Home sweet home!

{kh} here!

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE being home? I was born and raised in St. Paul and nothing feels better than being back.

I went to Chicago for 4.5 days and just got back this afternoon. Why did I go? To do a couple of informational interviews and see if I could see myself moving.

And the answer?

Not likely. 

I liked the organizations that I met with. One of them seems to work with a client population I am particularly interested in- adolescents with addiction and eating disorders. It's beautiful inside but...it's in a suburb with NOTHING to do (no joke) and not accessible by public transit. The other is in the Gold Coast neighborhood and would likely be an easy transition as I am affiliated with the organization. I love the Gold Coast but don't think I could afford it. Plus, I just didn't love Chicago. Even the pizza underwhelmed me!

 

 {the view from my hotel room...}

What was nice was that I stayed in a {somewhat} swank hotel just blocks off of Michigan Avenue. Convenient!

Now you would think that someone into fashion would be {lady}gaga for Michigan Avenue. It has every store you could think of wanting and more. I went to Top Shop and Zara. Kate Spade. The J.Crew on Michigan Avenue. Watertower Place. AND I WASN'T THAT IMPRESSED.

The only place I bought anything was...The Gap

There were so many people and things to see. I was underwhelmed by a lot of things and the collections I was impressed with were too extravagant for this grad school budget! However, I am drooling over the Garance Dore for Kate Spade collection!

It made me realize how much I love St. Paul. Sure, we aren't the fashion capitol of the world but that's ok. I mean, I am not all that trendy.

 {this is what I wore on the plane}

{here I am trying on a peplum dress. you want me to put a skirt around my waist over a dress? no}

But I am myself and a-ok with it. I like my style and it works for me. It's a bit more classic and refined but still has room for fun. 

Looks like you're stuck with me MN!

{kh}

P.S. Want to know what part of Chicago I {really} liked?

THE FIELD MUSEUM

I could have stayed here all day.   I could have spent hours in the dinosaur hall alone all day.

{obsessed with Sue and these elephants}

{there's a big nerd trapped in me}

Rules

Well, I'm packed and ready to leave for 4 weeks (with a quick overnight getaway to Pepin, Wisconsin tonight first) and I know I {SS} said I would have my packing list up today, but I didn't have time to get to it so stay tuned next week!

In the meantime this is sort of a part 2 to my last post about less being more...

After taking a great women and money course (if you live in the area and are interested talk to me, I adored this class and would love to help you get into it!!), I've gotten much better at not being such a shopaholic (I still have my moments) and I'm trying to focus on what I do have and how I can wear and pair it in different and new ways.



When I first started thinking about { my new style } years ago I  thought that in order to create it, I would have to start completely fresh by buying all new things. Well now let's be honest, that's not feasible nor is it fiscally responsible. And, the truth is that  I have a lot of great things in my closet already.

So, instead of buying all new things all the time, I've come up with some ideas and rules:

{TAILORING WHAT I ALREADY HAVE}

After reading some style books which said, "become best friends with your tailor", I thought, hey, I should try that. And so, I set off to my new {friend} Tom The Tailor's to have him fix all the clothes I sort of like but would LOVE if they fit me better. Unfortunately it's NOT cheap but I'm going today to pick up the 3 things that I dropped off and hoping that they turned out great.

{Source}

{BUYING}

1. It's something that will go with at least 3 other things in my closet OR it's a"can't live without" stand-alone piece that could be worn to a number of events (weddings, graduations, etc)

2. I can afford it without using a credit card {cash budget baby} and it's within my monthly allotted clothing budget (no taking it from another budget!)

3. I'm not buying it instead of something else (clothes or not) that I should be buying instead

4. It will hold up well and can be cared for easily (I'm over the dry cleaning bills for awhile)

5. I'm not buying it for the brand OR if I am, I'm getting it for a reasonable price... Anyone who knows me well knows that I love me some Tory Burch and a few years back I was lucky enough to nab a brand new in the box pair of TB Sophie Wedges (which I ADORE) on E-bay for $70. And then recently, I went to sell some clothes at a local re-sale shop and was stoked to leave with a like new pair of True Religion jeans. These are what I call good deals :) 

I'm going to try my best to follow these rules... Being in Europe may be a little hard though... Maybe I'll start when I get back ;)

IN the meantime I'm keeping returning the lovely navy eyelet dress today that I bought @ Anthropologie. I love it so and have gone back and forth on whether I should return it, but I would rather spend my money in Europe...

The next post from me will be from Oregon...

Au Revoir ~

 xo, SS