skirts in the wind

Tank Top (remixed): Ruche, Skirt: LOFT

I've learned that I have a special superpower. It's kind of like a unique sense, a subconscious propulsion, to wear pleated skirts on windy days. It's true. I wanna say this is a gift bestowed upon many unfortunate gals, which makes me feel a little better because it's not really a superpower. It's a curse. It causes a lot of problems and gives strangers an intimate one on one with my biznass. 

It'd be a lot more helpful if I had the innate ability to never forget anything before I leave the house, or to be able to produce strong, hot coffee straight from my mind and into my coffee cup.

Although really, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this skirt sitch may be, could be, a little bit my fault. It's vaguely possible that I bring the skirt disasters upon myself, because I wear dresses and skirts pretty much every day. So of course some of those days are going to be windy, right? In fact, my dad loves gadgets and recently installed a weather instrument device, so there's literally a bright screen right next to the sink that I apparently ignore every day even when it might say "20 mph winds WEAR PANTS".

I think we often find ourselves in these types of debacles. It's really easy to say, why does this keep happening to me even if the answer may be within ourselves instead of resting on the shoulders of the world. Sometimes the responsibility does rest with me. Sometimes my environment isn't to blame, and I find myself without excuse. There are times when I can no longer blame my family, my past, my upbringing, my society, the government....uh oh. This almost got political. Let's move on.

It's a good day to be held accountable, I think. To laugh at the faces of the shocked passersby as they catch sight of my knickers, and to know that my particular choices that morning led to such a humorous encounter. It does no good to shout at the wind, or to cry about how unfair the weather is. It's much more effective to dress appropriately for the day. To learn from the skirts in the wind.

mixing florals

I absolutely love mixing prints, and florals are one of the best prints for mixing and matching. They go perfectly with polka dots and stripes, and sometimes even with other florals. Mixing patterns can be incredibly intimidating for some people, but once you get the hang of it you find the rules that work for you and your style and can mix it up like a pro.

Ruche's print-mixing feature Spring Floral Edit premiered this morning, and it's one of my favorites so far. I love the polka dot top layered over golden floral print. That green daisy print top with the black and white stripes is also fantastic. I just had to share. 

In addition, Ruche is having a Style Steal sale for today and tomorrow only, with many of my Novel Dress feature dresses included in the sale for 50% off! See if you can find the dresses for Wizard of Oz, A Wrinkle in Time, The Lies of Locke Lamora (which I love and am currently wearing), and Anne of Green Gables. My Valentine's Day dress is also included in the sale. 

Happy Friday Eve, friends. The weekend is swiftly approaching!

just call me whimsy

Dress: Zulily, Top: J. Crew, Necklace (similar): Ruche,
Booties: Urbanog, Tights: Target

Here's a very true fact about me.

I was a little bit boy crazy. Gasp, I know, it's true, it happened. 

I had many real-life crushes but, even worse, my walls were covered in magazine clippings and home-computer print-outs and life-size posters of Orlando Bloom, Tom Welling, Elijah Wood, etc...my adolescence was obviously smack dab in the middle of Lord of the Rings and Smallville mania. 

It was a good time, my friends.

I was young and foolish I suppose, but you know what else? I was still young and foolish when I got married. Maybe I still am. Is there such a thing as being young and foolish until you're old and grey? 

I feel like I can say I'm not young and foolish anymore...but I also feel like that's something a young and foolish person would say. 

I'm getting off track I think. The point of this whole conversation is that I kind of got to skip the whole dating scene. I was the typical boy crazy adolescent, but my husband and I started dating in high school in the midst of all that, and have been together ever since.

No awkward bar conversations, no flirting with strangers at the baseball game. No awkward pick-up lines. Part of it makes me feel a little excluded, because I don't have any funny awkward stories (about that, at least). 

I did have a guy drop a sugar packet once and tell me that I dropped my name tag. But it was when I was 13, maybe 14, and it was at a Christian summer camp. Haha. Look out!

Until Monday, I had pretty much avoided all of those cringe-worthy encounters. I didn't know what being hit on would even be like.
I would just wave it off naively, like, oh, he was just being friendly! 

So here it goes: I work in a library, and there's a guy that I've seen several times due to his exceeding number of interlibrary loan requests. He's a nice-looking guy, maybe a year or two older than I am.
He's had some problems with his account lately, and after I helped him out again on Monday, I was starting to walk away when he quickly says,

"You're looking whimsical today, by the way." Wink. 

I'm not gonna lie, I did love my crazy print-mixing ensemble and being called whimsical is the best kind of compliment for me, truly. Right next to you could be in an Anthro catalogue and I feel like Jess from New Girl would wear that. But then he winked and made it weird.

Why are winks so creepy? Why?
I love winking. I think it's adorable, it's sweet. But to a stranger? There is nothing in the world that's creepier than being winked at by some crazy nomad, some wandering half-blinking soul.

You know when it's not creepy? When it's a secret, a wordless exchange between two people who know and love each other:
Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale, winking at his lady.
Geoffrey Rush in The Book Thief when he's winking at Liesel, his adopted daughter.

Winks should be reserved for those who don't need words, because their hearts are already entwined.

Don't be a creep. Don't wink at strangers. 

print mixing and baby soft suede

I've found myself on my own a few times in the last few weeks, picture-taking wise.
I would never claim to be an expert, and am still quite unashamedly gobbling up every "self-portrait tutorial" tips I see on other fashion blogs.
Whenever I have to take my own pictures, when my dutiful husband is studying late or has some other commitment, I wander over to these treets to the side of our apartment complex. They're below our parking lot on a hill, and besides a passing car or two, no one is ever around.
I'm still pretty awkward-feeling when it comes to setting up my tripod and posing. I have an idea of how I want something to look like, but I find myself wandering into the same poses, unsure and startled any time I hear a noise.
On this particular venture I stepped up onto a log and the camera kept snapping as the log shifted and I nearly fell over.
I think it's definitely time I invested in a remote -- and hopefully soon, an even better lense.

I loved the way this dress and skirt went together. For you pattern-shy people, this might be like an explosion of pastel that totally repels you.
I think some print mixing can be a quite healthy endeavor. There are a few key tricks, and this outfit demonstrates one I haven't used very often. Pair a tight pattern with a more open one - in this case, the color schemes are pretty much identical, so they complement each other quite nicely.
If the dress was a tight bird print, it wouldn't work as well. Since the prints are different concentrations, I give it my stamp of approval. (Again, I'm much more liberal in patterns than most.) What do you think?

Dress (remixed)/Skirt (remixed): Ruche

On Tuesday I finally pulled out a heart sweater I got on super sale at Old Navy last year.

I almost forgot about it -- I bought it in the warmer months, so I knew I wouldn't be wearing it until it started getting cold again. I found it while I was rummaging through the things at the top of my closet, and was so excited!

It ended up being a part of a very colorful, playful ensemble. I wanted to remix this polka dot dress, and this sweater was the perfect solution. I kind of loved it. 

Dress (remixed)/Boots (remixed)(shop 1, 2) : Ruche, Sweater: Old Navy 

I've talked before about how much I love these boots, but now I almost just want to put them on a pedestal and stare at them instead of wear them because they're the soft suede that is so easily scuffed.
It's a part of boot-wearing life, so I need to just let them live out their life without fear. But I want them to live a very very long time.
Or maybe I'll just buy like 3 back-up pairs.
On that note, Ruche is almost sold out, but I found them a bit cheaper on Urbanog, if you're interested (in buying me back-up pairs)!

the time and place

Happy Friday!!

Head on over to Ruche's Blog this afternoon for a fun Frocktober feature!

Two of my outfits from last week are featured, as well as some other lovely ensembles from other adorable bloggers out there!

Also, this dress from Ruche is now on sale for $14.50. Kind of amazing. There are only a couple left, so polka-dot it up!

I'm thrilled it's the weekend.

A bunch of us are playing volleyball tonight (clinging to summer, obviously) and this weekend the hubs and I are heading to Richmond to see my favorite band, Needtobreathe, in concert.

I won a contest for free tickets, a meet & greet with the band, and some signed merchandise - so even though this entire entry isn't in all caps like I secretly want it to be, I'm about to jump out of my skin with excitement. 

Frocktober has been happening happily - I love dresses, and I'm somewhat embarrassed to say I've pretty much only invested in dresses for a long time now. They're my favorite thing to wear. It doesn't matter the temperature or the event or the time of day, I'm all about frocks. 

This is my Frocktober, day 9:

There's something about putting stripes and florals together that just speaks to me.

I think I was born to pattern mix - I think if you went back to my earliest journals, I was throwing stripes, polka dots, flowers...all in the same composition. 

I think there's a time and place for the truly classic - a black dress with sparkly jewelry, a standard button-up and pencil skirt. I'm just hardly ever in those times and places. 

Dress: Zulily, Sweater (similar, similar): Forever21, Jewelry (similar, similar): Ruche

that new book smell

There's something about a bookstore that is refreshing and inspiring and makes me feel ancient. 

I can remember countless hours spent in our local Barnes and Noble, snatching up bakery goods with mom, coveting the fancy leather journals and waltzing around the kid's aisle. Feeling too shy to play with the toys, but really wanting to. Buying expensive bookmarks for friends. Collecting calendars. Wishing I could afford hardcovers. That momentous occasion when I finally began looking toward the young adult section, rather than the children's. 

How is it that the upcoming generation spends little to no time in bookstores, perusing the young adult fiction section for their next great adventure?

I wonder if there's any truth to the idea that books will be entirely electronic eventually.

There's a person somewhere inside me that clenches her teeth, pushes up her horn-rimmed glasses and cocks her hip while shouting emphatically "Never!"

But on the other hand, there's no use denying that the number of books, journals and articles available electronically is steadily on the rise.

Kindles have converted even the strictest (and horn-rimmed glassiest) of folks. 

Having said that, I'm confident I'll be long gone by the time the smell of new books ceases to move people. 

Skirt/Shoes: Zulily, Sweater: Gifted, Top: Ruche (similar)

On a completely separate note, what's the general consensus out there about Gwyneth Paltrow?

All sources point to her being snobby, pretentious and occasionally difficult to work with...

And yet I still see her and think she's completely fantastic. 

(The best thing about admiring celebrities - you can pretty much make up whatever you want about them, because you'll never know them in real life.)

So Gwyn: love her, or unlove her?