To Market, To Market

Happy Saturday, all!  This is what I've been wearing today, on what has become a pretty busy Saturday.  Technically Fella and I were supposed to spend the weekend packing, but I made plans to go to the Randolph Street Market this morning with fellow Chicago-area bloggers Randi from Not Just MOM and Julia from Polka Dot Biker Shorts.  They are both lovely ladies, and we had a great time perusing the market today.  Randi got a picture of the 3 of us, so that may appear on her blog sometime soon.  Meanwhile, my brother was passing through town on his way to visit our parents in Ohio, so Fella and I went downtown for brunch with him this morning.  The rare location shot above was taken (courtesy of Fella) while we waited for the train.  And before I could salvage any hopes of getting some packing done today, our friend C. texted to see if we would be up for dinner and a movie tonight.  Duh, of course.  So thank goodness there's 2 more days left this weekend!  What are you up to?

Jacket: Old Navy (remixed)
Dress: New York & Company
Sandals: Unisa (remixed)
Scarf: Target
Earrings: New York & Company (remixed)

Speaking of Floaty Skirts

The other day, E-Jo posted about floaty skirts.  And although I'm not a fan of mid-length skirts on me, I am a huge fan of floaty skirts!  Sure, pencil skirts are pretty flattering for curvy, hourglass-ish figured ladies like myself, but floaty skirts are just so comfortable, and they always signal summer to me.  Although my instinct is to pair a skirt like this with a t-shirt and flip flops, I dressed it up a bit for the office with flats and a cardigan.


Cardigan: Target (remixed)
Tank: Ann Taylor Factory Store (remixed)
Skirt: Gap Outlet
Flats: Loft (remixed)
Watch: Fossil (remixed)
Earrings & Necklace: Alixandra Collections (gifted)

On a random note of self-promotion, I decided to undertake my own Project 365 to celebrate turning 30 this year. The project involves taking and posting a picture each day for an entire year, and in addition to documenting your daily life for a year, it's also supposed to help build photography skills.  It's a little weird toting my camera around with me all the time, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.  In any event, this picture of Jude was one of my many leftovers yesterday.  He hasn't been on the blog much lately, so I thought I'd share.  And if you want to check out the rest of my pictures so far, you can visit my photoblog.  That's all.

Fun with Accent Colors

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  Thank you for all the birthday wishes on Friday's post.  I had a great weekend, but it was of course way too short.  I'm running a little late for work this morning, so this post will be brief.  It's finally warm enough here to wear dresses and skirts pretty regularly, which is nice, but can also get kind of boring after a while.  Today, to punch things up, I added bright blue and yellow accents to a black and white dress.

Dress: Target (remixed)
Flower pin & earrings: New York & Company
Shoes: Aerosoles (remixed)
Watch: Fossil
Bag: Coach, gifted

Personal Day

Happy Friday, Style Nation!  This is what I wore to work yesterday, since I'm taking a personal day today.  I didn't have time to snap pictures in the morning, so the lighting is kind of wonky because I took pictures as the sun was starting to set.  I haven't taken any outfit photos with the new camera in that kind of light, so it looks a bit... off.  But since I'm sharing less than perfect pictures, here's one of me and Fella (in the background, on the couch) trying to get Jude to join in the photo shoot fun.  Fella was getting ready to take him on a run, so Jude was less than enthused.



I'm taking a personal day today because tomorrow is my birthday!  My 30th, to be exact.  My 20's, although really fun, were pretty crazy.  I graduated college, bought my first car and logged nearly 100,000 miles on it, moved to Detroit, got engaged, broke off said engagement, moved to Chicago, started working at my company, lived in 7 different apartments, met Fella, adopted Jude and started graduate school (hopefully I'll get back to that someday).  Whew!  I always take a day off work to celebrate my birthday, though usually I just take myself shopping.  That's not really in the budget this year, so instead I'm going for a massage this morning (I'm cashing in a gift card, so not spending money!) and then heading downtown for a lunch and movie date with one of my girlfriends.  We'll be seeing Bridesmaids.  I'm pretty stoked, since there's not a lot of movies out there featuring funny women.  After all of that, Fella and I have dinner reservations at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants.



I wish you could see just how cute this ruffled floral tank is.  It was an early birthday gift from Fella's parents.  Does his mom know me or what?

I hope you all have a great weekend!  I'll leave you with this gem, me celebrating my 5th birthday.  At a boy scout meeting.  In a romper!



Cardigan: Loft
Tank: Tommy Hilfiger from Macy's, gifted
Jeans: Gap
Necklace: Hazel (remixed)
Watch: Fossil
Sandals: Birkenstock via PiperLime (inspired by E-Jo's matching pair)

Lost and Found

This weekend while combing through my many boxes of old clothes hanging out in my basement, I stumbled upon a few pieces that I can't for the life of me figure out why I would have packed away.  This dress was one of them.  I came upstairs with an armful of clothes that I was eager to try on and reacquaint myself with, and each time I would ask out loud why on earth I had made these clothes stay in the basement (Fella, amused with this, said he didn't even try to understand my thinking on stuff like this).  But of course, I was asking Past Anne.  Seriously, what was she thinking?  This dress fits, is super comfy, pretty cute and even in line with my current color pallet.  Yet it's been in the basement since we moved into this apartment in 2008, and I'm fairly certain I haven't worn it since at least 2007.  I can't believe it, but I think this was purchased at a time that I wanted to wear dresses, but since they weren't in fashion quite as much, I didn't.


Things that I could easily work into my current clothing rotation were few and far between, and a majority of the clothes I had are being donated to various charities around town.  However, there were a few special items that I want to find good homes for.  Are you in the market for some cute stuff that is way too small for me now?  If so, take a look at my closet and drop me a line.  I'm really bad at shipping things in any sort of timely fashion, but I guarantee they'll be mailed before June 1st, because if I don't give them away here, they're being donated before we move.

Dress: New York & Company (c. 2006 or 2007)
Cami: New York & Company
Leggings and Necklace: Target
Shoes: Born

Tights In May? Of Course!

Last week when it got really warm, I was a little annoyed at how hot my apartment was getting since we aren't putting our air conditioners in before the move.  I spoke too soon - we've had nothing but cloudy, rainy 40 degree weather here the past few days.  It feels a bit more like mid-March than mid-May.  But I'm not letting this make me retreat back into winter dressing.  Mainly because all of my winter things are packed away in boxes.  Today's outfit is pretty simple, but dressed up with a bright scarf.


Cardigan, Skirt & Tights: Target
Tank: Ann Taylor Outlet
Scarf: New York & Company
Shoes: Born

Unable to Concentrate

Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't concentrate?  It's one thing when I can't concentrate because I don't feel like working or I have other things on my mind (okay, that's pretty much everyday for me), but today I haven't been able to concentrate on work because it's really damn loud here.  The gas company has been working it's way through the neighborhood to install new gas lines, and they got to my block today.  Since it's 80 degrees out and we don't have air conditioning, I've had no choice but to have the windows open all day.  To add to all of the fun construction sounds, Jude's girlfriends downstairs have been barking at the workers pretty much non-stop all day.  That, in turn, gets Jude all riled up.  So yeah, construction and 3 loud dogs, awesome.


Sure, I could just pack up my laptop and work at any of a number of area cafes that have wi-fi.  But my company's VPN is wonky, so I can't usually log in unless I'm at home.  Ugh!  Fortunately, I've gotten some non-work stuff done so as not to totally waste the day.  I touched up my roots (I was more than due for that anyway), and did some cleaning this morning.  And now I'm working out how to paint our new condo. We close on the 1st and move in on the 4th, so Fella's parents and I are spending the 2 days in between doing some serious painting.


The first color to be picked?  The bedroom.  Fella's parents gave us this bedding for an early housewarming gift (I've had my eye on it for months, so I'm excited).  My first thought was that yellow would look good with green and white.  But I went crazy on paint swatches at the store last night, and it turns out blue would probably work too.  Meanwhile, Fella wants to stick with the green and paint the entire room green.  A lighter green could work.  So basically I don't know what to choose.  After a while, they all look equally good.  And all 20+ shades of yellow that I got look a lot alike too.  Meanwhile, this is all just for 1 room - there's still plenty others to go!  I feel like color mixing is so much easier with clothes, since I can change my mind.


Why yes, those are resting on top of a box of wine.  Because staring at paint colors all day makes me want a drink.

Tee: Old Navy
Cropped Jeans: Loft Outlet
Shoes: Puma
Earrings: gift from Mom, via Hazel Chicago
Watch: Fossil
Paint swatches: The Home Depot

The Dress Stands Alone

I've worn this dress a few times before (though I've only blogged it once), but I'm excited to finally be able to just wear it on its own.  No tights, leggings, sweaters or scarves needed.  We're having more warm weather today, though it's supposed to cool off again later this week.  But I'm enjoying the chance to dress like it's summer while I can.  I don't have anything interesting to say today.  Everyone have a nice Wednesday!


Dress: Target
Belt: New York & Company
Necklace: Express
Headband: The Limited
Sandals: Aerosoles

Rebel in White

We're having absolutely gorgeous weather here today, so it's a perfect time to break out some floral.  Even better, because today is the day for florals over at Everybody, Everywhere. I have a ton of different floral things, but with a forecast of 80 and sunny today, I went with a knit sun dress.  And - gasp! - white shoes before Memorial Day!  I know, I do like to live life on the edge.  I have some really great silver flat sandals that would've looked good with this dress (Rad may recall I wore these to a friend's wedding last summer), but sadly I packed them up last week, thinking there wouldn't be a lot of sandal weather between now and June.  Oh well.


Cardigan: Target
Dress: Loft Outlet
Sandals: Unisa
Earrings: New York & Company

Emotional Attachments

Happy Monday! Where do the weekends go? Mine sure flew by. Saturday was spent running errands, cooking for Mother's Day and continuing to pack. I started packing up our bookcases because I needed a break from sorting through old clothes. It's funny how many books of mine don't "fit" anymore, yet I'd never consider parting with them because they're part of my past. Will I ever read my third edition Classical Sociological Theory textbook again? Probably not, but it's a reminder of who I wanted to be in college. My old clothes serve similar reminders, but I just don't need them. That size 10 suit that I interviewed for my job in back in 2004? In addition to not fitting, it really serves no purpose, just a reminder of when I was a bit slimmer and more motivated to find a new job. So one of our errands on Saturday was to drop some of my old clothes off at a neighborhood resale shop whose proceeds go toward Howard Brown, a health center that serves local LGBT youths and adults.



Today's weather is a little odd, which made me completely change what I had planned to wear (hence the early morning sunshine photos). The forecast for the next week is rain, and when I was getting ready this morning, the hourly forecast called for rain as early as 6am. Here it is, 9am, and it's still bright and sunny. Maybe it'll rain later, but I didn't want to mess around with a dress or skirt, since rain also tends to mean cold here. Is it too much to just have a nice sunny day that will stay a nice sunny day?

Tank: Ann Taylor Outlet
Cardigan: Target
Pants: Loft Outlet
Sandals: Aerosoles
Necklace: New York & Company

Mom

This is me with my lovely mom.  It boggles my mind that in this picture, she's just one year older than I am now.  Where would any of us be without our moms?  My mom was always there to encourage me in school and my interests, and always had a shoulder for me to cry on.  Although often playing the role of disciplinarian while my dad traveled for work, she always tried to make sure we had a good time.  She planned fun family vacations for us, whether visiting the beach or following our favorite baseball teams around the country.  There's not a lot of pictures of her while we were growing up since she was the family photographer, but she's always smiling and often laughing in the few pictures we do have.  She put up with a lot from me when I was a teen and in college, but I hope that I've grown up into a young woman that she can be proud of.  I've learned so much from her over the years.

Always say "please" and "thank you," respect your elders, how to tie my shoes, the lyrics to "My Favorite Things" (we would sing this a lot whenever I was having a bad day), how to make a house a home, the importance of family, the benefits of an occasional mental health day, how to bake cookies and cook dinner for our family, responsibility and accountability, never lie, don't take anyone's guff, how to plant flowers (which is, incidentally, what she was doing while waiting for my dad to come home and take her to the hospital so she could have me), be independent, always make time for friends, and live my own life before settling down and starting a family.

To all of you mothers who are constantly teaching, nurturing and encouraging, thank you for all you do.  Happy Mother's Day!

Leg Baring

I don't want to jinx this, but I think we might finally be getting a nice day here!  It was almost 50 when I woke up this morning (compared to the upper 30's for the rest of the week), and the sun is shining.  I just couldn't resist busting out a summer dress.  And *gasp* bare legs!  Is Chicago ready for these?

I don't generally talk prices here, but I do love a good deal.  Since my birthday is in a couple of weeks, I've been getting a ton of coupons in the mail (similar to the Simpsons episode where Bart has 40-some birthday coupons to spend).  I picked up this dress at Loft Outlet (did you even know there was a Loft Outlet store?  I had no idea!) with 2 different coupons, so in the end it only cost $10!

It's been another busy week, so I'm really looking forward to a weekend free of travel and lots of plans.  I'm hoping to make a bigger dent in the packing effort, and Sunday we'll be spending the day with Fella's family to celebrate Mother's Day and his mom's birthday.  What are you up to this weekend?

Cardigan: Loft
Dress: Loft Outlet
Belt: Target
Shoes: Tsubo
Necklace: New York & Company

Springtime, are you out there?

Can you believe it's May already?  4 days into May no less!  I can't, mainly because of our crap weather here this week.  It was 40 degrees yesterday, which is hardly what I remember May and spring to be like.  Today our newspaper reports that we've only hit 70 degrees 3 days this spring, which is an all-time low in nearly 30 years.

Even if warm weather isn't coming soon enough, Fella and I are realizing that our big move is.  We close on June 1st, and we're moving into the condo a month from today!  Knowing how busy the coming month is for us, I've felt really overwhelmed by everything that needs to get done before June, but now that I'm getting started on it all I think we'll be okay.  I packed up 5 boxes of clothes yesterday (including all of our winter stuff - hopefully it doesn't snow again!), and already have 3 big bags of things that I'll be donating to charity.  I've talked about decluttering before, and how hard it's been for me to let go of a lot of things that I've been moving around from apartment to apartment with me over the years.  But something about this new condo makes me finally feel ready to just let go and give my things a new life.  I'm not using them, so someone should.

Cardigan: Target
Tank: Gap Outlet
Pants: Loft Outlet
Shoes: Eddie Bauer
Earrings: New York & Company
Sunglasses: Loft

Mayday Rant

I'll be back with an outfit post later this week but I just wasn't feeling it today (Monday). Of course you all know the big news that came last night.  I was in college in Ohio when 09/11 happened and I didn't know anyone who was involved, so I can't even begin to imagine how those who were there that day or those who lost someone that day felt upon learning that Osama bin Laden had been killed.  Like most Americans, my heart broke for everyone suffering as a result of 09/11, and I know that our country and our feeling of security hasn't been the same since.  I generally don't support war, but have accepted that the US has entered into 3 since 09/11 happened.  I don't support capital punishment, but I can understand the feeling of justice being served.  I'm glad that he was captured and that he no longer poses a threat to the US.  But bin Laden being killed doesn't put us back to where we were prior to 2001, it doesn't remove us from war, and it doesn't bring any of the victims back.  Air travel still frightens me as much now as it has over the past decade, and that probably won't change either.  I love my country and feel so lucky to live here and have as many opportunities as I do.  But all of that said, I don't understand the celebrations of bin Laden's death.  As a friend noted in her blog today, it felt like people were celebrating their team winning the Super Bowl.  And I hope I don't come off as ignorant about this.  I just can't recall any other time in my life where the collective opinion has been to rejoice and celebrate someone's demise (perhaps Saddam Hussein comes close).

A lot of you may have seen the viral Martin Luther King, Jr. quote on Twitter and Facebook.  Below is the full quotation from his speech:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


I remember hearing this quote from the nuns who taught at my high school (which is, incidentally, where I developed all of my feelings against violence).  I try not to get too political on social networking sites (and even on this blog - woops), but I didn't see much harm in quoting Dr. King.  Unfortunately, I'm almost always wrong about this, and there's always some jackass from my hometown who is taking a break from commenting on Yahoo news stories to point out what a bleeding heart liberal I am.  Sure, I get that we don't agree on things like health care, guns, abortion or our President's citizenship.  But it's frustrating that someone can find fault in such a profound, insightful quote from a champion for peace.

This morning while getting ready for work, I was exhausted from the weekend and being up late to watch the news last night, and have been feeling a huge array of emotions about the events of the past couple of days.  So you'll forgive me if I didn't really care what I was wearing.