8.27.10

New York and Co. Blue Dress (similar here)

Nordstrom BP Brown Braided Belt (similar here)

Tommy Hilfiger Brown Leather Flats (similar here)

Charlotte Russe Beaded Necklace (similar here)

Happy Monday, everybody! I had a wonderful weekend - Saturday I made a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread that was to die for, did some laundry, took a nap in the front yard, read a bit, and then made my parents and brother a delicious dinner of pan fried pork fritters, mashed potatoes, white gravy, and peas! So fattening, yet so delicious! Sunday my mom and I woke up early to go play some golf with a few of her friends at this course north of us that over looks the Mississippi river valley - it was really pretty! I've never played golf before, so I mostly drove around in the golf cart and occasionally whacked a few balls. After we went to the clubhouse for their brunch buffet with unlimited mimosas...it was so good, and only $10 a person!

So anyway, this outfit is from Friday - the weather has been so nice out I wanted to wear something more fall-ish, and this dress is seriously like wearing a nightgown. Awesome. That's all I've got to say about that, so how about I get going on the questions you guys left me in my giveaway post (PS, the winner will be posted today!).

Melissa asked:

If you had to pick ONE item for fall that you would have to wear every single day (or at least several times a week), what would that one item be?

Well, if I was allowed to wear jeans to work, I would pick skinny jeans from The Limited - they seriously fit SO well and are so affordable! Since I'm not allowed, though...I would pick my royal purple cardigan (which I actually haven't worn yet, ironically!). I think purple goes with so many colors and is really flattering.

Sara asked:

What made you want to start blogging?

I've read blogs of various sorts for a long time, and I didn't even know outfit of the day/fashion blogs existed until I stumbled across What I Wore. I was obsessed, and I loved the inspiration it gave me for my own closet. When I realized a few months ago that so many of my favorite blogs out there have only been around for a year or so, I figured I could do it, too! Plus, I really like having a catalog of what I wore to what event, it's nice to get to look back on it!

Jo asked:

How do you transition your clothes from summer into fall? What are some of your tips?

I LOVE tights. I have so many pairs of tights, and they really change an outfit up (and make it warm!). Pretty much every skirt and dress I buy I make sure I can wear it in to the fall and winter with tights (my white linen Limited skirt won't, though!). I really don't like wearing pants (I think I only own 4 pairs of slacks for work), so that's my best trick. I'm also a huge fan of cardigans, so that makes pretty much every tank top fall appropriate.

reminder!

Number one reminder, the Emmy Awards are on and they are freaking amazing so far.

Number two, remember to enter my giveaway if you haven't yet, it closes at midnight central time!

8.26.10

Forever 21 Pink Lattice Top (kinda similar here)

Old Navy Skinny Grey Pants (similar here)

The Limited White Cardi (similar here)

Charlotte Russe Earrings (similar here)

Report Pink Ballet Flats (similar here)

Random Thoughts:

1) I had a much overdue highlighting and haircutting session with my stylist Wednesdays. She's the first stylist I've felt comfortable with in St. Louis since I moved back, and she's incredibly affordable (try $80 for an eyebrow wax, cut, style, and full foil highlights. For serious.). Anyway, before she got started she said that the salon was redoing their website, and they wanted before and afters for it, so she asked if she good take my picture. I agreed, and she said that if I didn't want my picture all over the Internet, they could blur my face out. Ha. Ha. Ha. If only she knew.

2) I've been obsessed with this outfit ever since it was posted on Anthro's website:

And I've been determined to replicate it. But Bailey 44 I can afford not (or at least, not full price). But I found this at Forever 21, and this at Old Navy (only mine has two flowers on the top, strange!):

and I already own tights and boots, so I think I did a pretty good job. I'm excited to debut it once the weather cools down. I actually admitted defeat at bought the Wind and Whirl Cardi, and couldn't believe I paid $88 for a cardigan (um, I'm cheap). Finally, on my way home, I decided I would check out Old Navy. I love Old Navy's Cardigans - decent quality, good selection, and cheap! And I obviously hit the jackpot. Ashley: 1, Anthro: 0

3) I saw a XS Yellow Bee cardi, a medium green Blooming Lattice cardi, and a small Courtship Blooms tank in pink (and it was down to 9.95) yesterday evening at the St. Louis Anthro, if you are interested in those items.

4) I looked HIDEOUS in the Blooming Lattice cardi. Like, SOOO top heavy and stumpy it was ridiculous. I can't believe it was the same sweater that so many women out there look amazing in.

5) This skirt looks just like this skirt:

Only the former is $30 cheaper, and 6" shorter.

6) If you don't have a Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic Give/Get 30% off coupon and would like one, give me your email and I can send it to you. It's good until Sunday.

7) I went to Gap yesterday to use my Groupon, and I was utterly unimpressed. That store is such a snooze fest, I'm sorry. They didn't even have exciting colors - everything was black, navy, grey, plum, or white. BOOOORRRRING. I'm surprised I'm not still asleep there or something.

8) I'm normally super anti-pants, but the weather has been AMAZING in St. Louis lately (lows in the mid-50s, highs in the mid 80s, low humidity), so I wanted to wear some - I was really excited about the cooler weather!

8.24.10

Anthropologie Oratory Dress in Grey (finally! similar here)

Target Mushroom Colored Wedges (similar here)

First of all, I love all the questions you guys are answering on my giveaway post. Some are definitely going to require some thinking!

Second, let me tell you about the single most frustrating thing going on in my life currently.

So, I graduated college in May of 2009 (I know, I'm a baby). I paid for senior year myself between scholarships, loans, and work, and upon graduation I still owed my school $300 and some change. I don't understand why $300 is that big of a deal to them, but whatever. Because my university (one of the largest in the Midwest) is crazy, they have the most antiquated payment system in the world, which involves you payments NEVER showing up on the website (as in, I made several payments and the website never updated with my new balance), and no automatic payments allowed (setting up automatic withdrawals from your bank account). This was really frustrating to me, so after several calls to the cashier's office, I came up with the solution. I requested (as in asked) that my account be sent to collections (probably not the best choice for my credit, but other than that I have a good history so I'm not THAT worried). So, I get sent to collections, and with the fee they charged, ended up owing just over $350.

So starting in January I had automatic payments set up, with my last payment mid July of this year. July rolls around, my payment is taken out of my bank account, and I call the credit agency just to make sure my balance is zero. It is, so I wait a week or two to allow the systems to update, and call the cashier's office at my university.

They check my account out, say there is still a hold on my account (for reasons not related to the money I owed, which I don't get), and my account still shows a balance "for some weird reason" (their words, not mine). The woman I talked to said she got everything taken care of, but wait a week, then call her back to make sure. So, I do just that...and she doesn't answer her phone. I have been calling her every day for the past week and a half, and she never answers. I finally called the generic cashier's number, and the girl tells me that this woman has in fact been in the office, but just "hasn't gotten around to me" yet. She says she'll take care of everything, because the original woman did not, in fact, take care of the holds/money situation. So, after she's done typing away, she said it should be fine and transfers me to the diploma department, where they inform me I STILL HAVE A BALANCE on my account. I was so angry. I called the cashier's office back, spoke to yet another woman. She said that there is no explanation for why my account still shows a balance other than a computer malfunction, but she told me she spoke to the guy in the diploma department and I should have them (I say "them" because I have two...yay!) mailed to me this week.

So, we will see. If they don't show up by next Friday, I am going to take a day off work, drive the two hours to my school, and raise all sorts of heck. And by that I mean be very polite and quiet and hoping I don't walk out empty handed. And then meet my friends for a drink and a bar.

The end.

Oh, and check out the amazing giveaway going on at Breakfast at Gigi's!

Also, there's a giveaway going on at Fashion Fuel D.C.!

And I wore a cardigan over this dress at work, but it was too hot to wear it while taking the pictures. I also had a cute necklace on, but it broke! So sad.

Ashley Gives Away!

Do you like free stuff? Do you (kinda) like me? Then you have a chance to win some stuff I really like!

There's really no reason for this giveaway - I haven't reached a blogging milestone or anything - but I like you guys, so I decided I would host a giveaway.

You have a chance to win some of my favorite (shippable and cheap) things:

The package will contain:

a package of Sephora clear hair elastics (the only kind I use!)

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail polish in Beige Blast (my go-to nude)

Charlotte Russe Gold Earrings

Charlotte Russe Blue earrings (these are really cute, but very difficult to take a picture of!)

A pair of one size fits most Forever 21 tights in a lovely shade of grey (I bought a pair of these for myself and I can't wait for it to cool down to wear them!)

An additional surprise, just to spice things up a bit!

Here's how to enter:

1. For one entry, post a comment with a question for me to answer in a future post. This is mostly because I'm lazy and it will help me on days I can't think of anything to write about. Make sure I have some way to contact you if you win.

2. For another entry, post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back here. Just make sure you let me know you do that - no need to leave a link, I trust you.

Hopefully that's pretty self-explanatory, but if you have questions, shoot me an email or leave a comment. Basically everyone has an opportunity for two entries.

I'll take entries up until 11:59pm Central time on Sunday, and I'll draw a winner randomly on Monday. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email, after that, I'll choose someone else.

And obviously I bought all this stuff myself - I really do love and use these products, though, so if the companies want to contact me and give me free stuff, I'd love it!

8.23.10

The Limited Bow Button Up in White (similar here)

Anthropologie Alena Skirt in Navy (similar here)

Steve Madden Nude Pumps (similar here)

Okay, so three things:

1) I finally found the elusive "Daisy Path" in Forest Park. Wedding photographers always take pictures at it in the fall, and I spent a lot of time driving around looking for it last fall/summer (I guess I could have just emailed a photographer who shot at it, but that would take all the fun out of it). When I was driving around looking for a picture location yesterday, I found it. I was so excited I squealed out loud. It's so awesome. It is a really long path (duh), and each side of it is surrounded by black eyed susans and daisies. The flowers are actually really tall (which makes me think this might not be the "real" Daisy Path, but close enough!), so you can't really tell in this picture...but oh my gosh - it was one of the happiest places I've ever seen. There were butterflies flying around and bees buzzing, and all these gorgeous yellow flowers as far as you could see - I was actually shocked at how large this area was. I might end up taking a couple more pictures on the path later this week, so don't be shocked if you see it twice. Oh, and here's a picture of a bee I took:

2) I don't normally smile like a creep like how I look in this picture, promise.

 3) I've been outed. Last night, I was at dinner with my boyfriend (hot wings, beer, and fries because we're classy folks), and I was telling him about this recipe I read about on a blog. All the sudden he stops me and goes, "Was the name of the blog "Ashley Getting Dressed"?". I froze. Hahaha, so, apparently Jeremey knows about this blog (hi, Jeremey!). I've only "told" people I actually in real life know about it via Twitter, and I guess a friend of his who follows me on Twitter told him about it a month and half ago or so. He said he's only looked at in once or twice because it doesn't interest him, but he never said anything because he had some elaborate plan that involved him started a blog called "Jeremey Wearing Clothes" and he would start commenting on the blogs I read, hoping I would see it. But his grand scheme didn't work out, I guess. I suppose it's a good think I haven't trash talked him on here, hahaha. 

8.21.10

Wet Seal Royal Blue Tee (similar here)

Gap Khaki Skirt (similar here)

The Limited Scarf (similar here)

Rainbow Brown Flip Flops (buy them here)

Hello readers! I hope you all had a great weekend! I know I did! I was busy all day at work Friday, which always makes the day go by quickly, and after work I bought my parents some Chuck Berry concert tickets for their anniversary!

After that I headed home and spent the night watching tv with my dog (she tore a toenail out Thursday so she's been a little mopey) and tweeting with some girls in my sorority. A huge storm rolled in, so I slept like a baby and didn't have to wake up Saturday until my dog woke me up! I ran a few errands in town (that's what this outfit is from), and came home and did laundry and ironed stuff like crazy. After that, I got ready and went out to a nice dinner with Jeremey for our anniversary!

We went to Sage, a restaurant I've wanted to try FOREVER. It was perfect for us - good fun in an upscale casual location - Jeremey didn't feel out of place in his leather flip flops, and I wasn't embarrassed by him, hehe. I was a little nervous because right before we left, I checked reviews online, and ALL the recent reviews were bad - NOT a good sign. I always take reviews with a grain of salt, though, because people only write reviews when they don't like something. We had a calamari appetizer, and Jeremy had a sun dried tomato, prosciutto, and pesto stuffed chicken breast. I had asparagus and crab stuffed sole. Delish!

For dessert we headed to another place I've been wanting to go to - Bailey's Chocolate Bar. It's a lounge type place...they have a small menu, but their chocolate martinis and desserts are why people go. We split the special, which was a banana and Nutella crepe topped with homemade chocolate sauce. I had the house chocolate martini - homemade chocolate ice cream blended with vanilla vodka and a splash of Bailey's Irish Cream. SO good!

Jeremey didn't really like the vibe of the chocolate bar - he felt it was too pretentious and uppity, but I loved it. I like to pretend I'm pretentious and uppity, though. What we both thought was ridiculous, though, was that in this section near us there was a bachelorette party going on, and they had one of those "Passion Party" consultants come and do a presentation. She had sex toys and lotions and stuff just out at the bar! It was so strange!

Sunday I picked up before my parents came home (they went camping for the weekend) and my mom and I ran to the mall and then picked pizza up and a new place "near" us. I say "near" because it's 30 minutes from our house, but that's as close as we can get. It took forever and the screwed our order up, so I won't be going back.

All in all, it was the perfect blend of stuff to do and nothing do.

How was your weekend?

8.19.10

Banana Republic Slub Cotton Dress in Navy (similar)

Old Navy Scarf (borrowed from mom! Similar here)

Charlotte Russe Gold Filigree Earrings (similar here)

Hot Kiss Gold Sandals (similar here)

I'm one of those unfortunate girls that is not where near the same size as her mother...or for that matter, we don't even have similar styles in anything other than music and beer. While she rocks a size 9 shoe, I'm a 6.5. She's almost 6 feet tall, I'm 5'4" on a good day. One thing I can borrow from her, however, is this scarf. And I do...a lot. It was something she picked up from Old Navy a few summers ago, and combined I think we wear this scarf at least once a week. While we don't share the same figure, we do share the coloring, so we wear a lot of blues and greens. This scarf is a lovely combination of bright cerulean blue, bold royal blue, deep navy, peppy chartreuse and calming kelly green. Love it.

Now this outfit is totally not my normal style - it's a little bohemian for me. However, last week when I got together with my friend Sam, our mutual friend Katherine showed up in a very similar outfit - only, since she is from Texas and infinitely cooler than me, she wore some sweet boots, too. I'm a wimp from Missouri, though, and I can't fathom a more painful way to suffer (okay, I totally can) than leather boots in during a Missouri summer.

So, thanks Katherine!

Ok, and I know a bunch of people out there were/are obsessed with Anthro's Looping Lanes belt - I found a near exact dupe (same price, too, hahaha!) at my Steve Madden store last night! For some reason I can't get the picture to show up, so click here to see it. If you use code rmnf20, you'll get 20% off and free shipping on a purchase of $75 or more!

So enough of that silliness, let's get down to business. It's Friday, so that means it's Part 5 of "Ashley Thinks Someone Besides Herself Is Interested In Her Love Life". Here are Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4!, and here are some fun pictures of Jeremey and I from the past three years (in chronological order!)

Making fun of a drunk guy at Jeremey's fraternity's winery part - I loved those shoes...

Our first Halloween together - he's a penguin (obviously), I was a beer garden girl

A Graffiti Party after a football game one day

Dressed Euro-trash style for a Shots Around the World Party. You can't tell in this picture, but I was also wearing hot pink fishnets and pumps. It was awesome.

Jeremey's fraternity formal his senior year - note his torn off sleeves - we're classy folks

A jersey party (and my friend Tyler bunny earsing me)

At the Mizzou/Illini football game in St. Louis one Labor Day weekend

We love America, obviously (after my sorority's formal my senior year).

8.18.10

Anthropologie Blueberry Peplum Blouse (similar)

The Limited Khaki Pencil Skirt (buy it here)

Steve Madden Nude Pumps (buy them here)

So, besides the crystal "A" necklace, this is my first Anthro purchase. I saw a bunch of these blouses hanging up in the sale room (aka the only room I shop in...for the most part), and loved it. I didn't get it on the first go around, though....it was so different for me, and I didn't know if I could take the plunge. When I went back to my Anthro a week later, the Alena skirts were just put out, and I tried on the Alena with this top, and there was no going back.

I have been wearing this top tucked in, but I decided since this is a peplum blouse, I might as well emphasis that feature of it with a pencil skirt - this silhouette was definitely out of my comfort zone and really emphasised my curves, but I really liked it, and I got some compliments at work, so that's something!

Anyway, on with Part 4 of "Ashley Thinks Someone Besides Herself Is Interested In Her Love Life". Here are Parts One, Two, and Three.

So, Jeremey invited me to this house party. And we took this picture:

So precious. And  yes, Jeremey actually photobombed this picture, and yes, I cropped the other person out of the picture because we had a bit of a falling out and she doesn't deserve space on my blog. I like this picture, still, though, because Jeremey always says this is the prettiest I've ever looked - I think it was the hot pink bra strap hanging out (classy!). I was so nervous getting ready for this party though - I totally wanted to look cute for this boy, like OMG! And you can see I have chipmunk cheeks because I had just had my wisdom teeth taken out the week before.

Anyway, so the party was fun. I think we ended up going over there one more time before recruitment week started, and then there was stuff like this:

and this:

So at some point during recruitment week (I think it was the pirate day, actually), we were done for the evening and all my friends were getting out of the sorority house to get something to eat or run an errand or something. I passed and hopped in the shower instead. When I got back to my room, there were two dozen red roses sitting on my desk. I flipped out - mostly because I'm always terrified someone will break in and leave flowers on my desk. Or try to kill me. I called my friends, asking them if they knew where these flowers came from, and one of them told me to look at them, so I did. Attached to one of the roses was a handwritten note that said "It's not the perfume that you wear, it's not the ribbons in your hair". In that instant, I knew they were from Jeremey (shocker, right?). Amongst other things, Jeremey has a love for all things music, and he had been texting me lines from The Cars song "You're Just What I Needed" for the past few weeks. After asking my friends what I should do, I called Jeremey and thanked him. Apparently he had been planning this with my friends for a while, but they had to wait until the perfect time to get the flowers in my room. When I turned down dinner, my friends called him and he rushed to a florist and over to my sorority house, and my friends ran the flowers upstairs just in time (no boys upstairs in sorority houses, duh!).

Then, the next week, he invited me over to his fraternity house to watch a movie. Right before he left for the night, he said some sweet things to me and then....wait for it....offered me a promotion. I kid you not, his words were "I would like to promote you". It took me a minute to figure out what he was saying - but bless his heart, it was sweet...and it's given me something to tease him about for the past three years.

I ran back to my sorority house and squealed with my sorority sisters, and then made my relationship status on Facebook as "In a Relationship". Because, you know, I'm all about the important things in life.

Part 5 is tomorrow (and my actual anniversary). It will be a recap of the past three years!

8.16.10

Gianni Bini Dress (similar)

Steve Madden Nude Pumps (buy them here)

So this outfit is from Monday. Am I confusing you yet? Because I am definitely a little messed up, but you already knew that. This is the only picture I got from Monday because I really didn't believe the little indicator light that said the battery was low...it died right after this picture was taken.


Anyway, I had the craziest morning! Usually when I wear heels to work, I walk out of my house in flip flops or slippers and carry my heels with me - we have a large deck I walk across that likes to get heels stuck in the cracks, a gravel driveway, and I have to walk across a paving brick sidewalk to get into my office - all of these surfaces are not good for the longevity of high heels!
So today I headed out early because I heard there was an accident on the interstate, and there was no way for me to avoid it - I figured I would reward myself with a stop at Bread Co if I ended up with extra time. Once I get about 10 minutes away from my house, I realized I forgot my heels at home, and only had flip flops. Awesome. This is the SECOND time this has happened in less than two weeks! So I head back home, get the shoes, and get on my merry way.
Then, just when I'm an exit away from my office, I saw a mosquito buzzing around my car. I was in stopped traffic due to a different accident. As we're creeping along, I wait for the mosquito to land and smack it...and slipped my foot off the break in the process, tapping into the car in front of me. It was some teenager in his mom's car, and we pulled off the highway - there was no damage at all on either of our cars, so when I started to call the police to file a report, the kid stopped me. I have no clue why I listened, but I did. He didn't even want my license and insurance information, but I made him write it down. I took pictures of both of our cars, and felt pretty good about the situation. But then, when I got to work my boss (a former attorney) and our security director (a retired cop) both said I should have still called the police. So now I'm all freaked out. Ah!


So, enough about that. How about Part 3 of "Ashley Thinks Someone Besides Herself Is Interested In Her Love Life"? Need the other parts? Here's One and Two.




Even though Jeremey was perfectly nice after Cinco de Mayo, even though I thought I maybe kinda sorta liked him, I ignored it. That summer I went back home, and he stayed in our college town (two hours away). I didn't bite when all summer he asked me to come visit him. Instead, dumb Ashley would go and visit sorority sisters/yet ANOTHER boy (I never realized how many guys I was dating in college, sheesh!), until one day this different boy was a jerk and revealed he had a girlfriend. Awesome. So, I ended things with that boy, and finally took pity on this sweet boy Jeremey and agreed to go out to dinner with him...only to show up with two of my friends to act as buffers (I was so mean!). After dinner we went to a bar, where pictures like this were taken:

(While looking through our pictures together for these posts, I realized we have VERY few where we both aren't making a face of some sort). By the end of the night, I was smitten. The next two weeks we spent A LOT of time texting and calling each other - so much so that his mom had to increase his cell phone plan, and said I better be worth it! When I returned to school for rush week at the beginning of August, he called and invited some of my friends and I over to a house party. I ended up bringing myself and 26 of my closest friends - we were almost the whole party! It was really ridiculous. In the coming months, Jeremey told me he almost didn't even invite me to this party because he thought I was over him, and he didn't want to embarrass himself! It was a pretty good decision, though, as you will see in Part 4 tomorrow!

8.17.10

 Anthropologie Scalinata Blouse (buy it here on sale!)

The Limited Side Drape Skirt in Stallion (buy it here on sale!)

Connie (via Famous Footwear) Priscilla in Brown (buy them here on sale - but I think mine were cheaper in store)

The Limited Mr. T necklace (buy it here on sale!)

So this actually today's outfit, and I'm posting it today. Why you ask? Let's have a quiz (answers to be posted at the bottom).

1) I liked this outfit a lot, particularly the necklace. Why do I like the necklace?

a) It's nice and chunky and has mixed metals in it!

b) it makes me think of Mr. T

c) it makes me think of MC Hammer

d) all of the above

2) While taking these photos today, a guy on a bike stopped and said the following things to me:

a) what are you taking pictures for?

b) those are going to be some nice looking pictures.

c) can I have a copy of those pictures

d) all of the above

3) I really like these shoes because:

a) they're awesome - bows, ribbons, wingtip details!

b) they're comfy

c) because I have no taste

d) A&B only

Answers are at the bottom of the post. BUT WAIT! Before you scroll down, read Part 2 of "Ashley Thinks Someone Besides Herself Is Interested In Her Love Life" (Part 1 is here):

...Then, on Cinco de Mayo, everything changed. I was a wee one - only 20 years old - and I went with a couple older girls to a popular Mexican restaurant in our college town, where a lot of this happened: 

(give me a break - I was 20 and thought it was cool to take pictures of myself drinking).

That behavior resulted in some pictures like this:

And just for the record, any time you think playing a mini maraca isn't a sure fine sign you are drunk...it is. Anyway, After a few hours there, we headed to some bars downtown. Walking back in my underage drunken stupor, I started calling a boy I had been dating, who basically blew me off (probably because I sounded like an idiot). I ended up calling my friend Sam to complain about this jerk, and when he didn't answer I had a messy, drunken girl breakdown about how Sam, the boy I was dating, and basically everyone ever probably hated me. It was not cute. Somehow I ended up at the fraternity house next door (I think my friends were sick of me and were trying to get rid of me), and ran in to Jeremey. For some reason he took pity on me and gave up his previously planned night of beer pong to hang out with me and watch stupid TV shows on DVD until I felt better. I ended up staying over until 5am, and he was a perfect gentleman - even sat on a different couch. He was probably actually scared of me...and quite frankly, I don't blame him.

Tune in for Part 3 tomorrow!

Answers to the quiz above: 1) D 2) D 3) D

8.12.10

H&M Garden Collection Top (similar here)

The Limited White Mini Skirt (buy it here on sale!)

Banana Republic Belt (similar here)

Target Red Wedges (similar here)

So this is my outfit from last Thursday. The 30x30 challenge ended up giving me a big backlog, so I feel really behind with my outfit postings - I might just post tomorrows outfit today and keep Friday and Saturday's outfit for backups.

Anyway, enough technicalitys. So I wore this outfit on Thursday, like I said. This top was the only thing from the H&M Garden Collection I liked, and it's totally not my style, but I LOVE it! It's so pretty and flowy and bright. The past couple times I wore it, I paired it with skinny pants of some sort, but I really wanted to add a skirt so I could wear it in the 100+ degree days we've had lately. The belt gave me some shape I need in outfits. Overall, I'm pretty proud of myself for this pairing because it's not my normal style (which would be skirt, tucked in shirt, and belt).

Obviously I wore this to work, and I wore it to meet my friend Max for happy hour. Max and I were on Greek Week Royalty together our senior year of college, and became really good friends. I hadn't seen him in a while because Max spent the last year in Israel doing Peace Corps-esque work. He's leaving St. Louis soon, though, for an internship in D.C. I have awesome friends! Here's a picture of Max and I last spring:

Okay, also, this Friday is my three year anniversary with my boyfriend! If you haven't already noticed I make the shortest stories ever super long, so I thought I'd spend this week doing a how we met/a little bit about us recap. So here's the beginning:

So, we (Jeremey and I) went to undergrad together at Mizzou. My sophomore year (which was his junior year), our fraternity and sorority were paired together for Greek Week. I was kinda flirty with this one guy in the fraternity, and when he invited me over to smoke hookah (actual hookah - this isn't a code word for drugs. And this was my first and last time doing it. I had an asthma attack and had to break out the inhaler. Sexy.) I headed over (our fraternity and sorority houses were right next to each other). So we were sitting there and he introduced me to this other guy, Jeremey. I thought this Jeremey dude was nice enough, but hello! I was into this other dude (who had a girlfriend. Yes, I suck. No, I never even made out with him. I was not a homewrecker - they're actually getting married!). So, over the course of the next couple weeks (we had Greek Week in April at my school), I hung out with this Jeremey kid incidently a few more times.

Here's the first picture of us EVER from a random party a couple days after we met (hello, drunk eyes!):

8.11.10

Forever 21 Polka Dot Top (buy it here on sale!)

Marshall's Tomato Red Skirt (similar here)

Moda Black Silk Espadrilles (similar here)

So I need a new red skirt. I love this one - it was my first visit into Not Black or Brown Skirt World, so it's near and dear to my heart. However, Fresh Out of College Ashley washed everything and then dried everything on high heat, which has resulted in a bit of shrinkage. Also, Lazy Ashley likes to enjoy Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream during stressful days at work, so Lazy Ashley has put on a few of the elle bees, and is a size bigger than Fresh Out of College Ashley. So this skirt doesn't exactly fit, and it sits at a strange spot on my waist which makes it look like I have all sorts of rolls on my stomach (which I don't). Oh, and does this outfit kinda remind anyone else of a pin-up girl? I think the polka dots and red are what do it to me, but I get a retro vibe from this pairing. But I'm also crazy.

So that is that.

Also, while taking the shoe picture, I almost fell into the creek because the rocks moved. But I didn't.

So, anyway, I wore this to work on Tuesday, and then out to meet my BFF Emily at Dewey's Pizza. Do you guys have Dewey's around you? I think they are mostly in the Midwest - but if you are ever by one, you need to go! It's SOOO good. I'm normally a Domino's pepperoni pizza girl, but I decided to venture out so I ordered the Green Lantern (without mushrooms). It was red sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese, artichoke hearts, and pesto - SO good! I'm now thinking of reasons to go back. I highly recommend it!

Speaking of things to recommend - I think I've mentioned it before, but we've never had cable/satellite at my house. When I was in college, however, I got totally hooked on E! and the Food Network (Emily will tell you that). One of my obsessions (and I do mean obsessions) was the show The Girls Next Door. I ended up getting my mom hooked on it as well (she Netflixed every season). I guess Kendra wrote a book recently called Sliding In To Home. My mom picked this gem up at Barnes & Nobel the other day, and after reading it, asked me to read it so she can talk about it. So this book - oh my gosh. It's so bad, but so good - obviously Kendra has a writer, she probably just told him the stories, but it's written exactly how she speaks, and it gets pretty juicy. It's a really fast read - I think I finished the whole thing in a couple hours - big font and lots of spaces. And it's completely mindless...but if you like The Girls Next Door, you might enjoy it.