One blazer eight ways

It all started with this blazer that I found during my girls' weekend in Madison for a mere $35 on sale. And then Fran had the idea that since Anne, Kimmie, Fran, and I all had the same blazer, we should share eight ways to wear it. So here it is, one amazing blazer eight ways:

Fran / Kimmie / Anne

 

I love the style of all these ladies, so I was excited to see how they wore it! I've now worn this blazer on the blog with stripes and skinny jeans and today with white jeans and a grey tee. I've also worn it to work with grey trouser pants and out in Chicago with a fun black/white scarf, boyfriend jeans, and wedges. Who knew that one great coral blazer could be so versatile?

 

  

I'm headed home for the weekend after clinic is done today and I can't wait to see Stephen. We're going camping on Saturday night with some of the other medical students so I'm crossing my fingers for warm-ish weather (forecast right now is 40s). It's also supposed to rain, which has happened way too many times that I've tried to go camping, and during our last camping trip ended in a trip to the Laundromat to dry out our sleeping bags. So we shall see.

 

 Crazy bun: unintentional

Blazer: Gap

Grey tee: J. Crew Factory clearance rack three years ago

White jeans: J. Crew Factory

 

Have a lovely weekend!

Wedding inspiration: pink + mint

I'm guest posting at Stephanie's beautiful blog this week and here's a peek at what I chose for her wedding inspiration board! Check out the post here for more wedding inspiration and my style interview with Stephanie.

Wedding gown: J. Crew

Bridesmaid dress: Shop Sosie via Kerry's World

Pink shoes: Manola Blahnik

Other pictures via Style Me Pretty

Missing Stephen and a yellow sweater

So even though I'm overall really enjoying my rural medicine rotation, I'm also really missing Stephen. So much so that I spent a total of six hours in the car over the last two days so that I could go home for a night and see him. It scares me a little because this is kind of a foreshadowing of this fall: I am doing an away rotation in St. Louis in August (way beyond driving distance) and tentatively one in Tanzania in October (way, way beyond driving distance...although I am hoping that Stephen can come for part of this one). And that's only the beginning since I'm sure that residency will be 1000 times harder on us than this (and if there was any doubt in my mind, Grace's post yesterday convinced me otherwise). But one day at a time, right? 

I'm not normally a yellow girl, and this striped sweater is the only item of yellow clothing that I have in my closet besides one t-shirt. It's a recent find from J. Crew Factory (like the polka dot sweater yesterday, another excellent copy of a sweater from last year that I loved but never found on sale) and a perfect mix of sunny yellow and a neutral beige. I think this made it more appealing to me as a girl who never wears yellow?  And the timing was perfect for Marion's yellow trend-of-the-month.

Stripe linen sweater: J. Crew Factory

Boyfriend jeans: Gap

Necklace: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: the ones I always wear

Joining Marion, Alison, and Shanna.

Small town anonymity and a bright pencil skirt...

Oh, small town life. This morning I was more than a little surprised to see a large picture of my face in the local newspaper along with an article about my medical school's rural medicine track and a little blurb about me working here for the next two months. It's so funny what little towns fill their paper with (and also pretty funny that I had no idea that they were running the story). There is definitely no way to be anonymous here (or probably in any small town). I'm loving it though; every day in the clinic is different from the last and I feel privileged to get a glimpse into the patients' lives along with some of the struggles that go with living in a small town: economic hardships for many families and a definite shortage of physicians/health care.

 As they say, hindsight is 20/20, but I definitely should have ironed this skirt (and probably the sweater). The truth is that Stephen irons most of my clothes (if they really have to be ironed) and he was working last weekend.

I don't think that work clothes have to be boring, and hence my slowly growing collection of colorful pencil skirts. The camel polka dot sweater was sort of an unintentional pairing with the bright blue skirt, but I think it works. This sweater is the J. Crew Factory version of the regular store version last year, and I snagged it the minute that it went on sale + 30% off (I loved it last year but it was too pricey). It's a fun neutral and a light linen knit that's perfect for spring.

 Camel polka dot sweater: J. Crew Factory

Blue striped button-down: Gap

Cobalt pencil skirt: J. Crew Factory

Joining Bri for Third Thursday Threads: Workwear and Mix and Match Fashion for What I Wore to Work.

Also linking up with Style Elixir, Kiwi Style, The Pleated Poppy, Rolled Up Pretty, Adrienne, and Tucker Up.

What I wore Mother's Day: Navy blazer + mint scarf

Like always, this weekend passed by far too quickly. I'm back to my rural medicine rotation tomorrow and missing Stephen already. Poor guy was sick all weekend, he texted me from work yesterday to tell me that his ear felt like it was "going to explode" so like any good medical student I got my otoscope ready. After looking in his ear (and confirmation by a real professional, my dad who is a physician) he definitely has an ear infection. I feel bad that I'll be gone all week but I was a good wife and made one of my three successful recipes in the crockpot before I left (tortellini sausage stew) so that he at least has something to eat while I'm gone.

It snowed on and off all weekend (seriously) and my ankles almost froze today in my flats, but I refuse to wear boots in May (and with the blazer they made my outfit look too equestrian anyways). This is the blazer I found from Land's End with my tried-and-true white jeans (I've been wearing them constantly, forget the "no white before Memorial Day" rule). Also, I love mint and navy together.

Blazer: Lands End

Scarf: Target

Tee: J. Crew Factory

White skinnies: J. Crew Factory

Shoes: same as always

Pinterest inspiration for today's outfit...there's just something about a navy blazer/scarf!

Via

And Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mom. She is the most selfless person I know, has encouraged and inspired me in so many ways, and is beautiful inside and and out!

I love you mom!

Linking up with Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday. Also joining Doranda and Jenni.

Chicago, small town life, and weekend inspiration

Joining Jen for another round of Friday Quick Takes (and my usual randomness).

1. I wish that I would have remembered to take more pictures in Chicago last weekend, but Stephen and I had an amazing time. We spent the first night with the friends who introduced us (my old roomie Megan and her husband Pete, Stephen's close friend) and the second at the Embassy Suites downtown. This was the view from our hotel room in the morning:

2. It was so nice for Stephen and I to have a mini-vacation together. We enjoyed every minute; Stephen works every other weekend and it's hard for me to to relax on his weekends off when I'm in the middle of a rotation, so we fully cherished the time that we get to spend together last weekend while I was on my break.

 

 

3. I just finished the first week of my rural rotation and I loved it. I am now trying to convince Stephen that we should move to a small town after I finish my residency...it's going to take a lot of convincing, since he's definitely still a city boy.

 

4. Stephen came to visit me this week, and going out to dinner at a restaurant in the town nearby didn't help my cause of trying to convince him of the merits of small town life. I had to call to get directions which consisted of "Go to the stop sign [as in the only stop sign in the town] and turn left." Once we got there, the restaurant was like something out of an old movie, and definitely a cultural experience.

 

5. Despite my potential aspirations of becoming a small-town doctor, I admittedly am happy to be home for the weekend where there is not only 3G but also a Target and more than one stop sign.

 

6. Loving these J. Crew pencil skirt styling ideas.

 

Via

 

7. Something to think about.

 



Via
  

Have a lovely weekend!

Striped tee + jeans: Day to Night

 

For our trip to Chicago last weekend, I wanted to keep my packing to a minimum and so I decided to wear my jeans (J. Crew Factory toothpicks) and striped tee (H&M for $9.95) two ways.

My 'day' outfit included my favorite brown boots, new chambray blazer (thank you 50% off J. Crew Factory sale), and a neutral scarf.

Chambray blazer (J. Crew Factory for 50% off)

Striped tee (H&M for $9.95!)

Toothpick jeans (J. Crew Factory)

Boots: (Famous Footwear)

Scarf (Fashionable)

For our night out in downtown Chicago, I switched out my chambray blazer for a black one and added a chunky pearl necklace and nude wedges.

Black blazer (Nordstrom Gibson, thrifted via Ebay)

Striped tee: (H&M $9.95!)

Pearl necklace (J. Crew Factory)

Toothpick jeans (J. Crew Factory)

Nude wedges (J. Crew Factory)

I've been a little blazer-happy lately and I think for good reason: they are the perfect extra layer for spring, dress easily up or down, and come in so many fun colors and fabrics!

Linking up with Style Elixir, The Pleated Poppy, Wardrobe Wednesday, Shanna, Alison, and Adrienne.