October 2017 / Organized Mess

Checkered Dress

10.31.2017

Happy Halloween, everyone! I'm not dressing up this year for the Halloween but I am sharing a (somewhat) Halloween-inspired post. AKA just wearing my current favorite black dress in the woods. I would wear this outfit on any given fall day. The windowpane pattern is one of my favorites and I love the loose sleeves on this dress. I'm looking forward to styling this piece once again with tights or over-the-knee boots. While the weather is still mild I'm styling it with bare legs and backless booties.

LOFT DRESS | 1 STATE BOOTIES (SIMILAR) | ZARA HAT | MICHAEL KORS WATCH AND PURSE

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Tonight we'll be finishing the second season of Stranger Things (SO good) after a wine night with friends. We only have 3 episodes left to go! Are you celebrating Halloween?

10.30.2017

Happy Monday! Where will you be getting your Monday morning coffee from? If you're by downtown Lancaster I highly suggest Passenger Coffee. Although I live in Philadelphia, I spend a good amount of time in the Lancaster area and I'm always on the lookout for new cafes and restaurants. I stopped by Passenger Coffee for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm already looking forward to a second visit. I went with a regular latte and the stone fruit crostata, which was absolutely delicious while my mom went with the peppermint tea. There were a lot of tea options for those who aren't coffee fans. The minimalistic and clean design was refreshing and everyone who worked there was passionate about the coffee itself and asked a lot of questions to find out which brew would be best.

Visit Passenger Coffee at 7W King Street, Lancaster, PA 17602 Monday-Saturday 7am-5pm and Sunday 8am-2pm.

10.25.2017

It's that time of year - apple picking time! Apple picking at Solebury Orchards in New Hope, Pennsylvania is one of my favorite yearly traditions. New Hope is an adorable little town about an hour outside of Philadelphia and Derek and I always enjoy spending the afternoon there. The previous two years I was so chilly while we were apple picking but this time I was nearly sweating to death in my layered look. Despite the warm temps I was set on wearing a sweater. Because what is apple picking without wearing a festive fall outfit!?

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As soon as I saw this adorable pug sweater at LOFT I knew it was going home with me. I have a thing for animal printed sweaters and this one was too cute to pass up! Plus, it also has stripes - another fall favorite of mine.

Did you go apple picking this year? What are your favorite fall traditions?

10.24.2017

For the longest time I absolutely resisted the idea of a "9-5". I assumed that any kind of corporate atmosphere that involved business attire or cubicles was the complete opposite of my personality, so I avoided putting applications in and worked as a retail manager for 2 years. I worked for a company that I absolutely adored and I had a great time. But I decided it was time for me to switch gears and after an internship and a little bit of time I've found myself in a cubicle, in an office building, dressed in business casual attire. And plot twist? I really love my job, I'm at a place where I can see myself growing and most importantly, I feel like I'm learning something new almost every single day. Of course, transitioning to an environment that you have never experienced before doesn't come without it's challenges. This has been a huge adjustment this past year for me and I still have so much to learn and get used to but here are 3 major adjustments to expect right away if you decide to move from retail to a more traditional 9-5.

1. You're going to be spending a lot more time on the computer and there's more to Microsoft Office than you think.

If you're transitioning into a 9-5, chances are you will be using at least one or two Microsoft Office applications depending on what your job entails. Word and Excel tend to be the two most used applications in office environments. And trust me. I can pretty much promise each and every one of you that Excel is a black hole and you will never know everything about it. There's a lot more than just typing things in the little boxes of a spreadsheet - who knew!? (Not me, that's for sure.) And I'm still learning. Every. Single. Day. I'm also still learning how to avoid headaches half way through the day after staring at the screen for so long. So far, the thing that has been helping me the most is going outdoors at lunchtime and avoiding as much screen time outside of work hours. Which, granted, is difficult when you're also running a blog. But, as they say, it's all about balance.

2. Going from wearing cute, creative outfits with very few limitations makes transitioning to business casual extremely difficult.

Fashion is my favorite form of art and personal style is my choice of self expression so having so many limitations (and not being able to wear 75% of my wardrobe 5 days a week) is hard and a huge adjustment. Before my first day I had to buy work pants because the only kind of pants I owned were jeans, leggings and these crazy wide-leg polka dot pants (which I don't think would be very office appropriate). I'm slowly starting to build a work wardrobe that I like and feels more like me. (Side note: Derek literally laughed at me the morning of my first day and said I looked like a little kid trying to play "dress up". Thanks Derek. I love you too.) Also, check out how to Dress Like a Professional While Remaining Creative.

3. Your schedule is going to be a lot different.

Weekends used to be tricky. While working in retail, I could always get the time off for anything that was incredibly important but I was still bummed out seeing my friends going to things such as festivals and what-not when I knew I couldn't (or shouldn't) take off another weekend when I had, let's say 2 weddings to attend that month. But the flip side? My weekends were usually in the middle of the week which were also kind of awesome because it's not nearly as crowded anywhere. It was nice to stop in the grocery store at 10am on a Tuesday and shop while it was quiet. I also never had to use PTO for doctor or dentist appointments. There are pros and cons of any work schedule but I'm really enjoying the 9-5 schedule where I can be off when most of my friends and family are. I no longer have to worry about missing the "not as important" events that are usually a lot of fun. I have so much more time for socializing with my friends and fellow Philly bloggers (above).

Have you ever decided to switch up your career path? What were the biggest adjustments and what kind of challenges did you face?

10.23.2017

This weather has been absolutely insane. We've had a chilly day here and there but we've had few days that really and truly felt like fall. And this is the last full week of October. How can that be!? Here's an outfit post I never thought I would be sharing in October - a sleeveless top (at least it's a sweater-y material?) and a corduroy skirt sans tights. But I threw on a denim jacket to add a little bit more fall-ness to it. And then immediately took it off because I was sweating. Anyways, besides the whole feels like summer in October ordeal, this outfit features a few of my favorite fall details, including a striped sweater, a corduroy skirt and booties.

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The weekend flew by (as usual). I spent Saturday enjoying the sunny weather in Philly and then Sunday Derek and I took a trip to New York State to visit the Storm King Art Center - which was absolutely beautiful. I'm slowly starting to cross things off of my fall bucket list. What did your weekend look like?

10.17.2017

We all know that florals are a standard staple in spring and summer but who says they can't work year-round? I love floral patterned pieces in rich colors and deeper hues. This dress with the mustard and pinkish/red flowers is constantly on repeat during the fall months. Derek and I went to a vineyard earlier on a warmer fall day so I went sans-tights but I think this would be cute with maroon or mustard tights and booties as well. I added a felt floppy hat to make the look more fall-like and wore one of my current favorite trends - backless booties.

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Organized Mess

SLIDER

Checkered Dress

10.31.2017

Passenger Coffee in Lancaster, PA

10.30.2017

Apple Picking in New Hope

10.25.2017

3 Adjustments Going from Retail to a 9-5

10.24.2017

Warm October

10.23.2017

Fall Florals

10.17.2017