Fancy Pants

Normally, I reserve these pants for the 9-5; however, I felt like dressing 'em down. Despite the initial instinct to pair them with other other fancy duds, printed pants work really well with more casual attire too. On this particular night of errands and Indian food, I threw on a knotted tee, colored denim jacket, and my trusty fedora. My favorite part of this ensemble is the rose gold, showcased with my newest gems and flat sandals. Actually, scratch that - my favorite part was the elastic waistband, which allowed for over eating of chicken tikka masala and lamb kebobs.

Recreate my look:

Narcisco Rodriguez for DesigNation pants (similar here and here), Anthropologie jacket (on sale!), Old Navy tee, Sam Edelman Gigi sandals, Stella & Dot Mesa necklace, Tribute Bracelet, Wrap Bracelet, Sidewinder Necklace, Goorin Brother's fedora

Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most creative of them all? Well, I'm certainly not claiming that title; however, I am proud of this ensemble. I was inspired by Ms. Blair and even though I didn't have a dress, I did have a skirt and shirt that go together and were mistaken for one all day by on-lookers. Additionally, these shoes looked like this before, but with ankle strap sandals being THE shoe to have, I did some tweaking with some kitchen shears and voila! I'm remixing and DIY-ing with the best of 'em...err, maybe the least experienced of 'em.

Anthropologie jacket, XXI tee (similar) and Target skirt (similar) or dress, Nine West heels (similar), Charming Charlie collar (similar)

A Weekend Date

Now that it's Friday (phew), you and your honey or group of gal pals will be likely heading out to the newest BYOB, gastropub, or sushi joint and therefore need something a little fancier than the other two types of dates (seen here and here). I never tire of working a high/low look for a date night - a little casual and a little fancy. A striped tee is the perfect cute & casual top and will make that special skirt that you wore last Christmas (think lace, sequins, jacquard. or any other embellishment) very appropriate for spring. The finishing touches? A jean jacket, bright clutch, and leg lengthening nude sandals. Have a great weekend!

American Apparel tee and belt, Akira skirt (similar), Old Navy jean jacket, Adrienne Vittadini sandals, Bennetton clutch (similar), Tory Burch sunnies

Spring Uniform

It's hard to believe (given the current weather), but couple weeks ago, it was sunny and 60 degrees. Therefore, I broke out what is sure to be my spring uniform - a jean jacket and some combination of cobalt, red/orange, and mint.

Old Navy jean jacket, Gap sweater, Old Navy skirt (similar and cheap), Hue tights, Audrey Brooke pumps, mint bubble necklace, XXI earrings

Knee Highs

When the temperature went up to 60 this weekend, tights were too much, but the world didn't need to see the pastiness that is my legs during this time of year. Thank goodness for knee high socks...and lazy Sundays.

Jessica Simpson dress, Old Navy jean jacket, JC Penney belt, Simply Vera socks, White Mountain booties, Nord Rack necklace, and The Limited earrings

Young or old

I'm currently embracing florals and sandals with all my heart, because I know they're going be packed away to the back of my closet in about a week when it gets cold and rainy. I bought this dress a year ago, and this is the first time I've worn it. I don't feel so bad about that, because it only cost me a couple bucks, but I still don't like letting my clothes sit around unworn. But this dress is so dang girly. I just didn't know how to wear it. It's comfortable, and the print makes me happy, but I can't decide if this dress feels too young for me. I hate that I've reached an age where I sometimes look at a piece of clothing and wonder if it will make me look too young. (Obviously that didn't stop me from wearing it, though!)

Floral dress: thrifted from Village Merchants

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Blue and green wedges: Nine West from Nordstrom Rack

White belt: Forever 21

Ring: In Pink

Weekend fun

Here's my outfit from Sunday! We were surrounded for the whole photo shoot by geese pecking at the grass and squirrels running around like mad (in the photos below), which was very entertaining.

On Saturday we went down to Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel with some friends, and were highly disappointed to discover that you had to pay $9 just to get in to the beer garden, so we went elsewhere to drink beer :) But first we stopped at the Mt. Angel Abbey, which was gorgeous. (Those photos are at the bottom of the post.)

Green dress: gift from my dad, vintage

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Blue and green wedges: Nine West from Nordstrom Rack

White belt: Forever 21

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Dragon necklace: purchased in China

My friend Rachel and her awesome sparkly top!

The abbey

Calvin, the cutest baby in the whole world (named after Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes!)

Eric and Matt trying to do gang signs for the camera

The grounds of the abbey

Patterns

It's hard to believe, but I get more compliments when I wear this dress than I do with almost any other dress. I don't really get it - I mean, it's kind of shapeless and weird. Which of course is what drew me to it, but it doesn't explain everyone else's fascination with it. Apparently the dress alone wasn't eye-assaulting enough for me, because I felt compelled to throw on these strawberry print shoes as well. Yes, it was overkill, but it made me happy.

Happy Labor Day to all you Americans! I hope you enjoy your barbecues and picnics :)

(Mr. Onyx was desperate to be near me during this photo shoot, so I had to include this photo...)

Dress: vintage (I think it's from House of Vintage)

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Strawberry print flats: Asos

Bracelets: made by me!

Lucas Salon

Yesterday I got my hair re-colored. In the past I haven't invested much time or money into my hair. I've never put any fancy products into it. I only learned how to use a curling iron this year. I own a blow-dryer, but it's been broken for two years. And for about ten years, I dyed my hair with the stuff you get in a box at the grocery store. (Except for six months where I had black and blonde hair, which I definitely could not have done on my own.)

But earlier this year, I just got tired of the way my hair looked, so armed with a recommendation from my friend Lauren for a great new salon in Portland, I headed to Lucas Salon to get my hair cut and colored. The owner, Taylor Lucas, cut and colored my hair back in April before a friend's wedding, and it turned out so beautifully that I'm hooked on nice haircuts and hair color now. I went back yesterday to get my roots and my rose gold highlights touched up, and had the red deepened a bit. I'm immensely satisfied with the results, and wholeheartedly recommend Lucas Salon to anyone in the Portland area looking for a good stylist. If you're used to getting $20 haircuts and dyeing your hair from a box, the prices might seem a bit steep ($60 for a haircut and $85 for highlights) - but trust me (and this is coming from someone who typically spends next to nothing on beauty products), it's worth it.

I couldn't resist showing a close-up of my hair - I hope it doesn't sound vain of me to say that I think it looks awesome!

Paisley dress: from an antique show

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Brown sandals: Nordstrom Rack

Brown bag: Eva Messenger Bag from Ellington Handbags

Brown belt: thrifted

Bracelet: vintage, gift

And here are some photos of the fabulous Lucas Salon!

Relaxed weekend

The heat this past weekend was ridiculous. Portland finally broke not only 90 degrees, but 100 degrees as well. Thankfully my parents have a pool, so we headed over there on Saturday with Onyx to have a BBQ and go swimming. (There are some photos of that at the bottom of this post.) We also got to watch Portlander Galen Rupp win the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meter race, which was very exciting! We don't have a TV, so the only chances we've had to watch the Olympics are at other people's houses, or while in the fitness center of our building.

This outfit was actually from Sunday, but it was still crazy hot then, too. The jacket was purely for air-conditioned buildings; I only wore it for about a minute for these photos.

Floral shirt: Marshall's

Pink shorts: Loft

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Gold sandals: Asos

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Blue earrings and bracelet: B. Lee Designs, gift from my aunt

Gold necklace: Evidence Jewelry, won in a giveaway

Here was my church outfit from Sunday. Our pictures were turning out horribly (that's what you get when you try to take photos at noon on a sunny day, and are forced to take them in the underbrush just so you get some shade), so we gave up, but I salvaged one halfway decent photo to show you guys:

Here are a few fun photos from our Saturday! Onyx had a blast jumping in the pool about a hundred times, eating blueberries off the bush, and harassing my parents' dog Lucy (fourth photo down):