last minute

necklace - Forever 21 / striped sweater - H&M / olive tank - Target / tote - Forever 21 / maxi skirt - Target / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / sandals - Target, thrifted

Oh boy, did I ever underestimate how long it would take me to recover from our flights on Wednesday! I have never been this thrown by a time-change in my life - last night I went upstairs to take a 'nap' at 6:30, slept straight through dinner, and finally woke up this morning at 5! There are at least some benefits to becoming an uncharacteristically early-riser; this morning I had plenty of time to get dressed, have a leisurely breakfast and do some reading, all before my favorite thrift store opened up at 8am. I found a ton of good stuff (I went with a 'fall wardrobe wishlist' in mind and managed to snag about half of what I was looking for), and now I'm itching to get it all to the dry-cleaners so I can really start playing dress-up.

These photos are from our very last day in Sweden. I started off with this tank and my beaded necklace because I love the colors together, but it was a little chilly so I threw on a sweater as we headed out the door. I was a little skeptical about how this shortish, boxy sweater would look paired with a long skirt and nary a waist-defining belt in sight, but I wound up liking this outfit much more than I'd expected - and it's hard to argue with a pairing this comfortable!

stressed

necklace - Forever 21 / tote - German convention freebie / t-shirt - UO / jeans - Gap / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / woven flats - UO

Oh, what a difference a few days can make - I've gone from totally relaxed and luxuriating in the present to a state of high anxiety about the future. As the end of our trip looms (just over two weeks! What happened??), some major decisions have been made and I now find myself with an enormous amount of preparatory work on my plate. We'll soon be heading back to visit with family again, to pull together portfolios, and if all goes well, find jobs and an apartment in one of the most competitive (and expensive) cities in the world - and in the meantime, we have only one more day here in Berlin before it's off to a new city (and a new country!), and I am feeling the familiar pressure to make the most of our dwindling time here. I am admittedly feeling a little overwhelmed, with obligations new and old pulling my attention in every direction, but I'm trying to just focus on one manageable task at a time (and to bear in mind that I have successfully done all of these things before).

In times of stress, I definitely fall back on simple outfits with a few favorite accessories to carry me through. Jeans and a t-shirt isn't a particularly creative combination, but I think the distinctive silhouettes of these particular pieces give them a little extra polish, and I'm reasonably certain this necklace can redeem even the most ho-hum of outfits. I'd like to make a whole arsenal of bright beaded statement pieces like this one in different colors when I have ready access to craft stores and some free time again - hopefully I won't have to wait too long for the latter!

moldy

necklace - Forever 21 / silk top - Mango / belt - thrifted / skirt - homemade / ring - Amsterdam shop / sandals - Target, thrifted

Today I had that greatest of all blogger misfortunes, worse than Flickr pervs, worse than Blogger blackouts, worse even than leaving your (boyfriend's) camera's memory card in a state 400 miles away - I had a good hair day and a cute outfit, and I didn't get to take pictures. While my stateside friends and family are sweating it out in an epic heatwave, I am stuck indoors with a few days of cold, steady rain. There isn't much of a spot in our teeny apartment suitable for taking photos, so I brushed off a set of old ones from nearly a week ago that never made it on the blog. I believe outfit pictures are still good for at least a week beyond their sell-by date, but please forgive me if these are a little moldy around the edges.