ASOS, diy, love, OOTD, target, thrift, valentine's day

Be Mine?

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As a single girl I never hated Valentines Day but I never really celebrate it much either. Now that I’m in a relationship I start thinking about what I’m gonna wear on this day pretty soon after the new year, I know it’s silly but that’s just my brain.  Last year I had a vague idea of what I wanted to wear, but this year I had nothing. No ideas, no inspiration, nada. The only thing I knew is that I wanted to pander a little to my boyfriend and wear a skirt and/or a Dress, since he’s fond of them and I tend not to wear them much during the winter months.  So I went thrifting, I looked online, I went to the mall, I scoured pinterest and fashion blogs and … nothing.  I did find a couple dresses I liked but one wasn’t in my size and the other was too expensive. So what’s a girl to do? Look in her closet, duh! I don’t know why but whenever I have an event/ occasion to dress for I rarely look at my wardrobe and pick something from there right off the bat. No, my first instinct is to declare I have nothing appropriate and look anywhere but the most convenient location. So finally last week after coming up empty handed yet again I went through my closet and found no less than 15 pieces that I could possibly wear, 15! silly, silly, silly me. I finally tried them all on in various combinations and decided on this lovely ensemble oh a few hours before dinner on valentines day…

Top: H&M (Thrifted) Skirt: ASOS Tights & Shoes: Target  Earrings: my mom

This outfit wasn’t too exciting and I had plans for a different pair of incredibly valentines day appropriate earrings to add a pop but, of course, I couldn’t find them. So I went with these green ones that I “made” from a broken pair of my mom’s. I decided to wear the skirt since I’ve only really worn it once even though I really like it. I just find it hard to style mini skirts casually, I should probably work on that. It has a lovely mesh band on the bottom that looks really good when you’re not wearing black tights, but it’s Minnesota, it’s February, and it’s cold so those are the breaks. The shirt was a recent thrift find that I’m kind of obsessed with it, it’s stretchy and soft and I love it. Overall I really like it, it doesn’t scream Valentines day date outfit but it’s significantly more dressed up then I get for most of our dates (especially in the winter) so that’s a win.

Anyway the boyfriend and I went to Chino Latino a latin/Asian Fusion restaurant in Minneapolis that I seriously always wanted to try, 80% of which was because of its shiny gold sign (I’m dead serious). We had a kind of early reservation since we didn’t end up making concrete plans until 11 days prior (procrastinators unite!). Dinner was really good and dessert was kind of amazing, we had fried bananas and coconut ice cream, yum . After dinner we just hung out and did our normal date stuff, which was cool.

Didn’t take a picture of my presents but here’s a “in the process of” picture of my Zine. The finished one is on the bottom and my first draft is on the top.

If you were wondering about gifts, this year I got hella crafty and did some serious DIY. I saw a really cool tutorial on Design sponge about making your own mini Valentine’s Day Zine so I got really excited, ran to Michael’s and made one awesome Zine! For the actual gift I made (yes made, as in got all the ingredients and mixed them together) my boyfriend one of his favorite snacks, Trail Mix. Oh yeah I bought an ungodly amount of nuts, dried fruit, M&M’s and chocolate chips and filled two pretty large canisters full of my concoction. Then I gussied them up with some left over craft supplies.  I have to admit I had the most fun making these gifts this year and think I may have to incorporate some DIY every year, if I can. I also gave him the lovely cold I’d been fighting that week, ooops.

My boyfriend isn’t big on the whole flowers and chocolate thing on valentines day, I’m pretty sure he’s convinced it’s some sort of trap and I wouldn’t like them if he got them for me. I keep telling him I would be down but I don’t think he believes me. Anyway that means I always end up getting the sweetest homemade gifts. Which are better than flowers in that it means he actually puts in some time and effort into thinking up a sweet and thoughtful gift.  Last year he gave me a jump drive with all the texts messages we had sent back and forth for the entire first year of our relationship, which is oh 99% of our phone conversations as I’d rather text than talk on the phone most days. It was incredibly sweet and unexpected but a totally appreciated gift since I only just got an iPhone last year and all those texts etc. had to be regularly deleted from my old phone. This year he ended up giving me his version of “Cooper Coupons” from The Big Bang theory, though he called them Cooley coupons (because last names n’ such). Basically they’re coupons I can redeem to make him do things he may otherwise not want to do or at least would bitch about a bit. Go somewhere on date he wouldn’t necessarily want to go, not bitch at me for talking during a TV show, etc. It’s very cute as they’re very tailored to our relationship, I’m already planning a time to redeem my first coupon.

Anyway In honor of V-day I’ll leave you with this adorable video I saw in the New York Times the other day. I think it may be the most adorable love themed YouTube video I’ve seen in awhile. Enjoy.  And whether you’re single or in relationship I hope you had a very Happy Valentine’s Day, or at least go some sweet deals on chocolate the day after.

ASOS, OOTD, pinspired, pinterest, thrift

Pinspired

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I’ve seen a bunch of bloggers do these posts and always liked them but never actually tried them. So no time like the present right? If I can I may make this a recurring series on the dear old blog. I actually saw the skirt I’m wearing on ASOS before I ever saw the inspiration picture on pinterest and as soon as I saw It I knew I had to get it. All the stars seemed to aline in my favor as I got an ASOS voucher as a gift around the same time. I love the easy yet chic look in the inspiration look and decided to go for that this time around.  I switched out the turtle neck for my scoop neck crop top since i’m not a big fan of turtlenecks and I wore this outfit in the summer when turtlenecks were out of the question. I wore this skirt a bunch this summer although I’m not sure if I’ll be transitioning this skirt to fall ( it’s more of a spring/summer look to me), but we’ll see maybe some fall/winter inspiration for this skirt will hit me.

Pinspiration:

My interpretation:


Top and Skirt: ASOS || Shoes: thrift

ASOS, OOTD, target, thrift

Summer go-to

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Crop Top: ASOS  ||  Dress (worn as skirt): thrifted (originally Kardashian Kollection)  ||  Shoes: Target
This outfit was pretty much my go-to last summer and it’s been in pretty heavy rotation this year too. It’s a cute easy outfit, it’s pretty perfect. I’ve worn this a million times but most recently I wore it to go to a flea market with my boyfriend. The boy is not into the whole thrift/vintage/flea market thing but he knows I am so he sucked it up an went with. It ended up being only a few miles from where we went apple picking last fall, apparently all of our excursions are about an hour NW of Minneapolis. Anyway I was a horrible blogger and only got one picture (see above) but the flea market was fun. There were lots of different people and a good amount of vintage stuff as well as new stuff, vegetables, food, DVDs, videos games, the works.  We got there around 9, I read a yelp review that you should get there by 7 (!) to get the best deals/stuff but I just couldn’t make myself (or the boy) get up at 5 in the morning on Saturday, it’s just wrong.  I didn’t end up getting anything as I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without, but it was fun to go.

ASOS, mini-golf, OOTD, put-put, river island, target, walker

Pastels and Put-Put

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Crop top & Sunglasses: ASOS Skirt: River Island (via Asos) Shoes: Target (old)

 

           
          Last Sunday the boy and I went to Artist-Designed Mini-Golf at the walker. Basically it’s a whole mini-golf course full of quirky holes. Unfortunately there was a two hour wait! But we decided to suck it up and wait it out. So we walked around the sculpture garden, Loring Park and saw an exhibit at the Walker. You get free admission to the walker with your mini-golf tickets, unfortunately all of their exhibits were under construction so the only one we could see was an exhibit on Edward Hopper, which was really interesting. I’ve never been to the walker’s normal collection though so that was a bit dissapointing. Guess I’ll have to go back another day to tour the museum. Anyway this season I’ve really been into the ladylike midi skirt trend. This is the first of a few that you’ll be seeing on the blog as the summer rumbles by.  I really like the outfit and thought it worked well for the day. The only thing I would change is the shoes. I like my old target flats but sandals would have been better, I really need to invest/ find at the thirft store some good flats and a comfy pair of sandals. I didn’t relaize until this summer just how few summer shoes I really have.

boots, OOTD, payless, target, thrift

Winter break

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Dress: Thrifted Leggings: Target Boots: Payless

I wore this dress a few days ago when it was warm enough to break from my usual winter pants situation.  Unfortunately right after 10 or so inches of snow were dumped on the city and we’re now gearing up for our third polar vortex. I hate winter. Anyway, I really love this dress although it’s a bit short. It may actually be more of a tunic type situation if I was average height, but at 5’1 it’s still long enough on me to wear as a dress. I’ve been dying to find more shirt dresses since finding this one, I haven’t had much luck but they’re definitely on my to find list.

A|Wear, ASOS, H&M, OOTD, target, valentine's day

Valentine’s Day

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Skirt: A|Wear via ASOS Top: H&M Tights & Boots: Target
           I’ve never been a Valentine’s Day hater, although I’m pretty much always single on Valentine’s day, I love the giving of cheesy valentines to friends and of course chocolate. I genearlly just acknowledge the day maybe wear red or pink and then wait for single girls Valentines day aka February 15th when all v-day chocolate is 50% off. This year though I’m in a relationship and actually have a valentine so I had to actually make plans, buy things, and figure out what to wear. It was all a bit weird, but good. After thinking about possible v-day outfits I remembered this galaxy print pencil skirt that i’ve had since the end of last summer and never really worn. I love the skirt and the pink and purple go with the whole valentine’s day theme so that was sort of the base of the outfit. After deciding on the skirt I wanted a cute top to go with it and after going through a few options I decided to go with this pink chunky knit sweater. I’m not completely sure if I like the outfit as much as I thought I would, it may have looked better in my head, but it’s still pretty good and I was glad I got to finally wear my skirt. Anyway I had a lovely Valentine’s Day and hope you did too.

old navy, OOTD, payless, target

Lumberjack Chic

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Shirt: Target | Jeans: Old Navy | Boots: Payless
          Button downs have been having a serious moment in my wardrobe lately, I’m not really sure why. I’m guessing it has something to do with extreme cold we’ve been having this winter.  Either way they’ve become my go to item for a casual day out. I got this shirt a few years ago at Target and was super excited to wear it until I walked into class the next day and at least 3 other people were wearing the same shirt. I know it shouldn’t but something about seeing so many people wear the same item kinda puts a damper on it. So I relegated it to dorm lounge wear and kept it moving. But, I could never bring myself to donate it so when plaid made a big trendy comeback last fall I knew I had to dust this baby off. Since the fall I’ve been wearing this shirt more than ever, it’s super comfy and warm which is always a plus in the winter.

ASOS, birthday 2013, H&M, leather, OOTD, skater skirt, target

Birthday Outfit #1

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 Top: H&M  Skirt: ASOS Tights & Shoes: Target

            First of all I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, a good black Friday (if you’re into that), and a Happy Hanukkah. Anyway my birthday was the 16th and due to a work meeting early in the morning the day after (boo hiss), my birthday kind of got extended into a birthday week. I figured since I’ve had a severe lack of posts lately that I’d extend all the outfits I wore on various birthday outings into a couple posts. But fret not dear readers! I do have other non-b-day related outfits to share as well. Anyway here’s the first outfit I wore out to dinner the day before my birthday. I wore this skirt last year on my birthday and having worn it a few times since, I think this is the best i’ve styled it so far. Even though it’s black on black the different textures save it from being boring. That said I don’t nearly ware this skirt enough and am dedicated to putting it in heavier rotation in my wardrobe.  I got the coat free from a clothing swap years ago and it’s my favorite dressed up coat. Although I have yet to watch a single episode of Scandal (it’s on my Netflix to do list) I am aware that thanks to Ms. Olivia Pope statement coats are having a serious moment right now. I think my coat kind of fits in that category, It makes my outfit look so put together and professional I kinda love it.

OOTD, target, thrift, Urban Outfitters, wedding

Wedding Reception Style

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Top & Skirt: Thrift  Tights: Target  Shoes: Urban Outfitters
          A former supervisor of mine got married a couple weeks ago  and a bunch of my co-workers and I were invited to the wedding/reception.  Even though I have a ton of clothes whenever I have some special event to go to I feel like I have nothing to wear and should buy something new. I felt like that for the wedding and almost bought a new dress, but decided last minute that I could probably put together a great outfit with pieces already in my wardrobe. And What do you know I did! I thrifted this skirt  a million years ago but have never worn it, mostly because it’s a little dressy and I don’t really go to many “dressy” events. So when I was going through my closet to find something I decided to dust it off and give it a fine debut. I had no idea what to wear with the skirt top wise, as many of the tops either didn’t go with it or just didn’t give off the vibe I was going for. So what’s a girl to do? go to pinterest of course! after searching “tulle skirt outfit” in pinterest I came upon a bunch of outfits and saw one with a lace top and thought aww a lace top would be perfect I wish I … Oh wait I totally have one! Thankfully the top and skirt turned out to be a match made in closet heaven. I got a few compliments on my “dress”, so I think it was a success. And I was proud that I stuck to my guns and used things I already owned instead of buying something new.

70's, Halloween, halloween costumes, OOTD, rhoda, thrift

Halloween 2013: Rhoda Fabulous/ 70’s mob wife / 70’s fortune teller

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Everything Thrifted
           So this post is oh say three weeks late, I’ve decided to blame daylight savings time and the lack of sun for this. As you can see I went with the “Rhoda Fabulous” look for the Halloween party. When it was all put together I think I looked more like a 70’s mob wife or 70’s fortune teller than Rhoda but I still really like it. The best thing about this costume is the only thing I bought specifically for it was the necklace, which I got at Savers. Everything else I had in my closet. When Halloween rolls around it really pays off to be an avid thrifter. Ever since I began really getting into thrifting I haven’t really had to worry too much about Halloween costumes, I’ve always got something that I can fashion into a costume. The only downside of this costume was at the end of the night I realized the seams weren’t the strongest. There was a little unraveling in the dress when I first got it but had plans to chop it up (make it into a maxi skirt) so it didn’t bother me. I totally for got about the loose seams the night of the party and ended up with seam splits along the sleeves at the end of the night. I sewed them up just in case I decided to wear the costume again but I think I’ll end up cutting the threads and going with my original plan to detach the skirt and make it into a maxi skirt. The top is ok but it’s polyester and it’s really hot. Not so much fun. Anyway I had a great time at the party and  I hope you all had a great Halloween!