Vacation

Last week, I sat in meetings for about eight hours a day. This week? This week, I'm relaxing on the beach thanks to a former boss who hooked us up with a great deal at her beach house. I'm hoping for some sun, some warmth, and a lot of beautiful sunsets over the Pacific.

Rains and Lady Gaga

Turtleneck: Ann Taylor
Skirt: J Crew
Fishnets: Simply Vera via Kohl's
Booties: Aldo
Belt: Ann Taylor
Earrings: Kohl's
Brooch (on headband): gift from B's grandmother
Headband: gift from my mom

Y'all, this is not what people imagine me wearing when I tell them I live in Costa Rica. I mean, seriously. Cashmere? Turtleneck? Corduroy? Tights? Yes, please. Because it's freezing in the mountains as a general rule. So, I'm dressing for warmth.


The rains here have been the stuff of legend. It's rained pretty much straight for the last ten days, and it's been making the news because it's gotten so bad. Not sure how much coverage it's getting in the States, but it's crazy.


When I wore this to work, my students told me I looked like Lady Gaga, which made me question if they'd ever seen Lady Gaga's outfits because I look like a human and my heels aren't abnormally high. I thought maybe it was because of the big, shiny brooch on my headband (pinning something pretty on a simple elastic headband changes EVERYTHING!).


But no, they clarified that I only looked like Lady Gaga from the knee down. Scratch that, from knee to ankle. You know, Miss, because of those weird tights with the holes in them. Ah, of course. I get it now....

BBCA 5 - Friend Friday: Fall

Cardigan: J Crew
Shirt: Target
Cami: Target
Pants: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's
Scarf: vintage, thrifted
Shoes: Steve Madden
Earrings: Turkey

So this week for the visual Friend Friday, we're linking up our quintessential fall looks over at 260 Days, No Repeats. Of course, it's also the last day of my BBCA week, so my fall look also has a touch of pink.


I have to say that at this point, I consider myself an expert in fall looks. I've mentioned before that I live in the land of eternal fall, so I've built a lot of outfits around boots, cardigans, and scarves. To me, fall is about classic silhouettes, mixed neutrals, and piled layers.


I really like the simple white button up, navy chinos, and cognac flats, but I like them better with the purple cami, chartreuse cardigan, and patterned scarf. I love the pops of color peeking out, especially when all those pops serve to keep me warm.


Feel free to ignore my award winning under eye circles, mmkay? Let's talk about this scarf. How pretty are those pink and green and turquoise swirls? So pretty. Also, it keeps my ears warm and hides my crazy hair - both are bonuses in my world.

BBCA 4 - Belting

Shirt: Ralph Lauren, thrifted
Dress, worn as skirt: Target
Pumps: Zara
Belt worn as belt: Target
Belt worn as headband: Etsy (although the vendor is no longer around)
Earrings: Turkey

Apparently the way for me to get BBCA done is by tying stuff around my head, and I'm cool with that as long as you're cool with that. Actually, even if you're not, most of my pink is in accessory form, so this is how it's going to be.


Anyway, this outfit. I've seen a lot of midi skirts on the Internet - apparently it's the new thing this fall. I've had this dress for something like six years and it's terribly stretched out (and faded, though you can't tell in these pictures) to the point that it's a bit midi in length. I've been playing with the idea of wearing it as a skirt for a while, but I hadn't quite worked out all the kinks yet.


Anyway, it just happened to be hanging next to this top which I thrifted (for $1!) while we were back in the States in September. I keep meaning to ask my sewing teacher to help me take it in, but I'm way more interested in learning to draft patterns and make new stuff, so I haven't yet. I figure I can figure this out on my own when I'm reunited with sewing machine in December. I guess pairing two ill-fitting, loose pieces shouldn't be natural, but the color combo was hard for me to resist.


It took a bit of creative tucking, folding and belting, but I think I made it work. It's the silhouette I was hoping to recreate, and the crazy high green pumps keep me from being overwhelmed by the length of the skirt. That said, one of my students asked me why I was dressed like a pilgrim, so maybe the heels didn't mitigate the frump factor. Or the pilgrims had some hot fashion sense.


Oh, and just as long as we're on the topic of pilgrims, I think it's time for confessions of a closet nerd. When I was in second grade, I was a pilgrim for Halloween. I had a long, grey dress, an apron, and a bonnet. I thought it was the most amazing costume EVER and I may have worn it in third grade, too. I guess I've always been a fan of Puritanical dressing....


Less Puritanical, however, is the belt around my head.

BBCA 3 - Scarf it

Tee: Target
Skirt: Gap
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Belt: came with a blazer
Tights: Target
Boots: Noble Town Vintage
Earrings: Turkey
Scarf: the chopped off hem of a thrifted and refashioned skirt

So, let me tell you the story of this outfit. I was looking for something to wear to church and I was going crazy because the mold! Oh my gosh! Why do things get moldy as soon as they enter this region! Mold, mold, mold. If you've never lived in the cloud rainforest in a house with no heating of any kind, let me tell you: stuff gets moldy pretty much instantly.


Every week or two, I go through the closet and pull out all the stuff that smells moldy or actually has mold growing on it, because, yes, that's possible. Sunday, thanks to the amount of rain we've had lately, I filled our hamper with stuff that smelled suspect. It made me want to cry (I think I wailed to B about "Oh my gosh, the MOLD!") and it also distracted me from the outfit that I actually wanted to wear.


Somehow, in the last few minutes before church, this came together. And guess what? It worked! I loved it. It felt fresh and fun. I know I turned some heads as I was walking home past the soccer field because of the tights. Of course, the floral head scarf was a close second when it came to attention getting.

BBCA 2 - Skirting the issue

Skirt: self made
Top: Sonoma via Kohl's
Belt: Target
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: gift from my sister-in-law

Another BBCA post. This one came together pretty easily once I picked this skirt out.


I love this skirt. It's poorly made since it was my first sewing project (the hem is wonky, it's made from a thrifted curtain, and the pockets are barely functional), but it's still fun.


For some reason, this green top seemed to work with the colors in the print. I like the explosion of brights, and the silhouette of the whole look. Besides, it was work appropriate and super comfortable. Super comfortable, for real. This is one of those looks that I will probably repeat.

BBCA 1 - Family

Cardigan: Target? gift from my mom
Tee: Ann Taylor
Pants: New York & Co.
Scarf: gift from my mom
Brooch: vintage
Earrings: Target
Shoes: Steve Madden

Well, hello, y'all. Can I start by saying that sometimes a week off is just the right thing? It's been a rough couple weeks. Let me go ahead and confess that it's been a rough nine or so months since we moved. Things haven't been easy and the blog felt like one more thing on my to do list, which wasn't cool, so, a break.


But! I am participating in BBCA, started by Melissa over at A Working Mom's Closet (breaks are apparently going around these days...). I don't own a lot of pink; I don't really like it, but I did want to participate so I've been digging out my pink.


I love this outfit and I honestly built it around this brooch, with its pops of pink. When B and I were back in the States, his grandmother pulled out her jewelry box and let me and B's sister M take whatever we wanted. I fell in love with this brooch, and I love the sense of connection I have with B's family - now my family, too - when I wear it.


And, yeah, I think I've just come to a point where I feel like they're my family, too. Apparently it takes me visiting them four times to get to that point; that's the problem when the family lives all over the place.

This week.

This week, I'm going to pretend the blog doesn't exist mostly because it's the beginning of exams here at my school, I've had a headache for two weeks straight, and I haven't slept well. I'm using my limited free time to try to sleep. So. Next week. And I'll be wearing pink.