Outfit Of The Yesterday (Or So): Dusty Rust + Light Gray + Black + Mint (& A Happy Early New Year!)

♫: Auld Lang Syne – Andrew Bird

Whoa, long time no outfit update! I hope you guys have been busy enjoying the holidays and doing the things that matter most this time of year. Both Husband and I sure have. 2013 is already looking to be a year of huge change for us in several ways (ways I have to be obnoxiously vague about at the moment or forever, but blaarghughhh), and so it is always nice to go back home and get some good ol’ fashioned love and support from old friends, family, and the 10 pounds I’ve gained from eating all the holiday food & Midwestern cuisine you can handle. Uff da lunch buffet, yah?

The holidays are a nostalgic time of year for many people, I think, and this year for me has been no exception. I moved to Denver ten years ago this week, and it is crazy to think about how fast that time has flown, and how much has changed while that time was busy flying.  I would like to think that when I originally moved to Denver, I never once imagined that I would end up celebrating the 10th anniversary of THAT MOVE back where I was moving from; but honestly, I wasn’t thinking of a whole lot when I moved. I couldn’t imagine ten years out into the future, and I certainly couldn’t imagine what those ten years would be full of–the good and the bad; the changing, the becoming, and the growing.

Most of us know that with age comes experience, from experience comes wisdom, and from wisdom comes a profound sort of perspicacious apprehension and prickling fear.  This happens to all of us, I think, no matter how hard we try to fight it. 

For example: suddenly, going on a midnight run to the grocery store doesn’t seem like the quick flight of fancy it was 10 years ago (remember that time you locked yourself out of your apartment sans keys and had to walk 2 miles in flip flops to the nearest phone to call someone?). Smiling and being really friendly to complete strangers seems a little bit more worrisome (remember going on trial and testifying against the weirdo at work stalking a younger, female co-worker? and the bills from sleeping with all of the lights on in your apartment in complete freaky fear for weeks thereafter?), going on road trips alone a little bit more dangerous (remember not being able to kick your car out of neutral and into reverse in the ULTA parking lot and you weren’t even high on hairspray fumes? remember the deer you hit on the drive to Rapid City?), and life is a little less fluffy and carefree.

But from that profound sort of apprehension and fear comes a certain appreciation as well, I think, and with that certain appreciation comes a comforting knowledge that even the worst experiences can often be good. They might seem god-awful terrible in the moment in which they are happening, after all no one wants to spend 2 am at Walmart calling for their apartment security to let them back into their apartment, or on trial against a dude that was stalking a girl half his age, but those are just the minor details of it all.  Did you learn from the experience? Grow? And become a better person?

If you answered, “Yes, I learned to always wear comfortable flip flops after 10pm and to never be my own lawyer if I am ever charged with stalking and being an all-around creepy person!”, well then. There you have it–you, ladies and sirs, are living life.

So spending this week back in South Dakota has actually been pretty nice. So much good has happened in the past ten years, and I am unbelievably grateful for it all. I have made new friends, met my amazing husband, found a job that I adore to pieces, traveled to some amazing places both near and far, and moved to a community in which I feel that I truly belong.

But in between all of that I also dropped a few brand new jars of salsa straight on the kitchen floor, spent a lot of time random grocery store lines contemplating not buying food in exchange for a new handbag or anything that wasn’t food (Single Pre-Husband Chloe was so much more fun, and scary, and awesome), almost-accidentally burnt my apartment down with an electric blanket, had my heart broken a few times, had my heart mended a few times, went to way too many funerals one year, and accidentally gave myself food poisoning a good handful or two, too (see: new handbags). It is all part of living life and coming full circle, or in my case–a full loopity-loo, since I have realized recently that this adventure isn’t even close to being over.

Anyway! I would like to thank all of you guys both for reading and following along during a decent chunk of the journey. I know that I rarely get personal on this blog much anymore; it’s been difficult for me to find the words to adequately express everything that has happened in the past year. Writer’s block, if you will. But I sincerely appreciate all of you that follow along, so thank you from the bottom of my little wobbly heart.

Outfit time! Here’s a few completely random pictures from before we left for our trip. Snoozing puppies, our Christmas wreath, and a handbag being posed with a (new) R&Y Augousti vase + fresh flowers (don’t ask):

And an outfit. Comfy and a little bit more casual. I am still loving the Eartha satchel, and it has become my favorite bag to carry over the past few weeks as well. It is a stiff& structured little thing, but it holds tons of stuff (an ipad, iphone, wallet, and enough gum + lip gloss to last for days) and is on-so-comfy to carry, too. Have a safe, happy, & warm New Year’s, you guys! ♥

Cardigan: J Crew, really old (similar here) (similar under $100) (similar under $50)

Gray Top: Ann Taylor, old (similar under $25) (similar here)

Faux Leather Pants: Urban Outfitters (similar here) (similar here) (similar under $15)

Ring: Yves Saint Laurent Arty Ring in mint (buy it here) (similar under $100) (similar under $10)

Necklace: C Wonder Tortoise Shell Necklace (buy it here, on sale) (similar under $50)

Bag: Z Spoke Zac Posen Eartha Satchel (buy it here) (similar here) (a fab option by Tory Burch) (similar under $100)

Shoes:  J Crew Everly Suede Pumps (buy them here) (similar under $50) (a fabulous flat option under $75 here)