Dusty Blue

Shirt - Steinmart; Sweater - Thrifted; Skirt - Old Navy; Boots - Marshalls; Tights - NY & Co;

I am in LOVE with long sweaters lately. I've thrifted two recently, this dusty blue number being the second, and I just can't get enough. I even find myself putting them on over my jammies at night to snuggle on the couch with the kids before bedtime. And making pancakes with them on in the morning...or taking the dog out so that others can see them too. There is something so comforting about them, and yet so stylish, especially when I match with a belt and some boots.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Farewell, Old Friend

Pants - Jones New York (steinmart); Shirt - JC Penny; Belt - Steinmart; Sweater - TJ Maxx;

Shoes - Nine West (thirfted); Necklace - Thrifted; Earrings - Premiere

This outfit was thrown together totally last minute as I saw this shirt that I bought last summer when I was rearranging my closet and wanted to wear it. I love everything about how this outfit looked and felt. This shirt was such a pleasant surprise. I would never have paired red, magenta and brown before purchasing this, and was drawn to the ugliness of the pattern. It's really quite beautiful.

The old friend, however, is the pants. These pants are brown with gold sparkles are highwaisted, wide legged and all sorts of amazing. But they are also wool and very itchy, so after this picture was taken, I retired them into my winter clothes bin to be resurrected next October. I'll miss you, sweet pants.

. Rating - Two Thumbs Up Always love it when I follow up a crappy outfit with a faboo one!

Even the Stylish have Bad Days

Dress - Motherhood Maternity; Boots - Macy's; Vest - Tommy Hilfiger (vis Macy's); Belt - Baby Phat (thrifted); Sock Tops
.
This outfit is a product of my compulsive need to make maternity clothes work in a non-maternity way. This dress failed. I loved the color blocking, and it was one of my faves when I was prego with both babies, but this dress will have to be retired to await my little sister getting pregnant.
.
It probably didn't help that I woke up too late to wash my hair, which needed it badly, but I felt frumpy all day.
.
Rating - One Thumb Sideways (husby), One Thumb Down

Snakeskin Strappies

Shirt - Loft (courtesy of Shessica's Smashion site); Cardi - TJ Maxx; Pants - Style & Co (Macy's);

Shoes - Thrifted; Necklace - Bakers; Cuff and Ring - Premiere; Belt - NY & Co.

These shoes are my favorite part of this outfit, although I'm quite happy about how the outfit came together. Mother Nature can't quite figure out if she wants it to be spring or winter, so I've found that my best bet with classes and work is to dress in layers. But the fact that it has warmed up enough to be able to wear open-toed shoes is flippin fantastic! These puppies were found at Plato's Closet for $8 if I remember correctly. And worth EVERY Penny. THeya re actually pretty comfy, too. I've worn them to work a couple of times. I struggled for quite some time to find a necklace that mixed metals as well as the fabulous cuff that husby bought me for Christmas last year. This gem was spotted as a co-worker and I breezed through a mall in Columbus to eat at the foodcourt before heading home from work meetings. My company's Columbus office is located within a mall....while I briefly considered relocating there when the office first opened, once I found that out I took my name out of consideration. We'd be bankrupt if I worked that close to shopping all the time!!

I loved my hair so much I made Husby take a side shot.
.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

That 70's Librarian

Glasses - Banana Republic; Shirt - Old Navy; Skirt and vest - Thrifted;

Boots - Marshall's; Ring - Steinmart

.

I'm so far behind on my blogging of outfits. I forget how this outfit made me feel, so it wasn't stellar, but it wasn't bad, either. I looked like the college student that I am.

.

The problem is that, being almost full time in school and absolutely full time at work is normally ok. But when you add in extra pressures of taking over for a co-worker who left for maternity leave, as well as being pulled into some project management duties because of problems with invoicing I'm barely treading water at work. And when I'm not working, I'm not on my computer (taking a break now at 10:32 pm on a saturday from invoice reviews) so my blogging has sufferred. I know I don't have many followers, but those of you that have blogs are being visited by me, I'm just not really able to make comments...I'm doing outfit pic drive-bys when I have a second to breathe. The good news is that despite the less than stellar economy, I got another pretty nice raise this year, so my efforts aren't going unnoticed.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Sideways

Skirt Love

Skirt, Shirt, Sweater, Belt and Shoes - Thrifted; Tights - Old Navy;

Earrings - Steinmart; Necklace - Premeire

This outfit is almost entirely the fruit of my Valentine's thrifting excursion to find a colorful pencil skirt. As you can see I was successful. It was 25% off day and my outfit cost a total of $8.50. That's some thrifting I can get behind (and Husby was okay with, too). The skirt was $1.50, so it has already earned its worth :-) The shoes are a bit odd in that they won't zip up (even when off), but I actually kind of liked them unzipped anyway, so here they are. I love the orangey leather, which is so on trend know. I love the red skirt and it will be making MANY return appearances, as well as the cream lace shirt, which is such a fun neutral piece. Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Boudoir Chic

Skirt and belt - JC Penny; Lace Top - TJ Maxx; Shirt - Style & Co (Macy's);

Tights - Old Navy; Necklace and Ring - Steinmart; Earrings - Premiere; Shoes - Madden (thrifted)

When I got dressed this morning, I was a bit apprehensive that this outfit may be a bit to sexy for work. But, seeing as all of my naughty parts were sufficiently covered and I was in love with the outfit, I threw caution to the wind. And I'm so glad I did. I felt a bit more than the appropriate amount of sexy at work (which made me even more productive) and got tons of compliments on the outfit. Plus, this necklace, one of my favorite statement pieces, making an appearance always makes for a great day. AND, the proportions were just right, making me look long and lean(er).

.

Rating - Two Emphatic Thumbs Up

.

This outfit also got me thinking about my newly developed clothing worth theory (which is helping me curb my spending). Before I buy something, I always try it on and then try to put a monetary value on how much I like it. I liked this shirt $10 worth. THEN I look at the price tag. This shirt was $11. But its originality, both for my closet and in general, gave it an extra worth buck and I bought it. But how do I come up with this worth?

.

Easy. I divide the amount I paid for the item by the amount of times I expect myself to wear it. If I can think of enough outfits off the bat to bring it's worth down to $2-$3 per wearing, I'll go ahead and purchase. Then, once it is in my closet, I try to wear it enough to bring that value down to $1. If I wear this $11.00 shirt 11 times, then I've suceeded in my challenge and adequatley valued it's worth at purchase. Currently, it's at $5.50. I've more than succeeded for the skirt, earrings, belt, necklace and shoes :-)

.

I know, it borders on the ridiculous, but I am an engineer after all. Math is a part of nearly every thought I have.

Primary Resolution

Shirt and Tank - Old Navy; Skirt - Macy's (FREE); Tights - We Love Colors and Old Navy;

Shoes - Liz Claiborne (Steinmart); Belt - Thrifted; Ring - Steinmart

.

Ignore everything from the shoulders up. I had a client workshop this day, followed by a class and Husby wasn't up when I left for work in the morning, so this picture was taken after 14 hours of being worn, as was my makeup and hair. I felt like I might have been a bit over the top when I left the house this morning, but the slew of compliments, coming from total strangers, ensured me that I was right on the mark. I loved how colorful this all was and look forward to wearing this fabulous yellow, red, green and blue floral buttondown in other primarily wonderful ways. Plus, this outfit was really comfy, so the 14 hours were pretty bearable (for my body at least...my mind was a different story.)

.

I'm going shopping this afternoon with my best friend and her mother for her birthday. She's the type of girl who, although absolutely gorgeous with a fabulous figure, is so critical of herself, she never buys clothes because she never feels anything looks good on her. I am going to do my best to help her see in the mirror what I see every day. But I have to be strong and not shop for me.

.

The prayer of the shopaholic - 'Lord, grant me the restraint to enter one of my favorite stores and refrain from buying things that I really want but do not need, and the wisdom to tell the difference. Amen'

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Crazy Spoutings of a Shoe Addict

Cardi - Macy's (FREE); Skirt and Belt - JC Penny; Shirt - NY & Co (thrifted);

Tights - We Love Colors; Shoes - FREE (from my boss)

Close up of the cutie-pa-tootie shoes. My boss decided after getting pregnant with her third child that heels were no longer in the cards for her. Lucky for me, she has big honkin' feet like I do. She gives me first dibs before sending them to Goodwill. Even more lucky for me, cause I'd probably end up paying for them at Goodwill cause she had good shoe taste. However, when it comes to shoes I have a weird kind of mantra. While on one hand I feel that you can never have too many shoes, on the other hand, I feel that shoes have souls (haha I'm so clever) and must fulfill their shoe destiny. Therefore, I won't adopt or purchase a pair of shoes that are too similar to shoes that I have in my closet, so that all get worn. When I took these, I had no brown pumps. These shoes have been worn plenty and have smiling, happy, bright orange auras to match their cute little bows. It's all about Karma. Happy shoes won't break a heel or allow you to twist your ankle or give you blisters.

.

Don't get me wrong. I couldn't have 50+ pairs of shoes and bee too narrow in my shoe sorting. Example: I have pewter flats and pumps;Red flats, pumps and Mary Janes; and black pointed toe mid heel, rounded toe low heel, rounded toe T-straps with ruffles and a high heel, flat boots with scrunchy calves, etc, etc....etc. Do you have good shoe Karma?? Am I just a Crazy shoe lady??

.

And here is the Fugly sweater's second wearing. I'm not nearly as happy with this look as I was the last, but I've got at least 6 shirts of varying colors or styles to pair with this cardi before I make a definitive decision. C'mon people....free makes it even better!!

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up