FInd Your Inspiration

Shirt - Steinmart; Pants - Macy's (free); Shoes - Payless; Belt - TJ Maxx

I saw a dress from Kate Spade this summer in navy and lime and white, which I loved, and I've been dying to try the combo myself.  What better way than with Sophie's favorite print??  You can't really see in this photo, but the pants are polka dotted, too.  I'm so glad this turned out the way it did!  If I could do it again, I would not do the belt, though.  It gave me a weird shape, especially from the side.  Next time :-)

Pretty in Plaid

I was in a lumberjack kind of mood this week. Here are a few ways that I styled my plaid camp shirts into business casual attire.

Shirt - Target; Cami - Old Navy; Skirt - Macy's; Belt - Thrifted; Necklace - Macy's; Shoes - Payless

Right: Shirt - Target; Cardi - NY & Co (thrifted); Skirt - Gap (maternity); Necklace - JC Penny; Shoes - Madden (TJ Maxx)

Been a Long Time

 Shirt - Matthew Morrison (Macy's); Skirt - Spiegel; Belt and Bracelets- Thrifted; Boots - Charlotte Russe (thrifted); Earrings - Steinmart

I've been a bad, bad blogger.  It's been weeks.  But a fabulous new promotion led to tons of extra responsibility and a trip to corporate headquarters for training.  And NO time for blogging.  Now that life is back to normal, I'm back to getting my pictures taken in the morning :-)

Dress - NY & Co (thrifted); Sweater - Target; Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Bracelets - Thrifted

There is a preview of 'Hall Pass' where Jenna Fisher is wearing a dress much like the one I'm wearing.  In fact, when I first saw the preview I thought 'I really love that dress'.  So imagine my elation when I was perusing through my local Plato's Closet and saw a dress from NY & Co, in my size (for $8), with the same print and pallette.  Of course, fate had brought us together.  The dress is light enough to be worn in summer, but the color pallette also lends to its ability to be worn with tights and boots in the fall.  Bonus!

Color of Summer

 Shirt - Lane Bryant (thrifted); Skirt - Spiegel; Shoes - thrifted; Belt - Dress Barn; Necklace and Bangle - Premiere

Sweater and Skirt - NY & Co (thrifted); Shoes - Payless; Necklace - Premiere

Yellow is the color of the summer.  Not any summer, but this summer.  And not because it is the color of the sun.  Because all my life I have been told that yellow is not a good color for me because I am so pale.  This summer, I threw caution to the wind and started wearing it anyway.  Screw my complexion - I rock out some yellow. 

Bag of Free Clothes

 Dress - Chaps (thrifted); Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Belt - Steinmart

My local Plato's Closet had a clearance sale recently.  $15 was all it would cost for each plastic shopping bag (smallish) that you filled with clearance items.  I was pleased to find that the clearance items were all sorted and in their own section.  I was not pleased to find the limited amount of items in my size that were on clearance.  Well, I guess I shouldn't have been two surprised...it is Plato's Closet.  But I digress.  I found this sundress pretty early on and for the cute plaid pattern and good construction of the dress, I would have paid $15 for it.  Which basically made everything else in my bag free.  I've already worn the dress twice since the sale, so it was definitely worth it.  While not everything in my bag ended up being a winner (I took some long shots since they were essentially free...I'll probably end up donating them), I ended up with quite a few really nice pieces in addition to the dress.

Shirt and Scarf- NY & Co (thrifted); Skirt - Ralph Lauren (Macy's) ; Shoes - Payless; Belt - NY & Co

This purple sweater was one of my gem 'freebies' from the bag.  It totally matched the scarf I had thrifted from there last year and is pretty seasonless, as I see myself putting this over a buttondown and wearing with a skirt and boots in the winter as well.  In fact, most of the items I own from NY&Co have been thrifted from this Plato's.  I have a theory that there is a plus sized teenager whose gramdma buys here beautiful conservative things from NY & Co, but she would rather wear flannels, tees and tanks, so she brings them in to trade. Did I mention that many of the items have NEVER been worn and still have original tags??

I don't really care how they got there, though.  I'll take it!

Floral Affair

Dress - Dress Barn; Cardi - Old Navy; Necklace - Premiere; Shoes - Payless

Purple and green are two of my favorite colors....so whenever I find things that pair them together, I get really excited. I LOVE this little number from Dress Barn, and also love my cardi, but after seeing these pictures, the un-cinched cardi over the dress with same-material belt don't do my silhouette justice. This outfit may be making a repeat performance soon with a better execution.

Shirt and Shoes - thrifted; Skirt - Old Navy - Thrifted; Earrings and Necklace - Dress Barn; Bracelets - Macys and thrifted

It never occurred to me that olive and teal would look so good together until this shirt. And I LOVE IT!! Then, of cours a few days after wearing this outfit, Kasmira did a post on 'Tealive' posting her 5 outfits of recent history wearing the same combo. So maybe I didn't stumble across it, and was really subconciously inspired by Kasmira (as I cyber stalk her on her blog daily). Either way, it's great and I love it and I'm sure I will be pairing these together a bunch, especially in the fall. (Thanks Kasmira!)

Anchors Aweigh

Dress - INC (Macy's); Belt - Target; Shoes - Payless; Necklace - Steinmart

I'm loving the idea of wearing items as they were not intended. This 'dress' is really a maxi skirt. But look at me...I pulled it up and cinched it and voila! I have a tube dress. I'll have to admit, this idea wasn't mine. But my execution is something I'm quite proud of :-)

You may notice, that my hair is looking a bit rough. I haven't cut my hair since my son was born, nearly 2 years ago...I realized that I was getting a bit scraggly, so I recently got it chopped. Just a preview of things to come....

Feedback Wanted!

Dress - TJ Maxx; Shoes - Payless; Bracelet - Premiere; Necklace and Earrings - Me

This dress is one of those items I just can't quite decide on. I remember it fondly, having worn it on my first anniversary, but at the same time, I was also asked if I was prego in it... The pattern is cool, but also kinda dirty looking (covered in vagaygays??)....And in order to wear it where it belongs, with the crossed lines under my post-babies larger boobies, my bra shows. I fought with this dress all day to keep it up...I think I'm talking myself out of it more and more as this post continues. Will it survive?? What do you think??

Yellow Shoes

Shirt - Thrifted; Tank - Old Navy; Skirt - Target; Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Belt - JC Penny; Ring - Steinmart
Polka Dot Dress, Cardi, and Shoes - Thrifted; Earrings and Necklace - Premiere; Belt - JC Penny
.
Yellow shoes. Elusive until recently. These yellow platform T-straps are so darn comfy that they were worn three times in one week. The look and feel remind me of my old ballroom dancing shoes from the early dancing days. And I love the splash of color and happiness they can't help but bring out in any outfit. Best $8 I've spend in a long time!

Farewell Old Friends

Shirt - Gap; Skirt - Old Navy; Shoes - Payless; Belt and Ring - Steinmart; Necklace - Premiere; Earrings - Macy's
Shirt - Gap; Cardi - Kohls; Skirt - JC Penny; Belt - NY & Co; Shoes - Thrifted; Necklace - Me

I couldn't decide in or out today. While my silhouette looked better head on with the skirt inside the high waisted skirt, the pleats on the skirt cause it to pooch out a bit in the area where I actually do have a pooch. So, my profile looked better when the shirt was untucked. I never did manage to decide, switching between the two looks every time I went to the bathroom. Ah, indecision.

Skirt - NY & Co; Shirt - Gap (thrifted); Jacket - Steinmart; Shoes - Payless; Belt - Thrifted

I retired two of the shoes pictured in this post after this week. The snakeskin sandals, while super hot, were a bit too big and the constant rubbing and shifting of my feet inside them was so very painful. The teal lovelies, I actually shed a bit of a tear for. I have loved these shoes for so long and have put up with the excruciating pain that I felt at the base of my big toes because the peep toe scraped the nail beds at just the perfectly horrible spot. I had to finally give up the ghost. I promised Hubs no shoes that couldn't make it through a day at the office, so bye-bye small instruments of podiatral torture. You will be missed. By me, not my feet.

33

Shirt - Style & Co (Free); Skirt - Talbots (thrifted); Boots - Thrifted; Belt - JC Penny; Necklace and Earrings - Premiere
Dress - Gap (thrifted); Jacket - Gap (circa 1999); Shoes - Payless; Jewelry - Mostly Premiere, with a little thrifted

I got a little bit of money from mileage expense reports which was totally bonus, so I took $40 to my local payless for their BOGO sale to buy myself some birthday presents. Too bad the shoes above broke on the second wearing. I'll be trying to recoup the cost of those if I can ever get around to taking them back.

Skirt - Talbots (thrifted); Shirt - JC Penny; Cardi - Old Navy; Shoes - Payless; Jewelry - Premiere

This was my birthday outfit. And the shoes are my new faves, and the ones from Payless that didn't fall apart. Thanks to Kendi for showing them to me for the first time. Olive and tomato and the kids coming to have lunch with me at the office... 33 is starting off AOK.

Cloth Memory

Shirt - Style & Co (Macy's); Skirt - TJ Maxx; Shoes - Payless; Belt - JC Penney; Necklace - Premiere; Earrings and Ring - Steinmart.

Do you ever haer a song or smell a scent that instantly takes you somewhere or time? The smell of Drakar instantly takes me back to my first date with my Husband; the smell of coconut takes me to my sister's pool; and this outfit takes me to the day that I met with the dean of my college and he agreed to waive the equivalent of $10,000 and 1 year's worth of classes for me. I will graduate in the summer of 2013. YAY!!

Shirt - JC Penny; Skirt - thrifted; Earrings and Ring - Premiere; Shoes - Gift; Belt - Thrifted

This outfit, on the other hand, takes me back to one of the most embarrassing days of my adult life. I was walking through my office production room, and my heal caught the linoleum floor just the wrong way and I wiped out. With all of my bags and books on my shoulders, so I made an even bigger crash. In front of all my coworkers. I was mortified. And I don't embarrass easily. I didn't cry in front of them though. I waited until I was limped back to my desk and my incredibly, instantaneously swollen knees were propped and iced by my ever-so-sweet cubie neighbor to start crying. And I had the bruise for 3 WEEKS. A large horrible purple bruise, which meant I had to wear pants or longer skirts and was reminded daily of my shame. It's gone now, but I may just have to get rid of the shoes so I can forget about it a bit. On the other hand, this was another red-white-black attempt that I succeeded in doing my own way, so YAY to ME!

Bumble Bee Tuna

Shirt - Steinmart (FREE); Skirt - JC Penny; Cardi - Steinmart; Shoes - Payless; Tights - Old Navy;

Ring and Short Necklace- Premiere; Earring and Long Necklace - Me

I love this shirt and the uneven seams and 'shredded' appearance. It is so different. I had to do a little convincing of my sister to try in on in the first place. She bought it, but didn't ever wear it before she lost the weight. This is the inaugaral weariing of this shirt, which is quite a nice addition to my spring wardrobe. If only Spring will decide to get here!!!

Ahhh the shoes. Being a Shoeie (like a foodie), I'd have a hard time choosing my favorite pair. These, however would be on my sort list. They are super cute, the ruffles are adorable, they are comfy, and my nostalgia for the style of yesteryear keeps a warm place for any T-strap shoes.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

All that Glitters is not Gold

Sweater - NY & Co; Shirt - Steinmart (FREE); Belt - Trhifted;

Skirt - NY & Co; Tights - Motherhood Maternity; Shoes -Payless

.

My little sister turned 25 and developed the family figure. No, she didn't get prego. It's just that our mother is an apple, and all 4 of us girls started out skinny minnie's, but when we reached maturity (and developed thyroid disease), our bodies evolved into the apple shape. Lil' Sis was lucky enough to have it happen to her before she had children, and was able to adopt an aggressive workhout schedule in a bootcamp and get back nearly to her fighting weight. I'm so proud of her, but jealous at the same time because I do not have the hours to devote to working out that she does. My journey is much longer than hers. The good thing for me, though, is that she gave me all of her fat clothes. You'll see quite a few items indicated as FREE from Steinmart in the next couple of months that came from her.

.

This particular day I was returning to work after a week off with a stomach bug and bronchitis, so I wanted to look sparkly, even if I didn't quite feel it. I never thought to put these colors together in this way before, but I'm glad I did. Compliments abounded this day and I ended up feeling almost back to normal by the end of the day. I think the skirt definitely helped.

.

My hair was also kind of feathered when I woke up, so I went with it and did my impression of Kardashian hair. I'll be leaving this hairstyle to the professionals from now on.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Green Giant

Sweater and Pants - Steinmart; Shirt - thrifted; Shoes - Payless; Jewlery - Premiere

This sweater is a OHW. It's a bit awkward in its shape. I feel really top heavy and shouldery in it. I thought that putting it over a button down with pants would tame it a little. Intead I just look like a linebacker.

.

Rating - One Thumb Down (don't remember how Husby felt about this one)

Sweater Dress

Sweater Dress - Old Navy; Tee - Steinmart; Leggings - Gift; Shoes - Payless;

Belt - Steinmart; Cuff - Premiere

This sweater is the OHW today. I bought this sweater right after I had my son, wore it to my sister's church Christmas Program last year, and haven't worn it since. I couldn't think of anything to do with it to make it different. Once again, no imagination. And, I felt like it didn't do anything to flatter my apple figure. Just goes to show you how much my fellow bloggers like Kasmira, Jessica, Kinsey, Kendi, Underdog and Curvy (just to name a few) have really insprired me and opened my eyes in the past year. This isn't my favorite outfit, but I was warm and comfy all day and I got quite a few compliments on the belt (definitely my fave part of the ensemble). Of course, it was nice to come home, plop on the couch, and snuggle with my babies without having to change. There is definitely something to say for comfort. Will I get rid of my heels and skirts?? NEVER!!

.

Rating - One Thumb Up (husby); One Thumb Sideways (me)

Greensleeves

Shirt - NY & Co (thrifted); Vest - Mossimo (thrifted); Skirt - Macy's;

Shoes - Payless; Earrings, Necklace and Pin - Premiere

I wanted a closeup of the accessories here, cause they kind of get lost in the bigger picture. However, the cut of the stones on both the earrings and neclace add lots of sparkle, which I wanted in this Christmas-Week outfit (I am a bit behind on my blogging). When I bought this green skirt, I wasn't exactly sure how to style it, but I'm coming up with lots of ideas for both it and it's purple twin. Hey, if you love something, buy it in multiple colors, I always say. I decided that Christmas was going to be red and green week, so the next two posts will also follow this theme. Since Husby will only photograph me on days I work, there will be no Christmas Eve outfit, and the New Year found me with the flu.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Photo Inspiration

Cardi - Old Navy; Pants - Steinmart; Shirt - Kohls;

Necklaces, Earrings and Bracelets- Premiere; Shoes - Payless

This outfit was inspired by J Crew. I was surfing their site, checking out their new looks and there were peach gloves and a teal scarf together and I loved it. This was the closest I could come to the colors - different saturations, but the idea is the same. I felt simultaneously springy and weather appropriate. I wouldn't say that this is even in my top 10 outfits, but I was proud of myself for attempting this color combo after seeing it online.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Up

Another One Bites the Dust

Dress and Scarf- TJ Maxx; Tights and Bracelet- Old Navy;

Boots - Payless; Vest - Steinmart; Belt - Thrifted

.

Two outfit failures in a row. While I was happy with this outfit when I left the house, despite Husby's discouragement, I became successively less happy throughout the day. Firstly, the dress was really thick and all the layers and scarf around my neck made me really hot. Yes, it's cold outside. No, I don't work outside. By the end of the day most of my layers were gone. Also, each time I walked past a window or went to the bathroom I checked out the reflection, hoping I'd like it as much as I did at home. Never happened. Don't know exaclty, but it just didn't work. Just goes to show that just because you like individual items, they don't always make a good (or flattering) outfit.

.

Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

.

Rating - Two Thumbs Down

Good Girl Gone Bad

Jacket and Skirt - Steinmart; Shirt - TJ Maxx; Boots - Payless; Belt and Scarf - Thrifted; Earrings - Bakers
.

This was another Jessica inspired outfit from Surely Sonsy. However, as with most imitations, mine didn't nearly measure up to hers. I really liked the leather jacket with the super feminine skirt, so I paired my black leather with my heather gray pleated beauty. But with all of my outfit being black and gray, I needed to add the champagne pink scarf to lighten things up. Outfit would have been better if: my jacket was cropped; or my skirt was more fitted. I felt a little overpowered and like I was hiding my body, which I don't like to really do anymore. That being said, overall I liked the outfit once I ditched the jacket and would definitely like to try this look again. I definitely have to give a shout out to Jessica again for giving me another way to style my many scarves. The double loop knotted in back will definitely appear again.