Howdy stranger, ain't seen you 'round these parts before.

Yesterday evening, I went to my cousin Dakota's baby shower.  As the title of this post indicates, the theme was Western, and it was embraced to the fullest extent.

 
That's my Aunt Colleen, Aunt Patty, and my mother doing what they referred to as a "Western pose."  Yeah, I'm not sure either, but they have a good time in life.  The shower was held in the stables on my aunt's farm, and all the trappings of the evening took off from there.  And I got to drink lemonade out of a glass jar!  It was very exciting.

The place cards looked like they were racing!  Mine was red.  This pleased me.

This is the woman who cares for my aunt's horses unceasingly.  She has an excellent sense of humor.

Aaaaaaand, I wore an outfit!

I thought the tan tones in the skirt, the belt, and the shoes gave the outfit a nice Old West feel.  Goodness knows I can't resist navy, so I threw on my semi-fancy Zara top.  I was both comfortable and stylish.  Except it was hot, so my feet swelled, but I'm not complaining since this was a party for a pregnant person and I understand your feet swell quite a bit during that adventure.  Nevertheless, the shower was absolutely beautiful.  I'm thrilled for my cousin and can't wait to meet her little boy or girl!

Blouse: Zara

Skirt: J. Crew

Belt: Fossil

Wedges: Tahari

Bracelet: Gifted

A Walk in the Park

As I mentioned, I went to the Chicago Botanic Garden on Saturday with my lovely friends Kelsey and Lauren as part of my school's Senior Week activities.  I thought this was an odd activity, but it was extremely inexpensive, and since that is why it interested me, I assume that is why it interested the school.  The weather was really quite miserable, threatening to rain the whole day and hovering in the vicinity of 57 degrees.  Yuck.  I decided to go the maxi dress route because it would keep my non-pants-wearing self from freezing too quickly.  I feel borderline negative about how this outfit looks belted.  You tell me.

Gap Dress

J. Crew Sweater

Fossil Belt

Old Navy Flipflops

What's life without a little prancing?  Tragically, the weather meant I actually wore a purple hoodie over my outfit most of the day, so the garden-going public didn't even get to enjoy the majesty of my navy striped maxi dress.  Clearly, it's their loss.  Thanks to Kelsey for taking the pics of me!

In addition to worrying about my outfit and my bangs, I managed to see some pretty wild looking plants and appreciate the wonder of nature.

Really quite lovely, isn't it?  In spite of the weather, I'm glad I went and got to spend a relaxing day with my friends!  Hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far, I hope to experience warm weather soon, too!

Reality bites.

I almost didn't post this because I am somewhat ashamed of certain parts of this outfit, but I promised you more outfit posts, and it's time you learned about one of the sad realities of my life.

Yes, my friends, those are Uggs.  I ruined a nearly flawless outfit by wearing Uggs.  I desperately wanted to wear my Steve Madden oxfords, but it was cold and rainy and I didn't want them to get ruined!  So now you know that, in spite of the big game I talk, I often give in to the evil temper of the weather and just wear something that keeps as much of my body warm as possible.

As for the rest of my outfit, the cardigan and skirt are two of the impulse buys I made in the dead of February.  I'm absolutely in love with both of them, and they're so comfortable I feel like I'm committing some kind of crime while I'm wearing them.

Cardigan: J. Crew

Skirt: J. Crew

Belt: Fossil

Necklace: Banana Republic

Happy Fashion Fridays, everyone!  I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Vice Report: Week of 3/28/11

In addition to this being my weekly vice report, I'm participating in Kori of Blonde Episodes' linkup today, called "Fashion Fridays," so make sure you check out the posts from all the other participating bloggers!

This week's vice was a whole outfit (which is perfect, since it's "Fashion Fridays").  Since last Friday, I have worn this outfit four times.  Twice as an outfit for a whole day, once to an evening meeting on Monday (the pictures below), and once during my headshot shoot (from which I'll hopefully have a really cool photo to show you guys soon!).  And if any of you think that's gross, all I have to say is that the blazer and skirt are dry clean only, so let's not pretend that I wasn't going to wear them multiple times anyway.  You do it, too.

Zara Blazer, J. Crew Shirt, Fossil Skirt, Steve Madden Shoes, 

Banana Republic Necklace, Gifted Bracelet

As you can see, I refuse to make a normal face.  I won't do it and you can't make me.  The one with the creature hands is my particular favorite, although I do enjoy my faux wistful look off in the distance. You'd almost think I'm looking at something other than El tracks. 

I am in love with this blazer.  I got it at Zara in the fall, but couldn't really figure out how to wear it until recently.  The shirt was one of my impulse purchases back in February when it was randomly 50 degrees one week, and I adore the gold color of the stripes.  It also has buttons all the way down the back, which I'll enjoy showing off when I don't have to layer anymore.  The wool skirt was another of the treasures I dug out of my closet at home, I got it at Fossil two years ago, and I like how it toes the line between fancy and casual.  I was forced to put my coat on, as it is still uncomfortably cold here, and I thought I'd let you all know that we still have the shovel and bucket of rock salt on our front porch in case it snows again.  Boo.  I hope it doesn't, it actually wasn't that cold today.

Thanks to my roommate Quinn for taking the pictures with her fancy camera!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!