Re-worn

This was the outfit I wore on Thanksgiving, but since we didn't get any photos of it then, I re-wore it yesterday to go bowling with my parents and youngest brother.

Tunic: American Apparel, thrifted from Crossroads Trading Co.

Cardigan: Cynthia Rowley from TJ Maxx

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: Aldo

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Necklace: Dress Barn

Belt: thrifted

Bracelet: In Pink

Mended

I forgot to take photos of nearly every outfit I wore over Thanksgiving weekend, so all you get is this fairly simple outfit from Sunday. The dress by itself is pretty but a bit boring, so that's why I threw on the bright scarf as a belt. It's been about a year and a half since I last wore this dress, because one of the buttons came off, and yes, it took me this long to sew it back on. I tend to be a horrible procrastinator when it comes to mending my clothes, and half the time they just end up in the garage sale pile because I'm too lazy to fix them. But ever since I read the book Overdressed, I've taken to working through my mending pile in the evenings, because now I realize it's important to care for the clothes I have, and not just toss them out when they're missing a button or have a hole.

Dress: vintage

Red scarf worn as a belt: thrifted

Black tights: Forever 21

Black heels: DSW

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Earrings: gift

And here are some awesome photos of me and my brothers on Thanksgiving. I'm not sure we've ever taken a "nice" photo together, but we always take fun ones. Here's triple suicide...

...awkward smiling...

...and Gangnam Style...

Rainy day

It was absurdly rainy yesterday. (Although yes, we did manage to get a brief dry spell for our photos.) On days like that, I pretty much always wear my rain boots and rain coat. Since a rain coat and boots isn't necessarily an inspiring combination, I tried to make it more interesting with a bright sweater, and a necklace that I've had since elementary school. (Yes, sometimes I'm a hoarder.) These Hunter rain boots are the most worn item in my closet. They may not be pretty to look at, but they're comfortable and they've kept my feet dry for two years so far.

Yesterday I had the final exam for my tax class, and I passed with 94%! Wooo! Now all I need to do is pass the state board exam in December, and I'll be a licensed tax preparer. Even if I don't get a job from this experience, it was worth it just for all the personal knowledge I've gained. My taxes are going to be a breeze after this.

I'm taking the rest of the week off from blogging to enjoy some quality family time, so I'll see you all next week! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Purple sweater: Target

Red coat: Calvin Klein from Costco

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: Hunter from Nordstrom

Hat: H&M

Necklace: owned since 3rd grade!

Ring: In Pink

Hillary Clinton's hair

A few months ago someone told me that she thought Hillary Clinton’s unflattering hairstyle caused her to lose credibility as Secretary of State. Now, she didn’t say “Hillary Clinton’s messy hair,” or “greasy hair,” or “offensive and outrageous hair” – no, she was simply referring to a hairstyle that was not complimentary.

[Edit: At this point I feel compelled to mention something that I wrote in the comments below, lest you think I'm complaining just for the sake of complaining. If this type of comment were a one-time thing, I wouldn't have written a blog post. But I've heard a lot of people at one time or another say crazy things like, "She so smart, why doesn't she dress better?" or "I would never hire a woman who didn't wear makeup." And I'm tired of hearing people say those things, and think someone needs to point it out.]

I have a problem with this for two reasons. (Okay, three reasons, if you count the fact that I think Hillary Clinton is awesome and no one should say anything bad about her ever.) The first reason is: it’s not my business, or anyone else’s, to criticize Hillary Clinton’s hairstyle. Oh, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my moments of looking at someone’s hair and thinking, “That looks terrible” – but I really shouldn’t. Because who knows, maybe that woman you criticize really loves the hairstyle you think is ugly, and maybe she would hate the hairstyle you think is pretty. And anyway, it’s her hair, not yours, so why does it matter anyway? Or maybe in Hillary Clinton’s case, she has adopted a utilitarian style because she has a stressful job and doesn’t want to spend any more time on her hair than she has to. Really, for a government employee in the public eye, I think the only guidelines for hair should be: not outrageous (i.e. a hot pink mohawk), and not dirty.

The second, and main, reason this person’s statement bothered me so much is that Hillary Clinton’s job performance isn’t affected by the way she wears her hair. I think she’s done an admirable job as Secretary of State, even if her hair isn’t pretty. (Though I would disagree with the person who made this statement, because I think Hillary’s hair looks great.) I also feel fairly certain that men wouldn’t be held to the same standard. The truth is, people in general critique women on their appearance more than men, probably because they expect women to care more. And when they encounter a woman who doesn’t seem to care about the way she looks, they suspect she doesn’t care about anything at all.

If we had a male Secretary of State who was balding on top with a fringe of hair wrapped around his head, I don’t think anyone would mind. I mean, I think there would be people who found it ugly, but I think there would be very few, if any, people who thought his hair made him lose credibility as a representative of the United States.

This is really a huge topic to explore, when you consider all the ways in which women are held to different standards than men, but I’ll leave it at that for now. I just wish Hillary Clinton, who travels for months out of the year and works sixteen-hour days, could be cut some slack for not living up to someone else’s idea of beauty.

Time for a change

It was time for a change, so I dyed my hair brown! My hair has been every natural color except white and gray (and I'm sure those will happen eventually), but it was only brown for a few months back in college, so I thought I'd try it again. I loved my red hair, but it's the dye that fades the fastest and it was just getting too pricey to maintain. I did this on Saturday with two boxes of dye, because my hair is too long and thick for one box, and with Josh's help, because the last time I tried to dye my hair out of a box I missed huge patches.

I suppose it would be cheaper and easier to just go with my natural color, but once my hair turned from pale blond to dishwater blond in high school, I stopped being interested in keeping it natural.

Sweater: Target

Paisley skirt: thrifted from Rerun

Leather jacket: MICHAEL Michael Kors from Nordstrom Rack

Tights: American Apparel

Heels: DSW

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Necklace: gift from my aunt

Bracelet: H&M

Perception

This was one of those outfits where I felt like I looked about a hundred times cooler than I actually do in these photos. I like my curvy hips, but this sweater made them look comically large. And to think - I would have been convinced this was an awesome outfit all day long if it weren't for these photos. Sometimes having this blog ruins my perception of my outfits :)

White sweater: thrifted

Jeans: Levi's

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Pink scarf: Fred Meyer

Necklace: free from my aunt

My life in China

A few years ago I lived in China. It was an interesting experience. I moved there alone, which was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I half loved it and half hated it. There were some things that annoyed me to no end, like every Chinese person everywhere staring at me, all the time. But there were a lot of things I loved about my time there, and most of those things were because of the friends I made - other foreigners like me, who were trying to build a life in a country far away from home. One day I went to the yarn market with my friend Lily, and even though I hardly spoke any Chinese, and she didn't speak much more than I did, we managed to buy some pretty yarn. This was mostly accomplished by pointing at balls of yarn, and hoping we understood the dollar amount. I bought this autumn-colored yarn there, and spent the next few days knitting this scarf on my bus rides to work. It's about six years old now and looking rather worn, but I still feel happy whenever I wear it, and think of the good times and the bad from my life in China.

Green sweatshirt: Forever 21

Denim skirt: Gap

Brown boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's

Earrings: Underglass

Scarf: made by me

Bird pin: free from my aunt

I always forget about the Everybody Everywear challenges, but Gracey's post reminded me of it, so I decided to join in the fun. This time the theme was boots, so it's not like it was that difficult :)

Casual outfits

Every now and then when it's really cold or rainy outside, I just give up on my heels and skirts and tights, and turn to comfortable and super casual outfits. I rarely post those outfits on here, because I don't feel like they're very inspiring, but today I thought I'd do a round-up of casual outfits that I liked.

The first one is from earlier this year. It's a pretty typical dog-walking outfit for me (minus the jewelry, because who cares about jewelry when you're walking the dog at 7:30 in the morning in the rain?). The second outfit is from last weekend. I just got these hot pink running shoes, and pairing them with neon yellow and a bright pink jacket was probably overkill, but it made me happy. The third outfit is one I posted earlier this year (here), and while it was very casual, I really liked it and thought all the layers made it interesting.

Though these outfits look a lot different from the ones I normally show on the blog, they're actually what I'm usually wearing if I'm out running errands or walking to the library.

Covered

There's just something about cold weather that makes me want to wear maxi skirts. It's not like this skirt was particularly warm (unlike Friday's maxi skirt), but being covered head-to-toe with fabric feels appropriate for winter weather. I just randomly felt like trying the slouchy-all-over look, so I threw on the oversized sweater coat (pictured below). It made me look a bit like a hobo, but hey, that's the beauty of fashion - you can experiment with an odd look one day, and switch back to normal the next day if it doesn't work out.

Brown turtleneck: Kohl's

Blue maxi dress: Forever 21

Beige jacket: vintage

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Blue necklace: made by my aunt

Brown belt: thrifted

Vintage Pendleton

I was in the mood for a weird outfit on Thursday, and this is what happened. (I realize now that it kind of looks like I'm wearing PJ's. Next time I wear this skirt I'll try to class it up a bit with a turtleneck or something.) Five years ago my mom and I traveled to Denmark, and one of the places we visited was the little island of Ærø, which is where I bought this t-shirt. The skirt is vintage Pendleton, which I found for only $20 (I know) at an antique show a few weeks ago. It's so warm that I wore it without tights on a day with bitter cold winds, and felt toasty warm every time I went outside.

Red t-shirt: gift shop on Ærø, Denmark

Red plaid skirt: vintage Pendleton, from an antique show

Black leather jacket: MICHAEL Michael Kors from Nordstrom Rack

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Bracelet: In Pink

Heat wave

I know I can't stop harping on about this, but it's been remarkably warm here lately. I wore this outfit on Sunday - bare legs and open-toe shoes in November. I think it nearly reached 70 degrees. I didn't even need the leather jacket (pictured below) during the day, and probably could have done without it at night. But I want an excuse to wear it as much as possible when it's dry. I know it will hold up to rain, but I still want to baby it for a while since it's fairly new.

Dress: Nordstrom Rack

Leather jacket: MICHAEL Michael Kors from Nordstrom Rack

Black and brown wedges: Asos

Earrings: church craft fair

Brown, beige and bright

Here's my outfit from yesterday. I'm not sure it "worked" - I don't love the look of the brown tights between the beige skirt and beige boots. What do you think? I am, however, still madly in love with this weird skirt, and I love the strange necklace that my aunt didn't want anymore. (In case you didn't notice, I get a LOT of free jewelry from my aunts. Some of them probably have jewelry from the 70's hiding in their homes somewhere, which I hope they give me eventually!)

After my class last night, Josh and I spent about four hours glued to our computer screen watching the live stream of the election results. It felt a bit like watching a football match - we supported different candidates, so there was cheering whenever someone pulled ahead by a few electoral votes.

And I promise, that's the last time I'll mention the election this year :)

Orange shirt: Target

Chair skirt: Anthropologie

Brown tights: Forever 21

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Necklace: free from my aunt

Gold leaf bracelet: In Pink

Election day

It's been unseasonably warm here lately, so I was actually slightly too hot in this outfit. I'm okay with that. If summer wants to hang on through November, I don't mind. It's winter lingering through June that bugs me.

Today is election day here in America, as most of you know. Don't worry, I won't get into my political views, but I do hope that all of you who are American vote today. I learned that this is the 100-year anniversary of Oregon women winning the right to vote. I feel proud when I think of all those women a hundred years ago, demanding a right that should have been theirs all along. There aren't many things that get me fired up, but women's rights is a topic I'm incredibly passionate about, especially when I consider the fact that my great-great-grandmother wasn't allowed to vote. I'm not sure where I'm going with this - I guess I just wanted to say that I'm grateful for all those suffragettes who stood up for themselves and insisted that they were the equals of men.

Striped blouse: Forever 21

Black maxi skirt: TJ Maxx

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Red necklace: free from my aunt

Bracelet: gift from my mom, from Yosemite

Procrastination

I don't even know how to classify this outfit. It felt like an odd mash-up of pieces, but I was satisfied with the result. I wore it on Saturday when Josh and I took a walk to Starbucks for a salted caramel mocha (which is heaven in a cup, by the way). That was really the only thing we did on Saturday, other than vote (and watch TV). Well, Josh voted. I'll probably fill out my ballot tonight and drop it off at the library tomorrow - my motto is "why do something now when you can put it off until later?" (Just to be clear, though - I am going to vote. I promise I won't procrastinate until it's too late.)

Striped top: H&M

Crocheted vest: free from my aunt

Red corduroy pants: Anthropologie

Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters

Mah jongg tile earrings: free from my aunt

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Bracelet: Fred Meyer

Up in the air

Last Saturday Josh and I rode the Portland Aerial Tram that runs from the south waterfront to OHSU, the teaching hospital up on the hill. It was rainy and foggy, so we didn't get to see any of the mountains, but it was still a cool experience. If you're in Portland, this would make for a fun afternoon, especially if you go on a clear day while the leaves are still changing colors.

I've already worn this outfit several times this fall, even though this was the first time it was photographed. It's perfect for cold and rainy days.

Striped cardigan: Cynthia Rowley from TJ Maxx

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's

Earrings: free from my aunt

Belt: thrifted

This last photo is blurry, but I love it anyway because it still captures the beauty of Portland...