Layering to good effect

I did some layering of two of my favorite pieces, a sheer Target patterned bowtie top and an older Halogen sparkly-purple cardigan. Then black everything else: layering tee, skinny belt, bootcut pants, pointy shoes. I wasn't sure about the two tops pieces together, but I think in the end it worked well.



That poor sweater has a number of snags. This might be its last season.

Day/Night #2 of the Night Shower Experiment also turned out well.







The only problem is that it turns out my hair has 22 hours exactly before the roots get oily, dark and flat. So if I shower at 7 the night before, by 4 or 5pm, it does not look good at all. This is a problem on days when I am going out after work! Since I am doing so on Friday -- Phillip's last day, you guys! Noooooo!!! -- I had to scrap the Night Shower experiment for today.

But it looked good yesterday, at least!



Happy Friday! Any interesting weekend plans?

Summertime Outfits

It's funny, I'm still wearing the same dang black and/or dark pants that I wear during the rest of the year, but I am doing my best to make them summer-ified.

For example, going with an all-white look on top.



Black Gap straight leg pants, brown peeptoe Clark shooties, white Loft tee and white Loft Outlet cascading cardigan.



What really made this work for me was the chunky smoky necklace. Can't believe it has lasted this long; I bought it at Loft a few years ago, and removed almost all of the extra crap on it so it is just the stones and gold.



I also have been scooping up as many summer blouses as I can find. My friend J and I bought this same pink-and-orange sheer blouse from Loft Outlet last month. I debated keeping it, but I just love the colors too much to give it up!



That is my Rebecca Minkoff bag that has been getting a tremendous workout since I got it in April. I've switched out to clutches or a casual crossbody on weekends, but the Minkoff is definitely my everyday bag this year. Love it.



(Mental note: watch that it doesn't buckle funny around my waist and make me look larger than I am.)

I am also in love with my Donald J Pliner bronze sandals (as seen in above shot). I got them last year at Nordstrom Rack; Hubby and I had gone downtown to celebrate our anniversary, and it was so abnormally hot (it was October, for cryin' out loud) I frantically picked them up on Michigan Avenue off-season. Now that the braid has softened and broken in, they are crazy comfortable, and I just adore their chunky chunkiness.





Another summer look I have been embracing is the striped blazer. I love the one I got from Lands End (on sale now in stores!) and have been wearing it at least once a week. It's great in a business casual office; we're supposed to be in business attire when we go to meetings but no one else in our new company does the same. So I often throw this on over a dressy top and pants and look more professionally dressed than anyone else in the room.

This outfit is more business casual.



(Yes, that is me taking a photo in my mirror. Horrors! But I really like this outfit and wasn't sure if I could get outside in time to get a shot.) I like that this is also kind of monochromatic: grey Gap straight pants, pale blue Loft tee, and navy striped blazer. The silver-gold pendant necklace added to the casual vibe, and the orange Clarks sandals gave it a contrasting pop of color.

Oh, hahahaha, right I did get outside but it was kind of a disaster. Very windy!





I perservered and got one good shot.



This outfit is remarkable only because I got busted by the neighbor just as the timer started going off. As evidenced by my panicked expression and fast approach to the camera. LOL!





Target top and aqua cardigan. I think I will try this one again with my new WHITE PANTS.



Gap finally made my beloved modern bootcuts in white. I snapped those babies up the moment I saw them. Wooohoooo! I haven't owned white pants in years; it's so hard to find the right ones, that aren't too sheer or too tight or too cheap. I definitely like these!



The top is also Loft from last year (boy, I did not realize how many of those I have!!) and I've never quite been able to find the right bottom to bring out the lovely snakeskin print of it. Now I realize it just needed some white pants. :)



You may have noticed in several of the above shots that I have a lot of bracelets on. I tend to wear them more in the summer, which is kind of counter-intuitive. They get warm on the arm in hot weather -- but in cold weather, I'm more bundled up and the metal gets too cold!

This was just this Friday. A hot pink Old Navy top, new navy Gap modern bootcuts, olive wedge Clark sandals, an arm of bracelets, and a new long silver pendant necklace I picked up at Loft Outlet on my shopping trip with J. (See what I mean about needing the pendant to be longer than the boob shelf, J? This way it doesn't bounce when I walk.)

I also tried Angie's suggestion of half-tucking the top, and I think I liked it. 



Heh, and here is a perfect example of the striped blazer raising the level of the outfit. It was too hot to put on outside, but I sure wore it for my meeting that day!




So that is what I have been wearing so far this summer. Does it spark any ideas for you? Any suggestions you have for me?

Heh, now that I am looking at this, I also realize it is time to look at my calendar. Methinks I am due for a haircut!

Saturday Switcheroo

I love that you guys are not total enablers. When you don't like something, you say so, and without sugar-coating it. I appreciate that! I confess, I did stop over at Nordstrom to check the fur coats in person anyway, and they were, as my sister noted, fugly. The obsession is over, alas. (Mostly. I am still going to see if I can work some fur some way into my winter coat.)

But I did find some great purchases this weekend:

These Clark Artisan Vermont Vistas, in a fabulous olive suede. I've liked the look of the Clarks Indigo Water Row bootie for the last couple of seasons, but the arch was too high, and the look just a little too desert-boot. This one works much better for me. Hubby is waterproofing them as we speak! Eeee!

I also got this Coach purse (without Shopping Friend's recommendation or discount, yikes!). I'm on the fence about it; I really want a structured medium-sized bag, and I am in love with the color. The shoulder strap does fit really well under my arm, even with my trench coat on, and I think it will look amazing with suits and dressier outfits. My only worry: is it too boring?

What's your verdict, internet?

I ended up not getting that Cole Haan blue bag, for two reasons.
1. When I cleaned out my bags last month, I discovered that every bag I had bought for a "pop of color" was blue. I had turquoise, sky blue, and cobalt...and the cobalt was the only one that got any use at all, and only in the summer. The rest of my bags are black, brown and grey, which makes sense for me; I use a lot of color in my outfits, so the bag actually tones it down in many cases.
2. I then looked through my fall/winter coat closet, and realized that the most-used "pop of color" there is red or purple.
Given what I already had, the blue bag made no sense at all, and the lovely grey one above makes more sense.


The last purchase can't be found online so you'll have to wait a bit. Ooooh, suspense!

+++++

After a week of no photos, I did make myself take one on Friday.





I liked all the pieces of this, but I'm not sure it gelled together as a cohesive outfit.





The shirt is a yellow gingham Old Navy one; I bought it three colors on impulse (and on mega-sale) but I rarely wear any of them. I had the grey gingham on first, and that might have worked better in the end. The jacket is a Loft gunmetal gray, the pants are black NYDJ ponte skinnies, and the shoes are my BOC suede clogs from last year. Maybe the problem was going with brown, black, and grey. Hmm.


Saturday was more inspired. This particular inspiration that I saw in Lucky Magazine on Friday.

Source: luckymag.com via LowFatDressing on Pinterest

I was completely enamored.

First I started with a base: dark jeans and a white button down shirt. This is a tuxedo-front one from Old Navy that still has some life to it.




Boring, but it's a good base. Then I added the killer elements.







I loved it. I will definitely be wearing variations on it again. It served me well most of the day, but after my haircut the weather started to warm up, and it was just too heavy. I came home and changed into my new jacket, so Hubby could take me and my new sleek haircut out to dinner. (I love when my stylist flat-irons it the first day.)




LOVE this new jacket. This was the mysterious third purchase of the day, on the sale rack at Nordstrom. It's a Tahari Woman, with a great ruffled neck, with a fitted ruching at the waist. It's animal print, but not gaudily so. Close up, it looks even better.






I paired it with an Old Navy layering tee, and the same dark wash Old Navy jeans and brown patent croc print Me Too flats. I will be bereft when these shoes bite the dust!




Sunday has been a lazy day. Forgot to take a photo, but I did some food prep for the week. Made a great smoky black bean soup recipe (an old one from Weight Watchers), roasted butternut squash, and a fabulous (nonhealthy) item called, as my friend J calls it, "Tater Tot and Blue Cheese Hot Dish". Holy smokes, was it good!

And that's what I have been up to. How was your weekend?

P.S. I had a good hair day too!

This month's InStyle had a spread on trendy ways to layer this fall. Some of it I had a good chortle at -- a vest over a jacket, really? To the office? -- but there were also some good ideas, like a long sleeve under a short sleeve. This is a common layering technique for me in the fall and winter; it extends the life of my dresses without making me dependent all season long on cardigans.

Best of all, layering under the dress allows a great pattern like this red peacock feather print to stay front and center. I added my plum-with-brown trim Coach slouch bag, purple LOFT long-sleeved tee (no one beats their long-sleeved tees, not even Caslon), Oriblu fishnet tights, Aquatalia Jack perforated boots. For jewelry I wanted to lighten up the darker colors, so I went with my pretty shiny Nasri circle necklace and the white/ivory enamel bangle from Kohls.






++++++++

Thanks for all your enthusiasm over my food prep. Unfortunately the carmelized onions remained much much too soggy, but that was the only failed dish out of everything. Hubby liked to carmelize them in the pan as part of dinner prep anyway, so he wasn't too unhappy they didn't work out. But I like that idea about slicing them and putting them in the oven, Annalise!

So last night, after a very long and tedious day, I was mulling over what to make for dinner. I started thinking about doing the skillet of veggies and new potatoes, and I was instantly dismayed at the idea of cooking and started plotting how I could convince Hubby to order something. Then it struck me like a gong, and I texted Hubby with this:

OMG I just remembered: MEATLOAF!!!
MEATLOAF MEATLOAF MEATLOAF
I am on my way to store to pick up bread and strawberries right now. 

Mental note, kids: try to remember to EAT the foods you prep during the weekend. That's the whole point of it!

Daily Food Tracker: Tuesday
Breakfast: whole wheat waffle with peanut butter
Lunch: tuna sandwich, Sunchips (trapped in meetings all day and had to eat in the awful hospital cafeteria)
Dinner: meatloaf sandwich on whole wheat bread, leftover broccoli slaw
Snack: toffee crunch ice cream bar


Today I am packing up my Bento for the first time in a long while. No worries, Kate, I will take pictures! :)

A little bit of everything

Wednesday was freaking cold, man. It was a struggle to wear anything Spring Transition-y and not to revert to bundling up in winter wear. But I couldn't let you guys down! (Plus, I really wanted to wear my new navy floral top I got on clearance at Target while out shopping with my friends.)



Coincidentally, Helen was just lamenting yesterday about trying to wear belts with outfits, and Angie at YLF posted some great, GREAT tips about troubleshooting problem outfits the same day. I had already worn this the day before, but I struggled with putting it together.



I started with the top, and because it was navy I went with my navy Gap pants. But they are short and only go with flats, so I worried about looking stumpy. And I was cold so I wanted to bundle up in a chunky sweater (always tricky on a chunky girl) so I grabbed my burghundy Axcess open cardigan from Kohls.

And I looked like a sack of potatoes. So I added a new brown Kohls belt, and wore it high, right where the ruffles of the sweater start. It wasn't my favorite look, but the narrow leg of the pant saved me; those showed off the actual size of my body while the top half could look much more swaddled and bigger.

I much preferred Thursday's look:


I called it Urban Jungle Chic all day. LOL! And again, props to other bloggers; the style of the outfit reminded me of Erin from Work With What You Got (she even had this top last year), and Sally at Already Pretty was the one who got me to take a look at this collarless jacket from Gap. It was on sale and I snapped it up at a recent 35% off sale, and am crazy in love with it. I am thinking about wearing it again today (right, I never do that!).

But this was definitely a fun outfit. I felt bad-ass all day.



Target top from 2010, Gap skinny pants, black Naturalizer booties, BR pewter lasso necklace, Gap jacket, cream cami to cover up any bits and pieces.



Friday was a red-faced day, so bad I just cut my head off.



I don't know why this Target dress doesn't photograph well; the light and dark purple are pretty rich against the black, but it doesn't come out well here or in any of the shower pictures from a couple of weeks ago. You will just have to trust me that it is a fab dress. I think once it's warm enough that I can ditch the sweaters you will see how nice the print and shape of it is. Right now it's just a fun layering piece, and layer I did!



Gap black grandpa sweater, Kohls Vera Wang leggings with snaps detail, black pointy-toed flats, Target dress, Urban Outfitters pocketwatch fob necklace. In other words, all the usual suspects. :)

Gotta head into work early today, so it is off I go! Have a good Good Friday, all.

30 in 30 Challenge: Day 11

YEAH!!!!!



Yes. I did it. And I loved it.



This challenge has made me aware of something: I really love prints. Solid on solid, day after day, is making me feel cranky and boxed in. I want to shop, I want to raid the rest of my closet, I want. More. Prints.

So I overdosed on them today.



What surprised me about this outfit was that it really needed the black scarf around the neck. It wasn't to create some distance between the prints -- I actually kept the edges tucked under the jacket most of the day, but scoop neckline of the top and the square neckline of the jacket were not working together well. Problem solved!



I wore this to a vendor demo I have spent the last two weeks frantically organizing; we had a couple of hiccups in the beginning but in the end I think it was a productive day for my attendees. And now *crosses fingers* it is off my plate and I can concentrate on some of the other big projects I have going on.

Okay one last thing about the outfit, and the diet: I am really, really, enjoying how much better my pants fit now. It's impossible to show with black pants and poor lighting, but let's just say it's a relief to taken them off at night and not have to deal with those angry red indents from the buttons on my waist. And my dupa is looking much, much better. Trust me on that!



A good fashion day. I love those.

Top: LOFT polka dot ruffled tank
Scarf: Black thick cotton, (Gap?), with trimmed fringe
Jacket: Tria embellished tweed, Nordstrom (Narrative dept)
Pants: Gap black modern bootcuts
Shoes: Pikilinos mary janes
Bracelet: gold wire cuff, hmmmm, maybe BR Outlet? Don't remember, sorry!