Hot Cider & Sweater Weather

Can you ever go wrong with hot cider and a stroll through fall foliage? No. The answer is always no. There's just nothing better in my book! Every year we make the trip to Yates Cider Mill which is a historic mill along the Clinton River north of metro-Detroit. They press cider on site with locally grown apples and make a variety of baked goods. Our favorites are the cinnamon sugar coated donuts, so good!

SWEATER | DISTRESSED JEANS (more affordable option here) | BOOTS (regular and wide calf) | SUNNIES | FLOPPY HAT | PURSE (similar, mine is sold out) | EARRINGS 

Along with hot cider and treats, our trips to Yates always include a walk on the nature trial along the river. Its usually a quite trip down a winding footpath through the trees and brush. K and I have been coming here since we started dating, at least once every fall. This trip we were able to stop by the spot where he proposed to me earlier this year. It brought back so many memories and will always hold an extra special place in my heart.

Even though it was a pretty warm October, the shade along the path made wearing this gorgeous pumpkin-y colored, bell-sleeve sweater perfectly comfortable. The wide scoop neck can also be worn off the shoulder, giving the sweater more versatility in styling. And, it comes in FIVE colors, including a bright red that would be so pretty for the holidays! Plus, its a total steal at only $39. I mean, how perfect would it be for Thanksgiving?!

My ripped jeans and knee-high suede boots are both worth investing in. The jeans are by Good American and hold everything in. The material is sturdy and thick, but not scratchy or uncomfortable. They have held up well to a wash and dry too. I can't recommend them enough!

In my hunt to find good knee-high boots that would last (I could only go through cheap boots that barely lasted one season for so long) I found the ones I was raving about earlier this week, posted here, as well as these ones. I wasn't planning on keeping them both, but the colors were different enough and they were both so comfortable and fit my wide calves perfectly, I kept them both. The tie detail on the back gives them that extra little spark and they are lined with super soft and warm material. I took my normal size and they fit perfectly. They are currently on sale for 25% off too, so that never hurts.

Hope you all enjoy your Thursday!

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Throwback Thursday: Sing the Blues

Only one more day until Friday and, per usual, I am beyond psyched! As I have waxed poetic about on here before, I am a girl who lives for the weekends and with the avalanche of freezing precipitation this week, I am a little more anxious than usual to hole up in my apartment for a few days. Until then however its work, school, and probably more snow, yippee ;-) Given the relentless winter, I am once again excited to share a throw back post to when the grass was not just green, but actually visible. Here is another layered outfit from this past fall, and shows another one of the many ways I have styled another piece from Mint Sugar Boutique, their Iced Tassel Necklace (see this post for coupon code for 15% off your entire order!). This outfit is also pretty monochromatic in nature, which is a change of pace from my normal kaleidoscope of colors present in my outfits. One of the easiest way to mix patterns successfully is to do it within a single color family, or between naturals and a color. Here I have mixed patterns within the blue family as well as with a neutral, ie. leopard. How do you mix prints?

chambray: old navy | pumps: target | jeans: old navy | vest : old navy | sweater : jcrew factory | purse: target

sunglasses: forever 21 | necklace: mint sugar boutique | bracelet c/o hawthorne collection

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Plaidly in Love

Hello Lovelies!! It's only the second week of classes and I'm already super busy! I definitely miss the days where the first week of class was designated for essentially attending a ton of classes you thought you might be interested in, taking a week to figure out what you wanted to actually take, and perfecting your schedule. There was no readings, assignments, or homework, just a freebie week to finalized your classes for the semester. Being in my last semester has its downfalls, mostly that its business time right off the bat. Last week was full of lectures, notes, presentations, readings, homework, and projects already, phew! So, this pretty much put the kabosh on me zipping ahead on blog related things and posts this weekend and explains my poor attendance this past week. However, having Monday off for MLK day did have its benefits, we were able to photograph some outfit posts, so the weekend wasn't a complete wash in terms of blogging. 

So what did I do this past weekend? I spent a good amount of time on homework, but also a good amount of time ridding my apartment of the ghosts of last semester still lurking in the shadows. Since I had an incredibly lazy restful Christmas break, I did a poor job of wrapping up last semester and packing it away before this one started. I spend a good chunk of time sorting through papers, filing, cleaning, and organizing my study in preparation for the semester. Sigh. As an OCD person, I feel better just thinking about how much more functional and clutter free the space is. I also picked up some new supplies and feel confident in the room's abilities to get me through the semester. After graduation however, big things will be happening and a giant super make-over will be happening all up in there. So, its good enough for now =)

Okay, enough about my boring weekend, onto something fun: clothes. Today's outfit, which I wore to work this week, features some of my favorite pieces, and since it's still beyond freezing here in the mitten, layers are an absolute must. This dark green knit sweater is one of the best purchases I have made this winter; it's warm without being bulky, is a gorgeous shade of green, and was on sale for 40%; triple score! I didn't have too many items that were green in my closet before this fall, but all that has changed! Maybe it has something to do with emerald being last year's color of the year? Who knows, either way, I am loving this deep saturated tone, which is not only the color of the sweater but also a key color in this plaid shirt. This plaid was also a more recent purchase, entering my wardrobe last fall. The colors of the plaid are beyond perfection and it matches so many cooler hues and neutral colors, so it is easy to mix and match with! Another green purchase this year? These tights. I am a shameless colored tight wearer, and adorn them probably a few times a week (I prefer skirts to pants for work wear). Luckily for me and my preference for rainbow colored stems, Target has had an amazing selection and variety of colored tights this season; I have added quite a few new pairs because of this. =)

At first I though that between the sweater and tights, there might be too much green in this outfit (as if that's a thing!) but I think with the grey skirt and plaid shirt breaking up the green and the fierce neckbling topping it off, the tights work with it. Which brings me to the skirt. Perfect, no? I mean, all you really need to know is that it has pockets and you are sold, right? It was enough for me at least. But in all seriousness this skirt is so comfortable and versatile, I even bought it in black I loved it so much. Although, my love of all things grey has me reaching for this one far more often. 

So what's left to discuss? Oh right, the jewelry! I mean this necklace is bananas, right?? (does anyone even say that still? oh well. I do, apparently) I found Meaghan and her shop Purple Peridot through instagram right before Christmas and boy am I glad I did! In the short time I have been introduced to Purple Peridot, I have purchased 4 pieces for me and several as gifts for Christmas. Her stuff is beyond gorgeous, I have already worn everything I bought at least once, and some, like this one, are even on track to be my new bff's. This necklace and matching earrings are perfect dupes (buy here) of their much more expensive J.Crew counter parts, and the quality is amazing. Definitely check her out! Oh, and did I mention she is like the fastest at shipping around AND has sales weekly?? I'm obsessed. Go be obsessed too!

skirt: jcrew factory | sweater: target | shirt: jcrew factory | heels: payless | purse: target | sunglasses: forever 21

necklace & earrings: purple peridot | crystal bracelet: jcrew factory | bow bangle: old navy | link bracelet: jcrew factory 

Shop this outfit:

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

In(sta)vested

So in yesterday's post I wrote about my favorite things and I realized I haven't posted any outfit pictures featuring my beloved herringbone vest, which is seriously crazy because I wear it ALL.THE.TIME. Today is the day I correct this grave travesty! For today's post, I wanted to do a quick compilation of photos from my iPhone and instagram showing how I have style this amazing piece so far and tomorrow I will have a full outfit post featuring the vest.

As you can probably tell from these photos, I am a huge fan of layering and mixing patterns, which is why this vest is so perfect for my personal style! You can also see that I definitely re-wear my clothing and accessories, I just can't afford to buy new outfits every week, so I try to be creative and resourceful with what I have and the selective new pieces I add. Getting the most out of my wardrobe is important to me and I hope I have inspired you to combine some pieces you may have otherwise thought not to. For more details on the items in these pictures, please check them out on instagram!

What's your favorite way to style a vest this fall?
Do you pattern mix?

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!