Fall Returns?

Yesterday the weather finally cooled off again here in north Florida. We don't have the lovely fall weather that other parts of the country are experiencing right now, but I'll take what I can get. ;-) Dropping over 15 degrees actually feels chilly to us Floridians! So, I pulled out my Old Navy boots and a cardigan for my outfit yesterday that I wore to the library to do some writing.

Dress: LOFT
Belt: Anthropologie
Cardigan: LOFT
Boots: Old Navy
Necklace: Anthropologie

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend and enjoying some fall weather! :-)

Q & A and an OOTD!

I've shared some of my outfit misses in the past and this is another one to add to that archive. Just keeping it real! ;-) I snapped this picture before I dashed out the door to go teach my classes (that's my textbook in my hand). I didn't look at the picture until I got home so I didn't realize that my outfit wasn't really very flattering.

This dress always gives me trouble but I keep giving it another chance. It needs to be belted but I inadvertently created a maternity look by putting it higher than usual. And I'm not pregnant so that's a problem. This dress is a tad too long so I was trying to remedy that by tucking some of it under my belt to shorten it but the dress has an empire waist so that's why I belted it so high.

I think I'll get the dress hemmed to solve the length problem and only wear it with a belt at my natural waist over a cardigan. We're having a little heat wave today -- seriously it feels like July again! I had to dig out my sandals from the back of my closet.

Dress: LOFT
Belt: Anthro
Cardigan: LOFT
Sandals: Target
Bracelet: vintage

Now for the Q&A:
I randomly picked three more of the questions that I got from readers to answer today:

1. Mandy asked: if you could personify yourself as an animal, which animal would you choose and why?

The first thing that came to mind was a cat. I'm very independent and like to have a lot of alone time. I can also be warm and cuddly at times too. I think a cat best captures that duality of my personality.

2. Debbie Deb asked: is there a fashion trend that you used to wear growing up that makes you cringe when you think about it today? if not, is there a trend today that you'd like to see disappear?

I was a kid in the 80's so you can imagine some of the crazy things I wore back then. My sister was a teenager and I loved to copy her style. I remember wearing my jeans "tight-rolled" (some people called it "pegged"). I also had this outfit that I loved which consisted of black leggings with lace at the bottom with my sister's over-sized purple sweatshirt. I think I had a crazy-big bow that I wore with it too. Yeah, I thought I was stylish at the time. I'd cringe now if I found any pictures of those outfits! :-)

3. Tricia asked: What are you most afraid of?
I'm a big scaredy cat but at the top of the list of things I'm afraid of are:
--heights: mostly open-heights -- I had a scary experience at the top of a jungle gym as a kid
--spiders: eeeeeek!!
--getting in a car accident: If I could live somewhere that had good public transportation, I'd never drive again! I got into an accident about 8 years ago and totaled the car but somehow managed to walk away unhurt. I still have nightmares about my car spinning in slow motion across three lanes though.

Travel Tuesday: Chicago (& My New Anthro Goodies)

Our day of sight-seeing started off a little rainy but ended up being beautiful! It's a good thing I packed my trench coat. We walked around inside Navy Pier while it rained and then hopped on a trolley for a tour.



It was still sprinkling when we got to the Sears Tower so we headed inside. Here's a picture I snapped while we were up there. You can see the Hancock Building in the distance.



I'm a little afraid of heights but I scurried out on the glass observation area for a quick picture. What a view!



By the time we came back outside the weather was clearing off. I got this picture of the Sears Tower from the top of the double-decker bus we rode after lunch.



One of my favorite places we visited was Millennium Park. It's such a beautiful spot nestled between all of those tall buildings.



In the park is "The Bean" which is a sculpture with a highly-polished surface that reflects the cityscape. It was very unusual!





We ended the day by going to a performance of The Lion King. It was such an amazing show! The costumes and settings are stunning and I just loved the music. I highly recommend seeing this play if it tours anywhere near you!



And here's the outfit my mom got me when we visited the new Anthropologie store. I knew I wanted the Pilcro Cohort Cords after seeing how adorable they looked on Tricia in this post. My mom picked out the Shine-Through Button-up from the sale rack to match the pants and they look great together! Check out Jan's posts here and here for some other great outfits featuring that shirt. I know I'll be stealing those ideas for future outfits! :-) I also got the purple Time In, Time Out belt. It matched the Southward Stop Dress that I was wearing so I ended up putting it on and wearing it for the rest of that day.

My Lucky Day!

My mom and I are in Chicago today and tomorrow to meet up with my sister and her friend for a girls weekend (and belated birthday celebration for my sister who I don't get to see very often since she lives far away from me). Since we got here several hours before my sister, Mom and I decided to check out the grand opening of the Anthro that just moved over to the big store that used to house American Girl Place. How lucky is it that we happened to be here the same day it was opening?! If we'd been here last week we wouldn't have been able to see it.

The new store is amazing! And huge! Kim from Anthroholic posted some pictures of the beautiful interior -- check them out here.

Here I am in front of the sign (debuting my new Southward Stop dress!!):



Snapping an OOTD photo in one of the full length mirrors:


Several people in the store stopped me to ask how I liked the Berry-Stitched Boots and I told them how comfortable they've been for walking around a lot. Highly recommend!

All the sales people were so nice and handled the huge crowd of shoppers really well. They even put out some refreshments for us! Here's my mom getting a snack. ;-)



Here was my favorite part of the store -- the SHOE section, of course!



It was so fun to be able to check out this new store! My mom even got me a few things as a special treat. ;-) I'll take some pictures of them when I get home. We're having a wonderful trip so far and it's been so great to see my sister again. We had pizza at Giordano's tonight. Yum! It will be a very quick trip but we have a full day of fun sight-seeing planned for tomorrow and we're going to see The Lion King.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll post again when I get back home. :-)

Last of the Tampa Anthro Reviews

These are the last of my reviews from a few weeks ago when I was at the Tampa Anthro. First up is the Jacinth Sweaterdress. It's a really nice orange color and it's very soft & comfortable but I don't think it's super flattering on me. It looks a bit strange in the hip area. I like the neckline though and the ruffled edges.



Here it is with my Button Bin Cardi and Gift Bow Belt. I think it looks a little bit better this way but overall I think this dress is a pass for me.



Next is the Tria Sweater Skirt. I was surprised by how much I liked this skirt! It's stretchy and the material is nice (not itchy). It's a great length and I just love the rows of ruffles along the bottom. This is a size small and it's too snug but I think a medium would be just right.



For comparison, here's the size large that I tried on recently and it's too big. I actually folded over the top to make it shorter. If this goes on sale and there is a medium left somewhere, I'd definitely like to have this skirt.



And last, here is the outfit that I wore shopping that day:

Button Bin Cardigan (Anthro)
Tank (Belk)
White Shirt with Pearl Buttons (Steve & Barry)
Gift Bow Belt (Anthro)
Jean Skirt (Old Navy)
Sandals (Lands End)

OOTD: Purple & Chocolate Brown

I'm exhausted from a long day of teaching and grading, so I'm going to make this a quick OOTD post. This was another quickly thrown together outfit that I think turned out alright. Surprisingly, I don't think I've ever paired this deep purple dress with brown before. I always love this color combo when I see it on others so here's my take on it:

Dress: Target, Converse
Cardigan: NY&Co
Belt: Target
Necklace: Maurices
Suede Ballet Flats: Lands End

I love that I can wear this dress in the summer and in the fall and create totally different looks just by changing the color palette and accessories. What's one of your favorite pieces in your wardrobe that works for multiple seasons?

Sunday in the Park

My husband and I had a great time on Sunday strolling around our favorite urban park. There was a nice autumn breeze and there was golden light filtering through the trees that lined the path along the park. We try to come here often and we always see a diverse group of people enjoying the park -- everything from people fishing along the edge that borders the river, to groups playing kickball or frisbee, to dog-walkers, to picnickers, to photographers, to people doing yoga! Today was no exception and it was a truly beautiful day for a visit.

I seem to be on a roll with getting my husband to take my OOTD pictures. Check out these nice pictures he snapped during our stroll:

Necklace: Anthropologie
Sweater Hoodie: Maurices
Tank: Belk
Belt: Anthropologie
Skirt: Old Navy
Socks that were peeking out but slid down out of sight: Target
Boots: Anthropologie

Below is one of my favorite quotes by Einstein that someone had written in chalk on the sidewalk amongst some drawings: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."



This is a beautiful statue perched above the fountain in the park. It's called "Winged Victory" and it was done in 1924 to memorialize the 1,200 soldiers from Florida who died in WWI. The statue is supposed to depict youth rising above "the mad maelstrom of earthly passions."



In the middle of the park is a large field where people often play different sports. The river is in the distance.



Beautiful palm, magnolia, and oak trees ring the park.



I hope everyone else had a nice weekend too!