Ladys modern

You guys know I love seeing how versatile pieces can be, and the best is seeing them on several different girls. I am thrilled to take part in this month's Side by Side Challenge: White! You can either go all over and be brave like Amanda, Kacie, and Erin did, or just use to freshen up a look with color, like Jennie, Megan, and I did. Don't they all look amazing? Make sure you visit everyone and say hello - they're some of my favorites!

here, there, everywhere

On Friday at 4 AM, I piled into my stuffed car with the dogs and drove the ten hours to my new home. The drive was fairly dull and uneventful, but went by fairly quickly thanks to the Mad Men episodes I listened to. We got here and within two hours, I managed to lock myself out of our house, and then I twisted my ankle while walking the dogs, so needless to say I was not in the greatest of moods. After a shower (without a shower curtain) and sleeping on the floor for the night, I drove a rented U-Haul two hours away to go buy furniture at Ikea. I never ever want to drive that big of a vehicle ever again! Horrifying. But I did manage to find all the furniture I wanted - a bed, desk, bookshelf, night stand, desk chair, reading chair, and a coffee table...but when I went to go pay, my card was declined, so with 7% left on my phone battery, I had to call the bank to verify that I, in fact, am not someone else trying to buy a bunch of furniture. So that was a really fun experience as well.

But since then, life has been really good. My roommate came on Saturday, and we've had a lot of fun putting our house together. My room is about 80% of the way there (as you can see by the remaining box and mess above). It all got a bit side tracked when I realized that a vital part of the bed frame was missing, so I had to drive back to Ikea on Monday to pick it up. I really didn't want to drive all the way back there, so I rewarded myself with meatballs at Ikea and a stop at the outlet mall. It was the biggest outlet mall I've ever been to - like I had to drive from one side to the other! I was hoping to find a few dress pants, but everything I tried on at the Banana Republic Factory store, and at the Ann Taylor factory store looked horrible on me. I eventually found and bought this skirt (in a bright blue) at the J.Crew Factory store - I think I may wear it to the first day of school on Friday! I also bought this necklace after admiring it for months on Laura - it'll be a staple for sure!

Yesterday we went to go get our ID badges, get fitted for our white coats, and then I bought a few of the books I need in the first weeks - it made it all feel so real! Last night we had our first get together - a wine and cheese (!) party at a classmate's apartment. The outfit above is what I wore - it's been the only time I've put on a real bra and more make up than mascara since I arrived. I was pretty nervous walking into a room of strangers who I knew I would have to spend a lot of time with the next four years, but everyone was honestly so great. Our school is very popular for out of state kids, so it was interesting to meet people from all over the country. I even found a kid who was in the OSU marching band, so we have seen each other perform even if we didn't know it at the time haha. 

Finally meeting people from my class, having my room set up, and getting to know the people around me has made me really excited about all of what is happening. I felt that in the last few weeks, all of my emotions were put towards the move and the thought of leaving everyone, but now that that is behind me, I can focus on the journey ahead. ahhhhh!!!!

staple on sale: j.crew schoolboy blazer

If you guys read my blog through last fall and winter, you'll know how much I love my J.Crew Navy Schoolboy blazer. I felt I wore it at least once a week, every week, and I don't really intend on changing that pattern this fall. I purchased mine last year as a birthday present to myself, and it still is the most expensive piece of clothing I own. These babies rarely go on sale, but they are currently on SUPER sale for $99. If you have ever debated buying this blazer, now is the time because in the year and a half I've been watching it, the price has never been this low and I don't anticipate it ever being this on sale again. It seems almost all sizes are still available - mine is a 10 Tall and you can see more of a review between the regular and tall sizes here.

sponsor love: fairy wings make good soup

Hello! I am currently trapped inside of my little scion with all of my worldly belongings and the dogs as we move to Pennsylvania, but you're in luck because 1. you aren't trapped in your tiny car and 2. today you get to meet Kim. Kim blogs at Fairy Wings Make Good Soup about her life as a military SAHM to an adorable three year old. She blogs about fashion (geared at the SAHM lifestyle!), "temporary" house tips, and recipes. I just think she's so cute and love reading about what her little family is up. Make sure you visit Kim to say hello! You can find her here:

goodbye madison :(

I had been looking forward to that day for four years - ever since my freshman year of high school when I decided I had to go to the University of Wisconsin. It had been my dream for so long, and finally I got to move to the big city from my tiny hometown. I remember sitting in my parents Surbuban and as we were driving up to my dorm, my dad played On, Wisconsin over the stereo and as dorky as that was, it was like...yes, this is it. It was so exciting - my dorm room right down town, so many things to see and do, and all on my own. I was just so excited to meet new people, live in Madison, and experience something completely new to me. As I stood at the front door of my dorm building waving good-bye to my parents, all I felt was excitement.

Over the next five years of school, I met so many great people. People who were from similar backgrounds, or from somewhere I had only read about. 500 people over five years who stomped around dirt fields with me for two hours every day for the love of our school. People who taught me about love, about organic chemistry, about friendship, about human sexuality (the class!), about how to live a better life. I got to travel all over the country, march my final show at the Rose Bowl, and do it with my closet friends. The people I kept closest were strong, smart, and ready for everything which is so evident by what they are doing now - studying to be doctors, living abroad, moving to bigger cities to follow their dreams, engineering things. My friends are going to change the world, and Madison gave me the chance to meet them.

If you haven't been to Madison, you must visit. It's a city of lakes, beer, cheese, trees, sportsmanship, and architecture. If you come, come in the fall - middle of September when the leaves are just barely changing, warmth is still coming off the lakes, and everyone is wearing cardinal red. Go eat cheese curds at The Old Fashioned, enjoy a pitcher at the Terrace, and ride a b-cycle down the lakeshore path. Watch my successors play my favorite song while 80,000 people wave along in my favorite place on campus. Walk down state street (more than likely having to side step someone protesting something) and watch all the walks of life coming together enjoying the nice weather.

The last few days have been really difficult for me. Every time I think about how I won't be here to experience those things, I become really sad. I love Madison. I found love, my friends, and myself here, and to leave it terrifies me. While I feel I've traveled quite a bit in my life, I've lived within a 60 mile radius for the last 18 years of my life. I like that I can drive an hour and be home. I like that I know every street here and the shortest way to cut across town. I like that I know where the closest Culvers is, what time to avoid the beltline, and where the best place is to watch the sunset. As I was driving home from my parents' house last night after saying goodbye, I felt especially emotional (listening to this song as I drove away was probably a terrible idea). I called my friend Ben, and after ugly crying over the phone, he told me exactly what I needed to hear - that Madison will still be here when I'm ready to come back, that I've worked towards going to medical school for so long that all I should be feeling is that same excitement I felt seven years ago, and that this is a new adventure and it's going to be just as great as the one in Madison was.

As I pack up my car to move ten hours away from my boyfriend, my family, and my friends, I'm sad to leave, but so thankful that I got to experience it in the first place. 

play ball!

This is about the only presentable outfit I've worn since I returned from Seattle. My friend Lizzi asked me to go to a Mallards game with her (a collegiate summer league that plays here in Madison) on Thursday. Right before I started getting ready, I was packing up some of my clothes and re-discovered these white shorts. I thought I lost them, but they were really just hiding under my Game Day bibs (picture from late 2010 and yes, Chris is wearing my game day skirt...). Anyway, wore my re-discovered shorts, Everlane tee, and cognac accessories to go "watch baseball" (drink fruity beers and eat brats) as a break from packing. and packing. and packing. 

Packing is going...fine. There's just a lot of stuff to take with that one doesn't even think of like...socks and beauty products and roller blades. I've mostly just been packing and cleaning. I did go to the mall to see if my computer was on the fritz (good news, it's not), stopped at Victoria's Secret to buy a few bras and underwear, and stopped at J.Crew to see if this jacket (in white and black) was more reduced than it was a week ago (it wasn't). I also tried on this top but I wasn't sure if it was black or dark dark blue, so I passed since I find navy really difficult to wear as a separate (because right now my criteria is if I can wear it with black pants because I'm a boring dress code dresser). It's probably for the best that they didn't work out because I would have to pack them into my tiny car on Friday, but the mall in my new town doesn't have a J.Crew (yes, I looked) so I wanted to try on one last time. In other shopping news, I did receive these wedges a few days ago after ordering them months ago and they are perfect (or at least they felt perfect for the 10 minutes I wore them before boxing them up)! I may even have to order the black version the next time they have a big sale if the nude versions hold up well ;)

closet clean-up: from cluttered to loved

Once I found out in February that I would have to move for school, I slowly started cleaning out my closet. I've lived in Madison for seven years now, and have lived in four different houses. Each time we moved, I just grabbed everything I owned and took it with me to the next place a few streets away. This move though, across several states and by myself, would require me greatly reduce the items I own.

I had clothes in three different places - my main closet that had all of my normal clothes, some coats in our coat closet, and my handful of dresses (which I couldn't wear to work) were in a shared closet in our bedroom - our place has a lot of closets! I started out by pulling all of the "big ticket" items that I knew I could sell on eBay - a few purses, a North Face jacket, and a few J.Crew / Banana Republic items. I'm a pretty beginner eBay seller so I don't have a ton of tips and tricks. I do a lot that is recommended here, and I almost always use the eBay app as you can take pictures, upload, and have a listing within just a few minutes from your phone.

Once those items were gone, I started going through the clothes that I regularly look at. I pulled out the pieces I knew I hadn't worn in years, and put them aside. I tried selling some on poshmark and on here, but those took more effort than it paid out. I basically worked through my closet a little bit at a time. Every time I by passed something and couldn't remember the last time I ever wore it, it went into the pile. About once a month, I would take a pile of clothing to Plato's Closet - a consignment store geared mostly towards teenagers. My experiences were fine there - I've made about $100 from selling clothes there, but I felt because they were so geared toward teens that a lot of my nicer items that just didn't fit were passed because they were "too mature". The items they didn't take I handed down to my mom and sister, and whatever they didn't want, they donated to St. Vinnies.

That was what I did up until this past weekend. I move on Friday, so this last closet clean out was really necessary to get rid of the last unnecessary pieces. I had already packed up all of my blazers, remaining bottoms, skirts, and shoes which hadn't been pulled. My family is shipping those boxes to me at the end of the week as I just didn't have enough room in my car. Next, I went through all of my tops. I pulled each one out of the closet and put it on. If I felt uncomfortable in it, if it fit me wrong, or if I knew I was just never going to wear it again, into the pile it went. I'm only packing the pieces I really wear. As hard as it was to let go of a bunch of relatively nice jeans, tees, and sweaters, I knew I hadn't worn them in so long, and with my restrictive dress code, I knew they weren't going to be worn in the future either. I tried one last time to take a few things to the consignment stores, made about $25, and took everything else directly to Goodwill. I set a side a few things again for my mom and sister, but the rest will find a new home with something who will appreciate them.

When I look at my closet now, and even during the cleaning out process, I felt so much better about getting dressed. I didn't feel guilt looking at all the clothes I spent money on, but didn't wear. My choices were limited, but I liked everything, so I never had "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR" moments. Since I started working with a budget, I feel like I've been a lot smarter about what I buy, so I'm hoping that in a year/four years from now, I won't be in this same situation. I need to make smart buying decisions, buy items off of my holes in my closet list, and not just buy on a whim. I want to find the balance of buying staple pieces versus more "fun" pieces - maybe do 3/4 of my budget towards purchasing items I will get a ton of wear, and then the rest towards statement/fun pieces? Since I will be living off student loans that I receive twice a year, instead of paychecks I receive twice a month, I may do what Kimmie and Jess do, and have a yearly budget and work with it that way. I'll definitely share what I decide to do!

I can't wait to show you guys by new closet next week! It's going to be beautiful :)

My tips for cleaning out your own closet - no moving 10 hours away necessary! :

+ Pull everything (EVERYTHING) out of your closet, and try each piece on. If it doesn't fit NOW, get rid of it (or if it may fit again for sure, put it into storage)

+  If you haven't worn it within the last year, ask yourself why. Does it just fit wrong? Donate or sell. Not your style anymore? Pass along to friends or donate. Needs alterations? Put into the alterations pile and actually do them.

+ Be prepared to make "the hard" decisions. Yes, it sucks that you spend x number of dollars on that sweater/pant/skirt/shoe....but what good is it doing you in your closet if you haven't worn it in years? Either store it in case it comes back into fashion, pass it along to family members/friends, sell it, or donate it. You'll feel better not looking at it every single time you open your closet.

+ Reorganize your closet so you can see your clothes better. I currently organize by color, but when I move, I'm going to organize by type - blazers, cardigans, sweaters, tees. Seeing your clothes in a different way may inspire you to wear it a different way.