Like any good college student, as soon as I received my loan reimbursement, I went on a little shipping spree. I stocked up on a few Fall things from Banana Republic, including this chambray top and burgundy box pleat skirt. I imagined wearing this outfit with black tights but it’s still too hot for tights, so this will just have to be a little Fall preview. I’ve been looking for a new chambray because the only one I had previously had polka dots on it, which is cute, but I wanted a plain one. And I love that this skirt has pockets. I’m not sure how I feel about wearing this with ankle boots without tights; it feels like something is off or missing. What do you think? Are there other shoes I could pair this with to make it look better? Or are the boots on point? Internet friends, please help me dress myself! 🙂

I knew I had to have both of these pieces when I tried them on together in the dressing room and they looked so good together. Also, it was such a gray day out when we took these photos that this dressing room photo has better color:

Top & Skirt: Banana Republic
Shoes: Old Navy
Necklace: Target
Bracelets: Old Navy
Earrings: Wal-Mart

If I’m going to wear something to work in an office, my general rule is to throw a blazer on it! My office has a very lax dress code so I don’t have to dress professionally (and a few times I haven’t, I’ve just worn shorts and a tee shirt because it was so hot outside) but I usually prefer to dress less casually when I’m in an office setting. So, to dress up this flowy tank a bit (where I last wore it for a date night) I threw this blazer on it. Adding a completer piece, even if it’s just an unstructured blazer like this one, makes me feel much more put together.

Top: miami via Francesca’s
Blazer: J. Crew Factory
Jeans: Old Navy
Wedges: Old Navy
Charm Necklace: Target
Turquoise Necklace: Banana Republic
Fabric Flower: Target
Bracelets: Old Navy
Earrings: Wal-Mart

And it looks pretty good! I was eyeing this skirt on ModCloth for several weeks because I really wanted it but I wasn’t sure how it would look on me. I figured it would be really long and make me look even shorter than I already am, so I scoured the comments for every post by a person that was remotely close to my size (and bonus if she included a picture) so I could get an idea of what it would look like, but I still wasn’t sure. After receiving an email that they were almost sold out, I took the plunge and ordered it. When I finally got it and tried it on, I was surprised to find that it fit so much better than I had expected. Score! And it has pockets! Double Score! And the skirt came with the belt. Triple Score!

I wore this outfit to the office yesterday and my friend asked if I was trying wear all my white before Labor Day and I told her I’ll wear white whenever I want! I’ve never understood this rule so I looked it up and, apparently, the origin is pretty snobby: only women from “old money” could wear white so that they could identify and ignore the women from “new money.”  I wouldn’t want to participate in that because everyone should be able to wear whatever they want and not be excluded. So there!

Somehow I ended up with two pairs of white jeans so I’m excited to experiment with wearing white in the fall – I kind of missed out on that last year. I also love wearing sunglasses as headbands so, really, I do what I want!

I’m bringing back the fun one!

 If you’re wondering about the change in scenery, I explain it here.

Top, Pants, & Cardigan: Banana Republic
Shoes: Old Navy
Teal Bracelet: Light Years
Pink Bracelet: Old Navy
Earrings: Wal-Mart
Sunnies: Target

Yesterday I said the next time you saw me I would probably be in my new location and I am!

To recap, I started a Masters program in Public Health (MPH) last fall at ECU, which is a good hour and a half from my house (and not an online program). I spent this past year commuting to school, staying with family and friends while I was there during the week. After a while, all of the driving, not having my own space, missing out on important events in my program, AND being away from Nick and the dogs were really starting to get to me. I was exhausted and stressed all the time, and my health was affected because I wasn’t sleeping well, eating too much fast food,  and not getting enough exercise from being on the road all the time. Luckily, over the summer I was offered a position as a graduate assistant to one of my favorite professors, which provides enough income to pay for a small apartment… so that’s what I did. I moved into a studio apartment last week and the best part is I get to bring my furbabies! Once I’m all settled in, I’ll share some photos.

I wore this outfit yesterday to an event welcoming the new cohort to the program. I had planned to wear my chambray wedges, but I had to do a lot of walking so I changed into these at the last minute. They’re teal and the cargidan is green, so the wedges probably would have looked better but this worked well enough.

At our event, we had food and drinks and along with meeting new students, we reconnected with current students that we hadn’t seen all summer as they were off doing their own internships all over the place. It was a fun time!

I apologize for the quality of these photos; I know they’re not great but I will play around with the lighting. And when Nick is here, we’ll get some good shots of campus, so I’m really excited about that!

Top: miami via Francesca’s
Cardigan and Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Gap
Necklaec: bridesmaid gift from my BFF
Bracelets and Earrings: Old Navy