but I love polka dots!

top | old navy (recent, last seen here), skirt & belt | target (spring '12), booties | payless (fall '10)

I love, love, love polka dots and am hoping to expand from that in March. This shirt is pretty sheer so I wore a black H&M knit top that I thrifted underneath to cover up.

Are there any patterns or colors that you might love too much?

give me spring!

sweater | old navy
skirt | h&m

So I actually wore this with leggings because brrrrr - it's still cold here, but of course I forgot to snap some pictures before I took my leggings off.  But here's a preview of what I'm most excited for in March: weather warm enough for me to go with bare legs all the time.

Spring, you can't come soon enough.

Linking up with Shanna for Random Wednesday.

welcome to the red jungle

cardigan & blouse | old navy
skirt | thrifted
tights | target

I really liked this outfit while taking pictures of my latest thrift finds so I pulled a cardigan and tights on to winterize it.

Fun fact: anytime I wear anything animal print, I think of Welcome to The Jungle, but now anytime I wear red I start singing "loving him was red," in my head.  So this is a little Guns 'n Roses/Taylor Swift mashup via outfit today.

Linking up with Thrifters Anonymous today!

chocolate and caramel

button up | brooks brothers, silk skirt | thrifted
necklace | versona accessories

I was meandering through Target on Friday (clearance Valentine's Day candy is a personal priority) and was so surprised when I saw that they had marked down all of their tights.  I looked through some of the different color options because at $3.50, I can justify most "edgy" colors but ended up grabbing this brown pair and a pair of mint colored ones.

I've worn this skirt before with a light blue button up and liked that version of this outfit a bit better but I do really like this necklace with the skirt.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is enjoying Valentine's Day candy as much as I am :)

valentine's copycat

I love Valentine's Day mostly because I'm a huge fan of 50% off candy the day after but this year I was so excited about it that I ended up wearing two Cupid inspired outfits.

blouse | thifted, jeans | old navy

I have tried so hard to make these red polka dot jeans work but they don't fit right and I've struggled with how to style them.  These may be leaving soon.

I'm linking up today with Carly and Mary for Copycat Thursday.

inspiration | j. crew

It was far too cold for bare legs or a lightweight top so I changed things slightly but love this outfit for Valentine's Day.

sweater | ralph lauren via tj maxx, skirt | thrifted, tights | kohl's

Happy Valentine's Day!

circle circle dot dot

button up | lands' end - similar, sweater | old navy
skirt | thrifted, tights | charlotte russe - similar

jacket | forever 21

I'm working on expanding my personal style and so one of the things I'm trying to do is not style pieces in the same manner all the time.  For example, this sweater is new and my first thought was to pair it with my mint pants.  I always think sweaters need to be worn with pants and so I started looking at my skirts. I love this one that I thrifted ($3!!), but it's a little big on me so it sits lower than it was originally designed.  Once I pulled the sweater on over the skirt it looked fine.  I decided to layer and worried that the pink might be too much color, but ended up really liking the pop it gives to the outfit.

And for the sake of consistency - polka dot tights, probably my favorite "trendy" item that I've purchased recently.

Linking up with Molly and Carly for #YOLOMonday

cobalt and baby blue

knit | forever 21, cardigan | costco, pants | h&m

This knit top shrank just enough to look strange with these pants so I located this cardigan and pulled on some mint jewels to make a consistently bright outfit.  The pyramid bracelet is one I've had for awhile but still had the tags on because I hadn't worn it yet; it looked fun with the rest of this outfit and is something I'd wear again

cheating

dress (worn as top) | h&m, skirt | target (last spring)

During my 30 for 30, I got dressed every day but one in the thirty items I had picked, but one night I changed out of my outfit and into this one to go out for drinks with friends.  I'm 100% guilty of cheating, but after wearing a dress as a blouse I found myself in my closet attempting to see how many of my dresses I could wear this way and fell in love with this outfit.

The dress is one of my faves too - $5 during H&M's fall clearance and the back has the exposed zipper which I love.

watermelon combo

blouse & cardigan | old navy, pants | h&m

I bought this top last spring off a clearance rack and have struggled with it ever since because it's a size or two too big and does this really cute thing where it shows off my bra straps.  I'd only worn it twice and while sorting through my closet I thought maybe it was time to let it go.  But once I pushed up the sleeves of my cardigan and belted it to give it some shape again, I found that I actually really liked it.  And I really liked this outfit even though it does kind of remind me of watermelon on a 4th of July paper plate (don't lie, you see it too.)

Don't quote me on it, but the 30 for 30 may have made me a clothes' whisperer; I suddenly feel as if I can make everything in my closet work for me somehow.

30 x 30 | Day Thirty

knit | forever xxi, (dress worn as) skirt | old navy

Yesterday was the last day of the 30 x 30 challenge and this was the outfit I wrapped up with.  And it was a slight challenge for me; I know it's fine to break the navy with black rule these days but I still struggle with it.  This dress isn't a dark navy so I felt okay going with the black tights (especially when I saw it was snowing this morning...no bare legs for this girl!).  The yellow striped shirt had only been worn twice so I pulled it over and I really liked it - this dress has pockets so I was a little worried about it possibly making me look hippier than usual, but it didn't so A++ to this dress. Or I said yes to the dress, insert various rhymes/puns here.

I'm so excited to wake up in the morning and wear whatever I want from any part of my closet, but this was such a fun challenge and one I definitely want to repeat on the blog.

I won't get all sappy on everyone yet - I'll be back sometime today with the 30 x 30 recap and some last thoughts on the challenge, advice for anyone considering doing one in February/March/whenever, my favorite and least favorite outfits and maybe even some outfits that didn't make it into the challenge?

"See" you soon!

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Nine

chambray | old navy, chinos | h&m

I never wear this polka dot skinny scarf so I decided try tying it a bow around my neck and then eventually my collar so I could rock polka dots on polka dots for day twenty nine.  I really wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I love this idea.

This was the fifth time I wore my polka dot chambray top during this challenge, making it my most popular blouse.  Here's a quick look at the different ways I styled it:

prior days: 2, 7, 18 & 21

Do you have a favorite?

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Eight

oxford | brooks brothers, skirt | jcpenney

tights | charlotte russe

I started reading Heather's post yesterday morning and had to put on my love bangle as well - yay for being bracelet twins!

The good: two days from the end of the 30 for 30 challenge (!!!) and my friend/coworker asked if I had picked up all of these items in a recent shopping spree - I guess that means I'm remixing kind of well :)

The bad: even though yesterday's post was all about how much I dislike tights, I couldn't turn these down when I found them for $3.  Slightly different, but for a serial tight killer like me much more price appropriate than the ones I'd been eyeing from Gap.

The ugly: I was so, so proud of myself for trying these on Monday night and taking them off and then putting them back on for this outfit and making it through the day.
...And then I went to take them off and the tiniest of snags happened.  I may have glared at the tights.

Linking up with Shanna today!

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Seven

oxford | brooks brothers, dress | h&m

Let's talk about tights.  I think they're great in theory: they can be opaque or patterned, they make it possible to wear dresses and not shave your legs (guilty as charged), they keep your legs warm (debatable) and make an outfit look put together.

And here's why I only like tights in theory: This is the only pair of tights I haven't ruined after wearing them one time.  It's heartbreaking.  Without fail, I will snag, run or accidentally poke a nail through a brand new pair of tights and sigh dramatically as I realize that in my hand I'm holding twelve to fifteen dollars that would have been better spent elsewhere.

Eventually, I gave up on spending more for the slim chance they may last and started buying Target tights figuring they were cheaper to replace.  Somehow, these black ones have stood up against my apparently rough nature and I can confirm that they are still unscathed as I write this.

Here's to you, Target tights.

30 x 30 | Day Twenty Five

blazer | thrifted, shirt | talbots (thrifted), chinos | h&m

I was determined to bring this shirt back so here it is, under a blazer as Ginny suggested (you're the best, thanks a million).  The blazer really looks black in this picture and all I can think about right now is how cool it would be if navy and black pieces could change based on what you were wearing.  Kind of like a mood ring.  And this has been deep thoughts with Nicole!

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!

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!

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.