Dressed by Erin Again

My friend Erin's second look she picked out for me was also inspired by the ladies of Pretty Little Liars.

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Top: BCBG via E-Collectique Runway Boutique; Blazer: Kohl's; Jeans: Kut; Booties: Steve Madden;
Bracelets: Target and c/o Wantable; Necklace: Target

I know these are cheesy blogger poses - look into the distance and look down - but I was battling the wind on this one; and in all the other shots, either my jacket was flying open or all my hair was flying back or both. See?

I almost wore this outfit to the Needtobreathe concert we went to last Thursday, but at the last minute I changed into my Michael from Miggs T-shirt that had just arrived. I think it was appropriate concert-going attire, even though it was for a different band. People do that.

Although I wasn't very familiar with the music and it was kind of hard to see from where we were standing, it was a good show. And the ride back home, listening to boyband music and reminiscing, was even more fun!

Stolen from Facebook

Happy birthday, T!

Dressed by Gracey

Today we have an outfit picked out by Gracey from Fashion for Giants! Gracey made it super easy on me, combed through my archives a few weeks back, and paired things I already have but in a completely new way. This girl knows how to play with color. The only thing I changed about her suggestion was to nix the tights. At this point in the year, I'm pretty anti-tights if I can avoid them!

Blazer: Gap; Top: Christian Siriano; Skirt: New York & Company; Shoes: Payless

And oh hey, I finally got to debut my Christian Siriano top I bought back in February in New York! It's still a little too small, but let's just pretend that's not the case.

I'm a Dreamer, That I Cannot Deny

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for tomorrow:

And my interpretation:

This outfit has two elements that people generally feel pretty strongly about one way or the other - the mullet hem and the sheer overlay. Although I used to think high-low skirts, or mullet skirts, looked good on almost no one, I eventually gave in and bought this one on clearance at Kohl's. I don't think they're so bad, but I kinda do understand why some people hate them.

Skirt: Kohl's; T-shirt: Hanes; Cardigan: Forever 21; Shoes: Old Navy; Necklace: gift; Watch: La Mer

As for the post title, I couldn't stop listening to "Beautiful Girl" by No Authority the other day after my friends were reminiscing about the summer of '99. That song was also the one I sang to try out for the school musical senior year of high school. That was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life. You know how some people have a fear of public speaking? I have a fear of public (or semi-public) singing - and the tryouts were only in front of two choir teachers. Still, it was horrible. I hated it. But it was worth it in the end because being in the musical was one of the most fun school-related events of my life.

By the way, I just realized when looking up lyrics to that song just now that I'm pretty sure I've been singing it wrong for 14 years. So there's that.

It's a little late, but I'm also linking up with the last day of the Pantone challenge.

Reenacting Our First Concert

I was going to skip the Linen day in Heidi and Marissa's Pantone linkup until I realized that the lace top I wore yesterday for work and then to the Colton Dixon concert was apparently linen colored.

Top and Shoes: Kohl's; Jeans: Kut; Belt: Michael Kors; Bracelets: ?; Necklace: Etsy

My friend Katie's Facebook status reminded me that 18 years ago, we attended our first concert (Amy Grant at the state fair) with both our moms. Last night, we got the group back together for this show.  Wow, it's crazy to think about how much has happened in those 18 years.

After dinner we got to the venue (Elmbrook Church in this case) about 10 minutes before the show started and found a second row pew on the side! The moms were impressed. Colton was the second act to go on, and Katie and I squeezed out of our row and stood in the front for the tail end of his set.

I don't know what's going on with the sound in this video...

The highlight of the night for me was when Colton Dixon's guitarist threw a guitar pick at me, and I somehow caught it one handed in mid air. It wasn't quite as cool as when my friend Theresa caught a pick mid clap, but it was still pretty impressive and ninja-like. That's what was going on at the end of the video when the camera went crazy, and I started cracking up.

Dressed by Mary

Fellow Milwaukee blogger Mary from Babble & Bloom picked out my outfit today. She sent me two really cute ideas, both of which came from Lauren Conrad's blog. Here's the casual look she picked out:

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Dress: Prabal Gurung for Target; Jacket: Kohl's; Vest: Old Navy;
Boots: Mr. Shoe; Bag: Tyler Rodan via Boston Store

The great thing about wearing over-the-knee boots with this dress is that it didn't feel as short, but I still wore shorts underneath just in case. Obviously, I didn't wear this to work. I actually wore this to take Bridget to the doctor last Friday.

Dressed by Theresa

Here's why my friend Theresa excitedly texted me about this outfit that she saw on The Mindy Project for me to recreate:

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1. Obviously, it's yellow.
2. It has lemons on it.

Reason Number 2 is only significant to a handful of people, thankfully. The story behind it is when I was in jazz/gymnastics at the age of 13, the three girls in the class danced to the song "Lemon Tree" for the recital in ridiculous citrus getups. My coordinating scrunchy was yellow for the lemon, one of the girls wore a green one, and the third wore orange. Yes, I have a picture. No, you can't see it. My other friend who was in the class would kill me, and I'm even too embarrassed to reveal it to too many people. Anyway, lemony-patterned things always put a smile on my face.

Having said that, I would've loved to drop $400 on this Alice and Oliva number Mindy Kaling wore (also the same one that Solange Knowles wore to Coachella), but that's just not realistic for me - plus, it's basically sold out everywhere. Then, I saw someone online recommend a reasonably priced Dorothy Perkins version, and the only thing stopping me from hitting Add to Bag immediately was this pesky shopping ban/cutback I'm only halfway sticking to. And the length. And the impracticality of it in my life. My 13-year-old bad influence self is telling me to do it anyway. (Psst, they have a lime version, too! Teehee.)

This yellow dress I made will have to do for now. By the way, I also broke my flimsy shopping ban to thrift this purple cardigan for $8. It's a little small, but I love it anyway, and the color is perfect.

Dress: Self-made; Cardigan: Calvin Klein via Retique (Goodwill);
Shoes and Sunglasses: Target; Necklace: gift

Outtake: This dress does not do well in the wind. I had quite a few shots of me holding my dress down so that the situation pictured below didn't happen.

So About That Shopping Ban

Skirt: Target; Top: Old Navy; Cardigan: Target; Shoes: Payless; Bracelet: Kate Spade

A few things about this outfit:

• I just bought this skirt for under $7 at Target although I'm supposed to be on a shopping ban. I'm now considering my "ban" as more like a "cutback." 
• I also bought a top (that happens to be the perfect shade of African Violet) to go with it from New York & Company after seeing it on H&K Style Journey, but that's not getting here until tomorrow. I kind of hope it doesn't work so that I can return it and not feel guilty because I don't really feel as guilty as I should about buying the $7 skirt.
• This skirt is kind of hard to walk in. I'm not used to such pencil-y pencil skirts. 
• It also rotates slightly when I walk, but I have that problem with most skirts. I think I must walk crookedly or something.

But besides all the guilt and difficulty walking, I really liked this outfit! Purple is one of my favorite colors to wear, so I was excited about African Violet day. And I'm even more excited for Lemon Zest day tomorrow!

Bridget also wore violet pants today.