Thrift Style Thursday - Sunshine On My Shoulder

Today's Thrift Style Thursday theme was chosen by yours truly - inspired by the official Summer Solstice last weekend I chose a theme of "Sunshine" - any sunny, bright look that channels summer days! I originally thought I'd go for more of an orange hued look for today, but then I saw this shirt in my drawer and I was like, oh this is the one.  If there was every a sunnier feeling shirt, I wouldn't know!

Also today is one of those awesome days where the stars aligned and every item I'm wearing was either thrifted or gifted!  My wardrobe is more and more thrifted things these days, but it's still not often that every last thing I'm wearing is completely thrifted! Well ok, my Fitbit was clearly not thrifted, but it's also not all that fashionable, so we won't count that!

Shirt - Gap (thrifted), Skirt - Merona (garage sale)

Shoes - via Instagram shop, Bag - Stella and Dot (from friend)

Necklace - Mode (free from event) 

I just love how all of this came together today, it just might be my favorite Thrift Style Thursday look of late!  I might be biased because it was my theme though!  But seriously, the yellows and gold are just all playing so nice together.  I was even going to carry my favorite Stitch Fix bag (which wouldn't have been thrifted) to bring in some orange tones, but my favorite Stella and Dot bag tends to look either gold or silver and today it looks more gold and I think matches pretty well!

But someone else at our house decided to participate and wear some orange today, so I decided to take his picture too! #ToddlerStyle

And guess what?  His whole outfit is thrifted too.  This entire outfit came from Once Upon a Child, courtesy of Grandma.  He's still quite the ham when the camera comes out, he knows how to say "Cheese" now.  Love my cutie.

Both of my look and Ollie's look just make me smile and feel happy and that's what I think today's theme should be all about!  Be sure to check out the other thrifty ladies at their blogs listed below and also check out the Thrift Style Thursday Facebook page to see looks from some of our newer members too!

"Owl" about me

We made it to Friday everyone!!  This week wasn't too bad all things considered, I thought it might drag more after a short week last week from the holiday!

Today I'm finally wearing my favorite birthday gift, this adorable owl sweater from my parents.  It felt like a Friday kind of sweater, so I saved it for today.

 Sweater - Kohls, gift

Jeans - Old Navy

Boots - Target

Jewelry - S&D, Cookie Lee

I had been experiencing some writers block this week, I blame being wiped out from all the birthday celebrating, but thankfully today I have a couple of excuses to talk about myself.  I was gifted the Sunshine Award from the lovely Dawn of Suitcase Vignettes and so I'll answer a couple of the questions she gave.  And then the awesome Katie of Butterfly Loves Snapdragons gifted me the Versatile Blogger award and the rules for that are, share seven facts about yourself.  So today is "owl" about me.  (See what I did there? I'm silly.)

So here are seven things about me I don't think I've shared before.  Maybe you'll learn something new.

1. I realize LMFAO is so yesterday now and we've all moved on to Gangham Style, but I still have a weakness for Party Rock Anthem and it is probably my biggest guilty pleasure song.  Normally I'm an "indie girl" but I can't help but love some pop music.

2. I have a super hard time swallowing pills, so I take them with yogurt.

3. I'm not afraid of ghosts, zombies or pretty much any horror movie, but if I watch anything about alien invasion I have nightmares for days.  The scariest movie I've ever seen is Signs.  *shudder*

4. I think it's no secret I have a love of beer and wine and other "spirits", but I am always responsible and am proud to say I've only been physically ill from drinking once in my life.

5. I love to play cribbage with the Pants Monkey, but I rarely ever beat him.  When I do it's a big deal.  I did about a week ago and I even took a picture on Instagram to mark the occasion, that's how big of a deal it is!  He's crazy good.

6. I had a belly button ring once.  I had to let it close up after a very unfortunate injury that I won't go into details on.  Let's just say it may have involved a clothes hanger when I was moving once.

7. I love to color.  I find it super relaxing.  I always bring crayons and coloring books when I go on vacation.  It's something I've done since I was little kid.  And I even stay in the lines!

 Jewelry close up

And now I'll pick a couple of Dawn's questions to answer. 

1. What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?  It is SO hard to pick one, as there are many funny movies out there.  I think I would probably say anything that Christopher Guest has done, especially Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind.  They're just my kind of humor, I can't get enough of them.

2. What would be the hardest thing for you to give up? Coffee.  Hands down.  I don't drink that much even, but I would not be a pretty girl without my cup in the morning!!

3. What was your most embarrassing moment? Getting sick during a dress rehearsal for a church show when I was about 13 or 14.  I didn't quite make it all the way to the bathroom and I didn't live it down for quite some time after that!

4. When did you last laugh until you cried and what was so funny?  The Pants Monkey is joining a homebrew club and he was messaging the other guys on FB trying to come up with a name and there were some "naughty" acronyms he was coming up with.  Yeah, sometimes we're like 12 year olds, can't help it.

5. Do you wanna bring sexy back? I had to answer this just because it made me laugh - and why do I need to bring it back?  I thought I already did!  He he.

Whew.  Ok, that's enough for today.  That was fun though!  Huge thanks to Dawn and Katie, you are both too sweet.  The rules for both of course say you're supposed to tag other bloggers, but I'm taking the easy way out again and saying I love you all so you can all chose to play along with the questions I answered if you'd like!  Have a great weekend!!

Inspiration Monday - Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows

You guys.  I had the best weekend.  It was so awesome between seeing family and friends at Oktoberfest and also yesterday taking a day with my Pants Monkey to be lazy and recover.  It was just an awesome weekend. It's tough "coming down from the mountain" so to speak, so it helps that I have a couple of fun blog things today!  First up, it's Inspiration Monday with the beautiful Pippa Middleton.  Now I think Princess Kate is gorgeous, but I think her sister is even more beautiful if that's possible.

So here's my take on the outfit.  I don't have an awesome moto jacket, or even a bright colored dress, but I think my subdued approach works ok for this inspiration.  I was cold this morning too, so I also added tights.

Dress - VS, gift from P. Monkey

Tank under dress - Maurices

Jacket - Positive Attitude handed down from cousin

Necklace - DIY by me

Shoes - Etienne Aigner, thrifted

My other fun blog thing today is the wonderful Vivienne of Thrifted Shift has gifted me a Sunshine award - given to bloggers who give you joy.  How very sweet of you Vivienne!  You give me joy as well!  As usual with these fun blog tags, we are given questions to answer to learn more about each other and I can't resist a good set of questions!  So I will answer those for the rest of this post!

1. How often do you get new items and get rid of old ones?  I would say I go out to the thrift/consignment shops a couple of times a month to get things that are "new to me".  As far as brand new, maybe once a month.  My rule is when one thing comes in the door something else has to go out, so I'm turning things over pretty frequently in my closet.
2. Do you wear shoes that hurt?  Ha!  I did have a pair my cousin handed down to me that I absolutely loved, they were so adorable - but they hurt like a son of a you know what.  I gave up, it just wasn't worth it.  More often I tend to wear shoes that are tad too big for me and I slide around all day long!
3. What are your shopping rules?  Rules are for wimps.  No, I'm kidding.  My rule is pretty much it has to be a versatile piece that will work with multiple items in my closet.  If I don't think I'm going to wear it more than once then it feels like it's not worth bringing it home with me. That's about it though.  I try hard to stick to a budget too.
4. Do you keep clothes that don't fit for sentimental value? I used to do that - I had kept the outfit I was wearing when the Pants Monkey and I got engaged for way too long - it wasn't even a fancy outfit, a sweatshirt and jeans, but I had a hard time giving up the sweatshirt even though it had shrank and was no longer comfortable.  I finally did give it up a couple of years ago.
5. Name three things that you think will be obsolete in ten years.  Wow this is a very interesting thought, but having grown up in the dawn of the digital age, I've already seen things go by the wayside (CD's, cassettes, heck even records).  I think sadly newspapers and print media are a dying breed and that does make me sad because my dad works in the printing industry.  I think the telephone "land line" will probably be obsolete soon.  And I hope in ten years we're closer to making things like cancer or AIDS obsolete.
6. Would you rather be rich or famous? Um, neither.  I guess if I had to pick I'd say famous and just not use my fame for the wrong reasons.  I would want to help those in need.
7. What's your favorite way to celebrate?  Out a nice restaurant with my Pants Monkey, good food and a good glass of wine or beer in hand!
8. What are you thankful for today?  My amazing weekend, our wonderful friends and family who came out to support our homebrew hobby and drink our beer at Oktoberfest.  And this blogging community and all the wonderful friends I've made here!
9. What can you always be found with? I'm pretty much attached at the hip with my iPhone.
10. So you win a pet monkey at a fair, but this isn't just any old monkey.  It can do one trick for you whenever you want...from getting a beverage out of the fridge to washing your hair.  What would be the trick?  Make me coffee first thing in the morning and bring it to me in bed!!

Whew!  Those questions certainly made me think!  Love it!  And I'd like to tag some bloggers who regularly bring me joy as well!  

Maca from The Spanglish Life

Ally at Shybiker

Megan of Megan Mae Daily

Lynne from Practical Paralegalism

Lori from A Little Slice of Special

Sheila from Ephemera

Megan at the Fashionable Burearucrat

Sylvia from Sylvia Loves Pink

Katie at Butterfly Loves Snapdragons

Amanda from Salvaged Strawberry

Heather and Kayla from H&K Style Journey

Krysten at Why Girls are Weird

I'd like to note that there are several others on Vivienne's list who also bring me joy (looking at you Two Birds, Kezzie, Feathers and Freckles) but I didn't want to double tag! And really, all of you who take the time to stop by and say hello make me smile too - so feel free to play along even if I didn't tag you.  We could be here all day if I tagged everyone!

And my questions for you all are:

1. You are stranded on a deserted island with only five songs on your iPod - what five songs are you going to listen to on repeat?

2. Have you heard of that show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate?"  What would you say if you were on that show?

3. Where is your favorite place to shop for shoes?

4. Is there a fictional character (say on television) whose style you admire?

5. Would you rather be a pirate or a ninja?

6. Have you jumped on board with the Kindle/Nook craze or do you still like a book in your hands?  Or maybe you do both?

7. What is your favorite magazine, if you have one?

8. Do you wear sunscreen every day like they recommend we all should?

9. What is the worst movie you've ever seen?

10. Do you have a favorite type of cookie?  What is it?  Will you bake me some?

Phew.  I think that is enough for today!!  Please make sure to head over to two birds to check out the other Inspiration Monday outfits!  And have a great Monday!!