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

Here’s a little secret: I haven’t always wanted kids. Even in high school when I was busy scribbling hearts around my boyfriend’s name and dreaming of his last name behind my first name, I don’t recall wanting to have children. My daydream then consisted solely of marriage and a good career, and that dream remained steadfast for many years. In college, I started to scoff at the idea of procreating and when I was in my mid-and-late-twenties, I had pretty much decided kids weren’t for me. And Nick was on the same page. We were going to focus on degrees and careers and our house and our dogs and all the other goals we had stashed up our sleeves. Besides, who has time for kids? They’re dream killers, and they’re so. needy, and you have to wipe their butts for them. Gross! 

And then I turned 30.

Yesterday I talked about how my go-to formula lately has been sweater (top) + jeans + boots. Here’s another example of how well that works. It was almost 70 degrees so I got to wear a tee under the cardigan and I’m not complaining.

I wore this outfit to my doctor’s appointment the other morning and I told my midwife I was concerned that I’m not gaining enough weight. She said my belly and Baby S are measuring just fine, BUT I should start eating more peanut butter, avocados, loaded baked potatoes, ICE CREAM AND COOK OUT MILKSHAKES. Pretty much all of my favorite things… and it’s doctor’s orders! This pregnancy thing isn’t so bad 😉

It was totally warm enough to not wear the cardigan but it wasn’t too warm that I was uncomfortable in it, so I mostly left it on.

You can see the tip of my sock, which I think is cute. I hate the advice I’ve seen some bloggers give that your socks should never be visible but there really isn’t anyone looking down my shoe so I see no reason to worry about it. Plus, it could give a nice, unexpected pop of color.

Tee: Gap | Sweater Cardigan: Loft Outlet | Jeans: Liz Lange Maternity via Target | Boots: BP Trolley via Nordstrom | Necklace: via Le Tote

A whole month has gone by and I haven’t posted a single thing. For that, dear readers, I apologize. I’ve mentioned a time or two how I’m not the greatest blogger and that’s only made more difficult when life starts to get the better of you.

We received some unfortunate news a few weeks back; Nick was informed he’d be getting laid off from his job, along with about 200+ other employees of this company. Needless to say, I had to focus on more pressing matters than taking pictures of my clothes. I don’t make any money from this blog so it was put on the backburner while we kicked up our job search, reached out to our networks, applied to every job we could find, and considered the very real possibility that we may have to give up our life that we’ve worked so hard to build in a community we love so much.

There is a bit of good news, though! I have amazing friends that have helped out in big ways. Thanks to my friend, Sarah, I started a part-time job as the office manager of a women’s rights organization that I really admire. I’ve also started a job in retail and Nick has picked up a part-time job in a bottle shop so I know we’re going to be alright. I feel really confident that more full-time opportunities in my field will pop up soon and Nick has a ton of poosibilities (not to mention a great mentor) so I just know something will come along for him soon, as well; life can’t get me down just yet!

The other good news is that I regularly get dressed for both of my jobs so that means more outfit posts! In the meantime, here are two outfit that I was planning to share before taking a break:

Blue Stripes Vol. 2:

You’re not experiencing déjà vu, I have worn an outfit almost identical to this one here. When you find a good formula, you should stick to it. I don’t have a lot to say about this one so I’ll just leave it here.

Top & Scarf: Gap | Jeans: Banana Republic | Shoes: Gap Outlet | Necklace: Loft Outlet

Palazzo Pants:

How fun are palazzo pants? They feel kind of like pajamas when I wear them. I feel like they’d look better if I were about 5-10 inches taller but these wedges make them work. I’ve only worn these once because they’re a tad snug these days but maybe this summer I’ll throw them on more often.

Top: Banana Republic | Pants & Wedges: Target | Jewelry: Old Navy

Since I’m regularly getting dressed for work, I’ll have more posts this week so stay tuned!

So, you remember over a month ago when we celebrated Independence Day on the 4th of July? Yeah, this is what I wore that day so I’m playing catch up! We spent the afternoon/evening with our friends and their family, grilling out burgers, brats, and wings and drinking yummy cocktails and wine and playing fun games. I made a delicious watermelon and jalapeño salad that was a hit with everyone; I might post the recipe later. Then, after the sun went down and it was nice and dark, we set off a few fireworks in the driveway and took silly pictures. It was a really fun holiday.

There are a lot of blue stripes in this outfit, but they’re all in my accessories, so they aren’t overwhelming; I simply accessorized with stripes! It was super hot out so I don’t know why I wore pants and a scarf, but it just felt right. Probably because I was inspired by Kendi’s summer scarf outfit. We stayed inside most of the afternoon so I didn’t melt. I looked pretty good, too.

And here’s the fun blooper, which really isn’t *that* bad!

Hat: Banana Republic | Shirt & Scarf: Gap | Pants: kensie via Stitch Fix | Wedges: Target (old) | Short Necklace: Old Navy | Long Necklace: Wal-Mart

Linking up with:

Spotlight Weekly Link Up wtih Living in Color Style & Stylin’ In St. Louis

Charming Friday with A Pocketful of Polka Dots and Charming Lucy