about my weekend.  It was hectic but good.  Thanks for the compliments on my dress for the wedding I sang at.  It was an interesting wedding.  The people in charge at the church are kind of scatterbrained and fly by the seat of your pants.  When I was getting married that just would not have worked for me.  I was way too anal about details!  Anyway, it was a lot of fun to sing at the wedding and of course, it made me nostalgic for my own.  The birthday party for my friend was fun too, though a lot of her family and friends with children were there, so we scooted out after about an hour, but then were able to have a nice movie night at home.

Yesterday we went over the craft fair I had mentioned last week.  It was so fun.  Lots of booths and two food trucks.  We tried out food from both of the food trucks since this was the first time either of us had an opportunity to do so!  I got a super cute charm from Erin and I may have bought the purse you see in the above pictures. Yeah I know I have a problem.  I'll actually talk more about this new purse in another post - it won't be a vlog this time, promise - because it seriously is rocking my world.  Apparently this purse also rocks Pippin's world.  Or she really didn't want me to leave the house this morning.

I swear Taylor does cute things too, I just never seem to get them on my camera as easily as I do with Pippin!  Anyway, after the craft fair we stopped at the 1st birthday party for our friend's daughter for a pretty short time and then crashed at home watching re-runs of Monk.

Finally today I'm guest blogging on The Pants Monkey's homebrew blog about women and homebrewing - check it out if you're so inclined, it's over here.  As always, don't forget to visit the two birds here to see the other Inspiration Monday looks.

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - F21

Skirt - Ragstock

Necklace - Maurices

Shoes - Old Navy

Bag - Jenna Lou Designs

Inspiration Monday - Two for one

Happy Monday everyone! I am doing my very best to combine two challenges for the price of one today!  It's like a buy one get one free sale!  Today is day one of Megan Mae and Keely's This or That Trends challenge and it's Two Birds Inspiration Monday.  And somehow I think I found something that works for both.  Or maybe I'm crazy.  I probably am.  

So first of all, here is our Inspiration Monday model.  Kate Bosworth.  This is a very fun laid back look, though I'm not too sure about the shoes....

So, first of all, it's a bit too warm for a sweatshirt, though it is cooler today, so I chose a lighter weight top.  Second of all, I love her long maxi mint skirt, but I don't have anything like that (wish I did though!).  And third of all, for today's This or That, the theme is Solid Brights or Bold Print - so I chose bold print.  I also think that my bold print sort of represents her crazy shoes, but that just might be my wacky brain thinking too much!

So, that's my look.  And yes, it's a dress as a skirt again and one you've seen quite often here, I love this dress.  I have had it for a really long time too, and I'm not giving it up yet!  I figured my favorite new Gussy bag here could also serve as a bold print - though I almost went totally nutso and switched to my bright pink bag to cover the "solid brights" portion of the This or That challenge.  I think that may have dialed up the crazy a bit too much.

So did you all have good weekends?  Ours was good though packed.  Saturday we had a graduation open house and ran a bunch of errands.  We were able to relax with a movie in the evening.  Yesterday we did two morning masses with our music group and it was so warm in the church even with the air on that it ended up taking a lot out of me.  We went home and I pretty much did not move from the couch all day long.  The Pants Monkey was much more industrious than I was, he brewed a test batch of a new beer.  Excited to see how this one comes out.  We kept it lazy and had pizza night before it stormed.

It should be a fun week around here, not only is the This or That challenge going on all week, but we're nearing my one year blogging anniversary and I'll be announcing a very exciting first ever giveaway in celebration!  You won't want to miss it, so stay tuned!!

For more fun with Inspiration Monday, visit the two birds blog here.  To check out others participating in the This or That Summer Trends challenge, you can check out Megan Mae here or Keely here.  Lots of linky fun for all!

Outfit rundown:
Shirt - Mossimo, Target

Dress as skirt - Ragstock

Bag - Gussy Sews

Necklaces - Stella and Dot

Earrings and bracelet - thrifted

Sandals - Merona, Target

EBEW - I'm on a boat

Look at your blog post, now look at mine, now look at yours and back to mine.  Sadly your post isn't mine but if you participate in Everybody Everywear's Nautical Day your post could be like mine. Look down, where are you?  You're on a boat with the blog post your post could be like.  What's in your hand?  Back to me.  It's a computer with two tickets to that thing you love.  Look again, the tickets are now diamonds.  Anything is possible when you participate in Everybody Everywear.  I'm on a horse. *Old Spice whistle*

Anyone else remember the Old Spice commercial I just mocked up there?  It's not that old, like two years ago now?  It was hilarious and a running joke between us and some friends for awhile, especially the "I'm on a boat" line.  And as soon as I started writing my post for this month's Nautical Everybody Everywear I could not help myself, I knew I'd be referencing that somehow!  I can't take full credit, I found the script online and modified it to fit - so all credit to the Old Spice people and they are not paying me anything for my parody!  They do make the Pants Monkey smell nice though, I will say that!

So in all seriousness, my outfit is a bit of a stretch for the Nautical theme, but I think it still would work well for an afternoon of boating.  Breezy striped dress, super fun shoes.  I'm all set, just point me to my yacht! 

I love the water.  I would love nothing more than to go be on a boat all day long.  We have relatives and friends that have cabins on lakes and they own pontoon boats and the highlight of visiting them in the summer is getting a chance to go out on the pontoon.  When I when the lottery you better believe that I will own a pontoon boat.  And yes a cabin on a lake where I can bring said boat.  But most importantly I will own a boat.

I am so excited about these new sandals.  I've never done the "wrap" style sandal before and I need to play with that a bit more, couldn't get them to stay up to save my life.  But in spite of that I love the color.  I have been wanting more colorful things in my closet and especially been wanting more colorful shoes, so these fit the bill pretty well.  And they were on sale!  I just realized my dress came from Old Navy too.  And today's theme is Nautical.  Old Navy = Nautical!  Yeah I know I'm really reaching now!

I took these pictures yesterday too - the weather today is definitely not boating weather.  Rain and clouds AGAIN.  But at least it's a workday this time and not a weekend!  I'll just dream about being on a boat, it'll have to do for now!

Outfit rundown:

Dress - Old Navy

Shrug - Ragstock

Sandals - Old Navy

Necklace - Maurices

Mermaid

Today I decided to wear the outfit I had really wanted to wear last Thursday when I was channeling The Little Mermaid. It's not even that outrageous or anything, it just wasn't warm enough last Thursday.  Anyway, this outfit sort of channels Ariel to me.  Maybe I'm crazy though.

I could not get enough of The Little Mermaid when I was young.  I was around 8 years old when it was in theaters (yeah I'm dating myself, I don't care).  I was so excited to have my own copy on VHS and I am so surprised I didn't wear it out with how much I watched it over and over again.  And then when I wasn't watching it, I was in my room acting it out with my Ariel doll and stuffed Flounder the fish.  I knew every word of that thing frontwards and backwards.  My favorite part was the music and my mom used to say that's how she knew I'd be a singer someday, when I would sing all the songs from the movie.  So, there you go, further proof that I was a huge geek back then, and hey, not much has changed!

This bag is the deal of the century, thrifted for $5.00.  It's huge and roomy and such fun colors for spring.  The only part I'm not sure on yet is it has no cell phone pocket.  Gasp.  I'm so used to that now, it's hard to adjust, but my Haiku pouch fits nicely inside here, so that's where my phone goes in this bag for now.  I'm going to give it a fair try, but at least it was cheap if in the end I just don't like it.

It's finally warm again too!  Hurray!  Welcome spring, please say you are here to stay!  Though I hear storms loom for later today.  I don't care, I'm going to bask in the glory of a warm spring day until then!

Outfit rundown:

Dress as skirt - Ragstock 

Shirt - Donna (from cousin)

Sandals - Mootsie Tootsie

Bag - Thrifted

Belt - unknown

Necklace - Premier Jewelry

Avoid the Gray

It's been a rather up and down weekend friends, I did have the chance to enjoy Winterfest on Friday night, but we got a call Friday night that the Pants Monkey's ailing grandfather had taken a turn for the worse and sadly on Saturday afternoon we lost him. So things have been a little crazy. In spite of it though, I was still able to go to the Avoid the Gray fashion show Saturday night and was able to have a little fun break and I wanted to share a couple of pictures from the event.

Here is what I wore - I felt way under dressed after seeing the others in attendance, but I still like my outfit!  Let me tell you, the people watching was tons of fun.  I ran into Lindsey from Ruby Girl as well!  The evening was unique, it was not a traditional runway fashion show.  There were boxes built and each model posed inside of the box and then you could look inside each box via holes that were cut out.  It was really interesting.

Because of this set up I had a hard time getting pictures, but I selected a couple that I think sort of show the concept.  The gal above here had some really, REALLY tall shoes on - it was crazy, I couldn't imagine standing on them that long.

These next two were one outfit I would actually not mind wearing.  I absolutely LOVE the boots!  The shirt is interesting.  Might skip the pit helmet and gun though.

I'm glad I had a chance to check this show out, I am amazed at the talent out there even if most of the items showcased were not something I'd be terribly likely to wear!

We are still doing the Super Bowl with my in-laws today, if nothing else because everyone just needs a break and a place to be together.  I think his funeral is Wednesday, so we'll see how the week shapes out, if I end up not posting, you'll all know why.

Outfit rundown:
Dress - Ragstock
Sweater - Mossimo, Target
Pants - Maurices
Boots - Target
Hat - Target
Necklace - Charming Charlie
Clutch - Stella and Dot

Getting there

The Pants Monkey helped me create kind of an "in home studio" last night. We're getting closer to getting better picture results again! Always learning, always room to improve!

Today I'm wearing a dress that is a bit of a staple for me in the summer. I added this little cardigan though and gave it a whole new look - I have never tried this combo before and I like it. The colors definitely are making me think of Fall and seeing that today is the first day of the MN State Fair, we are definitely getting to summer's end.

The rundown:

Cardigan - Decree from JcPenney

Dress - Unknown brand (cut the tag out) purchased new from Ragstock

Necklace - DIY by me

Bracelet - Stella and Dot

Exotic

This is without a doubt one of my favorite dresses ever. I got it almost two years ago at a Ragstock, in the "new" department, not the "used" department and it is perfect for a hot, muggy day. I love the print - it feels kind of exotic and jungle like to me!

I add the shrug simply for the fact that again, it's air conditioned inside and also, this dress is rather low cut in front, so for work I kind of need to cover up the cleavage. If I was going out with the Pants Monkey or some friends, it wouldn't matter quite as much. Some fun new touches for this standard summer outfit are the purse I picked up this weekend on my thrifting adventures at Clothes Mentor and also the bracelet I found there as well. I'm cool and comfy once again which is important during the hottest week of the summer!

The rundown:

Shrug: Mossimo, Target

Dress: Brand unknown, purchased new at Ragstock

Bracelet: Thrifted from Clothes Mentor

Bag: Axcess by Liz Claiborne (thrifted)

Necklace: Premier Jewelry in home party

Sandals: Target