Day 113: A favorite sweater

If you had to choose one kind of sweater to wear for the rest of your life, would it be bulky or slim? I know people love the cozy, bundly look and feel of a thick cableknit or a sweater that looks like a blanket, and I especially saw lots of oversized tops in LA. But for me, the winner is the always versatile sweater like I'm wearing today. It's not as lightweight and breezy as many similar styles, but that means I don't have to worry about layering or dry cleaning. I'll take a dozen more tops like this one, please!

Sweater: Old Navy

Skirt: J. Crew

Boots: Gift from Alicia

Raincoat: Thrifted, Gap

Necklace: Made by Mom's friend Suzanne

Earrings: J. Karma

Day 105: Lipstick stains on my scarf

This is where the project gets challenging: I started with a shirt that is a few sizes too big and built my outfit around it. The cardigan did a pretty good job of keeping the shirt in place, even if nothing did a good job of keeping my scarf in place. We just had 2 beautiful days in Philadelphia, which obviously calls for another day like today, blustery and rainy. What's the weather like where you live?

Button-up: Was Aunt Kim's, Tommy Hilfiger

Cardigan: Goodwill, Old Navy

Pants: From Jan, Target

Shoes: Payless

Scarf: Family heirloom

Sunglasses: Gap

Day 97:Last minute morning

Whoops! The alarm didn't go off this morning, which left about half an hour to shower and get out the door. I'm lucky that I don't have to catch a train or anything, and I was able to get to work on time. However, that left just one chance for an outfit photo, so this is what we have. Hair unstyled, barely any makeup, and a nice and easy outfit. The bag is kind of ridiculous: it has images of Nantucket on it and seems very homemade. I don't remember where I got it--maybe the thrift store on the island? I understand where I was coming from when I bought it, but I'm not so sure when I expected to use it. Today was probably the first time I used it since I bought it about five years ago.  Now the question is: do I keep it?

Dress and shoes: Banana Republic

Necklace: Was Margaret's

Bag: Thrifted?

Day 92: White for all seasons

This dress did double duty at the resort because it was perfectly casual for lounging but also ideal for breakfast and lunch.  I bought it at my local thrift store, still with the tags from Kohl's on it.  In the past few years, that's traditionally how I have shopped at thrift stores, so I don't think this technically counts as thrifting. I am excited to debut a new skirt pretty soon that is legitimately vintage and also from the $1 rack.

I believe that living in Philadelphia means that the thrift stores don't have the best selection. For better or worse, people love coming to the South Street area to find their one-of-a-kind pieces.  Instead of becoming deterred, I have actually realized that I will just go to PAT more often, so I can always be on the watch for new items and get them before everyone else does.  This dress is one of only two clothing pieces I've bought there. I've actually had better luck with games; I bought Cranium and Wise & Otherwise, two favorite games, for $2.99 a piece.  Next August, a friend will be getting married near Kansas City, and I am already excited to check out some thrift stores there.  Where is your favorite place to go thrift shopping, and what are your best secondhand finds?

Dress: Philly Aids Thrift
Hat: Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Kohl's 

Day 87: Kid friendly

I babysat from 8:30 until 2 on Saturday, and I had a  lot of fun! I took the kids to Palumbo Park, and the playground smelled like bacon because of the Morning Glory diner right there. As if that wasn't lovely enough, all of the best Phillies shirts were out in full force. It was so happy to be surrounded by cute kids and clever team spirit on a lovely autumn morning. Then Dave and I dropped by the Midtown Village festival and I picked up a pair of Jack Rogers sandals on clearance. A perfect start to the day!

Cardigan: Clothing swap in Kensington

Top: Rebecca's, from Banana Republic

Jeans: Tommy Hilfiger via TJ Maxx

Shoes: Sperry via J. Crew

Sunglasses: Target

Day 80: The Illegal Allens

Dave and I joined 179 other teams to race around Philadelphia in the Great Urban Race on Saturday. In these shiny costumes, we covered 8.5 miles, 5.5 of which was on foot. For this race, each team must have matching or coordinating outfits, and we didn't have anything inspired by aliens or farm laborers. I realized that I was going to have to wear this old Vanna White costume from about 1995 one way or another, and with shorts underneath, it's actually pretty comfortable to run in. Much better than my wedding dress. So Dave wore the old Dayman costume that I made in 2009 for our It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Halloween costumes, and we were vaguely aliens from the 80s or something like that.  At least until we had to do a couple of yoga poses and his costume ripped in two spots. Luckily, we had packed an extra pair of shorts for him. 

We were the 3rd team to finish the race, and would've won $100, except we weren't doing a soccer pose in one picture that required it, so we got a 30 minute penalty and forfeited our prize to the Holy Cows, two girls dressed as cows with halos, wings, and pink balloons for udders.

Good luck in New Orleans, Lauren and Jessica!

Dave made a Google map of our route so we could see how much ground we covered and so you can see where they sent us.

Day 49: Back to School

Late August and early September used to make me so nervous! Even though I did fine in school, thinking about going back would make me so stressed out. Since I will never be a teacher, and my student days are officially behind me, I have no reason to fear September anymore. I did think this outfit was a tribute to those Bucknell students who are starting classes today, but Dave pointed out that these wedges are not wholly appropriate for class.

Long-sleeve shirt: Goodwill

Short-sleeve shirt: LOFT

Skirt: J. Crew

Shoes: Banana Republic Outlet

Bag: Target

Necklace: Antique store in Lewisburg

Earrings: Shiny studs, probably from Claire's 15 years ago

Day 34: Cubicle Living

I am lucky to have great coworkers who understand when it's important to work, and when it's important to take a break. Luckily, Kayla was able to pull herself away from her desk for long enough to show you what happens here in our very professional work environment.

Shirt: Thrifted

Camisole: Don't know

Bicycle skirt: Zara (Vancouver)

Shoes: Payless

Necklaces: Gift

Earrings: Made by Denise

Day 20: To belt or not to belt?

It's important to plan well for a day of sitting or standing in a booth at a conference, attempting to sell books and give away journals about engineering.  Here is the thought process behind this outfit:

• Must look professional
• Must wear something I don't usually wear
• Must have comfortable shoes
• Preferably needs to be ironed

I always bring clothes that need to be ironed to conferences because I prefer ironing when it's not at my own house. I think that's because it's easier to get the ironing board out of the closet when there aren't 15 coats in front of it, and because people will put it away for me when I'm done. 

Vest: Merona (Target) via a clothing swap

Collared shirt: Gap

Skirt: Sears

Wedges: Payless

Belt: J. Crew

July 14, 2011: Day 9, Part 2

After leaving work early due to no water, I did some grocery shopping and then got changed for a walk across town. Dave and I only had a little bit of time before his a cappella rehearsal, so we grabbed delicious sandwiches from Pumpkin Market, which is pictured here. My turkey, brie, and apple sandwich was perfection.
Top: Kohl's, circa ~2005
Dressy black Bermuda shorts: Old Navy, via a clothing swap

July 10, 2011: Day 5

On Sunday, we woke up around 8 am to take Betsy to 30th St. Station to catch a bus to Syracuse so she can spend a week swimming and hiking in Ithaca. Then I had a date with the treadmill, and by the time we went to the Headhouse Square farmer's market, we'd already been up for hours.  In this picture, I'm wearing my navy blue keyhole dress and enjoying a fresh, cherry mango lemonade.  Yes!

Dress: Merona via Goodwill

Sunglasses: Still Gap

Shoes: Invisible, but they were my whale flip flops, which you will see sometime soon, I'm sure