Modcloth Outfit Challenge

I recently received an email from a Modcloth stylist to participate in a styling challenge. The piece to style the look around was the  Evening of Extravagance Dress. I don't have a lot of opportunities to wear really fancy dresses so I decided to dress it down a bit. Now I feel like I could wear it any night of the week instead of just a special occasion!  I hope you like the look I came up with! 

Modcloth Outfit Challenge by babesinthriftland featuring vintage style jewelry

2014 Will Be My Year

Happy New Year! I think I said this last year but I don't really like to make New Year's resolutions. It makes it feel like I'm destined to fail. No one seems to follow through with them so in my mind, it's ok not to either. I really want to take this year by the horns and not wait for life to happen to me anymore. So, I would like to make some big and small goals for this year instead. I'm hoping that posting them here will hold me more accountable so here we go!

1. Get out into the world: I feel like all my friends are in relationships and I don't have anyone to hang out with. Instead of feeling sorry for myself like I did last year (well, yesterday), my goal is to get myself out there. The tangible things I can do are to join a group, contact the friends I have to do things instead of waiting for them, get on my bike or walk around my neighborhood, etc. My small goal under this is to join a club or start something like a class to get out and meet new people.

2. Be healthy: I don't want to make a goal to say "Lose weight" because that feels like a set up for failure. At the end of 2013, I've started working out with a trainer 2 times a week. Now, I want to try to go to the gym more and eat healthy more often. My small goal for the beginning of the year will be to research healthy foods and introduce them into my diet one at a time. I can't do it all right away or lose 20 lbs overnight so I'm going to start small and keep working my way up!

3. Go on a Trip: My trip to Europe was so awesome last year. I know I won't be able to do anything on that scale this year but I want to take at least one "just for fun" trip. Maybe I'll go to CO to visit friends or get a couple people together and go somewhere together. It's always great to have something to look forward to!

4. Get Rid of (some) Debt:  This one is not going to be easy but I'm going to try. I'm hoping to be smarter with money in 2014. I know that my student loans won't be going away anytime soon but I can get rid of my credit card debt with some work. I think my smaller goal will be to do the card with the highest interest first and work my way through them. I'll keep you up to date on this progress (if you're interested) to hopefully keep myself on track. I would like to buy a new car since mine is horrible in the snow so I know that paying off my debt will help me to do that. I won't be buying a car without getting that debt down though. End goal!

5. Do more with my blog: I mentioned this in my recap/blog birthday post yesterday but I feel like I've lost sight of this blog. I don't really post that many outfits anymore or do all that I want to do. I think I might start a whole new blog instead. I want to start an online store possibly or do more with the Etsy shop I do have. So many ideas rolling in my mind. What do you think? Change this blog or start over?


I would love to hear some of your goals and how you are going to stay on top of them and get them done. I could use some motivation!

Happy Birthday Blog!

I'm a couple days late on this but my lil ol blog is 3! One of my goals for 2014 is to do more with this blog. Most of the blog this year was taken over by my 30th birthday trip to Europe. I love travel and taking travel photos but I think I need to get out in my own town more this year and share that with all of you. I enjoy meeting people who share similar interests and what better place to find them but through the world of blogging! I kept up with some great friendships that I've made through this blog and also got to meet some bloggers I admire at a NYFW party. If I can push myself to do more with this blog I think that more friendships will follow!

I would love to hear what you would like to see more of in 2014! Here are some of my ideas:
1. More outfits!
2. Local places I love
3. Minneapolis/St. Paul street style
4. More adventures!
5. More crafts

Thanks for sticking around with my sporadic posting this year, you all mean the world to me! PS. I really hope flickr goes back to how things were previously embedded. I REALLY don't like this new version.

Christmas DIY - Christmas Countdown

I had a fun time with this one! The best part of this DIY is you can really make however you want depending on your preference. You could change the colors, change the tree to a little house or whatever you can dream up!

What you will need:
Wood blocks 7-10 small and 2 large
Wood plaque
Acrylic paint in various colors
Small fake tree
Glue (I used E6000)
Optional - silver beads for the tree, small star for the tree topper

First, paint the plaque and blocks in whatever colors you want. I painted the plaque and large blocks white as well as the little blocks blue, pink and green.

I painted the words "til Xmas" on the small blue blocks with white paint. I added numbers to the large blocks. One block has 1,2,7,8,9,0. The other has 1-6. Don't quote me on whether this will work for all the dates but I think it will!  Lastly, I made the pink and green blocks into little presents. Once everything is dry, glue the til Xmas and tree down to the plaque. Decorate the tree with your beads or whatever you've chosen. There you have it! Easy peasy! If you decide to make your own countdown, please link back to it in the comments so I can see what you've come up with.

Have fun and happy holidays!

Niece Time

I went out to DC the weekend before Thanksgiving to take photos for my sister and brother-in-law for the Christmas cards. We had a hungry baby and a grumpy toddler but I think we got a couple of good shots! It was so nice of my sister to ask me to come take their photos. Instead of paying a photographer, they spent the money on my flight and I got to see my favorite babies!

I also took some photos of the two girls at my sister's place the day before. You can see how much Charlotte loves Juliet (before she tried to push her off her lap) and it's so cute to see! She gives her lots of kisses and always wants to hold her hand. Melts your heart!

  

I'm totally biased but I think they are the cutest in town! I can't wait to see them again in a couple weeks for Christmas :)

Vienna Part Two - Schonbrunn

The last part of our day was spent at Schonbrunn Palace. This is the former summer palace of the Habsburgs and is really magnificent. I've also been to Versailles and Schonbrunn is somewhat similar but has a much more laid back vibe to me. I wish we had been able to tour the inside but we didn't really have much time. There was also Europe (and I think the world's) oldest zoo on the premises so if I ever go back, I would love to see that too. We ended our time at Schonbrunn the way Austrians do it, with dessert! :)

  

Next and final stop is Prague!

Vienna Part One

Wow, welcome to December! It's only taken me 6 months to post all these photos. However,we are almost to the end of the trip! One of our last stops was Vienna. When we were planning our adventure from the comforts of our homes, we decided to go from Venice to Prague via Vienna. Little did we know, there is no train from Venice to Vienna... we took a train to the border of Italy and Austria and then had to take a bus from that town to Vienna. It was a long journey but northern Italy is so so beautiful. The mountains, mist, green grass and cute little skiing cottages were just breathtaking. Totally worth the bus trip! We stayed with a very nice couple in Vienna via Couchsurfing and the husband was actually from MN! How crazy right?

The first day we were there, we wandered by ourselves and had a drink at night with our host who was lovely! Vienna has a very European, almost elegant looking downtown. All the buildings are very well kept and many of the facades are very elaborate. I think that's why I liked it so much! It also felt very old world. There were lots of horse-drawn carriages and people dressed up like  Even though it is a large European city, it felt warm and welcoming. I really liked Vienna a lot and hope to go back again someday to see more!

St. Steven's Cathedral

Pretzels as big as your head!

Hofburg palace

Since there was a fee and my friend didn't want to go, I visited the National Library, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, on my own. To say this place was amazing would be an understatement. If I could live in a dream world, this would be my library and I would flit around reading and sailing around on the rolling ladders. 

  

After the library, we stumbled upon a band playing in a big square. It added quite a bit of atmosphere to hear them playing while you were walking along taking in the sights.

The front of the National Library

Tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of our time in Vienna. We headed over to Schonbrunn Palace which was amazing!