Tee with Leather Detail

 {Supplies needed: t-shirt, pleather, needle and thread, scissors, and pins}

 {Pin at desired location and start sewing - a simple stitch works well}

{Finished product}

The lovely Jenni commented and left a link to a tutorial on adding leather to tee.  Unfortunately I did not see the comment until after finishing my version, but I would recommend pinning the patch while wearing it to ensure that it's straight. My patch pocket is a tad crooked which I didn't notice until I was finished.  Other than that, this was was a super easy way to change up a plain tee.

Polka Chambray

{Top: Old Navy, Skirt: Banana Republic}

It's definitely a toss up between what gets worn more in my closet, striped or chambray shirts.  The truth is, both are so versatile that I find myself reaching for either of them on any given day.  If you haven't found a chambray shirt to add to your closet, I highly recommend buying one!

Red Pants Strike Again

{Blazer, shirt, and necklace: Forever 21, Jeans: Old Navy, Heels: Ralph Lauren}

If someone would have told me how versatile red pants could be (some ideas here, here, and here) I wouldn't have believed them.  I now find myself being drawn toward them almost as often as my regular dark blue skinnies.  Have you jumped on the colored jean trend bandwagon yet? If not, I highly encourage you to give it a try!

Candy Colored Wall

{Cardigan: Forever 21, Top: Michael Kors, Jeans: Gap, Jacket: H&M, Boots: Guess}

This wall reminds me a bit of Easter themed M&Ms and fruit stripe gum.  So naturally I've been craving that fun-only-has-flavor-for-10-seconds gum, but then was reminded of how it almost immediately turns to the consistency of rubber.  I guess I'll just have to eat one of the two giant bags of M&Ms that I stocked up on  post-Easter 50% off candy rack.  You'll find me doing Zumba tomorrow ...

Outfit Post that Could Have Been

{Sweater: Forever 21, Skirt: Banana Republic Factory, Heels: Ralph Lauren}

I give major kudos to all of the wonderful style bloggers out there who are able to get everything together in order to take outfit photos.  I had every intention of taking a picture of this outfit today, but time got away from me, and now I'm sitting in my oh-so-comfy pj's and thinking about how I should have taken a picture of the outfit.  So I did the next best thing, I took a picture of each item nicely folded and crossing my fingers you can picture how I wore it.

Awkward + Awesome

{Blazer: Old Navy, Button-Up: Forever 21, Belt: H&M, Jeans: Gap, Boots: Guess}

Awkward ::

Minding my own business while using the restroom at work, only to see a cockroach (!!!) scurry across the floor in front of me.  After seeing this and squealing like a little girl, I washed my hands (of course keeping an eye on the little bugger) and rushed to find the first guy in the office to have him kill it.  After trying to step on it about ten times, the thing finally died.  Gross!

Seeing someone wearing a monochromatic outfit, and I'm not just talking an all black outfit.  Oh no, I'm talking a magenta-meets-purple-meets-flamingo-pink outfit all the way down to the ear buds.  That's right folks, a purple person walking around on the streets of Portland.

Seeing one too many "man/she" people in downtown this week.  It's a pretty normal occurrence to play the "which one is it" game, but this week there were so many "questionable" people.

Being so tired that I used conditioner instead of shampoo.  Has anyone seen the low water pressure episode of Seinfeld?  That's how I felt all day after that incident.

Dodging random areas of spit on the side walk, I mean seriously, is it ever that necessary to spit?


Awesome ::

Striped shirts.  I mean can a girl really have too many of them? I would wear one every day if I wasn't afraid of looking like a lunatic who only likes horizontal stripes.

Going to bed before my boyfriend, and having him tuck me in like a little caterpillar.  It's so sweet.

Also having the boyfriend remove my toenail polish for me so that I didn't ruin my manicure (he would not be happy to know that I'm writing this - whoops!).

Thanks Sydney for the great awkward + awesome idea!

Everybody Everywear :: Pastels

{Blazer: Old Navy, Sweater: Forever 21, Jeans: Gap, Shoes: Old Navy}

I was excited when I saw that this month's EBEW theme was pastels, since I already had an outfit planned that would work! I have had this blazer (along with most of my other blazers) since high school.  It's from Old Navy, and I think that most would be surprised to find that out.  Not only have I gotten my money's worth out of it, but it is also perfect for our temperamental spring days!

Leopard, again.

{Blouse: Old Navy, Pants: H&M, Shoes: Macy's}

This is what I wore last Thursday for the Nordstrom Spring Fashion Show.  I wanted something comfortable, but also slightly trendy/dressed up.  I'm glad that these shoes are also fairly comfortable because I ran several blocks in them because I was running late.  Thank goodness for having shoes that are broken in!

Chambray + Stripes + Orange + Leopard

{Jacket, button-up, shirt, and pants: Old Navy, Flats: Audrey Brooke, similar}

Not sure if you remember this outfit crush that I posted of Blair, but today I chose to recreate it.  I wish that I could wear this type of outfit everyday, there isn't anything about it that I wouldn't want to wear day after day.  Also, this outfit shows my apparent obsession with Old Navy.  Oops!

Everybody Everywear :: Pink + Red

{Button-Up: Forever 21, Tank: Aeropostale, Pants: Old Navy, Heels: Ralph Lauren}

I was excited to step out of my comfort zone a little bit for this month's EBEW, pink and red.  My love of my red pants has been documented fairly accurately on my blog (seen here and here), but I wasn't sure how to pair them with pink.  I opted to wear a light pink tank top under my sheer white blouse since I didn't have a pink shirt that contrasted enough with red.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Fiesta Outfit

{Cardigan: Vera Wang, Button-Up: Old Navy, Jeans: Old Navy, Heels: Nine West}

I broke out my red jeans again to celebrate my best pal Justine's 25th birthday.  She was having a fiesta party, so I thought they were highly appropriate.  Also, Rianna and I wore similar outfits completely by accident - I think we both have similar philosophies on leopard - that you can wear it with anything!

Tomato Legs

{Button-Up: Gap, Sweater: Gap, Jeans: Old Navy, Boots: Guess}

I mentioned in my first outfit crush of the year how excited I was to finally buy some red skinny jeans.  Since buying my jeans I have to tell myself not to wear them everyday because they are more versatile that you would think.  I wore them on my birthday, another time before this, and then today with khaki striped shirts.  (If you look closely you can see that my button-up shirt has vertical khaki stripes, and then the sweater over it has horizontal stripes.)

Everybody Everywear :: Black & White

{Cardigan: Forever 21, Shirt: Kenneth Cole, Jeans: Old Navy, Boots: Macy's, Watch: Fossil}

Although today's EBEW was black and white, which some may associate with a waiter's outfit.  I prefer to think of black and white as a classic starting point for an outfit that you can make your own.  If you take a look at the EBEW website you'll see many different variations of this two color combination.  I chose to mix patterns and otherwise keep the rest of my outfit simple.  I'm wearing my Old Navy skinny jeans that I can't seem to stop wearing these days, they're just so comfortable!

Fall Floral

{Top: H&M, Jeans: Gap, Heels: Urban Outfitters, Belt: Forever 21}

Do you ever completely forget about a pair of pants?  This pair of Gap trouser jeans was at the bottom of my jean drawer, and I guess I hadn't looked past my favorite skinny jeans to see them again.  Also, I think I'm developing an inability to wear pumps without my feet aching.  I must walk strangely in them, because I can wear other high heeled shoes, just not pumps.  Any advice? Maybe I should go to a walking specialist or something. :)

Everybody Everywear :: Sequins + Sparkles

{Cardigan: Forever 21, Button-Up: Forever 21, Jeans: Gap, Boots: Guess}

On more than one occasion, I have been asked if this cardigan was vintage.  I wish that I could say that it is vintage, but it's really from Forever 21.  I love it when low priced and new items, look like they could have been passed down through my family.  Don't forget to check out the other girls' Sparkle + Sequin looks at EBEW.

Leopard + Yellow

{Cardigan: Target, Button-Up: Old Navy, Jeans: Old Navy, Heels: Macy's}

I wore this outfit recently for an impromptu date night.  I don't know about you, but I sometimes like unplanned dates better than planned ones.  I have a tendency to over anticipate and build up events in my head if they're planned in advance, and with an impromptu date night it forces me to go with the flow.  What's your favorite date that you've been on?

Olive + Denim + Black

 {Scarf: BF brought it back from Italy, Dress: Old Navy, Jacket: Ralph Lauren from high school, Boots: Steve Madden}

I wore this outfit a few weeks ago, and just came across it on my memory card.  I do remember that the day I wore it we were having a particularly lovely fall day.  The morning started off crisp and chilly, but by the afternoon it was beautiful and sunny.

I'm one of those people that rarely purges their closet, and this jacket is one of the things I haven't parted with.  I've had it since I was in high school, and I think even since sophomore year of high school. Proof that you can hang on to something long enough to wear it again several years later!

Boyfriend's Plaid Shirt

{Button-Up: Boyfriends, from Buffalo Exchange, Leggings: Calvin Klein, Boots: DSW}

Something that I didn't anticipate when my boyfriend and I moved in together was that I could occasionally borrow some of his shirts, but it is a nice advantage.  His button-up shirts are the perfect length to wear with leggings, which is great because I don't have a lot of options to wear with leggings.  Do you ever borrow items from your man's side of the closet?

Black, White, and Coral

{Tank & Skirt: Forever 21, Wedges: Kenneth Cole Reaction}

After about a week of colder temperatures and gray skies, sunshine has returned to Portland.  I am so happy that the weather has been nice today, because having to bust out my umbrella over the weekend was making me sad to say goodbye to the sun for nine months.  I took the opportunity to wear one of my favorite old skirts from Forever 21, it's my favorite because of the pockets (who doesn't love pockets?).  P.S. Oreo loves appearing in my outfit pictures.

Everybody Everywear - Pattern Mixing

{Top: Old Navy, Skirt: Forever 21, Boots: Steve Madden}

I was so excited that this month's EBEW was pattern mixing, since I've been waiting for an excuse to wear this shirt and skirt together.  The cognac boots also had to make an early appearance on my blog again, because it was a little too cold and breezy to have completely bare legs.  I'm really ready for the high temperature to be in the 80s at least!  Don't forget to check out everyone else's outfits at EBEW.