Work & Play

Yay! I'm so excited about this skirt. I bought it half price during a Black Friday sale several months ago, but finally got the chance to wear it out for the first time now. I love it! So perfect for a lovely spring day, and it's long enough to wear at the office.

I had a half day at work today, so I just paired it with an old black scoop neck/square cut shirt in my closet and off to work I went! When I came home, I needed to get some other work done at a coffee shop. I really didn't want to take the skirt off, so I paired it with a Love Pittsburgh tee I just ordered, (as if my undying love for the city wasn't obvious enough) switched out the shoes and spent the afternoon in front of my laptop, sipping on some iced coffee. :)

For the work outfit, I think it would've been great to have a braided seed bead necklace, maybe a turquoise one for a bit of color pop. But alas, I didn't have one. Boo.

PS, Please excuse the pumpkin seeds on the deck from last fall we haven't gotten around to cleaning up. HA.

Outfits: Skirt - Modcloth, on sale for $27ish

Outfit on left: Scoop Neck Top, TJ Maxx; ballet flats - Toms, a Christmas gift.

Outfit on right: Tee - bought online here, Shoes - Modcloth from a few years ago (similar), sunglasses - vintage.

Floral child

Not gonna lie. Last week was a very rough work week. Luckily, a difficult week evolved into a great weekend. Mark and I had plans to go home to Pittsburgh over the weekend -- always a sign it's going to be good. But on Friday, at the office, my boss was asking around to see who'd be interested in free Bob Dylan tickets. Me. Duh. Only problem was, he was playing in Bowling Green, and I wasn't planning on coming back from Pittsburgh until Monday. But we made it work. We were also able to catch a baseball game and shop at H&M before having to drive back. So now I'm lazing it up on the vacation day I scheduled. :) And cleaning. Hopefully. :)

This is the outfit I ended up wearing on the drive back and to the Bob Dylan show. Very comfy and functional! BTW, these tights are amazing. I've had them for a year and a half (and knock on wood) are still without a snag.

And for the record, the dress was worth the buy! I've already worn it to work, too, with a cardigan and ballet flats. Unfortunately, I'll be shipping the top back I bought in the same order. (See previous post) It was too short and too boxy.

In other news, Mark shaved his beard. I love the beard, but honestly, this is a refreshing change. He'll have the beard back soon enough, anyway.

Oh, so didn't realize it until now, but I legit look a little preggo in the pic with Mark, and kindaaaa have my hand on my belly. Just a weird angle, with the wind blowing after I ate. So no, no upcoming children. I love our faces in it so it's staying up. :)

See? A normal looking tummy again!

Outfit: Slouchy Hat, H&M; Dress, tights and shoes (similar)... all Modcloth. (This might be showing my slight Modcloth addiction...)

Homesick/Thrifting Binge

Hey, yinz. So, work has been stressful, wedding planning has been stressful, and life overall has been stressful as of late.

Thrift store shopping has been a longtime outlet of mine. You just never know what you may find. On top of the extra stress, I've been missing home a lot. I miss friends, places, just knowing a place so well. Pittsburgh is truly home and probably always will be.

So lately, I've been doing a ton of thrift store shopping. And I feel like when I miss Pittsburgh and I'm shopping, many random Pittsburgh items just show up out of nowhere that I LOVE. I might have a little bit of a thrift store addiction, but at least the outlet is relatively cheap. When I was in high school, it was the only thing I could really afford, so I made sure to have unique, quirky t-shirts. I guess it stems from that, except now, it's all about pairing the thrift store finds with other tasteful items I paid more than a handful of change for. Here are some gems that I found lately, over the last month or so.

Mark deserves credit for this one. He found this pierogie race t-shirt the other day for 88 cents while we were home over the weekend. The t-shirt is in my size. (Thank God) Being Polish, raised on pierogies, and with Pittsburgh having a strange obsession with the dumplings, it made me happy. It's from the Pittsburgh Pirates 6th inning goofy race they always do.

Mugs are another thing I love to collect. I've been trying to cut back since we don't have room for any more, but I couldn't pass this one up. I found this in Lima when I was particularly down a few weekends ago. It made me smile. I think it cost 72 cents.

Here's a dress I found in Columbus a few weeks ago with a crazy awesome print! 4 bucks! I think it does need a little bit of work, maybe with the neck line and the length. I already cut out the 80's shoulder pads, but I think this will be a great, fun work dress once I fix some tweeks.

This last one isn't a thrift store find, but just a general AWESOME find.

Sugar skulls dress! It's so cute, I love it. I got it from H&M while I was home over the weekend. It was $25... really not much for a dress, but it sounds like a lot compared to what I paid for the rest of this stuff. I think I'll pair it with some cute tights and a cardi. Probably not a great work print, but I don't care!

There are so many other things I've bought that weren't pictured, including a wonderful brown fuzzy sweater, and some nick-knack type stuff.

Sorry I haven't posted more. I'll be sure to do so soon!

PS Thank my new iPhone for the photos. Made this post go so much quicker, instead of carrying around my Nikon and uploading them to the computer. Woo technology.

Hello and Welcome

Hi there. I'm Kate. From a young age, I've been a fashion prodigy.

Don't lie. You're jealous of the Minnie Mouse sunglasses.

KIDDING. Although I'd love to dig up those sunglasses and wear them if they still fit on my face.

I am a 20-something living as writer in Lima, Ohio. I was born and raised near Pittsburgh. The town where I currently live, (Lima, pronounced like the bean, not the Peruvian capital), is without any major college population or even a Target nearby, and it's a pretty drastic change for me.

This is more what I look like now:

FYI: I have a scarf addiction.

I can't say small town living the worst possible thing ever for a 20-something, but it's difficult at times. The vast majority of my friends are spread throughout the country. Even the closest ones are at home, nearly 250 miles away. However, I do have some great things going to for me. My fiance, Mark, lives with me. He's my rock and my best friend that gets me through tough days. And of course, I have a killer job, writing general assignment and health stories for the local newspaper. Despite deadline pressure, I meet awesome new people everyday and talk to them and write about them for a living. It's a pretty sweet gig. Oh yeah. I'm also planning a wedding for this fall. :)

So here, I want to expand those positive attributes in my life. With my free time, I want to dedicate this blog to making lemonade from lemons. (In this case, making an awesome project happen, Limanade, despite living in Lima, Ohio. Catchy, right?)

Here's to doing all the things I put off doing because I told myself I didn't have time: scanning old photos for a digital scrapbooking project, getting more inspirational with my cooking (which I already do sometimes via The Pittsburgh Kitchen), and being more creative with my style (something I've been trying to do on and off since high school). My biggest fashion inspirations probably come from Modcloth and thrift stores.

As I progress, I'll post stories and photos to keep myself motivated, and maybe even inspire others, too.