Three.

Dress: Old Navy Vest: Old Navy Sandals: Old Navy Belt: Target Necklace: Eclectic Wendy Designs

Today is Kevin's 26th birthday!!  We have a pretty low-key day planned, since Kevin isn't one for big birthday fanfares or anything.  All he wanted was to spend time together and get some ice cream, so that's what we're doing!

Yesterday, Fran had an interesting discussion on her blog about dressing for yourself vs. dressing for others (in particular your partner).  Almost 100% of the time, I dress for myself, but today, I dressed for Kevin.  He has said before that he loves seeing me in purple, and I know he about dies whenever I wear anything that shows off my legs, so I thought this purple dress was the perfect way to make him smile on his birthday.  He also tells me all the time that I don't need to wear makeup to look beautiful, so I went really simple today with just mascara.  I still feel like me and am dressing true to myself, but this outfit is one that he really likes, too :)

Weekend Wear

Tank: Old Navy Cardigan: Target Jeans: NY&C Flats: Payless Necklace: Mom's 

I hope you all had a nice weekend!  I spent the weekend at my mom and dad's house, hanging out with them and my brother.

On Saturday, my family and I went to Wild Rumpus, a fantastic children's bookstore in Minneapolis, with the little boy my parent's mentor.  The bookstore has all kinds of animals roaming around in the store (cats and chickens!) and other animals hanging out in cages (lizards, tarantulas, birds, chinchillas, ferrets).  The entrance to the bookstore has a big door for adults and a little purple door for kiddos.  My family brought my brother and me there often when we were little, and it was so much fun to be back!! I can't wait to take my future children there some day :)

That afternoon, I visited my friend Jayne (she's an old supervisor of mine, who has become a dear friend...she even officiated our wedding!) and her two daughters.  When I was a senior in college, I nannied her oldest daughter, who is almost four years old now.  I haven't seen the girls since October, and it was crazy how much they have changed, especially her younger daughter who is nine months old now!  It was so fun to be Auntie Brynn again!

Saturday night, my brother and I had a date together.  We went out for dinner at Cossetta's, a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant in St. Paul, and then to see Rufus Wainwright in concert.  We had a blast together!  I also encouraged my brother to get Snapchat, so we spent an obscene amount of time this weekend sending each other ugly pictures of ourselves.

Dress: Old Navy Vest: Old Navy Belt: The Limited Boots: Guess

On Sunday, I sang at the church I grew up at with my family.  I LOVE to sing.  The woman who leads the music at the contemporary service is a close mentor and friend of mine, and she is so awesome and lets me sing whenever I want.  It's been so nice to have a musical outlet!  My mom also got confirmed this weekend, so it was nice to be there to support her as well.

I totally copied this outfit from Fran - I about died when I saw her wear this back in February, and I've been waiting to wearing it!  I probably would not have thought to pair this dress and vest together if it hadn't been for Fran, so thank you, my dear!!  I love how this outfit turned out and I got several compliments on it today :)

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 :)

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!

Lazy Sunday

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

I found these boots at Target for $10 when I was looking for a different pair of shoes.  I have never had short boots like these, and the style is a lot edgier than boots I've had before.  I really liked the style, fit, dark brown color (and the price), so I decided to get them.  What do you all think about them?

It's been a day of heavy reading.  Kevin and I are diving into our respective graduate programs, and trying to get lots of homework done.  I wanted an outfit that was comfortable but still socially acceptable, as we ventured to a new-to-us coffee shop in town to do homework.  I think this fits the bill!