let's trade boots for sandals

cardigan and tee- forever 21, skirt- thrifted, boots- UrbanOg

Unfortunately, it is quite rainy here, which means that I am still wearing boots some days.  All I want is for it to be sunny so that my feet can breathe in some open sandals and I can only wear a dress and be perfectly fine.  I really want it to be nice for Tuesday, which is Spring Fling!  Spring Fling is our annual outdoor concert and this year the lineup features Third Eye Blind, Designer Drugs, Big Gigantic, and Lupe Fiasco.  Half of those people I have never heard of, but I think Third Eye Blind should be all right and I'm excited for Lupe because I actually know his music.  Cross your fingers for me that it's sunny!

These boots are one of the few shoes that I own that aren't black (shocking, I know!).  Casee and I have been talking about how we want to incorporate more color into our wardrobes and I think I definitely embraced color with the first Bloggers Do It Better Challenge!  I think I really need to take a pledge to add more color to my wardrobe, so here goes: I hereby pledge that at least 90% of the clothes/shoes I purchase over the next month will not be black (see how I cut myself a little slack there? ;)

Tell me: Is anybody else addicted to black?  Also, if you celebrate, what did you do for Easter?

spring shopping begins

As I mentioned yesterday, I've already started shopping for spring styles online and in stores, so I thought I would share with you what I have bought so far!

Forever 21:

$11.50

I included this romper in my spring picks in this post and I talked about how it's taken me a little while to jump onto the romper bandwagon.  However, I think with the right fit and color/pattern, they can look super stylish, so I picked up this one!  The price is hard to beat and I love the combination of gray and yellow, especially considering that my closet is lacking a lot of yellow pieces.

$22.80

You can't quite tell in this picture, but all of these little dots are stars.  You guys know how much I regretted not buying the last star-print dress that I saw on the Forever 21 website, so I made up for that by buying this one!  I mean, how perfect is this dress for me, seriously?!  It has stars and a pretty classic silhouette- both qualities are more than enough to convince me!

$14.80

This is another item that I spotted online, but I hadn't seen in stores until I visited my local Forever 21 back home.  I thought this print was just too adorable to pass up!

$9.80

So I am finally ready to try the maxi trend.  I have seen many petite girls rocking them and there was a good article by Rachel Zoe in Glamour about how to wear the trend, so I'm excited!  I think this neutral one is a good place to start.

$13.99

Even though the weather was quite warm when I bought this, I couldn't leave behind this sweater on sale.  I love the creamy color and cable knit, it has the perfect slouchy/relaxed fit, and it's so soft!

Goodwill:

$3.95

I couldn't resist sharing this skirt again because I love it so much!  The color is perfect and the way it flows is dreamy.  Chelsea wrote a great post about transitioning pieces between the seasons and I can't wait to wear this skirt and try her tip of wearing longer skirts in bright spring colors!

 Target:

Dolce Vita for Target Rope Wedge Sandals

Xhilaration Tawny Wedge Sandals
*last two images from Target.com

Last week, I got an email form Target that said that they were having a 'Buy One- Get One 50%' sale on shoes and purses, so I knew I had to take advantage of the sale!  I've seen wedges popping up everywhere and I've been obsessing over finding some new spring wedges, so I decided to purchase these two pairs.  With the discount and free shipping, my total cost ended up being around $42 which I thought was pretty awesome!  I think the first pair will be super versatile and once again I'm trying to branch out from only buying black shoes.  However, I couldn't resist grabbing the Tawny Wedges, which I've loved ever since I saw them on Kenzie!

Tell me: What trends are you excited to try this spring?

animal kingdom

For today's post, I teamed up with Anna from Visions of Memories to create an animal-print themed look.  We both chose something with animal print from our closets and made an outfit.  I thought it would be a great time to show off this leopard-print sweater that I thrifted from Saver's.

black sweater and belt- forever 21, leopard sweater-
thrifted (Saver's), jeggings- Plato's Closet, boots- GoJane

This sweater used to be a little bit longer and before I could wear it with leggings, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure it shrunk in the dryer.  I definitely wanted to wear it belted, but it looked dumb belted on its own, so I threw the black sweater on top.  The neckline is a little high and it also has these side slits that I don't love, so if I ever get around to it I might try to alter it.  Regardless, I love the print and it was a steal at under $5!

I've been furiously knitting the past few days, working on one of my projects for Pay it Forward 2011 and tomorrow I'm off to Joann's to get some supplies.  I also picked up some lovely pearly pink yarn that I'm eventually going to use to make a cardigan for myself.  I'm so excited about the stuff I'm knitting right now, which is the way it has to be otherwise I'll never complete the project!  So I'm hoping to spend the weekend being crafty and finishing up the project I'm currently working on so that I can send it out early next week.  What will you guys be up to this weekend?  Happy Friday :D

Oh, and don't forget to check out Visions of Memories later today to see her outfit!

just one of those days

Today has just been one of those days... more about that later, let's do the outfit first.  I styled up this outfit in accordance with the challenge on Diya's blog- the item was boyfriend blazer.  Also making their first appearance here, please welcome my new boots!

blazer- american eagle, tee- forever 21, skirt (thfrited)
and tights- Savers, boots- Wanted

they're so comfortable, you don't even know!

Now onto my day: WARNING- stop reading here if you don't want to hear my complaints about a crappy day.  I couldn't sleep last night, which means it was impossible for me to wake up in time for my earliest class, so I missed it.  I went to my next two classes, which were fine, then came back to take outfit pictures for today.  So far it was a fine day, not great, but fine.  Then, I remember I have to call this company and yell at them for not shipping my order.  Remember how I said I was getting a new camery toy?  Well I ordered a tripod off Amazon, thanks to Ashley's recommendation and it was supposed to arrive last week.  I received a shipping confirmation email and everything, so when it hadn't arrived by Monday, I decided to call the company and find out what was going on.  It turns out that not only had my item not shipped (and they'd billed me already and everything?!), but the tripod was out of stock and wouldn't be in stock until the end of February.  So after spending nearly an hour on the phone with them trying to figure out my best options, since they'd pretty much shafted me, I finally get them to give me a refund and order a different, but similar tripod from Amazon directly.  Hopefully I have no more problems on that front.

Meanwhile, as I'm fighting with the customer service representative on the phone, I'm trying to check my email on my computer because I think it is strange that I haven't received a single email all day.  It turns out that my school identity number/password or my computer was compromised and is jeopardizing my school's network.  This means that my account is completely locked and I'm freaking out because I don't know what the implications of this situation are.  I'm wondering, "How was it compromised?  How am I going to access my email?  What if my machine was compromised, do I have to get a new computer?"  I call the Technical Services help desk and thankfully, after some manuevering they are able to help me unlock my account.  Unfortunately, the guy says he doesn't really know the root of the problem, meaning that my account may lock up again, and tells me that I need to take my computer to the student techs.  So, now I have to back up all my files and then run some scans and hope that everything resolves itself.  Of course, due to all the frustration and the stress, I had a massive headache all evening...

So, that's the sitch.  If you've read all the way to this point, thank you for listening to me ramble and I'll promise to be in a more positive mood next post- I'm already feeling better as I type this out :)

early valentine's day

Is it just me or did they start advertising for Valentine's Day really early this year?  Well, I guess the subliminal messaging worked because I wore this outfit recently:

dress- thrifted from saver's, tights and flats- forever 21

cardigan- forever 21

apologies for the bad lighting, I'm really trying to work on it!

I wore it to a white wine tasting, which was a lot of fun!  We tasted different types of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Grigio-- I think Riesling is my favorite because it is so deliciously sweet.  Even though we are technically only allowed to go to one, I'm trying to see if I can attend the red wine tasting because the white wine tasting was so informative and fun!  Which do you prefer, red wine or white wine?

Also, I would like give a big thank you to Anna and Ribka for both giving me the Stylish Blogger Award this week!

In order to accept this award, I'm supposed to share seven things about me-- however, I am really bad at sharing in this sense, so I thought maybe you guys could ask me questions (in the comments) and I will pick seven of them and answer in the next post.  How does that sound?

I'm also supposed to pass it on to seven bloggers I've recently discovered, so here we go!

1. Gem from Gembear

2. Kaleido Mind

3. Amber from Amber Blue Bird

4. Cheap Frills

5. Kristin from Doll Parade

6. The Merry Traveller

7. Kirstin from Crimson Rosella

goodwill goodies

Went to my local Goodwill the other day and they were having an awesome sale- 50% off your entire purchase! Of course, I didn't know this while I was shopping, so I was pleasantly surprised at the register when my total went from $18ish to under $10 bucks! Here's some of the stuff I bought:

$2

First item I snatched up.  The base color is yellow (a color that I never ever wear!), but I couldn't pass it up because it reminded me of funfetti.  Mmmm, delish!

$1

Lovely brown braided belt- yes please! (woot for alliteration! haha, yes, I'm a nerd, I know)

$2.25

Reminded me of the dress that I wore in this post.  I just really loved its classic shape.

$1

Matches my new booties :)

$2.25

Three reasons why I love this sweater: 1. Beautiful redish/purplish color, 2. Really thick knit- very heavy and very warm, 3. Will probably be wearing this when I head to the airport tomorrow to fly back to the East Coast and since I was dumb and left my coat at school, this baby will be one of my layers of protection against the biting cold that awaits me.

$1

Based on this recent shopping trip, this might be the year-of-the-belts for me.  I mean, I know it's too early to tell, but half of this purchase was belts, so that must mean something!  This one is my favorite though because it is oh so buttery soft, leading me to believe it's made of real leather.  Plus, it has Longchamp stamped on it- I have to admit, that's a little bit exciting!

What do you think? Have you had any great thrifting finds lately? Also, stay tuned later today for a post about an exciting project that I've joined and that you can participate in too!

thrift store finds

Due to the crappy weather, I haven't really had a chance to take some new outfit pictures, so I'm going to be posting a few old outfits over the next few days.  These are a couple of outfits I wore incorporating purchases from my most recent trip to the thrift store.

skirt, sweater- thrifted from Savers, belt- Forever 21, boots- Urban Original

This skirt hit me at a really awkward length for some reason, so I just hiked it and pinned it in the back so that I could wear it higher up on my waist.  Also, this sweater is so cozy and was less than $4!  Savers has definitely been my favorite place to stock up on sweaters this winter. 

cardigan- thrifted from Savers, tee and pants- forever 21, flats- Target

Recognize those pants from yesterday?  Well I love the combination of this dark brown and the burgundy pants.  A few years ago, I never would have worn colored pants and now these have become one of my favorite pair of pants!  My next colored pants purchase will either be a green or a dark purple!  Since I've been home, I haven't yet had a chance to go thrifting, but I'll probably check out the local Goodwill and Salvo sometime after Christmas.

I'm going to see Black Swan tonight- I'm so excited!  It has been so long since I saw a movie in theaters and I've heard such good things about this one.  Also, one of the theaters in town has started doing this deal called 'Value Tuesdays' where movies are $5 all day on Tuesdays!  I definitely wanted to take advantage of the discount since movies have become so expensive these days!  What movies have you guys watched recently?

good girl

I love this dress I found at Savers- I think the fit is very flattering plus it's black, so it will go with everything!  I think this is a very 'sweet' outfit, so I wore it to go to lunch with my mom and my godmother.

cardigan, tights, necklace- forever 21, dress- thrifted (Savers), shoes- Target

*All photos taken by my sister Nikki!

For some reason, I'm having trouble getting my Christmas gifts together this year.  I can't figure out what I want to get everyone and the funds are really limited this year.  I'm definitely making some of my gifts, but I am planning to buy some and I want them to be special, of course.  I'm going to go to the store in a bit and hopefully I'll come across something that I just love!  Also, I really wanted to give gifts to my friends back at school (something cute and creative), but I was just too busy with finals and didn't get a chance.  Hopefully next year, I'll get my act together and start all that way in advance!  Also, I'm thinking that by next year, I'll probably have to have a 'Christmas Card List' because maybe I won't be living close enough to just hand-deliver all of my cards.  That feels like such an adult thing to have, a 'Christmas Card List'!  Do any of you guys have one?  Also, one year I'd really like to try and make my cards by hand!  Aaah, too much future talk- Christmas hasn't even come yet this year and I'm getting ahead of myself!

Also, I just cannot get enough of this song- I've been listening to it on repeat for days! What do you think?



Thanks to all those who have entered my giveaway and you can still do so here if you haven't already! =)

time for combat

I love my new boots!  They are so comfortable and work with so many outfits.  The best part is that they were less than $25, including s + h!!  Here are just two ways that I've worn them so far:

sweater- thrifted, zipper tube dress (underneath) and
]earrings- forever 21, lace-up boots- GoJane

cardigan and leggings- forever 21, leopard tank-
H&M, lace-up boots- GoJane

Another post soon- I need help choosing my next knitting project!