stade

 

Yesterday was our last full day in Germany. We spent it in Stade, a little city on the Elbe River, which is my dad's hometown. My grandma still lives in the house my dad and uncle grew up in, and it's the place of most of my childhood German memories - lots of birthday parties, several Christmas, and summer stays. My sister and I spent part of the morning walking around, doing just a little bit of shopping, eating pastries, listening to an organist play on the organ my dad played on in his youth, and enjoying the semi-warm weather. Of course not even close to warm enough to actually wear any of the other clothes I brought ;)

^ cute right? so much brick, so much ivy, so much pretty

^my sister bought this vintage YSL trench in Paris. I'm so jealous. Extra motivation to sell all of my clothes to buy this jacket.

^ I'm obsessed with the store signs. A UNICORN. for a pharmacy!

Jacket: Hof in Germany [similar]

Scarf: Victoria's Secret

Pants: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Shoes: Old Navy 

Purse: Coach via Etsy [current]

Now I'm back in Wisconsin for the next five days. On Tuesday I have my super fun appointment with immigration services to update my greencard, and immediately afterwards we're packing up the pups to go to a little secluded cabin about an hour away, where we're staying until I leave for Seattle on Friday. No time to be bored I suppose!

ab nach kiel und stade

After leaving Munich on Monday, I stayed in Göttingen with my aunt and uncle until Wednesday morning. We used this time really just to hang out, give my sister a little hair cut, and play fetch with the dog. I lived with my aunt and uncle in eighth grade when my parents wanted me to go to school in Germany for a year, so I always love being back in their house. We didn't go into the city at all because Tuesday is when the jet lag finally hit, which is why I somehow ended up staying up until almost three in the morning.

On Wednesday I took the train up to Stade where my grandma lives. My dad and I drove up to Kiel, which is my mom's hometown. My parents met there when they were both in medical school, and it's also where my sister and I were born. My grandfather was a German Navy Admiral, so the sea has always been something close to our family. Kiel is a huge port city with a history rich in naval activity and ship building and each year they have a huge city fest known as Kieler Woche, which is the largest sailing event in the world. We stayed with my father's frat brother (we stayed with him last time too!) and met up with a ton of his other frat brothers, many whom he hadn't seen in decades. The weather unfortunately wasn't that great, and therefore there weren't that many sail boats out, but the rowing competition was going on (which my dad used to take part in in the 80's).

Jacket: Hof in Germany [adorable save | splurge]

Blouse: Gap [exact]

Scarf: Forever 21

Jeans: Urban Outfitters [exact]

During the 1972 Olympics (which is unfortunately known for the Munich massacre), Kiel was the site for the sailing competitions. 

Today we are celebrating my grandma's 83rd birthday. My grandparents share the same birthday, except they were born one year apart. My grandpa unfortunately died my freshman year of college, so he hasn't been with us know for more than half a decade, which is felt by everyone. Their wedding anniversary was also right around this time, and my grandpa used to get my grandma a bouquet of roses for the number of years they were married. My dad and uncle have now taken over that role.

^^my dad made all of these from scratch when he was a super cool teenager ;)

I wanted to wear my blue polka dot dress, but it's way too cold so black jeans it is...

Blazer: thrifted

Tee: Everlane

Jeans: Urban Outfitters...still [exact]

Necklace: c/o Apple of My Eye - win here!

Shoes: Tory Burch [exact]

Nails: Essie Park Avenue 

münchen

So after two days of family gatherings and beer garden adventures, my aunt, my sister, and I spent a few hours in down town Munich. I was really excited to look around because I haven't been down here in years and years, and I don't think I've ever been downtown. We only had a few hours of time before we had to drive back to my aunt's home 5 hours away, but I really wish that we could have spent more time in the city. There's just so much to see, do, learn, and eat, but with limited time we hit up the big sights.

We started out in the Viktualienmarkt, which is like a permanent outside market full of fresh cheeses, meats, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. We ended up with most of those in our shopping bags - flowers, cherries, dried apples, and schmalznudelen (which are kind of like a combination of funnel cake and thin donuts).

the May Pole

Above is a picture of the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) viewed from the Market side. The building is from the 14th century - isn't it crazy that something built that long ago still stands today? This is obviously common place in Europe, but living in the Midwest for most of my life, it always surprises me, no matter how often I am over here. Anyway, it stands in the Marienplatz, which is where we wondered over to next.

two

 

A list of alternative titles:

+ you look just like ke$ha : my co-worker looked at the sequins on my shirt and said I was all sparkly and looked just like Kesha. I suppose, if Kesha dressed like a cross between an old man and a disco ball....so maybe that is an accurate description after all.

+ total copycat: AJ wore her chambray with her sparkly shirt so I wanted to too. That's what friends are for right, showing us how to wear our own clothes?

+ pro-layerer: months ago I wrote about how I really struggled with layering, how I knew what I wanted to look like, but wasn't sure how to make that happen (side note: don't let me dye my hair dark ever again). With a lot of experimenting, and a few helpful tips, I feel like I'm finally able to dress myself the way I wanted to. It's not that wearing one shirt over another is something that's difficult, it's just that I never felt comfortable, that there was weird bunching, or that I felt like there was just too much going on on my torso. I don't know what has really changed over the last 6 months, but I finally feel comfortable with the clothes in my closet and how I wear them. I don't spend all day tugging and pulling and wishing I was wearing something different - it just somehow clicked, ya know?

Chambray: J.Crew Factory [exact]

Shirt: Loft 

Pants: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Watch: Fossil [similar]

Purse: Coach [current style]

Shoes: Tory Burch [exact]

I am so obnoxious.

six

 

This was worn on my sixth to last day of work. 

And yes, Sam, I am still counting.

But today is not a work day for me, so if you need me I'll be enjoying the 60 degree weather at my favorite place on campus with a few of my college girlfriends. Have a great weekend :)

Tee: c/o Elegantees [exact]

Blazer: Old Navy [save | splurge]

Jeans: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Watch: c/o Daniel Wellington [exact]

Shoes: Tory Burch [exact]

Big thank you to Elegantees for providing me with this beautiful shirt. It was a bit chilly out to be worn without taking my jacket off, but you can see the full version here. Here's a bit more about Elegantees:

Elegantees is revolutionizing modesty and restoring lives of women rescued from sex trafficking. It started in 2010 with elegant designs made from tee-shirt fabric, as easy to wear and wash as a tee. The mission first stemmed when founder Katie Martinez learned about the harsh realities about human trafficking, while attending fashion design school. After Katie worked in the garment industry for years, she started the brand to make modesty trendy and affordable, and to help women in bondage of trafficking.

In 2011, Elegantees partnered with the Nepali Rescue Project a non-profit organization fighting trafficking. This organization rescues over 20,000 human trafficking victims per year in Nepal. In addition, the Nepali Rescue Project provides these survivors with safe houses, counseling, and various job training skills; including sewing.

A new partnership emerged in 2013 with Restore NYC, a nonprofit organization working to end sex trafficking and restore foreign-national survivors.  Restore NYC, offers these survivors with a safe community with complete care addressing physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

rainy day

 

Since it was still snowing in April, it only makes sense that it's still raining in May, right? So much for flowers. 

I am happy I get to wear my rain boots again! I'm so happy I found a pair that actually fit my calves instead of trying to squeeze into "normal" size. I'd be lying if I didn't get just a little bit excited to wear them. I'd also be lying if I said I haven't worn a variation of this outfit for the past three days. I just really wanted to wear my new tee [review here], and it's been chilly all weekend so the chambray and jeans just kind of made sense.

whatever, like you've never worn an outfit several days in a row.

Chambray: Old Navy [same style | fun inexpensive variation]

Tee: Everlane

Jeans: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Boots: Hunter [exact]

Watch: Fossil [similar]

Umbrella: J.Crew

via instagram.

linking up with wiww.

mute

 

Happy Memorial Day!

I don't have much else to say, but I do have a few reminders.

+ budgetting bloggers goes up tomorrow!

+ have you entered this giveaway yet? you could win this watch!

+ the shop my closet post is up and ready :)

Shirt: Tahari via TJ Maxx

Vest: Old Navy [similar]

Jeans: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Glasses: c/o Firmoo

Necklaces: "f" from Whitney, diamond is a family heirloom

Watch: c/o Daniel Wellington [exact]

Belt: The Limited

Shoes: Tory Burch [exact]

the worst time of the year

 

While most bloggers (and non bloggers too, I'm sure)right now are springing for joy about the warm weather, pulling out their cute little sun dresses and fun shorts, I'm here cursing the weather. The worst time to have clothing regulations like mine (covered legs, closed toed shoes), is when it gets hot outside. It's fine at 7 in the morning when it's still like a chilly 60, but then when I'm walking out of work at 4:30 after spending a day in a chilly concrete room, and you're just hit by HEAT, you just curse your job*

Luckily, I'm out of the concrete windowless refrigerator in less than a month. NO CLOTHING RESTRICTIONS FOR SIX WHOLE WEEKS. I can hardly wait...except I've come to realize that I don't really own any summer clothes. For the past 6 summers, I either worked as a camp counselor (gym shorts and t-shirts), as a traveling band member (gym shorts and t-shirts), or I've worked in my current job. I own 1 pair of jean shorts (that are at least 4 years old), 1 casual skirt (this J.Crew Factory one), 1 casual dress, and a handful of tees. While my current budget for the month is pretty much gone, next month I really need to find a few summer staples. I think just a few pairs of colored shorts (think this blue color or this red color), a few comfortable and light tees (you guys all keep raving about these so I'm going to have to go test them out), and a few summer dresses (ones with thicker straps because girlfriend doesn't do strapless bras - this one is adorable, and this maxi is pretty close to what I've been looking for) should be enough to get me through summer. Of course I've been keeping an eye out while out at Goodwill, but the only things I found last weekend were this amazing vintage dress I plan on wearing to every wedding I go to this summer, and a blazer. Not exactly beneficial to the summer wardrobe, but adorable nonetheless.

What are some of your summer staples? Any hidden gems I need to know about?

Sweater: Gap 

Jeans: Urban Outfitters [exact]

Watch: Fossil [similar]

Shoes: Old Navy [save | splurge]

Purse: vintage Coach via Etsy [current style - see restoration here]

* I really am grateful to have a job. I'm just poking fun ...ish.