Bring on the uber long weekend!

And just like that it's Friday again!  I thought it called for a cute new shirt I haven't worn yet.  I bought this back in May at the Band of Thrifters sale and just haven't had the chance to wear it yet.  But it's going to be hot again, so it was a perfect day to pull it out!  It's my new favorite I think, it's so cute and also comfy.  And it works well with my favorite flirty jean skirt!

Pretty excited today, not only is it Friday, but I have three days off next week!  I took Monday and Tuesday off in edition to the 4th of July holiday.  I do have to work Thursday and Friday so my boss can also have a couple of days off, but I don't mind.  It'll be slow and quiet and I can just read a book and pretend I'm still on vacation.

I get to see a bunch of my old sorority sisters this weekend for a birthday party and I'm looking forward to that.  Three of them live out of town now and I don't get to see them very often at all, so it's always fun when we can get together.  Sunday it looks like the Pants Monkey will do some beer brewing.  I have fun plans for Monday, Tuesday and the holiday itself too, so I should have myself a nice five day weekend!

Now I just have to hope today goes by quickly enough.  I am sure it will be one of those days that I'm watching the clock like a hawk!  I hope you all have fantastic weekends!  I will still be blogging on my days off!

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - vintage, Salvaged Strawberry

Skirt - For Joseph (thrifted)

Sandals - Italian Shoemakers (DSW)

Bracelet - Stella and Dot

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Things that make you go hmm

I mentioned the other day that I've been using the "Songza" app on my iPhone to listen to music.  I've really been enjoying it, you pick a mix based on what you're doing.  So if I'm working out I can choose a workout mix or if I want to unwind I can pick a relaxing mix.  My favorite thing lately has been setting it up in my bathroom and listening to it while I take a shower in the morning or relax in the tub at night.  So this week I discovered the "singing in the shower" mixes and one of the playlists was called "Feeling good in the 90's" which has totally taken me back to my pre-teen/teen years so I've been kind of digging it.

So I was listening to it again today and the song "Mmmbop" by Hanson came on and I laughed a bit to myself, because I totally bought that CD when I was 15.  And then I realized....I'm 30, I bought that CD when I was 15.  That was half of my life ago.  Then I started feeling old.

Fortunately I have on a very cute and youthful feeling dress today so I put those old lady feelings aside and instead just sang along to Mmmbop.  Cause yeah, I totally still know the words.  I have no shame!  You gotta love it.

Outfit rundown:

Dress - vintage, Salvaged Strawberry

Sweater - Old Navy

Sandals - Merona, Target

Necklace - jerseymaids, Etsy

Bag - Gussy Sews

Bracelet - Thrifted

Earrings - Stella and Dot

The heat is on

Well starting today it is going to be like an uber furnace outside.  We've had some warm/hot weather so far this year, but this is going to be our first "heat wave" with temps going up to 96F and staying above 90 over the next several days.  So, I'll try my best not to whine about the heat, but I will warn you all now, it might be hard not to!

Given the heat coming at us today, there was no other option but to wear a dress.  And I decided the most comfy dress was the best choice too, especially when I have errands to run after work.  So, the best dress ever gifted to me from my Pants Monkey was the best choice for me today!  I haven't had a chance to wear it when it's been warm yet, so today was the perfect day to do so!

It's so comfy and it's keeping me nice and cool.  It's hard to get terribly creative when it's so darn hot!  I'm not going to let it get me down though, cause you  know what, I might not like the heat, but I don't possess a magic wand to make it go away, so gotta just go with it!

Outfit rundown:

Dress - VS

Tank under dress - Maurices

Shoes - Mootsie Tootsie

Jewelry - Bead for Life

Sharing smiles

Often times I choose a bag to match my outfit, but today, I decided to match my outfit to my current bag.  I was remarking yesterday that I also tend to pick a rather neutral outfit the day after I wear a colorful one.  Keeps it interesting right?

It was a gorgeous night here in MN last night.  Perfect MN summer evening.  We met some friends for drinks at a vodka bar in St. Paul and sat on the patio there.  It was perfection, especially when the sun started to go down and they turned on these fun lights.  I love those kind of evenings and I try to file them away in a memory box in my mind for bad days or days in the dead of winter when I'm asking myself why I live here again!

Tonight should be another good weather night.  Mr. Monkey is going golfing with my dad.  Do you know how much that makes me smile?  It is something I always hoped for when I married him, that someday he'd share something like that with my dad, so it just warms my heart that the two most important men to me are bonding and spending time together.  While he is doing that I'll be catching up with an old friend who has just moved back to town.  And there will be puppies.  And that makes me smile too!

Apparently I'm just in a really good mood today!  I think it is because I started my day off right, listening to my Songza app and choosing the Feel Good 90's mix.  Nothing like music of your youth to get you going right?  You know what else makes me smile?  Pippin.

Gee, maybe instead of telling people I dressed to match my purse I should tell them I dressed to match my cat today.  It almost works!  I hope my smiles bring a smile to you today!

Outfit rundown:

Jacket - Thrifted (Clothes Mentor)

Tank top - Old Navy

Capri pants - Mossimo, Target (old)

Necklace - thrifted

Earrings and bracelet - Charming Charlie

Sandals - Duck Head 

Bag - Butterfly Boutique

Inspiration Monday - Excuses

It's Inspiration Monday once again!  I love this week's choice - Michelle Trachtenberg (whom I actually have heard of!) in a fun maxi dress/denim jacket combo.  I used to resist the maxi look and now I am SO obsessed with it, so I was all over this one.

The problem is I only owned one maxi dress.  So I may have used this as an excuse to get a new one.  In fact, I definitely did.  Not that I couldn't have just worn the one I had, but a new one is more fun!  I had seen this dress at Target earlier in the week and then it was on my mind all week and I just finally went back and got it over the weekend.  And are we surprised that the main color is peach?

I love that maxi dresses seriously feel like PJ's but don't look like them.  Comfy and dressy for the win.  I added my denim blazer to dress it up enough for work, but I'd love to wear one of my more casual jean jackets with this dress or even the chambray shirt I have yet to buy myself.  Hmm, I may have to now use this dress as an excuse to buy a chambray shirt.  Cause apparently I need to make a lot of excuses to buy things.

Did you all have good weekends?  We did.  Busy, but good.  I saw the movie Rock of Ages with my mom yesterday - I highly recommend it.  Is it Oscar worthy?  No.  But it's fun, the music is fun and overall I thought it was pretty well cast and well done.  I love a good musical! No excuses for that!

For more fun with Inspiration Monday visit the two birds blog over here.

Outfit rundown:

Dress - Merona, Target

Jacket - American Eagle Outfitters, thrifted

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Bag - Butterfly Boutique

Sandals you can't see - Marshalls

Bracelet - Bead for Life

Earrings - thrifted

Vlog - Giveaway winner and special guest

All righty, I know you've all been on the edge of your seat wondering who won the giveaway! All is revealed in this following video - and even if you didn't enter my giveaway, you should still watch the video because I have a special guest joining me and we had a lot of fun. It's also my shortest vlog to date! I might be getting addicted to this vlogging concept....

If you don't want to sit through the video or cheated and scrolled down here, I'll give you a spoiler alert as to the winner...

The winner is.... Drumroll please....

JESS from J's Style! Congrats girl, I'll be in touch so we can get this off in the mail to you. Thanks again to all who entered!

Walking Ad

Happy Friday!  Today is summer perfection, sunny, just warm enough without being too warm, low humidity.  It's the perfect playing hooky day.  That is not to be for me though.  Oh well. I have some vacation days coming up very soon, so I can suffer through today.

Funny story, three of the items I chose to wear today all came from Maurices.  Not purchased at the same time, but they all still came from there.  So I'm practically a walking Maurices ad!  I also just recently ordered a couple of things from them because they were having an amazing summer sale.  It's definitely one of my favorite stores for nice looking yet affordable clothing, especially for work.  And they're based here in MN, so I have to admit I like that about them!

We have a few things on tap for the weekend, but should get some relax-y time tonight so that will be nice.  Might have to figure out a way to enjoy this weather somehow tonight.  Find a patio somewhere or even sit out on our own deck with a nice cold adult beverage.  Doesn't that sound nice? Yeah, I think we'll be doing that.  Any of you have big exciting weekend plans?

My anniversary giveaway closes at 5 pm CST today.  Though I don't know when I'll be doing the video blog  (with special guest!) announcing the winner -  I promise it will go up sometime this weekend, so I'll probably accept entries all the way up until I film the vlog.  So that pretty much means you can probably still enter after 5 pm today, hint hint.  Thanks so much to all of you who have entered and if you haven't yet - you can head on over here to do so. And even if you haven't entered, I still love you and appreciate all of the support I've received from so many of you!  Have a great weekend!

Outfit rundown:

Denim shirt, pants, necklace - Maurices

Cami - JCPenney

Shoes - Isaac Mizrahi for Target (old)

Housekeeping

I have some blog housekeeping type things today.  Are you just so excited?  I know, it's going to be the most riveting thing you read all day.  Anyway, first, we have my outfit.  First time wearing this skirt this year, I love it because it has shorts built in.  Most comfortable thing ever!!  I love the floral pattern.  Overall a very neutral look for me today, but I try to keep it simple when I wear this skirt because there is so much going on in the print of it.

All right, so back to bloggy housekeeping - yesterday my awesome Pants Monkey fixed my Google profile so it is a Blogger profile again and no longer Google +.  I thought I had totally gotten rid of Google + but I was wrong.  So anyway, he helped me with that and I'm so happy to be rid of Google + I can't even begin to say.  If you're someone who loves it, that's great, but it was just the devil for me.  Anyway, the only reason I bring this up is my Google profile now lists me as "Bethie the Boo" again, so as I'm commenting on your blogs you'll no longer see me as "Beth Kondrick".  So in case you're wondering, "who is this girl leaving this comment," don't worry, it's just me.  I have no problem with folks knowing my full name, I just prefer it this way!

Next up, just a friendly PSA, I noticed recently that sometimes my Blogger Reading List doesn't always show recent posts from my favorite blogs.  It does not happen all the time, but periodically I'll notice it, especially on blogs I know for a fact post every day.  I have solved this problem by double following some blogs, also using Bloglovin.  Anyway, just thought I'd spread the word, if you notice one of your favorite blogs hasn't seemed to update in awhile according to your reading list, you may want to actually go to the physical blog and see what's up.

And one more matter of bloggy housekeeping  - my first ever blog giveaway ends tomorrow at 5 pm CST.  Don't miss out on the fun goodies I included as part of "My Favorite Things".  You can enter by going to this post right here.

And all this talk of housekeeping reminds me of this movie clip - if you've never seen Tommy Boy, it's comedy gold and you should watch it.  I will warn you part of this clip gets a little on the dirty side, but it's hilarious.  I miss Chris Farley.

Phew, that's all the boring nitty gritty things for today.  I promise to be more entertaining in my next post!  Ooh and tomorrow is Friday!  Happy dance!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Grane (Herbergers)

Sweater - Old Navy

Skirt - Cliche Minneapolis

Flats - DSW

Necklace - F21

Bracelet and watch - Charming Charlie

Luck of the draw

I'm finally getting around to wearing this vintage skirt I picked up when I went thrifting with Erin. I had it shortened a little bit, but not too much.  I wanted to still give a vintage feel without it feeling matronly.  I think it worked out pretty well.  It was also a good example of "don't pay attention to what the size tag says when thrifting items" because the number is definitely not accurate to what size I'd normally buy, but it's vintage, it fits, I'm not going to complain.  

My shoes were in the donate pile but I rescued them at the last minute.  I realized I still had plenty of things to wear them with and they still look fine, so I'd give them another summer.  Anyone else ever do that?

I'm also finally getting around to wearing the seahorse pin I won from Christine's giveaway.  He's tiny, so you can't see him real well, but I promise he's there.  Fun added touch to my sweater.  I tell you, it's so worth it to enter blogger giveaways (and I'm not just saying that because I'm running one right now) - I have won so many things, I almost can't believe my luck.  I will probably never win the lottery now though!

Outfit rundown:

Tank - Mossimo, Target

Skirt - thrifted vintage

Sweater - F21

Shoes - Isaac Mizrahi for Target (old)

Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

Pin - c/o Christine of Future Lint

Stormy and steamy

Another yucky day out there. Storming this morning, storming again later.  Yesterday was hot, today is going to be hot in between all the storms.  It's going to just be steamy and gross.  Dislike button.  I do not like this kind of weather. I can deal with some heat, but not when it gets so humid and sauna like.  Blech.  I would love to go sit in a pool all day.  

I went for uber simple today.  It might not be the most exciting outfit ever, but it's comfortable and it works.  I'm going to one of those in-home type parties at a friend's house right after work, so this will work for that too because it's not SO dressy.  And I'm comfy for hot or wet weather or whatever Mother Nature throws at me today!

And yes I realize this has mostly been a weather post.  I'm from Minnesota, it's what we do.  My goal this summer is to not always complain about the weather, but you should know right now I'm not much of a summer girl.  I always start out the summer saying I'm going to try to embrace the warm days, but in the end, I complain a lot.  So I will apologize now for any weather complaints you hear from me all summer long!  Do you like it hot or are you like me?

And in completely unrelated fashion news or even Bethie news, I just want to share that my fabulous husband the Pants Monkey has started dabbling in the world of blogging.  He is writing a blog on homebrewing beer, it's something he is extremely passionate about and I'm very impressed with what he's written so far.  He's trying to put it in layman's terms too for those who have never tried homebrewing before but may want to.  So anyway, I'm going to share his link - www.pantsmonkeybrewing.com - if you're curious, check it out.  I made his blog banner, but the rest is all him and I'm so proud of him!

Don't forget to enter my anniversary giveaway if you haven't yet.  Entries accepted through the end of the day on Friday!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt: Maurices

Cropped pants - Mossimo, Target (from Clothes Mentor)

Sandals - Merona, Target

Necklace and bracelet - Stella and Dot

Inspiration Monday - Out of the loop

Hello friends.  It's Monday again.  And on top of that, it's humid and rainy here in MN this morning.  So lovely.  Anyway, Monday is always better when playing along with two birds Inspiration Monday.  Though I'm ready to start calling it "Beth is out of the loop Monday", or heaven forbid "Beth is getting old Monday."  Why?  Because while these actresses are all lovely, I don't know who half of them are!  So today we have Aubrey Plaza.  Um, sure.  I could go look her up on Imdb, but I'm being lazy because after all, it's still Monday.  

So, now that we've clearly established it's Monday and I'm totally not up on pop culture, on to my outfit.  I still don't have fun red pants, but I saw a pair this weekend at the vintage shop I went to.  Unfortunately, they were way too small for me.  So, I kind of went for the color scheme today more than anything else.

I'm excited to be debuting my brand new Megan Mae Obi belt!  I started formulating this outfit idea in my head last week and then this came in the mail and I knew I could totally incorporate it into my outfit.  I like the result and I can't wait to wear it some more!

  

I got a close up of my obi belt here so you can see more of the detail.  Megan is awesome and she makes these for a very reasonable price, so hit her up if you're interested!

Did you all do nice things to celebrate Father's Day yesterday?  We had both sets of parents over for a barbecue.  It is always nice when we're able to celebrate with both families instead of dividing our time.  It doesn't always happen that way, but sometimes it works out!  It was a long day though, we had early church with our music group, then home to bbq so we were both pretty worn out by the end of the day.  Then it stormed last night and man, there were some loud boomers.  So I'm still kind of worn out today!  Coffee is good.


If you missed it on Friday I announced my one year blog anniversary giveaway.  Check it out here.  There is still plenty of time to enter, so don't miss out!


As with every Monday, please go visit the two birds blog to see how other folks styled their look for Inspiration Monday!

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - Antilita Femme (thrifted)

Dress as skirt - Thrifted

Obi belt - Megan Mae

Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

Bracelet - Charming Charlie

Shoes - Duck Head (from mom)

Happy bloggy-versary to me

So I know I already more or less commenced the celebration yesterday of my one year blogging anniversary, but that was just the giveaway and thank yous, I had to commemorate today with an outfit post too, even though I usually take Saturdays off here.

I had planned to be sharing an outfit for our annual trek to an outdoor concert, but the weather was rainy this morning and being that Mr. Monkey was already fairly passive about this year's lineup, we chose to sell off our tickets early in the day.... and then of course the sun came back, even if it's a bit steamy now.  I'm sad to miss the event and even more sad that I disappointed friends who were still going, but I'm glad we at least got our money back.  We sat through a rainy event last year and just didn't want to do it again.  I'm glad in the end it's not raining on the people I know that are there!  Oh that ole Karma, she makes life so difficult sometimes, don't she?

I still put on a fun outfit today.  I haven't had a chance to wear this new to me vintage tank top.  And our day is looking up a bit in last minute dinner plans with some friends, so the day isn't a total flop.  I also took my money from selling off the tickets and celebrated/cheered myself up by going to a vintage shop near me I haven't been to before.  I bought two more new shirts for summer that I can't wait to share.

I had the Pants Monkey take my pictures today and he was more than happy to oblige, in fact, I had to eventually tell him he got enough!  In all my thankfulness yesterday I didn't remember to thank him, and I really should.  He is so supportive of my blogging endeavors, he takes my pictures when he can and he doesn't complain too loudly about my shopping habits.  So he deserves a big huge THANK YOU.  Love you babe. 

Thanks again to all of you for your support over the last year, I really can't say it enough.  Make sure you check out my giveaway here.   Hope you are all having wonderful weekends!

Outfit rundown:

Tank top - Band of Thrifters (Salvaged Strawberry)

Jeans - Old Navy

Sandals - Target

Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

Bracelet - Thrifted

One Year Anniversary "Beth's Favorite Things" giveaway

You guys.  I've been doing this blog thing for ONE YEAR.  How does a year go by so fast?  It has been a blast.  I've enjoyed every single minute.  Looking back at my earliest posts I can see how far I've come in a year too.  You can go back in the archive if you want, the earliest posts are not good - my photos were awful and my formatting wasn't so great, so I'm not going to highlight them, but it is fun to see how I've definitely improved.  When I set out to do this, I had no idea where it would go or what it would become, but I'm proud of what I've done here.  Most of all, the reason I've stuck with it and the reason I have so much fun is because of ALL OF YOU.  Those of you who take the time to read my rambles, share your thoughts, and say hello.  I love this blogging community, I've made some wonderful friends and have been blessed to meet some of you in person and I hope I can meet more of you in person sometime too. Whether near or far, you are all such gifts to me.

So as a gift to all of you, I'm doing a "Beth's Favorite Things" giveaway - think like Oprah - I wish I could give away ALL of my favorite things and I wish I could give them to each and every one of you, but until I have my own talk show like Oprah or win the lottery, sadly I can only give a few things away to one grand prize winner.  First off - here is the loot:

1. Vintage handbag from the fabulous Salvaged Strawberry (visit her Etsy shop here)
2. Megan Mae Buttonflowers in my latest favorite colors of oranges and reds (visit Megan here)
3. Necklace, earrings and bracelet from Target in fun summer colors
4. Burt's Bees Lipbalm
5. I Love Shopping notebook
6. Coffee mug

Above is a closer shot of the bag.  Ignore the playing cards to the right, they are not part of the deal, though I do love cards!  Anyway, this lovely bag will be a great added touch to any summer outfit!  Below are close ups of the jewelry and buttonflowers.

I feel this encompasses many of the things I love - purses, jewelry, accessories, bloggers I enjoy,  coffee, etc.  I hope that you all will love them too.  I did pay for all of these items out of my own pocket and I link because I love.

So how do you enter to win?  Simple.  Please leave me a comment with your email address and let me know  that you follow via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin.  That's it.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  Yes I appreciate my Twitter and FB followers too, but I'm keeping this bad boy simple.  And yes, international readers can enter.  I will figure it out if you win, no worries.

I'll accept entries from today, June 15th through 5pm CST Friday June 22nd.  Winner will be chosen in a video blog and I'll be joined by a special guest!

And again - Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your love and support over the last year, I hug you all times a thousand.  I hope you'll stick with me in the future as well!

Comments now closed.

Who's in charge here?

TGIF man, amiright?  The end of the day yesterday was one of those days I wanted to just curl up in a corner and cry, but more on that in a minute.  First off, it's the last day of our This and That Summer Trend challenge week.  Today is pastel or neon.  I more or less went for pastel as I have virtually no neon in my closet.  I love what I've seen other bloggers do with the neon trend but I just haven't been able to get on board with it.  However, I chose my bright pink bag today, closest thing to neon I actually own and probably the closest thing I will own.  So this outfit is really more about the pastel!

So back to my day yesterday.  It was going along just fine and then my boss had to go to one of our clinic sites.  This isn't unusual as she is the director of facilities for several clinics in our organization.  We were expecting a delivery for the 2nd floor construction project in my building, but she said she knew I could handle it.  So I'm doing my thing and getting ready to shut down for the day and realize the delivery hadn't shown up yet and like magic, the front desk called to let me know that the delivery guy was here.  Better late than never I guess.  So I said, have him meet me up here and I will show him where to put it.  Now mind you it's a giant box and weighs about 300 pounds.  I go to the elevator to wait for the guy and it's taking FOREVER.  This is not a good sign.  He finally gets off the elevator.  Without the box.  It won't fit.  At all.  Crap.  So I called my boss - who always answers her cell phone, but apparently not when it's important - I could not reach her.  Now I'm officially on overtime at this point.  A half hour later I finally get in touch with my boss and we figure out a temporary solution after I spent the entire time flustered, looking like an idiot in front of patients and doing everything I can not to just break down and sob.  And let me just say the delivery guy was kind of a prick about the whole thing.  At least I get paid overtime.

After I got home I had a well deserved beer and relaxing bath and then everything was better.  But seriously.  There is a reason I am just an admin - I do not do crisis management very well at all!!

Anyway.  It's Friday and I'm much happier today!  You will want to make sure to check back here later today or possibly tomorrow - I will be posting my one year anniversary "favorite things" giveaway!  Yes you heard me right, it's Beth's Favorite Things, ala Oprah.  I can't wait to share the fun things I have for you!  And I also can't wait to share some thoughts on one year of blogging - man time flies!

Be sure to check out Megan Mae's blog to see the other This or That participants from this week and also make sure to check Keely's blog for a round up of each participants favorite look from the week!  I have to decide on which one is mine!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Shlomo, thrifted

Jeans - Old Navy

Sandals - Marshalls

Bag - Lillians

Necklaces - Jerseymaids via Etsy/Stella and Dot

Double the fun

I have two outfits to share today, because I wasn't sure if today's This or That counted for skirts or not.  It is Colored Bottoms or Printed Bottoms for today.  So I have an outfit from the weekend and my outfit for today and hope I somehow covered this challenge well. 

So this first outfit was from Saturday.  It was mega hot outside, so shorts were a must.  I love, love, LOVE these plaid shorts.  They are comfy, they go with everything and I remember that even though I bought them in an actual department store (Herbergers) I got them for an amazing deal, they were five dollars.  I don't know why I remember that, but I guess I could say I never forget a deal!  Anyway, these are my "printed bottom" look.

These next pictures are today's outfit and they posed a challenge of course because it was cloudy and threatening rain this morning so I had to go inside.  I think the pantry is no longer my favorite indoor picture spot.

I chose a colored skirt to be a "colored bottom" because I don't have any colored pants/capris for summer.  So, you get a purple skirt!  And the platform sandals I've been talking about all week!  Finally!  The Pants Monkey commented as I was leaving this morning "New shoes?"  I said no, I'd worn them once before and he said "well I didn't see them, they are cute!"  I love that he thinks my shoes are cute!  I also had a male co-worker comment on them too, that he thought they were cute.  I do find it funny when I get compliments from men!

The only problem I have with these sandals is getting the laced part to stay up.  Anyone else have shoes like these?  Any tips or suggestions?  This next picture turned out much better, even if you can't see the shoes as well.

I feel kind of like a ballerina today in a way, flowy skirt and laced sandals?  Total ballerina.  I want to twirl around the office.  I might get some odd looks though!

Outfit one:

Shorts - Herbergers (old)

Tank top - Old Navy

Headscarf - Target

Outfit two:

T-shirt - Old Navy

Skirt - Ragstock 

Sandals - Old Navy

Flower power

Today's This or That choice was tribal or floral.  I don't really have anything that fits with the tribal trends as of right now, so I stuck to the easy choice of floral.  I'm super bummed that this yellow shirt didn't photograph well, it has white embroidered flowers at the top of it and you can't see it in any of these photos!  Oh well.  I seem to have nothing but trouble photographing my outfit when I wear this particular skirt.  So I'm just going to blame the skirt.  It's not my horrible point and shoot camera at all. 

I also did not wear the platform sandals I talked about yesterday.  I still wore a wedge today, but the ones I was talking about didn't match this outfit.  See the skirt I originally thought I'd wear for floral today I looked at this morning and noticed the pattern wasn't actually flowers...it's fruit.  So there was a last minute change in plans at 6:30 this morning!

It's all for the best I suppose, because my sandals also have a flower on them, so I'm just keeping in with the floral theme all over the place!

And because it is bugging me, I snapped a quick close up of my shirt detail after I got into work with my phone.  Sorry it's kind of a busty shot, but at least you get the idea!  Also ignore my ugly work badge that's clipped to the shirt.

There, that's better!  I just thought it matched my skirt so well and I just wanted to share it!  See, I'm not lying, there really is white embroidered flowers on the shirt!

All right, enough screwing around, better get back to work.  Head on over to Megan Mae's blog here for the master list of This or That participants.

Outfit rundown:

Shirt - Talbots (from cousin)

Skirt - DKNY (thrifted)

Sandals - Target

Bracelet - Stella and Dot

Flat Bethie

Today's This or That Trend choice was platforms or flats.  I was all set to wear some platform sandals that I have with a skirt, but then the weather today has decided to flash forward to Fall, so I decided to have a pants day and go with my tried and true all time favorite flats.  If you're a regular reader of the blog, you've seen these before.

My mom found me these a few years ago now at DSW, the tweed/herringbone type pattern totally drew her to them because she knew that I would love them.  Funny story though, while I did think they were adorbs the first time I saw them, I didn't wear them for a good two or three years on a real regular basis.  Yes, you heard me right, these shoes mostly sat in my closet not getting any love.  Why would I do that?  Because I used to think I was too short to wear flats.  I have changed my thinking on that in the last year or so and now I can't get enough of flats, especially these!

So as I said, I was cold this morning, so not only did I wear pants, I grabbed a sweater too!  It's a bit stuffy in my office though, so I can always take off the sweater if need be.  Minnesota summer is so fickle.  It will be hot again in a few days.  I'm enjoying this taste of Fall while I can, I don't really like the super hot stuff unless I can spend time in a pool or at the beach!

As I was getting ready to write about my "Flats" I couldn't help but think of "Flat Stanley".  Ever heard of that?  Or those of you with kids, have your kids had a chance to do a "Flat Stanley" project?  It's the cutest thing, I believe there is a book about him, but basically teachers have their students mail a "Flat Stanley" that they made to someone and have them take him on adventures and take pictures of it to send back to the students along with him.  My in-laws did a "Flat Stanley" for some relatives from Texas.  They took pictures of him in front of the Mall of America, the Spoonbridge and Cherry, and even just out in the snow to represent Minnesota.  It was really quite cute.

I gotta say, these flats sure are comfy!  I do like the additional height from a platform shoe, but there is something to be said for a shoe that is so comfy you think you're wearing a slipper to work!  If it's warmer tomorrow I will probably wear the platforms with tomorrow's outfit instead, so you'll still get to see them!

Don't forget you can head over to Megan Mae or Keely's blogs to check out other bloggers doing this week's This or That Summer Trend challenge!

Outfit rundown:

T-shirt - Maurices

Sweater - Lands End

Pants - Lee (From cousin)

Necklace and earrings - Charming Charlie

Flats - DSW

Inspiration Monday - Two for one

Happy Monday everyone! I am doing my very best to combine two challenges for the price of one today!  It's like a buy one get one free sale!  Today is day one of Megan Mae and Keely's This or That Trends challenge and it's Two Birds Inspiration Monday.  And somehow I think I found something that works for both.  Or maybe I'm crazy.  I probably am.  

So first of all, here is our Inspiration Monday model.  Kate Bosworth.  This is a very fun laid back look, though I'm not too sure about the shoes....

So, first of all, it's a bit too warm for a sweatshirt, though it is cooler today, so I chose a lighter weight top.  Second of all, I love her long maxi mint skirt, but I don't have anything like that (wish I did though!).  And third of all, for today's This or That, the theme is Solid Brights or Bold Print - so I chose bold print.  I also think that my bold print sort of represents her crazy shoes, but that just might be my wacky brain thinking too much!

So, that's my look.  And yes, it's a dress as a skirt again and one you've seen quite often here, I love this dress.  I have had it for a really long time too, and I'm not giving it up yet!  I figured my favorite new Gussy bag here could also serve as a bold print - though I almost went totally nutso and switched to my bright pink bag to cover the "solid brights" portion of the This or That challenge.  I think that may have dialed up the crazy a bit too much.

So did you all have good weekends?  Ours was good though packed.  Saturday we had a graduation open house and ran a bunch of errands.  We were able to relax with a movie in the evening.  Yesterday we did two morning masses with our music group and it was so warm in the church even with the air on that it ended up taking a lot out of me.  We went home and I pretty much did not move from the couch all day long.  The Pants Monkey was much more industrious than I was, he brewed a test batch of a new beer.  Excited to see how this one comes out.  We kept it lazy and had pizza night before it stormed.

It should be a fun week around here, not only is the This or That challenge going on all week, but we're nearing my one year blogging anniversary and I'll be announcing a very exciting first ever giveaway in celebration!  You won't want to miss it, so stay tuned!!

For more fun with Inspiration Monday, visit the two birds blog here.  To check out others participating in the This or That Summer Trends challenge, you can check out Megan Mae here or Keely here.  Lots of linky fun for all!

Outfit rundown:
Shirt - Mossimo, Target

Dress as skirt - Ragstock

Bag - Gussy Sews

Necklaces - Stella and Dot

Earrings and bracelet - thrifted

Sandals - Merona, Target