Enjoy the Day

Target Dress (here)
Walmart Scarf (similar)
Shopko Sandals (similar)

I wore this over the weekend to do some thrifting and hit up the MSU Dairy Store with my husband. School starts in a few short weeks and we're trying to hit up all of our favorite places around MSU before the students come back. We're old and enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. Another one of our favorite places is the horticultural gardens. It's lovely in the summer, the perfect place to take a long walk and enjoy the day.

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Summer Neutrals

Thrifted Tee (similar on sale!) and Head Scarf  (similar)
Gap Jeans (similar)
Shopko Sandals (similar)

Oh hi! Nice to see you again. :-)

We've had a busy July so far. I've been off work and my husband and I have been slowly but surely trying to get as many house projects done as possible. I'm hoping to share our updated bathroom with you all soon. It's so close to done. I can taste it.

How as your summer been?

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Shapeless

Gap Dress (similar)
Walmart Sandals (similar)
Kohl's Earrings (similar)
Necklace via Sassy Steals

I saw a style blogger going off on twitter a few days ago about how she can't stand to see girls wear shapeless dresses. I happened to be wearing this at the time and I couldn't help but laugh. When it's insanely hot with an insane amount of humidity in the air, the last thing I want is something else touching my body. This was sweaty enough as it was. And sweat is less cute than a belt.

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

LGD

It's been SO hot this week. Like, all I want to do is throw on a simple dress and sit in my living room and read. Unfortunately there are things like work and grocery shopping and lawn mowing getting in my way. At least I can still wear the dress.

-----------------------------
Thrifted Dress (similar)
Cents of Style Necklace
Shopko Sandals (similar)
Francesca's Earrings (similar)

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Weekend

Happy Sunday! How's your weekend been? Ours is busy, as always. My husband works on Saturdays, so I usually spend the day working too. Sundays are full of church, errands, and prep for the week ahead. It's usually not until Monday that we get a chance to breath! Jeremy is off work and I only have a few hours of work, so it's kind of our Saturday. 

Bruno had to sneak into a few of these photos. He's a ball of energy, but a lot of fun.

Thrifted Levi's Jacket (here)
Thrifted Floral Top (similar print)
Old Navy Maxi Skirt (similar)
Walmart Sandals (similar)

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

An Ode to the Maxi Dress

Thrifted Land's End Maxi (insanely similar) and Jacket (similar from Madewell); Stitch Fix Necklace; Walmart Sandals (similar)

Oh maxi dress. Thank you for being there for me as I ease into summer. Thanks for making me feel feminine without showing piles of skin. You are amazing and I hope the world of fashion never casts you aside again.

How's your week going? We are in full on vacation mode over here so I'll keep this short. I have people to see, things to read, flowers to smell. Yep.

Happy Wednesday.

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Weekend Wear: Mixed Prints

Francesca's Dress as a Top, $16 (similar)
Thrifted Vintage Skirt, $3 (similar)
Thrifted Belt, $2 (similar)
Payless Wedges, $5 (similar)

This outfit has been on my "to wear" list for a few weeks now. I finally wore it to church this morning to stay cool in this 90 degree heat.

I'm in the middle of a few weeks off work. It was a little unexpected, but it's rather nice. I've been doing some crocheting, lots of reading, and a little TV watching.

What have you been up to lately?

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Nanny Style: Conundrum

Kohl's Top, $10

Thrifted Shorts, $3

Old Navy Sandals, $5

I've had this colorful combo in my head for a couple of weeks but it's been too cold for shorts. It finally hit 80 degrees again so it was time. I always have mixed feelings about what to wear this time of year. It's almost fall and my boots and sweaters are beckoning. But...it's also still 80 degrees out most of the time. Quite a conundrum, as you can see.

 How do you make the fall transition?

Linking up with Passion for Fashion!

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Weekend Wear: Relax

Thrifted Tee, $0.99 (similar)

Thrifted Levi's Jacket, $10 (exactly)

Old Navy Maxi, $10 (similar)

Shopko Sandals (similar)

Kohl's Necklace, $3 (similar)

Oh my, thank goodness for the weekend. Life has been insane lately and I was so glad to have a chance to relax today.

Long story short...we're not buying a house. :-( The bank waited until the very last second to tell us that they actually wouldn't be able to give us a loan. Apparently that's pretty common in this post-recession economy but it was SO disappointing. 

So...now we're looking for another apartment. We had the opportunity to stay in our current one but we've been pretty miserable here so it's time to move on. Hopefully we'll be able to find a better place. I forgot how stressful apartment hunting can be. It's tough to make all those phone calls and emails and then try and pick the right one. 

Anyway...I hope you all have had a great weekend. I'm gonna go get in a few more hours of relaxation before the crazy starts all over again tomorrow!

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Weekend Wear: Bright Maxi + Denim

Thrifted Land's End Dress, $5 (similar)

Thrifted Levi's Jacket, $10 (exactly, on sale!)

Shopko Sandals (similar)

Self-Made Necklace (similar, just $5!!)

Well hi! Sorry for the silence over the last week. I was on vacation and then life got super crazy for a few days. I'm not quite ready to talk about it cause we're still right in the middle of the crazy, but things should fall into place this week and hopefully I'll actually have news to share.

On a completely unrelated note, what are your favorite skinny jeans? Mine are wearing out and I'm looking to buy a new pair before fall. They've really become a closet staple so I'm looking for something a bit pricier...investment jeans, if you will. 

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Off Duty: A Day at the Park

There's a great little Veteran's Memorial Park adjacent to our local library. We finally went and checked it out a few days ago after we returned some books. It was so, so hot, but at least we got some fun photos.

Thrifted Dress (similar)

Old Navy Sandals, $15 after gift card (exactly)

Old Navy Shoulder Bag (similar)

Francesca's Earrings, $16

Guess what? I'm on vacation!! I had the opportunity to go up north for a few days to visit family and it's so great. So I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. :-)

Have a great weekend!

 

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Weekend Wear: Packing Mode

Target Dress, $25

Thrifted Belt, $3

Walmart Sandals, $10

I feel like it's been a while. How are you guys doing? We're in full packing mode over here with only 17 days left until the move. I'm escaping Lansing for 5 days this coming week to visit my family and attend a wedding, so I'm trying to get as much done as I can before I go. Otherwise I'm doing a lot of reading, drinking iced coffee and relaxing. It's been a good week. :-)

I hope you're enjoying your summer!

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

DIY Polka Dot Shorts

Kohl's Tee, $10 (exactly)

Walmart Necklace, $3 (similar)

Thrifted Shorts, $2, DIY'd Polka Dots (similar)

Old Navy Flip Flops, $2 (exactly)

So. The polka dot pants trend is still going strong and I decided I wanted on the boat. Inspired by this post at A Beautiful Mess, I decided painting some shorts would be a fun idea. It was a a pretty simple and cheap project. I picked up some fabric paint for about $3 and used an eraser to make the dots. Here's a picture of it in process:

It took some time, but it was really relaxing. I did this while listening to an audio book on a Friday night while my husband was working and it was greeeat. 

Have you done any great DIYs recently?

Bloglovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram

Nanny Style: One

Kohl's Top, $5

JCPenney Skinny Ankle Jeans, $25

Self-made Necklace

Old Navy Sandals

Nails: nailtini in "Mini Grenadine"

I had this post all put together and ready to go up over the weekend. And then, just minutes after my last post went live we got an email from our realtor that our offer had been accepted. And I have been a spastic, overly excited, stressed out monster ever since. So I'm just gonna apologize in advance for the very real possibility that that blog will not get a ton of attention over the next 4-6 weeks. My brain is buzzing with paint colors, and how soon should we start packing, and we need a trailer to haul our couch, and I really hope this doesn't mess up our already very tight budget, and oh my goodness I think the neighbors must know we're moving cause they are extra crazy this week, and holy cow I need a drink.

Happy Monday friends.

Nanny Style: DIY Tank Dress

DIY Dress (similar)

Shopko Sandals (similar)

Walmart Earrings, $3 (similar)

This is one of those weeks where I'm glad I have a few unposted outfits lying around. I had a doctor's appointment the very next day (which included my annual lady check up - so that's fun), ran home to make lunch, went to work, unpacked in the evening, woke up the next day and did a pile of laundry and dishes, made a quick lunch, went to work, finished cleaning in the evening, and then this morning we made an offer on a house. Whew. 

So here's the story on this dress: it used to be a tank and a dress. Lemme 'splain. I bought this pretty pink dress on clearance at Old Navy almost 2 years ago. I loved the color and lightweight fabric, but the top was a really low neck that I was just never able to make quite modest enough to where I was comfortable. Then I thrifted this striped tank a few weeks ago. It was cute, but it was kind of a weird baby-doll style. I was about to donate both items when I had the most brilliant idea. Put them together to make a dress. I chopped the top off the dress, the bottom off the tank, and tada! We now have what you see here. Yay new dress!

Happy Wednesday!

Wedding Wear: Floral Maxi

Handmade Maxi (using this tutorial)

Thrifted Belt, $2

Walmart Sandals, $10

Glasses c/o GlassesUSA

Hello! I wanted to get this outfit up real quick  before we head home. Jeremy and I made a quick trip up north to attend a friend's wedding and visit my parents this weekend. It's been so much fun, just way, way too short. 

I had a great time at the wedding catching up with friends I haven't seen in years! The wedding was for a friend of mine from high school. I was part of a gang of about 5 girls who were all pretty much inseparable from 4th grade until graduation. We've gotten together a few times since then, but we all went off to different schools and now that's we're all growing up and getting married it's just getting harder to do so. It's so great that we can all pick up right where we left off whenever we see each other. Makes me feel so blessed to have gone to a small school and have had such great friends. While chatting yesterday we all agreed that the although we did not miss high school one bit, we all missed each other and the camaraderie we enjoyed.

Hope we all are having a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Wear: The Perfect Dress

Handmade Caftan by Me (using this tutorial)

Walmart Necklace, $3 (similar)

Belt c/o Daily Charms

Old Navy Sandals, $5 after gift card (same sandal, different colors)

Oh this dress. It is perfect and I want to wear it every single day. I've been wanting to make myself a maxi for a while, but I waited to buy fabric until the Memorial Day sale at Joann Fabrics and boy did I score. This dress probably cost me $10 to make. And it was SO EASY. Seriously, if you can sew a straight line, you can make this dress. Go make one. Right now.

Anyway, enough about this dress...how was your weekend? We spent the better part of our Sunday avoiding our neighbor's loud music and found ourselves at this little park with some ice cream. Really not too bad of a way to spend the day if you ask me.

Weekend Wear: City Girl

Kohl's Tee, $10 (same, crew neck)

Thrifted Skirt, $3 (similar)

Payless Wedges, $7 (similar)

Sunnies via eBay, $10

Parking garage photos. Am I a city blogger now? Naw...although it was a lot of fun to have all that space to ourselves to take photos in...

I started out this week feeling really good, which hasn't happened in a very long time. I have been the queen of moodiness the last few months. I think it's a combination of lack of sleep (see: crazy loud neighbors) and the cold. I usually cope just fine with months of clouds, snow, and cold weather, but this last winter hit me hard. I haven't been happy living in the city, I've been worried about money and jobs and health insurance, and this past winter just amplified it all. 

I'm finally starting to feel more content here. It took a long time (at least it felt like it) to make friends in our large church, but I'm finally to the point where I see someone I know every Sunday, which is wonderful. We're looking for a house and have high hopes of getting out of the city before the summer is over. Jeremy and I both have steady work and health insurance. I also started taking some vitamin D a few weeks ago and that has made a huge difference in my mood. Who knew that was something you actually needed...?

So here's to a new week. May yours be amazing. :-)

Simplicity

Francesca's Dress, $16 (similar)

Belt c/o Daily Charms

Old Navy Sandals, $6 after $15 gift card (same sandal, different colors)

Francesca's Earrings, $10 (similar)

Guess what? I finally got around to putting a lining in the top of this dress. Now I can wear it without having to worry about wearing another layer either under or over it to cover my undergarments. Hooray! I decided to style my new and improved dress very simply for a trip to the library. There are something like 10 or 12 branches of our district library here...all of which we now have access to with our fancy new library cards. I'm super excited to be able to do more reading this summer..for free!! A big thing that prevents me from trying out new books is the cost. Although having a kindle does make things cheaper, costs still add up fast. And since we are cheap, cheap, cheap, it makes me really happy to be able to save money this way.

Hope your week has been wonderful so far!