a neon moment + [giveaway]

 

I'm wearing neon.

Okay, so when neon first came around in this decade, this is how I felt about it:

But now I'm more like this:

Ok, only a slight exaggeration. I can see the appeal though, especially when it comes as a $6 tee. I doubt that I'll buy anything else neon because one item is enough, but I intend to wear the heck out of this shirt this summer. 

I guess I should never say never. What's next, wedge sneakers?! 

Tee: Old Navy [exact on clearance]

Jeans: American Eagle [exact]

Shoes: Aldo [save | splurge]

Watch: Target

Bracelet: gift from Caroline :)

And for today's moment that doesn't include awesome Saved by the Bell gifs, the pups and I went over to fellow Madison blogger Dani's for a puppy play date with her adorable dog Walter. We had a a great time hanging out on their beautiful porch, eating, drinking, and chatting about both life and blogging. Dani blogs at Life's a Journal and also has an Etsy shop where she sells these so smart notepads. She was so sweet and gave me one to try out. I think I'm going to save the majority of them for when school starts but seriously, how smart of an idea is this? It organizes your whole life for you, down to how many glasses of water to drink. If you are interested in trying one out, you can get 10% off your order with the code FranFan (awesome right?) or you can try to win one with the rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

apart

I hope you guys all had a great weekend! Chris was home in between his rotations. He just spent 6 weeks in peds and now is going to go do ob-gyn. This is the last away rotation of the year so I'm really happy about that. If nothing else, it's kind of like practice for next year. We're pretty independent people so we do alright being apart, but it does get lonely some nights. Guess it's something I'll have to get used to though with at least a year of being 10+ hours apart. It's a sacrifice that I hope works out in the end.

We spent part of the weekend sorting out items to sell or donate - we're moving out of our current house at the end of June and we have so much stuff we've carried around over the years. We sold $50 worth of books at Half-Price books and donated a giant box of his clothes to Goodwill. We then drove to the outlet mall 45 minutes away...mostly because J.Crew Factory was having a 50% off everything sale. Naturally I wanted everything in the store but I only walked out with this skirt (also seen here on instagram) and this blue tee. I think the skirt will be perfect for the summer! I also tried on these shoes but I didn't want to commit to a shoe with a shape I was unsure about from a store that is too far away to make an easy return. I also found 2 pieces for my medical school wardrobe at Banana Republic- a grey dress and a black/white blouse (seen here).  Shopping at the outlets can be tricky because the prices are so good, but I always have to remind myself that whatever I purchase can't be returned (because the stores are so far away) so I have to really like them, and not just like them because they are inexpensive.

Shirt: Espirt Germany

Jeans: American Eagle  [exact]

Scarf: Target  [exact]

Shoes: Aldo  [save | splurge]

Earrings: Tiffany & Co. [exact]

Watch: c/o Daniel Wellington  [exact]

Ring: Karen Walker  [save | exact]

Nails: Essie Ballet Slipper

P.S. Have you ever wanted to know what tricks Hans and Baer can do? Visit Sam's Blog Dog Feature to find out!!

Back to School?

Happy first day of school! Even though today I drove to my job like I do every day instead of starting out a new school year, I like to reminisce about back to school time. God, the beginning of the school year was the best! You got to wear all of your new clothes you spent your summer job money on, you get new school supplies (nothing I love more than a new planner and pens), and you get to see all of your friends again.

So even though today was a day like any other, I wanted to wear my brand new blazer and even though I'm seeing less friends (Chris just left for 2 months! :(  ), I'm excited for what the fall has in store for me. 

Are you surprised at all that I'm wearing this blazer today? I'm so glad that I didn't stick with the first navy(ish) blazer, or the second/third blazer to cross my path. I want to wear this one every day this season but I promise to hold myself back.

Maybe.

I just love these two rings together.

Blazer: J. Crew {exact}
Blouse: Gap
Belt: so old
Jeans: Joe's Jeans
Shoes: Aldo {exact}
Necklace: family heirloom {more here}
Heart Ring: Karen Walker  {exact}
Anchor Ring: H&M
Watch: Target  {exact}
Nails: OPI Razzle Dazzler

What's your favorite back to school memory?











Linking up with Real Girl Glam and wiww.

Bear Pup, Superstar

First of all, thank you for your kind comments yesterday while I was "having a moment". I think you are all great :)

Now back to our regular scheduled program - mainly, my dogs being so needy for internet attention that they feel they need to be in every outfit picture. Hansi last week, Baer this week. Maybe next week I'll bring in my fish from work (his name is Fynn Alpha the Beta Fish) and we'll pose together too.

I'm ready for my close up!

Bitch please, I'm fabulous.

Shirt: Old Navy {exact - seen in blue here}

Scarf: Present from my friend Alexa (coming home next week! hi5)

Jeans: Gap Outlet  {similar}

Shoes: Aldo {exact, similar, similar}

Bracelets: Forever 21  {similar}

Linking up with wiww

Navy Blazer...ish

No, your eyes are not deceiving you - this is not a navy blazer. But last night in Forever 21 it looked like one! I've been searching for a navy blazer for a long time...and it looks like the hunt will continue because as fun as a purple blazer is, it isn't what I want to spend my limited budget on. So far this month I've spent $90 of my budget, so I'm thinking about cutting it off there and putting the rest of the money towards next month to use it to buy myself a great navy blazer as a birthday present. So far I'm considering this Topshop blazer, this Banana Republic one, and of course this J.Crew one. Any suggestions where else I can look?

Blazer: Forever 21  {exact}

Scarf: Forever 21 {save, spend, splurge}

Top: H&M

Jeans: Gap  {exact}

Shoes: Aldo  {exact, similar, similar}

Watch: Fossil  {similar}

Bracelet: J. Crew  {similar}

A few weeks ago I had my first Save/Spend/Splurge post about pink saddle bags. Kara who blogs at My Life in the Curvy Lane mentioned that she had a very similar bag that just neeeeeded to be taken off of her hands. I was kind enough to help her out with that ;)  Make sure you stop by My Life in the Curvy Lane! She has some great pieces in her giant closet, and I wish I lived closer to her so she could make me her amazing Strawberry Stuffed French Toast.

We're going to be good friends, you and I.








Linking up with Everybody Everywear, WIWW...

Invested?

You can only wear so many button ups and blazers before you get bored. I don't think I've owned a vest in about 10 years, but seeing how cute it looks on everyone (like here, here and here) I wanted in on the cargo vest. I happened upon this Old Navy version while I was there returning a top, and picked it up.

On the one hand, I can think about 10 outfits on the top of my head about how I would wear this vest. On the other hand, am I falling into a trend trap, and will regret this decision in 6 months?

On a different note, I am in LOVE with this shoes. I've been stalking them for about 2 months now, but (of course) wasn't willing to pay full price. I was watching the price on Zappos, but they never went lower than $55. I checked on the Aldo website, and they were $33 on there! While I'm disappointed I couldn't get them through Zappos and use a giftcard I have, I'm happy getting these shoes for 50% off retail.

Vest: Old Navy  {exact}
Shirt: Forever 21  {save, spend, splurge}
Jeans: Gap Outlet
Shoes: Aldo  {exact}
Belt: H&M
Watch: Fossil {save, spend, splurge}
Bracelet: Tiffanys & Co {exact}