Aida ~

Hi ladies, here are my work outfits from last week! Much less auto-pilot than I've been, which I had fun with. Even though I was off shopping for the last several months, I did look through the NAS goodies because I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't. The tweedy skirt in #3 is one of the few things I bought; this look from the fall shows has been stuck with me so I was delighted to find something similar although mine is much shorter, which I prefer in fall/winter anyway. I did buy a couple other things too (coat, blouse, bomber), so those will probably start popping up in outfits soon. Everything else in these are older items you've seen before :)

#1 Monday - A little black+navy, pattern mixing, and daytime shine. Plus a slouchy hat, just for fun.

#2 Tuesday - Mixing fuchsia and red. I normally wouldn't match the shoes, but was in a matchy mood that day I guess.

#3 Wednesday - A random warm day, 58F! I've pinned several outfits with this boxy-top-over-flared-skirt silhouette, and finally gave it a go. Just love how it looks with the stiffer skirt! I've also got another softer flared skirt with which I plan to sport this silhouette for the season, so hopefully it's YLF approved ^^ This outfit also accompanied me to lunch with hubby before work.

#4 Thursday - Wanted to get in some furry vest before it's too cold (this one is hard to layer once the winter coats come out); wasn't too successful over this stiff blouse unfortunately, it kept bunching up funny. I haven't worn my pendants in a looong time, but pulled out one of my favorites for this outfit. Bonus pop of neon!

#5 Friday - A color palette I'm really into for winter, and a different type of volume over slim look: BIG volume tee, lightly oversized moto, and slim pants. The jacket doesn't fully reign in the volume, but it does seem to give just enough shape.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

This past weekend hubby and I took a short weekend trip down to Portland to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary; we'd been wanting to check out Multnomah Falls for a while so we figured we'd pop down to check out the falls and eat some delicious food! We had enough time to stop at two falls, Wahkeena (#3 left) and Multnomah (#3 right), though it was already getting dark by the time we got there. After that we had dinner at one of my favorite places, Kale (Japanese curry), and then found a neat little bar that was quite literally under ground (you took a staircase cut into the sidewalk to head underneath the building above). The next morning we had a tasty breakfast at one of the nearby hotels, and then headed back home. A fun, albeit short, low key trip :D

Here are my super casual outfits for the super casual weekend, along with some pretty pictures of the falls. #1 is what I wore on Saturday, #4 is what I wore on Sunday. Sartorial choices based on the following:

- The bulk of the weekend was spent in the car (it's about a 3.5 hour drive each way) so car comfort was top priority; stretchy twill pants and loose sweaters are great for that.
- We pack very lightly when we travel; the two outfits are essentially the same, swapping one sweater for another.
- Thirdly, I figured there might be a small hike to get to the falls (there was, and we did), plus a bunch of city walking; enter the rugged but cushioned leather boots.
- And lastly, there's always a chance of rain so a waterproof jacket was a must; I didn't feel like brining a trench, and instead brought a pleather jacket and a short lightweight puffer for nighttime.

And as always, we're terrible about getting photos with both of us in them. So here's the best one I have from the weekend (#2), taken after the short hike, complete with magical waterfall sparkles in the air.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

[EDIT: OK, had to add an alternate outfit shot that hubby took of me with waterfalls because I liked the photo ^^]

Well hello ladies, it sure has been a long time! *BIG HUGS* to everyone, I've missed you all. Long story short: I needed a fashion break, and went on auto-pilot with dressing the last 6 months. I even repeated a few outfits! (It was hard.) Luckily my wardrobe was in a good enough place, with enough fashion forward pieces, that it didn't feel like taking a step back stylistically (though certainly not a step forward) and I promise I was still representing YLF well. Maybe I'll post those outfits up sometime. It was good for me; I still managed to learn lots of things about myself and my wardrobe, and felt good enough about what I was wearing without purchasing anything new or following any particular trends beyond what I'd wanted to at the start of spring. But enough about that, a month ago I started feeling the fun return so here I am :D

And here's what I wore over the week! #1 was for a birthday dinner outing for my brother-in-law. #2-5 are work outfits. Special note for #4 which I also wore to a trunk show (my first!) with a friend who knows the designer, which was a lot of fun; the brand is "Lu." (it was the debut of the line) and I bought an interesting blouse which will pop up in a WIW soon I'm sure. Also that top has sparkly threads, though you can't tell in the photos. And the booties in #2 looked much more dramatic when not flanked by giant maple leaves of the same colors ^^ Nothing super fancy or different or experimental here, and these are all pieces you might remember from before.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!