Women of a certain age

Every now and then I'll hear someone make a comment like, "Women over thirty shouldn't wear mini skirts." I hate it when people say that, because I'm almost thirty, and I love my legs and plan on wearing mini skirts until the day I think my legs look bad. (Which may be never - I might still be rocking mini skirts at 80.) It bothers me when people try to create fashion rules based on age. Obviously certain situations call for clothing restraint (I never have and never will wear a mini skirt to a job interview or church), but other than that, I say wear whatever the heck makes you happy, no matter what age you are.

Striped blouse: Forever 21

Hot pink skirt: Zara

White wedges: Sam Edelman (Kendall wedges) from Piperlime

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Earrings: free from my aunt (probably from the 90's!)

Necklace: Urban Outfitters

White bracelet: H&M

Copycat

First off, I should give all the credit for this outfit to the lovely Rebecca from Winnipeg Style - her version of this outfit was so good that I couldn't resist copying. Plus, in the two years that I've owned it, I've worn this skirt only a handful of times because I've found it nearly impossible to style, so I'll take any inspiration I can get. Also, I love finding an opportunity to wear my Switchfoot t-shirt with something other than jeans. This was a bit of an oddball outfit, but that is my favorite kind of style! I know that someday I'm going to have an office job again and will have to tone down the kooky-ness, so I'm embracing it while I still can.

Switchfoot t-shirt: purchased at a concert

Pink lace skirt: Forever 21

Brown heels: Macy's

Brown bag: Eva messenger bag from Ellington Handbags

Embroidered bracelet: thrifted from Village Merchants

Party dress

I unintentionally took a vacation from my blog last week. Normally I have a low-key life full of lots of free time, but last week was nuts. First, I started taking a tax class at H&R Block so that I can become a certified tax preparer, and for the first time in seven years I had to spend my nights doing homework. Then on Wednesday I got to be an extra on the TV show Portlandia! (If you watch the show, keep an eye out for the scene with the communal table - I'm the girl in the beige lace dress with a red and sweaty face. It was freaking hot under all those lights.) Then on Friday we took off for a weekend at the beach with some friends. I actually really enjoyed last week, but it left me with hardly any down time.

This outfit was from a week ago - I wore it to a three-year-old's birthday party. She speaks French as well as English, and likes to snack on brie and crackers and edamame. So basically, she's more sophisticated than I am.

Dress: vintage, gift from my mom

Black faux leather jacket: Forever 21

Gold sandals: Asos

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx
Earrings: purchased at a church craft fair

Bracelet: gift, from Italy

Pink, blue and green

I wore this outfit on Friday to go out to lunch with Josh and his coworkers. It was a perfect outfit for the hot weather we've been having here lately - and by hot I mean like 85 degrees. So not actually that hot, except by Oregon standards.

Blue and green top: Anthropologie

Gray cardigan: Gap

Pink shorts: Loft

Gold sandals: Asos

Silver hoop earrings: free from my aunt

Both bracelets: H&M

French nautical

On Saturday we had a nice, leisurely day. In the morning we walked to the farmer's market for some fresh berries, and in the afternoon we went out for ice cream at our beloved Salt & Straw. There were also some episodes of How I Met Your Mother thrown in there. I wore this outfit all day, and couldn't decide if I felt more French or more nautical in it - the tied scarf felt very French, but the red and white stripes with the blue skirt felt nautical.

And, because it would have felt weird to have a post with only one photo, here's a shot of a pretty little cosmos that I took on Saturday:

Red striped top: Old Navy

Blue skirt: Anthropologie

Red wedges: Jeffrey Campbell from Lulu's

Red scarf: thrifted

White bracelet: H&M

Red, white and black

It's difficult to think of something new and interesting to write about my outfits four or five days a week. I can only write about pattern mixing or my reasons for choosing color combinations so many times before I get bored with it. And today I'm bored with it. So here's my outfit; that's all I have to say for now :)

Black tank top: Target

Black and white shorts: Loft

Red strawberry flats: Asos

Black hat: gift from my aunt

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Red necklace and mah jongg tile earrings: free from my aunt

Gold cuff: gift from my mom

McMenamins Edgefield

On Saturday Josh and I were planning to head south of Portland to Estacada for a hike and a trip to a microbrewery, but before leaving he mentioned something about a brewery he had visited once years before, somewhere east of Portland, and we decided to go there instead if we could find it. All he remembered was that it had beautiful expansive grounds. One quick google search later, and we figured out that it was McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale. After a short hike in the nearby Columbia Gorge, we stopped at the brewery. Oh, people - you must go there if you're ever in the Portland area and like beer. (Even if you don't like beer it's pretty enjoyable.) On the property they have a brewery, a winery, a distillery, a movie theater, a pool hall, a vegetable garden, an herb garden, a golf course, a spa, vineyards, an amphitheater (where Florence and the Machine performed recently!), lodging, and ten different places where you can eat or drink. And, they let you bring your booze anywhere on the property! We drank beer while sitting on the golf course, and then again while sitting in the herb garden. We had a fantastic afternoon there, and I can't wait to go back for a whole weekend someday.

Pink and gray

I think pink and gray is my new favorite color combination. They're so pretty and feminine together. I just wish my skirt and shoes had been a little more coordinated - darn you, poorly lit bedroom that tricks me into thinking my clothes match.

Pink blouse: H&M

Gray skirt: thrifted

Gray heels: Lulu's (about two years ago)

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Gold necklace: gift

Pink bracelet: H&M

Today I'm linking up this post at Monday Mingle!

Date night

This was my outfit from a date night with Josh a few days ago. We went to the sushi restaurant where we had our first date. Whenever we do that we always get nostalgic and lovey-dovey, and reminisce about that night where we sat in the sushi restaurant for about three hours, talking and laughing and drinking green tea and trying new and weird foods (like fish eggs - blech). A few days earlier he had called and left me a message, saying he wanted to ask me something important and that I should call him back. So I did, and when he said, "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me," I literally shouted, "Yes!" I've never been one to hide my enthusiasm.

And then four weeks later we were engaged. But I'll save that story for another time :)

Floral shirt: Georgia tee from StyleMint

Black and white shorts: Loft

Black espadrilles: Loft

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Pink bracelet: H&M

Lucas Salon

Yesterday I got my hair re-colored. In the past I haven't invested much time or money into my hair. I've never put any fancy products into it. I only learned how to use a curling iron this year. I own a blow-dryer, but it's been broken for two years. And for about ten years, I dyed my hair with the stuff you get in a box at the grocery store. (Except for six months where I had black and blonde hair, which I definitely could not have done on my own.)

But earlier this year, I just got tired of the way my hair looked, so armed with a recommendation from my friend Lauren for a great new salon in Portland, I headed to Lucas Salon to get my hair cut and colored. The owner, Taylor Lucas, cut and colored my hair back in April before a friend's wedding, and it turned out so beautifully that I'm hooked on nice haircuts and hair color now. I went back yesterday to get my roots and my rose gold highlights touched up, and had the red deepened a bit. I'm immensely satisfied with the results, and wholeheartedly recommend Lucas Salon to anyone in the Portland area looking for a good stylist. If you're used to getting $20 haircuts and dyeing your hair from a box, the prices might seem a bit steep ($60 for a haircut and $85 for highlights) - but trust me (and this is coming from someone who typically spends next to nothing on beauty products), it's worth it.

I couldn't resist showing a close-up of my hair - I hope it doesn't sound vain of me to say that I think it looks awesome!

Paisley dress: from an antique show

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Brown sandals: Nordstrom Rack

Brown bag: Eva Messenger Bag from Ellington Handbags

Brown belt: thrifted

Bracelet: vintage, gift

And here are some photos of the fabulous Lucas Salon!

Green and black

When it gets to be as hot as it has been in Portland the past few days, I don't even want to wear clothes anymore. I just want to move to a nudist colony. But since that would not be an acceptable lifestyle in the eyes of Josh, my family, and, well, pretty much everyone I know, I have to stick with just wearing really lightweight clothes, like this outfit. But since this is a style blog and I have to keep it interesting somehow, I slapped on this outrageous hat. One nice thing about having this blog is that it keeps me creative - if I were left to wear my outfits in anonymity, I would probably just wear the same dress for five days straight during the summer.

Black tank top: Target

Green skirt: Anthropologie

Black wedges: Lulu's

Green hat: free from my aunt

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Ring: free from my aunt

Green and blue bracelets: made by me

Relaxed weekend

The heat this past weekend was ridiculous. Portland finally broke not only 90 degrees, but 100 degrees as well. Thankfully my parents have a pool, so we headed over there on Saturday with Onyx to have a BBQ and go swimming. (There are some photos of that at the bottom of this post.) We also got to watch Portlander Galen Rupp win the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meter race, which was very exciting! We don't have a TV, so the only chances we've had to watch the Olympics are at other people's houses, or while in the fitness center of our building.

This outfit was actually from Sunday, but it was still crazy hot then, too. The jacket was purely for air-conditioned buildings; I only wore it for about a minute for these photos.

Floral shirt: Marshall's

Pink shorts: Loft

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Gold sandals: Asos

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

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

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Here was my church outfit from Sunday. Our pictures were turning out horribly (that's what you get when you try to take photos at noon on a sunny day, and are forced to take them in the underbrush just so you get some shade), so we gave up, but I salvaged one halfway decent photo to show you guys:

Here are a few fun photos from our Saturday! Onyx had a blast jumping in the pool about a hundred times, eating blueberries off the bush, and harassing my parents' dog Lucy (fourth photo down):