Polka Dots and Leopard Print + Link-Up

Ahh, I had such a wonderful and relaxing weekend!  What about you?  On Friday I threw a monster-themed baby shower for one of my best friends.  The rest of the weekend I spent passing out Halloween candy and relaxing with my handsome guy.  My one complaint?  That the weekend isn't longer!  I'm not ready for it to be Monday just yet.

Although I suppose Monday feels a little better with the help of a cute outfit and some pattern mixing!  Do you have a better day when you feel really good about what you're wearing, too?

While my favorite pattern mixing combination is leopard print with stripes, this fun animal print paired with polka dots is a close second!  I think it's the ease with which these patterns come together that makes the combinations so great.  Especially when you're working with black and white stripes or polka dots, you don't even have to wonder if leopard print will go, it's a no-brainer (and let's face it, we all need those when we're getting ready for work on a Monday morning).

Are you interested in seeing a couple of other ways to pair polka dots with leopard print?  Head over to Carrie and Casey's blogs to see how they mixed their patterns today!

What I'm Wearing:

Shirt: Express (exact)

Cardigan: Target (similar)

Necklace: Amazon (exact)

Skirt: Land's End (similar, similar)

Tights: Nordstrom (exact)

Flats: LOFT (similar, similar)

And don't forget to link-up the remainder of your Create28: Fall Looks or anything else you want to show off below!

Hosted by :

Carrie/A Lovely Little Wardrobe : Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram

Whitney/Whitney à La Mode : Bloglovin/Instagram

Casey/A Little Bit of Cheer : Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram

Each week we choose a favorite...check out Carrie and  Casey's blogs to see if it's you! Here was my favorite this week:

My favorite look this week is from Dee of Shoes to Shiraz!  This post is full of cute fall outfits but I'm loving this blazer paired with plaid flats.

Now let's get linking! We like to keep things simple around here. Just link up your favorite posts--fashion, beauty, food, DIY, anything goes! Follow your hosts on social media, have fun and be inspired! Thanks for linking up!

<a href="http://www.alittlebitofcheer.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc454/pianoprincessdesigns/button%20small_zpsujefyz2q.png~original" alt="A Lovely Little À La Mode Link Up" width="125" height="125" /></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Where I'm linking-up!

Second First Day

I've taken a back-to-school picture by my door every single year since I can remember!  Let's revisit one or two.

Let's flash back to Monday evening, shall we?  My back-to-school outfit is chosen and hanging in the front of my closet, my lesson plans have been written and re-written, my lunch is packed and ready to be eaten, and then I get a text that school has been cancelled.  To which I replied, "Wait, what??"

Yes, dear friends, my first day of school was cancelled!  We had some pretty intense thunderstorms on Monday and my building flooded!  While it may seem enticing to have one more day of vacation, I was actually pretty disappointed.  I had so much energy and excitement to start the school year and didn't want to wait one more day to meet my kiddos!

Luckily, I split my day between two schools and was able to teach my two morning classes at the high school before going to assess the damage of my flooded classroom at the junior high (luckily, no major catastrophes)!  However, what do I do about that perfect back-to-school outfit I had planned?  I save it for my first full day, my second first day, if you will!  So I am, in fact, wearing this outfit today!

Did you notice that the print on my Express Portofino shirt is little Eiffel Towers with tiny French flags at the top.  I'd say that makes for a perfect first day ensemble for a French teacher, what do you think?

And thanks, those of you who noticed my new hair color!  I had my stylist use the balayage technique and I'm loving the results.  And those soft waves, I'm working on perfecting them but you will still mostly see me and my curly mop around these parts!

What I'm Wearing:

Top: Express (all Portofino styles)

Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet (similar, similar)

Belt: Charming Charlie (similar, similar)

Wedges: DSW (exact) <-- I love these so much that I want them in all of the colors!

Where I'm linking-up!  Is this TARDIS blue enough for you, Maricel?

Blogging Besties: Hot Pink and Cobalt

We've once again made it to Friday!  This one in particular feels pretty darn special because it's the last Friday of the school year.  Time to pop the champagne and enjoy my first hot summer evening (one of the few perks of being a teacher)!

Last week Alex shared quite the glamorous little ensemble with us!

Isn't she gorgeous!?  In the past week I didn't have a reason to get quite as jazzed up as Alex so I chose to pass along her color scheme: hot pink and cobalt!

It feels a bit serendipitous to be posting such a perfect warm-weather work outfit on the last Friday of the school year!  If I had to work during the summer, I imagine I would wear lots of outfits like this: a comfy skirt with a light-weight, flowy top...and some cute flats, of course!

Speaking of this top, Rachelle raves so much about the Portofino tops from Express that I decided I had to try them for myself.  You guys, they are great!  Super comfy and minimal button gaping (a problem I have with most button down shirts).  Plus they come in so many cute colors and prints.  Obviously I had to pick up this one as well!

And without further ado, here are your choices for next week: hot pink + cobalt + button down + comfy skirt + belt + (patterned) flats!

What I'm Wearing:

Top: Express (exact)

Skirt: J.Crew Factory (super similar)

Flats: Land's End (exact)

Previous Editions of Blogging Besties

Featured On:

Whitney à la mode

Undergraduate Style

What did you pass on from Alex's look last week?

An InLinkz Link-up