Winter floral

So, we are truly having an old fashioned winter here in Minnesota.  We've been kind of spoiled in recent years - probably due to global warming or something but who wants to be technical - in having milder, gentler winters than the ones I remember growing up.  We have had snowy winters still, but the bitter, nasty cold weather that we are kind of known for here has been taking a hiatus.  Not this year!  It's been so cold all the way back to the week Oliver was born.  I have to say it's not been super fun having a newborn with super cold weather, but we're making the best of it.  To perk things up a bit today, I thought some winter floral was in order!

I found this cute hoodie at a consignment store a couple of weeks ago on a day that was still cold, but not so cold I wasn't afraid to venture out with Oliver for a little bit.  While I'm still away from work I find that zip-up hoodies are nice to throw over my nursing camisoles.  I was putting away laundry and saw this hoodie next to my floral jeans and it was like "Boom!" - outfit for the day.

Hoodie - consignment

Cami - Gillian O'Malley Nursing - Target

Jeans - Mossimo, Target

Boots - Merona, Target

Not that I really wore this out anywhere.  Not only has the temp been dropping today but Oliver has been in a bit of a grump mood as well, I'm surprised I had five minutes to take these pictures.  I won't complain too much though, I need to cuddle him while I still can and while he still actually wants it - I know it won't always be that way!  At least this outfit helped me think warm thoughts today!

Inspiration Monday - Frigid

So, I'll get it out of the way right away today - it's freaking cold here in Minnesota.  Really freaking cold.  Below zero Fahrenheit type cold.  But it's also January and it is Minnesota - this is how it's supposed to be.  It hasn't been for so long though, it's really hard to take!  So I think there will be a fair amount of whining today - even from yours truly!

Taking the sting off of our bitter snap here is Inspiration Monday.  Today's look is from Lauren Conrad who appears to be somewhere far warmer than me!

And here is my look.  It's classic and I like it, you can't go wrong with a crisp button shirt and my green corduroy pants are keeping me plenty warm today!  And look, I finally got a haircut.  It's back to being a lot cleaner and easier to deal with, but it helps that my favorite stylist was the one who cut it this time!

Before it got really cold on Saturday, we did some couch swapping with my in-laws.  Well, actually we got rid of two hideous couches that we had and then went and picked up a couch and loveseat my in-laws were getting rid of.  The stuff they had was in great condition, they just wanted something different and had promised this set to the Pants Monkey a long time ago, so when they asked if we wanted it now we said sure!  One of the two couches we got rid of I didn't dislike that much but the other one was awful.  And both of them made my living room look like an old lady's parlor - which I guess makes sense seeing as it was the Pants Monkey's great aunt's house before it was ours and we inherited all of her furniture, but still.  The stuff we now have is much more modern and very me - it's plaid!

So we were fortunate to get all of that accomplished before the winds blew in later in the day on Saturday and man, once it did, I just went into full on hibernation mode.  We went to church on Saturday evening to do a Mass with our group and then after that we pretty much hunkered down for the rest of the weekend!  Watched a couple of movies, did a bunch of laundry, the Pants Monkey made us a fun egg scramble thing for breakfast on Sunday and we made fajitas for dinner.  

Blazer - Bill Blass, thrifted

Shirt - Mossimo, Target

Pants - Old Navy

Shoes - Mossimo, Target

Necklace - DIY by me

Getting back to the cold, I am adding a blazer to this look, as much as I like it better without - it's just too cold to not be piling on the layers!  You won't be seeing me in any skirts this week I think!  How's the weather where you are?

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

Baby it's cold outside

Yep, you will see I look cold in these pictures.  But the light has been decent in the morning so I've been wanting to take pictures outside again.  I'll have to try to do a better job of hiding it!  When it's 20 degrees that is a bit of a challenge though!

Dress - Axcess by Clairborne, thrifted

T-shirt - Old Navy

Sweater - American Rag, thrifted

Boots - Target, old

Necklace - S&D 

I have been finding on these cold days I've been gravitating towards pants because it's easy and well, I don't want to be cold.  But I have fun colored tights that are begging to be worn and many skirts and dresses and boots that work well in winter, so I need to suck it up and wear them!  Besides, I'm from Minnesota, I'm supposed to be tough when it comes to the cold!

We've been spoiled by warmer weather though lately and so these cold days are harder to take!  I mostly like the warmer weather even if it is a bit unnatural - but at this time of year I won't lie, I do want some snow.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas without it!  We had a brown Christmas last year, I'm really hoping that won't happen this year!  I hear it might snow this weekend.  Here's hoping!

Winter returns?

Oh man is it cold outside this morning!  We are under a freeze warning.  It is so weird that it hasn't been this cold since very early March!  Despite the chilly temps though, it was still sunny out this morning so I suffered through the cold to take my outfit photos today.

It's tough to figure out how to dress for this weather!  The best thing I've found is going with layers.  That way if it actually does get warm you can at least remove something.  I don't think that will be the case today, even with the sun I hear it won't get warmer than about 40 F!

I also have to dress carefully on days I am entering the "construction zone" at work.  My boss actually stepped on a nail last week so I'm not taking any chances!  Good sturdy shoes today.  I get to take pictures of the construction space every Tuesday, so I'm guessing my outfit/shoe choices will be fairly practical on Tuesdays for awhile!

Finally, I want to thank those of you who took the time to watch my vlog from yesterday and for leaving such sweet comments!  I would love to hug all of you!!  It won't be a frequent thing, but maybe I'll do another vlog sometime too!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Mossimo, Target

Sweater - Decree, JCPenney

Pants - Nine West (thrifted)

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls

It's still winter

The last time I wore this sweater was also on a Friday.  And it was also because it was super cold that day! Guess I'm just not much for creativity today.  But yeah, high of barely 13 above zero?  Requires a fuzzy warm sweater.  At least I'm wearing different jeans with it this time!

These are one of my favorite pairs of jeans, they just hug my body in all the right spots!  Thank you Old Navy!  I have to say I've tried many different brands of jeans over the years, but Old Navy is one brand that has fit me pretty well since my teen years.

As soon as I heard there were wind chill advisories this morning I decided there was no way I was taking outdoor pictures today.  It's just as well, the sun wasn't really out either.  It's so cold, that even with the heat on full blast in my car, the latte I stopped at Dunn Brothers to get on my way to work today was already down to a lukewarm temperature in the five minutes from the coffee shop to my office.  Yep, it's cold.  It's still winter.  We get it Mother Nature, thanks for the reminder.

Busy weekend on tap for me, we have had a couple of weeks off from our music group but we're back at that this weekend plus we have a birthday party for a good friend and I think we're going to have a meatball making session with my mother-in-law.  There are fun sales going on around town this weekend too (Mighty Swell and the debut of Band of Thrifters - check them out local folks!) but sadly I don't know if I'm going to get to any of them even though I'd love to!  It's just as well, I need to take a shopping break honestly.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Outfit rundown:
Sweater - b. (a resale shop)
Jeans - Old Navy
Shoes - SO, Kohls
Necklace - jerseymaids via Etsy

At last...colorful legs!

You guys it is FIVE degrees above ZERO this morning (Fahrenheit that is) but I don't care - I suffered the cold to show off that I finally got colored tights!  How long have I been lamenting about this?  Many of you suggested Target and that they had colored tights for $5.00 - which they did, but they were pretty picked over when I went.  I wanted yellow or blue but they were out, so I settled for these rust colored ones here.  I'll check another Target to see if I can find the other colors I want!

So cardinal sin of blogging - I know I keep making changes to the appearances of the blog.  I apologize for that, I'm trying to make it slightly cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing.  Not sure if I've made it better or worse, but anyway, stick with me I think I'm nearly done.  If you have feedback - even constructive criticism I'll take it!

We're already halfway through the week.  I like that I have to say.  I'm not going to complain!  Coldest air of the season coming in this week though, if you think five above zero is bad, tomorrow I hear we're going below zero for the first time all winter.  That's pretty rare, it has usually happened by now!  This winter is anything but ordinary!

In other news, I've had my iPhone almost two months now and I'm having so much fun with apps.  I got an iTunes gift card from my sister-in-law for Christmas so I could download more apps.  Yesterday I made the happy discovery that Words with Friends was on sale.  I've been playing Scrabble already because of a couple of friends who play that version, but I've been wanting to try Words with Friends too because I know other friends who play it.  I don't know if any of you play, but I'll play with anyone who wants to - my username is muppetmusic22 on both Scrabble and Words with Friends.  I need the practice, I told my sister-in-law yesterday I need to go back to school!  My word choices are pretty pathetic!  I can only improve!

Have a great day!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Old Navy

Sweater - St. John's Bay, JCPenney

Skirt - East 5th Avenue, JCPenney

Tights - Target

Belt - unknown

Bracelet, Necklace, Earrings - Stella and Dot

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls

Winter winds

So man, it is cold out there today.  Old Man Winter sure does still exist here in MN.  We have been so spoiled as of late, but were gifted with snow over the holiday this weekend and it brought with it cold winds and colder temps!  I hear warmer type stuff is coming back later this week though.  

So I decided with the cold weather, a sweater was a must today.  This is one of my Christmas gifts from my parents.  It's a nice simple warm sweater but it is so awesome when you see it up close - it has flecks of different colors so it can go with more or less anything.  You have to love that.

My shoes were a POOR choice today.  The parking lot that my office shares with the city is not cleared real well.  And of course, the city is CLOSED today so I can't call and complain.  But if they were open, they'd be hearing from me because even in more practical shoes, it is slick out in that lot.

It is pretty slick in spots for driving today too, makes me almost glad that many businesses are closed so not many folks are out on the road.  Seriously.  I drive a little CRV and it's a great car for getting through heavy snow, doesn't do so well on ice though.  I have done 180s several times in this car.  Speaking of my car, I have learned I have a fair number of repairs to be made on it, so I think I may be putting myself on another little shopping ban.  We'll see how things go.  The Pants Monkey's father used to work on all of our cars, but as of Jan 1st he's retired - how dare he!  Totally kidding, I'm happy for him.  Bummed for us though - full price car repairs are going to be an adjustment!

This week I am planning on rolling out a Facebook page for the blog - so you can "like" me there if you wish!  I am just using any outlets I can to connect with folks, especially with rumors of Google Friend Connect going away - though feel free to follow me with it for now.  I hope Google changes it's mind about getting rid of it.  But anyway, fun things ahead here, so stay tuned!

Rundown:

Sweater and undershirt - Old Navy (gifts from parents for Christmas)

Pants - Herbergers

Necklace, earrings - Charming Charlie

Shoes - Mudd, Kohls