winter florals.

talbots ruffle blouse {thrifted}

j crew skirt & cardigan {thrifted}

toms desert wedges

i wore this outfit recently to a continuing education presentations on ethics, self-determination, and risk.  these are my favorite types of presentations to go to because they always prompt my thinking in a different way about the rights older adults have, even if they live in a nursing home.  

i also love that i am still wearing these toms desert wedges quite often - they really are the perfect winter shoe in my opinion!  but i am actually hardcore searching for some proper winter boots.  it is kind of sad that i have lived in minnesota for about seven years and i don't own proper winter boots or any winter sports equipment.  there's a small pond in my neighborhood that is faithfully plowed out to create an ice skating rink after each time it snows, and i couldn't even join my friends ice skating last weekend!  not that i would have known how to ice skate (and someone needed to be the photographer), but i'm realizing more and more how much i want to take advantage of outdoor winter activities.  what winter activities are you into?

get the look:  similar blouse / similar cardigan / similar skirt / exact wedges

summer garden.

old navy white lace tee   ·   talbots blazer {thrifted}

j crew watercolor garden skirt {thrifted}   ·   fergalicious irene pumps

i definitely still love this skirt just as much as the first time i wore it, even though that was only a couple weeks ago.  i was just really eager to remix it and it's one of the few skirts i own that fits really well.  of course i had to grab my fun green blazer and a matching necklace... i just couldn't help but coordinate with the colors in the skirt.  i definitely felt like i was in a garden all day!  one of these days i'll put together a recap post of all of the ways i've worn this green blazer as i'm a little abashed i've only written posts for two of the outfits but there have been many, many more!

speaking of gardens, now that i live in a place where i actually have a deck (and a really huge one at that!), we are trying to master the art of gardening.  so far we have some herbs that we stuck in a planter box and some lettuce in the other.  the lettuce is coming up slowly but surely; it has been really fun watching it grow!  now i just have to make sure we dream up some recipes to use the chives, basil, and mint that are cooking in the other planter.

have you ever tried planter gardening, or are you lucky enough to have a plot in your yard that you can dedicate to a true garden?

get the look:  similar blazer / similar tee / similar skirt / similar necklace / exact heels

watercolor garden.

j crew watercolor garden pencil skirt {thrifted}
talbots white ruffle blouse {thrifted}
merona erin heels

i was a little stunned to stumble upon this skirt at the goodwill yesterday, brand new with tags attached and back vent still sewn shut.  it always gives me a little thrill to find a brand new, high quality item - i tend to look around to see who else may be watching in case they, too, recognize the value of the item i have in my hands!  the higher price tag of $14.99 didn't bother me in the slightest since i knew i would never find this skirt for that price on a site like ebay, and i have a feeling it was only priced that high to begin with because the $110 price tag was still attached and gave a clue to the employee doing the pricing that this was originally an expensive skirt.  lucky for me, i had a 25% off coupon to use so this skirt came to a whopping $11.24--a tenth of the original price!  i think that's pretty awesome!

my mom is in town and we're basically hitting up all of the goodwills within a 20 mile radius, so i should give her the credit for bringing me the thrifting luck.  i've thrifted some other goodies that i'm excited to introduce to my closet and our successful goodwill trips so far have reminded me how fun it is to add new clothes to my closet for just a few bucks!

have you scored any great thrifted finds lately?  this skirt will probably rank up there was one of my best!