Outfits Of The Yesterdays (Catching Up + Easter + Four Outfits)

 ♫: The Recipe - Kendrick Lamar (ft. Dr. Dre)

Ah, so, where were we? I hope ya'll had a great Easter! It has been a busy past few days around here--between more travel, celebrating a job well done with Husband and some good news for him (hooray, so proud!), listening to my dad give a hilarious live analysis of Mad Men, stuffing myself full of my mom's delicious sugar cookies, and celebrating Easter with my fam...it was fun, but I am happy to be home again. I've always been a little bit of a homebody at heart, shh. Don't tell.

So time for some picture vomit. I've finally downloaded Instagram (uh huh), and I have also been trying to take more snapshots of my everything (riiiight), so the snapshots below are a hodge podge of iPhone, point & shoot, and new camera shots from whenever I remembered to pull out them all out.

It is a fine line, after all--it's like those people you see at concerts, nodding their heads to the beat of the music but tweeting/texting while doing so. In fact, they're doing it the entire time. Are they actually enjoying the experience, or are they enjoying the fact that they should be enjoying the experience, but they're so busy telling someone else how much they're enjoying it that they're not really enjoying what they should be enjoying at all? Right?

And to think, there's a reason why my extravagantly ambitious and industrious leap towards being a fortune cookie fortune writer never panned out. I know I sometimes use too many descriptors, can never stay focused, and worry too much about what others are doing...but can't they just make the fortune cookie bigger? In bed! Ha ha ha ha ha.

 Ooo-kay.

 My lucky numbers are always shut up, sad-face:

{clockwise from top left: dinner at the edge restaurant in the four seasons denver, outfit for that night, neon maxi skirt + blazer, flatness of Wyoming, funny-easter-bunny}

{a sparkly, colorful line-up}

{kitty!}

{the back of my favorite hoodie & what I wear whenever I'm not feeling well, hitting the gym, and/or going to the grocery store late at night: a comically badass, tatted, gun-toting marilyn.}

{he plays angry birds alllllll the time and it still took him forever to get the swim trunks out of the tree}

{twin sister + her husband + their dog}

{Husband + me + not our dog}

{our one and only attempt at a proper family photo}

{diane von furstenberg alba two mini dress in daffodil (available on sale in more colors here!) (and a cheaper option at ASOS), rivka friedman mina bracelet, forever 21 mint bangles}

Jacket: Nordstrom, old (similar at ASOS, on sale) (similar at F21) (& another option at F21)
Top: Ann Taylor, old (similar at Shopbop) (similar here) (similar at Banana Republic)
Shorts: Topshop, old (similar by winter kate) (similar by Tibi) (similar at Zara)
Necklace: Forever 21, old (similar here) (similar here)
Pumps: J Crew Valentina Pumps (similar here, coral no longer available) (similar here) (similar here) (similar under $75)
Bag: Lanvin Sweet Dora Crossbody (similar here) (similar under $200) (similar here)

Top: Sanctuary, old (similar here, on sale) (similar at ASOS)
Shorts: Topshop, old (similar here) (similar under $100) (similar under $30)
Shoes: J Crew Valentina Pumps in Weathered Rose (buy them here) (similar here for $100)
Bag: Marc Jacobs iPad Case in Coral (buy it here) (similar by Kate Spade) (similar at Mango for under $50)

Blazer: ASOS, old (similar by Alexander Wang) (a cardigan option here) (love this lace blazer at The Limited)
Cardigan: J Crew Perfect Mix Tape Cardigan in Henna (buy it here) (similar at Forever21)
Top: J Crew, old (buy it here) (similar here)
Belt: J Crew, old (similar at Express) (similar at ASOS for $11)
Necklace: J Crew, old (similar here)
Skirt: Forever 21 (buy it here) (longer, a-line option at Anthro)
Bag: Chloe Metallic Marcie in Gunmetal (similar here) (similar here) (similar under $200)
Shoes: J Crew Perfect Patent Pumps, old (similar here by Nine West) (similar here) (similar here)

Jacket: Alexander McQ for Target (similar at Zara) (similar here)
Cardigan: J Crew, old (similar here) (similar at F21)
Top: Modcloth, old (similar here) (similar here) (similar here under $50)
Belt: J Crew, old (similar at Banana Republic)
Skirt: J Crew, old (similar here) (similar here)
Shoes: J Crew Mona Pumps in Wild Berry (buy them here) (similar by Nine West in "pink suede") (similar at ALDO)
Bag: Lanvin Happy Mini Pop in gold python (similar by Lanvin here) (similar under $100) (similar under $100)

Outfit Of The Day (Neons & Neutrals: Take 2)

♫: Flutes - Hot Chip

{i'm a little teapot, short and....somethin'}.

Style inspiration can come from many different places, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of this pretty little flower arrangement currently sitting on our psuedo-coffee table right now when I put this outfit together. 

I am still using my Canon point & shoot for my photos at the moment, and I am still in limbo over a camera to replace my broken 5D. While I'm not completely sure, as a Libra I think that decision-making has never been my strongest suit (hardy-har) and...yikes.

So bare with me. My usual fancy remote + tripod set-up doesn't work with my point and shoot, which means I take photos the old-fashioned, sweaty way--using a 10 second self-timer; running back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Which also means I get about 15 shots of me doing the exact same pose. Hooray for ingenuity, EXCEPT I DON'T KNOW WHY IN THE JIBBY-JAB THAT I KEEP TOUCHING/SCRATCHING MY HEAD IN MY PHOTOS BUT I PROMISE I DON'T HAVE FLEAS.

I mean, of course I don't have fleas. Urban Hipster Lottery Winning Lumberjack Sea Lion Drawing A Fancy Avant-Garde Caricature of Primo Prostitute Poop Cake Carson Daly simply ain't my thang and is sooooo third week of March 2012, anyway.

But I will totally use a thesaurus  daily news headlines yanked from a very legit online news source to string together nonsensical crap whenever I have a brain fart more often, hooray! Watch out CNN, you're next:

Blouse: GAP, old (similar here) (similar at Urban Outfitters) (and a pretty lace option at F21)

Belt: J Crew, old (love this at Ann Taylor) (and similar at ASOS)

Skirt: Forever 21, old (similar at ASOS)

Pink Necklace: Ann Taylor, old (similar here) (similar here)

Turquoise Necklace: Forever21, old (similar here) (similar here)

Bracelet: LOFT (buy it here) (similar here for $17)

Shoes: J Crew Valentina Pumps in Weathered Rose (buy them here) (similar by Nine West) (great peep-toe option for under $50)

Bag: Marc Jacobs Cooper in Nude (buy it here) (similar by Fossil) (similar by Rebecca Minkoff) (similar at F21)

Outfits Of The Day (Snapshots, Take 2)

♫: Near Death Experience - Andrew Bird

So after typing out that ridiculous little diatribe about photography on Monday (being so moving, blah blah blah) (being so great! blah blah blah), my 5D had the nerve to completely bite the dust. It did the camera-equivalent of sticking its tongue out at me, I swear, only it was exactly like when I was a kid and my dad told me that my face would stick that way.

Its face stuck that way...

{croak.}

...and it stuck that way with its little reflective mirror dealie flapping oddly and immobile in the wind.

As it turns out, this is a pretty common problem for the Canon EOS 5D's so Canon says that they will fix it for free. It is a five year old camera, however, and pre-used even before I got my hands on it--it has served me well, but it is probably time for an upgrade. All of my cameras have been pre-owned, and it would be awfully nice to finally get my own baby to break, yes?

BREAK IN! We'll see. Maybe.

Anyway, back to my snapshots-from-the-past series. We went on a really fun cruise with a bunch of our friends a few years ago; and while I don't remember much from this particular evening, I do remember that right before this picture was snapped my extremely-astute-and-not-at-all-inebriated twin sister wondered aloud if this brightly lit, oddly unmarked and mysterious room...was the ships' control room:

{So as it turns out we were really drunk, and me and my teeth were totally having a blast shooting Jeffy in the head}

You know--sandwiched right between the dance club and casino? Where Captain Mario and his first mate Luigi steer the ship? Your cruise ship didn't have one?  Bummer.

And now for an outfit--I still have a few old OOTD snapshots off my dead camera, whew:

Jacket: Emerson Made Waxed Moto Jacket (similar at Express) (similar at UO) (and another option here)

Top: ASOS, old (similar at F21) (similar color top here)

Skirt: J Crew Factory Factory textured cotton mini (buy it here) (similar at F21) (longer length option at LOFT)

Belt: Urban Outfitters (buy it here)

Flats: Lanvin Python Metallic Flats (similar by Lanvin) (similar by Steve Madden, on sale) (similar here for under $50)
Bag: Lanvin Metallic Python Happy Mini Pop (similar by Lanvin) (similar here for under $100) (another option under $100) (and a clutch option under $50 here)

Outfit Of The Yesterday (Snapshots, Take 1)

 ♫: Make A Change -Skankin' Pickle


One of my favorite things (aside from good food, good music, and a secret, bizarre fascination with really awful reality TV shows) (soooo in other words: I am totally watching The Kandi Factory as I type this) is photography.

I am not very good at it, I mostly just punch buttons and spin dials until something happens, but this might be the year for me to change that. I hate feigning dumb as an excuse for laziness, no matter what my blonde locks might otherwise advertise, so perhaps it is time for a class or two. Or twenty. Thousand. Stay tuned.

When I was in high school I had a good friend that videotaped everything. I mean everything--from the dumb to the even dumber, he had it all on tape. Concerts, skateboarding, pranks, 4th of July fireworks, first loves, first hates, road trips to Minneapolis, road trips to Omaha, playing billiards in a dark basement room with strobe lights (I am still pretty sure this is the fastest way to end up on the local news, by the way: Kid Takes A Strobe-Lit Cue Ball To The Head, Friends Claim That Dude, They Were Totally Trying To Break The Ball And Not, Like, Their Friend's Face) (Thankfully it never happened, although we did have a few close calls), hanging out, whatever.

He would record everything, and then he would then carefully edit the videos, splicing the very best moments together with a soundtrack full of 90's punk, ska, and hip hop. We then would all gather to watch them--to watch ourselves in our own little personal Amusing Movie Of Life, playing out however we saw fit.

We would gather sometimes in the basement of his parent's home, other times in the basement of my parent's home, piled 6 to 8 deep on couches and chairs and the floor. We would watch and re-live a  brilliance that only the self-absorbed brain of a teenager could conjure up about oneself; it was a hallucinatory heroism that would only grow greater with each and every viewing of the videos. We would watch the tapes and then off we would go again, off for more adventures, and off to frantically film and edit it all.

In spite of the good times, I would sometimes (silently) wonder how we could make video camera capture more. Could we make it capture the thick, muggy summer air, the deep belly-aches that only come with laughing too much, and the sweet smell of the grassy fields in South Dakota as we traipsed and traveled? How about the cricket-y, star-filled night sky? And the musty fog rolling over the green hills in the morning?

Those things provided an important feeling of innocence in our lives back then, after all; they provided a palpable-yet-naive perception of a charming life where nothing ugly, tragic, or painful could ever exist. A life where we were all safe and tidy and secure, a life where we were silly yet all fully in control.

As we would later discover--the video camera would not do those things. It could never do those things.

Regardless, I loved the videos and still look back on those days fondly. But even back then I always felt that photography was more my style, and the older I get the more my love of it grows. While in my youth I craved being able to know and control the entire story, as an adult I find an odd peace with knowing very little. I even find a strange solitude with things being a little haphazard and a bit out of control.

There is simply something that I really enjoy about a great photograph, about catching a quick moment in time and viewing it without any sort of soundtrack, storyline, or edited scenes cautiously cushioning the moment. What was going on before the picture? How about after? Was it happy? Great? Funny? Chaotic? Boring? Sad? Painful? Really painful, like a cue ball to the face?

It is whatever we want it to be. The viewer of a photograph will always attach their own feelings and thoughts to it, no matter what the photographer originally intended, and no two people will ever share the exact same views.

It would be boring, might I add, if they did.

Blogging (for me) is much the same. I used to want to be able to control everything that happened here, and everything that happened in the wilderness of the world wide web much in the sane way that my friends and I wanted to control and edit the videos of ourselves 15 years ago. I am the one typing here, after all, so shouldn't I be in control?

But as veterans of the internet know, you can only control so much. I can only do my best to share tiny pieces of my life here (albeit the mostly-happy-and-edited pieces), to hit the "publish post" button when I am done, and to then leave it to you, the reader, to decide for yourself what to think, love, hate, and feel.

It would be boring, might I add, if you didn't.

So with all of this, I thought I would share some old, random snapshots in my next few posts. It is all good in this hood, you guys--enjoy:

(BABY FACES. downtown minneapolis: december 2006) (see also: first year of marriage, probably explains a lot)

And now an outfit from Saturday, for running errands and a lovely dinner out. Temps have been inching towards the 70's here, hooray:

Trench: ASOS (buy it here, on sale) (and a fun option here)
Blouse: J Crew Lucinda Silk Blouse (similar here) (similar color top here in "rust")
Skirt: Forever 21 (buy it here in peach) (and a cool pleated option at UO)
Jeweled Necklace: Ann Taylor, c/o (similar at The Limited) (similar at Piperlime) (similar for under $20)
Long Necklace: J Crew Pluma Necklace, old (similar here)
Shoes: Valentino Rockstud Flats (similar at Nordstrom) (similar at Piperlime) (similar by Jeffrey Campbell)
Clutch: Proenza Schouler PS1 in Neon Coral (buy it here) (similar by Marc Jacobs) (similar under $50)

Outfits Of The Yesterdays (Colorful Cravings)

♫: Paddling Out - Miike Snow

Colorado finally had a huge dose of snow a few days ago, with well over 19 inches in our neck of the woods turning everything a blinding, bleached-white. 

We need some color, hm?

 

 (flowers on our coffee table)

 

 (a back-ordered christmas gift from my in-laws finally arrived--thanks guys!)

 

(a contrasting clutch by diane von furstenberg, sweeeeet.)

 

(a valentine's day wreath)

 (a girl can never have too many belts, ya hear?)

 

(a pretty pop-up)

 

(a toasty-warm sunspot for Kitty Smart Cookie)

(spring polish in the winter snow)

(woof.)

Coat: Old Navy (similar by Calvin Klein, on sale) (similar here) (similar here)

Blouse: J Crew (similar here) (similar here) (similar here)

Skirt: Zara (similar by Splendid) (similar here) (& at j crew in "warm jade")

Belt: J Crew (similar here)

Collar Choker Necklace: Ann Taylor (similar here)

Bag: Tory Burch 797  Clutch (similar here) (similar here) (similar at DSW for under $50)

Shoes: J Crew Valentina Pumps in Coral (similar here) (similar here) (can still be found on ebay, too)

Nail Polish: Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in June - Limited Edition (buy it here)

Jacket: Tibi, old (similar here) (similar here for $99) (similar at Forever21)

Blouse: GAP, old (similar at J Crew in "sand dune") (similar here under $100)

Skirt: J Crew Factory (similar here) (similar here for under $50)

Teal belt: Target, old (similar at Topshop)

Necklace: Patina (similar for under $15)

Scarf: ASOS (similar here) (similar here)

Bag: Diane Von Furstenberg Tonda Polka-Dot Minaudiere (buy it here) (similar on Etsy)

Booties: Christian Dior Serpent Booties, old (similar by Cole Haan) (similar by Lanvin)

Nail Polish: Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in June - Limited Edition (buy it here)