Doubling it Up

My love for fall layering is becoming quite problematic lately. You see, it's supposed to be a little bit cooler and less humid, but for some reason the summer winds have come again and I am stuck with a closet full of fall/winter stuff while it's 85 degrees out. I knew that would happen as soon as I packed away all my summer clothes!

But I figured, "What the hay!" and decided to layer anyways. This time I'm layering my denim dress under the polka dot dress for a more fall appropriate look, and then mixing in some brown accessories. I figured if I'm going to layer two dresses in the hot heat, why not include a little brown/black mix too?! I'm such a rebel. Ok, so I guess now a days it's not all that rebellious to mix brown and black. I mean, it's not like I'm mixing stripes with plaid! Now that is revolutionary! I may need to find a plaid skirt or something to try it out.

Denim Dress, Ross ($10)
Polka Dot Dress, Forever21 (swap with Jasmine from Transient Withdrawal)
Ralph Lauren Belt, Thrifted ($4)
Vintage Shoes, Thrifted ($1)

Sort of Witchy

Wow, it I had a broom and a pointy hat I might mistake myself for a witch in this getup. The funny thing is, I actually wore this to work! hahaha!!! But I do like it. The skirt has a pretty dark green satin fabric with a black lace overlay and I thought the best way to wear it would be with a striped top. And to give it that extra witchy Salem flair I put on my platform lace up oxfords.

It's too bad it was raining tonight, because I could've worn this outfit for a little lantern ghost tour in a nearby town. Not that we have any legendary ghost stories around here. Usually it's just a few urban legends about civil war ghosts that haunt various cemeteries. And then the ghost tour turns into an impromptu history lesson. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's just not very scary. So what your Halloween plans this year?

H&M top, Thrifted ($2)
Lacey Skirt, Ebay ($5)
Oxfords, Dillards ($25)
Necklace, Forever21 (gift)
Bracelet, Thrifted ($3)

It's Time for Fall Fun!!!

Alright, get ready for a pretty heavy duty photo post. There has been a lot going on these last couple of days, and now I'm sitting and relaxing.

Since today Zach and I had plans to do the annual SPCA Dog Walk (sort of a dog parade) I wanted to dress appropriate for the occasion. It was pretty chilly this morning so I threw on my black cashmere turtleneck and skinny jeans. Since I'm a pretty cold blooded person I figured for good measure, I'd add my leopard print faux fur coat! I was so comfy in this and I felt quite fashionable for such a casual get together in my neighborhood. My pup decided to sport the adorable green bandanna and show her support for such a noble cause.

This was Bobbing for Hotdogs...Too Cute!!!


This little guy wanted to come home with me! His name is Guiness.

Apparently the Survive Norfolk event got a lot of attention and ended up becoming national news!!! I'm so proud of the little area of Ghent! We are a mighty neighborhood who loves to come together in the name of fun, charity, and goofiness. Everyone who participated donated $5 or more to the cause and the leftover proceeds went to three different local charities. It was quite an epic event and we had Zombies running a-muck for about 3 hours into the night. I was originally gonna play, but thought that becoming a spectator would be just as much fun. Zach played and was caught by zombies about halfway through, so I was proud of him:) Here's a couple of shots I got throughout the night.

Oh to Be Busy!!!

I've been one busy lady these last couple of days and it's just gonna get crazier! So these little walks with my Starla Darla are becoming sacred right now. I think I will finally start to settle down sometime in November, but until then....

Until then my time is being spent figuring out ways to keep my outfits different, pretty, and somewhat comfortable. Usually what I wear on my blog, I wear on my walks to work, so comfort is key. This flouncy bouncy dress was exactly what I was looking for this morning. The heavy hem keeps it bouncy, while making sure that the wind won't blow it around too easy, and then the comfy warm sweater with the tie completed my look. And since it was a little warm today, I decided sheer tights were the way to go.

Oh and another thing that's been keeping me busy is my constant need to bake and cook! It was dreadfully hot in my apartment all summer long, so we spent many a night going out to dinner. Now I am discovering lots of yummy recipes and I have a fully stocked pantry so it's been busy in the kitchen. Just last night I made biscotti and brownies!! Oh and there is a huge Zombie party going on, practically all week long! And that's keeping me on my toes. We're doing a Zombie race tomorrow, then later there's Zombie Prom and Zombieland...it's just a crazy week.

Sweater, Forever21 ($9)
Dress, Modcloth (gift)
Stockings, Target ($5)
Shoes, Thrifted ($2)
Bracelet, Lia Sophia ($40)

Nostalgia and Memories

This outfit was sort of bitter sweet for me. My grandmother passed away about 3 years ago and after she died there wasn't anything left for me to keep to think of her. My grandpa is the total opposite of a pack rat so as soon as there wasn't a use for her things anymore he invited all of her friends to come to the house and grab what they wanted. Unfortunatley my family lives in Upstate New York and I had no idea that all of her things would be gone when I came to visit 6 months after her death. I was sort of disappointed. She had a huge and I mean HUGE collection of costume jewelry that I admired my whole life, plus her favorite magnified mirror that I loved and it was all mostly gone. I was left with a small box of broken jewelry to pick through and some other do-dads and that was about it.

That was until I hunted in the attic and found an assortment of winter clothes she apparently stored away back in the 70s, never to see the light of day until 2007. It was then that I unearthed this pretty awesome polyester shirt of hers. It fit perfect and I was so glad I had something that was hers that I could keep. She was quite a fashionable lady.

So this outfit is in memory of her. I wish so badly I would've had a blog like this before she died. She would've gotten a kick out of it because she would know what I was doing on a daily basis. I miss her terribly and I'm glad I have a little something to hold onto to feel closer to her.

Vintage Blouse, Grandma's Attic
Vintage Sweater, Goodwill ($2)
Vintage shoes, Thrifted ($1)
Jeans, Thrifted ($2)
Ring, Gem Show ($7)

When Blogging Turns to Friendship

Thanks to the wonderful world of blogging, I've met lots of fun people and some of them, right in my neck of the woods. I started reading Brittany's blog Finders Keepers back in January and I was so happy to find out she lived so close to me. We met up soon after we discovered each other's blog and since then we've tried to meet up and hang out whenever both of us had the time. This past weekend we decided it was double date time! We decided on a dinner and movie date since the Haunted Hayride was going to cost something ridiculous...Like $40 a couple! So we played it low key and enjoyed a fun evening of pictures, Mediterranean food, and a good indie movie. Which is so Ghent it's not even funny. I figured I'd give them a new experience in Norfolk, since more often than not Norfolk, VA gets a bad rap.

We made our way to a little bit of hiding spot I use for pics in my neighborhood and used the fleeting sunlight to our advantage. It was fun taking pics together, but a little awkward, since we are not used to posing with another person. So we tried out different things that worked best, tried not to laugh too much, and basically kept it natural. See us looking at leaves on the tree? Yeah, that is totally natural...hahaha!!! We had fun with it, as you can see.

And may I say, I was totally loving Brittany's outfit. She can rock an anorak jacket like nobody's business and it was so cute with her heart print dress. As for me, I went a little bit country with the cognac boots, denim dress, and my trusty vintage shawl cardigan.

Dress, Ross ($10)
Belt, Vintage ($2)
Cardigan, Thrifted ($4)
Boots, Ebay ($20)

Less is More

Nothing strikes my fancy more then shorter skirts in the cooler months. I always feel like I can get away with it, since I have very opaque tights, which makes it seem a little more appropriate. Now I wouldn't wear this outfit to work or anything, but just for a random day, sure! My skirt is a velvet black number that I thrifted over the weekend and I fell in love with the fit. And I finally got around to wearing this blouse that I thrifted way back in April at a Goodwill in Richmond. They had a whole bunch of them new with tags from Target so I grabbed one as soon as I found my size. And then the hot sticky weather hit us in Virginia mid April and polyester satin was the last thing I wanted near my body. But today was the perfect day to wear it, so I'm glad it finally got some use!

I felt like since the blouse was such a vibrant piece in itself, I'd keep the accessories very minimal. And by minimal I mean only my wedding set. I tried on bracelets, rings, scarfs, and it all seemed like too much. I believe it was Chanel Coco who said, "When accessorizing, always take off the last thing you put on". The concept of less is more is always a good one, in my opinion.

Blouse, Thrifted ($2)
Skirt, Thirfted ($2)
Tights, Target ($5)
Shoes, Payless ($12)

I'm Coming Clean!!

Let me tell you a little secret about me. I feel like I've been doing this blogging thing for a while now and should come clean about my closet organization. Or lack there of. I've decided that today is the day to finally stop procrastinating and redo my closet, because right now my closet is on the floor in plastic bags. Do you want to know how long it took me to put this outfit together? About 30 minutes. Not because I was being indecisive, but because I couldn't find a damn thing! It seriously looks like a tornado went through my bedroom. I'd provide a picture, but it's much too embarrassing. My military father would probably ground me right now for the way my bedroom looks;)

So this outfit is all about staying warm when the cool chilly fall winds start getting stronger. Today was supposed to be spent at a wine festival on the water...hence staying warm, but plans changed so now I'm wearing this to stay warm on a nice long walk to the Stockley Garden's Art Festival. I found this velvet skirt last week while thrifting and fell in love. It's vintage with pretty metal buttons and it goes great with so many things. Then I threw on my husbands white button down, my thick knitted cardigan and tights and felt good as gold. And speaking of gold I thought I'd go bright with my tights. I felt like I needed more color, so here you go!

White Button Down, H&M ($30 but from hubby's closet)
Velvet Navy Skirt, Thrifted ($2)
Cardigan, Forever21 ($9)
Tights, Target ($4)
Shoes, Target ($10)
Belt, Thrifted ($4)

Finding the Silver Lining

I'm getting to really enjoy the fact that I don't have a car anymore. My walks to and from work have really helped with my stamina and I've even noticed my clothes fitting a little better. I guess there was a silver lining to our car accident three weeks ago. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the darkening days. I sense that my excitement for walking from work might diminish by that point.

And all this walking has certainly affected the way I dress for work. I made the mistake last week of wearing a flowy dress on a very blustery day, so now I find wearing fitted skirts with tights works much better. I even found myself to be a little more inspired today since I was motivated to take out my winter clothes. I faintly remembered one of my favorite skirts ,which was hiding in my winter closet and then built an outfit around it. Isn't it great when you open up your seasonal box of clothes and recall all the great things you put away for months?

Sweater, Forever21 ($2)
Skirt, Target ($10)
Scarf, Payless ($7)
Ring, Forever21 ($1)
Boots, Dillards ($30)

----Wow nothing thrifted?

The New Trend

My friend Diane gave me a bag full of goodies last Tuesday and one of those items was this cute military inspired shirt dress! I have many plans for this dress, come fall/winter but today was hot again so I wore it in a more casual way and paired it with dark brown accessories. I was having a really difficult time trying to figure out what shoes to wear with it, thinking boots would be better, but expected, so I rummaged and found these dressy flats to give my dress a more tailored look. It almost reminded me what a woman in the 1940s would wear with a pocketed shirt dress.

So the way the whole outfit came about was I was finally breaking out of my jeans habit for the time being and decided to try out the military trend...all the while I was going to be spending my Columbus Day doing domestic household things. It worked for what I needed to do today and I was glad to try something new. I only wish my day was spent doing more adventurous things since I had the day off, but like my friend said, "we're adults now and that's how they spend their extra free days off". Talk about a bummer. If that's the case, then I don't wanna grow up! haha!!

Military Shirt Dress, Target (given by friend)
Brown belt, Thrifted ($4)
Brown flats, Target ($10)
Liz Claiborne Sunnies, TJ Maxx ($10)

Desiring Inspiration

I think I know what you're thinking. "Oh boy more jeans!" but I've been a quasi funk when it comes to dressing myself again. I really hate looking in my closet full of stuff and being totally uninspired. I have many ideas brewing in my head, but not a damn article of clothing to actually replicate it. I've been perusing many a thriftstore and have come away with quite an assortment... all of which needs to altered. I think tomorrow I will get my butt in gear (as my dad would say) and start mending and fixing all the things I bought.

So this is what I wore to take my doggy for her late afternoon stroll. I love taking her to the park that is in our neighborhood. She has so much fun meeting and greeting with other dogs and then we continue on our way to do some outfit shots. I guess my outfit is more or less the same as the previous one, but I wanted to use some pale tones today. The blouse it one of my favorites with it's billowy ruffles and the long boyfriend cardigan is something new that a friend let me have. I threw in the leopard print flats just to contrast with the stripes and I like how it turned out. A nice weekend outfit for casual strolls or doing the dishes...as that is what most of my day entailed.

Blouse, Thrifted ($3)
Pants, Thrifted ($2)
Jessica Simpson flats, DSW ($10)
Cardigan, AE (from a friend)