#LookingLucky 2: Floral

Thing that makes me happy: The fact that lots of fun people are joining the Looking Lucky challenge. And one of those fun people is going to win a $15 gift card to Lucky B Boutique soon! Remember all you have to do to get in on this action is wear one of the 10 trends (like floral, which I’m rocking today) and post a pic on Instagram. Get the details here.

Thing that doesn’t make me happy: Trying to take my own outfit photos in the middle of a cold, rainless hurricane. What, you think there’s no such thing as a cold, rainless hurricane? In April? In Indiana? Well all kinds of people believe in God even though they’ve never seen her, so I don’t know why I can’t believe in cold, rainless hurricanes when I just survived one. These were the select few photos when my bangs weren’t pointing directly east and/or I wasn’t making a really pissed off face.

Top // similar Jacket (on sale) // similar Bag // similar Bracelet // Shoes (on sale) // Lips “Romantic”

Make Lemonade

Well it’s still freezing. The best I can do is wear all of the bright, springy colors I can find. It’s like that old saying…When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Or wear a lemon sweater. You gotta stay positive.

Just kidding. It’s cold and everything is the worst. If anyone hands me lemons, I’ll be making them into something much stronger than lemonade.

similar Sweater // similar Shoes // similar Bracelet (under $5) // Sunglasses (on sale) // similar Scarf (under $20) // Lips

Plaid Peplum

See something you recognize? I mean besides me. Yep, it’s those boots I couldn’t stop blabbering about yesterday. I did indeed wear them 2 days in a row. This time it was for a fun karaoke night. I love karaoke, you guys. I mean, I don’t sing or anything, but I am so good at drinking and judging people. Hang on…before you tell me I’m a horrible person, let me just say: don’t bother; I already know.

While I have your attention, I gotta tell you wardrobe-challenge-lovers about the January Black Out Challenge. The goal is to NOT wear any black – with just a couple exceptions – during this cold and dreary month when we all stop caring about life or color. Don’t get too impressed that I came up with yet another genius idea, because this one wasn’t me! It’s the brain child of Nicole, and she’s the official challenge host over on her blog, VV Boutique Style. She already started the challenge, and I’ll join her to co-host for the last 2 weeks of the month. You do NOT have to be a blogger to participate, and everyone who tries the challenge for at least a week will be entered in a giveaway, plus both Nicole and I will do weekly roundups! You can get alllll the details here. I think it’s a really fun idea so I’m happy to help spread her idea to more people! Join in, or I will judge you like a bad karaoke singer.

Top (on sale for $9.99!) // similar Clutch* // Boots (in more colors/prints here) // Hat // similar Necklace // Jeans (on sale for $25) // Lips “Cruella”

*Clutch purchased with gift card provided courtesy of H&M.

Yellow & Pink

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Sometimes I dress like a pack of highlighters. In law school (that place I go in my spare time), it’s common to use a color-coded system of highlighting when you read cases – you use a different color to highlight the key points in each part of the opinion. That way it’s easier to find what you need to know quickly if you get called on (if you’ve seen Legally Blonde, you know how important it is to be prepared).

Under the color key I use, in this outfit I’m wearing a reasoning top and holding shoes. And my jeans are the smart and sometimes sarcastic notes I write in the margin in blue pen.

My goal today was to bore as many blog readers as possible. If you’ve actually read this far, color highlight me impressed.

similar Top (on sale) // similar Shoes (also available in dissent blue) // Bracelet // Sunglasses // similar Earrings

Blue Jean Baby

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (I’ve never understood how that living situation would work anyway – do you pay property taxes?), you probably know that colored jeans have been trending over the past couple years. But here’s a conundrum: aren’t all jeans “colored” unless they’re white? I mean when people say “colored jeans” or “colored denim” they’re talking about jeans that aren’t blue. Right? But blue is a color, people.

And as if that’s not enough of a conundrum, what do we call these jeans? They’re not regular jeans, but they’re still blue. So they’re blue colored jeans? Is anyone else’s mind exploding?!

Jeans* // similar Shirt (on sale) // Necklace // similar Shoes (on sale) // Bracelet // Watch

*These jeans were gifted to me LuckyB Boutique. All opinions and conundrums are my own.

Matchy Matchy

It might seem nerdy that my belt and shoes match, but it was an accident so I feel like that makes it OK. See watch:

Nerdy: “Look you guys! [pushes glasses up nose] I matched my belt and my shoes!”

Not nerdy: “Oh, do my belt and my shoes match? I hadn’t noticed. I just threw this on.”

See how that works?

Anyway, I’m happy to report that the first week of my Take One, Pass it On outfit remix challenge is on the books! Tomorrow I’ll post a recap of the first 7 outfits, along with links to other blogs who have already started the challenge. I already know about a few of you, but if you want your links included, be sure to link back to me somehow – You can post a link to this post on your blog (which should give me a trackback notification), on your Facebook page (tagging Sarah’s Real Life), or on Twitter (with the hashtag #TakeOne).

Shirt: Bar III

Puffer vest: Forever 21 (similar)

Jeans: American Eagle

Belt: Ann Taylor (similar)

Shoes: Sole Society

Bracelet: J. Crew

Lips: YSL Glossy Stain in Pourpre Preview

An Outfit & a Movie Review!

I’m going to be one of the few people (perhaps the only person) to tell you that I saw Lincoln, and…

Meh.

No offense to Honest Abe. He was a great guy. I just expected a lot more from this movie, especially with all the Oscar buzz. I thought it was going to be epic, but the only thing epic about it was the length. I thought it was the story of Lincoln’s life, but it’s really the story of how the 13th Amendment was passed. Don’t get me wrong – I’m in favor of the 13th Amendment. Slavery? Not the best idea. But about 90% of the movie was the process of passing this amendment in incredibly boring detail. School House Rock could have done it faster and in a more entertaining way.

I also would have expected Lincoln’s death to be the big, emotional climax of the movie. But they didn’t even show him getting shot! Someone announced his death, and then you get a glimpse of his dead body with people looking only moderately morose standing around him. It was weird.

To be fair, I’ll tell you what I did like about the movie. Visually, it was very interesting. If there were an Academy Award for Best Use of Silhouettes and Top Hats, Lincoln would win, hands down. And it does get better as it goes on. I could barely pay attention the first half (normally I never have that problem – I love movies!), but the second half was more plot-driven. And there were quite a few funny lines, which was an unexpected bonus.

If anyone else was unimpressed by Lincoln, please tell me so I know I’m not the only one!

Oh, and this is what I wore to see the movie.

Shirt: J. Crew Factory (on sale!)

Necklace: Charming Charlie (similar)

Jeans: American Eagle

Shoes: Nine West

Bracelets: Forever 21, Stephan & Co.

Coat: J. Crew (on sale!)

Sunglasses: Kate Spade via TJ Maxx

Follow me on Bloglovin’ for more outfits and movie reviews! OK, mainly outfits.

Anti-Uniform

It was really windy when we took these photos, so you’re looking at the select few pictures where I don’t have an insane-looking face with hair strewn across it.

Anyway, now that I’ve discovered how much I like layering button-down shirts and sweaters, I’ve found I don’t know what else to wear. I mean I have 6 or 7 button-down shirts and a couple dozen sweaters…there are so many permutations I can do! It’s so fun! But I’ve never been the type to have a go-to outfit or uniform, so I’m going to try to spread out all the options over the next few months. You guys have to keep me honest on this. If you notice me sporting this combo more than twice in a week, you have to call me out. But as long as it’s sporadic, you can go ahead and tell me I look awesome. And…go!

Sweatshirt: Forever 21, old (similar with sequins)

Shirt: J. Crew Factory, not available (similar)

Necklace: J. Crew, old (similar)

Jeans: Ann Taylor

Boots: Target

As Butch as it Gets

Oh my gosh, you guys. I’m only wearing one print. Can you believe it? And I decided to give the bubble necklace a chance at a comeback. In my extensive perusing of Pinterest and various blogs every day, I went from seeing bubble necklaces everywhere to seeing them nowhere. I’m not really sure what the traditional life cycle of a trend is, but this one seemed to mirror a fruit fly’s.

So now that everyone has apparently forgotten about the bubble necklace, you’re happy to see it again, aren’t you? OK, maybe you still think it’s overdone. But you have to admit: these big, cheery, green bubbles elevate this look at least 3 ticks above lumberjack. Right?

Top: Madewell

Necklace: available a million places for cheap, but it all started at J. Crew

Bracelet: Madewell (so darn cute, and fits small wrists like mine)

Jeans: Express

Shoes: Bakers (old, similar here)

Now & Then

This is an outfit I wore over the weekend to have lunch with my old freshman roommate, who lives in California, so I haven’t seen her in YEARS. Part of the fun – or horror – of going to college is getting thrown into a tiny room with a random person whom you may or may not like. Your freshman roomie is probably someone you’ll never forget, either because he/she was your very first friend in college, or because he/she was the freak of all freaks. Lucky for me, mine was the former!

We spent Sunday reminiscing about the good ol’ days (the parts we remember, anyway) and catching up on how our lives have changed since then. I think we’ve matured, but only slightly. Here’s a picture of us in our dorm room in 2003, and us today! We’re kind of like wine…age has only done good things for us.

Alright! Here’s the part where you can (a) tell me your thoughts on my outfit, (b) tell me a roommate-from-hell story, or (c) both.

Key-print scarf available at J. Crew Factory