I recently posted some of my favorite things about fall, so forgive me if this feels a bit redundant. But I thought I'd go into some more detail about a few of the things that make cooler weather less sucky, at least in my world :)
Obviously, the very first thing that came to mind for me was warm, cozy sweaters and sweatshirts. Ones that are long enough to cover all your business and therefore be worn with leggings. I busted out my sweaters this weekend, but I'm still in the market for a nice cozy, casual sweatshirt like this one. Only not like this one because it's from J.Crew and it's $80.
I also really love dark, vampy nail colors. Not to be a hipster, but I was wearing black nail polish before it was cool. Okay, I had a little punk phase, but the bottom line is I've loved dark nails for the last 10 years and I'll probably never stop loving them.
Growing up in semi-rural areas and on big lots means that fall always brought bonfire weather. Oh man, the smell of smoke and gooey roasted marshmallows...heaven.
As for beverages, I shun the Pumpkin Spice Latte thing. I've never even had one. I'd rather just stick with my delicious, delicious chai tea lattes, please.
And finally, boots. Oh, boots. Boots are the greatest. These two right here? I need both, please.
I've been kind of overdoing it on the shopping lately, so I'm trying to put myself on a clothes-buying ban this month. I'm not doing terribly well, so I was pretty excited to discover Raise.com. Basically, it's a site where you can buy discounted gift cards to your favorite stores, or sell the ones you have but aren't gonna use. (Requisite disclaimer: I was not paid or perked for this post; the folks at Raise simply inspired me to write it.)
I signed up for a free Raise account, and it looks like the discounts vary by store. When I browsed, Macy's cards were selling for 12% less than their value, Target for nearly 4%, H&M for 10%, and TJ Maxx for a whopping 19%. I think I know how I'm going to stretch my clothing budget to the max next month!
sweater, skinnies: H&M
booties: Walmart
necklace: InPink
Apparently I spoke too soon last Wednesday when I said I was getting "over the hump" of this cold. Because as I found out at the doctor's this weekend, it's not a cold. It's bronchitis. Whee!
I'm no stranger to bronchitis; I got it a lot in college when I lived in the dorms. And given the timing of this onset, I'm suspecting I may have picked it up on the plane coming back from my visit to Emily's. Oh, well. The important thing is that the doctor gave me lots of awesome drugs and now I can take a breath and even laugh without going into a coughing fit. Yay, drugs!
Kids, don't do drugs.
Unless your doctor tells you to.
Anyway, I took yesterday off to let the meds do their magic, and I'm heading back to work again this morning. I did nothing but sleep, drag my butt to said doctor's visit (and to a haircut appointment that I'd already rescheduled twice) and watch a ton of Girls this weekend. (Which, by the way, WHY am I just now starting this show??) So I'm kind of glad to be getting out of the house. Even if it's for work ;)
sweater, skinnies: H&M
shoes: Target
necklace: InPink (giveaway win)
Guys, like me introduce you to my new favorite outfit.
It seems like every season I have one or two outfits or pieces that I wear constantly on repeat. I only post them here once, because it would be boring to re-post every time I wore it, but trust me when I say I'm probably wearing it at least once every week or two. This fall/winter, I'm re-wearing this.
The sweater and skinnies were actually copycat purchases. My sister Anna was wearing the sweater at our last family gathering, and I am not lying when I say that I nearly snuck into her room at night to steal it. Fortunately, there was one (ONE!!) left in stock at my H&M. Major score. And I've been wanting a pair of olive skinnies ever since I saw Audrey wearing them. This was only compounded when my friend Hayley rocked a pair one casual Friday.
So I wore this to work one Friday, and I wore it again with my moto-esque ankle boots to run some errands. And again to run errands. And I've basically been lounging in this sweater nonstop in the evenings...Now I'm wishing the store had had two in stock. I'm getting the feeling I might wear this thing right out!
What favorite pieces are you wearing on repeat this season?
Psst. If you live in/around Columbus, or plan to be in the area before February 2014, be sure to enter my super-awesome spa-day giveaway! Mani, pedi, facial AND browshaping could all be yours! Enter here.
I feel like I'm saying that pretty much every Monday morning. I never seem to get everything done on my to-do list for any given weekend. We were busy these past two days, to be sure. Matt and I helped friends move, went to an overnight football-watching/camping/fishing trip at our friend's dad's house, set up a new wireless router and sold my old iPhone on Craigslist. I also dyed my hair and got it cut. But I wanted to work on some house projects and clean and figure out why our printer isn't working, and I didn't get to any of that. Le sigh.
So anyway, these photos. For some reason, I had a really hard time getting them to focus properly. It was the first time I ever had a problem like that, and I was getting really frustrated. I managed to clean up some of the least-out-of-focus ones using the methods I described in this post, but they're still a tad blurry:
shirt: really, really old Alloy from high school (hahaha yeah you read that right)
blazer: thrifted
skinnies: Forever 21
booties: Walmart
necklace: InPink (giveaway win)
But they got really good after I convinced Matt to step outside and be my "mark" for focusing the camera:
Since then, I've figured out that I can use my spare tripod as a mark. And ever since, my photos have been coming out crystal clear! (With the slight exception of tomorrow's outfit, because that trick hadn't quite dawned on me when I took those. Oops!)
My friend Kellyn asked me this very question when I invited her to come with me to the Aveda Earth Jam fashion show/fundraiser last week. She unfortunately wasn't able to go after all (stupid work!) but it did get me thinking. Last year I just wore all black and heels—a reliable go-to for any fashionista. This year, however, I decided to get a little more trendy with it.
shirt, necklace: Old Navy
skinnies, booties, bracelets: Target
nail polish: Old Navy's brand in Melon Glow
First I asked myself, what would a style blogger wear at an event where she's representing herself and her blog? Of course, I had no real answer, because seriously, it's not like I do this professionally (or even all that well, if I'm being brutally honest). So then I thought back to the spring fashion trends article I wrote recently (cute how I snuck that link in here again, right?) and came up with a few ideas: black-and-white, cuffed skinnies and a hint of neon.
Now, I know I've expressed my extreme distaste for the neon trend before, but I'd like to amend that statement. Neon shirts/pants/skirts/dresses? Hell to the no. I stand by my original statement. But neon accents, like these nails (or some of the great picks over on Fashion for Giants recently)...well, let's just say I'm warming up to them. It helps that when I bought this nail polish, it looked like more of a sorbet shade...but once it was on and dried, it was full-out glowing. No joke. Here's a pic of the same nail polish after I dug out my garden last weekend:
Anyway. Talk about a tangent. So yeah, to conclude, this is apparently what a style blogger wears to a fashion show :) Now, I'm off to finish transcribing interviews (please, shoot me now) for yet another freelance package...this one is four stories about the arts scene in Columbus, which has been a BLAST to research! But it's due Friday, and I still have to pieces to go...so if I'm not back until after the weekend, you'll know the reason why!
So New Year's Eve is one of my top favorite holidays because it's the perfect excuse to get super fancy. And even if you wind up being the most dressed-up person at the party, no one's going to make fun of you because hey, IT'S NEW YEAR'S EVE. Also, there's champagne and/or sparkling sweet wines.
Yup, NYE is one of the few times that I spend more than seven minutes on makeup (truth) and more than three minutes on my hair (ok, that's a lie...usually it's under a minute). This year, I completely forgot decided not to buy a new dress, so I remixed an old one. This is actually somewhat similar to the outfit I wore to ring in 2011, but I didn't have a blog back then and everyone knows that if you don't post it on the internet, it doesn't count.
dress: appx. four to five years old...no idea
sleeveless oxford: New York & Company
tights, booties, headband: Target
necklaces: both gifted
bracelet: H&M
The only problem with this dress compared to two years ago is, well...what went into it. As in, a few more pounds. Zipping this dress took some major work on my part and Matt's. And once it was on, it was far too skimpy for my taste (and the subfreezing temps), so I layered that sucker right up. Bam!
The evening itself went by in a blur, as NYE nights tend to do, but it was a lot of fun! We hung out at a friend's house...no expensive covers, cheap BYO drinks and no getting kicked out to drive home tipsy at 2 am. Win, win, win.
(Oh hey, by the way. Ignore all the mess on the table...Matt was outside warming up the car, so I had no time to shoot these. Instead, here's a pic of us, before things got sloppy. Isn't he cute?)
sweater: thrifted
short-sleeve Oxford: New York & Company
skirt: The Limited
necklace: InPink
tights, shoes: Target
Well, yet again, it's hard to believe that a new year has arrived. 2012 held so many changes for me and those close to me. New jobs, weddings, relocations, breakups, graduations...it's been such a whirlwind, no wonder I'm having a hard time believing it's already over.
And while I'm a little sad to think about some of the changes — particularly those that took my sister and new brother-in-law, and swept them away to a new home — I'm also very, very excited to see what 2013 has in store for me and my loved ones. I already know of a few who will change their marital and/or parental status this year, and there are some who I really hope find new jobs and new homes. What more will the year bring?
I'm not a fan of winter. I hate the cold and I'm terrified of (and terrible at) driving in snow/ice. But there's always something about the first week or so in January that has so much hope, so much promise, I can't help but enjoy it. Anyone else like that, or am I just a weird one? (Well, I am a weird one in many other ways...don't hold that against me.)
Oh, hello there. I seem to have forgotten that I have a little blog going here. I guess a little break was necessary, given all the chaos of the holiday and the wretched cold/flu hybrid I'm just now recovering from. Anyway, I'm still here! And I still have outfits to post! Hooray for having a little stockpile of postable outfits :)
dress: H&M
cardi, booties, tights, belt: Target
necklace: sidewalk sale
So I decided to do the whole "year-end outfit review roundup" post, but because I am the queen of a nation called Procrastia (see what I did there?), I'll be doing two posts tomorrow. Making up for lost time in December, I suppose?
In other news, I got a TON of kitchen stuff for Christmas this year. You know what that means? More food posts in 2013!! Woop woop! Better dust off that ol' gym membership now, haha...
Every once in a while, the folks at eShakti contact me to offer an item sample for me or a discount code for my readers. This month, they went all out and did both! Free swag for me and a bonus perk for you guys? Love it.
If you're not familiar with this online shop, let me give you the quick rundown. (Otherwise, skip to the next paragraph? Or read this one. Hey, who am I to boss you around?) It's this awesome online store that features a great array of skirts, dresses, tops, etc etc. My favorite thing about it, though, is that you can custom-order any item they sell with your exact measurements. For someone like me, who has really broad shoulders, really slim hips and really long legs (I'm like a weird isosceles triangle), this is a major blessing. And the custom-sizing options are FREE, and include the ability to adjust sleeve and skirt length, when applicable. So really, the store is about quality clothes that are custom-made to your measurements...and what more can a girl ask for?
For my sample, I was allowed to pick anything from the store's new fall line. It was NOT an easy decision, let me assure you, but I decided on this dress, with my own custom measurements of course. And I lurrrrve it! It's a little big in the bust, I think, but let's be honest: Matt helped me get all my measurements using a scrap of measuring tape that didn't go all the way around my chest. It's highly possible that one (or both) of us used just a little too much wishful thinking when measuring that part, haha!
cardi, tights: Target
dress: c/o eShakti
booties: Burlington Coat Factory
And, as promised, here's that coupon code. Unfortunately, it's only good for those who have never made a purchase from this store before, but if you've been looking for an excuse to try the place out, well, here it is! Just use the code below to get $25 off your first purchase between now and the end of the year. Cha-ching!
And hey, since you were cool enough to read all the way down here, you should probably make sure you enter my giveaway, too!
Disclaimer: eShakti sent me this dress, free of charge, in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions stated here are, in fact, my fair and honest opinions. As for the coupon code, I get a little shopping bonus (basically, an eShakti gift certificate) each time someone uses it. But don't let that stop you ;) In fact, feel free to share it with your friends, too!
Running a bit behind this morning...two straight days of going to the gym, after not working out at all for months, is a bit exhausting. But it's been a good two days, and I really love the feeling I get after a good sesh. Taking care of yourself is actually kinda nice :)But, since I still have to make/eat breakfast and pack a lunch, I'm gonna be brief in this post. I rarely post my "going out" outfits here, since they're usually a totally different style from the business casual and casual outfits I typically post. But I do wear these outfits, and they're a part (albeit a small part) of my style, so here ya go.
top and booties: Burlington Coat Factory
skinnies: Forever 21, last year or the year before
necklace: gift from Matt
lipstick: Mary Kay in RedI kind of have a love/hate relationship with these booties. I love them because they're so cute, but I hate how much my feet hurt when I stand or walk too much in them. If I wear these to a bar, the first thing I do when I get there is scout out for a possible seat. Oh, well. Fashion is sometimes painful, right?I actually wore this out to the bars on the night before Thanksgiving with my sister. That's why there's blue carpet under me...we were at our parents' house. Saw a few old high school friends that night, as well as some less-than-friends. Thank goodness we're all mature enough to ignore each other now, haha!
Whew. That's all I can really say now, haha. Before I go into details, I just want to say THANK YOU so much to the ladies who commented with their support and caring words. Mandy, Kara and Sharde: you guys made me smile. A lot.
Last week was such a huge emotional roller coaster for Matt and I. I was stressed to begin with because I put off my freelance work until I realized I had one week to do a month's worth of work (though I know that's entirely my fault). Then funeral stuff took all of our energy on Tuesday and Wednesday (that's all the more detail I'm offering there). Thursday was Matt's birthday, so we had a much-needed night out to blow off steam. Friday was exhausting because we went to bed late after being out half the night, and then we went to Matt's cousin's graduation party (congrats, Robbie!) and saw some friends.
This weekend, I've been doing nothing but freelance work. And a little shopping. Matt's gone camping/climbing at the New River Gorge--I was supposed to go, but I had too much work to do, which sucksss--so I was bored and engaged in some retail therapy. I did pretty well, between Ragorama (this amazing consignment shop that I've somehow neglected for the past 11 months), Old Navy and Target. I got two dresses, a shirt and four pairs of shoes. Yes, four. I had virtually no summer shoes other than flip flops, and let's face it. No matter how casual my office is, I can't wear flops every day. Look for photos of all those in the next few days/weeks!
Wow. Sorry for the rant, guys. Guess I had a lot to get off my chest. Here are some pretty pictures :)
Shirt: thrifted
Tank: Zenana Outfitters via Marshall's
Shorts: The Limited
Necklace: don't remember :(
Booties: Paprika via Burlington Coat Factory
Clutch: Laura Arens
I wore this to the bars a while back. Been hesitating to post it, because it deviates pretty far from my usual style. But I still like this, for a bars outfit anyway.
Best news? These are my last outfit photos with my old camera! From here on out, we're looking at awesome and gorgeous shots from the new camera Matt gave me for my birthday (which actually isn't for another three weeks, haha).
Also: See that mirror? My dad made it for me for my college graduation gift. I love it, because he made it. I just think that's awesome :)
