koi.

​talbots blazer {thread-upped}
ab studio chiffon dress   ·   lela rose for payless heels

welcome to day 3 of the patnone-inspired fall color challenge marissa & i have been hosting this week!  today through friday we'll add our links here at my blog.  check out day 1 and day 2 at marissa's blog - the link ups for both are still open if you are a little behind but still want to participate!

today's color is koi, a subdued orange.  although i love the two orange dresses (1 & 2) i own and have a couple blouses that are orange, i was most looking forward to wearing this talbots blazer i received in a recent threadup order (click here to join through my referral link and receive $10 off your first purchase!).  i placed the order before marissa & i had finalized our plans for this challenge, so i was pleasantly surprised when it arrived last week and i realized it was a perfect koi orange!  what wasn't so great was the sizing - bigger, boxier, and longer than i prefer my blazers to be.  i'm pretty stubborn about returning items i purchase online unless i can do so in a B&M store, so i decided just to keep it even though i'm not satisfied with the fit.

while i continue to ponder the fate of this koi-colored blazer, link up below and show me how you're wearing this shade of orange this fall.  and feel free to leave me a comment with any advice!

get the look:  similar blazer / similar belt / exact dress / similar heels

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An InLinkz Link-up

gravy.

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 old navy chiffon shirt · ann taylor eyelet skirt {thrifted / similar} 

lela rose for payless heels {similar} / simonson's jewelry necklace {similar} 

oct 9th / hello good people! just popping in to show my outfit from today. i love the color of this green blouse that i haven't worn in a while, and pairing it with navy seemed like a natural combination. i resisted the urge to wear the navy wedges i wear all. the. time. and pulled out these fun heels that are always a fave. pretty typical outfit for me but with pieces i've never paired together before, making the outcome feel a little more fresh and interesting to wear. 

 there is a booth at our state fair that has gobs of jewelry for ridiculous prices, so the past two years i've made it a point to buy myeslf a fun necklace. last year i bought this purple strand necklace and this year i bought this minty beaded gem - for $5! it's a fun souvenir and great statement necklace, my favorite. i love how the slightly clear mint beads turn a bit darker against the shade of this shirt for a monochromatic look!  thanks for visiting!

my threadup experience.

j crew retro orange pencil skirt {threadupped}
merona button-down {thrifted/similar}   ·    lela rose for payless heels {similar}

i first heard about threadUP a few weeks ago from kimmie's blog (original post) and because i am naturally interested in just about anything, i clicked over and created an account and within minutes had two skirts in my shopping cart.  with the alluring $10 discount i was provided, it was a no-brainer to go through with the purchase and get two great quality skirts for less than $20.  

before my items shipped, i received an email stating one of my skirts did not meet their quality standards and i would be refunded.  shortly thereafter, i received a 99 cent refund in my paypal account.  i couldn't understand why i would only be refunded 99 cents, but i waited for my order to arrive to see if there was a flaw in one of the skirts they wanted to compensate me for.  when my shipment only contained one skirt and i still had only been refunded 99 cents (not the full price of the skirt, which was $7.49), i dug a little deeper and realized my account online had been credited the price of the skirt and the 99 cents must have been the shipping fee i was refunded.  i emailed their customer service to clarify and this was confirmed.

aside from that minor issue, i was pleased with the skirt that you see above that i did receive.  i love j crew pencil skirts (who doesn't?!) but they are a pretty penny not only in store/online at regular price but also on ebay, which is where i typically look for them.  plus, i'm cheap frugal and don't like going over my price point and ebay auctions for j crew skirts either start out too high or end up high anyway, so i never end up bidding.  it actually worked out really well for me, i think, to find this skirt at the price i did on threadUP and for that i'm really pleased!

will i shop at threadUP again?  well, yeah, because i have that skirt credit in my account that i don't want to go to waste... but i probably would browse there every once in a while anyway to see what they have in stock.  if you're interested in signing up for an account and want to go through my referral link, click here. 

this post is in no way sponsored by or affiliated by threadUP, they don't even know about my blog.  i just wanted to share my honest experience with this online marketplace.  however, in full disclosure: if you sign up for an account through my referral link above, you'll get $10 to put toward your first purchase and i'll get $10 if you buy. 

august 5th {more lattice love}

 

​o​ld navy camp shirt · j crew lattice print skirt {thrifted} 

lela rose for payless wells pumps · thrifted necklace 

welcome to the umpteenth installment of heidi + j crew lattice print pencil skirt.  my love for this skirt really knows no bounds and i loved it with this magenta-ish button-down.  i'm slowly working my way through the rainbow of colors to pair with it {i last wore it with a kelly green hue}... i'm thinking yellow next time?  and doesn't this thrifted necklace look as if it were made to pair with this skirt?

that's all i've got!  i'm off to a concert downtown - happy monday!

february 28th {colorful}

merona cardigan {thrifted target stock}   ·   limited scarf {thrifted}
j crew factory pencil skirt    ·   lela rose for payless heels

it's funny, i read about 3-4 blog posts today in which the blogger lamented for spring, either because of the potential for warmer weather or for the opportunity to wear brighter clothes.  well, not this lady... we're still in the dead of winter here in minnesota but i'm already dressing like it's spring!  i can get disillusioned after reading so many other people's thoughts about getting dressed, but sometimes i just want to say, "wear what you want, when you want, the end!"  is that bad?  what i mean is, there should be no rule that you have to wait until a certain calendar month to wear a certain color or print.  because really... who should it matter to aside from anyone but you?  when i bought my green gingham shirt and orange button-down at old navy a few weeks back, the cashier said, "looks like you're doing some spring shopping!"  and i thought to myself, "er, no... i do not plan to stick these in the back of my closet and not wear them until may."  i'm all for wearing what you want and wearing it proudly... and that includes color (can you tell!).

i don't mind winter, but one reason i am looking forward to spring is so i don't have to wear tights as often.  i'm getting stumped on matching tights to my outfits and then shoes.  i also have some shoes that just don't look right with tights that i'm ready to wear again (nude wedges, i'm looking at you).

do you feel as though you have to balance colors, textures, prints with the seasons or do you wear what you want, when you want?  i think it is so interesting to hear other people's take on this!  thanks for visiting.

wednesday {jewely}

just a little jewel toned inspired outfit to get me through the middle of the week.  hope you've made it through yours as well!  thanks for popping by!

tuesday (seventy)

old navy cardigan   ·   talbots painterly floral skirt

lela rose for payless wells pumps {more lela rose}

 

minnesota was granted a near 70 degree day today stuck in-between our usual highs in the 50s, so i had to pull out this skirt to wear at least one more time before next spring.  come to think of it, maybe it didn't matter that i tried to mimic my outfit to the environment outside as i work in a windowless basement office and didn't even know what was happening outside at all today!  i am a little touchy about this some days. ;)  well, at least i didn't have to turn on my heated seats this morning!  hopefully many of you still have some sunny, warm days left yet this fall - it's too bad i couldn't get outside to enjoy ours today!  thanks for dropping by!

tuesday {fallback}

merona cardigan {thrifted target stock}   ·   banana republic slacks {thrifted}

lela rose for payless wells pumps   ·   inpink necklace

 

fallback / there are days when i fall asleep on the couch watching hallmark movies at 9pm and groggily drag myself to bed when the hefty weight of my cat atop my lap wakes me up and i can barely keep my eyes open long enough to look straight ahead into my open closet to figure out to wear the next day.  this may or may not have happened last night.  in these instances, i fall back on a solid colored bottom (pants or skirt) and a patterned blouse or cardigan.  the print on the cardigan does all the work for you to help you looking like you put some effort into your appearance when really you're still thinking about that crazy dream you had right before you woke up {it was crazy!}.  i think printed dresses are great for this as well but the temps in the mornings here have still been pretty cool; dare i say that within the next week or two i may be able to wear tights?!

 

my friend jess is letting me guest blog at her blog j's style today where i talk a little more about this and answer a few other questions she had for me about my personal style, sewing, and what item in my closet always helps me feel more professional.  i hope you'll check out the post here & thanks to anyone who may be visiting me from her blog!

wednesday.

mossimo ultrasoft cardigan {thrifted target stock}  

loft abstract floral pencil skirt {ebayed}

lela rose for payless wells pumps

i had high hopes for this outfit this morning, but as the day wore on i began to dislike more of it than i liked.  it let me feeling pretty uninspired about the way i was presenting myeslf towards those i interacted with and even lose a little confidence.  i think when we feel that way at the end of the day, that's when the pictures stay in the camera and the blog post goes unpublished.  why rehash an outfit you felt so indifferent about?  i'm hoping that you guys will give me some constructive feedback though, as i know that's what will help me look at this outfit a little differently or choose other items to pair with each other next time. 

i will stay that i like that the copper colored cardigan brings out the orange tones from the skirt, which at first glance is primarily a lot of yellow & pink.  the skirt itself was my first ebay purchase ever and i'm pretty proud of my bidding & winning.  my understanding of ebay was totally skewed and i didn't realize exactly how bidding worked so i'm glad i figured it out in time to win this auction.  do you do much ebaying?  have any bidding or searching tips that you can share?  it has definitely been sucking up a lot of my time lately but so far i've just been doing a lot of watching and not a lot of bidding, so hopefully i won't get into too much trouble!  thanks for visiting!

thursday (misses!)

 merona essential cardigan   converse blouse {thrifted}

isaac mizrahi for target skirt {thrifted}

lela rose for payless wells pumps

i went to target yesterday to pick up some snacks for a meeting we had that afternoon and ended up walking away with this cardigan for $3.88 (psst, i used a coupon from the target.com website for $3 off a merona item!) and two pairs of tights.  i love the end of the season when major clearance mark downs start to occur - and in my neck of the woods i am still squeaking out a few more days of tights. these tights, though, are horrible.  i hated the way they looked in natural light - i had a deeper pair of navy tights but what do ya know, as soon as i put them on a magical hole appeared by the knees.  i have such bad luck with tights.  and yep, there is a big gap by my heel with these shoes because they are a half size too big... this outfit might seem like a bunch of misses but overall, in my opinion, still a hit!   have a nice evening!

thursday (pea soup)

 

merona olive artist caridgan {thrifted target stock}   old navy white button-down

handmade (by me) skirt   lela rose for payless wells lazer cut pumps

i just wore their twin last week, but i couldn't wait to wear these heels any longer.  even though they're a half size too big... i'm in love with them.  i have kleenex jammed in the toe and heel pads in the back (which really aren't doing much), oh the things we do for fashionable footwear!  also, i have to say that this outfit looked a lot different in my mind and i felt a lot better in it, but it looks like a drab pea soup.  maybe because i was originally wearing a different skirt with it.  oh well, what are ya gonna do?  have a good evening!

 

monday (shoes, shoes, shoes)

i guess i am starting the new year out with a bang, as i've already purchased five pairs of shoes.  in case you are in the mood for some shoe shopping as well this monday evening, i thought i would share my excitement over one of my particular shoe deals.  i am a big fan of lela rose for payless heels.  i have worn my black finsbury pair from several years ago into the ground, and loved them so much that i bought them in brown too.  so, when i randomly went to the payless website today just to browse and saw that several lela rose styles were marked down, i had a hard time leaving the site without making a purchase.  i ended up gettng the madison printed pump and the wells lazer cut pumps: 

each is marked down to $17.99 (originally $54.99) and i found a 20% off coupon code online (65393) to add an even bigger discount.  also, the great thing about payless is you can ship for free to any payless store, and i live across the street from a mall.  i'm pretty much in love with both of these heels!  sizes are really limited, but if you are as in awe of the price tag as i was, you might want to check it out!  i also found these shoes at the goodwill this weekend & a pair of fioni booties (payless strikes again!).

 

mossimo vassie snip-toe pumps & mossimo velda patent oxford pumps.  

and... i am pretty sure i have no more room for shoes in my shoes closet.  happy shoe shopping!