Mustard Girl

Oh man, out of all the clothes I've borrowed from the Flock Together girls, this dress may be the most difficult to give back. It's one of those dresses that just felt like it was made for me the moment I put it on. It belongs to Marisa from The Shades of Monet Chronicles and, as much as I'd love to pretend it got lost in the mail, it looks even cuter on her. You can see how she wore it here, plus how the ever lovely Katie of Butterflies and Snapdragons wore it.

Cozy

It's getting to that point where it's almost too cold to wear tights and I'm not okay with that. I have a couple pairs of pants I don't mind wearing, but I am in no way prepared to give up my dresses every day. I'm glad to be back at school at keeping busy, but it didn't take long for me to miss California weather. It was definitely a nice trip home (and a good break from everything) and I'm glad I'll get to go back again soon for winter break. Leaving home from Thanksgiving break is always the easiest trip to leave as it's only three weeks until I'm home once again for a full month.

Elsewhere

If you're looking for me today (who isn't?), you can find me elsewhere. I'm guest blogging over at the wonderful Of Corgis and Cocktails about dressing stylishly for travel, go check it out!

Dress: Francesca's Collections

Sweater: Thrifted

Scarf: UO

Boots: Target

Ring: Jewelmint

Belt: Thrifted

Minty Fresh

After wearing this dress (and by that I mean my favorite dress) as a shirt last time, I decided to try it a skirt this time around. Who knows? Maybe I'll try it as a headscarf next time I wear it. 

Short Stuff

Despite being incredibly short at 5'2", somethings still manage to be short on me. I blame it on my chest and hips, which hog up all the material. That being said, I'm still absolutely in love with this dress I borrowed from Jessi. I doubt many of you are unfamiliar with Jessi's blog, Haircut & General Attitude, but if I'm wrong about anyone, change that immediately. I've always wanted to steal her entire closet so I was, of course, beyond happy when she joined Flock Together and actually granted me access to her clothes. Not only is the color of this dress spectacular, but it's crazy soft as well. Katie of Butterfly Loves Snapdragons just wore this on her blog too and, of course, looks amazing in it. I love getting the opportunity to see how girls around the country style the same items.

Simplicity

I don't really have time to talk today as I need to leave for a work pot luck in a minute, but I had a little time to spare for a post. Here's a fairly simple outfit I wore today, and it's one of my favorites for some reason. Simple in just the right way, just the way I like it.

No-fail

I like to think of this as my no-fail dress. It's one of those pieces that never really needs much styling, but it always works. I probably wear it too often, but I feel good in it every time it's on so I see no harm in over-wearing it. Even if I've been over-wearing it for two years now.

Little black dresses

Things that caught my eye this week #19

I'm absolutely smitten with everything in Son of a Sailor's shop

A coffee bean printed infinity scarf? Little Minnow knows me too well.

I'm drooling over everything from Ada Blackjack

Vonlenska Vintage has too many good pieces. Too many, I tell you.

I'm pretty obsessed with the hand painted tops from People Like Art

Lastly, I love everything from The Bocket Store

Feels like fall

I felt especially autumn-like (is that even a word?) in this outfit and the leaves covering the ground sure didn't hurt. This was one of the dresses I picked up at the Urban Outfitters outlet with Marlen and Katie for a whopping $10. It's a little different than something I'd normally gravitate towards (for starters, it's strapless), but I think that's kind of what drew me to it in the first place. I tend to play it a little safe sometimes and only stick to things I know work, but I'd like to start adding some different pieces to my closet. Plus, how could I say no to such an awesome print? I'm starting to regret not buying everything in that outlet.

Now that we're in full fall mode and Halloween has passed, I'm going to be one of those annoying people who counts down until Christmas. I may or may not be helping Jennifer decorate her tree this weekend and I might have already started discussing Christmas presents with my brother, Lucas. I also might be passing up purchasing new clothing and trying not to eat out as much to save my money to buy presents. I'm really big into giving good, thoughtful presents. What can I say? I'm a giver.

In other news, I'm writing this in between my last interviews and I'll have my staff for next semester decided by this afternoon. I'm excited to be the boss (though I prefer "big woman on campus"), but man, do I hate the idea of telling people they aren't being hired. If anyone wants to do it for me, feel free to volunteer. 

Dress: UO

Cardigan: UO

Boots: Target

Scarf: ASOS

Ring: Jewelmint

Bracelet: H&M

Forever in stripes

Like most sane people, I have a love/hate relationship with Forever 21. It's just one those places that you hate going into. You know even before you walk in that the place will be overwhelming, the fabrics will be cheap, the knockoffs will be obvious, and you'll hate yourself for buying something. Yet, without fail, you'll find multiple things you like and you'll walk out with a purchase. Naturally, this is what happened when I went there last week while in Chicago.

I remembered loving this on Nataly awhile back and decided to try it on for myself just for fun. I was completely smitten with it instantly and now I never want to take it off. That's normal, right? I got quite the few compliments on it yesterday, including the old woman who works at the convenience store on campus who said, "I always love your ensembles, they always look so good on you," and told me this one was her favorite and a very suspicious looking guy on the street. Consider my life made.

In other news, I'm wearing the death out of these tights. I try to look at it as getting my money's worth.

Thank you to everyone for all of the kind words of encouragement about being stressed out! I'm halfway through interviews, done with a speech and a group project, and my cold is already getting better. Not bad.

Dress: Forever 21

Cardigan: American Apparel (consignment)

Shoes: UO

Necklaces: Jewelmint

Ring: H&M

Tights: Target

A bright spot

I had written this long post about how I've been ridiculously stressed out with slowly learning to take over as editor-in-chief of the paper, interviewing people for editor positions, choosing between my close friends for jobs, getting sick, juggling the paper with catching up on school, my other job, and being president of a club, and not having enough energy int the morning to put on anything more creative than this...but I decided to just boil it down instead. Things seem a little hectic right now, but I get to go home for Thanksgiving in less than two weeks and I'm enjoying the opportunity to take on so much responsibility. Hopefully I'll get some better outfit posts this week, but until then, I hope everyone else is having a lovely, stress-free week. I bought some great things while in Chicago (like this sweater), plus, if you're following me on Instagram, you know I got incredibly lucky with my Modcloth Stylish Surprise and I can't wait to share it all.

Sweater: Forever 21

Skirt: Modcloth

Coat: Old Navy

Bracelet and spike ring: H&M

Shoes: UO

Guest Post: Jessica of Midwest Muse

My last guest post comes from Jessica of Midwest Muse. I've loved Jessica's style ever since I first discovered her blog (plus, I love anyone who proves that people in the Midwest can have style), but over the past couple of months I've really come to love her as a person. I can't think of anyone who could be easier to work with starting Flock Together and she's someone who I can see myself being good friends with in real life. Have fun reading about one of the best Forever 21 finds I've ever seen!  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello! Jessica from Midwest Musehere sharing a story about one of my most loved dresses.

I bought this dress from Forever 21 on a whim several years ago. Buying from Forever 21 is always a gamble and especially from F21 online. I had no real expectations for this dress and I'm fairly certain it was less than $20. It arrived and I was in awe. The dress is incredibly thick and sturdy. It's breezy light weight and has the right amount of movement to make it transitional between the seasons. It's also a great length for modesty and all occasions that require it.

I don't know when I realized this dress was a go-to for me. If I don't know what to wear, I throw this on and I'm good to go.

I've worn this dress in just about every state I've ever visited. If there's one dress that everyone I know has seen me in, it's this one. In the winter (top left), I wore this on a mini-trip to Detroit where I spent time with my beautiful and lovely friend Katie. Two of these photos were from different trips to Colorado (many years apart) and the last picture was in Pittsburgh from a show. Over the past four years I've worn this dress all over the country and in more cities than I can remember.

This is THE traveling dress. It's been all over the country, to shows, to dinner parties, to the bar, with best friends, old friends, and on and on. This dress has been with me for some of the best and most important moments in my life and that's why it's one of my most worn dresses and I hope it will continue to travel from state-to-state, town-to-town and through my many circles of evolving friends.

Guest post: Kristian of Never Fully Dressed (Without a Style)

My next blogger while I'm away in Chicago is the lovely Kristian of Never Fully Dressed (Without a Style). Now that I think back (way back to May of this year), I'm fairly positive that Kristian was the one the first blogging friends I made when I first started. Every time I visit Kristian's blog, I'm amazed at her stunning photos and how her styling ability makes even the simplest of items look exciting. I hope you enjoy her story of this outfit as much as I did!

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Hello, all! I'm Kristian of Never Fully Dressed (Without a Style), guest blogging for Room 334 today. Elana asked for outfits with a story, which is fitting since she's away at a journalism conference.  Thinking about it though, as bloggers, we are always crafting a story with our clothes and our posts. When thinking of what to share on Never Fully Dressed, I like to incorporate my backgrounds and weekend-doings with what I am wearing, creating a sense of a visual story.

Below, you can see this when The Boy and I recently went on a trip to the true Middle of Nowhere- Molt, Montana.


What I Wore: Tank top and sweater (Forever 21),  skirt (Pin-up Girl), tights (Old- Target), ballet flats (Old Navy)

Molt, Montana is where the road ends- well, there are dirt roads out, but only one real road in. It's four houses- two abandoned- a general store and a hardware store that these days has been repurposed to be a cafe. Judging by the number of cars in the lot, probably twice the town's population was packed into the cafe. We opened the door to a place with every tabled filled; lucky for us, Molt's cafe does seating family style- that is, if there is a free seat, sit down! Honestly, it wasn't a hip crowd so much as the hip-replacement crowd with most people being over sixty or seventy, but what interesting people they were! At our table were two older couples whose life story we soon got- the born-again Christian Wilbur who sported a handle-bar mustache and his wife along with Dick who can do calligraphy, use divining rods and teach survival classes and his wife.

So why the crowd? Not the food, though its good, nor the company though you'll sit down strangers and rise friends. The real draw though is the bluegrass music from a rotating roster of bands; musicians are lined up more than a year in advance to play in the middle of nowhere! We stomped our feet along with the best of them, but did manage to pull ourselves away to explore the desolate, deteriorating world of Molt. Such a strange mix of lonely and friendly, of alive and abandoned, but I felt an adventurer in this outfit, ready for whatever the road had in store!