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.

Classics

Shirt: Target
Jeans: 7 for all Mankind (thrifted)
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: Turkey

This is an outfit I've been dreaming of wearing for the longest. Is it earth shatteringly creative? Nope. Is it new and exciting? Also no. Is it classic? Yes.


For some reason, it's the classics that give me a hard time. Good jeans are hard to find for me - somewhere between my waist and my booty, and my thighs, it all makes me crazy and I give up. But these worked out. Are they my most comfortable jeans? No; they're a little too low rise for that. But they do work.


And then we've got the white button-up. Y'all know these are not made for women larger than a B cup, right? But B and I wandered into Target while we were in the States and I found this shirt on the clearance rack. The second button buttoned, so it was a go. It's still a bit loose elsewhere, especially tied this way, but I think that's fixable.


So, while this might be as classic as they come, it wasn't the most effortless look. Am I the only one who has the hardest time ever finding jeans and button ups? Someone let me know I'm not alone....

Sad story and upcoming vacation

Tee: Target
Skirt: I made it
Belt: Target
Sandals: Chinese Laundry
Earrings: Turkey
Scarf: J Crew
Kitteh: Elefante

True story: late on the evening of the fifth, Pirata, our other kitten disappeared. We live in the country and there are coyotes and big herding dogs that just kind of...roam. One of them must've roamed off with our other kitten.


So, I'm pretty sad about it, and now probably way overprotective of our remaining fur babies, Kiku and Elefante. The irony is that she disappeared on a day when we were all home all day long.


Anyway, we're on our short school vacation here in Costa Rica. We're off until the 18th, and then we leave for our real vacation on the 24th. I. Am. So. Excited! Development work requires even longer hours than teaching, and I'm doing both, so, long, busy days. But! Vacation is in sight.


And vacations make me do the happy dance. Oh, yeah! Even if it's a little tempered by the loss of our sweet kitten.



ETA: Pirata came back on the morning of the 8th. I walked out to feed Elefante, and there she was, meowing away as if I'd run away.

Dress Your Best Week - Day 3: Ruffles or bust

Top: Ann Taylor (gift from my mom)
Bolero: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Target
Booties: Aldo
Bracelets: gift from my uncle
Earrings: gift from my sister-in-law
Crazy face: not sure...

I feel like I'm pulling out the big guns with Dress Your Best Week this year. It's been harder to make my list, but I feel like it's given me a new and improved appreciation for my body. For today? My chest, and trust me when I say that this post might be the hardest (most awkward?) one for me to write.


I got my first training bra in third grade. Third. Grade. And it was not a "let's make you feel all grown up" kind of training bra experience. It was like a "Hey, mom, people at school are asking if I wear a bra" experience. Next thing I knew, we were at JC Penney's picking out 32AAs. In fifth grade, I was the only girl who had to wear a bra every day (and my mom told me it had to be EVERY DAY) which meant I got "plinkied" every time we had a bathroom break. Plinkies were when the other kids snapped the back strap. It was awesome.


By "awesome", I mean "mortifying", of course. Naturally, I was self-conscious because I was a kid who didn't know what to make of her body. As I got older, there were all kinds of rules about what I could and couldn't wear thanks to all I had going on in the front. No tank tops, definitely no spaghetti straps, cardigans or jackets to cover me up, no scoop necks, few v-necks, nothing with an empire waist, no tops with writing across the front, avoid embellishment across the bust, no woven button-up shirts...


That's a lot of rules, especially for a high school kid, which is what I was at the time. Some of those were my parents' rules and some were my own, but it pretty much guaranteed that I had no idea what to do with my top half. I'll readily admit that these days, I'm much more comfortable covering up, but at the time, I felt awkward and ashamed. I mean, I didn't ask for what I had, right?


But I feel like these days I finally have perspective on my chest. For one, I'm just below the national average, which makes me feel way better about my options. For another, I've stopped fighting it. This is the body I have, the only one I have, and I've got a chest that women will literally pay money for. So I thank the sweet Lord for what I've got and move on.


And I'll just go ahead and put some ruffles on 'em to make up for lost time.

Dress Your Best Week - Day 2: Thick skin

Tee: Target (men's undershirt)
Skirt: J Crew
Belt: Banana Republic
Scarf: gift from my uncles
Booties: Aldo
Bracelet: gift from our intern, A
Earrings: Turkey

Today, I'm celebrating my skin. This is a big step for me because I have not loved my skin for most of my life. This is another one of the things that I have learned to love about myself, mostly because it does its job. Skin is important, y'all.


So, when we moved to the States, Oprah taught my mom English. What I mean by that is that my mom watched Oprah to learn English. I thought Oprah was the most beautiful woman in the world, and I was pretty sure that in order to be beautiful, I had to be a lot darker than I was.


By the time I got to high school, I'd get a lot of "Aren't Puerto Ricans supposed to be darker?" comments. And though I knew - I know - that we come in a variety of shades, I felt like I was lacking. I was jealous of my sister's caramel tone, and I hid my skin, especially my legs, for many years because of their whiteness.


I don't know when things changed, when I got over the hiding and started showing off my skin and really caring for it - because it is seriously dry and flaky no matter how much cocoa butter I rub into it. I've been embracing my skin, though, in all it's (relatively) pale glory. I'm thankful that I can wear colors like green and yellow and orange. I'm thankful that jewel tones pop against my skin. I'm thankful that I rarely burn out in the sun, and that if I do, it turns to a tan the very next day. I'm thankful that white shows off my tan when I've got one and that I look good in black whether I'm tanned or not.


This is my skin. I'm finally okay with it.

Rediscovering my closet: grey tunic

Tunic: New York & Co.
Skirt: Gap
Belt: Came with a blazer
Pumps: Steve Madden
Earrings: Kohl's

I wore this outfit to church on Sunday because there was a possibility that I'd have to stand up front and translate the sermon. Lucky for me, I got a break from translating duties and I just got to look a little extra fancy for church.


I love this tunic, but I haven't worn it since I've been here in Costa Rica. I know, a limited wardrobe and there are items I haven't worn - I'm ashamed of myself, too. Anyway, as a challenge to myself, I'm going to be trying to pull out more of these items this week.


I mean, seriously: check out that pretty beading and the contrast of grey and bronze-ish (totally a color). How could I not have worn this in the past five months? Part of my issue is that I don't really know how to wear it. This is the first time I've tucked it into a skirt and I rather like how it turned out.


Any other suggestions?

Classic

Tee: Ann Taylor
Jeans: LOFT
Scarf: Turkey
Earrings: gift from sister-in-law
Bangles: Banana Republic
Purse: Nine West
Sandals: Target

I'm really sad that I have exactly two good pictures of this outfit, because I'm a big fan of how it turned out. I've long been stumped by these jeans, but I think this look works. I got these jeans from my sister for Christmas and I've been kind of dipping my toes in the boyfriend jean looks, but this outfit felt like I jumped in. I might still be in the shallow end, but I feel that this is progress. I wore this on Saturday for a date day with B. We went to the mall while our coworker picked students up at the airport. We wandered around, looked at stuff we couldn't afford to buy, had lunch and dinner at the food court, and watched the latest Fast and the Furious movie because THAT is how much I love my husband. All in all, it turned out to be a good day.

Styled by B

Top: New York & Co.
Skirt: J Crew
Belt: Banana Republic
Cami: Target
Booties: Aldo
Bracelet: Sarchí
Earrings: Kohl's

Y'all, I have barely been able to get dressed this week. Putting outfits together felt like a chore. So, I did what anyone else would do: I asked B to pick out my outfit. And this is what he picked - including shoes and bracelet, not including earrings and belt.


My students were all like, "You look so elegant!" And then I told them that B picked out my outfit and they were amazed. Amazed! I have to say I was pretty impressed myself. It's very me and I like the pop of yellow in the bracelet against the plum of the skirt.


Have any of y'all had your husbands or boyfriends style you? How did they do? I'm thinking I might need to have B style me more often...


Also, get a load of that blogger bun! My hair is so big!

Angry Eyes and Color Rotation - Green

Cardigan: Apt 9 via Kohl's
Tee: Gap
Skirt: Ann Taylor
Belt: Ann Taylor
Tights: Simply Vera via Kohl's
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: Target
Scarf: Turkey

I'm doing my color rotation all out of order, y'all. Also, this is my angry face.


Sometimes communication just doesn't work out well, and that's what happened on Wednesday. And then I got annoyed because I didn't know where I needed to be and what I needed to do. The pictures are funny because you can see me venting to B as he took my pics.



See? Hilarious. At least it is after the fact. At the time, not so funny.


Also, can you see how my clothes don't fit me? So sad, y'all.

Color Rotation - Red

Scarf: gift from Morocco
Tee: Target
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Gap
Belt: came with a jacket
Booties: Aldo
Earrings: Turkey

This is me totally slacking on red for the color rotation. Like I said, red is scary for me. It's bright, it's attention grabbing. Those are two scary things for me. I mitigated the fear of red by opting for this almost ruby colored scarf.


All my planned outfits have been ruined by weather. It's been like walking out into a cloud most mornings - cold and wet. That's why I keep reaching for dark colors.


I shivered all through school. SHIVERED! And my students were all like, "Miss, no one here wears skirts because it's so cold." Which is not exactly true, but I understood where they were coming from. I just really don't like wearing pants.


Shivering it is.

Late

Tee: Target
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Gap
Belt: Target
Booties: Aldo
Scarf: H&M
Earrings: Turkey

I wore this outfit on the 4th of March for teaching. I'm just that far behind in posting. Some days there's just not enough time in restaurant parking lots for posting.


Anyway, I got this skirt at Gap in Puerto Rico. I don't know if I already told this story, but I got it for $3.95. Actually, my aunt got it for me for that price. It's quickly become a staple in my wardrobe. So much so, that when I wore it yesterday, I realized that it didn't really fit anymore.


So here are some of the lessons I'm learning as I'm living and working in this area and with my new financial limitations:


1. It's hard to get denim to shrink back to size without a dryer. (Yes, I hang my clothes out on a line.)


2. Heels are no match for gravel. They're totally fine on grass and asphalt, but a nightmare on gravel, for real.


3. Stomach issues and eating the same thing over and over (meaning you get tired of it and don't want to eat it anymore) cause a person to lose enough weight to ensure that nothing fits her properly anymore. And that's not a good thing.


4. The possibilities for remixing are endless.