I hope everyone had a nice Turkey Day! We drove down to my mother-in-law's house this afternoon and went out to eat at Cracker Barrel. Yum! We're all stuffed now and hanging out in front of the TV. :-)
I wore my Southwards Stop dress today:
Southward Stop Dress (Anthropologie) Black Cami (LOFT) Cylindrical Braid Belt (Anthropologie) Black Cardigan (Bealls) Black Knit Tights (JCPenny's) Black Shoes (Steinmart)
After we ate, I took Jefferson for a little walk around the neighborhood.
Here are the rest of my Anthro reviews! My favorite thing I tried on was the Laced with Grace dress. The color is even prettier in person than it looks in these pictures. I've admired this dress online but hadn't planned on trying it myself. For some reason I thought it wasn't my style but as soon as I saw it in front of me, I fell in love with it! It's such a lovely, romantic dress with an Edwardian vintage flair. I couldn't resist styling it with my boots and belt:
Added to my wishlist!
I'm a little late reviewing this next skirt but I had to try it on with this yellow shirt (Rippled Ridge Henley) that was hanging near it. As others have already noted, this skirt is so adorable! If there are any of these still left by the time it goes on sale, I will scoop one up. I actually really liked the shirt too. It also came in a nice purple color and a teal green that was very pretty (online shows grey too but my store didn't have that color). I tried on a small but a medium probably would have been better.
Last, I tried on the Channel Churns Top, which looked so pretty sitting there on a table in the store. I didn't like it on me at all though. The ruffle hit right across the bust, which looked weird. It was too long so I tucked it in but it poofed out strangely on the sides. This is the kind of top that will look nice on a tall, slim person. Not flattering on me at all. I tried the top on with the Field Skirt even though my store only had the khaki color (I want the grey or yellow) and this one is a size too small. I wasn't crazy about the way the skirt looked on me but I will try again if I see it in my size and a color that I like better. I do like the cord material though. It's very soft and a nice, light weight.
I've got Anthro reviews! I'm going to split them up and post the rest tomorrow. For this installment, I have the Alluring Sway Skirt with three different tops. Which look is your favorite?
#1: Raining Lines Henley I love this top and I've tried the navy version on with jeans for a casual look but I think it's kind of cute with the skirt too. It's definitely on my Christmas wishlist!
#2: Bianka Blouse in raspberry This is a beautiful color but I'm not sure it's great on me. This blouse has looked fantastic on so many bloggers in all of the different versions of colors and patterns that have been out this fall, but I'm not sure it's really my style. I know it's supposed to be loose but I definitely can't wear it untucked (waaaayy too long on me!) and even tucked in, it's not totally flattering on me. I LOVE the sleeves though! Even though the blouse might not work on me, I wanted to share this pairing to those who own the Bianka blouse and might have this skirt or the very similar Acting Out skirt because I think they make a nice outfit.
#3: Garden Rows Top I tried this untucked and it looked ok but I thought it was better tucked in. I love the ruffles down the front!
And here's my OOTD:
Blouse & Dress: Bealls Belt: Target Socks: Dillards Boots: Old Navy Necklace: Urban Outfitters
I think I looked a bit like Heidi (from the children's book) today! heehee :-)
I just wanted to thank Tricia for my lovely gifts from Ashley's swap! She sent me a surprise package from our favorite store -- Anthro, of course! ;-)
Aren't these barrettes so pretty?
Close Up:
And check out these cool patterned tights! I'm already planning a great outfit around these, which I'll wear as soon as our weather goes back to normal. Seriously, where did my fall weather go? It was almost 80 degrees today!
There's also something else on the way that was shipped separately, so I'll post a picture when it arrives. Thanks SO much Tricia! :-) And thank you Ashley for organizing such a fun swap.
I never realized how much purple I have in my wardrobe! It is my favorite color though, so I guess it's not surprising. ;-) I stopped by the park on my way home from school for a few quick pictures.
In-A-Moment Dress (Anthropologie) Black Cardigan (Target) Purple Belt (Anthropologie) Polka dot tights (Hue via Macys) Black Shoes (Steinmart)
Polka dot tights:
Before I go, here's my answer for another one of my reader questions picked randomly: Erin asked: If you could "steal" one celebrity's style, whose would it be and why?
The first person that came to mind was Zooey Deschanel. Her style is a perfect mix of quirky, romantic, girly, and vintagey. Can you imagine how fun it would be to go shopping with her? She would know the coolest places to go thrift store shopping and I bet she wouldn't mind going to Anthropologie too. :-) I know a lot of other people also love her style and I'm sure everyone has seen the Cotton commercial she did, but if you missed it, take a look:
Just a quick post from me before I dash off to campus! I thought of this outfit right before I fell asleep last night and I was happy that it turned out as I envisioned. I like the idea of pairing pink with grey and then I remembered that I haven't worn my navy skirt in a long time, so here they are all together! :-) The grey tights were too dark on their own so I layered this light knit pair over the top.
Pink Sweater & Cami (LOFT) Thousand Days Skirt (Anthropologie) Snakebite Belt (Anthropologie) Tights (F21 Knit tights layered over dark grey Simply Vera tights) Shoes (Steinmart) Pessinus Garden Necklace (Anthropologie)
And here's one with my glasses, which I decided to wear today since my eyes needed a little break from my contacts.
Happy Wednesday everyone! Only a few more days until the new Harry Potter movie opens! Is anyone else planning on seeing it this weekend? I'm a huge fan so of course I can't miss seeing it as soon as it comes out. :-)
I've gotten behind on posting OOTD's lately so here are some of my recent favorites. I've been attempting a little subtle pattern mixing. Nothing crazy, but I think I like the results. ;-)
This first outfit was something I threw together for a casual day off spent with my husband. The blouse is a dark navy which is a color I really like with purple and grey. The polka dots are really small so they don't compete too much with the argyle print on the cardigan.
Argyle Cardigan (Target) Navy Polka-dot Blouse (LOFT) Snakebite Belt (Anthropologie) Jeans (LOFT) Blue Suede Shoes (Naturalizer)
Close-up shot of the pattern mixing:
The pattern mixing in the next two outfits is a bit less obvious but I think it adds a little more interest to each ensemble.
Tiny Windows Dress (Anthropologie) Brown Cardigan (LOFT) Looping Lanes Belt (Anthropologie) Pindot Tights (Anthropologie) Boots (Old Navy)
Look who decided to say hello while I was trying to take a picture of the faint stripes & swiss dot pattern on the dress next to the brown pindot tights! ;-)
This has been another busy week so far and I'm surrounded by stacks of papers that must be graded this afternoon, so I'll make this a quick, picture-heavy post! These are some shots from the weekend when we were out enjoying the wonderful weather. First we went to the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens for a walk along the trail that borders this lake.
I put the camera on a bench and tried to get a picture of us together. ;-)
Next we headed back to our neighborhood to this cool park. It has a a baseball field that doesn't get used much. The benches by the scoreboard made a good spot for pictures.
Here's the view of downtown past the outfield.
There's also an old bandstand and fountain in the park. My husband got this cool shot of the water in the fountain.
Happy Wednesday everyone! I'm looking forward to having the day off tomorrow! :-)
For some reason I have that silly song in my head that the Brady Bunch kids sang. It makes a good post title though since we've had some gorgeous weather for the past few days. On Friday afternoon I took my little dog Jefferson for a walk around the neighborhood. I grabbed my small camera on the way out the door. I'm glad I did because I got some great pictures along the way. Jefferson was having so much fun playing in the fallen leaves and sniffing trees and posts along the way that it was hard to capture him in the pictures but I got a few with him.
This first pictures is kind of cool with the sun behind me. I thought of Bonnie's beautiful outdoors pictures when I saw this shot. Mine isn't as good as her pictures, but I like it anyway. It will remind me of this lovely day and how much I enjoy just being outside with my little buddy. :-)
My outfit reminds me of something I saw my mom wear in an old picture of her as a teenager. There's kind of a retro vibe with the skinnier pants rolled up at the bottom, flats, and blouse. This was not really planned but I like how this outfit came together!
Did everyone have a good weekend? We spent lots of time outdoors and visited some nice parks in the area. I'll post some more pictures of our weekend adventures tomorrow. :-)
Last night I finished a book that was SO good and I just had to tell everyone about it! It's called The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (click on the title and it will link you to the Amazon page which includes an interview with the author).
I can't give many details about the story because that would spoil the mystery but I will say that in general what drew me to this book was the wonderful way that three different threads of the story were brought together, spanning three generations of women in a family and the unraveling of the mystery of one woman's past. The writing was beautifully done and the descriptions of the English estate and grounds where most of the action takes place were entrancing. It was the characters, more than anything, that kept me reading though. I just had to know what happened to them and learn their secrets. Sometimes it can be distracting when a book goes back and forth to different time periods but in this book the three stories were so intertwined that it worked really well and each thread was equally compelling.
You MUST read this book! If you think you're too busy to read, just take it in small chunks like I did. I'll warn you, this is a long book but it's such a worthwhile read.
If you like Morton's writing, you should also check out her first novel, The House at Riverton. It looks like she's working on another one, The Distant Hours, which is set to be released this month!
This has been a super busy week so far and I just now have a spare moment to post about the fun night I had at the local dinner theater this past weekend. An old friend of mine (plus her husband and parents) met up with me, my husband, and my parents on Saturday evening for a great performance of The King and I. We have a lovely dinner theater in town called the Alahambra and this was actually the first time I had ever been there. It was almost closed down last year but a local businessman bought and renovated it. It's really nice now and the food was excellent. They have a new chef and they coordinate the meal with the theme of the play. Since our play was set in Siam (which is now Thailand), our meal was Thai-inspired and it was delicious!
I picked up these great wedges at Target after seeing them on Kathryn from In Pursuit of Pretty Things. Check out how cute they are with her outfits here and here. They are surprisingly comfortable and I highly recommend them. Check your local Target because I found several left at the one near me even though the website was telling me there weren't any left in my size at the store. Size up because they run small!
We snapped a few pictures outside before the performance since the fountain and garden area in front of the theater was so pretty.
Here's me and my sweetie! He was a good sport about going to the theater even though he doesn't really like musicals. He knows how much I love them! My favorite song from the play is "Shall We Dance" (hence the title of my post). We even took a little spin around the kitchen (our "ballroom") when we got home. ;-)
If you haven't seen the 1956 classic movie version, check out Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner singing "Shall We Dance" in this YouTube clip:
Also, fun fact: The guy who plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies also played Anna's son in the 1999 version starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat.
