Fashion Friday w/o 3.8

yellow chiffon blouse - f21
cardigan - old navy
black jeans - rue la la
boots - gifted from my mom

I love wearing my cowboy boots from time to time.. it's an ode to where I grew up (Texas).

Christian Siriano for Payless

When Christian was on Project Runway, I rooted for him the whole way.



Now he has launched a line for Payless! Woohoo!

Here are my favorites:






See them all here. And because they are at Payless, you know they are affordable!

Fashion Friday

I'm going to try out a new feature called Fashion Friday and post one of my outfits from the week. Daily wear is a bit too much work for me right now, but I think I can pull one a week ;)

I got the idea from ish and chi; I love her Fashion Friday's.



turtleneck: target
dress: target
tights: F21
boots: vintage

Just realized I'm breaking all the rules here - brown + black and black + blue... but I think it works!

Two scarves are better than one

I've been wondering how I am going to transition my always-60-or-70-degrees California wardrobe into a cold (& snowy!) North Carolina wardrobe. Thank god Jessica posted this cute gal today, it's genius and perfect for my dilemma! I'm a huge fan of layers (both in rooms and on bodies).

Two scarves, one solid and one patterned:





When I can pull myself out of this insane packing, I'll be on the look out for these types of items.

oh, my

Why did I click on the "shop now" link in the Final Sale email that j.crew sent me???

This gorgeous jacket is on sale for $59:







I think you can understand why I cannot get it right now... but I hope someone out there can!

nye dress

Confession: I really don't like New Years Eve. You'd think I'd like it even just a little bit since it was on NYE my husband and I became an official couple (7 years ago, omg!!) But truth is, I've never liked it... I'm not a big drinker and it's a bit too anticlimactic for me.

However I know a lot of people love it, so if you are one of those people I have found the perfect dress for you!


Um YEAH! How awesome is this dress? And it's only $58! It looks so much more luxe than the price tag.



It would look pretty sweet with some fishnets and super high heels. And when the clock strokes midnight and your feet can't take the heels anymore, you can slip into these:



Yeah, it's not even Christmas yet but I'm posting a bit early in case you do want to get the dress; it gives you time for shipping :)

Please Recommend: Grown Up Skinny Jean

Ugh. I REALLY need some new go-to jeans. Right now, skinny/straight leg cut is my favorite and I have two pairs... both were purchased under $15. They are all stretched out and just yucky. I prefer this cut because I can tuck them into boots but they also look good with flats.

I love the look of these matchstick jeans from j.crew but they look pretty bad on me and my big butt:



I'm very pear shaped so please keep that in mind.

PLEASE recommend your favorites! I'd like to stay under $100 but if you recommend a pair that you would sell your first born for, then I could be flexible.

Thanks!!!

coat update & shopping tips!

Last night I got my beautiful green winter coat from Old Navy. It fit perfectly. It's gorgeous. I HIGHLY suggest buying it. This morning, I got an email with a 30% coupon code. So, being the cheapskate that I am, I re-purchased the coat with sale + 30% off and am returning the original.

With the money I saved, I was also able to get this one, too:



Sorry for the incredibly boring post, BUT if you are in need of a great coat, and have little money to spend, I highly recommend Old Navy right now. You can get a beautiful one for around $35.

The 30% coupon code is: L1CLLQXL14YB

I also have a small side note - if you are 5'7 or taller, I highly recommend ordering a size smaller than you usually get, and in tall. For instance - I usually wear Medium. But with Old Navy, I ordered my coat in a size Tall Small. It cut in at the waist perfectly and the arms hit the middle of my hands, which I prefer in cold weather.

Outerwear Sale

Hey folks, Old Navy is having an outerwear sale! Up to 50% off.

I ordered this emerald beauty this morning*:



Best part, oldnavy.com carries tall sizes, which is a big plus for me. Arms on coats are always sooo short on me, especially Old Navy coats. I'm really hoping the coat works out.

I'm heading to the East Coast for Thanksgiving this year, so some winter wear is needed. I'd love to pair up this pretty coat with some pretty cognac leather riding gloves:




And some Buccaneer boots, too :)



*I ordered this coat because unfortunately the Mod Cloth one I ordered didn't look good. Bummer!

mine!

Thank you all so much for all your comments and suggestions about my coat hunt. I went ahead and decided on this coat. My reasoning: I could still wear great colorful and big scarves with it without being too much (like it would have been with ruffles). Also, it was the thickest of the three so I could wear it for fall and winter and trips to visit my family in cold climates.



When I saw there was ONE available, I sent it to the husband and he said... you have been APPROVED! (a la Suze Orman). I am crossing my fingers that the small fits!

made for me

Have you ever found a little shop or online store that feels like it was made for you? I found mine. Maybe you've seen it before, it's called Ruche. Seriously though, I feel like every single item on this site was picked just for me, it's insane.

My husband and I have talked about someday soon having "allowances".. where each month we'll each get $50 to spend on whatever we want. We can choose to save it or spend it, it's totally up to us. Right now all our extra money goes to our shared savings for important adult things.. boo hoo ;) But someday we will get our allowance. When that day comes, I am pretty sure I'll be spending my monthly allowance on one item from this shop a month. Even the prices are reasonable!!! Seriously, I'm in love.

Enough with the chit chat... let's get on to the beauties:

modern victorian sweater dress - $54.99

This dress is so me. Seriously, if you squint your eyes just a bit, doesn't it even look like me wearing it? Ha! I wish.

white marching band vest - $26.99

This vest is just simply f-ing cool. It'd wear it with a turtleneck, some bright tights and high heels to a client meeting.

miss poppins charcoal car coat - $79.99

This coat!!!! No words!!

amelie ivory roses striped dress - $36.99

bryn = stripes. Seriously, I find myself unconciously incorporating them in every design I ever do.

aspen lodge hooded sweater dress - $54.99

This says it's a dress, but I would wear it as a coat all season long with jeans and casual tops.


military studded suede tall boots - $49.99

Again, I'm speechless... those boots!!!!!!! I'd prob order them allowance or not, but they are out of my size :(

Anyway, I pretty much love everything on that site.. I could go on and on and on.

[BTW, this site is not paying me to say this and I'm pretty positive they have no idea who I am or that this blog exists. Although if they are reading this, and want to send me free clothes for me to advertise the heck out of them, I would not be opposed hehe]

Inspiration: Pattern Play

As I've blogged many times before, I just adore Jessica @ What I Wore's style. Well today her outfit "spoke" to me. I was completely inspired by the black, gold and ivory and the numerous textures and patterns. I knew I had to design a room around it the second I saw it...

inspiration:


my interpretation:


details:
I've wanted to paint a room black for a looonnng time. So I made this imaginary room's walls black. The couch is a ivory velvet and in my head the chair would be gold silk. The curtains are black with big bold florals. The throw pillows bring in even more texture.. and you can't forget the white flower to mimic Jessica's necklace. The layered rugs duplicate Jess's layered look. Any my favorite part... a shiny red lamp to stand in for Jessica's shiny red nails.

sources:
Fabrics: here, here and here
Sofa: Lee
Chair: Lee
Pillow: Etsy
Lamp: Shades of Light
Striped rug: Children's Furniture
Jute rug: google images
Tables: Restoration Hardware
Pendant: Upscale Lighting

This is an expensive, make believe room that's for sure!

the perfect jacket

Which of these three jackest do you like the best? And please do feel free to consider cost when making your decision, because you know I will!

Anthro - $128

ModCloth - $65
[current sold out, hoping it comes back?]

Fred Flare - $86

Fall is HERE!

I've been waiting and waiting for fall to officially feel like it's here, and this weekend that feeling happened! In Southern California the weather is finally cool(er), with the high only 68 degrees today.

With the onset of the cool weather, I realized I never got around to getting those fun colored tights that I wanted. Remember this image of Zooey?



Well lucky me, Forever 21 had some in stock and the price was perfect ($5.80).

I ordered three pairs:






And while I was on the site, I couldn't resist these:


They remind me so much of something I would have worn as a little girl in the 80's. I also was in dire need of some new black flats.

I can't wait to bring the new bright tights into my fall clothing rotation!

Old Navy - NAILED IT.

Hey Old Navy- you nailed it with your new fall stuff. I think I need to take a portion of next month's savings to buy everything below. Is that okay, honey? :)

Cadet Coat - $69.50


Lightweight turtleneck - $15


Keyhole tank - $24.50


Bright cords - $15


Cord vest - $15


Gauze scarf - $8




Floral skirt- $24.99

All items can be seen here.

Oh My Mod(Cloth)!

I'm dying over all the new stuff at ModCloth.

I'll take one of each for fall, please:

Fall Shoes: Save The Difference

Scroll a bit down and you'll see my recent post about fall shoes. Well, I thought I'd stop by Payless.com to see if they have any good inexpensive alternatives, and boy was I in for a treat....




Shoes on the left, from my original blog post. Shoes on the right, from Payless!

The Payless shoes have all the qualities I'm looking for in a fall shoe for 1/2 the price of just ONE of the pairs on the left.

My little caveat: the Payless quality isn't going to be the same as the shoes on the left, it's a fact. But Payless is perfect for me since I like to buy new styles each season. I also have to add, my Payless booties from last year have held up beautifully and are ready to be worn again this fall.

The BOGO sale is happening now, and you bet I'm going to go check it out during lunch ;)