Beat the heat - Remix #25

This outfit was my attempt to beat the heat yesterday. "Heat" by the way, means about 80 degrees in Portland. It felt positively sauna-like here, but I bet that's nothing to you Californians. I'm so jealous of those of you who get warm weather and sunshine year-round. If we could have that in Portland, with maybe a dose of autumn every now and then, I would be one happy girl.

Dress: Target

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Lulu's

Belt: Forever 21

Earrings: gift, from Bethlehem

Necklace: Simply Jo Designs

Bracelet: free from my mom

You again - Remix #24

Yes, it's this skirt again. And yes, I'm colorblocking again. It's definitely a trend that's going to stick with me long after it dies out in popular fashion. My outfit was inspired by this amazing outfit on Chictopia. Fortunately both of these pieces were in my 30 for 30. I wore this outfit to the mall yesterday to pick up Jessica's new book (which is fantastic! A great addition to my book collection), and I got so many compliments on how fun and bright it was. I added some blue accents (earrings, bracelets, nail polish) to cool down the citrus hues of the rest of the outfit. I wish I had some blue sunglasses that I could have thrown on as well :)

You guys, I'm so tired of the 30 for 30. My clothing choices seemed great when I started, but now they just seem stale, and I hope you're not bored of seeing the same clothes over and over again. I know I am. I crammed a second outfit into Monday that I didn't photograph - jeans and a tank top for firework-watching on our roof. I have a feeling that there may be a few days this week where I wear more than one outfit just to get this thing over with.

Top: Gap

Skirt: Zara

Sandals: Target

Belt: free from aunt

Earrings and 1 bracelet: B. Lee Designs

Other bracelet: Charlotte Russe

My 30 for 30

I love this outtake; Josh was having a lot of fun with shadows while taking photos!

Easy breezy - Remix #22

Josh and I had a fun and thoroughly social three day weekend! We're normally homebodies, but we crammed so much into this past weekend. On Saturday we hiked to Lucia Falls with my mom. It's up near Mt. Hood, which you can see in the pictures above and below, and was a really fun trip.

After that we drove out to Ikea and got a full-length mirror - finally! I may have spent an hour playing dress-up in front of it on Sunday :) And after that we drove up to Josh's parents' house, where I wore this dress but forgot to take a picture of it. That's why this post is remix #22 and not #21, because I'm counting Saturday as #21.

On the 4th we went on a picnic with my family (and our dog Onyx!), and I wore this wonderful maxi dress. It was an easy breezy outfit that I really didn't put much effort into - but if you're just going to be sitting around eating and playing cards, do you need to be dressed up? It was hardly an interesting outfit, but I thought I should include a photo of it anyway since I forgot to photograph Saturday's outfit for the 30 for 30.

Dress: Forever 21

Sandals: Target

Necklace: owned for years, can't remember

Bracelet: self made, from this tutorial

My 30 for 30

Lazy summer evening - Remix #20

Yesterday was blissfully beautiful, so in the evening Josh and I walked down to our favorite sushi restaurant in the Pearl District, where the sushi goes by you on a conveyor belt. I threw on three of my all-time favorite items for a casual look that still felt pulled together. On the way down to the restaurant, three different men (skateboarder, old man, regular guy) told me how much they liked my shoes! People always talk about the cost per wear for your shoes (and even that is getting pretty low for this pair), but I think the cost per compliment is worth it too, and that ratio is even better for these wedges!

White button-up: free from my dad

Skirt: Anthropologie

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Lulu's

Earrings: gift from aunt
Bracelet: gift, from Italy

Belt: H&M

My 30 for 30

Urban adventures - Remix #19

Yesterday we went on a little adventure to Lower Macleay Park to take pictures. We took pictures on the stairs leading down to the park. We took pictures under the Thurman Street Bridge. We took pictures in front of the bridge. We took pictures by some modern red sculptures in the park. We took pictures of me artfully draping myself over the sculptures. (Not a good idea.) I hated all of them. So half an hour and 200 photos later, we trudged back up the stairs to the car, saw this fetching wooden walkway on the bridge, and ended up taking what have to be some of my favorite photos ever. The moral of this story: perseverance can be rewarding. Then we came home and Josh spent 40 minutes in Photoshop removing two cars from right next to my face in the photo above. (You can see one of them in the picture below to the right of my face.) So this blog post ended up taking both of us most of the evening, but I have to keep you guys satisfied, right?

Tee: Forever 21

Skirt: Rerun

Shoes: Lulu's

Hat: gift from aunt

Belt: gift from parents, from Uruguay

Earrings: free from aunt

Necklace: self made

Go for broke - Remix #18

In yesterday's post I wasn't super pleased with the way I looked, and I think that showed in the pictures. I felt crabby, I wanted to be wearing contacts instead of glasses, and I didn't like the way my hair looked down. And guess what? They weren't very good pictures. Today, on the other hand - I loved everything about what I was wearing, and I think that's what made these pictures so good. Anyone who says fashion doesn't matter has clearly never experienced the mood-boosting benefits of a really great outfit. Have you ever had days like that, where you just feel fantastic because of what you're wearing?

Today I decided to go for broke with my outfit. I pulled out my pink skirt, and then thought - "What the heck, I may as well throw on the brightest shirt and the brightest shoes I own." It's definitely one of those outfits that makes people stop and stare as you walk past them, so I decided to keep the jewelry fairly toned down so as not to distract from the wonderful brightness. I think this outfit is one of the best representations of my personality - it's cheerful, it makes people smile, and it's very loud.

Tee: Target

Skirt: Zara

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Lulu's

Necklace: from my mom

Ring: free from Simply Jo Designs

All natural - Remix #17

I swapped out the red ribbons in these wedges for some green ones yesterday. I love how such a small change can make these shoes feel so different. Now they're subdued, whereas with the red ribbon they were very vivid. A construction worker told me he liked my shoes when I walked past him. I don't know if that was his subtle way of hitting on me or if he really did think they were cool, but I was still flattered. If a very straight-looking construction worker compliments your clothes, you know you've got something good going on.

This necklace is from Italy, and it's made of Murano glass. I bought it during my first trip to Europe six years ago and paid 40 euros for it (about 55 US dollars), and I remember that at the time I was astonished to be paying so much for a necklace, but I just couldn't resist. Now I realize it was an amazing deal, as this is by far the best piece of jewelry I own.

Today you get to see my all-natural hair. I know this is what you've been waiting for. It's basically a white girl version of an afro, and I never know what to do with it, which is why I almost always wear it up. Do any of you have tips for handling a crazy huge mane like this?

Tee: Gap

Skirt: thrifted from Crossroads Trading Co.

Shoes: Ann Taylor Loft

Necklace: purchased in Florence, Italy

Bracelet: actually a necklace, free from aunt

My 30 for 30

One through sixteen

Since this 30 for 30 challenge is more than halfway done, I thought I'd show you guys what all my outfits so far look like side-by-side:

Not too bad. But I am boooored out of my mind with these clothes now! I really miss the rest of my closet. I play dress-up almost nightly, putting together outfits from the rest of my closet that I can't wear for a few more weeks. And since we don't have a full-length mirror in the apartment, I have to climb on the toilet seat and look in the mirror over the bathroom sink to see the outfits I try on. This is both ridiculous and hazardous, as the lid of the toilet seat once slipped off as I was climbing down, and I almost fell. We really need to make a trip to Ikea to buy this mirror (in white, not orange) so that I don't end up dying in pursuit of fashion.

Brighter is better - Remix #16

If there are any of you out there paying really close attention to my 30 for 30 collection, you'd realize that this dress wasn't one of my items. I decided to switch it for this sweater, which I haven't worn yet and probably won't wear:

This dress is fairly new, and it's one of only a handful of floral prints that I own. I recently decided that I need to fix this problem - I always see bloggers (the lovely Tieka comes to mind) wearing floral prints, and they look so sweet and feminine. And you know, I really did feel more feminine in this dress, especially with the cute little ruffle across the chest. I got it at Target, and it was between this and a soft gray dress. Naturally, I chose the one with the bright colors. As pretty as the gray dress was, I am just not a "neutrals" kind of person. I wish I was, because everyone says neutrals are so versatile - but honestly, I have so many bright colored clothes that brights are probably just as versatile as neutrals to me now.

How do you guys feel about neutrals vs. brights? Love one, hate the other? Or do you wear both frequently?

Dress: Target

Shoes: Ann Taylor Loft

Belt: free from aunt

Earrings: made by a friend

Necklace: free with purchase from UnderGlass

PS - You may have missed my two weekend posts - I'll be doing those for the duration of the 30 for 30. Here's Saturday's post, and here's Sunday's.