Day Nine: Moment in My Day...

Shirt: Target Pants: TJ Maxx Scarf: Old Navy Flats: Payless

I love this outfit.  I haven't worn my teal skinnies in a while, and I thought they would look great with my pretty lace shirt.  I was going to wear a necklace, but since it's rainy and chilly outside today, I thought a scarf would provide a little extra warmth!

It's Day 9 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge, and today's prompt is to show a moment of your day.

I went to the gym this morning and afterwards, worked on this painting that I'm donating to an auction. It's only about halfway done at this point, but I love it.  I'm a newbie painter...I've only painted about 6 paintings so far, but I love it and I'm happy with how its turning out.  I'd love to take a class some time, to learn actually how to paint...but I'm getting along well right now, being self-taught!!

I'm about to head out to the animal shelter I volunteer at for the afternoon, and this evening, I'm going to a local Mexican restaurant for margaritas with the girls in my grad school cohort.  I'm pretty excited!!

On Friendships

Shirt: Old Navy Blazer: Target Pants: NY&C Scarf: From Mom Flats: Payless

As I mentioned on Friday, I took a student to a conference this weekend in Minneapolis.  It wound up being a fantastic weekend, full of laughing and learning, and I'm so glad I was able to go!  The best part of the whole conference, for me, was running into an old friend who I went to undergraduate college with.  She and I haven't seen each other in almost two years now, even though we only live an hour away from each other.  With things like Facebook and Instagram, it is easy to feel connected even if it's pretty surface level.

Reconnecting with her and spending lots of time with her made me so thoughtful about friendships.  I'm an incredibly loyal friend.  Once I become friends with someone, I stay friends with them, as long as our relationship adds something to my life.  I have had too many "friendships" that I poured my heart and soul into, only to find out they were not strong friendships to begin with.  Because of my poor history of choosing friends who walk all over me and don't care about me, I've been so reflective lately about which relationships I want to continue to foster and invest the time and energy into.  I'm not the kind of person who needs or wants a ton of friends - I'm content with a few super close friends.  However, I'm very introverted and pretty shy, so it's difficult for me to get to that level of closeness with friends.

I think my lifestyle and personality are what make it so hard.  I'm 25 and have been married for 3 years.  I keep hearing people talk about how dumb it is for people to get married young, or how getting married before the age of 25 is like leaving the party before 10:00.  I may be married, but I'm still a highly independent woman (that's one of the things that Kevin and I have really focused on in our relationships - having identities outside of each other), and I don't think people understand that.  I also am not your typical mid-twenties graduate student.  While most of my classmates enjoy going out to bars on weekends, I am not into that scene at all.  Sure, I enjoy a good Crispin cider every so often, but I'm not interested in getting drunk or babysitting drunk friends.

The kinds of friends and relationships I am interested in, however, include people with whom I can experience life.  I want to talk with people about our lives, our struggles, our joys...the things we do for fun, what we think about the world, what we want in our futures...people I can laugh with and cry with and feel comfortable with.  For me, friendships that center around simply going to the movies or frequenting the bars don't have the solid foundation that is so important to me.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this...I just have been mulling over these thoughts for so long and needed a place to put them.  Do any of you have similar struggles with friendships?  For those of you who are married, have your friendships changed since you got married?  Do you have those few friends you can count on for anything?  I want to know! :)

Five Days, Five Ways: Leopard Scarf

Day three of Five Days, Five Ways!  I so appreciate what Whitney and Fran have put together.  What a fun challenge this has been!  The challenge for today is to find five ways to wear an accessory.

I'm kind of a scarf lover (understatement), so I wanted to use my leopard scarf as my item for today.  I got this scarf at Old Navy in the end of August, and wore it frequently through the fall and winter.  I'm excited to wear it this spring!  For this challenge, I put together some fun spring-appropriate outfits with this scarf, and took two outfits from my archives to show previous ways I've worn this scarf.

Blouse: Old Navy Blazer: Old Navy Jeans: NY&C Wedges: Payless

I wanted to put together an outfit that would be appropriate for work, perhaps for a casual Friday.  It's quite professional on the top with the blouse and blazer, but a little more casual on the bottom with the cuffed skinny jeans and fun wedges.  I can't wait to wear this outfit once the snow melts!

Chambray tunic: NY&C, thrifted Vest: Old Navy Leggings: Victoria's Secret Boots: Target

This is an outfit from the archives that I wore this winter.  It is comfortable but put together, and perfect for a homework day :)  When I wore this back in February, my friend said to me, "Brynn, you are straight out of Pinterest today!" Haha.

Sweater: Old Navy Jeans: NY&C Boots: Guess 

Another outfit from my archives.  I wore this outfit in January when the temperature was stinging cold (-30 degree windchill!).  I love how the scarf adds a little visual interest to the outfit.

Dress: Old Navy Sandals: Born, via DSW

I absolutely love this dress I got on clearance at Old Navy.  I can't wait to wear this all spring and summer!  As I mentioned on the first day of Five Days, Five Ways, I'm not a huge pattern mixer, but this feels okay to me.  Neutral prints and colors tend to be more appealing to me when mixing prints than "louder" ones.

Tee: Target Skirt: Converse, thrifted Flats: Payless

I actually wore this exact outfit back in August (it was the first outfit I wore this scarf with, actually) and I love it.  It's simple but incredibly comfortable, and still looks very put together.  This skirt is a summer staple for me...get used to seeing it :)

Also, this post includes the debut of my new (SHORT) hair cut!  I really love it.  It's choppy and spunky - exactly how I like my hair.  I can't wait to find some fun embellished headbands to accessorize my new 'do!

Five Days, Five Ways: Striped Shirt

Woohoo!  It's the first day of Fran and Whitney's Five Days, Five Ways linkup!  I'm so excited to be doing this.  Since I have only been blogging for two months, I don't have much of an archives yet.  I wanted to challenge myself to create new outfits with the items I have.  Don't worry - I'll actually wear all of these in real life :)

The first day of the challenge is to create five different outfits based off of one top.  I chose this black and white striped shirt I bought at TJ Maxx this fall.  I really love this shirt - it is soft, I love the wide black band on the sleeves, and the shoulders are interesting.

Skirt: Old Navy Wedges: Payless Necklace: Eclectic Wendy

First of all, excuse my pale legs - they haven't seen the sun in months :)  I would wear an outfit like this to work or on a weekend.  I really like the combination of black, white, and red (those were our wedding colors!), and these wedges add a little fun element to the outfit.  I wish I had a really great black statement necklace - I would have loved to add something like that to this outfit.  Or maybe a belt?  It is a little plain, but definitely something I would wear.

Teal jeans: TJ Maxx Shoes: Target

Be prepared to see these pants more often (tomorrow).  I'm not sure how much I love this outfit.  Perhaps if I had a cardigan or blazer over it, or a scarf, or a fun necklace, I'd like it more.  It's quite plain, but it's certainly wearable.

Jeans: NY&C Shoes: TOMS

In real life, this is likely what you'd see me wearing on a weekend.  Something easy and comfortable, but appropriate for wearing in public.  It might also look cute with a fun necklace or even colorful shoes.

Jeans: NY&C Flats: Payless Scarf: Old Navy 

I love this outfit!  It's simple, like most of my other outfits, but interesting with the little bit of pattern mixing.  I'm not usually one to do pattern mixing (I feel like most of the time it looks like people just got dressed in the dark), but this works for me.  It's not too busy, and the prints are both very neutral.  I would wear this to work, school, on the weekends, etc.

Blazer: Target Jeans: NY&C Flats: Payless

This outfit has a very basic foundation, but I love the addition of my teal blazer.  Teal and black look so sharp together.  I would definitely wear this outfit to work.  I could also add a necklace or fun scarf to give a little more variety to the outfit.

I had a great time putting these outfits together.  Which one would you wear?

Baby Steps!

Tank: Old Navy Cardigan: TJ Maxx Pants: NY&C Flats: Payless Heart necklace: Was my grandma's Chain necklace: From Mom

YOU GUYS.  I did it - I took a picture outside.  The quality is terrible (boooo, old camera) and it took a little bit of tweaking to get my whole body in the shot, but I did it!  I was so paranoid the whole time that someone would walk by...does the paranoia ever go away?!

Also, this is my 50th post on The Original Brynn!  I absolutely love blogging so far.  I've been into personal style for years now, but documenting it on the blog is so much fun.  It's been great getting to know other bloggers and readers through this journey as well, and I'm so excited to see where this takes me!

Hard Candy = Grandma Candy?

Shirt: Old Navy Cardigan: Target Jeans: Old Navy Flats: Payless Necklace: F21

I drive about 20ish minutes to my school and work each day.  Rather than listening to the radio in the car on the way, I listen to podcasts.  I have several long-time favorites (Radiolab, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff Mom Never Told You), but one new-to-me podcast has been dominating my car rides lately.  It's called Spilled Milk.  The hosts of the show, Matthew and Molly, talk about various food items, try new recipes, and have a ton of fun.  I literally laugh out loud in my car listening to them (check out the episode about apples, which is one of my all-time favorites!).

This morning, I was listening to Spilled Milk, and they were talking about hard candies, but they kept referring to them as "Grandma candy," as the only people that buy those candies (butterscotch discs, Milk Maid caramels, Werther's Originals, etc.) are grandmas.  I laughed, because sitting in my desk at work is a bag of Werther's Originals...apparently, I'm a grandma.  Whatever, hard candy is delicious.

I do not know Matthew and Molly and have no affiliation with Spilled Milk, other than being an avid fan.  I just enjoy the show and want to spread the love.

Feeny!

Shirt: Old Navy Black pants: NY&C Flats: Payless Scarf: JCPenney

Today's look is inspired by Audrey at Putting Me Together!  I love the simplicity of black skinny jeans with a chambray shirt.  Plus, it's ridiculously comfortable.

At the gym this morning, I decided to switch the channel of the TV in front of me from a news station covering gun control and national debt to ABC Family.  Yup, I watched Boy Meets World this morning.  And let me tell you, it was the best way to start my day.  The bromance between Shawn and Cory?  Love it.  Topanga's awesome hair?  Love it.  Eric's quirky self-absorbed personality? Love it.  And Feeny in general?  LOVE IT.

Shiny

Shirt: Old Navy Skinny jeans: NY&C Flats: Payless Necklace: F21

1. This top (which is actually a really pretty gray-blue color) is shiny...which apparently doesn't photograph well.  Also, it's really wrinkly.  Whoops.
2. I got my hair cut yesterday and brought in a ridiculously cute picture.  This looks nothing like the picture, so I'm a little bummed.  This hair is fine, but I'm disappointed because it isn't really what I was looking for.  [Luckily, it's just hair and it will grow back!]
3. Since Kevin and I have time this weekend, we're going to finish watching the series Firefly.  Have any of you seen it?  We're kind of nerdy, so this sci-fi show is right up our alley...plus Joss Whedon, the creator of the show, is freaking awesome.  I titled this post partially after my shiny shirt, but also because the word "shiny" is used by characters in Firefly instead of saying, "cool" or "neat."

Statement Necklace

Turtleneck: Target Jeans: Old Navy Flats: JCPenney Necklace: F21

It is bitterly cold outside today in Minnesota...and tomorrow, it's only going to get worse!  I think our high is projected to be -2 degrees tomorrow.  Yuck.  It's the perfect day to do homework, though!  I was in class for 9 hours yesterday, and while it was a marathon of a day, I loved my class.  Today, it's all about hitting the books while snuggled up on the couch with some hot apple cider.

As for the outfit, I wanted to keep it fairly simple, as I'm not planning to leave the house today (too cold!).  I've had this black turtleneck for a while, but for whatever reason was afraid to wear it.  After putting it on, though, I do really love it.  Be prepared to see more of it - paired with skirts, under dresses, with scarves, etc.  I've usually been more subtle with my jewelry choices, but I really liked this green necklace.  I love that it is chunky and bold, but it still is really light on my neck.  I can hardly tell it's there!

PS. It is Pippin's birthday today!  She turns two years old today.  Happy birthday to my spunky pup.

Cozy Knits

Sweater: Old Navy Black skinny jeans: NY&C Cowl: Kohl's Flats: Payless

Thursdays are my days off of work this semester, but I have a class in the evenings.  I wanted to wear something comfy for a day full of reading and an evening full of learning, but I also wanted to look "put together." [Can you tell that I really like to be comfortable?  I think I've mentioned it in almost every post so far...]  I hunted for a pair of black skinny pants for ages, and when I found these at New York and Company, I had to buy them - they fit like a glove!  The color of this sweater kind of washes me out (oh hey pale skin), so I usually wear a scarf or bold necklace with it to break up the color.

Fun fact about me: I'm passionate about animal (particularly dog) rescue.  I began volunteering at our local animal shelter about two weeks ago, and I'm actually heading out the door shortly for another "on the job training" session today.  It's so much fun to help animals find their forever homes, and I love seeing the look on people's faces when they find their perfect match.  I hope there are some new cats and dogs there today for me to snuggle!