Cozy 80's sweater and a shopping ban

It's been so cold here lately, so I've been wearing a lot of bulky, cozy sweaters. I love this gray sweater that my aunt gave me. She found it when she was cleaning out her apartment. I think it's from the 80's. It was more obviously 80's before I cut out the shoulder pads, but now I think it looks quite cute. One of my other aunts gave me this necklace. I get so much free stuff from my three aunts, it's ridiculous. Right now I especially appreciate their hand-me-downs, because I'm banned from buying clothes. Josh and I are trying to kill off the rest of our non-student loan debt, so for the next few months I have a clothing budget of $0. So far I've gone a month and a half without buying any clothes, and it's been rough. I don't think I've gone that long without buying clothes for years. I think my no shopping challenge will be good for both our budget, and my frame of mind when it comes to shopping. I don't need to be constantly buying things in order to have a good wardrobe.

Sweater: free from my aunt

Coat: Marks and Spencer

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's

Hat: H&M

Necklace: free from my aunt

Bracelet: gift

No bun in my oven

This is a maternity dress, but I'm not pregnant. There's no real distinct line separating normal clothes from maternity clothes at Target, so one day I wandered into the maternity section, picked up this dress because it was cute, and didn't realize until I was wearing it in the fitting room that it was maternity. I don't mind too much. The stretchy panel at the waist is nice for those days when I eat just a bit too much :)

And because it was too ridiculous not to share, here is what happened right before we took the first photo in this post...

Dress: Target

Turtleneck: Old Navy

Tights: American Apparel

Boots: Steve Madden from Zappos

Coat: purchased in China

Hat: gift from my aunt

Bracelet: In Pink

Jeans and boots

I've been feeling uninspired lately as far as outfits go. That's not a bad thing - it's not like creating interesting outfits is my job, or a crucial part of my existence. These jeans and boots have been worn a lot, and some of those jeans-and-boots outfits have been more interesting than others. Like this one - the women in my family went nuts when they saw this outfit a few weeks ago. I thought it was fairly simple, but they thought it was awesome, so I figured that meant it was worth posting on this blog.

Since I would feel weird only having one photo in this post (the top one is the only one that turned out), I thought I'd throw in these two below. The first one is my cousin Summer's awesome perfume collection, which I saw at a brunch on Sunday, and the second is my favorite of those perfume bottles, by Nicki Minaj...

Turtleneck: Kohl's

Crocheted vest: Forever 21

Jeans: Levi's

Boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's

Hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Necklace: Forever 21

Belt: thrifted

Bracelet: In Pink

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

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

Repeat

The outfit in these photos is the twin of this outfit I wore earlier in the year. (Maybe the fraternal twin, since they're not exactly the same.) I like the current version much better - it looks nicer, and it was more comfortable. Josh said it was one of his favorites out of my recent outfits, and I loved it, too. Sometimes the things I wear just feel "meh," and other times I hit upon a combination that really makes me happy. I think a lot of people underestimate the power of a great outfit. When I wear something that I feel good in, it usually improves my mood and my confidence.

Beige sweater: Target

Gray vest: free from my aunt

Brown belt: thrifted

Jeans: Levi's

Brown boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's

Hat: free from my dad

Earrings: free from my aunt

Necklace: purchased in Florence, Italy

Here are a couple pictures from a walk I took the other day...Portland is so gorgeous in the fall.

Island Cafe

On Saturday Josh and I took a trip to Island Cafe with some of my family members. It's a restaurant floating in the marina off Hayden Island (which is on the Columbia River), and it's only open during the warm months of the year. What I love about it, apart from the great food (and the excellent mango margaritas, and the pleasant experience of sitting in the sunshine next to the river), is that you can take your boat or kayak or paddle board right up to the restaurant and enter via the water. You can also look over the railing and see ducks swimming around in the water, and sometimes they hop up on the deck and wander around under the tables.

This is what I wore to the restaurant, and at the last minute I stuck on the hat because I figured we'd be sitting out in the sun. Until Saturday I forgot I had this belt, and I'm so glad I rediscovered it. I may have worn it backwards, but I liked it best that way.

Green patterned dress: vintage

Green sandals: Blowfish Shoes

Green hat: vintage, gift from my dad

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Brown belt: thrifted

Gold bracelet: gift from my mom, from Yosemite

Brown bag: Eva Messenger Bag from Ellington Handbags

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

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

Slouchy

Normally with my outfits I try to define my waist since I'm so curvy, but last night we went out for drinks with some of Josh's co-workers, and I wanted something a bit less restricting in the waist since I knew I'd be having a few beers. I liked the slouchy look of this outfit, even though it wasn't the most flattering.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! Josh and I are planning on going swimming in my parents' pool tomorrow, since it's supposed to be 95 degrees here, and then I might turn domestic and can some honey-soaked plums. The next few months will be filled with my canning projects - I plan on canning dozens of quarts of peaches, tomatoes, pears, pickles, and applesauce. (That actually sounds disgusting when you list them in that order, but they're really very tasty!)

I keep holding my fingers like this whenever we take close-up shots of my bracelets, and then it looks like I'm missing half my fingers. I need to work on that...

White blouse: from an antique show

Hot pink skirt: Zara

Brown heels: Macy's

Brown scalloped-brim hat: Asos

Purse: Eva Messenger Bag from Ellington Handbags

Necklace: can't remember

Embroidered bracelet: thrifted from Village Merchants

Pink bracelet: H&M

Polka dots and mah jongg

Rarely do I match my shoes, belt, shirt and hat, because that generally makes for a dull outfit, but in this case I think the matching worked because the shoes, top and hat are all so interesting looking. This outfit felt really fun, so I decided to throw on some quirky bracelets and mah jongg tile earrings to add to the effect. And maybe the side ponytail belongs back in the 80's, but I am a child of the 80's, so that makes it kind of okay, right?

Red polka dot tank top: Urban Outfitters

Denim skirt: Gap

Red wedges: Jeffrey Campbell from Lulu's

Red hat: Nine West, thrifted from Village Merchants

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Mah jongg tile earrings: free from my aunt

White bubble bracelet: free from my aunt

Other white bracelet: H&M

Red belt: free from my aunt

Crazy hat lady

This hat is almost comically huge, but I love it because it means I don't have to put sunblock on my face and neck when I'm out in the sun. (Okay, let's be honest here: I almost never wear sunblock anyway, so basically the hat just makes me feel better about that.) The gigantic hat plus the bold printed dress plus the bright shoes made for an outfit that felt on the verge of overkill, but it also felt very fun and summery. This is one of those dresses that would be improved upon if I hemmed it up about six inches, but I have so many dresses that I've been meaning to hem that I've been overwhelmed into procrastination.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on yesterday's post. You were very sympathetic, kind and flattering, and I appreciated it :)

Floral dress: vintage, from my mom

Blue and green wedges: Nine West from Nordstrom Rack

Gigantic hat: Columbia Sportswear

Blue belt: free from my aunt

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

I looked too funny and horrible in this photo not to share it...this is what happens when someone whistles at me while we're taking outfit photos...

Lazy weekend

We had a wonderfully lazy weekend: we went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, then out to see Brave in the afternoon, and wound up the day at home eating bowls full of berries from the market while watching part of season four of Burn Notice. And on Sunday after church we took Onyx out to my parents' house and spent the afternoon barbecue-ing, swimming and lounging around. I have a stressful two weeks ahead of me, so it was nice to have this relaxing weekend to gather my wits about me.

This was my outfit from church on Sunday. It wasn't much different from the last time I wore this dress (here), but when it's ninety degrees outside it's hard to care much about variety. (And in case you're wondering, I only wore the cardigan indoors. And for these photos, obviously!)

Floral striped dress: Anthropologie

Mint green cardigan: Old Navy

Beige heels: BCBGeneration from Macy's

Straw hat: Columbia Sportswear Outlet store

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Purple necklace: gift from my aunt

Pink bracelet: H&M

Here are a few extra photos from my lovely weekend!

Bouquets at the farmer's market - I'm always so tempted to buy them, especially when they're only $10!

Onyx likes to eat raspberries right off the bush...

Onyx in action!