Laura Ingalls Inspired

 

Dress: Francesca's, Sweater: Ann Taylor, Belt: Francesca's, Tights: Gap, Boots: Frye, Bracelets: J.Crew,
Watch: Michael Kors, Earrings: Simon Sebbag, Ring: vintage

The dress, tights, sweater, boots combo has become my go-to outfit lately. Work, dates, running around — there's pretty much no occasion I'm not wearing some variation of this outfit. I may be stuck in a slight rut, but at least it's a comfortable and stylish one. I love this dress in particular, even though the pattern always sort of reminds me of something Laura Ingalls Wilder probably wore when she was trekking across the plains and building a log cabin and making maple syrup candy.

All the cute summery dresses I stocked up on during one wine-fueled, after-hours shopping trip with my best friend have lasted me well through the summer into February. I swear, there is not a summer dress in all the land that I can't turn into winter-wear. The only drawback is that I'm starting to run out of room in my closet because I refuse to put any of my summer dresses in storage for the winter. (And by "starting to run out of room" I mean, my closet won't close, and I've been sleeping with a giant pile of sweaters on my bed for at least a week. Don't judge.) 

Jurassic Park

Blouse: Banana Republic, Cardigan: J.Crew, Fur Vest: Joie, Jeans: Democracy, Wedges: Via Spiga,
Earrings: Kendra Scott, Watch: Michael Kors, Ring: vintage

I love this top, which was a gift from my brothers last Christmas (by which I obviously mean my mom), despite it's propensity to make me look like a Velociraptor when I wear it. Maybe not a Velociraptor. I'm not really up to date on my dinosaur references. But you know that scene from Jurassic Park when the dinosaur flips out and spits venom in that guy's face? That kind of dinosaur. The reason being that this blouse has a ton of great, layered ruffles around the collar, but the slightest breeze causes them to take on a life of their own and flutter uncontrollably up into my face. 

I swore an oath at the beginning of this week to wear only skirts and dresses so I could maximum enjoyment out of the nice weather we've been having. But I forgot that I only own like two pairs of tights, so by Tuesday I was out of options. So instead I went the opposite route and overcompensated by wearing as many shirts as possible. Which is to say four. My roommate snapped these photos of me and all my shirts outside Trader Joe's after we basically cleaned them out of wine. Since we take most photos in the privacy of our backyard, we both forgot we were in an actual public setting. Poor families and children walking to their cars were extremely confused by my roomie yelling things like, "Pose for me! Work it! Blue steel!" Hopefully they all just assumed I was already drunk.

Playing Dress Up

 

 

Skirt: Ann Taylor, Top: Diane von Furstenberg, Tights: Gap, Shoes: Ann Taylor, Bracelets: Glitz & Ears

It's been unbelievably warm here lately (at least for January), although you probably can't tell from the snow behind me. But trust me, it has been. This whole week has been hovering near 40 degrees. AMAZING. However, I may have overestimated how warm 40 degrees actually feels. In my mind, I imagine it to be somewhere along the lines of, "Heat wave! This is the exact temperature at which I should stop wearing a coat and possibly start wearing flip flops!" In actuality, it's somewhere along the lines of, "8 actual degrees above freezing." So when I decided to take photos outside, I was in for a rude awakening, especially since the parking lot where I took these photos can best be described as "wind tunnel." You'd think it would be slightly glamourous, with my hair blowing in the breeze like a shampoo commercial, but in actuality, it translates to my skirt blowing up and me getting a mild case of frostbite. Decidedly less glamourous. So you'll have to excuse the photos where I bear a more-than-passing resemblance to Cousin It because my hair looks likes it's trying to eat my face. 

I had my anniversary/employee-recognition breakfast at work yesterday, so I thought I'd dress up a bit to remind the important people attending that I'm not a total hobo and deserve to remain employed. Skirts and heels always scream classy, or at least semi-professional, to me. Plus, these are my new favorite pair of heels, so I'll use any excuse to wear them. But as a wise woman (a.k.a. my boss) told me, "It's going to take a lot more than a cute skirt to class up this breakfast.