Blog Love and Pinned It!

I love looking at new blogs and checking out the blogs you lovely ladies share with us on your blog rolls and daily reads lists. Link up parties can be great too, but I'll tell you, I wish there was an easier way to search blogs, like a google just for blogs, I'm surprised no ones thought of that yet, actually. How do you guys find new blogs to read? If you follow me, how did you find me (if you happen to remember)?

I'm loving this outfit today that I recreated from this pin. It's so simple in theory, but I never thought of it.  It doesn't seem like it's going to get warm anytime soon, and I'm sick of complaining about it, so I guess all I can do it rock winter looks and try to make the best of it. So there, Mother Nature.

Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft $5 (thrifted)

Dress: Express $30

Necklace: Plato's Closet $3

Belt: Plato's Closet $3

Tights: DSW $1.5

Boots: Born $100

Love It!

In honor of Valentine's Day I'm showing you this fun sweater.  I love it; it's so fun and youthful.  I found it on clearance at Target and love to wear it as a fun weekend look. I love it with my boyfriend jeans and my animal print heels, add in my favorite necklace and it's the perfect casual look. Anyone have exciting Valentine's plans?  My husband and I plan to go out this weekend, but aren't going to brave the crowds tonight.

Sweater: Target $6

Jeans: Old Navy $5 (thrifted)

Necklace: Express $14

Bracelets: Express $14

Shoes: Fergalicious $15

Lovin' Lace

I've been part of this fun blogging world for three months now and really enjoying getting on blogger each day, enjoying a cup of coffee and reading what all you lovely bloggers have to say and wear.  I love getting to read about your lives, the celebrations, and your daily happenings.  This leads me to my question.  The content on every blog is so unique to each person, some like me devote it more to fashion, some food, some DIY, and to some it seems like a journal they share with the world.  Since blogging can be some unique to each one of us, is a filter necessary?  What do you think?  Is it ok for a blog to be somewhat unsensored with with "sailor talk" and the possibility of sharing things that could be unethicial, or should a blog be PG with us realizing anyone could read it.  What are you thoughts?  I'm truly interested.



Dress: Apt 9 $5 (thrifted)

Cardigan: Old Navy $20

Belt: Kohls $1.5

Necklace: Target $8

Bracelets: Express $14 Kohls $10

Shoes: Fergalicious $15

Ready for Spring

I totally feel like I have my feet in two seasons.  Yesterday I was staying warm in a fur vest and today I'm sporting bare legs and bright colors. In all honesty I'm not sure I know how to dress for spring.  My style has really evolved since starting to look at blogs this fall, and then eventually starting my own.  I finally feel like I'm getting a grasp on my winter style and now it's time to change.  Anyone else feel the same? 

In exciting news, I got a new camera, the Canon Rebel and I'm pretty excited about it.  My sister got one for Christmas and took a few blog post pictures of me with it and I could totally tell the difference.  I'm pretty excited that my husband without prompting said, what about getting you a new camera.  Nice.  I'm still playing around with it but really like it so far.



Linking up with Style Elixir

Blazer: Kohls $17

Button down: JCrew (circa 2004)

Skirt: Target $11

Necklace: eBay $10

Bracelets: Express $14 and The Limited $4

Shoes: Fergalicious $15

Getting My Closet Back and a Giveaway!

Soooooo excited to get my closet back!  I also added some things to it that I've been so excited to wear.  I got this cute skirt recently at Target and this fun necklace as a gift recently too.  I also celebrated getting my closet back by buying this great clutch.  I liked it so much I decided to get one for one lucky reader too.  Nothing better than a giveaway to celebrate the accomplishment of finishing a 30x30 challenge. : )  

Blazer: The Limited (circa 2004)

Lace top: Kohls $20

Skirt: Target $11

Bracelets: Express $14 and Plato's closet $3

Tights: DSW $1.5

Shoes: Nine West $30

30x30 Recap Re-style Day 3

Here's my third and final day of my 30x30 Challenge Re-cap.  I'm so glad I've done this challenge, but I'm also so excited to get my closet back and to have some more freedom to wear what I feel like wearing, not what just what I'm supposed to wear.

Lace Top Re-style

I really liked all of these looks, but the third look with the pencil skirt is probably my favorite. I love the simplicity of it, but the dress ness of it as well. Once again, I never would have thought of this look before the 30x30 challenge.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Gray Skirt Re-style

My favorite look was the first look, although I really love all three looks. I have a few more looks already in mind for this skirt, so stay tuned :)

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Striped Cardigan Re-style

Of the four looks, I really like the first look best, with the fourth being a close second. I really liked the pattern mixing in the first look and the boots with it as well.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Navy Blazer Re-style

This was by far the item I wore the most this month. I couldn't seem to get enough! I was really happy with all the looks that I wore it with. As I mentioned yesterday I loved it with the print dress, but I also really love the look with the polka dot blazer and boots too. 

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Look 5

Look 6

Look 7

What I take away from this challenge:

1. I can create a lot of looks with my existing clothes, things don't just have to go together one way. This challenge really challenged me to look at my clothes differently.  
2. If I ever did this again, I would take Saturday off.  Everyone needs a day off, even from their closet.  Sometimes a girl just needs yoga pants and sneakers!
3. This was really fun and I'm so glad that I had a bunch of great girls to go through this with, if I do it again, I definitely think doing it as a group is the way to go. : )

Tips to anyone thinking of doing this crazy thing:

1. Before starting the challenge pick what you think the 30 items should be, then just start trying things on.  I spent a couple of hours doing this and putting outfits together.  If I tried it on and liked it,  I took a quick picture, that way I remembered it for later.  Helpful tip, I sometimes liked an outfit in person, but hated it once I looked at the pictures.
2. Trying things on caused me to switch out a few items I thought I wanted the 30x30 too, that way I really just ended up with items I knew I'd use (although some were definitely used more than others.)
3. Because I'm a nerd, I took the quick pictures and put them into a collage so I could try to plan out when I'd wear each outfit.  Now this ended up changing multiple times, but I had a huge fear of wearing the same thing for like three days in a row. Looking at the outfits on a collage helped me keep track of my ideas visually, then shift them around to wear them when I wanted to.
4. Have fun, I know I did.

So, what do you all think, anyone plan on doing this in the future?  Tomorrow I'll be back in new clothes, I'm not going to lie, I'm excited about them. : )

30x30 Recap and Re-style Day 2

First off, thanks to everyone for your sweet words about me finishing this challenge.  Your encouragement means so much to me!  

I was also nominated for another Leibster Award by Emily at The Skinny, stop by her blog and say hi :)

Today and tomorrow I'm going to show you some of my favorite pieces from the 30x30 Challenge and the different ways I wore them throughout the month.  I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts!

Polka Dot Re-style

Throughout the month I wore this sweater four times; two time more dressy and two times more casually.  Of the four looks, my favorite is the sweater with the pencil skirt. I seriously love this outfit, and never would have thought about the outfit prior to this month. 

Look 1 

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Print Skirt Re-style

Ok, so I seriously love this skirt and was really surprised at all the looks I could create with it, but I think it's more of a statement piece than a daily wear.  It's just so unique to other pieces I have, I felt weird wearing it so much.  I LOVE it, but once a month wearing it is probably enough for me. Of the four looks, I probably like the second one best, but three and four were cute too.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Pencil Skirt Re-style

I said this already, but the first look is probably my favorite. I really do like all of these looks though. This skirt is definitely one of my favorite things in my closet and it makes me want to invest in a few more colored pencil skirts too.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Print Dress Re-style

I'm so glad I close this dress in this challenge! My favorite of the four are the two with the blazer. I think the fact that I thought of this dress as strictly for summer before this challenge is one of the big things I'll take away. I was forced to think outside the box, and ended up with some fun looks I'll definitely wear again.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

30x30 Recap:Day 1

I did it, I did it, I'm done. Done. Done. Whew, that was more work than I thought it would be. Good work, but work.

Here they are, all of my looks together in one giant collage.  This has been a great month and I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and thinking outside the box, but inside my closet.  

(click on the picture to make it bigger)

Here are my favorites of all 30:

I was planning to pick three, but it was too hard. All of my favorites are outfits I didn't wear before, and these six actually encompass 21 of my 30 peices, which I think it's kind of cool.



 Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Look 4
Look 5
Look 6

Here are my least favorites:

What do these three have in common, other than the exact same pose, that is?  My two least favorite items, my pants and my polka dot top. I think all the outfits are ok, but they definitely not exciting enough to be blogable.

(please don't click on the picture to make it bigger, I'd like to forget these oufits)

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3



I also thought it would be interesting to see how many times I wore each item, here's the college of all 30, and the number on top, is the number of times I wore the item this month.

(click on the image to make it bigger)

I'm really surprised about how much I wore a few things, like my blazer and black heels, and how few times I wore a few things, like my blue cardigan, purple lace top, and leopard print shoes.  I'm not surprised about the polka dot blouse, I do not like it an all. Although I love 29 of the 30 items I chose, I obviously felt like some were easier to remix than others.  

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to show re-styles of some of my favorite items from the month.  I'm excited to see the different ways I wore an item in one simple collage picture, and I can't wait to hear what some of your favorites from the month were.

30x30 Day 30: Baby, it's Cold Outside

Day 30:

You'd think I'd be doing jumping jacks and high-fiving strangers today. I've completed the challenge, but there are two problems, it is too stinking cold to be outside taking silly pictures, and I have an unnatural fear of high fives. I think they're awkward, then I feel awkward, and it's already awkward enough posing for pictures in front of your house while your neighbors drive by...... Awkward is a weird word.

Anyway, to the outfit: This outfit wasn't a stretch to come up with, because it's kind of a typical work look, but I love the twist the tights put on a fairly average look. I'll probably throw on my black cardigan before going to work, remember its cold out here!

Starting Moday I'm planning to do a couple of days of a 30x30 recap. I'm excited to hear all your thoughts on the challenge!

Top: Express $30

Belt: The Limited $10

Skirt: Express $30

Necklace: Charming Charlie's $1

Bracelets: Express $14 and Kohls $10

Tights: Target $8

Shoes: Nine West $30