ill-fitting.

gap button-down {thrifted}   ·   old navy v-neck sweater

merona doubleweave skirt & merona maye heels {both thrifted target stock}

i have been having major issues getting dressed recently.  let's be real, this is nothing new.  suffice it to say, none of my clothes fit but what i hope will fit is a treadmill in the back of my SUV that i can bring home from my parent's house when i visit for thanksgiving!  putting on clothes that used to fit just fine that are now way too snug for any degree of comfort is pretty much one of the worst feelings.  anyway, after trying on two outfits before this one that just didn't work, i finally decided just to recreate an outfit i saw kate wear this week - neutral colored skirt, navy sweater, plaid button-down, statement necklace, DONE!  i love the "holiday" plaid vibe of her button-down and the printed shoes she wore that were really easy for me to replicate with similar items in my own closet.  thanks kate!

get the look:  similar button-down / this season's sweater / exact skirt / exact heels / similar necklace

a better blazer.

talbots blazer {thrifted}   ·   semantiks skirt {thrifted}

merona maye heels

oct 29th / this is one of three blazers i thrifted over the weekend, two from talbots.  don't you love hitting the thrift store and finding multiple items you know were donated from the same person that are exactly your size?  unlike the talbots blazer i wore during koi day last week during the pantone-inspired fall color challenge, i can tell by the tag that this talbots blazer is more current and definitely more appropriately sized for my frame -- or at least more preferable for my frame.  i love the shade of green, the 3/4 sleeves, and that it hits right at my hips.  there is no button and i liked the way it looked better closed, so i cinched it with a belt.  i think i will definitely be adding a button though so in the future a belt doesn't distract from the cute bow on the pockets.  thanks for visiting!

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

july 26th {blindingly}

 

j ​ crew blouse {thrifted} · j crew factory skirt 

merona maye pumps {thrifted target stock} 

it is true, i whined & moaned about the brightness of this skirt and the shortness of a dress i recently ordered from j crew factory. since there wasn't much i could do about the length of the dress i sold it on ebay, but i decided before i totally shunned this skirt i needed to at least wear it ONCE. with some virtual encouragement from dotty and a bright yellow dress she wore this week, i gave my blindingly bright skirt a confident test run today. i probably would never wear this skirt to a home visit with a client, but today was a quiet friday in the office and seemed like the perfect day to give it a go. i paired it with this dark navy blouse and a coordinating scarf (it barely reached 70 degrees today, blissful!) and you know what... i loved it! i still wish the skirt were less-neon, i think it would feel less like a "trend," but i'm willing to hang onto it now. have a lovely weekend!

june 26th {hey oh}

merona popover lace blouse   ·   mossimo slacks {thrifted target}

merona maye heels   {thrifted target}   ·   inpink necklace

i have felt so disconnected from my blog lately that i wanted to make it a point to actually write out a post on a weekday rather than waiting until friday to recap what i wore throughout the week.  these lulls hit me every so often, but i want to maintain this hobby of blogging as i still feel strongly about getting dressed intentionally and being inspired by others.  i think sometimes the problem can be that after you've worn a particular item a few times you run out of descriptive or emotional ways to talk about it.  and let's face it, i re-wear/re-mix/re-work (however you want to say it!) the pieces in my closet a lot.  other bloggers do such an awesome job at sharing snippets and vignettes about their lives, but i don't think i have quite honed or explored that type of voice for my blog.  so, i hope you'll forgive me if i literally just run out of things to say--at least i shouldn't have a problem of ever running out of things to wear--let's hope not, anyway!

i hope your week is going well!

may 22nd {shirred}

old navy sweater   ·   j crew shirred wool skirt {thrifted}

merona maye heels {thrifted target stock}

this skirt was one of my finds when i went thrifting with my mom this past weekend.  over the period of the week she was visiting, we went to four different goodwills, one of them twice!  i bought this skirt with the intention of selling it on ebay as it's shorter than i normally wear, but when the temps dipped back down to the 50s with rain in the forecast, it seemed like the perfect day to wear it at least once with tights!

here's a spread of some of my other goodwill finds from this week.  my clothing spending is ridiculous this month (and i know i'm not going to be able to stay away when the GW is going to be 50% off on memorial day) but it was fun thrifting with my mom and finding some good deals!

 

{j crew argyle & lattice print, mossimo pearce pumps, picture frame for work cube,

fun stripey placemats, old lady floral fabric for a handmade dress--it's in process!}

are you getting your target outfits ready for my link-up with whitney next week?!

may 2nd {linen}

old navy linen blazer   ·   merona lace popover top

calvin klein skirt {thrifted}   ·   merona maye heels {thrifted target stock}

welcome to day four of the patone-inspired spring color challenge.  thank you all so much for participating with us so far this week, it has been so fun seeing my blog filled with such colorful thumbnails and i'm sure marissa agrees.  if you are just joining us, the link-up for emerald (monday) and african violet (tuesday) was right here at my blog.  marissa is hosting us the rest of the week!

i am so curious to see how people interpret the color linen for today.  is it tan?  blush?  since i couldn't quite figure that out, i went the literal route and wore this great linen blazer that i thrifted forever ago.  i really wear it year round, but i'm especially excited to pull it out this spring!  i paired it with this great lace blouse from target i also couldn't wait to wear and brought in a print with the shoes.

be sure to head over to the modern austen to add your linen look!

february 27th {detour}

retro poplin dress {c/o eshakti}   ·   j crew riviera jacket

merona maye heels {thrifted target stock}

i figured i would jump right in and wear this dress that i reviewed from eshakti on monday with a look pretty similar to what i posted but with a different necklace and shoes.  there is time to be more creative but i like how the neutral jacket and shoes paired against the bright orange dress.  looking for a dress of your own at eshakti?  they are offering my readers 20% off with the code LTERTELYST valid through 03/10/13.  happy shopping!

today i was in my car nearly half the day, which is unusual for me... i have a lot of clients and a lot of visits each week {i'm a social worker and provide care coordination to seniors as a part of their health plan for anyone who might not know or may be new around here}, but i try to plan my visits the previous week so i can spread them out so i only have maybe one a day.  today i had to go to a care conference for one of my clients who lives 30 miles away from my office, so i decided to tack on some other visits as i worked my way back... unfortunately the care conference ran long and i had to cancel my second appointment.  then, as i was attempting to get back to the office, a major highway i needed to take was completely closed and i had no idea how to get to my third visit, much less back to my office!  i wanted to go east on this highway but was forced to go west and ended up going 20 miles out of my way before i finally recognized familiar exits and could maneuver back to my office.  so my original intention of combining trips backfired on me and i only got through 1 of the 3 visits i wanted to make and ended up needing to take a ridiculous detour. 

i blame this on minneapolis!  minnesotans are funny... i think those of us who live in st paul are more comfortable staying in st paul and the same goes for those who live in minneapolis.  we don't understand the layout of one another's cities and it seems like such an effort to cross over the mississippi river (the dividing line) to go into the other city.  i'm a st paul girl and the visits i had today were in minneapolis suburbs.  unfortunately i think i'll have to head back sooner than i'd prefer since i missed two of my visits today. does a similar feeling exist between your city and a neighboring city?  more importantly, how did we handle getting lost before smart phones existed?!

thanks for visiting!