Arbitrary Neon

Arbitrary Neon is going to be the name of the band I start after Neon Peach goes up in flames because the bass guitarist thinks she should be a solo artist.  It also describes my accessories today:

Although you can’t see it very well, I am wearing a neon necklace.  This neon necklace: 

Long Epoxy Link Necklace -image via Target.com

Why?  Because it made sense this morning and who am I to ignore morning inspiration.  (Also, Morning Inspiration is going to be the name of my 70s soft rock cover band).  In addition to the arbitrary neon necklace (Target), I also wore dark leopard skinnies (Old Navy Rock Star), a sheer, printed blouse (Liberty Love via Nordstrom Rack), an oversized blazer (gifted J. Crew; thanks Alex!) & boots (MIA “Roam” via Piperlime). 

Full disclosure, I love this outfit.  I love the weird color combination (tobacco, blue & fuchsia?), the pattern mixing (of course) and the arbitrary neon necklace.  It’s randomly cohesive, which is totally my thing.  As of right now.

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Neon Target necklace

Similar blouse

Old Navy RockStar Skinnies

MIA “Roam” boots

I couldn't find a similar blazer, but I'd suggest thrifting something; thrift stores are full of oversized blazers.

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Day 3: Birthday Cake and Hobbit Thoughts

Day 3 of my Birthday Extravaganza-Fest was definitely more low-key than Days 1 and 2.  There were no sequins, no feathers, no champagne and only a minimum of fire.  But, there was cake (yay, cake!) and there were thoughts on hobbits (yay, hobbits!).

The low-key nature of Day 3 meant, of course, a low-key outfit:

Especially since I had to go to work – yes, they made me work during my Birthday Extravangaza-Palooza; can you believe that?!  I wore jeggings (Bandolino), a striped tunic (Old Navy) layered under a caramel sweater (Goodwill) and riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom).  I also wore my new glasses, from Firmoo, but I'll post more on that later.

After work, I had dinner with my family and I had cake.  This was my cake:

The candles are a joke; I'm not 33.

It was a homemade chocolate Bundt cake drizzled with white and milk chocolate and it was delicious.

And, after cake, my brother-in-law and my nephew took me to see The Hobbit.  Here are my thoughts:

1. Aw, the Shire.  I still totally want to live there.
2. Wow, someone spent a LOT of time styling those dwarves’ head suits.
3. That lead dwarf is sort of sexy, you know, for a dwarf. 
4.  Orcs are gross. 
5.  Was Saruman reallyalways such an ass? 
6.  What’s with all the slapstick comedy? 
7.  Yes, but whywere the stone giants fighting? 
8.  The Gollum scenes were pretty great. 
9.  Orcs are gross. 
10.  Not bad, Peter Jackson, not bad.

What about you Reader Friends?  Have you seen The Hobbit yet?  Any thoughts?  None?  Well, then how about any thoughts/comments on cake?

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

Gracey

Happy Halloween

I didn't dress up for Halloween.  In fact, this is what I wore:

MIA "Roam," Image via Piperlime

I know it’s not very Halloween-y, being neither sexy (my sexy Bert and Ernie costume is at the cleaners) nor scary.  Well, not scary as long as you’re not chromophobic.  If you are, you’re probably terrified of my bright cobalt dress (Target).  Of course, if you’re chromophobic, you probably don’t read my blog.  But, in case you are and you do, maybe as a form of immersion therapy or something, I did tone the look down a bit with the blazer (J. Crew, swapped), the tights (Target), the scarf (c/o FRAAS) and the boots (MIA “Roam” via Piperlime).  Let it never be said that I’m not looking out for my chromophobic peeps.

Happy Wednesday, All.  And, yes, Happy Halloween.

Gracey

P.S. Chromophobia is a fear of bright colors.

Inspired By: A Scarf and a Broken Elbow

The colors in today’s outfit were inspired by the colors in today’s scarf:

The pieces in today’s outfit were inspired by my broken elbow:

Please to allow me to explain.  Today I wore a plum-colored sweater dress (Target) layered over leggings (Ross) and under a caramel blazer (J Crew, swapped).  I added riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom), cameo and garnet earrings and, of course, the scarf (Target).  Color-wise, the scarf, while it contains no plum, contains colors that compliment plum, such as caramel, camel, black and rust.  Broken-elbow-wise, the sweater dress and leggings pulled on easily and the blazer, being a bit over-sized, is easier to wrestle myself into that a more fitted blazer.

In other news, I hooked my own bra this morning.

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

Gracey

A Pencil and a Popped Collar

I wore a pencil skirt and a popped collar to work today:

I chose the pencil skirt because we had offsite training this morning so I didn’t ride my bike.  I chose the popped collar because popping the collar was the only way to see the bit of red under this sweater.  And also because Catherine from Not Dressed as Lamb often pops her collar to great effect and I’m nothing if not the occasional copycat.

The collar belongs to a handmade (by someone else) gingham blouse (thrifted) which I layered under a caramel sweater (thrifted).  The pencil skirt is knit and vintage and I thrifted it in Santa Fe last year.  I added black tights (Spanx), black wedge booties (Nine West via Piperlime) and black and white cameo earrings (which I forgot to photograph).

I like the bit of red gingham with this outfit; it adds both color and pattern.  But this particular gingham blouse is hard to wear.  It’s not quite long enough for a secure tuck so it bunches up under the sweater making me look plump, yet cozy.  Cozy is good; plump I can do without.  I tried to hike my skirt up for more tucking room but it’s a bit roomy in the waist so it didn’t do much good.  Sadly, I think a new gingham blouse may be in order.

At least it had a good collar for popping.

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey

Dots and Ducks

I’m wearing dots and ducks today.  Let’s start with the ducks:

Is that not the most fabulous bow tie ever?  I love it.

And what do you pair with ducks?  Why, dots, of course:

Dots and ducks, folks, dots and ducks.  It just makes sense.  Just like boxy sweaters and silk bow ties make sense.  At least for me.  I’m really not even sure why, but I’ve been drawn to that combination again and again this winter.  For today, I paired my boxy caramel sweater (Land’s End, thrifted) with a pleated polka dot skirt (vintage, thrifted).  I added my new favorite mallard bow tie (silk, thrifted), tights (Spanx) and wedge booties (Nine West “Peekaboo” via Piperlime).

Now, I realize that I’m wearing a navy skirt with black tights, but one, I didn’t realize it until I left the house.  And two, I kind of like it.  Also, I know that I recommended leggings instead of tights-and-skirts for riding in the rain, but I want you all to know that no children were flashed in the wearing of this outfit.

Finally, the majority of my outfit is thrifted (bow tie, sweater and skirt) which is good because today is Thursday and Thursday’s are for Thrifters and for linking up over at Spunky Chateau.

Happy Thursday, All!  Wear bow ties!

Gracey

Two Loves = New Love

I love this sweater with these boots:

I mean, I love this sweater.  And I love these boots (yes, I know I’m pointing out the obvious here).  But, I’ve decided I really, really, really love this sweater with these boots.  They just go so well together. 

The caramel color of the sweater (thrifted) plays perfectly with the variegated coloring of the boots (Born “Sosie” via Nordstrom).  So much so that I feel like spending the rest of the winter finding different outfits that incorporate these two items.  Today I paired them with black leggings (INC via Macys), a navy and white striped tunic (Old Navy) and a multi-colored scarf of disremembered origin.

So, yeah, more outfits with these boots and this sweater are forthcoming.  I recognize it may not be terribly exciting for my readers, but perhaps if we all pretend it’s an exercise in remixing?  Maybe?  If not, just look away on those days, folks.  Look away.

In other news, I took a pilates class last night for the first time in years and found out two things about myself.  One, I am amazingly inflexible.  Two, I don’t love New Age music.  In spite of these epiphanies, I enjoyed myself and am pleasantly sore today so I’ll definitely be going back next week. 

Also?  It’s Friday, which is the best news I've had all week.

Happy Friday, All!

Gracey

Caramel, Smoke and Lagoon

I’ve decided that using nouns as adjectives to describe my clothes is my new thing.  Take this outfit for example:

It was a rough week, but I'm much better now.  Also, my friends are hilarious.

I could have described it as brown, gray and blue, but I practically fell asleep at my keyboard just typing that.  So boring.  But, caramel, smoke and lagoon?  Now that’s an exciting color combination.  To this end, I’m describing my outfit as lagoon jeggings (Gap) paired with a caramel sweater (thrifted Land’s End) layered over a smoke-colored tunic (Tulle).  I added cognac lace-up booties (Nine West via TJ Maxx) and a multi-colored scarf (Nordstrom).  Fancy, no?

But, I can’t take all the credit.  Gap described these pants as “lagoon” on their website.  And do you guys remember back in the day when catalogs used words like “stone” and “haze” and “cayenne” to describe their clothes?  I remember J. Crew being especially fond of this practice, offering shirts striped in “melon” and “celery.”  When I was younger, I thought it was kind of silly, but now I realize it’s sort of great and far more fun. 

What do you think, Dear Reader Friends?  Ridiculous or fabulous?

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Gracey

P.S. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a $50.00 gift card from Go Chic or Go Home!

No Offense to the Dromedaries of the World

No offense to the dromedaries of the world, but I’ve realized that camel is not for me.  It makes me look washed out and sad.  But caramel, caramel is a color that makes me happy.  I mean, look how happy I am in this caramel sweater:

I thrifted it last weekend with my friend, Alex, and can you believe that she was skeptical when I pulled it from the racks?  I know it looks like a plain brown sweater, but it’s not.  It’s caramel and I plan on wearing the heck out of it this fall and winter.  Starting today, where I paired the sweater (Land’s End, thrifted) with a cream crocheted skirt (vintage, thrifted), black tights, black booties (Nine West via Piperlime) and a black silk tie (Brooks Brothers, thrifted).

Today’s Takeaway?  Camel = sad but caramel = happy.  And, of course, a jaunty bow never hurts.

Also, because today is Thursday and I like parties, I’ve linked up over at Spunky Chateau for the Thursday’s Are for Thrifter’s Link Party.  Stop by and join the fun!

Gracey

P.S. Here is a close-up of the knit of the skirt just in case you were curious: