Mr. Picks Mondays: Purple Plaid

The Mr. chose this purple plaid shirt, and I paired it with dark wash bermuda shorts to beat the heat. I love summer, but this heat lately is draining me - this girl is exhausted by the time she gets home from work, and ready for bed super early. Call me an old lady, but I sure do love my sleep ;)

shirt: from a friend (American Eagle)

shorts: thrifted (Citizens of Humanity)

sandals: Target

Dressing for America's Birthday, Part I

Since this Friday is the 4^th of July / America’s Birthday / Independence Day / one of the best days of the year, I thought I’d share at least TWO patriotic / festive outfit ideas with y’all (one today, and anothertomorrow). And I thought I’d share them early for two reasons:

1) So you have time to go shopping for your festive gear if you are lacking in that department.

2) I plan to be on a boat or on the beach (or both!) for the 4^th in a festive bikini with one of my best friends and family, so, there won’t really be much of an outfit to share…Of course, I’ll be Instagramming & Tweeting pics of boating, day drinking, floating, beaching, frolicking, celebrating, and general debauchery.

Up first, a layered look. White pants, a festive burnout tank with stars (so. much. glitter. everywhere), and a chambray thrown over the top. I went with metallic sandals to tie in the stars in my shirt, but I was this close to wearing red wedges. Obviously, comfort won out – as it typically does for me...

Check out last year’s festive 4^th of July get-ups: here and here

star tank: WalMart

chambray: thrifted

pants: Old Navy

Cleopatra sandals: Target

Navy Stripes

Here's a simple look for this Friday eve. I got this shirt from a friend, and while I love the stripes and the lace, I'm not sure I'm such a fan of the elastic waist on the bottom of the top. 

The jury is still out...

shirt: from a friend

jeans: Aéropostale

Cleopatra sandals: Target

Oh Hey. Chambray.

I’ve worn this dress several times before (check them out here), and every time I do, I’m again reminded of the sheer brilliance of it. 

Chambray. 

Shirt dress. 

It’s perfect in it’s simplicity. It’s lightweight, easy to dress up or down (obviously, I leaned towards casual), and the best part of wearing a dress: it’s a WHOLE entire outfit in 1 piece of clothing. 

Is there anything better? 

Raise your hand if you’re into keeping getting dressed simple.

*raises hand*

dress: Kohl’s

Cleopatra sandals: WalMart

1 Black Maxi. 2 Ways.

 

 

 

  

 

Here are two different ways to style a basic black maxi dress. Yes, they both include denim, but trust me, they’re different! 

One incorporates a denim jacket AND a scarf (a wild, leopard print scarf), and the other a chambray shirt. The chambray can be worn similarly to a jacket (open, unbuttoned), OR buttoned up like a shirt, letting the maxi shine as more of a skirt than a dress. Whatever you prefer! Great for when you need options...or when the weather’s being weird and you may or may not need layers...

maxi dress: Old Navy

on the left:

denim jacket: from a friend (Old Navy Outlet)

scarf: WalMart

Cleopatra sandals: Shoe Carnival

on the right:

chambray: Lauren Conrad via Kohl’s

Cleopatra sandals: WalMart

Mr. Picks Mondays: Peppy in Peplum

The Mr. selected this striped blue peplum dress for me to wear (apparently he prefers that I wear blue striped dresses). This dress came with a skinny yellow belt, but in an effort to be more creative and not wear it EXACTLY as prescribed, I went with a brown belt and sandals, and mint jewelry. 

Peplum is great for many things - it’s sweet, a wee bit flirty, and expertly hides the evidence of a few too many breakfast burritos that one may or may not consume...

dress: Target

belt: thrifted

Cleopatra sandals: consignment shop (Candie’s via Kohl’s)

1 Pink Blouse. 2 Ways.

  

  

 

  

 

Here are two ways I’ve recently worn this floral sleeveless button-up. I really like how the olive pants worked with this top and denim jacket - never would have thought to pair them together before I started taking pictures of my outfit and posting them on the internet...

Next time you can’t think of what bottoms to pair with a floral top, why not give your olive green skinnies/shorts/capris/skirt a go? I like the white skinnies, as well, but the green bottoms are a little less expected ;)

I picked up this top back in March while shopping with my cousins. Funny enough, I have a phone case with the same print on it (got that back on Black Friday). Didn’t think to swap out my phone case when I wore this top, and received some teasing about how I matched my phone to my shirt. 

Not true, buttttt, it DID look like I’d done it on purpose...

sleeveless button up: J. CREW Factory

on the left:

denim jacket: from a friend (Old Navy Outlet)

olive pants: Aéropostale

sandals: (one of my friends has started calling them "Cleopatra sandals") Target

on the right:

white pants: Old Navy

Cleopatra sandals: Target