30 x 30 | Day Twenty Four

dress | old navy, leggings | h&m

scarf | target, necklace | charming charlie

Yesterday's look is what I call "being woken from a deep sleep by a panicked phone call and throwing clothes on" chic.  Luckily, my friend's car accident wasn't bad and I didn't look like a hot mess when I showed up to make sure she was alright - all thanks to the '30 x 30 outfit ideas' album I have on my phone.
Have a great Saturday!

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Three

cardigan | old navy, lace dress (worn as top) | thrifted $4, skirt | worthington for jcpenney

necklace | target, belt | walmart

We got crazy great wonderful news in Louisville yesterday -- we're finally getting an H&M!!! I had to use extra exclamation points to show you all just how excited I am. H&M is one of my favorite stores and I've been making the hour and a half drive up to Cincinnati or Indianapolis to stock up when they have sales.  I'm so pleased that I'll be fifteen minutes away from one this fall :)

What store are you still waiting to locate closer to you?

Happy Friday!

The Sunshine Award

One of my very, very favorites (and the head honcho of this month's 30 x 30 remix challenge), Samantha from Sam ipsa Loquitur, nominated me for the Sunshine Award.  And since it's snowing in Kentucky, I figured it would be nice to pretend it was 80 degrees outside while writing this post.

The Sunshine Award is symbolized by a flower that one blogger can give to other "bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere."

As with most awards, the Sunshine Award comes with a few simple rules:
Acknowledge the person who gave this award in a blog post.
Do the Q&A below.
Pass on the award to 10 deserving and inspiring bloggers, inform them and link to their blogs. This award doesn't have any specific number of followers as a constraint, just pick people who inspire you!

Q&A

Who is your favorite philosopher? I have to confess - I'm not big on traditional philosophy.  I do, however, love collecting quotes that inspire me to better myself or apply to situations I'm in.  A favorite from 2012, "Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy." Robert Tew, if you're reading this, thank you for giving me the words I needed to focus on improving myself last year.

What is your favorite number? 7. It's always been seven so I'm able to look past the fact that it's not divisible by five, a strange obsession of mine.

What is your favorite animal?  I would love nothing more than to hold a sloth at some point in my life.

What is your favorite time of day?  I'm a huge night owl (Obviously, since I'm trying to think of entertaining answers for this at 2 am) but I feel like being productive after midnight isn't useful post college.

What do you prefer, Facebook or Twitter?  I've become disenchanted with both on some level, but I love creeping on people's pictures on Facebook and hearing various stream of consciousness on Twitter.

What is your favorite holiday? Fourth of July - I lived in Northern Virginia about thirty miles from Washington DC for about eight years and I loved seeing everything get decorated and fireworks and concerts on the Mall and baseball games and making American flag cakes with blueberries and strawberries (but mostly eating said cakes while everyone else fights over who gets to light the fireworks).

What is your physical favorite activity? I really enjoy mall walking while lifting weights - those weights being my shopping bags. That counts right? No? I do enjoy sightseeing - even in places I live.  I'm weird but walking city blocks and people watching is kind of awesome.

What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? I had a blueberry mint lemonade at a restaurant last summer and then perfected the craft of making it at home - so delicious.

What is your passion?  I love clothes and shopping, but I really enjoy observing people - getting to see what makes them happy and sad, what they're passionate about, how they react to different situations, how they treat others.  People fascinate me.  

What is your favorite flower? Sunflowers. Hands down, no contest.

My ten nominations are:

• Lauren from Sophisticated in Style
• Tracey from Versatile Style by Tracey
• Lisa from respect the shoes
• Chioma from Chioma's Evolution of Style
• Ally from Sunny Sweetheart
• Maya from Perfectly Imperfekt
• Danielle from Goodwillista
• Angela from Selfless Ambition
• Lindsey from Thrift and Shout
• Mary from Style That Moves

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Two

cardigan | dkny via costco, yellow striped knit | forever xxi, cords | old navy

Scarves are such a great accessory, but I really love that you could wear the same shirt for a week with a different scarf each day and no one would notice...not that I've ever done that ;)

Obviously a huge fan of this knit with yellow being one of my favorite colors.

30 x 30 | Day Twenty One

sweater | ralph lauren via tj maxx, chambray | old navy, chinos | h&m

I'm a couple days behind so prepare yourself for an onslaught of outfit posts :) I've officially worn this chambray more than any of my other items and I can still see it popping up in the remix challenge a few more times.  Give me all the chambrays, okay?

studded bracelet to match my studded loafers

30 x 30 | Day Twenty

cardigan | old navy, striped knit | forever xxi, chinos | h&m

In my head, I thought this would look really weird and planned against wearing it, but then I got bored and tried it on and really liked it.  Proving once again, just because it sounds bad in theory, doesn't mean it will actually be bad - and in a similar fashion, just because it sounds like it will look great, doesn't mean it will.

So dalmation and stripes is now a thing I can work with. Who knew?

Happy Tuesday!

2012 Favorites

Sam tagged me to share some of my favorite things from 2012, so I thought I'd play catch up :)

Favorite Makeup | I'm still a huge believer in Bare Minerals just because of how often I fall asleep in my makeup.  It's nice to not be punished for being lazy and/or tired.

Favorite Book | I didn't read as much in 2012 as I usually do so I'm going to have to say my reread of the Harry Potter series was it - I'm starting Hunger Games once again because Jen's from my hometown so hopefully, I don't get distracted and actually finish it this time.

Favorite Song/Album | Hello (the album) by Karmin and Drive from Carly Rae Jepsen.  I got to see Karmin live and was blown away by how talented they were.

Favorite Movie | The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. I'm a huge sucker for the superhero movies and thought ScarJo and Anne Hathaway were awesome.

One Thing You're Grateful For | The health of my family! We've had a lot of scares over the past couple years so it was such a blessing to end 2012 with everyone in good spirits and physically well.

Greatest Challenge | Letting go of friendships that had been lost for awhile.  I know it's part of growing up but it was hard to stop putting effort in to relationships that had existed for almost half my life.  At the same time, I got fed up with being in such one sided friendships and feeling like someone didn't care.

Looking forward to in 2013 | I took a break from college in 2011, when my mom got sick with every intention of returning after she was healthy again.  Instead, I started working and questioning what it was that I really wanted to do with my life.  I'm hoping in 2013 to go back to college so that I can finish my undergraduate studies.  Also, really looking forward to my two week trip to Europe in June!

I'm tagging Maya from Perfectly Imperfekt and Angela from Selfless Ambition if you ladies would like to share :)

30 x 30 | Day Nineteen

cardigan | old navy, tank | charlotte russe, jeans | target

As we get closer to the end of the 30 x 30, I find myself planning out what clothes I would like to add to my wardrobe with my February budget.  While shopping a bit too much in December, I received Old Navy cash and when I checked their web site Sunday morning, I saw that they've brought back the gingham button ups in almost every color - now if only I could decide which colors I wanted.

Linking up with Molly and Carly today.

30 x 30 | Day Eighteen

I think one of the toughest things about fashion blogging is that not every outfit is a "Wow! A+" outfit. Sometimes you wear a t shirt and jeans; sometimes you put on leggings and an XL event t shirt and don't even leave the house - embarrassing but true.

chambray & cords | old navy, scarf | vera bradley

So while this wasn't what I'd call a home run outfit, it is a part of the 30 x 30 and that's all that matters ;)