Author: Natalie

Closet Clean Out

It was a rainy weekend here. You know the sort—the perfect day to stay in your jammies, drink loads of tea, and clean out your closet/try on clothes/tidy things up at your own pace and think over the things of life. Some details….{pics aren’t the greatest due to the super rainy/dark weather}

{collection of pretty extra hangers}

{clock so I’m not late + pretty sherbet colors in latest J.Crew catalogue}

{bucket o’ scarves & a flower pin}

{messy scarves tied with ribbon}

{headband collection that I need to wear more}

Ahhh, a clean and organized (and pretty!) closet does the heart good!

Bridesmaid

I definitely tried to make this dress more casual for daytime wear by adding the texture of a cardigan + belt _ boots. Military green + Bordeaux may be my new favorite color combination. The original use for this beautiful dark ruby dress? It was from my beautiful cousin’s beautiful wedding early this summer! Here’s the original look, which I just love! Red + pearls = makes any girl feel like a million bucks! 

Early Summer wedding or Autumn Layers, this dress fits the occasion!

Psstt…this isn’t the first time I’ve reworn a bridesmaid dress. Here’s the other outfit, one of my very first.

Style Secrets
Dress: J.Crew, via cousin!
Cardi: Gap
Belt: Thrifted
Boots: ancient, falling apart, need replacing desperately
In Bridesmaid Pic: All details courtesy of bride
Published
Categorized as outfits

Shop Your Closet

I was so surprised to see two items nearly identical to items already in my own closet in the month’s issue of InStyle and the latest (fantastic!!! drool-worthy, of course!) J.Crew catalogue. I just had to show you! It was uncanny!

Left: J. Crew, $285…..Right: Mine, F21 a few seasons ago, $25
Savings: $260
Closeness match: 75% (theirs are leather and have a slight platform)
The heels on mine are almost identical. You can see them in an outfit in this post!
Left: Burgundy w/ wooden handle Gucci, $2,990.00 (inset is vintage carried by French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy), featured in October 2011 InStyle p. 145
Right: Mine, vintage Henri Bendel, $10 
Savings: $2,980.00
Closeness Match: 75% 
The bags are strikingly similar, with the clasps, handle, color, and shape. The wooden handles on InStyle’s are bamboo, mine is carved wood, but it still has the similar indentations 

Goodness, gracious, see, I just saved, ohhhhhhh……$2,945.00. 
This is such satisfying ‘shopping’!


What an Honor

I’m SO excited and thankful that Indiana University, my alma mater, and Jessica Quirk of What I Wore, chose my outfit to be the winner of the Indiana University Style Contest! Gah! Thank you all SO much, it is an honor to help represent all of the stylish IU alums 🙂

Monday Mid Day: Weekend Finds

Hello lovelies! I hope you had a great weekend! I did, and I wanted to share some of my weekend favorite finds with you:

Vintage “Grandpa” Ties…winter wool + summer plaid
{to be determined what exactly these are for}

 His + Hers mugs from a local potter

Sparkly tank top from a tag sale
Very cute J. Crew sweater from a tag sale

1/2 off these Thank-You notes I’ve been wanting for over a year! Patience is a virtue!
{I wanted them for my master’s graduation thank-yous, but found some cheap-o copies at Wal-Mart that were even better: a mini graduation cap illustration that said “thanks”}

1/2 off one of my favorite Yankee scents 
{I ADORE their regular buttercream, so had to try the strawberry}

I’ve eaten this dinner for 3 nights in a row, it is SO my new favorite. This gluten-free pasta is the best I’ve ever tried. I hope you can find it 🙂

 And, of course, I had to make a simple new arrangement for my new candle!

Retro?

 Hmmm….retro?

 flats + little autumn leaf
Style Secrets
Sunnies: Local Store
Headband: Dollar store
Scarf: Gap, thrifted
Leopard Tote (in first pic): Reiss,Thrifted
Tank: ?
Sheer blouse: Local store
Belt: from another shirt
Jeans: Karl Lagerfeld, via TJ Maxx
Retro coat (nubby fabric with 3/4 sleeves and big, fabric-covered buttons): F21
Flats: F21
Phone: Not an iPhone
Published
Categorized as outfits

Boss

Be the Boss(aNova) of your Friday today! Lol….

No, I am not advertising for Bossa Nova (but I should be! GoogleAlerts, pick this up!), but this drink is SO yummy (and my color!). Try it! 

Tonight

Do you ever have one of those nights where something weighs heavy on heart and spirit, but you’re not sure what? And you sit there, and you mull it over, and you say, “God, what is it?! What are You preparing me for? What is on Your heart that you are trying to impress upon mine?”
Lord, show me. I am Yours.

Shop Your Closet

I’ve been really wanting a nude patent belt with gold accents to add to my wardrobe. I’ve been stalking them on J.Crew and Ann Taylor. This particular J.Crew one is my favorite: 

I’ve been checking the belt section at my local thrift store, trying to find something close. And I think I hit the jackpot: 
My version: Salvation Army, genuine leather, 99 cents
Can’t wait to throw it over some fall dresses!! Remember: everything old is new again, so you can find just about any trend in a thrift store if you look. That’s one reason I love thrifting!

Here at 23

I’ve got some Relient K lyrics stuck in my head. Not too unusual.
But it’s almost 11 and I’m totally pumped, and I’m dancing around the house cleaning & rocking out.
“17, 18, 19, routine, and here at 23 it’s the same old me….”
“Gotta break the cycle of the double-edged sword of being lazy and being bored.”
 sa
Cleaning and listening to Relient K at 11 at night can be rather freeing, and rather deep at the same time. 
Because a few of those lyrics are hitting  little too close to home tonight. 
Hmm…cleaning & conviction. 
Also, I heart Relient K.
{end random post}