Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is 5 Simple Fall Pleasures I Live For...and I have a list that is probably similar to many other people's: Cool weather Fall color and falling leaves Soups/stews Autumn/Halloween decor (note: I do not decorate for the season myself) Fall fashion Since I talk a lot about fashion

Last September, I posted about the weirdness of September as the month marking the "beginning of fall" yet still feeling very summery in much of the Northern Hemisphere, including Minnesota: September is a strange month! School is back in session, marking the unofficial end of summer for many people. The fashion world has turned hard core to fall clothing and outfits, urging us to shop for the cooler season. The pumpkin spice latte has returned to coffee shops, and the Americ

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is Things You'll Always Hear Me Say...and one of them is "This month, I will get a start on my Where Bloggers Live post early." I say it, but it never seems to happen! I always get started the day before it's due. This post is coming out late because I was knocked out by a mig

I am fortunate to have joined a talented group of bloggers for the Global Writing Challenge. Each month, we write about a very broadly defined topic, and the responses are quite varied. The newly revised group includes Deb’s World, Marsha in the Middle, Suzy Turner, Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After Again, Cat's Wire, Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa, and me. This month, Marsha selected the topic Poetry...and though I knew I wanted to discuss some of my favorite Ameri

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is The Tabs That Never Close: My Essential Websites...and for a similar topic in 2023, I wrote about my favorite weather website, which I used routinely for years. (Now that I am not working, I find that I spend less time tracking the weather forecast, and I find myself just lo

Today I'm continuing with my summer closet edit... -Grey tipped blazer post is here; -Navy short-sleeved jacket post is here; -Light blue Henley t-shirt post is here; -Slate blue skirt post is here. The fifth item leaving my closet is this navy pencil skirt from Walmart that I purchased 8 years ago for $10.50 (on sale). Just like with the slate blue skirt, I last wore this skirt in 2024 because in the summer of 2025, when I'd just left my job, I didn't feel like wearing skirt

Today I'm continuing with my summer closet edit... -Grey tipped blazer post is here; -Navy short-sleeved jacket post is here; -Light blue Henley t-shirt post is here. The fourth item leaving my closet is this thrifted slate blue skirt from M.M. LaFleur that I purchased 6 years ago. The $20 price tag was reasonable given that their skirts sell new for $195 and up. I have previously talked about this skirt as one that is high quality and feels very "fancy/professional" for work

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the hand-colored etching "The Leader of the Luddites" published in 1812 by the printmaking firm Walker & Knight by an anonymous artist. As she put it: "While I don't condone violence of any sort, I still love what this illustration represents...opposition to technology taking away human jobs...I also love that this image offers some fun sartorial inspiration as well!"

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is...Daily MVPs - things in my home that get me through the day. For once, I'm not going to overthink this! I just started making a list and stopped when I got to 10. Well, actually 12 because the most important two are: Mr. in St Paul Rabbits, all of them in the world Here a

I am fortunate to have joined a talented group of bloggers for the Global Writing Challenge. Each month, we write about a very broadly defined topic, and the responses are quite varied. The newly revised group includes Deb’s World, Marsha in the Middle, Suzy Turner, Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After Again, Cat's Wire, Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa, and me. This month, Suzy selected the topic of Dance...and yeah, this one actually made me laugh out loud because I am

Today I'm continuing with my summer closet edit... -Grey tipped blazer post is here; -Navy short-sleeved jacket post is here. The third item leaving my closet is this pretty blue t-shirt that I've had for 8 years. It's still in good condition after 19 wears, but this particular Henley style top is a bit of an awkward fit on my body, and now that it's a little snug, I don't love the way it looks across the chest because the fabric pulls oddly. I am not sorry to say goodbye to

This post is dedicated to the memory of our friend Iris from the Where Bloggers Live group. I think she would have appreciated this artwork! Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the "Irises" folding screens by early 18th century Japanese artist Ogata Korin. In keeping with the summer season most of us are experiencing, she wanted "something summery and nature-themed" and thought this would be fun to interpr

I have been welcomed into a wonderful group of fashion and lifestyle bloggers that focuses on styling preloved clothing and accessories in themed monthly posts (third Monday of the month). I hope that this showcase of secondhand items and outfits provides some shopping and style inspiration for anyone who is interested in creating great looks in a way that is sustainable for our planet and our pocketbooks. Today's topic is Fringe...which is a tricky one for me because I don'

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is...Pets/animals who rule my heart, and I could have dedicated this entire post to my top 2 pets/animals..but instead I am going to flush it out to my top 10. First the top 2, then the remaining 8 in alphabetic order because it wasn't really possible to rank them all the way

I am fortunate to have joined a talented group of bloggers for the Global Writing Challenge. Each month, we write about a very broadly defined topic, and the responses are quite varied. We recently welcomed two new members to the group: Amy and Cat. The newly revised group includes Deb’s World, Marsha in the Middle, Suzy Turner, Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After Again, Cat's Wire [Cat], Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa [Amy], and me. This month, I selected the topic o

Jodie and her crew recently styled black and white skirts 3 different ways, and it made me wonder how I have worn black and white skirts in the summer. I found 8 OOTD in my archives to share with you today to keep this summer outfit inspiration with this item going. (And I see no reason that these ideas wouldn't work with black and white pants, shorts, skorts, etc.!) First, a short introduction to the black and white skirt you'll see in most of my outfits...or a re-introduct

Today I'm continuing with my summer closet edit (the first post saying goodbye to my grey tipped blazer is here). My second item is this navy short-sleeved jacket that I've had for 6 years...I actually bought it at the same time as the grey tipped blazer so maybe it's unsurprising to discover that this is another woven zero stretch topper is also a bit too tight and uncomfortable this summer. It's unfortunate that it's leaving my closet with a cost per wear over my $1 goal,

With the official start of summer right around the corner, I have been looking at some of my warm weather clothes to decide whether to keep them or remove them from my closet. I have started my evaluation with my dressier work items [I am currently on a break from working, as discussed here]...not because any of them are too "business-y" to wear outside the office, but because my priorities are different now. I also haven't worn some of them for a couple years, so it makes s

Marsha at Marsha in the Middle is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the painting "Promenade" by early 20th century German Expressionist painter August Macke. She chose this artwork because she had heard of Expressionism but didn't know anything about it, and her search turned up this painting that she found delightful. source: https://marshainthemiddle.com/ The bright greens of the trees appealed to me, so I pulled out my thrifted Eloq

Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time. Today's topic is...My Favorite Things about Being Me...and one of my favorite things about my life right now is having the time for small local weekday outings that pack a lot of punch. To celebrate the arrival of true spring weather in the Twin Cities, my husband took the day off work so we