Gotta wear some new stuff!

Today's outfit was driven by my desire to wear some new things. This skirt is one I found at Kohls a week ago, clearance, about $7. I've worn this shirt only once before and the heels I've had for well over a year and only worn twice now. In fact, I hadn't worn them since I bought them and threw them on for something earlier this summer and was shocked at how comfortable they are (probably the reason I bought them in the first place!) They really elongate the leg nicely.

Birthday Weekend

There are basically no surviving pictures from this past weekend, other than an outfit pic I snapped on my way to dinner Thursday night. The lack of pictures should indicate wild and crazy times, but mostly it just indicates that I didn't take any pictures. It was a laid back couple of days. Seems like I got a lot done but I really didn't.

The main thing I did was a big "oops" as far as my not shopping plan... BUT this was legit... there were sales... and coupons! (Several stores sent me birthday coupons) Oddly enough, I think I only used one of said coupons. I had a Kohl's cash I needed to use, as well as a 30% off coupon that hadn't yet expired, so I HAD to use that.... I also had to satisfy my outlet mall bug that I'd had for awhile.

I was thinking I'd just window shop, but I started at the Loft Outlet and it was game over. Pretty much went straight to the back clearance area- the clearance items were an additional 40% off. I ended up getting a blousy b/w top, two pencil skirts (critical need area), an open front khaki blazer, a navy ribbed knit blazer and a necklace, for $70. I then made a bee-line for my car, got in and drove away, as I knew there were deals to be had everywhere that I didn't really need to see. :)

The next day, I went to World Market to use my b-day coupon and got a really cute bright blue and yellow scarf (and some wine, because really, how do you go to World Market and NOT buy wine?) Then I headed to Kohls. I'd just been to Kohls the weekend before, so I had an idea of what I was looking for- some pants that I tried on the week before that weren't on sale at the time and a clearance rack I didn't really get to pick through before. I bought the chevron print soft pants (they will be fun to wear this fall) a really nice fit and flare dress and a casual sweatshirt. 

I also went by the mall with about 4 more coupons in tow, but ended up only going to Forever 21... they had an additional 30% off their markdowns and I found a teal pencil skirt, a versatile mustard yellow dress, and a necklace for $30.

As far as I am concerned, I did really freaking well for $130, averaging about $10 an item. Of course, when you say you aren't going to shop at all and then you do, any money spent is bad, but it was my birthday!!!

PS- LOVE these shoes that I wore Thursday night. I also wore them Saturday night- such a random, great find a few weeks ago. They are still online for around $150. Somehow, I found them a few weeks ago directly from a store in NYC for $50!!

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Vince-Camuto-Signature-BARBARAA-BLK-VACHETTA/prod173140247/p.prod

ShoeBox for $49.99

Thursday night dinner: I threw a black blazer on over this (dark blue jeans) 

The best part of Saturday night:

New Necklace

A new necklace is sometimes where an outfit starts. I wanted to wear a necklace I'd bought recently (NY&Co BIG sale) so I built an outfit around it. Inspiration comes from everywhere and it is not unusual for me to build an outfit around a pair of shoes, a scarf, etc...

Sometimes you have to think accessories first!

 Top: Loft, $14
Pants: H&M, $15
Necklace: NY&Co, $8
Shoes: Forever 21 (old)

All in the Family!

I always see crazy bright color combo's on bloggers and I think "I'd never have thought to do that." Well, today I'm doing it... although in my own, subdued way.

I wanted a super casual look for work today, as pretty much everyone is out of the office and things are very quiet. Pulled this teal shirt out to wear with jeans and decided on the lighter cropped jeans. While actually reaching for a different scarf, this little guy fell out of the scarf stack. I'd, of course, forgotten about it. I bought this one and a similar pink scarf during the winter on clearance at Kohls. They are a very wispy linen material and perfect for summer. When I held this up to my teal shirt, I thought, well it "goes" but it certainly doesn't match...

And then my inner fashion rebel said, "Who cares?! Go for it!" because, really, no one will likely see me today anyway! The more I see these two same color family pieces together the more I like it.

Similar, yet different.

I found these shoes on my last shopping adventure. They are Forever21. Totally out of my normal "look" but I really love them. They are comfortable and give off a Boho vibe without being too casual.  They were on clearance in the store, but still available online!

Jeans: JCP "Skinny Ankle" $16
Top: NY&Co "Popover Shirt" (outlet) $12
Scarf: Kohls $4 Clearance
Shoes: F21 $15.99 + additional 30% off Clearance
Watch: MK

Easy Summer Casual

Easy, comfy, cool... yep, sounds good for a July day in South LA!

Top: Marshalls, 16.99
Skirt: NY&Co (recent sale purchase) $12
Sandals: Nine West (old)

On the Chopping Block

Hum-drum.... that's how I'd describe this day. I was busier than expected at work and just felt like I was running in circles.

Hum-drum is also how I felt about this outfit. Possible correlation? Maybe. Regardless, here's how I got to this outfit. I knew I wanted comfortable outfits to wear most of this week. When picking out my outfits Sunday, I pulled this dress out of the closet, mostly because it's on the chopping block. I've had it for several (several) years and I've only worn it once or twice. It's a really cute dress, it is just extremely low cut and it doesn't work for day (in my opinion) without a cover of some sort but it also doesn't work for night because it is too conservative (also in my opinion :) ) So it sits in my closet. I pulled it to wear and also pulled this linen jacket because I thought is was a decent color companion. As I got dressed, I realized I needed a cami-type option, but I didn't want white because it would have been too stark of a contrast. I don't have that color pink, so beige was my only option.

Frankly, it looks better in these pictures than I think it did in person. I was uncomfortable with this "look" all day. Looking at these pictures, I don't mind how the skirt looks with the jacket over it so I will keep it around for fall/winter, pair it with a sweater and give it one last chance. Other than that, this one might have seen its last days...

Purple PJ's

Okay, so they aren't really PJ's, but an easy cotton dress is what I consider work pj's!

There is nothing easier than throwing on one easy piece and being ready to go. Although, I tend to get annoyed when magazines and websites say "throw on and go!" Because really, no matter what you're wearing, it's not just one piece. There are under-things to be considered, especially in this case, a half-slip. I live in my half-slips, as I never trust thinner materials to be not see through. I always err on the side of caution in that regard. However, this is certainly as close to a no-brainer as it gets. I am running an Orientation today, so comfort, move-ability and good shoes are imperative today. Do I look like a nursery school teacher? Yeah. Am I comfortable? Yep. One guess as to which matters more to me today....

I love this little jacket. I found it at JC Penny recently. It's Liz Claiborne and while I normally find a lot of that brand stuffy, this is a really great piece. It's a perforated jersey material. It's going to be a great transitional piece into Fall, as it will fit in well with the dressy sporty looks that were all over the Spring runways that are sure to pop up for Fall as well. 

Loft Dress: (old) $9.99

Jacket: Liz Claiborne, JC Penny, $28 

Shoes: Cole Haan, Nike Air $80

Scarf tying

Scarves.... I LOVE them. I have an unnatural obsession with scarves, I have too many and I wear them probably more often than I should. But they are so easy and they make every outfit look a little more polished. I really like infinity scarves, as they are the easiest no-fuss option, but these tasseled cuties are pretty darn fun. When I bought this one I had no idea how to make it work, I just knew I wanted it. (I found it at World Market, on a hanger) In fact, I didn't even think about how to tie it until I got ready to wear it one day and realized that just looping it around my neck didn't work. The tassels were all hidden and it just wasn't as cute.  

So online I went to find out how to tie these. I actually didn't find a tutorial, but in my search for "scarf with tassels" an Old Navy ad popped up and I could see how they styled a similar scarf on a mannequin. They, however, just had the loose ends crossed over and around the neck and hanging down alongside the long pointy front...

To do this look, I simply fold the scarf in half, matching up the points, place the long point where I want it and bring the two ends up around my neck and back down. Then I reach under the "pretty" front part of the scarf and loosely tie the two ends together. That serves to hold it in place, but also to add some body under the front part of the scarf to plump it up.  

This is my Friday, so I'm having casual Thursday. I'll throw an off-white cardigan over this in the office. 

Top: NY&Co Outlet $8

Jeans: JCP, JC Penny $16

Scarf: World Market, $15

Shoes: Old (I don't even know what brand!) 

Weekend Warrior

After an extremely productive weekend, I look forward to the "downtime" of a quiet Summer Monday morning at work! How crazy is that?!

My weekend was full of working around the house. I wanted to de-clutter and refresh my space. Of course, I want to do a major bathroom overhaul and I'd like new bedroom furniture. However, given that those are not in my near future, I compromised.

Project #1:

Contact paper on the bathroom counter

With a little time and more patience than I usually have, I'm pretty happy to say I have a "new" bathroom counter top! I found the idea on Pinterest. Why didn't I think of this before? Totally updated the look of my bathroom. And, added bonus, it forced me to clear some of the junk off my counter.I don't know how long it will last, and I don't care- at $5 a roll, re-doing this is not an issue.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a "before" picture, but think "yellowish-tan laminate" and you'll have a good idea of what I had in there.

Project #2:

Spray painting a neon green plastic drawer storage unit.

I'm ashamed to admit that I have had this in my bedroom for over 2 years. I bought it out of desperation, thinking I'd soon get a nice chest to replace it. That never happened, and here I am, still waking up to neon green. I realized how ridiculous this is for a 34 year old woman, so I set out to make it better. 

Enter spray paint made for plastics (about $5 a can at Wal-Mart). Decided brown would be my best bet, since my dresser is dark brown. The worst part of this project was taking everything out of the drawers and waiting for the paint to dry. However, in that process, I managed to pull about 7 things out of there that I haven't worn in years, so that was productive!

Tip: The paint can said it dries in about 15 minutes. Lies! I left these out in the hot Baton Rouge sun and they still felt tacky 4 hours later. (Maybe the humidity?) Regardless, they were "drying" for about 6 hours and I wasn't sure they were dry even then, but I decided they were, so back in the room they went, and the clothes went in.

I'm pretty happy with the result, just in that it seems to blend and look more like real furniture from a distance. I plan to do this to another plastic storage unit on the other side of my bed. Yes, I know it's ridiculous that I have two of these. I'm not proud.

What else did I do? Not much other than getting in a little social time at Walk-On's to watch the final World Cup game. Since I'd just smacked my forehead into a cabinet corner during my kitchen cleaning on Sunday, I decided a hat was necessary.


Hat: (old) Wal-Mart $6
Sweater: Lauren Conrad, Kohls, $4 (found on Clearance this weekend, no longer online)
Cutoffs: (old) Lauren Conrad, Kohls
Wedges: (old) Mossimo, Target

Summer Nautical

Ahhh photography... it makes or breaks you in the blogging world. I suppose I'm broken.

I don't have a professional photographer, I don't even have a friend with a camera!

So I'm working on the best way to capture daily outfits without too much effort because, hey, this technically isn't my full-time job! 

I will keep figuring out my photography options, in the meantime, enjoy these pictures with random stuff in the background!

I went for a summer nautical theme today. I bought this sweater in early Spring at the J Crew outlet and still haven't worn it. These pants are a greenish sea foam blue and I just love navy with this color. Add a few brown elements with the tortoise watch and tan wedges and some gold jewelry and you're all set!

Sweater: JCrew Factory (sold out online, similar below) $22
Mint Pants: NY&Co Outlet (old)  $16
Forever 21 Tunic Layering Tank: $4
Wedges: Guess (old) $40
Watch: Amazon: $16
Bracelets: Buckle Bracelet, Charlotte Russe $5, bangles were a gift

Starting Over... or Re-starting? Eh... Whichever

I'm baaaack!!!

They say life is cyclical, right? Well, here I am in the cycle of "Uh-oh... where did all my money go?" coupled with "There's no more room in my closet" which leads to "I really do need to stop shopping" and ultimately, "Okay, that's it, I'm done."

So, here I am again, challenging myself to shop in my own closet. While that may sound like a daunting task, it's not. I should be ashamed to admit how many items in my closet are brand new with tags, but I'm not. I love clothes, I love shopping and I love a good sale. I am proud that while I have a lot of clothes, I shop for very affordable pieces and always am aiming for a high-quality look at an affordable price. I include prices on most items I wear so it's clear you can be stylish and not break the bank.  

Outfits, affordable options, cute styles and a little lifestyle commentary peppered in... Welcome!