Stripes + Leopard

My husband loves to visit the local museums. He makes a quick pit stop by his favorite museum almost every weekend and when the weather is nice we make the trek down to the national mall to visit museums and the gardens. We are so lucky to live in DC and its always a lot of fun to get out and explore.

I'm a huge fan of all of the gardens and last weekend we walked through the National Sculpture Garden and snapped these photos quickly. Since I started blogging again, we've been doing outfit photos on our weekend adventures which has been so much fun. But, it means I'm usually dressed to do a LOT of walking. 

I usually wear this outfit with my leopard print flats, but given the amount of walking I knew we'd be doing, I swapped out the flats for my slip on sneakers. These are about three years old and I've gotten a lot of use out of them. I'm tempted to add a blush pair to my collection.

 These are the same jeans I was wearing in the last blog post; they've been on heavy rotation given our cool DC weather lately. The top is old from Banana Republic, but I just picked up this cardigan from JCrew and it is the perfect summer cardigan. It is a lightweight cotton with stripes on the back. It is oversized so I sized down for a more fitted look.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Sweater | Jeans | Similar shoes | Cute chambray top

Mint Blazer + Middleburg

I said I was going to get back to blogging more regularly and here I am! We spent the weekend in Middleburg, VA celebrating our second wedding anniversary. The weather didn't really cooperate with us, but we enjoyed a weekend away!

Middleburg is about an hour outside of DC and we stayed at the Salamander Resort and Spa. We went for the resort, not the town, but enjoyed walking into town to eat and stroll around. We arrived on Saturday in the cold and rain and immediately headed off for our zip lining tour on the resort's property. It was a lot of fun, despite the weather. We went zip lining in Costa Rica while on our honeymoon which definitely offered a prettier backdrop, but because we learned a little technique here, I actually went faster on the lines. 

It warmed up (and stopped raining) on Sunday so we ventured outside a little more and headed to one of the local wineries, Greenhill. It's a beautiful property with good wines and live music. I wore this outfit to the winery and then out to dinner. We took these pictures on the terrace of our hotel room. The resort property is gorgeous and would have been a  LOT more fun if we could have enjoyed our time outside a little bit more because there are hiking trails, outside campfires, and an outside chess set.

  

Middleburg is the definition of a quaint town. Pretty much every building is picture worthy. We ate dinner here, the Red Fox Inn & Tavern.

As part of my commitment to blog more, you're probably going to see a lot of pieces that are older and no longer available. I was previously under the impression that I had to blog currently available outfits. But, I think that's a little unfair. I actually appreciate seeing how people continue to wear and re-wear items in their closet because I don't think most of us buy a ton of new clothes regularly.

This blazer is just over a year old. I bought in San Diego last March when I was there for a three week(!) work trip and didn't pack enough light jackets. I picked it up from Banana Republic in a petite size. It was characterized as a "boyfriend" blazer, but the petite sizing made it more fitted on me. The top is also from last year (J. Crew), but the jeans are new. I've always only had one pair of white jeans per season. For whatever reason, I thought that fulfilled my need for white jeans. Nevermind I always like 2-3 of dark denim on hand at all times. But, I found that because I spill (or sit in or brush up against) something every. time. I wear my white jeans, they spend a lot of time in the hamper or washing machine so that I end up wishing I had another pair so I could wear them more frequently. Of course the search for another pair was not easy, but I decided on these. They are JCrew's slim, broken-in boyfriend jeans.

My other white pair is also by JCrew (toothpick). The boyfriend jeans are a little thicker, less stretchy, and of course, looser fitting (I bought the same size in both). I still really like and wear both (in fact, I've worn both pairs of jeans with this jacket and top combo). 

Blazer: old (JCrew has fun colors here, similar color here) | Top: old | Jeans | Necklace: old, similar here | Shoes: old (let me know if you have any leopard flat recommendations, these need to be replaced ASAP).

Scallops & Eyelet

 

Helllloooo! I'm stopping by to share this outfit. I knew I hadn't blogged in a long time, but I just realized that my last post was in August 2016. How is that possible?! To be honest, I forgot about blogging until a good friend mentioned it. It made me realize how much I missed writing posts. But, as much as I love writing, I don't love taking photos. I got a bit discouraged when I didn't have a bunch of new outfits to share (I wear the same outfits over and over!) and I got frustrated with the quality of my photos. Also, it's hard to set aside time to take photos on the weekend since my photographer (aka my husband) works so much. So I stopped planning photo shoots on the weekend and before I knew it, it wasn't something I thought about. But, I hope to get back into a regular routine. 

I've never loved shorts. I've always had difficulty finding ones that fit well (does anyone else have a hard time with the rise in shorts?!) and are an appropriate length. Plus, I'm not very good at styling them. But, they are so practical, especially in the DC summers. So, I've been on the hunt. I found these and absolutely loved the eyelet and scallop combo. Then I realized that Loft carried a coordinating top and I was sold. Is it weird that I feel guilty about the fact that my first ever hookup (JCrew speak for matching top and bottom) is made up of pieces I bought from Loft?

I've worn this outfit twice in the week that I've had it and I've paired it with sandals, flats, and sneakers. I also think you could dress it up with nude pumps. 

As far as fit goes, I found the shorts to run small (compared to other Loft shorts I tried). The top is short and boxy, but works well with the shorts because they are high rise.

top | shorts | necklace

Savoring Summer

It seems like everyone has given up on summer and has already moved on to fall. And by everyone, I mean bloggers and retailers. I'm not ready to give it up yet. So, I'm doing my part here to keep it alive with a quick look at this dress that I scored on super sale. I passed on it originally because I'm not usually a fan of dresses with predominantly white backgrounds (I'm so pale; I'm sporting my summer tan in these photos #iwishiwaskidding). But, it haunted me so I gave it a try and I'm so glad I did! I've definitely gotten a lot of use out of it so far. In the same week, I wore it to the office (with my trusty Target blazer) and then wine tasting (with a floppy hat, of course!). I've also thrown a jeans jacket over it when necessary in the AC and I think it looks as good with it as does paired with the navy blazer.

Blazer: here | Dress: here | Necklace: here

Dresses as Shirts, Again

Since I moved to DC last summer, I've cleaned out my closet about three times. I started the process because I had to downsize my wardrobe before I got married; the closet space is limited and it wasn't all mine (#marriageproblems). But, I realized I really liked having a more streamlined wardrobe. It made getting dressed easier in the morning; I could actually find what I wanted and I really loved everything in my closet. So I started really purging. At first, I started with the things I never wore. Then, I moved on to the things I sometimes wore, but didn't love. 

Since I started the process, I've become much more discerning when making new purchases. I haven't quit shopping by any means. But, the process has made me realize what fits best, what I wear most, and what I really like wearing. So I keep that in mind while shopping. 

When I saw this shirt in the dress, I had to have it. But, it didn't come in tall and the length was way (way!) too short. Fail. So, I waited for it to go on sale and bought it knowing that I'd hem it to make it a shirt. Then, I noticed JCrew carried the shirt version (here; new version here), only to realize it would be way too short as a shirt on me. Double fail. So, I carried through with my plan to turn the dress into a normal length shirt for me.

I have to say, this shirt along with the other two tops that I made into shirts from dresses (here and here) are my absolute favorites and are on frequent rotation. I guess it's because I really  have to like a dress to want to turn it into a shirt.

Also, I'm obsessed with this necklace. I ordered it after seeing it on a blogger I follow on Instagram. When it arrived, I was so glad I had taken the risk (I knew nothing of the online boutique). But, before I could wear it, it broke in the box. So, I contacted Happiness Boutique, and they replaced it free of charge. Amazing customer service! I've worn it non-stop and it has held up super well!

Shirt (dress): no longer available | Necklace: here | Jeans: old | Shoes: old

Summer Staple

We attended our third and final wedding for the season this past weekend. Fortunately, we have some time to recover before two more in October. I love weddings, but I have to admit I'm a little exhausted from all the traveling that comes with them. We're looking forward to a low key weekend at home for the Fourth!

I'd been eyeing this shirt for at least a year. I almost bought it last summer, but didn't and regretted it ever since. This year, it took me three tries to find the perfect fit (I should have stuck with my usual JCrew size to begin with), but it's been so worth the trouble! I wear it almost weekly because I can dress it up for office or pair it with shorts or skinny jeans (I even love it paired with my white denim!) on the weekends. I wore it this weekend to travel in and thew on a green cargo jacket when I (inevitably) got cold in the airport on on the plane.  

Here, I decided to pair it with my striped skirt (last seen here). It is advertised as more of a tunic so I thought I could get away with a regular, but turns out the proportions and length worked much better in my usual tall size (I even played with going up a size in the regular).

 

 

  

 

Shirt: here, also available in navy, white, and olive | Skirt: old, similar here | Shoes: old, similar here 

| Necklace: here

It's Wedding Season

Wedding season is in full force and we have five total this year! Fortunately, I LOVE weddings - I'm always up for a good dance party! We've already attended two weddings so far and I wore the same dress to both. I picked it up from Anthro earlier this season on a whim. I liked the pattern, fabric, and length. But, I didn't (and still don't) love the neckline. I kept it because I desperately needed a dress to wear to an early May wedding. 

I thought I was OK with the neckline when I tried it on at home, but when I saw the below picture taken at the first wedding all I could think was that I looked like a giraffe because it accentuated my long neck. So, I decided I'd be looking for something else to wear to the next wedding. I had never tried Rent the Runway and had heard nothing but good things, so I figured I'd give it a try. I've mentioned before (you know, when I used to blog regularly), that our closet space is limited and I really like for my clothes to pull double duty. Well, my special occasion dresses seem to be worn once and take up closet space that is in short supply, so I thought RTR was the solution to my problems. Unfortunately, the dress I selected for this weekend's wedding turned out to be damaged or not returned on time so RTR offered to send me an alternative dress (two alternatives, actually). But, neither worked. Both were way too short and too casual. So, I pulled out this dress as my back up. Instead of curling my hair, I wore it straight and I have to say I, I'm glad I gave the dress a second chance. It is so cool, fun to twirl in while dancing, and is easily dressed up or down with jewelry and/or shoes. 

Vineyard wedding in Texas

At the wedding this weekend, I met a woman with a very similar body type and we had a long conversation about how mean kids were to us when we were in middle school; we both got teased for our height and weight. I still remember those nicknames and they definitely impact choices I make today; I hadn't really thought about that until we had the conversation and I realized how reluctant I'd been to wear this dress because it made me feel like a giraffe despite all the kind words and compliments from friends and family. Anyways, I'm back at this blogging thing and hope to keep to a more regular schedule!

NC Wedding

Dress: Here | Wedges: old, this year's version here  (also available in stores at TJ Maxx and Marshalls) | Heels: old, similar here | Earrings: here