Grey and burgundy fall colors

This is another outfit that screams fall. I wore this shirt here in another post that also reminds me of fall, but is work appropriate. I took this picture, because I was afraid it'd get too hot and it would be the outfit I would actually wear most of the day. However, I lucked out and could wear it with my sweater. I prefer the look of the outfit with the sweater more. 

 I also posted with this sweater here in a more work appropriate way. 

And once again, I'd like to show off my indecisiveness on picking out shoes. See my other post about that here. I like the contrast the cognac boot gives to the outfit, although if I were trying to make less of a statement with the boots, the grey ones would go just fine. 

 

Black and White

This is just a typical work outfit for me. Shown with and without a cardigan. I have to wear a white lab coat most days at work, so wearing something sleeveless won't be sleeveless for long. I feel like the cardigan pulls the outfit together better though. 

Preppy

This outfit looks a little preppy to me. Although I keep being drawn to the look of collared shirts being layered. I have a number of collared shirts, but I don't like to wear them that much. I like how this outfit turned out with the bright and dark pink and blues. The bright pink of the shirt goes along with the pink necklace while the light blue of the sweater lightens up and goes with the navy pants. It was a good outfit to wear to work. 

Here is a close up of the necklace and tops. I am in love with this necklace and have found it to be very versatile. Thank you Target clearance rack!

St Patrick's Day 2013

 This is a much more condensed version of my St. Patrick's Day mantle from what I did last year.  I forget that just because I have a huge mantle, I don't have to use it all. I think I had just seen a pin on pinterest that said mantles should have more of a triangular shape. While I prefer this year's St. Patrick's day mantle to the previous year, I think it in general I prefer to have my mantle more full. Last year I had about the same amount of stuff, but since it was so spread out it didn't look as cohesive.

I used the same shamrock pot o' gold that I used from last year. Helpful hint, fill the pot with paper and set the pieces of "gold" on top so you don't have to purchase as many. I also used the same candle covers. As you can see the two green candles are actually candles covered with pieces of scrapbook paper.  It's an inexpensive way to get some different patterns and colors in the mantle without buying new, big, candles for every holiday. Although I recommend cutting the paper to fit the candle and securing them with a tack. I was taking the easy way out with rubberbanding them at the bottom.

I used my small apothecary jar and filled it with green, silver and gold Christmas balls. I then topped it off with some green and white carnations purchased at the Dollar Tree. I also purchased the paper weights to the left from the Dollar Tree. They just give a little bit of spice and height. 

Animal Print Scarf

Not much to this outfit. Just jeans and a t-shirt with a fun scarf. One of my 12 scarves.This scarf has a touch of animal print to it, but it is still pretty subtle, so sometimes it's hard to tell if it's just geometric shapes or actually animal print. 

Indecisive

I couldn't quite decide which shoes I wanted to wear with this outfit. Since it's fall, I really wanted to wear my boots, but I was afraid it'd still be a little too warm. 

I ended up going with the flats, so no, I didn't go out wearing one of each!

My New Blazer

I bought this blazer from Sears a while back and am just getting around to actually wearing it. Remember it was summer! We had a flash of fall day so I styled it with my light teal shirt, burgundy pants, black heels and silver necklace. However it quickly became too hot so I actually ended up wearing the outfit below for most of the day. I think it's still fun, but I like it much better with the blazer. Now if only the weather would agree...

Fall Mantle 2012

We are now in the midst of fall. However, I hope you have a Halloween mantle up! You can see mine here. However, after Halloween I start will my fall/Thanksgiving mantle. This was actually taken last year on Thanksgiving day. For Thanksgiving we hosted my parents, and four of our friends. I had to work so I got out of kitchen duty, but I was home early enough to eat!

Here you can see  the wreath centerpiece, the leave garland and my "give thanks" decoration.

 Different color candles are quick and easy decoration to change out for fall. All of the craft stores seem to stock them, just be sure to buy them when they are either on sale or use 40% off coupon! I like these candlesticks as they have a bit of decoration, but since they are clear, they can be used for just about any holiday. I bought these piece by piece with 40% off coupons. Eventually I think I'd like to also get a simple black set so that I can have some variety.

 To fill apothecary jars inexpensively use nature. Here I'm using pine cones I collected from outside my friend's house. I put a couple of fake leaves that had fallen off of the garland too. For the other jar I have decorated cupcake wrappers. These can be found inexpensively at craft stores. They can be a little cumbersome to place, but they give added color and texture.

In addition to my mantle I also frequently decorate this buffet table in our living room. You can see this is also where we store our games. I have purchased fake flowers to match several of my holiday decorations that I put in the glass vase. Again, the vase is versatile enough to use for just about every holiday. I was searching for a long time for a cornucopia. I was able to find this one at hobby lobby and purchased the little fake pumpkins and items to fill it. 

Finally, as Christmas season is starting in the major craft stores, be on the look out for ornaments that are colored for other holidays. This year I used pine cones and cupcake wrappers to fill my apothecary jars, but as you can see in my Valentine's Day and Halloween mantles, I frequently use colored Christmas ball ornaments. 

Fall Scarf

This scarf just screams fall to me with the muted orange, red and blue. However, I feel like I have very little in my wardrobe to really match it. My wardrobe is much more of the jewel tones of burgundy, teal, navy. I styled it here with a navy tank top, jeans and flip flops. Cause it's still warm in Florida! I'm curious to see when the weather changes if I'll be able to get more use out of this scarf. 

Speaking of scarves I just made a homemade scarf hanger and realized that I have 12 scarves!! It's odd since I hardly ever wear scarves (did I mention it's hot in Florida?). One of my goals this fall/winter is to try and incorporate more of the scarves. And for those that I can't get use of, I've go to get rid of them. I'm not thinking Hawaii is going to be better scarf weather! 

Sundress for summer and fall

This is a sundress I got from Old Navy last summer. I ws thinking about getting rid of it when I tried it on and remembered how much I liked it. This first picture shows how I'd wear it out during the summer. A simple white belt and white sandals as accent pieces. 

However seeing how it is fall, I wanted to style it with a cardigan and some flats for more warmth. If it ever gets to be cold enough, I'd add some tights and boots, but this is Florida so it may never really get that cold. I really like the look of this and seeing how it is October I set out for the day wearing this outfit. 

However seeing how it is Florida, it quickly got too warm to wear the cardigan so I was left with the following outfit. White belt and blue flats. Oh well, still a cute outfit!

Black Cardigan, teal shirt, grey pants

This outfit pretty much follows my prescription for work outfits. Dress pants with shirt and cardigan. Through doing this experiment I'm finding I wear a lot of teal. Granted they are different shades of teal, but teal nonetheless. I guess that's why yellow and burgundy make such great additions to my wardrobe!

Serving Tray

It was my mom's birthday coming up and I was a little stumped about what to get her. Then I remembered seeing how some people had been using picture frames to create serving trays. So I went on a hunt to gather the supplies to make her a serving tray. 

The first thing you need is a sturdy picture frame that is preferably wooden. A picture frame, you think, not hard to find at all. And that's true, there are many frames out there, but ones that are a suitable size for a tray and are wooden are much harder to find. I used this project as a way to explore some of the local thrift stores that I haven't been to, or don't frequent often. The first place I looked had some good options, but the woman then said that she had set the frames aside for herself and the place wasn't really a thrift store, just a sorting facility for a thrift store. I tried two more places striking out, then I found this frame. It was perfect. It was the correct size, it had a wooden frame, it had a wide enough frame to add handles to, and it was already white. Bonus. 

After obtaining the frame I then had to purchase handles for the tray. This, too, was more challenging than I had anticipated. While the big box hardware stores have many different handle options, they didn't have many that I felt were pretty enough. I was ideally looking for one that had glass on it, and neither of the places I went to had them. I ended up going with a nickel plated cage handle that worked well enough. I marked holes on the frame using the handles as a guide and then used a drill for the holes. The holes on one side weren't quite lined up, but the handle was forgiving and it still screwed in. Afterward, we realized that the screw heads were rounded. This made the tray not quite lay flat on the table and also created a possibility for scratching the table. So I bought some felt stickers that were taller than the screw heads and placed them in the corners.

 

Finally I had to select the paper to go in the tray. The tray was shaped differently than the 12x12 paper I had selected. Since it was striped I had some added difficulty of having to line up the paper properly and cut it down to size. However, I was able to find some paper that complemented some of my fun napkings well. My mom loves bright fun colors and has dishes in several colors that would match these colors. If I had a tray like this I'd probably change it out for the seasons, but knowing my Mom she'll probably just leave it these bright summery colors.

All in all this was a quick project that took one afternoon to create including hunting for all of the pieces.

Work outfit

 Grey cardigan, teal tank top, navy dockers pants, navy shoes, silver ball necklace

This cardigan is so soft and comfy. It was good to wear to work to get my fix of fall colors. Added bonus you get to see my cat Callie. She's a cat who loves to be around people at all times. 

Pink Polka Dots Two Ways

Pink polka dot shirt with sleeves rolled up, navy dockers pants, navy shoes

Pink polka dot shirt tucked in, blue cardigan, grey pants, grey shoes,

Pink polka dot shirt, blue cardigan, grey pants, grey shoes

This Merona shirt from Target worn in 2 different outfits. The first was earlier in the summer where it was warm enough to wear short sleeves. The second is during the transition to fall and included a cardigan.

Dirt Cheap Scores

I just recently got this tank top from a store called Dirt Cheap. It is a store that sells clearance items from a variety of stores at an additional discount. I'd never really heard of it before one moved in a mile from my house. I've been there a couple of times now. In general there is a lot of junk, but there can be some good finds for cheap. For example I got this St. Johns Bay tank top for $1.20. I got another one in a teal color too. 

Burgundy Pants Fall Transition

Teal and grey tank top, burgundy pants, grey shoes

Teal and grey tank top, grey cardigan, burgundy shoes, grey shoes

This is an example of a fall transition outfit. The first one, being a tank top is appropriate for Florida fall weather. The second,with a cardigan is more appropriate for Florida winter/fall everywhere else. 

Don's Famous Fish Taco's

We have a local fish market that is AMAZING. Just about any seafood you could want is available and ready for you to select. You can pick the size fillet you want, you can get entire fish whole or dressed, you can get some of the food steamed if you'd like. We don't visit the fish market as often as we should, but weeks we do, we usually have 3 or more meals of fish. We went to the market after getting back from our trip to Europe and bought a ton of fish. We bought salmon, mahi, and basa-a type of catfish, We'd made plans to have fish tacos one night. Don makes them and they are amazing. He went out of town and before risking the fish going bad, I tried my hands at them. They are very easy to make and taste delicious.

Directions:
1 filet of white fish per person (I used basa this time, but we've used mahi in the past)
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko crumbs)
Oil for pan frying
1/2 bag of preshreded coleslaw mix with carrots
3-4 T of Kraft Creamy Poppyseed Dressing
Taco sized flour tortillas
Avocado slices (optional)
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cut the fish into small cubes or slices about 1 inch large, try to keep them consistent sizes. Heat oil over medium heat in pan. Dredge the fish in egg and then coat with bread crumbs. Place fish in oil and cook until bread crumbs are brown 2-3 minutes per side. Prepare coleslaw mix by combining cabbage mixture and poppyseed dressing. Make tacos by adding coleslaw, fish, avocado, cilantro, and any other addition you wish to the tortilla. Eat and enjoy!

Pinspiration-Fusha top, black pencil skirt

Fushia shirt, pink necklace, black pencil skirt, black shoes

I was inspirted by this outfit from the blog Hello, Gorgeous. 

 

I had it pinned on Pinterest, but when I went to the link it was just linked to the blog and not the actual article. Frustrating! I don't usually like my version of this collared shirt, but I really like this outfit. 

Snowy Photo

Black and white polka dot shirt, mint cardigan, jeans

This photo was taken up in Wenatchee, Washington last winter. I was up there for my cousin's funeral, which was heartbreaking, but my mom was able to snap this photo before I left to head back to Florida. I took the photo because some of the people who live here have never seen snow before!

Multi-color tops

Multicolor sleeveless top, navy cardigan, grey pants, black shoes

I got this shirt this spring from Target. I have enjoyed matching it in different outfits. It goes well with my yellow shorts, and now with this blue cardigan it will transition to fall.

Valentine's Mantle 2013

Last year I blogged about my Valentine's Day Mantle. I view it now as a good first attempt. However, a year later, I have a much more cohesive mantle.

It still has some of the same features of last year, the heart centerpiece, colored candles, and the red heart plate. However everything else is new and/or re-purposed. 

This is the left side of the mantle. The vase filled with colored balls is the focus. I purchased them from Lowe's on clearance for a dollar a piece. They consist of purple, pink, red and white balls and a couple of spirals. I think they are a fun addition. I also have the red, pink and white candles from last year. The "rock" that is painted pink and says kiss and the heart shaped box are both from the dollar tree. The lantern is there to just add some depth, but is empty.

On the right side of the mantle you can see the love decoration I recently highlighted. I also have two apothecary jars here. The tall one on the left is filled with a red and white Christmas garland. The one on the right is filled with red Styrofoam hearts covered in glitter and silver Styrofoam balls that I have used in other decorations. Finally it is finished off with a heart decoration and another dollar store box.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pinspiration-Neutrals

Tan cardigan, white t-shirt, brown belt, black pants, tan shoes

Do you know Franish? My outfit was inspired by her neutral outfit. My work dress code is very similar to her medical school dress code. I wish we had more clothes in common so I could copy her more often! Soon I will have that shirt, as I realized that my white one has a stain. I've heard such great things about Everlane so I'm excited to try their tees.