Rainy Day Inspiration

Since it has been raining here for about a week, I had a really great idea! I love to read as you can tell from my post here. I love my book club and it's such a great way to read books I would have never picked before.

So without further ado....

My great idea is to start the first ever Blogger Book Club!

image via We Heart It

The general premise is this. Each month, a different blogger picks a book. I will post the book title and author for everyone. Then, any one who wants to can read the book. At the end of the month, the blogger that picks the book posts a little book review. In the comments of the post, we can have a little discussion on what we liked/didn't like. Or, the blogger who picked the book can pose some questions that came up while reading and the commenter can answer!

I will pick the first book to get the ball rolling so keep your eye out for that. Anyone else who wants to participate, email me at babesinthriftland@gmail.com

image via We Heart It

This guy

is sick. I took the day off to take him to the vet. Here's hoping he feels better!

Happy (belated) Easter!

Easter was really low key this year and it was so nice. Ace and I went for a run in the morning and then Shawn and I headed up to his parents for lunch. It was so good. We had steak, twice baked potatoes and fruit salad. His mom is so cute and totally went all out on the decorations like she always does. There were eggs, chicks, bunnies, you name it all over the house. Plus she made these awesome cupcakes and awesome chocolate birds nest thingys. So good. It was so nice out too. Blue skies, sun and about 60. So nice after all this crap weather!

Here is what I wore. One of my new skirts! It's a bit long but it was so flowy and perfect for the day. Plus I have no idea how to hem something with pleats :) You can't see it because we just took a couple quick snaps before we went up north but the skirt is this pale green with like a thistle print on it. I will for sure feature it in Favorite Finds soon. I can't wait to style more of my finds! Plus, you all get to see my new favorite purse! Isn't she cute?!

Skirt, cardigan, belt - Thrifted

T shirt- H&M

Shoes -UO

Sunnies - Forever 21

Earrings - a boutique in Baltimore

Purse - Target

Dog - Rescue :)

**Currently listening to Yelle - Ce jeu

Favorite Finds and FBFF Friday!

OK so I'm a little behind on my FBFF and Favorite Finds. Sue me :)

I can't wait to show you all what I got last night at Goodwill. I hit the jackpot. I went over there last night on a whim and it was about 8:00. I thought, "I won't find that much so I'll be in and out of here no problem." Well, I was wrong. I was apparently in the mood to look through every item. I looked at long and shortsleeved shirts, sweaters, skirts and even blazers. I NEVER look in blazers. I have to say I was inspired by this post and this one when I was looking at blazers. In the back of my mind, I guess I was also thinking of how I failed to complete the color blocking assignment for Bloggers Do it Better. I found both a bright yellow and bright orange blazer! I can't wait to wear them! If any of you have ideas, I would be grateful!

I found a TON of cool stuff, all oldish and super cute. Picture me in the dressing room with about 30 items too many and then they come over the loud speaker saying, "The time is now 9:50, bring your final purchases up to the register." Ahhh! I was throwing skirts on left and right and didn't even register some of them. Fits? Yep. Throw it in the take pile. I probably got about 6 skirts in addition to the 2 blazers. I spent about 45 bucks which sounds like a lot for a thrift store but all the things I got were totally worth the price. I think one of the blazers was 7.99 and the cheapest skirt was 2.99. So, I did get a lot of stuff!

Here is a skirt that I already styled here for EBEW polka dots. I love this skirt so I thought it should have its own post. (Plus, it was dark when I got home from Goodwill and I leave for work at 7 so the pictures of stuff from last night wasn't happening...)

Now to the questions! This is the 1 year anniversary of FBFF so we are answering the first set of questions this week. If you want to see how everyone else answered, head over to Modly Chic!

1. Which celebrity (celebrities) do you look to for fashion inspiration? I don't really pay that much attention to celebrity fashion to be honest. I feel like their style is really unattainable and they wear a lot crazier things than I could ever pull off. I do like how Alexa Chung puts together outfits. I wish I had her budget!

2. When it comes to your own personal style, what inspires you? I am inspired by other bloggers the most. I love seeing new ways to interpret items and also find trends/styles that I wasn't sure I could try. Plus, you get to see clothes you like on real women which is the most inspiring of all.

3. How do you hope to inspire your readers? I hope to inspire them to check out local thrift and vintage stores and find some really great things. I used to think thrift stores were gross and why would you ever wear someone else's clothes? Then, I started going to find cheap tshirts or costumes and found some really neat things. The most compliments I get are when I wear something I found at a thrift store. You get it for less and it's usually really unique. How often can you say that about other clothes?

4. Outside the realm of fashion who/what inspires you? I love flowers, nature, home interiors and books. I feel like any one of these can show you color combinations you wouldn't have thought of or inspire you in the materials or patterns. Books really transport me to another place or time or experience and I think that's really important.

5. And since Idol is ending… Which songs inspire you? Ha! I wouldn't say that songs inspire my clothing choice but they definitely improve my mood. This makes me want to dress more fun or comfortable depending on the day. I love songs like Neighbors by the Academy Is or more recently Forget You by Cee Lo Green. These songs put me in a great mood and I love hearing them over and over. Probably bugs my real neighbors ;)

Book Review - The Tiger's Wife

One of my favorite days of the month is my book club meeting with my friends. I LOVE to read and read every chance I get so it's really fun to meet up with people who love to do it too. So, I thought I would share with you what we just read, give a little review so you could check out the book for yourself. I am not pretending to be some great book reviewer but I thought I would share my pros and cons of each book so you can see for yourself!

This month, we read The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. This writer is only 25 years old! I couldn't believe it. I really loved this book and let me tell you why. First off, the book is about a young woman named Natalia who lives in a make-believe country that sounds very similar to WWII Russia/Yugoslavia/etc. Natalia grows up to become a doctor just like her beloved grandfather whom much of the story revolves around. The book takes you into the past to hear stories from the point of view of Natalia's grandfather when he was a young man and also when he was a child. You hear stories about the tiger's wife and the deathless man which are two key stories that weave throughout the whole book. You are also in present day with Natalia who crosses the new border to immunize orphans and comes upon a very weird situation when she arrives.

The story beautifully intertwines war and its consequences with fairy tales and legends that people hold on to in difficult times. Each character that is introduced has their own story and background so you are never left wondering what their life was like up to the point they are at right now. Plus, the magical and mystical elements never seem strange or out of place which I think is a great feat. All the characters believe in these superstitions and legends to a different degree. The interesting part is how each reacts when reality and the superstitions collide. Some disregard reason and cling to the legends much to their demise.

I hope you liked my little book review! It's really hard to summarize all that you liked about a book without giving anything away!

Erin and Ace

So, there is a contest going on at the fabulous blog Morgan and Lua. What you are supposed to do is take your favorite things about her blog and her style and imitate them in your own post. Morgan has a very enviable way of putting outfits together that look both cool and effortless. Very hard to do in my opinion. I wish we knew each other because she seems like the kind of person I would love to have in my life: kind, honest and smart. I love how personal and introspective her blog is which makes you feel like you know her. Plus, she has a super well behaved dog and that makes me really jealous :)

So, this is my attempt at a Morgan-esque post.

Scenes from my weekend part 84. Ace and I decided to head down to the river today because we missed the water and needed to get away. Isn't it nice to feel the breeze off the water and how its steady flow is so calming? We somehow ended up near the ocean so we could feel the breeze there too. Minneapolis is so close to the ocean, it's nice to get over there every once in awhile. My parents have a place up there so we took the chance to get away from the city!

After the ocean, we headed back to the river to take some more pictures. Lately, I've been feeling really unsure about things in my life that should be the things that I'm the most sure about. I'm not sure that I want to keep living in Minneapolis. I love being near my parents but I'm overcome with my wanderlust spirit that makes me want to pick up and go somewhere else. I would love to live in Britain again or somewhere in the US that is similar like Maine or Washington. I miss the fun I had there but most of all I miss the feeling I had of belonging. As soon as I got off the plane, I felt like I was in the right place and that this is where I should be. I've never felt that about any other place I've lived. I think it doesn't help that I don't have a lot of friends and I really don't like my job right now. Not to say that I hate living here or I hate the people that are here. I really don't. I love that my parents, my cousin and her husband, as well as my boyfriend and his family are all really close by. However, I have that longing in the back of my mind to go out and try something new and not rely on what's comfortable.

I think one of my goals is to make the most out of living here this summer. Shawn and I are thinking about getting scooters which will make exploring the city that much easier. I want to go to festivals, block parties and all that good stuff. I will try to make the most out of where I live because I really do love my neighborhood. I also thinking having this blog will really help. I'm going to try to show how great Minneapolis and St. Paul are for all the people who think the only worthwhile city in the Midwest is Chicago. This will force me to find fun and exciting things to document on the blog and be proud of where I live.

The day was so nice and sunny, we decided to head over to the railroad tracks because we had taken pictures here before that had turned out great. These tracks are really old and scary because they are right over the river with big gaps between the wood.

Target sunglasses, Chambray shirt thrifted (originally Gap), green cords from the Loft, boots thrifted, necklaces from Forever 21 and Target.

Then, we headed over to the state fair because it our favorite place for snacks. Even though it usually open only around Labor Day, we were happy that they opened it just for us. We had to get some cheese curds! They are my ultimate favorite Minnesota treat.

All in all, it was a very magical and special day. A quick trip to the river, then the ocean and over to the state fair all in the same day was tiring but worth it. Plus, I was rewarded with this smile so I knew all the running around didn't matter :)

Hope you like my attempt at your blog, Morgan!!

There is still time to enter the giveaway here! PS. Parts of this post are serious and parts are (obviously) made up and just for the sake of the post. Since Morgan always writes something personal on her blog, I wanted to try that too.

All photos of my are by Shawn. He is so much better than a tripod! Thanks schweetie!

Cold Days Ahead

So, it has been FREEZING here the past couple of days. We even woke up to snow (SNOW!) on Saturday morning. Needless to say, this was taken the day before the temperatures took a plunge. Today the sun is out and it looks a little more promising so I'm going to get dressed and head out to take some pictures!

Outfit Details:

Dress - Forever 21 (old)

Tights - Target

Shoes - Target

Cardigan - not sure

Dog - not for sale :)

The photographer's assistant was not happy to be tied up to these boards...

Picking it up and then I put it back down

Just wanted to share with you all a really fun part of my weekend. My friend from grade school and I reconnected recently and she invited me to go with her picking. Anyone see the show American Pickers? I totally thought it was going to be like that but I was pleasantly surprised. I was already to go digging in the dirt for hidden treasures but instead there were clean, nicely laid out stores with tons of treasures. Too many but I did narrow it down to a couple (well a bunch) of really cool things. I have been looking everywhere for a cute bedside table and I found one in the second store! Plus I got a globe and some other cool things. Here are some of the stuff I found plus a couple of iPhone pics of some ideas I want to steal :)

Using a ladder to hang stuff? Genius!

Divider made out of old doors, so cool

Super cool store.

My new bedside table, already in use :)

My new globe!

Outfit Details:

Plaid shirt - Thrifted

Grey shirt - H&M

Jeans -Target

Boots - Thrifted

Maxed out

Today I'm being LAZY. Well, lazy with the 'ol blog that is. Ace and I went for a run after work so now it's 6:30, the sun is setting and my face is bright red still. Plus, all the outfits I tried on with the 2 maxi skirts I own all looked terrible. How can you have a fat day right after you have a long run? Instead of feeling bad about myself, I decided to eat chips and salsa and do a little remix post instead :)

So, here are the ways I've worn my maxi skirts so far.

Happy maxi skirt day! See the way the other styled it here!

I'm a Mess

That's right, mess with a capital M. I forgot my SLR over at Shawn's sister's house so I had to use my little point and shoot yet again. Sorry inspiration Monday, you only get one terrible photo.

This time it was a toughie. Check out how the other fared over at Two Birds!

I feel like I totally cheated by wearing a dress and not mixing patterns but I did wear plaid and boots. So, 1/2 ain't bad right?

I look like one of those 5 year old girls in pageants where they have a fake smile and their eyes open nice and wide...

Dress- I want to say Loheman's (oh how I miss thee)

Cardigan - Nordstroms?

Tights and boots - Target

(sorry I totally don't know where my stuff is from today)

Hopefully Tuesday will be better. It's EBEW and maxi skirt day!!

Dishelved

Not much to say other than I wore this out to dinner at a place called the Lowbrow. It was in South Minneapolis in a super cute neighborhood. The food was all locally grown which was nice but it was awesome. Just good. So, we may or may not be heading back there. I was also in a bad mood because I walked all the way down to the river to take outfit photos only to find my camera totally dead. The lovelies you see below were from my trust point and shoot.

Please don't stalk me but this was taken right across the street from my house. You may recognize this from the last post (or not) but this is the top of the bridge and last post I was at the bottom. Synergy. I think. So, I really liked this outfit but my photographer did not let me know that my sweater was falling down and my shirt was all bunchy and weird. I may have to fire him :) Also, I wore this to work so this outfit is going strong since about 6:30 am to about 6:30 pm. I think I get a pass...

Outfit Details:

Sweater, shirt and skirt - thrifted (shirt also appeared in this favorite finds post)

Tights and shoes - Target

The photographer himself. Totally fired. ;)

Here Comes the Sun

Do do do. Love that song! Who doesn't love the Beatles though, right?

So, I think spring is finally here. Today we have sun, blue sky and it's about 60! Whoo hooo!!! Ace and I went for a little stroll and I took some pictures out by the giant grey wall behind my place. It is the bottom of a big bridge over the tracks. I was going to go down to the park but I got all nervous so I didn't. I need someone other than my tripod to take my pictures!

Outfit Details:

Shirt - H&M

Cardigan - Old Navy

Skirt - Thrifted and shortened

Tights - Kmart in ND

Shoes - Target

New sunnies - For Love 21

Blue sky and the photo to prove it!

Versatile Blogger Award

The lovely ladies at Two Birds Vintage gave me the Versatile Blogger award! How cool is that? My first one! I feel so special. These ladies are so nice and supportive of me. They always give me such nice compliments and lots of nice comments. Plus, they have great style and a great vintage collection too :)

so here's the rules:

when you get the versatile blogger award...

thank the person who gave you the award (thanks, gals!) and link back to their blog in your post. tell seven things about yourself and award seven recently discovered bloggers and contact the bloggers to let them know they received the versatile blogger award.

Ok here goes! Seven (hopefully interesting) things about me.

1. My favorite hobby is photography and I love it! I also have an Etsy shop and have done a couple craft shows too.

2. My favorite food is popcorn. My mom even wrote how much I loved it in my baby book. Close seconds are burgers, avocado, lasagna, cake and wontons. All super healthy.

3. I am an audiologist and went to school for 8 years. I am actually Dr. Foster. :)

4. I have a Scottish obsession. I studied abroad there and it embedded itself in my heart. I want to cry at least once a week because I miss it. Oh, and I lived there in 2004...

5. I have a dream to be a wedding photographer or own a vintage/consignment store.

6. I LOVE to read. I can sit all day and read with no problem. In fact, I read the last Harry Potter in a day. Sat and read from 10 am until like 2 am the next day. Dork alert! (I'm also the same way with movies).

7. I've just started running and I'm going to try to do a 5k at the end of this month.

Forgot to tag people!

1. Tick Tock Vintage

2. Alyson is Neat

3. Dirt on Your New Shoes

4. Postcards From

5. The Upside of Wonder

6. Tea and Biscuits

7. Spoils of Wear

Inspiration Monday er Tuesday

So, Two Birds proposed that we take inspiration from celebrities or other well dressed people and try to recreate the look. The first is from the ever cool, Alexa Chung. She has such a great style. If only I had her access to great items! I was totally in love with this look and was really wishing I had that exact skirt. Mission either find or make a similar one. :)

Here is the inspiration:

So cute, right??

So, what I took from it was 1) cardigan preferably dark, 2) graphic tee, 3) fuller skirt in a similar color palate to the cardigan.

I really wanted to try this with a patterned skirt but nothing I had looked right today. So, here's my interpretation!

Outfit Details:

Cardigan -Old Navy

Tshirt -Only the best band ever! The Academy is... bought at a concert as all band t's should.

Skirt - I want to say Metropark

Earrings -gift from my mama

Look ma, no tights!

Ace's birthday party

Just realized I never posted about Ace's birthday party. It was a super fun time! It was so great to hang out with friends and my parents. The dogs had a blast and loved their cake. I was able to put my cake decorating class skills to work too!

Some of Ace's friends and their moms :)

Getting one of his presents (with Retro eyeballing it)

Cake for the humans

The birthday boy!

Loved this outfit! I just got this top and the jeans on my recent trip to Savers!

Outfit details:

Shirt - thrifted

Cardigan - Old Navy

Jeans - thrifted (express I think)

Shoes: Target

Necklace - Forever 21