march 14th {neglected nothing}

old navy boys plaid shirt   ·   merona doubleweave skirt
merona mattie flats {thrifted target stock}

i'm taking a break from no longer neglected today to start wearing some of the new items that i've purchased recently.  i did some ironing last night and felt a little overwhelmed with all of the new or new to me items that are entering my closet.  i seem to always be scrounging for hangers, especially when all of my laundry is done.   i have a sneaking feeling my closet is trying to tell me something...

i've been itching for a plaid shirt for a while in a more masculine print and found this one in the kids department of old navy.  even though there's pulling around the bust i'm willing to deal with it because i love the plaid print so much!  maybe some fashion tape would help.  here are some of my favorite looks lately that inspired me to get some plaid into my closet:  peggy / cee / ginny / m /  there have probably been more, i should start utilizing pinterest i guess to remember what i have been inspired by!

in other news, did everyone hear that google reader is being retired on 07/01/13?  i'm pretty devastated.   what other readers do people use to follow blogs?  it's going to be hard for me to transition to something else but i better start figuring that out now!  bloglovin' i guess?

thursday {trial}

talbots blouse {thrifted}   ·   merona skirt {thrifted target stock}

lela rose for payless charson pumps

trial / this look is a little different for me, i can't really say that i have many flowy or black & white blouses in my closet, but that's the great thing about thrifting - maybe a brand, pattern, or style appeals to you and if the price is right, you're willing to give it a try.  part of me bought this blouse just to re-sell on ebay but i thought i would give it a test run first to see if it has a place in my closet.  i'm still not totally sold {the sleeves and hidden front placket are weird!| but i would like to try it with a colored bottom.  i think i played it safe today.  i also wish i would have some sort of other yellow accent, but my yellow belt just seemed a little too much--a bracelet would have been nice!

the skirt i'm wearing i found as donated target stock at the goodwill in january 2011, but the same version is still being sold in stores and in so many fun colors... i haven't looked closely enough to know if they're all featured in target stores yet or not but do i ever love these new colors & prints.  these merona skirts are some of my favorite skirts and they hold up so well.  i hope i can add a couple of these to my wardrobe before the end of the season!

two other pieces of business:

1) i'm linking up with marionberry style today for her statement necklace challenge--you know i love a good necklace and this clear bauble one seemed like a good way to go since there is a large print on my blouse.

2) THANK YOU to all of my followers--i reached 100 yesterday!  i am so excited about this.  i hope you will pop in the comments and say hello.  it really means a lot to me to have a dialogue with my readers and i hope to do something special soon to commemorate this milestone.  thank you so much for visiting!

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!

friday (mixed)

 

merona balson dress {thrifted target stock}   super old mossimo button-up

old navy cardigan   forever 21 belt   missoni for target suede pumps {thrifted target stock} 

really, why can't brown & black can't be worn together?  think about how often it occurs in nature, like with animal prints.  i loved the black & tab mixed together in this outfit (even if it looks stretched out and wrinkled by the end of the day!).  in fact, i think i am going to have a hard time not wearing some shade of black & tan together whenever i wear these heels, but i think the light blue button-down was a nice addition.  here's to welcoming in the weekend with my most jazzed outfit this week... i love it.  i'll post my weekly recap tonight or tomorrow.  happy friday!

sunday (challenged: striped sweater)

 

old navy striped sweater {temporarily swapped}   old navy button-down

old navy diva skinny jeans   target necklace {thrifted new}   american eagle myles riding boots

this week my friend whitney from between the lines and i will be participating in a challenge to style some of each other's clothes that we get stuck wearing the same way over & over.  last week we each sent each other 5-7 items to style throughout this week.  when i got whitney's box, i squealed.  i mean, talk about excitement when you get a box of goodies to play with the entire week.  the first thing i did was stalk her blog to see how she wore the items she sent me and then try to get a rough idea of how i might work parts of her wardrobe into my week.  thankfully, we both have careers where we dress with a business casual mindset and we both love skirts & cardigans.  in fact, we might dress too much alike as it is because i sent her a blouse of mine to style this week that she already owns!  sorry whitney!

so, i couldn't find a picture of whitney wearing this sweater and it was one that kind of stumped me the most.  you may have noticed that i don't own anything striped in my wardrobe!  so, i'm starting the week off by getting out of my comfort zone right away and styling this cute striped sweater whitney sent me.  it's also nice to show how i style something more casually on the weekend as well.  so, for my first striped item how did i do?  i think i decided that i definitely need some stripes in my wardrobe!

monday (in minneapolis)

izaac mizrahi for target button-down {thrifted}   merona slacks {thrifted target stock}

lela rose for payless "finsbury" heels  
target bauble necklace {thrifted target stock}   f21 belt {thrifted nwt}

like i mentioned here, i have a particular uniform i wear when i visit clients i have never met before or clients of a different culture, so you'll notice today's outfit is really similar as i met with a non-english speaking client in downtown minneapolis. the latter is what i was worried most about, as this saint paul girl doesn't often make it across the river!  i made it back to tell the tale, though.  i'm incredibly conscious of how i come across to people of different cultures and how my body language, manners, and speech will be interpreted, but i still don't want to lose the essence of me in trying to control all of those variables. i'd like to think there was still something fun about this outfit, even if i felt like i was settling for something bland & boring for the purpose of my day.