Remix - Denim jacket

Oh the jean jacket. So clean. So classic. So American. So easily remixed. 

I know the jacket was thrifted. I know I found it years ago for about $5 or so. I don't remember what I thought when I found it, but it was probably something like "Everyone needs a jean jacket. I don't have a jean jacket. I am lacking something everyone needs! I will buy this now."

Ever since, whenever I needed a jean jacket, I had one. Going to a Super Bowl party? Throw on your jean jacket! Shopping for a maternity bathing suit? Might as well do that in a jean jacket! Going to a matinee play? Put on that jean jacket, it might get chilly! Hanging out with giant a sculpture by Nikki de Saint Phalle? That sculpture would look really good with a jean jacket! And so on.

Style Icon: Stella McCartney

I remember first reading about Stella McCartney in Vogue in the '90s. Why do I remember this? I'm not sure. I think I found her striking, and I dug her style. I was a little skeptical about her talent since she was Paul McCartney's daughter, and I wondered -- Is that why she's an up and coming designer?

Answer: Nope. She was an up and coming designer because she was very, very talented. Proof: Her current, tremendous career. I love her line, and I LOVE her personal style. She's just very laid back, yet put together and sexy, but like an "Oh, am I sexy?" kind of sexy, which is way better than the trying-really hard sexy.

Plus she's rock royalty, which is kind of cool. Rock royalty and a style icon, that's Stella McCartney. Her dad must be very proud.

Remix - Dansko sandals

I've talked about my Dansko clogs on this blog as they are the best, but now I must put the spotlight on my Dansko sandals, which are also the best and in fact better than the best if the weather is hot. My toes need freedom in the summer! Pictured above: Toes enjoying freedom.

These shoes have seen me through walking-heavy days of fun travel, being a schoolteacher and being a pregnant schoolteacher. Let me tell you what, that last one is a true test, and these shoes 100 percent did their job. How are they both so cute and so comfortable?

I don't really think of myself as being a person who is loyal to a brand or even cares about brands, but Dansko shoes are my exception. How do they make me feel both like a professional teacher of the children and like a fabulous '70s siren? I don't know, but that's what they do!

Style Icon: Andre 3000

Andre 3000 is so damn dapper I can't stand it.

This man can wear the hell out of a suit/hat/polka-dot bowtie. He is not afraid of prints or pattern mixing.

AND he wrote the most infectious dance tune of all time. Just try listening to it without shaking it like a Polaroid picture.

Style Icon: Jenna Lyons

I love all the things this woman wears. All the things. I've never looked at a picture of her and said "Eh. Not so much." Instead, I'm always like "I love this! So much!"

Jenna Lyons is executive creative director at J. Crew, and she is so so chic and yet also funky and fun -- that's not easily done!

She's known for revamping J. Crew's brand, wearing fabulous cropped pants with heels and sporting giant, giant glasses. (I am pretty much a sucker style icon wise for girls who wear glasses.)

So New York! So chic! So professional! I love all of it!

Her dresses/skirt ensembles kill me too. And she always has this really great element of androgyny in her look. Sure, she's got on a super feminine dress, but she's also wearing that masculine coat. Love her. Simply love her. Jenna Lyons: Modern day style icon.

Remix - Heart dress

Oh sweet, sweet heart dress, how I do heart you. What is not to love? You are flouncy and graphic and comfy and fun.

I wear a lot of dresses with cardigans. It's just what I do. It's my thang. And since my thang is wearing dresses with cardigans, I've combined this one with several. Then I add some boots. Or sandals. Or occasionally a cornfield. This dress looks really stellar when combined with a cornfield.

It is often my "date day" dress. When me and my husband go out to do something romantic, I like to wear it. It makes me feel pretty and attractive and, despite its flouncy sweetness, I think it's just a wee bit slinky too. Heck, I even felt like a babe when I wore it super pregnant (and when I was super pregnant, I did not always feel babe-like). This dress, I tell you what, it has some positive powers!

Remix - Blue cardigan

This thrifted cardigan has always reminded me of my Grandma's china. You've seen the type -- it has the pretty, intricate blue pattern, and it's all fancy and saved for special occasions. This is a fancy cardigan, but I don't save it for special occasions. Nope. Not at all. 

Don't get me wrong. It's well suited for fancy occasions and looks quite nice next to the good china, but it also works with a pregnant-lady polka-dot tank top and jeans. It's just a pretty cardigan, it goes with almost anything. I mostly wear it with dresses to work. I pair it a lot with black, but I really like it best with some color. 

Some color or perhaps some faux fur.

Oh this cardigan, it's so cut, so colorful, so pretty and ladylike! I have never looked so ladylike in combat boots as I do when wearing this cardigan. True story. It has an inherent class that just takes over an outfit, don't you think?

Remix - Word Dress

I love this dress so much. So very, very much. I refer to it as my "word dress," but the only word super obvious on it is "JAM." (Can you spot it?) Really, it's a letter dress A dress full of letters. I love letters! Of course I do! I'm an elementary-school literacy teacher! And so I love this dress.

It looks good from the front and it has a fun back.

It fits a surprisingly large number of body types (all body types belonging to this one body at one time and another). Look at that wordy baby belly!

It just begs for layers and can handle almost all North Carolina weather.

The only time my dress was not absolutely 100 percent fabulous and perfect was when I wore it in a snowstorm Um, put on some pants, girl. It's cold out. Save the dress for another day! But, yeah, you must admit it looks good against the snow. So really, still 100 percent fabulous! Word dress remixing for the win!

Remix - Blue maxi dress

This maxi-dress isn't a neutral shapeshifter. It's pretty much always a big ol' swath of blue patterned cloth, and that blue patterned cloth is fabulous. 

I love the color and the pattern so much. I can't even remember when I first bought it, but I know I thrifted it back when I was a small-town reporter. It's adorable on its own, but I love it the most paired with blue. Blue on blue! That's some monochrome I can get behind!

A magenta-flowered cardigan and baby bump also work with it well. And flip flops! Well, it's a maxi-dress. Maxi-dresses were made to be worn with flip flops. 

It also looks great with a baby! I feel like the looks don't change dramatically when pairing the maxi-dress with different things (including adorable, tiny people!), but that's fine and dandy. It is always a fabulously-patterned, blue-on-blue dress that's the perfect length and ridiculously comfortable. All hail the maxi dress!

Remix - Red coat

Hello to you, red coat.

Before this coat, I was a neutral coat kind of girl. I bought a coat that would go with everything. My coats were always gray or black. That was it. It wasn't the coat's job to put on a show! It needed to match a lot of stuff and keep me warm, that's it!

Then I met this ruffly beauty, and my world view changed. Okay, maybe not my world view, but my coat view. I no longer thought the coat needed to be a muted neutral. Oh no! Sometimes all you ever see is the coat! Let your coat have something to say!

What does my coat say? Well, it says "I am a coat. I am very red and very orange. I am reddish-orange, and I am ruffly. My owner is looking fabulous thanks in large part to me. You are welcome, owner. You are welcome." To which I say, thanks coat. Thanks.

Remix - Wide-leg jeans

My favorite jeans are my largest jeans. Sure, I own skinny jeans too and not-skinny-but-not-wide-leg-just-sort-of-in-the-middle jeans as well. But my favorite jeans? Yep. My wide-leg jeans.

I just feel so free in them, perhaps because of the lack of circulation restriction. I just feel so '70s and hip and relaxed. Plus they're great for dog walking!

And they're jeans -- America's number one neutral! They go with everything, and so I wear them with everything. It's almost like I'm being patriotic! God bless America, God bless wide-leg jeans.

Stony, stripey, awake-y

I am typing with one hand because my other arm has a baby in it. Typing is so much slower this way... but the end result is the same -- a blog entry about my new boots! They are still very tall and very comfortable.

The laces on the back are my favorite part. They are the main reason I bought the boots.

Also a favorite: that giant stone ring from a recent arts festival. So big, So stony! And my dress! So stripey! And now my baby's so awake-y! Entry concluded.

Remix - Pink cardigan

Happy Wednesday! Let's Remix!

Like the black and white maxi-skirt before it, I wasn't 100 percent sure about this pink cardigan when I first thrifted it. Then, I wore it all the time. I wasn't sure about it because it has some seams that look like the cardigan is inside out even though it's not, and I was like "What is that about?" Turns out, I don't really care, and I find this little pink number to be an excellent addition to my wardrobe.

When we had "Dress like your favorite teacher day" at school, the little girls who dressed like me wore cardigans and dresses. Totally my look! So, yes, this cardigan gets paired with dresses all the time.

It also works well with jeans and a polka-dotted pregnant belly. Really, it's so sweet and neutral, I probably haven't explored its full potential yet. (On life goal list: Explore the full potential of the $4 thrifted, pink cardigan. The full potential.)

Pictured above is my favorite pink-cardigan look. Do I love the look because of the pink cardigan? Nope. I love the boots and the dress, but the pink cardigan ties it all together! It's a great unifier of things, that pink cardigan. It makes the outfit work without being all braggy about it.

Second hand gray

I wore this little ensemble to go visit my parents with Thomas this week. Thomas loves to snuggle up with his grandma every chance he can get, and I love to leave the house! This gray dress is the result of another exciting leaving-the-house moment: thrifting with Erin. It's pretty darn comfortable and might become a wardrobe staple.

Something that's not going to be a wardrobe staple? Necklaces. Thomas, at two and a half months, is now a grabber, and this necklace came off pretty quickly because he was all about it. Isn't it a great necklace, though? Hot air balloons are the best! As seen from the ground! Or represented in jewelry! I think in reality I would be terrified to go up in one. (I went up in a tethered one once. So doesn't count.)

These are my new red moccasins, and I am in love. They were purchased from eBay and have already been broken in by someone else. Thanks someone else! I might have to get a few more pairs in different styles/colors because they are so cute and so comfortable.

Please note that black ball of fur behind me. That is my precious Sunshine Dog. She is not the star of the show anymore now that Thomas is on the scene, but she is still the best, most loved puppy! And by "puppy" I mean 13-year-old dog. Such a sweetie. She's been making my outfit photos cuter for years.

Remix - Riding boots (RIP)

Along with my heart and hips, my feet grew during my pregnancy, which means my shoe collection no longer actually fits my feet. Sadness. Such, such sadness. The shoes I will miss the most? My riding boots. I am clearly going to have to find another pair. Clearly. That is absolutely clear. 

I bought these new via the wonderful Internet right before that "polar vortex" situation we had last winter. I wore them all the time. All of it.

There was a period in my life when I wore pants whenever it was really, really cold. Then I discovered that you can throw on knee-high boots and leggings, and you're just as cozy and comfortable! So, yes, there were a lot of leggings/boots combos happening last winter. 

Riding boots look good with all the things -- especially heart sweaters. They also work with skinny jeans and maternity dresses and Mary-Poppins-esque purses. They are versatile, those riding boots. 

I'm a pretty thrifty lady, and I generally steer clear of buying new, expensive things. These boots are a clear exception, and when it comes down to cost-per-wear, I actually think they're cheaper than a lot of thrifted heels I've bought. (Oh how I love to buy the heels and then wear them maybe once. Heels are uncomfortable! I never actually want them on my feet. But they are so pretty! So I feel compelled to buy them...) Anyway, at least I got a lot of use out of these boots before they no longer fit! It was a beautiful time, riding boots. I will also remember you fondly. It was a great love. A true love. A shoe love.