Colorful Sunshine

Oh, Abby...you're such a photobomber.

What I'm Wearing:
Dress:  Delia's (thrifted)  |  Cardigan:  J. Crew (thrifted)  |  Belt:  Gift from friend  |  Necklace:  Gift from friend  |  Leggings:  Marshall's  |  Boots:  Simply Vera  |  Earrings:  TLC Creations

It was actually GORGEOUS outside (just look at that sunshine streaming through the window!), and I was totally planning on taking these photos on my back patio...until I realized my new neighbors' kids were playing in the backyard.  I live in an apartment complex, so there is really no privacy at all!  I suppose I could have gone out there anyway, but I felt kind of awkward about it...  sigh.

Anyway, I've had this dress for awhile now and have been trying to find a way to "girly it up."  Its rather sporty, which is totally the opposite of my style.  I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out, and it felt good to wear lots of colors!

I won a bunch of earrings from TLC Creations through a giveaway on Six Sisters' Stuff, and I've had so much fun wearing them. I don't think you can see them super well in these photos, but these particular earrings are little keys.  So cute!  You really must check out TLC Creations, because they have the cutest accessories.  I especially love this sweet bronze bird and cage necklace.  Isn't it pretty?

Via: TLC Creations 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!  <3

Y is for Yellow, and Yearning for spring.

Today's challenge for "The ABC's of Style" is "Y is for Yellow", but sadly I have very little yellow in my wardrobe.  Luckily I wore this ensemble last week, so it will have to do:

What I'm Wearing:

Shirt:  Charlotte Russe  |  Cardigan:  Vintage (thrifted)  |  Jeans: Delia's (thrifted)  |  Boots:  Western cowboy boots from Tractor Supply Company (from my equestrian team days)  |  Pearls:  Gift from mom

I actually found these jeans when I went thrifting with my sister over Super Bowl weekend, and I just love them!  It's hard enough to find a pair of jeans that really fit me well, and even more so at thrift stores.  Hurrah for thrifted, comfortable jeans!

I really cannot wait for the snow and rain to go away so I can take more photos outside.  We've been very lucky to have such a mild winter, but I am ready for SPRING!  Maybe the weekend will bring sunshine?  I sure hope so...

X is for X2 (times 2)

Today's challenge for "The ABC's of Style" was "X is for X2 (times 2)", in which we were supposed to show two different ways of styling a piece of clothing.  Picking a piece out of my closet and finding different ways of wearing it is actually one of my FAVORITE things to do, so this was really fun!

Look A:

Look B:

What I'm Wearing:

Both looks -  Dress: H&M  |  Black leggings: Macy's maybe?  I've had them forever...
Look A -  Cardigan:  Covington (thrifted)  |  Belt: Francesca's  |  Shoes:  Simply Vera
Look B -  Cardigan:  International Concepts (thrifted)  |  Belt:  Thrifted  |  Boots:  Thrifted  (Similar boots here)

I admit these are pretty similar looks, but it's winter so leggings and a cardigan are kind of my staple go-to items...

By the way, I want to thank everyone who has left me such nice comments.  It has been so encouraging to hear from you ladies, and I just love making new friends!  So nice to meet ya'll, and thank you for being so friendly and welcoming!! :)

W is for Wide Leg

Today's challenge for "The ABC's of Style" was "W is for Wide Leg."

"Great!" I thought to myself with a smile.  After all, I wear wide leg jeans nearly every day of my life.  This should be an easy one!

So I decided to challenge myself a little bit more and chose my wide legged purple pants for today. 

And I kind of think it all went downhill from there.  Because as cute as I thought this looked in person, I just couldn't seem to get it to photograph right.  I fear I may be invoking a little bit too much of the 70's with this outfit....

What I'm Wearing:

Top:  Eddie Bauer (thrifted) |  Pants:  Old Navy (hand-me-down from sister)  |  Belt:  Chiang Mai, Thailand Walking Street  |  Shoes:  Target  |  Necklace:  Hand-me-down from Grandma (Vintage) 

Today I took a KILLER pharmacology exam, so my brain is completely fried.  That's why I opted for glasses today (my eyes are exhausted from studying) and the hair's in a messy bun.  I got about four hours of sleep last night, so I think it's time for a nap before I hit the books again (parasitology this time around).  It's days like today when I have to remind myself of how lucky I am in to be in vet school.  It's hard to feel thankful when you're exhausted!

Anyway, I'm not going to do perfectly on every test.  And that's OK...

“Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” - Charles Jones

In the end, it will all be worth it.

Calvin <3

Unexpected Owl

Today's challenge for The ABC's of Style is "U is for unexpected", and I unexpectedly found the time to participate! ;)

I've been trying to find a top to go with this skirt for a long time now, and decided to go out on a limb and try it with a graphic t-shirt.  I've seen girls pull this look off before (graphic T + skirt), but could I actually wear it and not look ridiculous?  Me?  Megan?  Well, it was time to find out...

 

It's winter (i.e. FREEZING), so here's the obligatory cardigan.

What I'm Wearing:

T-shirt: Thrifted  |  Cardigan:  Mossimo (thrifted)  |  Skirt:  Vintage (thrifted)  | Belt:  Chiang Mai, Thailand Walking Street  |  Tights:  Stein Mart  |  Shoes:  Blowfish Vance Booties

Well, there it is.  I'm still not sure if I'm pulling off this look right, but it was fun to try!  Besides...owls are always cute, right?  By the way, this skirt has POCKETS.  I can't believe I forgot to show them off when I took photos!  Trust me, they're there, and they're awesome.  Don't you just love skirts with pockets? <3 <3

Last night I dug out the ol' slow cooker and made Moroccan Chicken using a Better Homes and Gardens recipe I'd found on Pinterest.  Here's the finished product (excuse the crappy photo quality...I took it with my ancient phone):

It was absolutely delicious, so if you're looking for something simple and full of flavor, try it out! 

Ok, enough fun.  Back to memorizing drugs...I have a killer pharmacology test on Wednesday.  :(  Ugh, is it Friday yet?

Lace and snoring dormice

Ugh, one of the things I hate most about taking photos inside is trying to get the lighting right.  It was positively FRIGID yesterday, so I really had no choice but to take pics inside again.  I apologize for the poor lighting...I tried my best!  I wore this yesterday for my studying-extravaganza.

When I first put this outfit together, I tried it with a belt.  I ended up taking it off though because it's more comfy without it...and comfort definitely goes before style on study days!
Which do you think looks better?  Belt or no belt?

What I'm Wearing:

Cardigan: Vintage  |  Shirt: Hollister (thrifted)  |  Jeans:  Grane, Macy's  |  Shoes:  Target  |  

Belt:  Chiang Mai, Thailand Walking Street 

Yesterday was what I refer to as a "Super Study Saturday."  I spent most of the day camped out at Panera studying my life away, and such days call for comfort more so than fashion.  So there's nothing super special about this outfit, but I'd thought I'd share it nonetheless!  Especially because I'm totally in love with this cardigan - I'm a total sucker for lace details!  Also I finally learned how to do a fishtail braid, so I kind of wanted to show it off (even though the lighting sucks and you can't really see it.  Sigh.).  The Beauty Department created a great "how to" video, and it finally clicked for me:





I have a bunch of exams this week so probably won't be doing much updating.  In fact, today will probably be "Super Study Sunday."  I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!  To get your day started, here's 30 seconds of ADORABLE cuteness!  What better way to start a Sunday than by watching a snoring dormouse?

YouTube Description:  He's a dormouse. In winter, dormice hibernate in nests beneath the fallen leaves on the ground. When they wake up in spring, they build woven nests of honeysuckle bark and fresh leaves in the undergrowth. If the weather is cold and wet, and food scarce, they save energy by going into 'torpor' -- they curl up into a ball and go to sleep. In fact, in Britain the dormouse may spend up to three quarters of its life asleep, either hibernating in winter or in torpor during summer. It is believed their name comes from the Anglo-Norman word dormeus, meaning "sleepy (one)". This evolved to become dormouse even though they are more closely related to squirrels....

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Have you visited The Yellow Brick Road? It's a sweet little online store based in New Zealand, and I am absolutely in love with their products! With Valentines Day coming up, they have the loveliest assortment of Valentines - including several Harry Potter themed cards that especially excite my inner Geek!

I love you like Dobby loves socks.

I love you like Hagrid loves dragons.

Let's stick together

I stumbled upon this lovely little shop through Pinterest when I followed a picture of their "One Line A Day Memory Book." When I was younger I used to keep journals, but over the years I've found it harder and harder to find the time to sit down and write. With this journal, there are 365 daily entries with only a few lines each - perfect for writing down the most memorable event of the day!

Unfortunately it looks like they're all sold out of the Memory Book.  However, I think this is definitely something I could make at home!  Any old spiral bound notebook would do, but I also have a ton of empty journals that I've collected over the years. It may be time to dig them out and start recording some memories!

P.S.  Their clothes are darling, too!

T is for Tomboy (and a Tough day)

Even though I had lots of time today to put together an outfit, I thought about sitting this one out.  Today's theme was "T is for Tomboy", and boy was it a toughie.  I'm kind of a girly girl, so it was a huge challenge to pull something together that I felt fit with the theme.  Plus today I was kind of a hot mess... you know, it was one of THOSE days.  The don't-make-me-get-out-of-bed-I-don't-wanna-go-to-school kind of day.

Anyway, for better or for worse, this was my outfit.  And do pardon my hair...it refused to obey.

Buttoned or unbuttoned?  See, I couldn't even make a simple decision today!

What I'm wearing:

Blouse:  George Stretch |  Blazer:  Lipstick  |  Jeans: Grane, Macy's   |   Scarf:  Gift from sister   |  

Shoes:  Blowfish Vance Bootie

I'm not sure I'm in love with this outfit...but oh well.  It was fun to experiment! (And seriously guys...buttoned or unbottoned?  Help a girl out here!)  Plus I'm ALWAYS looking for ideas of how to style this brown corduroy blazer.  It's one of those pieces in my closet that I haven't figured out how to wear, but I refuse to give up on.                                                                

Focusing on the positives, I guess some good things DID happen today:

1)  Milla's biopsy results came back as BENIGN.  (Milla = my sister's cat)  She is cancer-free!  Yippee!

2)  I feel like I aced my food animal exam this afternoon.  One of my tasks was...can you guess?...casting a sheep.  Even though my arms were sore from casting yesterday, I went in that sheep pen and BOOM.  Sheep cast.  That's what I'm talkin' about!

3)  I hung up new curtains in my office (where I've been taking photos since the weather has been so crappy).  I love, love, love them!  This room needed a little bit more color, and they did just the trick.

And now I have a mountain of work to tackle before I allow myself to enjoy this snowy Friday evening.  Happy Friday, everyone!

S is for Sheer...and sheep!

I am so excited to have my first GFC follower!  Thank you to Rachel for following my blog!  Now ya'll need to go check out her awesome blog because she is just lovely and has the cutest style. <3

I didn't think I would have time to participate in today's fashion challenge, but surprise! I finished class early. Today's challenge is:  "S is for Sheer"

There's Calvin, creepin' in the background...

And because it's so stinkin' cold out, a blazer is necessary when leaving my apartment...

What I'm wearing:

Shirt:  Charlotte Russe |  Blazer:  Banana Republic (thrifted)  |  Jeans:  House of Dereon   |  Shoes:  Jadd (thrifted)

I've had this shirt for forever, but always forget about it.  It was nice to have a reason to dig it out and style it up!  At first I wore a necklace with this outfit, but I decided that the intricacy of the top was such that it looked best without one (especially with my big earrings).  Sometimes less is more, don't you think?

I confess, I did not wear this outfit today... but I had a good reason!  Today was SHEEP day, meaning I was in coveralls and boots chasing sheep around in a dirty barn.  High heels and nice clothes definitely would not have been appropriate!  But I love sheep, and it was a blast "rolling around in the hay" with them today (literally!).

Fun fact about sheep: to restrain them, all you need to do is CAST them.  What is casting?  You stick one hand in their mouth and hold their jaw, use your other hand to grab just in front of their hip, and then turn the head toward the hip while lifting up on the hip.  This blog has a fantastic description with great photos of the result:

Looks silly, doesn't it?  Propped up like this you can trim their feet, draw blood, conduct a breeding soundness exam...all sorts of things!  Once in this position the sheep completely relaxes, as you can see from this photo:

It may sound like a piece of cake to cast a sheep, but for a newbie like me it was exhausting.  I am definitely going to be sore in the morning!  It doesn't matter though...I still love sheep!

P.S. The coveralls the guy in these photos is wearing are similar to what I wear when working with farm animals (except mine are blue).  Yeah...not cute at all!

Source of sheep photos: http://dawnofnewbeginnings.blogspot.com/2010/10/casting-sheep-and-aging.html

R is for Romantic Reds and Pinks

I SO loved the idea of fashion challenges that I've decided to join "My Greatest Hit's:  The ABC's of Style", even though they're already on R's!  Because of my crazy busy school schedule, I won't be able to participate every day.  Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to participate whenever possible.

Today's challenge?  "R is for Romantic Reds and Pinks", which happen to be the 2 hardest colors for me to wear!  I never in my wildest dreams would be brave enough to wear pink and red together on my own.  Today's challenge called for doing just that, so I gathered my courage, opened my wardrobe, and put together this ensemble...

My cat, Abby...you can see how thrilled she is to snuggle with me.

What I'm wearing:

Dress: Vintage  |  Cardigan: J. Crew  |  Belt:  Thrifted  |  Shoes:  Simply Vera  |  Red rose hair clip:  H&M

Pink and red...together?!  Ugh, I'm just not sure I can pull it off!!

Anyway, I had a fantastic Super Bowl weekend at home with my family, and thoroughly PIGGED OUT during the game!  It is definitely time for me to get back into my regular yoga and Zumba routine, because my eating habits have been despicable these days.  I don't care much for NFL football (I'm more of a college football fan), but during the game I was kept entertained by an epic round of Super Bowl Bingo.  We had Bingo sheets with different items we had to spot on TV during the game (for example, certain football players or commercials), and the winners got a prize.  My family has an awesome sense of humor, so the prizes were kind of silly... Case-in-point: I won an LED headlamp, which I'm sure will come in handy one of these days!

I am thrilled to report though that my cat Calvin's papule on his head came back as benign, so he is cancer-free and healthy as can be!  Speaking of cats and cancer, my sister's cat, Milla, went under surgery yesterday to have several lumps on her breasts removed.  Mammary adenocarcinoma is not uncommon in cats, particularly in those that are spayed at an older age.  In fact, cats spayed before 6 months of age have a 7-times reduced risk of developing mammary cancer (source).  My sister adopted Milla from a rescue organization, which spayed her after she had already given birth to kittens.  This is just one more reason to spay your cats and dogs, folks!

Get well soon, Milla. <3

A fashion challenge

This evening I stumbled upon a lovely fashion blog (http://www.frecklesinapril.blogspot.com/)  that features fashion challenges for bloggers to try.  This week's challenge was called "Open to Interpretation," challenging you to use the inspiration photo to style an outfit of your own.  Here is the inspiration photo:

Credit:   J. Crew

And without further ado, here is my interpretation!

What I'm wearing:

Sweater:  Old Navy |  Blouse:  George Stretch  |  Dress: H&M  |  Shoes:  Worthington  |  Gold leaf belt:  Thrifted

I really liked the idea of a cable knit sweater over a dress, but I felt like it lacked shape and wasn't very flattering on my figure.  So I added a belt, and voila!  Shape!

My mom bought me these adorable t-strap shoes for Christmas, and I have just been itching to wear them.  They're so cute, don't you think?

I just love the idea of using a catalog fashion model to inspire an outfit using clothes I already have in my own closet.  This is definitely something I'm going to have to try in the future when I'm feeling uninspired!

I'm headed out of town tomorrow to spend the weekend with my parents for their big Superbowl party.  I plan on swinging by my sister's veterinary clinic on the way to get a lump checked out on my cat Calvin's head.  I'm sure it's nothing, but I would rather be safe than sorry! I'm lucky that my sister is already a vet so I can take advantage of her diagnostic skills (and supplies)!  Fingers crossed that the lump is nothing...

It must be bunnies.

What I'm wearing:

Shirt: Charlotte Russe |  Elephant Necklace:  Myrtle Beach silver shop | Snake watch:  Kenneth Lane  |
Jeans: Grane, Macy's |  Shoes:  Merona

I just love wearing animal prints and jewelry...today I wore an elephant, bunnies, AND a snake.  Overkill?  I think not!

We just started talking about rabbits in my Pocket Pet medicine class.  I used to have a mini-lop eared rabbit when I was little, which I oh-so-originally named "Bunny."  Actually I had all kinds of "pocket pets" growing up, such as gerbils and guinea pigs... I guess I've always had a soft spot for them.  In fact I still have a chinchilla, named "Millie":

"Who you lookin' at?"

A lot of people don't care much for pets you keep in a cage, but I've always found them to be amazingly fun and fulfilling to keep.  In fact, I used to build mazes out of my Disney VHS tapes for my gerbils to run in.  It's just as important for pocket pets as it is for cats and dogs to keep them mentally stimulated for a healthy, long-lived life!  My gerbils always lived for 4 or 5 years, which I understand is a pretty long time for the little critters!

Speaking of pocket pets, one of my classmates shared with me this awesome video of a...wait for it...sheep herding RABBIT.  Whuduhthunkit?



Now, who wants a bunny?