Outfit catchup

As the last few blasts of winter have been rolling through, I've been bundling up and having fun with my blogger bubble necklaces.



Cozy and casual on a random Saturday. ON ivory waffleknit sweater, white ON collared knit shirt, ON Dreamer jeans, Me To two-tone flats, and the teal bubble necklace.



The teal necklace got worn again for work, over a new grey pullover sweater from Nordstrom (part of my birthday purchases), a fantastic purple Lands End button-down knit shirt from Gwynnie Bee, black pants and Clark boots.

I am really digging the collared-shirt-under-pullover-sweater look lately. Spoiler alert: expect to see it a few more times in this post!





Another killer Gwynnie Bee selection, a drape-neck brown and blue patterned top from Karen Kane. Worn under a brown ON heathered brown cardigan, black pants, and um I guess I was barefoot, LOL. Who cares, the top was just so, so lovely.



The purple Lands End top from Gwynnie Bee got another wearing, this time to herald spring in my beloved Lands End striped knit jacket, black Gap bootcut pants and Clark booties.



Quick upper-body shot that I sent to Jessie one morning, to show her how much better the blue Gap jacket looked on my compared to a red one I had to return to Gwynnie Bee (the red was just waaaaaay too cool and made my skin look all splotchy and weird).

I mentioned birthday purchases earlier, and I wanted to show for the record that I did buy both the purple/blue anorak and the small Longchamp bag as (a couple of) my gifts. It's not quite warm enough yet for the unlined coat, but the purse is already getting tons of use. LOVE it.






For instance, with this weekend outfit. Yet another new sweater (I swear, this was the end of the birthday shopping!) this time from Eddie Bauer, and the purple Lands End top in its third and final wearing. I was not sure if the red and purple would go together, but they really did. As I said to Jessie in our email exchange about it, it was like the way hot pink and orange work together: complementary but also clashing.




*cough* I lied. I got this bubble necklace too. (Same outfit and day as above, I just switched necklaces.) But now I have something in "blush" aka pale pink.

Whee, I'm trendy!




Wore it to work yesterday too, this time with neutrals. Mushroom knit Ann Taylor Outlet cardigan, the perfect white tee from Project Color: White, straight leg Gap pants, and the Me Too flats. I liked this, it felt pretty and soft.




The last two outfits are not soft, but they're fun to wear.





Hunh, I've been wearing a lot of casual lately. Or that's the only time I have time to take photos. Could be both reasons!

I'll try to get more work outfits next time. It's funny to me how few blogs there are that actually show clothes you can wear to work; this whole casual pants thing has me so flummoxed and irritated. What am I supposed to wear to the Nun House? Silky track pants ain't gonna cut it.

Anyway, colored dress pants remain my elusive shopping goal. If I find them, any impulse shopping habits will quickly return.

As always, if you are interested in Gwynnie Bee, follow this link to sign up for a 30-day free trial, and consider using it beyond then too. (I do get some compensation for pimping GB, but I think I prove in every outfit post how much I love the service, and how much variety it gives my closet. This is a reminder of all the reasons why I love it.)

Birthday Stuff I Want

Like I said, I may have killed my impulse shopping habit, but I still like and need to to shop. In a way, it's like dieting; even though I eat less or better food, I still need to eat. I just have to be smarter about it: track what I am spending, make a plan before shopping, and decide if I want to save up for something good or blow it all on small, cheap meals/items.

Hunh, maybe it is EXACTLY like dieting.

Angie at YouLookFab had a great post listing the 4 implicit categories on your shopping list. They were:
1. Wardrobe holes
2. New trends
3. Replenishment items
4. Unexpected delights

This has been very helpful as I have been sorting through what I think I want versus what I need. My birthday is next week, and I am hoping for some gift cards so I can do a little guilt-free shopping. In preparation, I've been doing some online window-shopping, and using these categories has been helping cull away items I added just in the heat of the moment (the "ooh, pretty" impulse items) and winnowing it down to only things that fall into one of these categories.

Sejour roll-sleeve twill jacket. I tried this on at the store, and fell in love. I've really liked my Old Navy lined anorak that I have been wearing like crazy this winter, but the black is kind of faded and dusty and it feels like a lot of coat. This is much trimmer and fitted, and the back flap is longer at the bottom, perfect for sitting and for keeping my butt dry when it rains. I hesitate on the color -- it comes in black, red/orange, olive/khaki and this bright purply-cobalt blue -- but the blue continues to be my top choice. It was the most flattering one when I tried it on, but I usually buy neutral outside jackets because my clothes are so colorful. I think I might have to go for it anyway; it's so pretty and I have a feeling I am going to need a casual coat this spring (I don't have one at all. Sad, right?)

This is a wardrobe hole and a replenishment item, and the color would tip it into the unexpected delights too.

A new spring purse is also on my wishlist. I am bananas about my Longchamp tote bag (I use it for my laptop for work), and I want the small version for a purse; I like the casual look of it, and the nylon means it's easier to carry around when the weather is bad. (I have a weird feeling we are going to be in for a wet spring this year; I don't know why.)

Initially I wanted the dark eggplant "bilberry" color...

...but if I go for the blue anorak, it doesn't work. So I am considering brown or slate. This one I will buy in the store, after I have purchased the jacket. I'll need to put the colors up against each other before I make a final decision.

This would be a wardrobe hole, and an unexpected delight.

The last item on my Nordstrom wishlist is a pair of Kut from the Kloth jeans. I love my boyfriend version, and Kut from the Kloth is just a better brand for my body than NYDJ is (NYDJ is too stretchy.)

Thing is, I don't really need another pair of jeans; my various Dreamers from Old Navy are all still doing fine. I just really want a nice pair of jeans, in a soft, expensive denim.

They're just an impulse purchase, so the only way I will get them is if I have anything left over on a gift card and my Nordstrom bucks. Dang those categories for making me realize where these don't fit! ;-)

I am also looking for a dressy clutch/mini-purse to replace my faux-Chanel. Lucky for me, quilted mini purses are all the rage right now; I just need to find the right one.

This Rebecca Minkoff is a strong possibility. It comes in emerald, tan, mint and a weird red, but I think the black will last me much longer and prove to be far more versatile.

This one is pretty much a nicer duplicate of my old purse, but I don't like the gold studs.

It's a wardrobe hole, but none of these are right yet. The search continues!

A new pair of flats is also on my wishlist, this time at Zappos. I am torn between the pink and the yellow. Mustard is my go-to fun color, but the pink is so unexpected and different for me.

The cap toe makes this a new trend category item, and the color puts it into unexpected delight. Especially if I go with the pink, as I am leaning. They're Clarks, so I am 95% sure they are super--comfortable, and will last for a long while. (I won't order any shoes until I figure out the coat and purse above, and the pants below.)

As long as I am showing off my Zappos wishlist, aren't these awesome? Angie linked them the other day.

It is highly unlikely I would ever buy these -- too pricey especially for something in such a short-lived trendy color. But I do love a good heeled Oxford!

The last item on my shopping list are some colored pants. Aside from my blackberry cords, I haven't seen any colored pants that I want; most are too casual in their cut. My ideal pants would be the Gap modern bootcuts in aubergine, mushroom, and maybe a nice ivory, but Gap stubbornly will not fulfill my personal fantasy of giving me real pants I can wear to the office. So I am trying to warm to the existing colored pants trend, as it is. Maybe I can make ankle pants work? They're better than cropped, at least. Gap was having a 30% off sale last week, so I placed an order to try some different options.

If I keep one of these, I will be surprised and impressed. But I figured I might at least TRY them on, right?

The bright skinny pants have all been disastrous on me, so I am hoping a paler look is better. Bless you, these are "straight khakis" not skinnies. I do hope these work out; Vivienne just did a great set of pink jeans options that I loved.

Lots of bloggers have been extolling the virtues of these skimmer pants, and I would like a cropped pair of white pants for summer, so...we shall see.

Sometimes I like to kid myself that my legs are long and slender like this. Reality will show me otherwise when these get here. I am such a sucker for olive.

A coral jacket. C'mon.

That's like a wardrobe basic, for me. Right? Right? :) Fine, file it under Unexpected Delight. It will be mine.

It will be interesting to me to come back to this post in a month or so and see which if any of these I ended up getting. I've looked back at other Stuff I Want posts, and my purchases end up being pretty few. (Except the Blazer post; three of those have become closet staples.)

Fall Style: Blazers and pants

I may have mentioned in my Closet Purge post that I am wearing a lot of blazers and suit-like outfits these days; mostly it's due to having so many meetings these days at work, but blazers are also an easy cop-out on weekends to having to buy more fall jackets.

This is what I wore yesterday:



Pretty much everything is from Gap or Old Navy. The cobalt blazer is this one, the pants are the modern bootcuts, and the button-down is actually this military style jersey. I've decided I like this better than a stiffer cotton button-down, which tends to square my torso off in terrible ways.

But the parts of this outfit that make it interesting, IMO, are the necklace and the shoes. The necklace is what Gracie over at Fashion for Giants teasingly (and affectionately) calls the "blogger necklace", the colorful statement style that has definitely been making the rounds on many blogs. I picked two of them up as part of a Groopz deal that Kimberly from Fab Finds under $50 linked to a while back, and I've been wearing both all summer, and getting many real-life compliments on them. Even though the turquoise is a summer color, I used the inspiration from a Nordstrom display to wear it for fall too.




(Next time, I am going to try it with my trusty striped blazer.)

The other item of note are my flats. I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the shoes out for this fall; I've bought many and returned just about all of them, only keeping one pair of black studded flats so far. But these flats have been sitting in my closet for a few years now, an impulse purchase from the Ann Taylor Factory outlet, picked up for about $10. They've been mostly unworn because their style hasn't quite fit with my dress obsession or any casual looks on the weekends. But since hurting my back last week I've been wearing mostly flats with shorter-length pants, so I pulled them out and gave them a try. Good thing I didn't purge them; they look professional and cute with my new blazers look.



All in all, I thought this worked well for the season. I was actually one of the better dressed people at my meeting!



(Our new fish doormat says hello. A birthday gift from my parents to my fisherman-husband, heehee.)

Outfit secrets, and blogger inspiration

Notice anything about this outfit?

How about this one?



Did you notice I am wearing trouser jeans? This pair from Gap, to be precise.

I haven't had a pair of trouser jeans since Forth & Towne, and those were more of a wide-leg. I am crazy about the look of these straight legs!

My husband wears jeans regularly to his business casual environment, even though they aren't allowed. His secret is that he wears a jacket and tie, or a very nice shirt and gorgeous tie, so everyone's attention is focused on the upper half of his body, and no one even notices that he is in jeans. It's worked perfectly for eleven years; hasn't been busted yet!

So that's what I did with the two outfits above, and no one noticed. I was only working in the office those days, no travel, so if I did get caught it would only be by the people in my department. Hee!

The second outfit, with the silver-grey tee under the striped blazer, was purely inspired by this fabulous look from Small Fabric of My Life. I wish my top had the same drapiness of hers, but overall it did work; I just have to be careful when I am posing that the stupid little zipper pull isn't sticking out through the top. UGH.



You can't see the poking zipper when the jacket is buttoned, but it was much too hot for that nonsense. :)

These dresses continue to get a workout this summer. They're so easy when it's too hot to wear clothes, but you know, you still have to wear clothes. :)



And now it's time to get ready for work again. Is it vacation soon?

Sunday Cooking: Mish-mosh

Yes, it's Thursday. Do not adjust your monitors. :)

It's been a rough week, and while I didn't think I did much in the way of cooking, somehow we've stretched it through the week so I figured I should post about it.

Also, I managed to take a few photos of outfits (GASP), and I bought new sandals. Yay, summer!



Lunch has consisted of all my favorite foods of the moment, cutely packaged up in little portion-controlled containers.

There was another batch of spaghetti squash au gratin



(and one of cauliflower au gratin for Hubby)



and a black-eyed pea and cucumber salad. (A recipe I make at some point every summer.)



Wasn't completely in love with how this turned out this time. I used a bag of frozen peas and boiled them, but they were really mushy in a way that fresh or canned peas do not get. Plus I didn't have enough feta, and I omitted olives for Hubby, so it was missing a good dose of salt it needed to give it enough flavor. Hubby liked it though!

Lastly, there have been lots and lots of strawberries. Sometimes with yogurt at lunch, sometimes with a slice of angel food cake as dessert at night.



I didn't get any pictures last night, but Hubby grilled a couple of frozen crab cakes for me (he had a burger) and a pineapple cut into long strips. Warm, carmelized pineapple was an excellent side dish, then I finished off the meal by cutting the rest of it up and piling it into a bowl with cool strawberries and soft angel food cake. No pun intended, but it was heavenly.

+++++++

It's been hot this week, and both Hubby and I have been stressed about work so there are nightly chats on the patio under the umbrella while he grills our dinner. George likes to come out and join us. I think he really likes the feel of the warm cement under him.





He is such a weirdo. :)

++++++

My hair is much longer this summer, and I am rather enjoying it. My new stylist gave me a long bob; a lot of the time I have been letting it naturally curl up at the edges instead of forcing it to curl under with a brush and blow dryer, and it just feels healthier and more energized.



This is definitely the summer of draping blouses, although some work better than others. I love the vibrancy of the the hot pink of this Old Navy blouse, as well as the drape at my shoulders. It buckles weirdly at my waist, though, which doesn't photograph well. Oh well! My chunky smoky quartz statement necklace and a gold bracelet add the right amount of dressiness for super-hot weather.



Another variation on the same sandals and black pants look, this time with a coral faux-wrap sweater from Forth & Towne (boy, I still miss that store), white tank and tri-stone necklace. The wind was blowing every which way that morning, so this is the best shot I got.



Sheila has been doing neutrals month over at Ephemera, which inspired this combo that I have been wearing like crazy. Target short-sleeved cardigan and this darling tie tank from Lands End -- that's the whole outfit. I am having a pair of white modern Gap bootcut pants hemmed right now (my first white pants maybe ever!) and I am really curious to see if I can wear this top combo with that too.

Funny, I just realized I have been wearing the same Clarks olive wedge sandals in all 3 shots. I have been rotating through my other ones, I swear! The flat sandal craze has been intriguing me, too; most of mine are heeled wedges in various colors (turquoise, orange, nude, olive, etc) which are great for work. But I wanted some for play, too. Behold!



I know, right?!

The Sam Edelman Gigi's are one of the sandals of the season, and come in a million colors. I debated going for the mixed-print pair, but in the end I could not resist the stripes.

The other pair I got were the DV by Dolce Vita Archer's, another hot sandal of the season. I needed a blue casual pair to go with my maxidress for our summer vacation, and I couldn't resist these when I saw them on Corporette.

The last new shoes I am getting are a pair of summer walking shoes, for exercise. (Yes, I said it.) How can anyone say "no" to walking if they have these adorable New Balance Classics in their closet? On sale for $49, too!

(I am exchanging the 9s for a 9 1/2, but overall they look and feel great.)

++++++

So, food, outfits, random cat photo, shoes. I think I covered all the necessary topics! Am I forgiven for skipping a few days/weeks of posts? :)

Hello Mudder

After 10 years, they are finally, FINALLY repaving the access road and parking lots of my condo complex. Before I start complaining, I will admit they're doing a thorough job, adding in curbs, redoing our walkways, pulling up years of crappy asphalt and starting literally from the dirt up.

That said, it is highly inconvenient, mostly because every exit in and out of my house is a muddy mess. It has rained several times since the project began, and there are still puddles everywhere. My husband and I now have car shoes that we have to wear to walk through the dirt and mud to our cars parked on the other side of the complex; we carry our real shoes in our hands or bags to switch out for work. The paving is expected to take two-and-a-half weeks but we're are in the middle of week 2 now and it doesn't look anywhere near completion.

And I am really kind of over walking through mud every morning.

ANYWAY. At least this will be gone.



The workers are usually here early so I can't sneak out and get many outfit pictures, but I've gotten a few. Hubby took this one after work last Monday; those red-bow leopard print wedges from Payless are still going strong, and I still get lots of compliments at work about them.



I did quite a bit of spring shopping, which definitely perked my spirits. The best purchase so far is this navy striped knit blazer from Lands End; I was actually at Sears returning some other items I bought online when I spotted it. It's so cute and versatile, I've already worn it 3 or 4 times in the last 3 weeks. It has great detailing, too; the cuffs and collar are a light denim chambray. This was one of the first outfits, with a new purple tunic blouse from Old Navy, my trusty Gap skinnies, and new Me Too flats in tan and black. This might be one of my favorite outfits in a while...



Last Saturday was grocery shopping and cooking, and it just felt like a day for my grey Converse kicks. I added this new Old Navy red striped henley and a new olive green cotton jacket from Kohls wih my faded Old Navy Dreamer jeans. Comfy and casual!




The last bit of news before I log off and get ready for work is that we have resisted ordering pizza for TWO weeks now!! I was feeling the weakest last night so I had picked up some sirloin tips for fajitas, but Hubby had a late lunch so I settled for a chicken salad wrap instead.

Even better news is that it is starting to pay off at the scale; I had been hovering at a 3-pound loss since the beginning of the Bottom Line Challenge, but the numbers are finally moving down beyond that. 5 pounds as of this morning. Woohoo!