Simplicity.

Top: CAbi / Pants: AE / Shoes: AE (similar) / Scarf: Handmade gift

Hey guys - not a lot of time today, just a quick drop in to let you know I AM still getting dressed in the morning ;) There's nothing especially fashionable or extravagant about this outfit, but sometimes there's beauty in simplicity.

B and I are gearing up for our house-hunting trip to Lexington - can't wait!! I'm so excited to spend a little time in the city we are about to call home. I'd be lying if I said my head wasn't already there anyway.

Hope you all have a happy Tuesday!!

Copycatted

Sweater: Target - old (similar) / Shirt: Kohls (similar) / Jeans: AE / Mocs: Minnetonka

I got the inspiration for this look when I saw it on Ms. Franziska over at Franish - she has a super cute blog and great real-girl style! I fell in love with the jewel toned color combo and I realized I already had all the pieces to recreate it. I decided to go flares over skinnies for an even more casual look, but I think it still has the same effect. Thanks for the inspiration lady!

So our move is picking up steam - we have our house hunting trip to Lexington planned out and our realtor there is on the hunt for a good rental for us. B has his start date and travel arrangements. I got a vet appointment set up to get my kittehs ready and get some sedatives for the flight, and I ordered another Sleepypod Air (we flew them separately last time so we used the same one for each flight!) -- sidenote, if you are ever traveling with your small pet in-cabin I HIGHLY recommend these. They are the perfect size and they are lined with super cozy fleece/fur stuff. They are easy to carry and the dark mesh kept my girls calm (for the most part. When the sedatives wore off mid-flight Lilly got a little chatty, but that's a story for another time.)

Anywho, its getting a little nutso around here, so you should probably follow my twitter to keep up with me! Do it, do it!

Have a happy Friday y'all!

Couch blogging

Top: CAbi / Jeans: Rock & Republic for Kohl's / Mocs: Minnetonka / Scarf: Forever 21 (similar)

Last weekend my friend took me to the CAbi end of season sale here in the Tri. First, it was nuts. All the ladies in the area that have held CAbi parties were invited, and told to bring friends. It was at someones house, and was just racks and racks of leftover clothes in her basement, all from the fall/winter season that were on mega sale. We arrived about an hour into the sale, and everything was already picked over. Women were carrying out bags upon bags of clothes, and one can only assume they grabbed whatever they could in their size and and took off! While there wasnt a ton of options, I did manage a few good deals - this top being one of them! It originally retailed for $84, and I got it for $30! Score!

Anywho, I'm blogging from my couch today, living the dream in my kitty print sweatpants, watching old episodes of Ghost Lab on Netflix and drinking coffee with my sugar free peppermint mocha creamer. I'm off until the day after Christmas and I fully intend on spending the majority of the next 5 days in this exact spot. Only the sweatpants will change. Maybe.

Hope y'all have a relaxing and peaceful weekend before the holiday!!

Happy Fri-ursday

Top: Forever 21 (similar) / Trouser Jean: AE (similar - on sale!) / Flats: Target (similar) / Headband: AE (similar)

Happy Friday! No wait... Its only Thursday. But its my Friday! So Happy Friday to me!

Most of the other chumps in my office are taking off all next week, as I'm sure every working person with hours to burn will be, but SOMEONE has to be in the office and since I have no real Christmas plans, or children, or family close by for that matter, I decided to take the bullet and come in the day after Xmas. Ugh. But in trade I'm taking tomorrow off, so I still get a nifty little 5 day weekend. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner. It's gone by in a blur with everything else going on in our lives.

So anyway, heres the thing with these trouser jeans. I love them. They look great in motion and I love the fit, but I've decided they totally don't photograph well. I didnt really like how ANY of my pics turned out with these pants, they just look so... blah. I wasn't crazy about they way they photographed here either. Ah well. It wont deter me from wearing them again, thats fo sho.

Hope I'm not the only one with a Fri-ursday! Happy long weekend :)

Windy City

Cardigan: Target / Top: Aerie / Pants: Gap (super old) / Shoes: Thrifted Cons / Scarf: Handmade gift from B's momma

...And no I'm not talking about Chicago. The wind in the Tri-Cities last night was out of CONTROL. It had me up from 3:30am until about 5:30am, which is no picnic when you went to bed at midnight and have to get up at 6:45am. Gusts reached almost 75mph and shook the house so bad I thought it might collapse. Thankfully for us, the extent of our 'damage' was that our grill cover blew away, but many areas around the Tri-Cities look like a tornado went through! Garbage everywhere, tumbleweeds stacked up, power out, siding down and Christmas decorations scattered. Not cool weather, not cool.

Thats pretty much all I've got today folks, I'm crazy tired and cranky, and my eyeballs hurt. Time to do some work!

Hope yall have a lovely Monday!

Not today, fancy pants.

Top: Target / Skirt: Target / Mocs...ok slippers: Forever 21 / Watch: Target / Necklace: Gift (similar)

Do you ever plan a really cute, well styled outfit the night before, and then get up, look at said outfit and say "Uh-uh. No way. Not today." Cuz I do that pretty regularly, and this outfit was the result of such a morning. I had planned for a fancy tank and flowy top and too tight jeans and my booties, and I woke up and said "Yea. Comfort wins." So here we are. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done, amirite?

Last night B and I went to the mall to get him a new outfit for something he has coming up. We went to JCPenney, and I ended up leaving with more stuff then he did! When did JCPenney get so cute?!

Anywho, hope you all have a glorious Tuesday :)

Tweet, Tweet

Good morning lovelies!

When I started this blog I thought I wanted to keep my personal life and my blog life separate. I created a new Twitter account (xo_kathrynlaine) to promote my blog, while still using my personal Twitter (@kmook) as I normally would. I barely posted on xo_kathrynlaine, and I realized that was completely silly.
I want you guys to know the real me, in all my silly, sometimes profound, (and once in awhile drunk) tweeting glory.

So in an effort to let you guys get to know me a little better, I'm doing away with my xo_kathrynlaine account. If you follow it - first, thank you - and second, please feel free to catch up with me over at @kmook.

I admit I haven't been the most consistent blogger, and maybe you'll get a little more of an idea of my whereabouts if I disappear :)

With that in mind, since I was a bad girl again this week (shocker), heres an outfit photo from this week. Taken the old school iPhone way. Holla!

Maxi Dress: Target (old) / Sweater: Maurices (similar) / Shoes: Gap (similar) / Scarf: Forever 21 (similar) / Glasses: Firmoo (similar)

This outfit was super comfy for a long Wednesday at work. I had meetings and loads of work... such has been my week. Plus this whole getting up early thing has been killer, even though I love being home and in my sweats before 5! (Don't judge).

Anyway, happy Friday y'all, hope you have a beautiful weekend!!

Mellow Monday

Sweatshirt: A&F (similar) / Jeans: AE / Mocs: Minnetonka / Glasses: Firmoo / Earrings: Forever 21 (similar)

Wow guys, can we just talk about the fact that its December? For one, it doesn't FEEL like December. Its still mild and sunny. And secondly, I can't get over how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday was New Years Eve 2011 and we were just getting situated in the Tri-Cities!

Anyway there isn't much to say about this outfit, other than it was casual Friday. And in my already casual office, I take that to mean the only day I really feel comfortable wearing a hoodie most of the time. :)

How was everyone's weekend?? Y'all getting into the holiday spirit? B and I got our Christmas tree up and decorated with all our ribbons, but I haven't managed to get the ornaments up yet - tonight probably! Other then that it was a pretty mellow weekend and that feeling is following me into Monday (which I appreciate). We played some vintage video games (hello SNES) and watched the Boardwalk Empire season finale (gah!), AND I discovered Bud Select 55 is only TWO points on Weight Watchers. Yes please. Overall, I'd say the weekend was a success. OH and I'm down 4.1 lbs for my first week on WW. Feels pretty good :)

Hope you all have a glorious Monday!!

Musical Memories

 Cardi: NY & Co. (old - similar) / Tank: Old Navy (similar) / Jeans: AE (similar) / Scarf: AE (similar) / Belt: CAbi / Shoes: Michael Kors / Glasses: Firmoo

Do you ever have days where you just HAVE to listen to a specific album or artist for some reason? Like it perfectly sets or suits your mood. Today I'm having a nostalgic day and I can.not.stop. listening to Leona Lewis. Its funny how music can take you back to a certain time in your life.

I digress. I really liked this outfit until I saw the pictures. I feel like the wide-leg pants make things look a little masculine maybe? But I love the colors anywho. Side note, this is day 4 dirty hair. I'm taking the week without washing challenge, and dry shampooing it up, and I am completely erring on the side of LOVING it. My hair feels silky and its completely doing its own thing. Day 2 was rough, but after working through that kink, its rockin. I strongly suggest you try it, for the health of your (in my case severely,) beaten up hair!

Hope you all have a beautiful day kids!!

Procrastination

Dress: Kohls (similar) / Boots: Blowfish (last season) / Sweater: Abercrombie (similar) / Glasses: Firmoo

Happy hump day ya'll! This week has been hectic between sicky mcgee B at home and work being busy... and the apartment... Yes, ye old apartment. We put that off for the entire month, and now that B is sick, looks like THIS girl has to finish emptying it out. Its pretty close to empty at this point, it just needs cleaned by Friday at 9:30am. Ugh. We left it kind of trashed, so I'm not looking forward to the cleanup effort! Whoops. Kinda brought that on ourselves didn't we?

Anywho, today's outfit was a more laid back variation of the last time I wore this dress. Overall, it was pretty comfortable! Man, that picture makes me miss my tan though. This is the time of the year I start to feel beastly pale and I long for the sun.. .or tanning bed. I know, I know, its bad for you... but so good...

Comfy much?

Top: Anthropologie / Jeans: Forever 21 + / Mocs: Minnetonka for AE / Hat: AE (old) / Glasses: Firmoo

Can we just talk about how these are "Plus size" jeans for a minute? Since when is size twelve "Plus size"? Not that it matters too awful much because they are hella comfy and fit like a glove, but come ON. I know I'm not a stick, but I don't generally consider myself plus size. Especially when my big ole boobies are in a size medium top... and plus size bottoms. Seems a little inconsistent, no? Size isn't anything but a number ladies, and remember that if you are shopping and find yourself needing to go up a size or two... shiz isnt consistent. You can be a small in one store and a large in another!

Ok done ranting. Now tell me, how was your Thanksgiving?? It was pretty mellow in the Kathryn Laine household. B and I made dinner, but we were both sick for the majority of the weekend which meant a lot of sleeping, chloroseptic and nose blowing. I did, however, manage to get the Christmas decorations out and the tree up (albeit, undecorated). One step at a time! I'm so excited for the Christmas season this year. We aren't even really doing anything for it, and because of all our moving expenses we wont exchange anything crazy as far as gifts go. I'm just happy to celebrate it in our new place this year!

Anywho, lovely readers, I'm sending mental caffeine your way today, 'cuz if you are anything like me, being at work on this Cyber Monday after a long weekend is severely wearing you out. Severely.

Mad about Monochromatic

Top: Merona for Target (similar) / Jeans: CAbi / Booties: AE / Scarf: Forever 21 (similar)

I really had to hold myself back from the whole "I'm blue da-ba-dee da-ba-di" thing, but if I'm being honest it's all I can think about with this outfit. *facepalm*. I got these jeans from that CAbi party I was raving about awhile back and I LOVED them at the party... then I got my order and was so disappointed with the fit. Then I realized, they are just super long, and thats ok, every girl needs at least one pair of jeans that she can wear with heels! So I pulled out my new little AE bootie wedges and history was made.... Ok maybe not history, but a really cute outfit!

Does anyone else do that? Try something on and think you are in love, only to get it home and have it hang in your closet for eternity because you can't figure out if you really like it in the grand scheme of your closet? First world problems. For realz.

On another note, its almost Thanksgiving!! B and I don't have any real plans, just to cook a little dinner, drink a little hot toddy and enjoy the long weekend. Much needed, since I'm still a tad under the weather. Ah well. What are ya'lls plans for Turkey Day??

A little bit Rock'n'Roll

Tee: A&F / Vest: Stylemint / Jeans: Forever 21 / Flats: Target / Glasses: Firmoo

I'm kind of obsessed with this vest. It was my first ever Stylemint purchase, and I've been waiting for the right time to wear it. I feel a little grungy 90's in it, no? This vest definitely showed me that I need a little more flannel in my life. I often put outfits together without really thinking about the whole look head to toe, but that was not the case here. Everything from the dirty, messy hair to the glasses to the cuff of my jeans was intentional, and I looooove the way it turned out. What do you guys think? Am I channeling my rocker side?! 

So GUESS WHAT!

B and I got the townhouse! Whoop whoop! We pick up the keys Oct. 31! I always knew Halloween was a lucky day. I can't wait to move and, in typical Katie fashion, I also can't wait to go furniture shopping this weekend! We have a lot of space to fill! Last night we sat down and discussed what we needed/wanted, and the fact that the couch we purchase, will be our couch for the next 10 years, is just nuts to me. It feels like a really big commitment to a piece of furniture. Hopefully we find one that makes us say 'we do'. 

Now on to the NOT so fun part - getting our apartment packed up in 3 weeks - eesh! (Side note, isn't it crazy that after living somewhere for a year you can accumulate so much crap?! We purged when we moved here and yet we have a TON of stuff to get rid of already! Goodwill here we come!)

I hope ya'll have a lovely Wednesday hump day!!

[Weekend Wear] Anniversary Edition

Blazer: Target / Tank: Old Navy / Jeans: LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl's / Shoes: Michael Kors / Purse: Coach / Photos compliments of photographer B :)

Happy Monday ya'll!

Though Blaine and I's anniversary was last Monday, we actually celebrated it Saturday night. And this is what I wore!

We had a nice fancy dinner, hit the comic book store and grabbed a couple beers and played the touch screen games at a local dive bar. We ended the evening playing a round of Wii Wheel of Fortune. Ah 2 years of relationship bliss :) It may have been simple but it was a blast, and I'm so thankful to have had B in my life for these last two years. I'm a lucky lady!

Lunch with the Governor

Dress: Kohl's / Belt: AE / Shoes: AE / Earrings: AE

I am beyond thrilled its Wednesday. This week has been tough and I'm looking forward to the weekend already.

Ok so I didnt exactly have lunch WITH the Governor, but she was there, so it counts! Yesterday I was invited to a TRIDEC luncheon as a guest of one of our board members. We recently built a website for a new book he authored and he invited us as a thank you. The food was only so-so, but the Governor was speaking on area issues and it was definitely interesting. I wore this outfit because I thought it mixed young and creative with professional fairly well. Looking at the photos now I think it may have been a tad short, but I felt good in it nonetheless.

Now I'm off to the gym for my regular lunch hour workout, and its much needed today!

Have a lovely day ya'll!

Mustard and Plums

Dress: Target / Cardi: Maurices (similar) / Scarf: Kohl's / Shoes: Target (similar)

It's been a minute since I've worn this dress. I wore it lots in the late spring/early summer, and now its been hanging in my closet since July, waiting for a fresh wear. I don't know that this outfit is mind blowing or anything, but I do know that I still love this dress and this off-kilter color, and I didn't know how much I'd love purple with it! Don't you love when you randomly come across new color combinations??

Linking up!

And also, check me out over at another beautiful Katie's blog - For Lauren and Lauren!

It's OK...

Top: Old Navy / Jeans: AE / Wedges: Super old, Bongo... probably from Kohl's?

Normally I do a Thursday remix, but ya'll with my brother in town and and juggling entertaining, work, working out, etc. I'm sleeping very little and feel blessed to even have semi-blog worthy outfits to post. So for the next few weeks, the Thursday remix may or may not be happening, and in its place I'll do the lovely 'Its OK' post:

-It's OK to not have time to think about my clothes as much as normal, and miss my own self-imposed blog deadlines.

-It's OK to stay up with your brother (and amazing boyfriend) until 1am chatting and playing video games, even when you have to work the next day, because you live 2,000 miles apart and don't get to see each other as much as you used to.

-It's OK to go to the mall to return an item, and leave with 4 more. Oops.

-It's OK to be a little late to work ONCE IN AWHILE. Shiz happens!

-It's OK to be thinking about dying my hair again already.

-It's OK to do a little happy dance when you peel the sticker off the Kohl's coupon book and you got the 30% off-er!

-It's OK to quickmix your John Mayer, Enya and Harry Potter soundtrack Pandora stations and love every. single. song. that comes on.

That was fun kids. I may just do that again next week. Hope you all have a beautiful Thursday!

Thursday Remix

Tee: AE / Skirt: Target / Scarf: AE (similar) / Glasses: OGI Eyewear

Remixing it up with my maxi from last week! Frankly, I still have a hard time 'mixing' my maxi skirts, but I thought the monochromatic at least added a little different spin to it!

So far, today is feeling much better then yesterday. I have an appointment that gets me out of the office a little bit this afternoon, which is always nice, and my bro is also leaving Chi-town via train this afternoon to come out to visit for a few weeks, and I can't wait for him to be here! We've been here almost a year but aside from B's parents, no family has been out to visit, so I'm excited to show him where we live! Guess that means I ought to get on cleaning the apartment!

What do you guys think I should remix next week??
If you need a reminder of my last few remixes, check check check it out -

Oh yea, and I dyed my hair again. Whoopsie! Once I start I just can't stop! Are you guys feeling the red? I'm only ok with it, but it's a fun intermediary color before digging into to a darker brunette!

Hope you have a lovely day today ya'll!!

Copycat Friday

GAH! I hate when I don't schedule my posts correctly and they don't post. I totally missed Copycat Friday, but I'm posting anyway, 'cuz my outfit was dern cute!
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Today I didn't copycat a person - I copied a pin!

I saw this cute little ensemble floating around Pinterest and it looked sooooooooo comfortable and cute! I knew I had just the pieces to recreate it.

It's casual, comfortable, sweet and a little romantic. It's perfect for my office as the days have cooled into the low 80's but the A/C in the office is still in high gear. Plus we all know I love my Toms and I'm ALWAYS trying to find fun new ways to wear them!

Step away from the moccasins

Top: Target / Crops: Maurices / Shoes: Minnetonka for AE / Bag: Little Black Bag find

FRIDAY! Woop woop! I'm sure I'm not alone when I say few things make me happier then Friday. (Well ok, Friday afternoon makes me a little happier). But I especially love busy Friday's, because I know my workday will fly and then I'll be home with B ready to do the weekend thang! Its supposed to be hotter then the dickens (does anyone know what a dickens is?) again in the Tri, and I'm think some SERIOUS pool time will be in order. B refreshed our wine stores already so I'm ready for a relaxing weekend of pool, wine and reading! What are ya'lls plans??

As for my outfit.. its day two of the mocs and glasses. I believe these are going to be two accessories I will be obsessed with all fall, so be prepared to see plenty of them! They are really the only interesting thing about this outfit, it was a pretty mellow, casual day for me.

In other news...


This kitteh is having a real bad day.

Go forth and conquer your Friday! :)

Linkin' with Two Thirty-Five Designs!