tgif {frocktober, day 8 and 9}

Outfit 1: Dress (remixed): gifted

Outfit 2: Top: zulily, Dress: borrowed, 

Leggings (remixed 1, 2): Pink Blush Maternity

This weekend has already been speeding by. Any time we spend working on the house seems to eat away at our days. A full day seems less effective somehow. So many projects, so many minutes slipping away. It's hard to feel like real progress is being made until you take a peek at those "before" photos and realize how incredible the difference is already!

Yesterday we finished the wood floors (!!!!!) downstairs; the only room that still needs them is the front office, which will remain closed off for a while until after we move in. No rush to get that room finished. I'll confess, I took a little break from working on the house to have a little girls lunch to celebrate the return of Reign. Season 3 premiered this week, so we had a themed lunch with Scottish Potato Leek Soup, French Bread, Madame Macarons, and Nostradamus' Brew. It was a blast.

The last two outfits of this past week were for basic comfy layering. As you can tell, I've been on a stripes kick. I don't think I've ever worn stripes with stripes before, but I really wanted to wear this cozy striped maternity top my mom got me for my birthday. I love the orange sleeves. I didn't want to wait until after Frocktober to wear it, so I needed to dressify it somehow. It's so long that it might almost be considered leggings-appropriate, but not quite. I used one of my borrowed bodycon dresses to add length and continue the stripes all the way down.

Now, I'm getting ready to don a big t shirt and workout shorts to go work on the house some more. I'll be dressing up this evening for a little belated birthday gathering with friends. Have a beautiful Sunday, friends.

symbols {frocktober, day 1}

Harry Potter dress (remixed 1, 2, 3): sold out/Harry Potter Shop
Boots: Urbanog, Belt: Forever 21

Yesterday dawned as the glorious first day of Frocktober. I love this challenge. I hope it continues to grow every year. This year is especially bizarre, since it's a maternity Frocktober for me, but the spirit remains and I love seeing other women participate and be encouraged and inspired by this fun challenge. It means different things for different people, but I hope it always provides an outlet for creativity and intentional living.

This is pattern mixing at its simplest and best. I love pairing a black and white pattern with something bright, like these pink and gold stripes. Because it was the first day of October, I wore boots in protest of the 106 degree weather. I also celebrated by wearing my Harry Potter symbols dress, because October, among other things, makes me think of Hogwarts and magic and pumpkin-filled feasts that I long to attend.

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.

remix: horse print

Original posts left to right: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

This silky horse print top was my first purchase from Modcloth. It was on sale for like $8, and I decided to take the plunge and buy it (along with this necklace and this dress). It was one of my first online purchases, before I became quite addicted to online shopping while living in Virginia.

I'm actually surprised how much I ended up liking this shirt. It's very silky, so I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first. I almost always end up wearing it tucked in to a skirt or underneath a dress. It layers really nicely. I think it's the print itself that I like the most. I'm such a sucker for animal prints, but this one is neutral enough to wear it often without too much repetition.

(See all of my remix posts).

too many stories {frocktober, day 1}

Dress: Modcloth (remixed 1 // 2)

Frocktober has begun! 

I wanted to start out this brand new Frocktober with a dress that I've already blogged before. This is a new remix for this galaxy-print dress. It's one of my favorites! It's probably the softest, most comfortable dress I own. I've worn it plain, with tights and boots, and I've also worn it with a striped sweater on top. This outfit showcases a third way to wear it, tucked into a neutral skirt and swept into a cardigan. 

This dress has a very bold, unique print but that doesn't mean it's impossible to wear! I think sometimes those fun "statement pieces" we buy end up sitting in our closet for years without much wear. Get creative and find ways to incorporate those pieces into your wardrobe more regularly. See what you can come up with!

Speaking of galaxy, this dress always reminds me of some of my favorite space stories -- Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica (don't look at me like that), Guardians of the Galaxy. 

One of my favorite things about Fall is the arrival of new TV shows. I love watching TV and keeping up with characters and stories. The problem is, it's almost impossible to actually stay caught up. My husband and I have an enormous pile of TV shows that we're either in the middle of, just starting, or hoping to start. It's quite overwhelming. I obviously don't want to spend my entire life bogged down with TV, but it is something we enjoy doing together.

How do you decide which shows to really commit to, and which ones to let fall by the wayside? 

We have started/are in the middle of/are currently watching: 

Community, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, New Girl, The Mindy Project, A to Z, Reign, The Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, Will and Grace, Playing House, Bones, House of Cards, Parenthood.

Now that I've typed all of that out, I'm feeling pretty disturbed. That doesn't even count our wishlist of shows, which includes shows like Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, Chuck, Fringe, Scandal, Freaks and Geeks, Suits, and Alias.

Before you start sending me all of those "technology-is-evil" videos about looking up and living life and throwing our TV out the window, we don't actually spend all of our time watching TV. We actually haven't watched any TV at all this entire week, which is really the problem. We started watching Gotham and are already 2 episodes behind. We've been trying to finish Will and Grace for almost 4 years. There are a lot of shows we want to watch, but I think the real skill comes with knowing when to say, this is never going to happen. We need to try to be wise and figure out the shows that are actually our priority. We've gotta cut some of these loose, especially the ones that require weekly viewing. They'll either be phenomenal and we'll watch them leisurely online in 10 years, or they'll end up crappy and we'll be glad we didn't waste our time (ahem, looking at you, himym). 

How do you choose which shows to watch? What're your current faves?

Also, there's a cat in this picture. Sneaky.

the ugly button-up

This week has been rather record-breaking when it comes to skies-that-make-me-love-arizona. 

Big, never-ending, whimsical expanses of blue and puffy white. Several times this week I've had to pull over on my way home from work just to take a second and look at the sky, wide-eyed, without crashing the car. 

I'm sure the sky here has always been this humongous. I think I just treasure it a little more, it catches my attention a lot easier. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz. 

It's definitely a main reason why I love Arizona, and specifically this hometown of mine. I don't think I'm meant for city life. I just love the sky too much. I love the space, the land, the desert wildlife. They're all my peeps. 

In other news, this entire outfit is from another batch of shopaholic gifting. 

We went up to her apartment this week for a night of fun-hopping. We went and saw What If with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, which was positively delightful, by the way. It's going on the rotation for sure. We then went out for sushi. But before all that, we were at the apartment, and she dives in to her room for a sec and emerges with a large pile of clothes for me. Including a dress she bought on her birthday weekend in May. I was there. 

I'm not kidding when I say this entire outfit, either. Shoes, skirt, blouse, sweater. 

When I pulled this denim top out of the pile, I wrinkled my nose a tad. The shirt is sleeveless, and it's so long I almost mistook it for a dress. I hopped up and put it on over my shirt, which revealed that the hem hits me right below my bum, and showcases quite an extensive amount of my underarm area. The armholes are excessive. 

My shopaholic friend burst out laughing. "Oh man, I don't know. I'm not sure what I was thinking with that one!"

I don't know what that means to you, but to me it was like, challenge accepted. I knew right then that I had to try and wear it and make it work. It'd an odd little reject of a shirt, but the patterned denim is really cute, and I can already imagine the sweaters I can layer over it in the winter with the collar peeking out. 

I feel like maybe there's a life lesson in here somewhere. People and things can always surprise you, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, keep your mind open to potential, shoot for the moon, etc. I think it's really a gift to see things for what they could be. Like a rundown shack turned dream home. Live your life like the Property Brothers. 

Besides, no one has to know that if I yanked my skirt down in this outfit I'd be ready for a hoe-down version of a Risky Business dance number. 

Have to save that for a rainy day.

remix: floral and stripes

original posts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

One of my top favorite outfit combos. Floral and stripes. I think it's irresistible, I constantly find myself drawn to the two patterns in stores and catalogs and fashion blogs.
Black and white stripes are the chic lady's neutral. Think Kate Spade.
Luckily for me, I just came across a whole new host of floral patterns to add to my wardrobe (the shopaholic has struck again). This will be a busy week at work, so I'm excited to have some fun with my office attire.

PS: listening like crazy to Ingrid Michaelson's CD Lights Out. I'm loving all of the duets! Have you listened to it? It's a great soundtrack to chase away the Monday blues.

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)!