An ordinary Wednesday outfit

I have seem to forgotten how much I absolutely love this skirt and how often I should be wearing it. The red is a great color and pairing it with neutrals seems to tone down the brightness a bit. Finally - an outfit worth blogging about!

Today I paired it with my new sweater from the Gap that I picked up for 17.00. When I asked the husband about it in store I asked him if it looked like a pretzel on the front, and he agreed. So I bought the sweater and instantly wanted a pretzel with cheese sauce. Oi. And underneath it is the Banana Republic jeweled collar blouse I bought after Christmas and this blouse has been frequently worn. The jewels on the collar are so subtle and I love pairing it under a cardigan or sweater.

Adorable Kate Spade phone case... Love the flowers!

I did get lots of compliments on the skirt at the office today so I figured I'd finally add something fashiony to the blog again.

Linking up with WIWW & Mix and Match Fashion!

Sweater: Gap (similar)

Blouse: Banana Republic (similar here on sale!)

Skirt: J Crew (Factory version here - check stores)

Monday Musings v. 2

Long weekends where you just go on a whim are always my favorite kind of long weekends. This weekend we pretty much did just that - slept in, napped, had dinner and drinks with friends, ran into 5 of my old coworkers, and took long walks while the weather was gorgeous. I just wish we had a three day weekend at least once a month to savor!

Pardon the fur, we were snuggling..

Yesterday wrapped up beer week in SF where craft and large breweries get together to host events throughout the bay area. Last night we were able to go to one at the Trumer Pilsner tasting room in Berkeley and I was finally able to try some of the elusive Pliny the Younger. We met a girl yesterday who said she waited for 6 hours on a weekday just to try it. I'm definitely glad I got to try it once.. but not sure I'd wait that long.

In all of it's beer-y glory..

Thanks to Gigi's post I decided to take her advice and snap up the J Crew Factory sleeveless dress for the awesome price of 34.50. Go now - there's still free shipping! As I get used to not wearing jeans 5 days a week I'm going to try my hand at dresses.

Remember that Goyard bag that I was so excited about finally getting? Well... 5 months after getting it and having the paint chip off one panel, a 6ish week long battle with their customer service and a replacement bag later, I am totally turned off of that brand.*  Perhaps the wishy-washy customer service just left a really bad taste in my mouth, but I'm going to give Mr. Vuitton another try. *(My experience is not necessarily the one you may have - I've heard that the Paris store has excellent customer service but San Francisco is clearly lacking).

And to round this out with some travel talk... has anyone been to any destination in Scandinavia or perhaps Poland? We are looking at doing another Euro trip later this year and are looking at cities. Throw them my way!

Monday musings

Hello poor neglected blog. With the new job, HR class resuming Thursday nights (which means tons of pages to read each week) and trying to not fall into bed by 9PM every night, life has been busy.

The new job is going well. It's so weird to say I have an office. But it has my name on the door and I have decorated it a bit.

Thanks to my sister for this awesome artwork that was the first thing to go up on my bare walls. :)

I've been wearing skirts a lot to work (since I have to go business attire M-W, eep) and would like some pants that aren't jeans but also aren't slacks. I'm eying these and these - any other suggestions?

I also took a spin class last week and loved it. I am most likely going to join the facility and hopefully I can get back into better shape. I've also purchased a fitbit which is really awesome and I love seeing my steps each day.  I'm also trying to eat only salads with protein for lunch during the weekdays and drink more water.

Other than that... there's been a lot of studying and snuggling with this pretty lady, which is helpful when my lap is cold and I need a cuddle break.

Since I have stopped shopping as much I feel as though I don't have a lot to blog about, so apologies if I have been more lurkish than normal. Are there certain things you'd like me to bring back to the blog? If so, let me know below! Once I feel as though I've gotten into the class/new job routine a bit better I'm going to start doing outfits again. Thanks again for reading!

January Budget

Well, I stayed fairly true to my no shop January, but Vermont threw me a curve ball and I had to bring a little something home.

Vermont state of mind shirt from Syrup, $24

Vermont Flannel Company flannel, $48.80

Total: $72.80

So, not too bad but not great either.

This month I may need some new work pants - something that's not as formal as a pair of slacks but not jeans either - and if you have suggestions let me know! I want to keep my spending under 100 if at all possible.

Linking up with Fran!