Plaid + Stripes = Fall

Gasp, an outfit post on a day that isn't Thrift Style Thursday? What is this craziness??  I've been trying harder to get more than one outfit post on the blog in a week but it just hasn't been happening lately.  But here I am today!  I just loved the look I pulled together today, if this doesn't scream "FALL", I don't know what does!

I combined two of my favorite prints - plaid and stripes.  Top it off with a denim jacket and boots and it's just the perfect fall outfit.  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but toot toot.  The end.

Jacket - White House, Black Market (Consignment), Plaid shirt - Old Navy

Skirt - Merona (Target), Boots - Target

Necklace - Charming Charlie

It's nice enough that bare legs aren't terrible today.  I do look forward to wearing tights, but I also enjoy not having to deal with them quite yet! There will be plenty of time for that!

What type of clothing screams Fall to you?

Summer uniform

Happy Monday!  You'd never know it was the middle of July by how I'm dressed today!  They are actually using the words "Summer polar vortex" to describe our weather this week.  Really weather guys?  Sigh. Oh well, I find that this summer "uniform" of mine so to speak is easy to make work for a cool day if need be! Maxi skirt, tank top, jacket, scarf. Done.  If it was warm out I'd just ditch the jacket!

Jacket - White House, Black Market (consignment), Tank top - Liz Lange nursing (Target)

Maxi skirt - from cousin, Scarf - Target, Shoes - Xhilaration (Target) 

Do you have a "go to" look for summer?  And please tell me you're having warmer weather than I am!!

Getting creative

So the name of the game with this whole "shop my own closet" and "no shop summer" is to get creative.  I bought this dress from someone's online shop last month (mommy brain, I seriously can't remember who - it was a blogger, so if it was you - thanks! The fact that I can't remember where I got this is more proof that it was time to stop shopping!) and after getting it, thought, shoot, I can't easily nurse in this, what was I thinking?

I figured I'd just have to wait and wear it next year after Ollie is weaned - but then I had a late breaking idea as I was getting ready for work - if I added capris, I could just treat the dress like a shirt and pull it up for him.  Besides, it's kind of a short dress anyway, so the added coverage is probably a good thing for work.

Dress - Blog shop, Jacket - White House, Black Market (thrifted)

Capris - Simply Vera (Kohls), Shoes - from cousin 

It ended up working just fine that way!  I'll have to see what other things I can get creative with in my closet! In other happy news, I found a box of sandals that I thought I had gotten rid of - it was almost like having new shoes, day = made!!

Mama got dressed!

The pictures aren't great because I lost the memory card to my point and shoot camera, so we have to rely on my iPhone for right now, but I actually wore real clothes over the holidays!  I thought I'd share here.  The first outfit is from Christmas Eve - I found a pin on Pinterest and copied the look.

Striped shirt/dress - swap

Jacket - White House Black Market, consignment

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Boots - Merona, Target

The second outfit is from Christmas Day - if you're friends with me on Instagram you may have already seen this one.  Oliver and I kind of matched.

                                   

Flannel shirt - Old Navy

Vest - Swap

Jeans - Old Navy (NOT maternity, woo hoo!)

I hope to have a new memory card, better pictures and more outfits coming your way again soon.  I received a lot of easy to nurse in type clothes for Christmas, but some of it is really cute!  I also have a recipe I want to share here soon and many other stories as well.  I hope you are all doing well and that you all had wonderful holiday celebrations!

Inspiration Monday - Needed

Good morning and happy Monday!  I hope you all had wonderful weekends.  I had a pretty good one, even though we did things, we were able to relax for the first time in I don't even know how long and it felt SO GOOD.  More on that in a moment, first up, Inspiration Monday and today's pick is Taylor Swift.  I can't help but like her, she seems like a positive roll model and I will admit to enjoying some of her music!

So I forgot to wear a hat, not to mention, it was nice and warm yesterday so a hat wasn't even needed!  But anyway, I wore this out to brunch with the Pants Monkey yesterday morning.  We tried a restaurant we hadn't been to before (The Bachelor Farmer for you locals) and it was delicious and wonderful.  And then even though it was a beautiful day, we opted to be quite lazy and rented a movie (The Oranges) and unpacked a bunch of more things in the baby's room before watching another movie (Lars and the Real Girl) with dinner.  I may regret not spending time outside later on, but really, I think we needed a very lazy day like yesterday with no timeline.

The earlier parts of the weekend were good too.  As I mentioned, I had my shower with my girlfriends on Friday night.  It was a blast, I am so blessed to have many friends in my life that I've known from kindergarten through college and a large majority of them made it out, so it was wonderful to see them.  There were plenty of pictures taken thanks to my wonderful hostess who also happens to be a professional photographer, so I'll share some here once I get them.

Sweater - Xhilaration, Target

Jacket - White House, Black Market, consignment

Leggings - Simply Vera, Kohls

Boots - I think Target, from mom

Scarf - World Market 

Saturday we did a bit of cleanup around the house and then had a very low key beer night with a couple of friends, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend.  So overall it was just a good, relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I know our days like that are numbered, so we'll enjoy them while we can!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits, head on over to two birds over here.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Mama got a haircut.  I feel so much better.  I'm happy to have stretched it out to five weeks again, but man, it was getting shaggy towards the end here.  I'm hoping to be able to get two more trims before baby comes, that's kind of crazy to think of.  For now I'm just enjoying short spiky hair again!

We're into that tricky part of Fall that the days warm up pretty nice but it's still a bit chilly when you leave for work in the morning.  A jean jacket seemed like the perfect option to keep me warm but not too warm!  And I managed to squeeze into my pink pencil skirt yet another time.  Each time I wear I think, this will be the last time I will wear this until after the baby - and then I surprise myself!

Jacket - White House, Black Market, consignment

Shirt - QT Maternity, consignment

Skirt - two birds vintage via b (a resale shop)

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Shoes - DSW 

And now I get to go spend an hour learning about a new phone system my work is getting.  Apparently the new phones will have the ability to see the caller on the other end - at least for the internal calls.  That concept kind of scares me a little bit!  Oh technology!

Inspiration Monday - Morning challenges

Man, some Mondays are just such a challenge in the mornings!  I look at how I struggle now and then I go, how am I going to manage with a newborn in a few months!  The answer is simple really, I need to be less lazy at night and get things ready the night before hand.  I think I'll figure that out one of these days!  Anyway, I'm here and I guess that's all that matters for the moment!  And it's Inspiration Monday with two birds!  Today's model is Kate Beckinsale in some super fun patterned pants.

Sadly, I have no fun patterned maternity pants.  And it's also going to be in the low 80's again today because summer just can't let go even if it's October tomorrow.  So I opted for a skirt instead.  And more of a tuxedo jacket than a moto jacket.  It's a "if you blink" type inspired outfit today!

Jacket - Mossimo, Target

Shirt - White House, Black Market, from cousin

Skirt - Mossimo, Target

Necklace - Clothes Mentor

Shoes - DSW 

I gotta say, I'm kind of impressed by my 6 1/2 almost 7 month pregnant self still wearing non-maternity items sometimes!  Again, hooray for stretchy bands!

Did you all have good weekends?  We had some rain on Saturday, but I did a little shopping with my mom. The weather cleared just in time for our very good friend's housewarming party in the evening and we were able to sit outside and enjoy a bonfire.  Sunday was absolutely gorgeous outside, so the Pants Monkey and I took advantage of the weather and visited our local zoo for a bit.  It was crazy to think the next time we go there we could have our baby boy in tow. I can't wait to introduce him to our zoo, it's such a wonderful gem in the middle of our city.

And that's about it.  I'm off to face Monday armed with coffee and a positive attitude.  I can turn this hectic morning around!  Head on over to two birds and check out the other Inspiration Monday looks!

Inspiration Monday - Flip Flop

Greetings everyone!  Happy Monday!  Hope you all had good weekends.  Mine was pretty decent, a little busy but also some relaxy time which was great!  I never did get my Influenster Vlog posted, but I promise it's coming (cause I know you're all on pins and needles to listen to my babbles again...ha).  Anyway, it's Inspiration Monday and today we have Jamie Chung.

I went for the opposite of Jamie's look - instead of denim on top and white on the bottom, I did white on top and denim on the bottom!  Nothing wrong with a little flip flop!

Shirt - White House, Black Market (From cousin)

Skirt - Old Navy

Sandals - Clothes Mentor

Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

Bag - 31 Gifts

Bracelet - Charming Charlie

Boy this white shirt sure does make my nice pale white skin glow all the more though don't it?  I am your typical Scandinavian Minnesota girl - I don't tan, I burn.  So, I just opt to not tan.  Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but today I am just super translucent I guess!

I did a little bit of shopping with my mom yesterday.  Clothes Mentor was having their annual summer sale so I grabbed a few more maternity pieces for summer.  Mostly I've been worried about not having enough comfortable summer clothes to take on our trip to Northern Minnesota in a couple of weeks.  I am no longer concerned about that!  The deals were really great though, they were offering 55% off of all clearanced items, so you really can't beat that!  I do love though that I still have so many items of my regular clothing that still fit - like everything I'm wearing today.  Hooray for elastic!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits, head on over to two birds over here.

Card shark

The weather has been pretty yuck this week as I've previously mentioned.  And many nights the Pants Monkey and I just zone out to TV shows after dinner (or sometimes even while we're eating dinner - eek).  Lately though, we've been trying to break that habit and do more things together since things will be changing in a big way in a matter of months.  So last night we decided to play cards for a half hour instead of watching TV.

The only problem is our card repertoire is somewhat small.  There aren't that many two player games to begin with and the few we do know we get bored with after awhile.  I love cribbage, but sometimes I need a break or I'm making 15's in my sleep.  Last night, the Pants Monkey found the rules for 10 Card Rummy.  So we played that.  And it was a lot of fun!  We've played 5 card and 7 card Rummy before, but the rules are a little different for 10 card and also you are able to keep score too, so that also makes it more interesting.  Of course, I ended up pretty much winning which always makes it more fun too, not going to lie about that!

Dress - Motherhood Maternity via Clothes Mentor

Jacket - White House Black Market, thrifted

Bag - Lulu's

Necklace - S&D

Shoes - Rampage via DSW

We eventually had to stop because it was getting late, but we really enjoyed ourselves!  We're going to try and make this a habit.  And if summer ever gets here, we'll move our card games out to our deck at night as long as the bugs don't bite!

Do you like to play cards?  Anyone have any other good two player games they'd recommend?

Inspiration Monday - Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! Let us not forget what this day is about - thinking of all those who have served for our country, especially the fallen.

Today's Inspiration Monday with two birds features Julianne Hough in a rather patriotic ensemble.  I only wish it was nice enough outside for an outfit like this!

Instead I'm choosing to be just a little more bundled up.  It's still not terribly warm here and there is no sun.  Sad panda.  Oh well.  I did the best I could and I'm comfy if nothing else, which will be nice for the picnic we're heading to in a little while with the Pants Monkey's family.

Shirt - White House Black Market (from cousin)

Sweater - Mossimo, Target

Jeans, sandals and necklace - Clothes Mentor

It's been a great long weekend, while it has been cool and damp, Mr. Monkey and I did get some good yardwork done.  We also celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday with dinner out - our anniversary is actually today, but because of the picnic we celebrated a little early.  It'll be tough to head back to work tomorrow.  I still believe all weekends should be three days long!!

In addition to linking up with two birds today, I'm also linking up with Heidi from Literate and Stylish and Whitney from Along the Lines of Style for their "We Love Target" week.  Today's item was "tops".  Be sure to check out the other participants in all of these lovely link ups!

And I wanted to thank Ada from Elegance and Mommyhood for including me in her Week's Best Looks post - she used my peach shirt/mint jeans outfit from last week and I have to say, that was a favorite of mine too!  Head to her post here to see the other blogs she included, many stylish ladies out there!

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Inspiration Monday - Mother of all weekends

Hello peeps!  Did you all have nice weekends?  Did you do nice things for your moms?  My mom loved her iPad, I think she's going to do well with it!

Speaking of moms, two of my favorite moms, the lovely two birds chose this photo of my favorite actress Emmy Rossum for this week's Inspiration Monday.  How adorable are these sneakers?

My take is a bit of a "if you blink" kind of inspiration, but I did what I could!  I always love an excuse to wear this denim jacket and I had to wear this fun skirt I picked up at the Tandem Vintage sale this weekend.

 Jacket and t-shirt - White House Black Market, thrifted and handed down from cousin

Skirt - Tandem Vintage

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Shoes - DSW

Speaking of the Tandem Vintage sale, it was a blast.  I went again with Miss Lori but it turned into a bit of an adventure.  Some fine folks at the Minnesota Dept of Transportation thought it was a great idea to close both main freeways that get you from Minneapolis to St. Paul.  Traffic was craaaaazzzzzyyyy.  By the time I made it to my friend's craft sale it was late and I hadn't had lunch, so I didn't stay terribly long and I didn't buy anything.  I did ogle some gorgeous bags from Jenna Lou Designs, but they were way out of my price range sadly.  Then in the evening on Saturday, Mr. Monkey and I went to a restaurant south of the cities for dinner and somehow got going on the wrong freeway coming home and ended up taking a detour too - so I got to see a bunch of the Twin Cities metro area on Saturday!  It was still a fun day, but man.  What a whirlwind!

For more Inspiration Monday outfits, head to two birds over here.