NCsquared at the Food Truck Rodeo

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! We celebrated the unofficial end of summer by eating delicious food at Durham’s Food Truck Rodeo and having a night in with our neighbors on Sunday and by watching a lot of Netflix on Monday. It was pretty awesome. Luckily the weather was great all weekend because we had to turn off our air conditioner yesterday due to a possible freon leak — the house started to smell like band-aids every time the air would kick on, so weird — and the techs are coming out this afternoon to check things out. Other than that, we had a pretty uneventful weekend.

But this is my end-of-summer outfit. Warm enough for a sleeveless blouse and close enough to Fall for cute open-toe booties. Wearing boots in the summer can be super stylish, but I’m just now getting comfortable wearing them in warm weather. It actually took me a while to come around to wearing booties at all, which is silly because they *are* so stylish. They’ve become one of my go-to shoe choices.

On Monday morning, while Nick and Sebastian slept, I drank my coffee on our back deck. The air was crisp and the morning dew lightly coated the patio table and chairs. The birds chirped and playfully hopped through the branches in the trees. The sun peered through the clouds, creating a sweet halo of light around the yard, and it was pure bliss. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but this is my favorite time of year. While I am very ready for Autumn, I’m glad we still have several weeks of warm weather here in NC. I don’t have to put up my tanks and tees just yet, but I can break out the comfy sweater cardis. I really love those things! And I love those beautiful, cool mornings!

Coffee on the deck, enjoying the beautifully cool morning

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your four-day work week. I know I’ve already started counting down for this weekend when I can relax all over again 🙂

Blouse: Old Navy | Jeans: Gap | Shoes: Madden Girl | Jewelry: Old Navy | Watch: Target

Linking up: Start the Week Stylish | Link up on the Edge | Spread the Kindness

Sometimes you like an outfit better in your head than you do on your body. This is one of those outfits for me. I wore it several months ago to my part-time job and I wasn’t going to post it but it’s a real-life outfit so here you go! I can’t quite articulate what I don’t like about it, but I think it has something to do with the leggings. Also, that bun could use some work. The reality is that there are days like this where you make it work until you get home and change into your pajamas!

Blouse: Banana Republic | Leggings: Old Navy | Shoes: Mix No. 6 via DSW | Necklace: via Stitch Fix

Real talk: I probably wouldn’t have purchased these shoes if the saleswoman hadn’t told me they were made by a designer in Mallorca, Spain in small batches. Of course I thought they were gorgeous but even on sale, they were a bit pricey. But when I heard “Spain” I turned to Nick and said, “Mira. Estos son muy bonitas y de España. I have to have them!” I actually said a little more than that in Spanish, but he doesn’t really speak it. Anyway, these are my sweet Spanish shoes and I love them! They’re velvety, adorable, and fit perfectly.

This was the first and only time I’ve worn them, though, because I’m afraid I’ll mess them up!  I was so excited because I had a phone interview that morning and a girl-date night with my BFF that evening for dinner and a movie. It started to rain while we were at the restaurant and all I could think of was my shoes! We decided to ditch the movie and stay at the restaurant to drink wine and eat sushi (two of my favorite things) so I had a great time in my Spanish shoes.

More real talk: I had a hard time choosing flattering photos of me in this outfit because I didn’t realize that the top made me look very top heavy. Have you ever experienced this phenomenon where the way an outfit looks on you in the mirror is different (maybe better) than the way it looks on you in photos? If the pics are the truer version of what I looked like in real life, I might not wear this one out anymore.

Blouse: C.Luce via Stitch Fix | Cardigan & Pixie Pants: Old Navy | Shoes: Vert & Vogue | Necklace: Hawthorne Collection

What do you think of my sweet Spanish shoes?

Linking up with  Tucker Up |The Pleated Poppy | Walking in Memphis in High Heels | Why I Do DeClaire