Broccoli Boycott

[30 for 30: Outfit 27]
Floral button-up: thrifted
Cardigan: Gap Outlet
Jeans: J Brand
Boots: Steve Madden

I kind of ran out of photo locations (I'm trying not to repeat any locations during this month, and boy, is it hard!) so today I turned to Google Maps to find a new park or pretty location to take my pictures. I saw a little square of green on the map, and decided to try to find it. I hearby present to you, Bhy Kracke park. Yeah, I have no idea how to pronounce it either, and today was the first time ever hearing of it. It's a tiny little park, tucked away between a few houses, but the view was just gorgeous! And no, I did not walk all the way up, that would be insane. I drove, and made a pitstop to Trader Joe's on the way. Yum.

I think I might have to boycott organic produce... well, organic cruciferous vegetables anyway. Oh, by the way, did I ever tell you that I wanted to be a botany major in college? They're called cruciferous because of the cross-shaped flowers, if I remember correctly. Plant identification used to be so much fun, until I went to study abroad and spent months identifying musty plant samples and decided I wanted to be an engineer instead. (I graduated with an Econ major.) Anyway, about the boycott. I bought some organic cauliflower yesterday, and there were a ton of those little bugs in it. SO DISGUSTING.

It reminded me of a few months ago, when we got some organic broccoli and there were seriously more bugs than there was broccoli. I washed it like 10 times, and then blanched it 5 or 6 times, but each time there were still a ton of bugs that floated out into the pot. It was all mushy and gross by the time I was done with it, but I was so grossed out that I didn't eat it.

Organic fruit is fine, because you can just wash off the bugs, but with cauliflower and broccoli, they hide in the little florets, and it's near impossible to make sure you get rid of all the little buggers unless you inspect every single one. I'm sure it's better to eat a few bugs than it is to eat pesticides, but I'll take my chances.

And of course, I can't leave without the outtakes:

Bunny Necklace Giveaway Winner!

A big congratulations to Three Times Friday, winner of the Bunny necklace! :) Go check your email!

And for the rest of you that didn't win... today is the last day to save 10% at Katrina's Etsy store with promo code BLUEPAPERLANTERNS10

And I figured out how to number my comments in Blogger thanks to a helpful tutorial here. It's going to be a lifesaver... not that counting to the fifth comment was that difficult... but I'm pretty bad at simultaneously scrolling and counting. Not fun times for me.

Mrs. Levi

[30 for 30: Outfit 26]
Shirt: Target
Skirt: Banana Republic Factory
Boots: Indigo by Clarks
Belt: Nordstrom BP

I'm not a big awards show kind of person. Sure, I'll check in the next day to see the list of winners and scroll through pictures to see what everyone wore on the red carpet, but really, award shows bore me. I was pretty much ignoring all the Oscars hype the last few days, and didn't really bother tuning in tonight. Plus, with the Oscars, I haven't seen 99% of the movies nominated, because I'm too cheap to go to a movie theatre and Netflix takes too long with new releases, so it's rare that I even know what movies are in the running.

By the way, did I ever tell you that I'm going to marry Zac Levi one day? I've been a big fan of him since Chuck premiered a few years ago, and he's my dream guy. Tall, dark, and nerdy, with a great sense of humor. If I could marry anyone I wanted to (ignoring the fact that I'm already married), I'd go for him, with Wentworth Miller coming in as a close second.

Anyway, I did spend money to go watch Tangled, and it was seriously the best movie EVAR, and now my ultimate all-time favorite of favorites. I already loved Zac, but after watching Tangled and then finding out that HE SINGS?!! (unlike the old days of Disney where there were voice actors and then different people singing the songs) I DIE.

Well, no one told me that he was going to be performing with Mandy Moore during the Oscars tonight. I was so bummed when I checked Twitter afterwards and everyone was talking about Mandy Moore and I TOTALLY MISSED IT. I really do need to brush up on my stalking skills... and I'll be spending the next couple hours waiting for the clips to go on YouTube so I can watch it 10 zillion times.

Edit: here it is. Isn't he lovely?



PS. The bunny necklace giveaway ends in a few hours, on Monday at noon PST!! hurry and get your entries in :)

The secret life of the style blogger

[30 for 30: Outfit 24]
Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Old Navy
Belt: Charlotte Russe
Boots: Frye
Weird bright yellow spot on skirt: c/o headlights of the truck
when we ran outside to take photos with the car running

My son, P, really likes to play with my iPhone. He loves playing with all his baby apps, and watching videos on YouTube or Netflix. When he gets fussy and we need to distract him from whining/throwing a fit, we'll pull out the iPhone and let him play with it. Yesterday, as we were clearing the plates from dinner, I gave P my phone, and let him find his own apps to play with. My mom was watching him, and P decided at that moment to pull up an app that I've been using to keep track of my outfits. Basically, it's a calendar app that you can upload a photo for each day, and I just use it to remember when I wore what. Since I've been remembering to take photos everyday for this month's 30 for 30 challenge, it's been really helpful, and I don't need to pull up my blog everytime I want to see when I wore a specific item last.

Anyway, my mom saw my calendar full of outfit pictures and was like, "Huh? What is this? You take a picture of your outfit everyday?!!?!!" and I was like, "uh, yeah..." and then I ran off because I didn't want her to see how red my cheeks got. 

I realize that there's two kinds of style/fashion bloggers. There's the people who tell all their friends and family about their blog, and then there's the ones that don't. I fall in the second category.

Despite me getting super excited about a bunch of random strangers finding my blog, I find it really difficult to tell the people that I know in real life about it. I assume that they won't get why I post pictures of myself in the internet and talk about my clothes, or think that they'll label me as an attention-seeking narcissist.

I do eventually want to show my mom as well as my friends my blog (extra photo-takers right there!), but I don't think I'm ready just yet. Sometimes I feel like I'm hiding a big part of my life from them, now that blogging takes up so much of my time (reading blogs, taking pictures, writing posts, doing blog designs, etc.) and I really do want to be able to talk to them about how happy my blog and all my new blog friends make me. It's just so hard to bring up in a normal conversation though! But then, the longer I wait, the harder it will be to tell them. I don't know, mang!

What do you guys do?

Oh, and I doubled up on outfits today. I wore the outfit above to go to Panera Bread for lunch, and then the outfit below to go grocery shopping after naptime. It was too dark outside to take outdoor pictures, and I just realized how nice it is to take indoor pictures. I can wear short sleeves and not freeze half to death.

[30 for 30: Outfit 25]

Shirt: Nordstrom BP

Skirt: Forever 21

Flats: Target

super-wrinkles on the skirt: c/o me throwing all
my clothes in a pile and being too lazy to iron

Weak Sauce McGee

[30 for 30: Outfit 23]
Giraffe Shirt: Charlotte Russe
Jacket: Macy's
Jeans: AG
Boots: Steve Madden
Scarf: Gift from India

Seattle got hit with some snow yesterday, and while I heard it wasn't too bad in the city, it was really bad for us who live across the lake on the Eastside. I packed up P and all our things and drove over to my parents' house just as the snow started falling on Wednesday night, and by then, I was already having trouble making it up their steep hill. When Thursday morning came around, it was practically impossible to get out of the house... it was only about 6 inches or so, but my parents deemed it too dangerous to venture outside (yes, I'm treated like a baby when I go home but I secretly love it). It was quite nice, having my dad cook me a hot breakfast, lunch and dinner, and having someone be able to watch P while I worked from home.

The downside to staying home was that I spent the entire day in pajamas, so no outfit picture was to be taken. I was bummed about being another day behind on the 30 for 30 challenge, but Tara suggested that I just double up on outfit picture taking today. Genius, really, but that would require me changing outfits at work, and although I doubt anyone at the office would notice, I didn't really want to carry a change of clothes and shoes on the bus. 

I am seriously tempted to just take 8 outfit pictures tomorrow so I can be done with the challenge and go shopping. I really am liking this remixing thing, and I'm not tired of it yet, but I just really really really want to go shopping. I didn't realize I would miss it this much, despite the couple times I cheated already and bought stuff at Target. I'm weak sauce.

Today's outfit was almost identical to this one. I realized that I included way too many black items in my 30. I thought they would be versatile, but they're really not. I need more color. Also, I really wanted to wear different shoes, but I was stomping around on icy roads today, and these are my only semi-snow-friendly shoes that I included.

As I was taking my pictures today (behind the EMP), this old dude walked by and offered to take a photo for me. He asked if I was visiting from out of town, and I said yes. He asked where I was visiting from, and it seriously took me 5 seconds to think of a random city (I said Boston). I'm such a bad liar.

So much random rambling today, so I'll just leave you with this. The wind was seriously annoying me today. And it was COLD.

Bunny Necklace Giveaway! - Closed

I've proclaimed my love of Katrina and her etsy store before, but I'm going to say it again, I love Katrina and my bunny necklace SO MUCH. I wear my necklace at least once a week, and sometimes I don't even take it off and wear it for a few days straight.

Anyway, I contacted Katrina the other day about doing a giveaway for one of her awesome bunny necklaces, and she said yes! One of you lucky people will win your very own bunny necklace in your choice of gold or silver. We can be necklace-twins! :)

AND, because you guys are special, all my readers will receive 10% off their purchases until the end of the month from the Anirtak store with special code: BLUEPAPERLANTERNS10

Here's how you can win:

Mandatory entry: Visit Katrina's etsy store, then come back and comment on which item is your favorite.

Bonus entry #1: Blog or tweet about the contest (mentioning both of us @blue_lanterns and @katriiina)

Bonus entry #2: Follow both my blog and Katrina's blog on Google Friend Connect

Please leave one comment for each entry. Include your email address if you don't have it visible on your profile/blog.

Contest is open to all US and international readers. Giveaway ends on Monday, February 28th at 12pm PST. I'll pick a winner via random.org and the winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Disclaimer: I was not paid by Katrina to say nice things about her, she's just that awesome. Also, I am paying for the cost of the necklace and shipping to the winner, but she has provided me a new necklace in return. :)

Mall rat

[30 for 30: Outfit 22]

Shirt: NY&Co (thrifted)

Sweater: Forever 21

Jeans: J Brand

Boots: Steve Madden
Necklace: Anirtak

When I returned to work after my maternity leave, I requested to work reduced hours since it was tough being away from my little guy. My boss let me have Wednesdays off, which means that I work two days, have a day off, then work two more days, and get two days off. It's like a mini-weekend in the middle of a work week, and it's AWESOME... especially when there's three-day weekends.

This morning, we took P to play at the children's museum at the mall. It's a pretty lame mall since a third of the tenants are empty, and includes non-mall-y stores like Rite Aid, Safeway, and Petco, but at least it's indoors and I won't be getting run over by any cars. It's also the mall where I grew up, and spent a lot of time hanging around in high school... taking sticker pictures, drinking Orange Julius, and buying cheap jewelery from Claire's. My first few jobs were in this mall, but out of the four places that I worked at, only Target still stands. So sad.

Edge of the Ledge

[30 for 30: Outfit 21]

Dress: Forever 21

Grey T: Old Navy

Belt: Target

Boots: Frye

Necklace: Anirtak

I had the intent of wearing my new teal tights from Old Navy today. They're thick and stretchy and had a tag in the back (hey, did I ever link to my interview over at We Love Colors? I don't think so.) But since it's been super cold and snowy here, I decided to layer my teal tights over my black fleece-lined tights this morning for some extra warmth. Good thing, because as I drove to work, I looked down and realized there was a small hole ripped in the knee of the teal tights. On my first day of wearing them! I was pretty bummed, so I took them off and just wore the black tights on their own. I'm sorry that my attempt at wearing more color isn't going too well.

It started to snow as I took these pictures, and I'm not very good at hiding the "I'm freezing" expression on my face. I was also paranoid about stepping backwards and falling off the edge of the ledge.. which kind of rhymes. Actually, it was more "big giant steps" than a ledge, but the fall downwards still wouldn't have been very pleasant.

I'm jealous of you who get to go bare-legged and short-sleeved in your parts of the country/world. We're supposed to get up to 6 inches of snow tomorrow... and if you know Seattle, we don't do too well when it snows. I hope Steve Pool is wrong.

Painting the town

[30 for 30: Outfit 20]
Plaid shirt: Target
Jeans: AG
Oxfords: Target

This morning, we took the little guy up to U Village to go paint some pottery. Other than him wanting to paint the table instead of the bowl we picked out, he did a pretty good job. The hand prints we did all smeared all over, but it's okay.

I was kind of bummed that I couldn't go shopping. We don't make the drive up to U Village that often due to traffic and the fact that most of the stores there are also located in the malls that I regularly frequent, but lately I'd been itching to go check out the new Madewell store. I didn't get to go inside, but since I have to come back in a week to pick up our finished bowl, I'll just wait until the shopping ban is over (10 days!!!) and make it a shopping trip as well. EXCITED.

Another reason why we don't drive up that often is because it's an outdoor shopping center, and it's cold and you have to walk through the parking lots to get to the different stores. We almost got ran over twice, once when we were crossing a very clearly marked crosswalk and a lady drove right by without stopping at the huge stop sign, and the second time when we were walking to our car and this van decides they need to speed up to snatch up the parking spot 20 feet away (when there were no other cars eying the spot). I'm not sure I like risking my life (and P's) just to go shopping. :(

Grellow

[30 for 30: Outfit 19]
Dress: Banana Republic Factory Store
Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack (Halogen)
Belt: Nordstrom Rack
Boots: Indigo by Clarks

Grey + Yellow = Grellow... Or is Grellow supposed to be Green + Yellow? I don't know, but I'm just going off of what Acadmichic tells me, and since they're way smarter than me, I'll take take their word on the matter.

I've always loved pairing yellow and grey together, because black + yellow reminds me too much of a bumblebee or that overplayed song on the radio (despite my first two outfits with this mustard cardigan were both black/white/yellow). Yellow plus any non-neutral color would totally freak me out because I am deathly afraid of wearing too much color. Only one boldy colored item in an outfit will be enough for me... but we'll see what I say at the end of the 30 for 30 challenge when I'm running out of things to wear. I might just have to take up Kelsey's suggestion on pairing the mustard cardigan with my red skirt. *gulp*

C'est la vie

[30 for 30: Outfit 18]
Dress worn as tunic: H&M
Cardigan: Gap Outlet
Jeans: J Brand
Boots: Steve Madden
Coat: Old Navy

I wore my dress as a tunic today... as in, I pulled it upwards and stuffed the extra fabric under my cardigan. Genius, right? Not really. I had already signed up for the 30 for 30 challenge when I saw this striped dress at H&M, and knew that it would function as a dress, a shirt, a skirt, and a tunic. I'm not sure I'll ever wear it on its own as a dress because it's a bit too tight for my liking, but I sure am liking its versatility.

It was a super nice day out today (although still slightly chilly) so we went to have pizza and frozen yogurt. SO YUM.

Hope you guys are having a good start to your three (or two, if you're unlucky) day weekend! :)

Just a dream

[30 for 30: Outfit 17]
Sweater: Old Navy
Shirt: Nordstrom
Jeans: AG (hand-me-downs)
Boots: Steve Madden
Belt: Forever 21

I had a scary dream last night. Don't worry, it's not that kind of scary. I guess I was thinking a lot yesterday about what my co-workers would say to me if they knew I had a blog where I liked to post photos of myself.

In my dream, my manager pulled me aside, and told me that he saw a link to my blog via twitter, and read all my blog posts. He told me that it was a problem to have me blogging, because it distracted me from work. There is a section in our employee agreement (true, not just dream stuff) about blogging, and how you shouldn't talk crap about the company or co-workers on your blog, and just stuff like that, and he said that my blog violates the company policy (wakey-time interjection: It doesn't really... I hope).

I was embarrassed, and he told me that he'd talk to the board members about my blogging behavior and see what they said. So, at the board meeting, they all sat down and read my blog on the big gigantic presentation screen, and analyzed my content and pictures. After the meeting, my manager told me that the board decided that I needed to I shut down my blog, or else I would be fired.

Isn't that horrible?!! I was upset when I woke up this morning, being like, "sad, I don't have a blog anymore." Lucky for you, it was just a dream.

And I also dreamed/dreamt(?) that I happened to sit next to Jen on the bus, and was like, "HEY! I KNOW YOU!" and then I totally missed my bus stop.

The end.

Fun Forest

[30 for 30: Outfit 16]
Shirt: thrifted
Skirt: Old Navy
Belt: thrifted
Oxfords: Target

Did you guys miss me yesterday? If you want to see some pictures of my outfit (and baby P), click over to Sorren's blog where we did our blog swap yesterday! :)

Today's pictures were taken in the Seattle Center Fun Forest, the recently closed-down kiddie ride area right next to the Space Needle. I actually walked by the day after it closed (January 2nd) and was thinking "huh, weird. No kids on the rides today"... not that there were that many kids riding them to begin with... it's been pretty desolate for the last few years. I still remember the Fun Forest from when I was a kid, and going to Seattle Center and eating hot dogs and cotton candy (my favorite!!!) and it's just a little sad that they're tearing everything down.

I wish today's pictures turned out better, but between the sun breaks (I love the sun, except for when I'm taking pictures outside), the high schoolers and tourists walking by, and the construction workers taking their smoke breaks, I had to hurry my pictures and half of them, my shirt was tucked funny and I was extra slouchy, and the other half of them my hair was blowing in my face. Oh well.

On my way back to the office, I stopped by the Center House (building inside Seattle Center with the food court) because I was freezing my fingers off and wanted something warm to drink from Starbucks, and I was SOOOO close to buying a cotton candy... but had to stop myself, because one, I hate getting my fingers sticky, and two, I wouldn't want to explain why I was at Seattle Center to my co-workers. "Uh, yeah... I was just doing some sight-seeing and taking pictures of myself for my vain little blog." I'm sure they would think I'm a weirdo.

Blog Swap: Classic Noise

No, your mind is not playing tricks on you. This is definitely still Kimmie's blog, it's just been hijacked for the day by ME - Sorren, from classicnoise - nice to meet you. We figured that since we're both doing the Remix Challenge and are at the mid-way point, now may be the time to shake things up a bit; cause a little trouble.

Personally, I think Kimmie is just the bees knees and has been doing an absolutely fantastic job at remixing her items. Sometimes it can be easy to fall into a pattern of only using favourites and ignoring the tougher items but Kimmie has been killin' it! Obviously, I'm a fan. I'm also a fan of chewy chocolate chip cookies with white, milk and semi-sweet chips, daffodils, green tea, boyfriend jeans, the adobe creative suite, pearls, arrested development repeats, grey nail polish, haruki murakami, art&crafts, thursdays on nbc... I think I need to stop myself. If you want to know what else I like, just ask, because apparently, I could go on for ages.

FCUK blouse, Katrina Tuttle dress, Hue tights, Steve Madden boots
OPI 'Over the Taupe' nail

I have had this little ditty in my head since the beginning of the challenge and boy am I excited to finally to put it into practice. I really enjoyed how the gentleness of the white blouse complimented the stiffness of the dress. The blouse was also fantastic because the dress is oddly low cut so it's addition took care of that issue. I thought of pairing the outfit with my blazer, for added warmth and sharpness but when I tried, it just didn't seem to work the way I wanted it to - it was too stuffy. In the past I have worn my pumps with this dress, today I was lazy and opted for my boots; long line be damned, it's hump day! I did include a picture with the booties so you can see how great it all could have been if I only I weren't so lazy.

Don't forget to head over to my blog to check out Kimmie's 15th outfit, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Kerry Park

[30 for 30: Outfit 14]
Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Forever 21
Boots: Frye

I swung by Kerry Park during my lunch break today, which is a very little park on Queen Anne that overlooks the downtown Seattle skyline... and quite the popular spot for couples to take pictures. When I got there, there was a couple taking self-timer shots on their tripod, so I had to wait about 5 or 10 minutes for my turn. I guess I could have gone like 20 feet to the left of them, but that would have just been AWKWARD. I hate when people catch me taking self-portraits. So, I just snapped a few pictures along the stairs where they couldn't see me.

After they left, I hurried and ran over to take my photos. As I finished my first set of self-timer shots (I usually take a set of 6 photos, check them, then take another two or three sets... most of them turn out pretty bad which explains why I only have a few shots per post despite taking like 40 pictures), and I was checking the quality of the photos, another couple walked right up and started looking at the view and taking pictures at the exact same spot that I was just occupying. So much for that. Hmph!

My shirt has a really cute lace panel along the top shoulders and back, and If I were a good fashion blogger, I'd take some detail shots, but do you know how difficult it is to take pictures of your shoulder blades? Impossible, I tell ya.

Does it look like I have a gap between my two front teeth? Because from the first photo it really does look like it. SO SAD.

Happy Valentine's Day!

[30 for 30: Outfit 13]
White button-up: Target (thrifted)
Mustard cardigan: Nordstrom Rack
Jeans: J Brand
Shoes: Target

I finally got to wear my new jeans today! I had been on the hunt for a pair of black J Brand jeans for awhile, after seeing them on Elaine, who totally loves her J Brands, and they look SO AWESOME on her. I found the perfect pair at Nordstrom Rack, after already overspending for the month of January, so I made my husband buy them for me for my Valentine's Day present. Don't worry, I let him pick out a pair of boots (that he paid for himself since I forgot my wallet) so it's all good. I'm probably the best wife ever.

We were supposed to go to a semi-fancy restaurant tonight, but I totally forgot to make reservations (I'm a great wife, right?) and I tried calling 5 times today and the stupid restaurant didn't answer. I bet they were booked full anyway, because we were planning on using our Groupon, and I'm pretty sure 500 other people had the same idea as well. So, we ended up getting pho down the street from our house.. but we made it extra special by ordering spring rolls AND shared a bubble tea. We're fancy.

After P goes to bed, we're going to watch Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. I know, I have no idea what the heck it is either. Husband informed me the other day that the owl movie I added to our Netflix queue arrived in the mail, and I was quite puzzled. I'm pretty sure P added it when he was watching Thomas the Train on the iPad Netflix app. Those stubby little fingers know how to open the app and play his movies, so I'm not surprised he knows how to add DVDs to our queue as well. It better be good!

Lace of base

[30 for 30: Outfit 12]

Lace shirt: Nordstrom Rack

Skirt: Old Navy

Belt: Nordstrom BP

Boots: Indigo by Clarks

I've been wanting a lace shirt for the longest time, so when I saw this shirt at Nordstrom Rack, it was perfect. It had really cute puff sleeves and an awesome exposed zipper in the back (see a better shot of it here), so I added it to my 30 for 30 pile before actually attempting to wear it.

When I finally decided to bust it out, I realized how hard it was to wear. You can't tell in the picture very well, but it's lace all over, except for a satin trimmed neck, which is about an inch thick all around the collar, which is cute, but makes layering super difficult. Since I obviously need to pair something under the lace, it has to be a crew neck shirt underneath or else there will be this weird gap between the bottom of the collar and above the top of the undershirt. I think a nude color cami or shell would have been perfect, but since I don't own either of those things and I can't really go out and buy one right now, it had to be something that I currently have in my closet, and a black crew-neck t-shirt with pinned-in sleeves was the closest thing I could find to look good under there (I seriously tried on EVERY single shirt I owned under there and they just didn't work).

We had some pretty strong winds last night, and my husband is going to hate me for posting this picture of me on our driveway with debris all over. He is pretty particular about having our driveway look nice and clean, and the next day after a windstorm you can guarantee he's going to sweep/leaf-blow the driveway. But no, I had to take my outfit picture this morning before he swept it all up (it's clean now, just a few hours later) so this is a picture of what our driveway doesn't usually look like.

Cheater cheater, pumpkin-eater

[30 for 30: Outfit 11]
Dress: Forever 21 (hand-me-down)
Sweater: Forever 21
Belt: Thrifted
Boots: Steve Madden

I've officially cheated on the 30 for 30 challenge, not once, but twice today. Bad Kimmie, I know.

First, we went to Burger King for lunch (super healthy, I know. But we had a buy one get one free Whopper coupon that we couldn't NOT use) and my outfit planned for the day is one you see above, and I really didn't feel like wearing a dress to Burger King and Target. So, I wore a pair of old jeans, sneakers and a hoodie, all that weren't in the 30 for 30 (don't worry, I did pick a 30 for 30 shirt!) because I knew I was going to change later.

Second, we stopped by Target to pick up some washable markers because I'm sick of my little guy being obsessed with highlighters and non-washable markers, and getting marks all over his face and clothes that don't wash off. As I was chasing him around the store (he refuses to sit in the cart), he just happened to run by the Women's shoe section, and I just happened to see that the grey pair of my quilted flats was on clearance for $10. Have I ever mentioned how much I love these and how hard it is to find a pair of flats that my feet don't hate? There was only one pair left in my size, so I couldn't NOT get them. Plus, I used my gift card, so it's not like I spent any real money, AMIRITE?

In the evening, I went to the mall with my sister to grab some happy hour and do a little window-shopping, and I was really proud of myself for not buying anything (except for an Auntie Anne's pretzel. YUM). I found a really cute shirt at J. Crew for a pretty good price, but I put it back... and I'm crossing my fingers it'll still be there at the end of the month.

Black & Blue

[30 for 30: Outfit 10]
Shirt: Target
Skirt: Banana Republic Factory Store
Tights: c/o We Love Colors
Flats: Target

My post title is a tribute to one of my favorite Backstreet Boys albums (with Millennium being my top favorite, though). I had no idea that the group stayed together and came out with albums in 2005, 2007 and 2009.. but I checked the recent albums out from the public library (my days of illegal downloading songs are over) and I'll just say that I was slightly disappointed. I don't know, I guess their time is over, and has been for awhile now. Still a fan of the 1999 Backstreet Boys though.

I pulled this skirt out of my pile the other day to try to match up outfits, and I'm really glad I did. There was a huge 2 inch long gaping hole on the back seam! It was HUGE, and right under where the zipper ended. I hope I wasn't exposing myself to anyone the last time(s) I wore it! How embarrassing. :(

100 followers giveaway winner!

Yes! Entry #1 is the big winner for my $30 gift card giveaway! Congratulations to Dawn from Jonesin'. Dawn is awesome because she has the same giraffe print shirt from Charlotte Russe in her 30 for 30. Coincidence, no? :) Check your email, Dawn!

I really loved reading more about all of you, and thank you all for entering! :)

Define your style

[30 for 30: Outfit 9]

Dress: Banana Republic Factory Store

Cardigan: Gap Outlet

Oxfords: Target

Belt: Thrifted

I got a question on my Formspring yesterday asking me to define my style. I've never really thought about my style much, I kind of just wear whatever I want. Since I don't get that many Formspring questions (what? you guys don't care about my awesome life?! j/k), I wanted to write a good answer (nope, didn't happen. it's a pretty boring answer) so I googled "how to define my style" and "what is my style?"

HAHA. How lame is that? But even more lame is, I ended up clicking on one of those free quizzes geared towards 14 year olds, and decided to take it just for fun. Guess what it told me my answer was?

"Your style is FRUMPY"

WHAT?! Okay, I'm not linking to that quiz because it lies.

Anyway, it's sunny today, and these harsh shadows are making my calves look gigantic. -10 points for you, Mr. sun. But +10 points for being nice and warm, so we're all even.

And the dock that I took this photo on is kind of amazing. Look at the view of the Olympic Sculpture Park!

And just because I'm curious to how you guys would respond to that question. How would YOU define your style?