(Like the Grumpy Cat, only unfortunately not as awesome)
shirt, belt: H&M
chambray-style-thingy: Banana Republic
skinnies, flats: Target
necklace: The Limited
Remembering to take outfit photos on vacation is hard. And awkward. You think you can be sneaky about it, throwing the camera at your boyfriend while you're sister and brother-in-law take the dog out for a bathroom break. You frantically pose, hoping the door won't open mid-snap. And then it does, and you're embarrassed for no good reason because everyone you know knows about your blog because you talk about it embarrassingly often. So yeah, that's pretty much what happened here.
If you're thinking to yourself, self, that outfit looks a lot like the one in yesterday's post, well, you're right. And I didn't realize the similarities while packing, so there you go. I wore this to brunch, but apparently in the south, brunch is something you're supposed to wear a dress to, so I was kind of underdressed. But like I said yesterday, that food was so damn good...it was easy to pretend that I was just as fancy as everyone else.
These were the only two outfits I was able to/remembered to get photos of, but the others were kind of repeats. If you're interested, I did a variation of this outfit, only with these skinny jeans and moto-style boots, for the trip down and the first night out. The trip back featured this outfit, again with the same skinny jeans and boots. I can't believe I've never really worn those boots on the blog before (well, I did for Halloween but they were rolled up and not really cute at all). So here's a pic.
Uhh, Walmart. Can you believe it? Because I couldn't.
So fellow bloggers, tell me. Do you take outfit pics on vacation? Or is your vacay a break from blogging, too?
shirt: Born This Way Ball tour
jacket: thrifted
skinnies, flats: Target
I'm sorry but you guys? That t-shirt is one of my most cherished pieces of clothing. I got it at the Lady Gaga concert here in Columbus two years ago, aka one of the most awesome nights of my life thus far. Definitely the best birthday present Matt ever got me :)
Anyway, I wore this Saturday night. Matt and I were visiting my sister, Abby, and her husband Bill in South Carolina. We went to a comedy club (The Comedy Zone in Greenville, for any locals) and saw a couple of regional touring comedians. The headliner for the evening was pretty entertaining, though (like my shirt. It was a nice, intimate little club, which was kind of fun.
Greenville itself was a really great weekend, despite the less-than-sunny weather that plagued us. (Fun fact: While we were gone, it snowed a couple inches back in Columbus. So it was definitely way nicer than back home, haha!) Abby and Bill took us to the shooting range, where I discovered my aim to be surprisingly not terrible for my first time :) And we had probably the most incredible brunch I've ever tasted in my life. I'm not even kidding, you guys. Little blueberry muffins instead of the standard pre-meal basket of rolls or whatever. The most garnished Bloody Mary I've ever seen. Cheesy crab dip that I could make a whole meal of. And eggs Benedict on sourdough bread two inches thick. Excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my shirt. (Update: The restaurant is called Liberty Tap Room, also in Greenville.)
We got back last night (Spazzy was quite indignant with us for leaving...for about two hours, haha) and I used today to kind of catch up – do all my laundry, get groceries, blah blah blah. Still, it was nice to have a day to just unwind and not feel rushed going back to work. Plus, three-day workweek woohoo!
I only have time for a quick post, as Matt and I are in South Carolina visiting my sister and brother-in-law for the weekend, and said bro-in-law is clamoring for dinner. So. I only bought two things with my $100 clothes budget this month, but that's okay because one of them is a pair of SWEET running shoes:
I got them on sale at Kohl's for $69, and they're pretty awesome. Plus, they're cute, so they motivate me to go running to train for my races this summer :) The other item was this dress from eShakti:
Unfortunately, I requested an altered sleeve shape for this (cap sleeve instead, for work propriety) and it didn't fit well, so I'll be sending it back. It was only $38 because I had a gift card, so really I was only about $7 over my budget. I'm not sure if I'll exchange the dress for an un-altered one, or just get the money back, but either way I did pretty well on my budget this month, I think. Hooray!
How did you do on your budgets (if you have one) this month?
Hey guys!
I'm not sure if you can really call this a post, but I have something to share with you guys and something to ask of you as well, so I figured it's enough to be a pseudo-post. So. Here it is. First, the share:
I hope you'll bear with the recent influx of eShakti mentions here lately, but I have one more for the moment. They're doing a little writing contest that centers around International Women's Day, which was apparently March 8. In 45 words or less, write about what women really want. Here's the prompt they sent me:
Sorry about the late notice, what with the deadline being tomorrow and all, but really a day isn't too short to write 45 words, right? Right. (I know I'll be writing my mini-essay tonight, haha.) And hey, you could win a $150 gift card, so that's pretty cool too.
And now for the request. I just found out that Google Reader is retiring this summer (you may have heard my scream of fury a few moments ago), and I now have to find a new RSS reader app/program/website. Any suggestions, besides Bloglovin' (which I'm not a huge fan of)?
...is pretty much what I need to do with my life.
shirt: thrifted
skirt, tights, necklace: The Limited
heels: Target
belt: came w/ a skirt from JCPenney
I often feel like there's not enough time in the evenings to do all the stuff I want to do. Work out, shower, blog, make a delicious (read: not frozen/takeout) dinner, occasional freelance work, relax...actually, when I list it all out, it really doesn't sound like that much. But it sure feels like it.
The obvious solution would be to do some of those things (work out and/or blog) in the mornings. But I'll be honest: Mornings are NOT my strong suit. I am so anti-mornings that I've turned Matt, who used to be a huge morning person. Now we both just hit the snooze over and over, curling up under the blankets and trying to avoid the inevitable moment when we actually have to (gag) get out of bed.
I would love to get up an hour earlier to head to the gym or even half an hour earlier to write a blog post. But honestly, dragging my sorry butt out of bed at 7 (okay, let's be honest, 7:15) is hard enough as it is. I know. I'm the worst.
My eShakti spring line sample came in the mail this weekend! I was so excited to see that I got my top pick of the three dresses (mentioned here). I used custom sizing, so the dress was made with my measurements and therefore fits like a friggin' glove. I lurve it.
Let's get a close-up of that detailing, yes?
And the back...
dress: c/o eShakti
shoes: Target
I intentionally chose a below-the-knee hemline, thinking that would make this dress work-appropriate. Alas, I failed to realize it had a cutout in the back (which I love, just not for work), not to mention the sheer...let's call it "boobaliciousness" of the front. So while this is a fabulous dress for pretty much anything fun, it's definitely not for wearing around the office. Oh well. More play clothes for me :)
Since I won't be wearing it to work, I'm thinking about hemming the bottom so the dress stops around my knees, like this:
The dress is temporarily out of stock (I must have snagged it just in time!) but if you want to keep an eye on the product page to order it yourself, here's the link. And of course you can check out eShakti's other great items, like the spring line and the new bridesmaids dresses (which are pretty dang cute for any semi-formal or formal occasion, if you ask me). Bonus time: If you place an order before March 20, you can use code VERBLMELNG to get 20% off!
dress: The Limited
scarf, boots: gifted (boots via Old Navy)
belt: came with a skirt from JCPenney
tights: Target
You know what they say...when it rains it pours. (Or if you live in the midwest/on the East Coast this week, you could go with "when it snows, it dumps 10 freaking inches on your lawn in March." Somehow, it doesn't roll off the tongue quite as smoothly.)
Uhh...where was I? Oh yeah. Raining and pouring. That's how my workload has been lately. I feel like I simply cannot catch up this week. A series of last-minute tweaks to the fashion article I mentioned last week have been sucking up a lot of my usual blogging time, and I'm trying to get back into a workout routine again. (My ab muscles can at least testify that I've been doing okay on that effort—oof, it hurts.) And of course, there seems to be a million other things going on, too.
I guess I can't complain, really. Maybe by the time things settle down, it'll be warm and springy outside and I'll actually feel inspired to do new outfit pics on a more regular basis!
So if you tried to use the eShakti code I mentioned last week, you might have noticed that it wasn't working. I'm sorry about that! eShakti let me know that there was a technical glitch, and the code is up and running once more. Even better, they've extended it to last an extra 10 days!
So go get your shop on. Pick up some cute items from their spring line or, you know, any of their other great stuff. Meanwhile I'm off to re-write the freelance article I was busy with all last week, because apparently I can't follow directions. Le sigh. Back to regular programming soon, I promise.
Ok, so this is too late to even be a Fiscal Fridays post, but I decided to take a break from my note-compiling and story-writing to cobble together my February Budgeting Bloggers post. At first glance, it might look like I was under my $100 budget, but I wound up having to re-appropriate a bit of my February clothing budget to pay for other things. So really, I broke even. Hey, I'll take it.
1. Almay Intense I-Color Bold Nudes Eyeshadow (for hazel eyes) - appx. $6, CVS
2. Sephora 8 HR Mattifying Compact Foundation - $22, Sephora
3. polka dot ties - $7, The Limited (clearance)
4. assorted bracelets - $7, Target (clearance)
5. gold necklace - $15, The Limited (with 40% off coupon)
6. Maybelline Mega Plush Volum Express mascara - appx. $6, Target
7. studded leopard print flats (seen here) - $20, Target ||exact||
So in all, my clothing/makeup purchases came to about $83. Not bad! How did you guys do on your clothing budgets, if you have one? (Also, you can check out more budget-savvy bloggers over at Franziska's link-up!
