Double stripes

I wore this on Saturday when Josh and I took a trip to the Body Worlds exhibit at OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). At $25 each it was a pricey trip, but honestly well worth it. I wrote a huge paragraph about it, but decided in the end to leave it out of this post because it may have gone into too much detail for those of you who are squeamish :) But I will say this: I left the exhibit feeling like I had gained a wonderful understanding of how the human body works. The exhibit is only open through March 4th at OMSI, but if you happen to run across it somewhere else I highly recommend a visit!

This outfit is nearly identical to one I wore back in September, except I swapped bare legs and wedges for tights and boots. It was a fun outfit to wear to a museum that was packed full of kids - it felt very appropriately enthusiastic and whimsical.

Striped shirt: H&M

Black faux leather jacket: Forever 21, from Jen Loves Kev's closet sale

Color blocked skirt: Forever 21, from Crossroads Trading Co.

Black suede boots: Urban Outfitters

Blue hat: H&M

Giraffe pin: had since I was a kid

Gold watch: free from someone in my family

Gold bracelets: In Pink

Black tights: Forever 21

Retro

I felt a bit retro in this outfit - even though the style of the clothes are modern, the high-waist flare pants and billowy blouse remind me of the 70's. This color combination felt a bit unusual to me. It's not one I would have been immediately drawn to, but after a lot of experimentation it's what I ended up with.

My bangs are officially out of control, people. I decided to grow them out and so lately I've just been sweeping them to the side instead of letting them hang straight, but now I think I've reached the point where I just need to pin them back. The last time I tried to grow out my bangs was like five years ago, so I forgot how annoying it is!

Gray blouse: Anthropologie

Red corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Brown boots: TJ Maxx

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Gray bracelet and hex nut bracelet: self-made

And just because, here is an insanely cute photo of Onyx snoozing on the couch...

Black and white

This lovely vintage dress was a gift from one of my aunts two Christmases ago. People in my family have an uncanny ability to pick out clothes for me that I madly love. (Like this jacket, this dress, and these hats.) This dress is really quite stunning in person - the skirt is completely perforated, so I had to wear a black slip under it. I'd love to wear it sometime with a bright chemise underneath, like hot pink.

I suppose I could pretend that my deathly-pale lips in these photos are intentional (nude lips are a thing, right?), but they're not. That's just my natural lip color. I've always been envious of women who can wear lipstick with ease; when I put it on, I almost always feel like a clown. Back in high school I used to experiment all the time with different bright eyeshadows and lipsticks, but now I don't own any eyeshadow, and the only makeup I use on a regular basis is mascara and hypoallergenic mineral powder. I'm a maximalist when it comes to my clothes, but a minimalist when it comes to my makeup.

I rediscovered this Hershey kiss bracelet in an old dresser of mine at my parents' house last weekend! I got it on a family vacation in high school when we stopped at the Hershey factory in California. I wore it so it was right-side up when I looked at it, and didn't realize until I looked at this photo that it was upside-down to everyone else! (Yep, blond moment. I'm allowed to say that because I'm actually a blond.)

Black and white dress: vintage, gift from my aunt

Black turtleneck: Old Navy

Brown coat: Marks and Spencer

Black and tan wedges: Asos, gift from my husband

Black furry hat: Fred Meyer

Black leather belt: gift from my parents, from Uruguay

Silver Hershey kiss bracelet: from the Hershey factory

Black sweater tights: Forever 21

Around the world

This outfit is courtesy of my international travels. The vintage dress is from a flea market in Oxford, England. I lived there for a few months during college, doing a study abroad program, and every week I would walk down to the flea market in Gloucester Square. There was always a vintage clothing booth there, and I purchased quite a few pieces during my stay.

I found the blue coat (in the bottom photo) at a department store in Zhengzhou, China. I lived there for seven months teaching English, and wasn't prepared for how bitterly cold wintertime was, so I needed to buy a warmer coat. Even though I lived in a large city, foreigners and the English language were a rare commodity, so the department store had no English signs, none of the employees spoke English, and everyone stopped and stared at me the entire time I was trying on coats. I will freely admit that one of the main reasons I moved back to America was because I was tired of feeling like an animal in a zoo.

Blue coat: purchased in China

Yellow dress: vintage, from a flea market in Oxford, England

Blue boots: Steve Madden Carnaby heels from Zappos

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Earrings: gift from my aunt

Black belt: thrifted

Yellow ring: ScanFair

Black tights: American Apparel

Rushing around

Normally when I rush around trying to put together an outfit in five minutes, I don't like the way it turns out, but I felt very pleased with this rushed outfit. The hat added a nice touch of quirkiness, and it felt so nice to wear a skirt without tights! The weather was actually quite miserable the day I wore this (rainy and windy), but the temperature was pleasant, so I went with bare legs. And I'm not going to apologize for my pasty legs, because that's how I like 'em!

Blue sweater: Anthropologie

Skirt: Urban Outfitters

Brown boots: TJ Maxx

Men's hat: from my dad

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Brown wood earrings: church craft fair

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Blue bracelet: B. Lee Designs, gift from my aunt

Rain boots

Monday was a nice holiday. I got to lounge around and read magazines, Josh got to stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing video games, and we went out for a late lunch that involved gigantic bowls of macaroni and cheese. It's been raining like crazy here, so I busted out my rain boots for our trip out to lunch. I think I've only worn these once on the blog (here, back in my third post ever!), but I actually wear them every time it rains. (Which is a lot. This is Oregon, after all.) Even though they were crazy expensive, I feel that the cost was justified by the quality. The pair of rain boots I had before these cost $30, and started falling apart after a few weeks. These cost $125, but I've had them for a year and a half, have probably worn them close to a hundred times, and they're still in great condition. In case you didn't know, Hunter boots have been around since 1856, and they're the boots that were mass-produced for the British Army in World Wars I and II - so they have definitely passed the test of time and hardship.

Pink swan sweater: Urban Outfitters

Floral blouse: thrifted from Village Merchants

Jeans: Levi's from Urban Outfitters

Gray rain boots: Hunter from Nordstrom

Gray hat: Fred Meyer

Green earrings: B. Lee Designs, gift from my parents

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Gray day

Sometimes when it's a dreary, gray, blah day outside, wearing bright colors is just the thing I need to cheer myself up. Although honestly, what usually cheers me up on those kinds of days is a gigantic bowl of popcorn and a full season of Arrested Development, but I couldn't have that on Sunday, so I settled for bright colors instead. How do you guys cope with gray skies? (Books? Chocolate? Magazines? Those are other coping mechanisms of mine!)

This skirt is the only thing I've ever purchased from Zara, last summer when I was in California. We don't have one in Oregon, and none of the clothes on their website have appealed to me yet (even though they always look fantastic when I see bloggers wearing them). I feel like I wear it all the time, but when I went back and checked I only found it styled for winter a handful of times on my blog (here, here, here, and here).

Neon yellow sweater: Gap

Jean jacket: Gap (like ten years old)

Hot pink skirt: Zara

Black tights: Fred Meyer

Black suede boots: Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Silver earrings: free from aunt

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Ring: In Pink

The clash (Part two)

I didn't wear this combo on Valentine's Day, but I did wear it the day before. (I just couldn't bring myself to wear a themed outfit on V-Day.) Josh is not a fan of pink and red together, but he did like this outfit much better than the pink and red combo I wore back in November. I like to think it was the grandma cardigan that won him over.

Black turtleneck: Old Navy

Red cardigan: thrifted from Rerun

Hot pink skirt: Zara

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Gray infinity scarf: self-made

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar
Black bracelet: possibly something that I "borrowed" from my mom about ten years ago

Black belt: thrifted

Black tights: Forever 21

Black flats: Target

Red, white and blue

I felt very all-American/slightly nautical in this outfit. I've been trying to make good on my resolution to wear more pieces in my closet that I've been neglecting, so yesterday I chose this shirt and skirt that haven't seen the light of day since last summer.

While I very much appreciated the flowers that Josh brought me on Valentine's Day, my favorite present was the gift of the show Cougar Town returning to TV for a third season. I watched the first episode of the season yesterday on Hulu, and it was so good! I bet a lot of you have avoided that show because of the title, but I promise it really has nothing to do with older women preying on younger men. It's one of the funniest shows on TV, and I really hope more people start watching it this season so they don't cancel it. Do any of you watch it?

Red and white striped shirt: Old Navy

Blue skirt: Anthropologie

Red trench coat: Calvin Klein from Costco

Red hat: thrifted from Village Merchants

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Blue earrings: B. Lee Designs

Red belt: free from my aunt

White stone bracelet: In Pink

White flats: Urban Outfitters

Love and leopard print

Even though I very much like red and pink together, I decided it would have been over the top to wear it on Valentine's Day, so this is what I wore instead. Because nothing says love like leopard print and a men's sweater vest.

Josh and I went out to lunch yesterday with some of his co-workers, and they made me play pool with them. I was so bad at it that there were times where I literally could not even hit the white ball that was an inch away from the cue stick. I may be classically trained at the piano, folks, but my hand-eye coordination fails me whenever I really just want to look cool. (Because isn't that what pool is all about? Who cares if you get balls in the holes, as long as you look cool while doing it.)

Leopard print blouse: thrifted from Goodwill

Brown men's sweater vest: from an estate sale

Jeans: Levi's from Urban Outfitters

Brown boots: TJ Maxx

Brown men's hat: gift from my dad, from a store in York, England

Gold owl necklace: Forever 21

Brown belt: thrifted from Goodwill

Gold bracelets: In Pink

Floral

Since I wasn't quick enough to purchase that floral blouse from Zara that every fashion blogger has, I was thrilled to find this passable knock-off at a thrift store the other day. (Although I guess it's not technically a knock-off, since I'm sure it was made before the Zara blouse.) Floral prints and I are having a moment. In the last month I've purchased three floral print shirts, and next on my purchasing horizon is a pair of floral tights. (Basically, I want to re-create this outfit, but with even more florals. It will be epic. Or maybe just tacky.)

I had my sister-in-law pose for outfit photos when she was over on Saturday for a birthday party, because she always looks crazy adorable. I wish I had dressed as cute as she does when I was a teenager. Her outfit is the perfect example of something that's cozy enough for a cold winter day, comfy enough to walk around town in, but still super cute. She was a bit nervous about posing for photos, though, so show her some love in the comments, okay?! I especially love her earrings, which one of my other sisters-in-law made (she even made the felted balls herself!).

My outfit:

Floral blouse: thrifted from Village Merchants

Black faux leather skirt: H&M

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Dragon necklace: purchased in China

Silver bracelet: won in a giveaway

Gray bracelet: self-made

Striped tights: Romwe

Black wedges: Lulu's

Old clothes, new love

I wore this on Sunday to head out into the suburbs for a family birthday party. I'm so used to city life that it felt weird to stand in the middle of the street for photos without having to worry about cars running me over!

I've owned this dress for several years but have only worn it a few times. It's a style that doesn't look very good unless it has a layer underneath, so I can really only wear it in winter. One of my goals this year is to utilize my closet better, so I've been trying to avoid buying many new pieces and have instead been revisiting old clothes and learning to love them again. I always get on a mini high when I buy something new. It's like falling in love - you feel all fluttery and excited when you wear it for a while, and then pretty soon it just becomes normal like everything else. I used to love this dress, and then it fell to the wayside when I bought my next new piece of clothing. So here's to old clothes (I'm raising my imaginary glass) and making them into new loves again!

Dress: Sweet Jayne (local store)

Brown turtleneck: Kohl's

Blue boots: Steve Madden Carnaby heels from Zappos

Red necklace: B. Lee Designs

Gold leaf cuff bracelet: In Pink

Worn and re-worn: Striped shirt

 Perfect blend

I thought it would be fun to do a roundup of all the ways I've worn this striped shirt on the blog. It's one of the most worn items in my closet, and certainly one of my favorite pieces to do pattern mixing with!

Casual stripes

High and wide

Burnt orange

A splash of sunshine

War and Peace

Worn but not seen

Leopard and stripes

Stripes, stripes and stripes