Tag Archives: the limited

“That’s how librarians are”

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(Don’t forget my knitted gloves and mittens giveaway!  It ends at midnight EST tonight)

I substituted at a media center in a high school this week, and on my first day, I was mistaken for a student twice.  On my second day, I decided to make sure that my outfit made it clear that I was an adult, not a student.  There’s nothing quite like a good dose of librarian chic when you actually are a librarian.

I decided to go for a sort of Joan Holloway look with this outfit, wearing my favorite pencil skirt.  I paired it with my new Anthro blouse, and then echoed the colors of the blouse in everything else.  A little yellow in the handbag, red in the shoes and necklace, white with the cardigan.  To me it seems intuitive, but one of the best ways to create a put-together outfit is to wear a beautiful pattern blouse with a skirt or trousers, and then echo the colors of the blouse in your accessories.  This works equally well with patterned dresses.

Because I was substituting all week, I’m quite behind on my blog reading and commenting.  So if I didn’t visit your blog this week, please know that it’s nothing against you.  I’m still trying to learn how to balance all the various aspects of life and work. Because I haven’t had time to read blogs this week, there won’t be a Link Love post this afternoon.

How do you balance life and work?  How do you make time to read other blogs?

Blouse: Anthropologie
Salmon Tank:  The Limited (via Revolve)
Cardigan: Ann Taylor LOFT
Skirt: Semantiks
Shoes: Tsubo Acrea (via www.ebay.com)
Purse: Vintage (via AdVintagous)
Necklace: ??, via clothing swap
Cuff: ??, via Classy Consignments

Quote: The Boy who was Raised by Librarians, by Carla Morris

“Kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss”

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I generally tend to be about five days behind in posting outfits.  This helps to keep putting posts together from being too stressful, because I don’t have to worry if there simply isn’t time to take a picture of an outfit one day.  Thus, this is actually what I wore on Valentine’s Day.

To be honest, I don’t really take the holiday too seriously.  My first job was working for Hallmark Cards, so I’m a bit disillusioned at the commercialization and pressure that tends to come with Valentine’s Day.  My boyfriend and I kept it simple.  He gave me some chocolate, and we relaxed and watched movies and cooked a really tasty dinner of mashed potatoes and gravy with turkey and brocolli.   This outfit was the perfect compliment to a low-stress, relaxing day, and the floral pattern kept it a bit romantic.

When I picked up this blouse off the sale rack at Anthropologie last week, it was mostly on a whim, because I was attracted to the pattern.  I didn’t really expect to get it, since I have so many sleeveless patterned blouses.  But now, I absolutely love it, and I think it’s going to become a wardrobe staple for me in the coming months.  It’s funny how you sometimes find your favorite items when you least expect to.

What’s one of your favorite wardrobe items that you stumbled onto without really looking for?

Blouse: Anthropologie
Salmon Layering Tank: The Limited (via Revolve)
Cardigan: J Crew (via Ebay)
Jeans: Express
Shoes: Born Codder
Necklace: garage sale
Ring: from my mom
Bangles: Jill Popowich

Quote: Anatole Over Paris, by Eve Titus

Shopping Plan: Weeks 1 & 2

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February 1st marked the beginning of my Great Shopping Plan of 2010 (which is really just a budget, but calling it “Great Shopping Plan” makes it seem so much more fun).  At this point, I’m allowed to spend $125 a month on clothes, focusing on (but not limited to) shopping local, second-hand, and handmade.  I also created a list of 50 wardrobe gaps to concentrate on this year.

So how did I do the first two weeks?

One of my favorite places to shop in Tampa is Revolve Clothing Exchange.  As I’ve mentioned before, you can bring in your clothes that you don’t want anymore and get store credit for items that they accept (thus the Exchange part).  I had a nice bit of store credit after a recent closet cleaning, so I got a few things.

Gap Denim Jacket  $12 (free with store credit)
Gap filled: Structured Jacket

Sparkly Rampage Vest  $10 (free with store credit)
Gap filled: Sparkly Awesomeness

Salmon tank: The Limited $4
Blue tank: Target $4
Seafoam cami: Old Navy $6

Gaps filled: Layering tanks/camis

Okay, I realize that Sparkly Awesomeness wasn’t technically on my gaps list.  But I have been wanting something sparkly for awhile, and this vest is just so awesome and unique (and polyester-free!) that I had to go for it.  This counts under my provision of buying things that I love.

Since February is my birthday month, Anthropologie sent me a lovely coupon for 15% off my total purchase.  Armed with a bit of early birthday money, I went to my local Anthro ready to shop.  I ended up being a bit disappointed, because several of the items I really liked had more than 50% polyester content, which is unacceptable to me, especially at Anthro’s price point.  I’ve always loved Anthro for their quality fabrics, and it really concerns me that they’re starting to use more and more polyester, yet still charging the same prices.  If I’m going to spend $88 on a blouse, it better be cotton, modal, silk or linen.

Anyhow, gripes aside, I managed to find some gems:

15% b-day discount included)
Catch and Release Scarf: $28
Road Tripping Belt: $33
Blouse: $34 (on sale)

Gaps filled: Blue scarf, waist cinching belt

I really love the things I bought.  I’ve been eyeing this belt since it went online, and I really needed a black waist-cinching belt.  I’ve also really been wanting a light blue scarf, and this one is really cozy and delightfully unique.  The blouse doesn’t really fill any gaps, but it looks gorgeous on, and will definitely be a staple in spring and summer.

So, everything I bought at Revolve was on store credit, so it doesn’t count against my budget.  I spent $95 at Anthro, and $50 of that was birthday money, so only $45 count against my monthly budget of $125.  That leaves me with $80 for the rest of the month.  Not too bad.

ETA:  Because some were interested, the items that I skipped out on at Anthro were the Rivers Rise Top and the Percussive Cardigan.   It really is a shame, because both items looked gorgeous on, but I just can’t stand the feeling of polyester against my skin.

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