OUTFIT: I heart olive pants

Jacket: Old Navy (exact style in current colors) 
     I reviewed this jacket in this post, and just bought another in the olive color
Tank: Old Navy (similar)
Pants: Paige via ebay (similar)
Shoes: Cole Haan via ebay (similar)
Bag: Dooney & Burke via ebay (similar)
Earrings: vintage (similar)

The fog descended in a gorgeously mysterious fashion the afternoon I took these photos.  I was hoping to capture the tendrils of mist curling through the trees near our house, but instead, all that shows is a light gray sky.  In reality, it was so foggy that you couldn't see the cars in front of you!  While it does a number on the hair, it is fun to feel like you live in the clouds as you watch them float by just outside your window.  And, for my heat-hating San Francisco-loving friends, the fog helped bring the "steamy" temperatures in the high 70s back down to our usual safe and familiar 60s.

As the rest of the Northern Hemisphere heads into the autumn weather that is San Francisco all year, at least my outfit choices will start to make sense for others!  In any case,  I plan to wear the heck out of these olive pants (I do plan to hem them a bit shorter, I realize they are a little long for me...).  That's the sum total of my fall plans.  (Not even close, actually, but it sounded dramatic.)  

In case you've a hankering for olive pants yourself, here are some fine, upstanding options in various price ranges.  I must point out that the abundance of options seems to confirm that this particular wardrobe craving of mine is not just my own personal style wish, but a bona fide fashion phenomenon.  (Here endeth my overly syllabic sentences.)

OUTFIT: New pants, new season....

OUTFIT DETAILS:
In every look:
Pants: Paige via ebay (similar - on sale!)
Heels: Rachel Roy via ebay (similar)
Bag: Ashley Brooke via DSW (similar)
Earrings: vintage shop (similar)

Tops:
Eyelet top: Old Navy, old (similar)
Graphic Tee: BeGood in San Francisco (quite similar)
Relaxed faded tee: Forever 21 (similar)

Layers:
Blazer: Theory via ebay (similar)
Denim jacket: Gap, thrifted (similar)

Necklace: via ebay (similar)

You know that feeling when you anxiously await something you ordered and expect to come any day? That's how I was feeling when these pants showed up.  It's been a little bit since I had a defined wardrobe craving (in this case, skinny cargo pants in olive green), and I was so happy to find these great Paige jeans on ebay for an incredible price.  I had to play with wardrobe options right away.  And I've already worn these in real life in a completely different way, to be shown on the blog soon.  I can't wait to use these over and over again (I included a couple of possibilities above). In fact, my main disappointment was that they came after my date that morning (when you have a child in kindergarten and a husband who works second shift, you do date mornings, rather than nights....).  They looked much better with my outfit than the pants I wore!

I'd mention the F-word (fall) in conjunction with these pants, but here in San Francisco, there's really no need.  We seem to have a perpetual fall climate (or spring, I suppose, but I'm going with fall on this end of the calendar year...), with a day or two of almost-summer (or almost-winter, sometimes) weather thrown in.  But, I grew up in a climate with a defined fall, and I remember in about late August, starting to wish for cooler weather to start using all those fall items you'd been waiting to wear.  And I remember searching fashion magazines for transitional outfits, so you could feel "fall-like", but not melt into a puddle of sweat with actual August/September weather.  

Wouldn't pants like these hit the spot?  With sandals and a tank now, and booties and a blazer later.  I think olive pants will always be classic, with or without cargo pockets, but a little fashion bird did mention that these are supposed to be hot for fall 2015.  Worth a try!

Here's some options available now, in a wide range of prices:

OUTFIT: Open heart (and sleeves)

OUTFIT DETAILS:

Activity: Planned for a date night, babysitting adjustments meant it ended up as a family school shopping trip (including a yummy meal out, which is a special treat for our family)

Top: Forever 21 (just purchased in store this week, couldn't find online)

Tank: Forever 21 (exact)

Jeans: LOFT (similar)

Sandals: Steve Madden (similar)

Bag: Dooney & Burke via ebay (similar)

Bracelet: from my grandmother (similar)

Earrings: vintage shop (similar)

Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren (exact)

San Francisco, can I just say how much I love you?  I had a sneaky suspicion that the location we traveled to which was found in one of the hottest housing markets possible would end up being the one I fell for.  Yup.  So, we've extended another 3 months, and I plan to make the most of every one of them!  I only wish it could be forever.

Today is one of those absolutely perfect days - sunny, not humid, not too hot.  In Wisconsin, we got maybe 10 of these a year.  Okay, maybe 20 if I'm feeling generous.  But seriously, not many.  Here, we've already had at least 10 in the 3 months we've been here.  (And, no bugs to mar the enjoyment.)  Granted, there've been plenty of foggy or cool days mixed in there, but that's all the better to give my blazer collection some love, my friends.  And, I've heard September-October are some of the most sunny months around here, so I want to soak it all up!  

I had been hoping it would be sunny today (for once the weather prediction was right!), so that my new top could actually see the light of day.  (While adorable, the looser sleeves are it's not exactly layering-friendly.)   It's not quite the "cold shoulder" top that is having a moment, but for me, it's quite a departure, and an easy way to dip my toes into these fashion waters.  Because of the longer tank underneath, my photographs don't show the flattering shorter length.  Normally bohemian styled items are tunic length, which is extremely unflattering, hence unappealing, to me.  Thought I'd give it a try!  Here's hoping for lots more perfect, sunny San Francisco days!

OUTFIT: Summer blazer

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Activity: Grocery shopping, then kid's library party with Gavin

Blazer: ebay (similar)
Tee: Lands' End (exact)
Shorts: LOFT (sold out, but same print in a romper, and super similar and another very similar pair still available)
Shoes: Michael Kors via ebay (similar)
Bag: Dooney & Burke via ebay (similar)
Earrings: San Francisco resale shop (similar)


So, it's been a while, eh?  What have y'all been up to?  Life, most likely, which I can relate to.  We've had some planned travel to the Midwest (planned vacation to visit family), and some unplanned travel - also to the Midwest - (major illness and death a few weeks later of another family member).  While it was a sad loss to our family, thankfully the way things happened at least allowed all in the family to be present to say goodbye, then when the inevitable happened, all could be present to remember that life together.  Even Gavin had an opportunity to process the grief in his own, 4 year old way.  It's been a bittersweet process, definitely drawing our little family unit closer as we've dealt with a new challenge together.

And, there's been plenty of less dramatic activity, too.  Even things as flitterly flighty as fashion (but not much photo-taking of said fashion since I didn't travel with my tripod.  And summer fashion is sweaty.  Well, in the Midwest, anyway.)  I'm trying to really enjoy the last few weeks before my baby goes to school.  And enjoy feeling better since some recent healthy lifestyle changes. But trying to STAY feeling better as I incorporate less stringent dietary requirements.  Make sense?  Probably not.  I think I have a tendency to both overshare and be too vague, which seems conflicting, and probably is, but yet  well describes me, both personally and on this blog.

Truth be told, I'm struggling with what, if anything, to make of this space.  How much to share, and just what to share.  Personally, I've really enjoyed the past year or more, sharing various things (mostly outfits) from my life, but, as I recently reviewed some past posts, I can see why not that many are drawn here.  My posts have kind of gotten boring.  Or maybe they always were (probably!).  So I'm trying to decide how much of my life to share here.  Because this isn't a "mom blog", nor a "family blog", nor do I want it to be.  But just a few sentences about fashion each post, especially from me, a confirmed thrift shopper who rarely shops for new items, really doesn't make sense.  Clearly, there are others much better qualified to share fashion and shopping tips.  I don't really want to be a blogger who wears items only because they are new, or sponsored, or whatever.  I want to own less, not more, and wear things more times, in more ways, not just once, for a blog post.  Yet, I still love fashion, and clothes, and style, and I think I have a unique outlook on those things.  

So, for now, I think I'll post less, and only when an outfit and the photos of it warrant it.  And, I guess I plan to talk more.  Whether anyone wants to listen is up to them.  Won't be the first time I talk when no one is listening!

Oh, and I guess for the sake of proving my previous statements about rarely buying new items false, these are actually shorts I purchased this season.  And, of course they are sold out.  However, LOFT has other, really similar styles still available (don't you love how they set the fabric for the pockets so the stripe goes in the opposite direct?) in black and grays.  They run true to size and are awesome to lounge in, as well as dress up a bit, as seen here.  I'm tempted to buy one or both of the other pairs, but I'll probably restrain myself.