I made an Orange Julius!!

Shirt: Target Blazer: Target Pants: NY&C Flats: Payless

I'm finally wearing my lace shirt that I had been looking for FOREVER.  It's exactly what I wanted - a loose fit, pretty lace (but not too grandma-y), short sleeves, and long enough to be worn untucked and tucked.  It has a really cute keyhole cutout in the back, too!  I am super excited to wear this with skirts, too.

So I've written before about smoothies and how much I love to make them for breakfast, but I kicked it out of the park today.  I used pretty much the same ingredients as usual (ground oats, vanilla protein powder, bananas, vanilla yogurt, soy milk, frozen peaches, orange juice), but today's smoothie tasted exactly like an Orange Julius.  So. Delicious.

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: 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?

My Beloved Black Boots

Blouse: TJ Maxx Blazer: Target Pants: NY&C Boots: Target

Is it bad that I'm already mourning the loss of these boots?  I've had them for over two years now, and they're still in great condition, but I know some day they will need to be retired.  They fit me like a glove, are super comfortable, and are so simple.  I love that they can be slipped on and off without zippers, laces, or buckles.  And they were $35 from Target.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

I was thinking about these boots, after Fran's post on investment pieces, and what the heck that even means.  As you see every day, most of what I own is from budget-friendly stores like Target and Old Navy, and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.  I enjoy being able to get stylish and reliable clothes at places I can afford.  Sometimes, I feel that we bloggers are expected to buy, buy, buy and become walking advertisements for certain brands of clothing and accessories, but I simply cannot afford to buy clothing that costs that much.  [I think] I look good on my modest budget, and I enjoy finding great deals on clothing (thanks, Mom, for teaching me to shop the sales!).  I guess what I'm saying is, these $35 Target boots have served me incredibly well, and have been one of my wardrobe workhorses and favorite items for years.  I don't need to buy $200 boots in order to look and feel great!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy and Because Shanna Said So.

Gleek!

Tank: Old Navy Blazer: Target Pants: NY&C Necklace: F21 Boots: Target Wedges: Kohls

I'm posting two incredibly similar photos today.  In the first photo, I'm wearing my trusty black boots, and in the second photo, I'm wearing black wedges.  I just wanted to see how the outfit looked with each pair of shoes.  What do you prefer?  Boots or wedges?

I listen to music in the shower every morning.  I love the show Glee (even when it sucks), and I have a playlist of Glee songs on my iPod.  This morning, I turned on the music, put my Glee playlist on shuffle, and the first song that came up was the Glee version of Rebecca Black's "Friday."  Now, the song is stuck in my head.  I apologize to anyone I have to see today, because I'm probably going to be humming "Friday" all. day. long.  HAPPY FRIDAY.

[PS. Do you like how the sun is shining on my face this morning?  I feel like I'm an angel.  Or Jesus.]

First Day of School

Ruffled tee: Old Navy Blazer: Target Jeans: JCPenney Flats: Payless

Today was my first day of school for the spring semester!  I wanted to plan an outfit that was professional enough for work, but comfortable for 3 hours of sitting in class.  I wish I had worn long sleeves, though, because our classroom was super cold!  Next Tuesday, you'll be seeing a warmer outfit from me.