shirt, tights: H&M
cardigan, flats, belt: Target
skirt: New York & Company
necklace: VeryJane
Last week I talked about my evolving sense of personal style, and how I find myself wearing things that I normally never would wear. Like purple skirts and lots of tights in various colors (not to mention colored pants), trendy colors like mint, and of course, different animal prints. Now, it's kind of funny to think that I once shied away from all those things. Especially animal print, which is one of my new favorite ways to accessorize.
So that ramble-tastic paragraph is really just my awkward introduction to my new leopard print shoes! I mentioned that my old flats died a noble death as a result of too much love, and I bought these at Target to replace them. Two years ago--hell, one year ago--I would have immediately dismissed these shoes because of the studs. Now? I think the studs are my favorite part about these guys. Prepare to see more studded items around here, as I find them.
So here's the link to the shoe on Target. You can't buy it online right now, but you might still be able to find it in stores. While I really love these guys (yes, apparently my flats are male), I do have a warning: The back of the heel is a bit high, so they take a while to break in. I had to wear bandaids on my heels for a few days, but it's totally worth it.
shirt: Old Navy
vest: thrifted
skirt: The Limited
heels: DSW
necklace: Forever 21
Oh, these shoes. I love them, but I also kinda hate them. I bought them to wear in my sister's wedding next month, off the clearance rack at DSW. They felt a teensy bit too big...but I figured a size 10 really wasn't that much different from a 9.5, and there weren't any smaller sizes left, so I just went for it. For $30, it didn't seem like a big deal.
Except the damn shoes just don't fit. Now, I'm pretty terrible at walking in four-inch heels to begin with, so when they're ill-fitting it's an even worse scenario. I've stuffed lamb's wool into the toes, added a heel insert and a stuck in a ball-of-the-foot-slidy-preventer-thing. And while they do technically stay on my feet, I have to walk reeeeeeeally slowly in them.
I figure, for the wedding it won't be a big deal. All I have to do is walk semi-slowly down the aisle, stand up there for a bit, then walk semi-slowly back down (with a groomsman to support me, no less). After that it's just posing for photos, then I can kick these puppies off and switch to some comfy flops. It's a shame these don't fit better, though. They're pretty damn cute.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but Matt travels a lot for work. Most weeks (and by that I mean nearly every week), he's off to some random part of the country for two to four days. For the past nine or ten months, I've pretty much lived alone during the week, though he's almost always around on the weekends.
Until now.
Matt quit his job, effective next week, and he just got back from his last-ever trip with this company last night. I've gotta admit, it's pretty exciting to know that he'll be home every night. Woot woot :)
cardi: The Limited
t-shirt: Old Navy
skirt: New York & Company
heels, necklace: thrifted
bangle: secondhand
I was really excited to be able to style this cardigan for spring. Like many offices, mine is absolutely freezing. So wearing a light sweater when it's above 80 degrees out isn't actually all that crazy.
This bangle was one of many sent to me by Loren. Wanna know something weird? They only fit my left arm. My right wrist is just a smidge too big for them to squeeze on. Actually, my right foot is nearly half a size larger than my left, now that I think about it. Guess I'm just not symmetrical.
By the way. Today is your LAST DAY to enter my eShakti giveaway, which closes at midnight! So click on over and get yourself entered. On the other hand, you have until tomorrow to link up to Bloggers Take the Town, but why wait? Go ahead and link up now ;)
Today, I learned a major lesson about painting a wall. Always, always, ALWAYS paint a test patch first and let it dry. Completely. Because if you don't, you will spend an hour meticulously prepping, taping and painting a section of wall. And then you could hate it. Which is pretty much what happened to me today.
shirt: Old Navy
polo: Target
skirt: thrifted
flats: Payless
necklace: Forever 21So now, I have a neon yellow built-in shelving unit in my bedroom. The paint chip looked softer. The paint in the can looked softer. The paint on the wall? Not so much. Thankfully, it's a small(ish) unit, so a quart of paint will more than cover it. But still. How annoying, right?Ah, well. At least now I know. Plus, I have two more days this week, plus the weekend, to fix it ;)
I was driving home from a friend's house last night and I got to thinking about just how dang cheery I was feeling. And how completely miserable I felt last week. And I realized that I never properly thanked everyone who commented on my gloomy posts with words of encouragement. So I would like to officially and heartfelt-ly say thank you. It's kind of silly how kind words from near-strangers (or in some cases, folks who I've never actually met but still consider friends) can mean so much...but I want you all to know that they really do.Okay, serious moment over. I took these photos last month, when we were in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave. Now we're back to normal early-spring temperatures, and I'm shivering while taking outfit photos in the morning. But for these photos? It was gorgeous.
shirt, skirt, belt: thrifted
collared undershirt, necklace: New York & Company
shoes: TargetI really need to properly iron this skirt before I wear it again. Anyway. The bloggiversary week continues with more fun facts!EIGHT CONFESSIONS1. I am addicted to Mountain Dew. No lie, my Dew habits are borderline disgusting. I drink it every day. (Sometimes twice a day. Wow, that was kind of hard to admit.)2. I’m a really picky eater. I like to tell people that I am a “super-taster” (yes, they do exist) and that’s why I can’t handle spicy foods. Like, not even a little spicy. Pepperoni sometimes makes my mouth burn. I also can’t stand most vegetables, which is why the side dishes for all of my food posts consist of potatoes, asparagus, corn or a simple salad (and usually, I don’t even enjoy most salads unless they’re drenched in dressing).3. I still have a bit of a spending problem. I never really wanted to own up to it here, but it’s a rare week that I make it all the way through without going overbudget on my Financial Diet. Some weeks I do stay within my allotted amount, but others I go a teensy bit over. Every once in a great while, I go quite a bit over. I am WAY better than I used to be, yes, but it does still happen. I can’t help it, because…4. I’m insanely impulsive. And yes, it’s gotten me into trouble on many occasions. The older I get, the easier it is to keep myself in check, but sometimes I just say “screw the consequences” and do whatever-it-is anyway.5. I curse like a sailor. So really, I don’t say “screw the consequences” as mentioned above, I say…well, you get the picture. Again, I keep it in check on the blog for the sake of professionalism (this thing is on the internet for everyone, including future potential employers, to see), but if you ever meet me in person, prepare your ears for a slew of very un-ladylike language. Unless of course you are my employer or something like that. I know when to keep my tongue in check.6. I sometimes let depression/anxiety get the best of me. Though this isn’t really so much of a confession, because I wrote about it last week. Oh well. I almost wrote “I’m secretly lazy,” except I’m absolutely not and I hate to be idle. But I’ve suffered from depression/anxiety for nearly 10 years now, and even though I’m no longer on meds (yay!), I still sometimes succumb to it because it’s just plain easier to give in than to make the effort to fight. 7. I daydream constantly. Sometimes it’s goofy things, sometimes it’s sad things, sometimes it’s completely mundane. I play out random little scenarios in my head all the time. I’ve been known to talk to myself on occasion. Sometimes I answer myself.8. I never thought this blog would make it to the one-year mark. Monotony has never suited me, and I initially assumed that after 12 months, I’d find blogging my daily outfits monotonous. Not so. In fact, it’s become quite the opposite; I fear I’m actually addicted to blogging. I can just see it now, I’ll be doing it as an old lady, when no one is interested in reading my ramblings anymore, just for the sake of getting my thoughts “out there.” I’m guessing I won’t be the only one, at least.
Clearly, I am a terrible candidate for a clothes swap. Not only do I send out my items late, causing my partner to post her swap styling late (sorry, Emily), but I also am incredibly unimaginative with new items. I feel like when I come across new pieces, whether they're purchases or just on loan, it takes some time for me to figure out how to really style them well. So my styling of Kelly's Le Sac dress from American Apparel was, well, rather lackluster.
shirt: Target
dress-as-skirt: American Apparel, blog swapped from Kelly
shoes: PaylessI could blame it on the fact that Sunday ended up being much more hectic than I had originally planned; I could blame it on a morning-after food coma induced by the traditional Friend Thanksgiving that we celebrated Saturday night. Or I could just own up and say that I was a little stumped as to how to style this to begin with. I liked wearing it as a jumper, rather than a halter or strapless dress, but even that wasn't entirely original, haha. I saw a photo of it on the American Apparel website.But in the spirit of making an effort, I styled it a slightly different way, too. One that I just kind of made up on the spot, in fact.
In retrospect, I think this would look pretty cool as a halter dress too...take away the purple shirt and pull the sides of the dress (where the strap connects there) up to cover any indecency. In fact, given a few weeks, I could probably find a million ways to style this dress. But I have to send it back, so make sure to check out Kelly's blog and see how she styles it in the future (or how she has done it in the past).And don't forget to check out the other swap ladies: Joanna (she came up with the idea), Kelly, Emily, Alisha, Sorren and Sydney. They're all good blog friends of mine, and I highly recommend adding them to your daily reads!
The "lacy" is for this outfit, worn a week and a half ago. The "late" is for what I am today, because I just could. not. decide on an outfit. Don't you just hate those kind of mornings? Ugh.I bought this shirt the other weekend when my mom and sisters and I all went shopping. We stopped at F21 and even though I completely blew my budget, dropping $20 on this top (hey, it was only $8, how could I pass that up??), a necklace and a bracelet, I comforted myself by realizing that my sister spent $100, so the situation could have been much worse for me. (Granted, I was insanely jealous that my sis had $100 to drop on new clothes, but she's always been a better budgeter than me. She deserves that one.)
top: Forever 21
cami: Old Navy
skirt: New York & Company
shoes: thrifted
necklace: F21?
bracelet: thrifted
Hackneyed and overused sayings aside, isn't it the damn truth? It's a good thing I'm doing the Financial Diet, because if I weren't budgeting my money right now, I'd be in big trouble. Well, I'm already in a little trouble...yesterday, I was told my car needs a new clutch entirely. Yeah, that runs about $700-$1,000. I actually refuse to believe the mechanic, I'm fairly certain he took one look at me (i.e., saw I am female) and decided to take the simplest and most profitable avenue. Sexism sucks.Good news is, my parents have a really reliable (and honest!) mechanic, so I'm going to take my baby to him and see if we can't find a more feasible solution.Then I got home and saw a doctor's bill in the mail. Which I shouldn't be getting, because I asked my doctor to code the visit in such a way that my insurance would cover it. And he said he would. Ugh. So now I have to make a million phone calls to avoid paying that bill.So for today's post, I decided to put up an old outfit (and I mean old--look at how short my hair is!) that reminds me of cheerier times. Nothing like some bright yellow to bring some sunshine into your life, right?
shrug: Burlington Coat Factory (came with this dress)
tank & shoes: Old Navy
skirt: thrifted
You know how some mornings, you spend so long on your hair that you barely have time for anything else? Yeah, this was one of those mornings. And the most annoying part is that I didn't even get my hair to cooperate with me. Fortunately, I had an idea of what I was going to wear, and I can do my makeup in about 5 minutes if I need to, so I'm not running too far behind this morning. Still. Annoying.
items: 12, 21, 27 cami: Marshall's belt: Target necklace: don't remember
I guess I need to buy more jewelry when this challenge is over. It seems like nearly every piece I own is labeled as "don't remember." Or worse, I bought it at Claire's years and years ago and I'm just too embarrassed to admit it. I need grown up jewelry.
