ootd:it's been awhile

Hello all,

I know it has been awhile since I last blogged, so thanks for hanging in with me! I don't really have any good excuse for stepping away for so long other than just usual life stuff, lack of inspiration, and the whole Anthropocalypse that happened last week.  I don't have much to say about the Anthropocalypse past what has been said on other blogs since I wasn't personally affected by it, other than being totally shocked and appalled and disgusted by her actions.

Moving on, I haven't taken many photos lately, but I liked my outfit today, so I thought today would be as good a day as any to hop back into blogging.  The whole scandal has honestly made me think a lot about what I buy, why I buy it and my whole shopping philosophy.  I do admit that I have been shopping a bit more lately, and I feel the need to have a closet purge. I have actually been selling things on ebay this entire summer, and have cleared out a lot of unworn items. But along with these sales, I had the habit of quickly replacing the hangars with new stuff. After last week's events though, I have really been thinking about my spending habits. I choose not to get too deep into my personal finances on this blog, but I will disclose that while my husband and I share our accounts, and we each get a small amount to spend on personal items (shopping, beer, credit cards, etc) however we choose. It works out great for us as we don't have to explain our purchases to each other, as long as we spend within that set budget.  I have had more personal spending money lately due to ebay. I spent practically this entire summer going through my closet and selling unused/underused items on ebay.  I should have been using it to pay off my (relatively) small amount of credit debt I have looming (which is my responsibility), but instead I invested in several pairs of colored jeans and a new pair of boots.

It is weird how when you are used to working with a certain amount of money, that when extra money comes into play, how it can completely skew your perception of your spending limits. Is anyone else as impulsive as I am with "extra" money? My Dad used to tell me as soon as I got my allowance or had extra money it was "burning a hole in my pocket."  Have you heard this expression? It just means that when I had extra money, I felt the need to spend it right away instead of leaving it in my pocket for another day. I have always been a spender and not a saver. Good thing my husband is a saver! This is not to say that I haven't been paying off my credit card, it's just to say that I should've been paying more on my credit card. Anyway, enough rambling. I will post more on finances and my closet in the future I am sure. Hopefully this new enlightenment will last as bit longer. I am already making a list of items that I felt like I "had to have" since this blogger was wearing it and it looked awesome on them, but looked "fine" on me and didn't really fit in my closet. Anyone else feel this way- like you just want to get rid of the bad ju-ju in your closet?

I decided to choose something neglected to wear today. Since I am taking a deeper look into the closet, I am going to try to wear some more items I haven't worn in awhile.

Neglected item: Lookabout Blouse (purchased 10/2010)

 

I included the below shot of the boots since my cat took a step in front of the photo at the last second. You can see her paw in the lower right of the photo, haha.

This is a shot of a few cute little decorative things I picked up in Portland, Or last month. They were hand made by a local designer and we are looking for the perfect spot in our house to hang them up.

I'm wearing:
Anthro Lookabout Blouse
Anthro AG Stevie black skinnies
Nordstrom Halogen cardigan in black
Swedish Hasbeens classic jodhpur booties

ootd:I confess I'm addicted

Every so often, I fixate on a certain item of clothing/trend and I can't get enough of it. I buy multiples and wear them to death ( last year's Climbing Cowlneck in 3 colors, Breezy Ride Cardi in 2 colors,  Mirror, Mirror tank in 2 versions, etc) . Then I move on to the next thing. Right now the big thing I can't get enough of is, colored denim/pants.  I realize this is more of a summer/fall trend, but I just can't stop.  I think about all the colors I want, then about how I can pair each color with this one striped top I have or these other boxy t-shirts I have. I have started to notice that with certain things, when I buy multiples, my pattern is: buy one of the items, love it, rush out to buy another color, wear both of them over and over, quickly tire of all of the items, then find another thing to obsess over for next season. Am I alone in this? Does anyone else do this?  I really, really hope this pattern doesn't continue with the colored pants I am buying. I am investing quite a bit in them. But since I am investing in the colored denim, I don't have much money for anything else, right?--so it all kind of evens out in my head, Anyway. So far I have been wearing colored denim about 4 times a week. I figure that is a pretty good cost per wear I am getting out of them for now. I just don't want to wear them so often they start to fade.

My most recent colored denim purchase is the cobalt blue twill pants from J Brand.  They are available at Anthro, and also at Nordstrom. Once I decided I wanted them, searches for my size proved that my size was already sold out, or only a few were available.  I decided to try on a different color in my size at Nordstrom to make my final decision on if I should order them.  I tried the blue Paige version as well. The Paige version was a big fail, but the turquoise version I tried in J Brand fit nicely. I had the nice sales associate at Nordstrom do a store search for me since they were sold out in my store and online, and there was 1 pair left in my size in the US. One! So of course I had to order them, ha. I consoled myself in ordering them then and there cuz at least I will earn Nordstrom points on them with my Nordstrom debit card...right?  Anyway, 10 days later and they arrived on my doorstep. They are vibrant! I am already concocting other outfit combos to wear with these pants. I feel like these have more of a nighttime vibe to them than say, my pink Stevies.  So I think these will fill that void along with the red pants I purchased a few months ago.  Next on my list, is a pair of Gold Pilcro's from Anthro.

Have any of you jumped on the colored denim trend? I know there are lots of stores that sell these now...if you bought some, where did you find some good deals?

Sorry for the somewhat poor quality of the photos, it was late when I was taking these, ha. But as you can see, these pants are vibrant! Better pics of these next time, I promise!

Nordstrom Halogen yellow cardigan (my new fave cardi)
F21 striped top
J Brand cobalt blue skinny twill pants
Toms sequin slip-ons

ootd: dressing like an Anthro employee

It's no secret that I am in love with maxi dresses.  I have too many, but that doesn't seem to stop me.I keep telling myself that Maxis will still be in style in the fall, so I will get double wear out of them. I also already owned 2 maxis with stripes. Still when I saw this maxi dress in the sale room, I decided to try it. I thought that if it didn't work, no harm done and I would be happy with my other 2 striped maxis. I also had been wanting to try the crocheted/open weave sweater trend over maxi dresses as well that I had seen on a few of the SAs at the store this summer. I tried on the top and dress at the same time in the dressing room and asked the SA for a belt to try on with it. Lo and behold, I loved it. The maxi dress is really thin as it is technically lounge wear, but it was so comfy I couldn't resist. This top has also quickly become one of my fave shirts to wear, and I have to keep telling myself not to wear it so often and to show some love to the other tops in my closet.  When I was leaving for work the day I wore this outfit in the real world, I told my hubby that I thought I looked like an Anthro employee. I just felt completely put together all day. I even wore this outfit out one night in Portland during my recent vacation.

Anthro Twiceover tee
Anthro Nautical Dreaming Chemise
Anthro Boutique 9 sandals
Anthro woven belt
Kitty

Have any of you found yourselves dressing like you work at Anthro? Has anyone caught on?

ootd:pink leopard

I have been having issues trying to get outfit shots lately. My hubby has been really busy the last couple of weeks, and we are slightly off-schedule on our morning routines. Since we started driving separately to work (yes, we work at the same office, but in different buildings, and we usually carpool to save on gas), I haven't been ready for photos when he leaves. Also, our house has been hot when we get home at night (old house with no A/C), so I usually head straight to my bedroom to change into shorts and a light t-shirt when I get home.  Hopefully I can start getting my act together. I have started going to the gym again a few mornings before work, so I hope that routine will help regulate my time better.

I'm wearing the new leopard print cardigan from the Mad Men collection at Banana Republic. Leopard print is coming back in a big way for fall, and it is making me regret giving away all my leopard print accessories and hoodies that I had accumulated during the last leopard printed fashion craze (in 2006? 2007?).  I guess it goes to show you that trends will be cyclical at some point, it's just a matter if you have the patience/space to keep all the trends around.  Even if I did still have my leopard print items, I would still purchase this cardi. I love that it is a muted shade of leopard print.  I decided to pair it with my new pink AG Stevie's that I picked up in Portland. Since the summer weather in San Diego has been rather mild, I have been getting a lot of wear out of my colored jeans and I'm not complaining! It also turns out that this shade of pink acts as a neutral and it pairs well with a lot of stuff in my closet. Highly recommend these jeans! The cardi can be a bit itchy, but once I had it on, I wore it for hours without noticing the itch factor. It is also quite thin, so I went with a white tee to show off the neutral-ness of it.  

BR Mad Men leopard print cardi
Anthro Pure & Simple white tee
Anthro AG Stevies in Sulfur Plum
Jeffrey Campbell oxfords

So have any of you held onto the more trendy items in your closet until the trend came around again? Did the items you kept still stay current? 

Portland Anthropologie

I couldn't pass up visiting my favorite store while we were in Portland. Luckily it was really close to our hotel, and I was able to wedge it in between a visit to Powell's Books and Deschutes Brewery, ha.  I tried on a few new things and with the whole no sales tax thing in Oregon, I zeroed in on another pair of AG Stevies (pink!) and also ended up with a belt.  I really liked the way the store was laid out. It was so spacious. I also luckily got a really nice dressing room, and I couldn't help but take some pics of it.  It was decorated so nicely, and was huge! I wish more of the Anthro's decorated their rooms like an old timey dressing parlor.  I wish I had my own little dressing area in my house because I would try to decorate it exactly the same way. 

Here is the decor around the checkout area. I love all the repurposed chairs as wall art.

 

We had a great lunch beforehand at a fusion restaurant in Chinatown before heading to the heart of the Pearl District for our shopping day. Here I am standing in front of the Chinatown gate.

Are any of you lucky enough to have these types of dressing rooms in your Anthro?

ootd:vacation in Portland preview....

Sorry for my long absence! I just got back from a trip to lovely Portland, Oregon! The hubby and I decided to take a trip to a place we have never been for our summer vacation. We also chose to go here for our anniversary gift to each other. This trip marked our 3 year wedding anniversary (and 9 together!)  We loved every second of Portland, and it just felt like an easy, effortless trip. We visited for 5.5 days and didn't have many reservations, or a long list of must-sees---other than the long list of breweries, visiting an art museum and the giant bookstore, and checking out the Rose Garden, and the Anthro, of course.  Here is a one ootd from the trip--this bench was located near a restaurant we were waiting to open for lunch, so I took the opportunity for a photo. I will update with more info and pics from our trip soon.  I have been catching up on all my blog reading and my eyes are tired, ha. 

This necklace is a great find from Portland. We were walking down Alberta Street, and I was in search of a great accessory from a local vendor. This little shop, Verabel, was so cute! The lady working there informed me that they have an etsy shop, and a lot of their pieces are one of  a kind--which this piece is. I love it! It was also very reasonably priced at $36. (I also loved that there was no sales tax in Portland :) Wouldn't this piece be so much more at Anthro?? Here is a link to the etsy shop--Verabel

ootd:sunday at the farmers market

This past Sunday, the hubs and I went to the farmer's market in a nearby neighborhood.  He decided he wanted to use his new smoker to make a beef brisket, so we were in search of fresh corn and ingredients for side dishes. We only left with heirloom tomatoes, and lots of ears of sweet, white corn (my fave!). I talked him into taking a quick pic of me outside the market. I wish I had a better camera because while I was walking around the crowded market, I was envisioning taking photos with a long exposure to catch the movement around me inside the market.

This is a favorite weekend outfit of mine lately. I have even worn it work, ha. It is a great weekend outfit because it feels like I am wearing pajamas. The top and shorts are so loose and breezy, it just feels great. The top is on sale now, and the shorts were also a sale find from about a month ago.

Anthro Filtered Rays top (purchased during my friends' June birthday haul & worn about 10x since)
Anthro Sahelian Acacia shorts (covered in zebras)
Tom's Metallic Linen Slip-ons
Thursday-Friday tote
Marc by Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal crossbody tiny purse