Twelve.

 Dress: Target Jacket: Levi's Sandals: Target Necklace: Forever 21

I'm pretty sure my camera is dying a slow, obnoxious death.  On the one hand, it's fine, because it's a crappy camera and I have had it for almost 6 years.  On the other hand, I'm bummed because...no camera?!  Oy.  Luckily, I found a self-timer app for my iPhone, and I wound up taking today's pictures on my phone!  Believe it or not, it's easier for me to take a details shot (like the one above) with my phone than with my camera!  I thought it was really slick to take photos today, so I'm going to try this out for a while.  I'll play with the settings a little bit and editing, etc., but so far, I am a fan.

Tonight, my parents and brother are driving down to our place for dinner and to see our university's production of Spamalot!  I'm so excited - I love musical theater, and Spamalot is so hilarious!  Kevin and my mom haven't seen it before, and I can't wait to get their read on the show.  Plus, our university's theater department is awesome.  They do more shows in a school year than any other school in the country!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Who's doing something exciting?

Five.

Dress: Target, thrifted new Denim jacket: Levi's Sandals: Old Navy

We're back from Kevin's folks' house, and we had such a great time!  Yesterday, we spent the afternoon in the pool, playing games, and watching all of our dogs play together in the big backyard.  We played a lot of badminton in the evening after a delicious grill out dinner and trip to the dog park, and then went to go see fireworks all together.  Today, we enjoyed more puppy playtime, a family walk with all the dogs (we love our dogs, can you tell??), and a movie.  It was so much fun, and we're back home now with two really, really sleepy pups :)

Polka Dotted Skirt

Tee: Target Skirt: Target Denim jacket: Levi's Sandals: Target Belt: Thrifted Necklace: Old, no idea...

I've had this skirt for a few months now, but haven't worn it yet.  I really like the length, the flowy material, and the almost-polka dots.  I decided to keep it simple for the first time I wear it, with just a plain white tee and necklace.  Since it's a bit chilly today, I also wanted to wear my denim jacket.

I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning to take our foster pup up to Minneapolis to get spayed.  Needless to say, I'm feeling a little draggy today.  I'll be heading back up to Minneapolis this afternoon to pick her up, too...so I'll need some good tunes on my iPod to keep me awake!! :)

I'm linking up with Along the Lines of Style for the Target Challenge today!!

I love purple.

Dress: Max Studio Denim jacket: Levi's Sandals: Target

To anyone who read and commented on my blog post yesterday, THANK YOU.  All of your sweet comments really mean so much to me.  I'm wrapping up some big assignments this week, but please be assured that I will respond to all of your comments soon!

So the next five days are supposed to be cold, rainy, and SNOWY (!!), and I wanted to enjoy dressing for warm weather one last time before the yuck happens again, so I chose one of the springiest looks I could find: a maxi dress, denim jacket, and sandals.  I feel like I'm wearing pajamas!!

Today is the second day of the Pantone Color Challenge (see below), and the color for today is African Violet.  For purple being my favorite color, I sure don't have lots of it in my closet!  This dress is as close as I could get to African Violet - it works, right??  I love this dress.  I bought it in Chicago with a friend several years ago, and it's lasted in my closet all this time.  I love how "easy" it is.  The color is gorgeous, it fits me well, and it couldn't be more comfortable.  I really like the detailing under the bust, too.

Cowgirl??

Dress: Target Denim jacket: Levi's Boots: Guess Necklace: From Mom

When I bought this dress a few weeks ago, the first outfit I planned for it was with my boots and denim jacket.  I've been waiting for just the right occasion to bust it out, and today's the day!  Tonight, all the graduating second year Masters students in my program are presenting their theses at our department's Research Colloquium.  All of the first year students (that's me!) will be attending to support the second years and listen to their presentations.  I'm actually really excited about it, because I'm a big nerd.  Some of the topics of the presentations are things I'm really interested in: eating disorders in adolescents, helping students transition from middle school to high school, cyberbullying, and closing the achievement gap.  The event requires participants and guests to dress up, so I am excited to be wearing my pretty lace dress!!

Kevin told me this morning that I looked like a cowgirl...I'll take it.  He also was watching me take my pictures again, and I didn't get as awkward as I usually do.  But then he told me to pose like a cowgirl, and I did this: 

What the heck is this?  We laughed and laughed at how ridiculous it was.  I love having a partner I can laugh at myself with :)

Also, is it just me, or are jackets and blazers exceptionally hard to photograph??  Whenever I bend my arms, jackets gape and fold weird...oh well!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy.

My Own Striped Skirt!

Tank: Old Navy Skirt: Old Navy Jacket: Levi's Tights: Target Boots: Target Necklace: From parents

Oof, you guys.  The Midwest is getting buckets of snow, sleet, and rain today and tomorrow...so today was a boots kind of day.  I'm not one to really complain about the weather, but I did not want to be back in tights.  Since it's laundry day and I'm out of clean pants, though, I had to force myself to dig out my tights again, and I decided to go big or go home with purple tights.  I actually really like the way this outfit turned out.  I've been loving these striped skirts for years, but never bought one for myself for whatever reason.  I recently was in Old Navy using up my Super Cash, and this skirt was on sale for $12!!  Woo!

I've been much more quiet than usual about commenting on others' blogs lately.  First, it was because I was a writing machine, working on the beginnings of my thesis (first draft for the literature review is due on Friday!!), and then my computer battery died.  I KNOW.  I've been blogging from my work computer (shhh, don't tell), because commenting and reading blogs on my phone sucks.  Thankfully, I've got an appointment with the Apple Genius Bar tomorrow to get it back into tiptop shape, and hopefully I'll be able to engage with you all better!!

Also, I have a super important interview tomorrow, so any good vibes you want to send my direction are much appreciated :)

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Bohemian Vibe

Tee: Target Skirt: Old Navy Jacket: Levi's Belt: The Limited Flats: Payless

Today's outfit was another thrown together ensemble, as the outfit I had planned for today just didn't work for me.  I need to do laundry, so I'm out of work-appropriate pants (you know you've been there before, too...) and since I am more than ready to be done with tights, it seemed like the perfect day for a maxi skirt!  I came out of our bedroom this morning and Kevin said, "Oooh, I like the Bohemian vibe you've got going on today!"  I'll take it.

I can already tell that this denim jacket is going to get tons of wear.  I've worn it three times in the last week, and I have plenty of other outfits planned that include it!  I hope you (and I) don't get sick of it :)

Five Days, Five Ways: Olive & Pink Floral Dress

It's Day Four of the Five Days, Five Ways challenge hosted by Whitney and Fran.  Today's item to remix is a dress!

I chose this colorful floral Target dress that I thrifted (new) from Goodwill.  It's one of my most worn dresses.  I usually just wear it with a cardigan (which I'm demonstrating here), but this challenge pushed me to try some new ways to wear it, too!

Denim jacket: Levi's Boots: Guess Necklace: From Mom

I just got my first denim jacket since I was little, and I knew it would get a lot of wear with my dresses. I kind of feel like a cowgirl in this outfit, but not in a costumey way.  I'd wear this dress to work or out on the weekends.  It would also look cute with some flats.

Cardigan: Target Tights: Target Boots: Target Necklace: From Mom

I first wore this outfit here, in the beginning of March.  It is a wintery way to wear this dress!  One of the reasons I like this dress so much is because it looks great with or without tights/leggings, and the colors are appropriate for year-round wear.

Vest: Old Navy Belt: Thrifted Sandals: Target

I thought I would try pairing my vest with this dress.  While I'm usually not one to wear lots of sleeveless things, I love the colors together here.  I can't wait to wear this outfit in the middle of summer when it's hot outside! 

Cardigan: Eddie Bauer, thrifted Belt: Target Flats: Target, thrifted NWT 

This is normally how I wear this dress in the spring and summer.  Easy: throw on a cardigan, some flats, and a belt for a little something extra.  I've also worn my coral cardigan and a camel cardigan with this dress, as well.  It is predictable, but it works.

Tee: Old Navy Belt: From a dress Flats: Payless

This outfit is the biggest stretch for me!  I've seen bloggers do this before (wear a dress as a skirt), but I've never tried it, for fear it wouldn't look good on my body.  I actually quite like how this turned out!  The color of this shirt looks nice with the colors in the dress, and the wide elastic belt kept the bottom of the shirt tucked in.  I'll have to try this look out again with other dresses and shirts!

There you have my five outfits with this dress!  Be sure to look at all the other bloggers linking up with Fran and Whitney this week.  There are some awesome looks being shared :)