wine and a pretty dress + sweater #27

Sir Olaf.
love love love.

This ensemble (sweater 27) went to a friend's house for wine and tasty little morsels. So, wine, a new Lilly Pulitzer dress, and my sweet new pup. Oh oh, and a statement necklace + ankle booties.

dress: Lilly Pulitzer

cardigan: Banana Republic

booties: Old Navy

brunch + sweater #26

This tan cardigan makes sweater 26. Sorry for my absence this past week - this girl has been pretty busy. But, in other news...

I had brunch with several girlfriends a few weekends ago. One of them is recently engaged, so this was a celebratory brunch.

We were within walking distance of  her wedding venue, so she took us there and showed us around. We all ooh-ed and aah-ed over the venue.

The staircase.

The ceiling.

It's a beautiful place, for a beautiful girl.

me and the bride to be

doing what we do best - cracking each other up

*squish squish*

the brunch crew

So great to see my friends - I wish we could do brunch a lot more often.

Is every day too much?

dress: Target

sweater: Dillard's

scarf: WalMart

boots: Nordstrom

eye-popping blue + sweater #6

This “skirt” is really a dress – I’m really trying to get more wear out of my (summer) dresses by layering and adding tights. I know I could always wear a black cardigan over a dress, but that feels a little too easy to do all the time, so I tried this dress on with most of the pullover sweaters in my closet. There just so happens to be teeny bits of blue in this floral print, so this eye-popping-blue v-neck was the clear winner.

And now, an explanation for featuring my sweater "collection" this month...

A few weeks ago, I counted how many sweaters I had, and I had about 26. Couple that with my attempt to come up with my own style/blog challenge, and I came up with the idea to wear a sweater every day in January. I purchased one more sweater, and have a few nicer sweatshirts, plus a few sweater dresses/skirts, bringing the total to 31.

And there's 31 days in January, soooo

I figured January is as good a month as any to wear sweaters - it'll obviously be too warm in the summer, and the fall and spring in Colorado can be hit or miss (60 degrees or -20). But January is pretty consistently cold, and so, a sweater a day in January was born!

dress: c/o Aéropostale

sweater: GAP

scarf: gift

tights: Old Navy

boots: c/o Aéropostale

tights-less + sweater #4

Originally, this outfit was slated to be worn with bright red tights. But, when the forecast called for “sunny and in the 50s,” I ditched the tights and opted for bare legs. I've still got a wee bit of color from Thanksgiving in Key West, so I wasn’t afraid my legs would blind anyone. I didn't originally intend for this to be a black + white look (plus brown boots), but when tights were taken out of the equation, it just sort of happened that way. And I don’t hate it.

And count this black cardigan as sweater #4 for my "sweater a day in January" style change/style prompt - check back for more information tomorrow!

dress: Target

sweater: Maurice's

scarf: c/o Aéropostale

boots: The Frye Company via Nordstrom

tights & dresses

By now you might have noticed I'm wearing more tights and skirts/dresses than I have in the past. 

There's a few reasons for that:

1) in an effort to stave off the inevitable mid-winter "I hate everything in my closet because I only wear skinny jeans and sweaters," I'm trying to keep things interesting.

2) I'm taking advantage of the cold, but not yet frigid, temperatures we are bound to experience in January and February.

3) my new Frye boots are great, yet a wee bit snug in the calves, so I'm trying to get them to relax a bit before I pair them with pants.

4) I've started viewing tights as accessories. Sure, they're technically "clothes," and my legs would freeze without them, but wearing different tights with the same dress or skirt changes up my look, just like switching out shoes or jewelry.

So, here's to more tights&skirts&dresses this winter. Until it's WAY too cold outside...

dress: Nordstrom

tank: Kohl's

cardigan: Eddie Bauer

scarf: I made it!

tights: GG Boutique

booties: Old Navy

fall two-fer, number 1

A two-fer outfit post for ya today, and another one tomorrow. Need to get these bad boys posted so I can start sharing my 30 for 30 outfits - we ARE halfway through October already...

Outfit #1

This ensemble went to work, and lunch at a yummy Mexican place for something smothered in creamy habanero sauce...

chambray: Kohl's

green jeans: from a friend

bag: thrifted

sandals: Walmart

Outfit #2

This outfit is what I wore to spend time with one of my best friend's new babies. My husband met him for the first time that day and the man is obsessed. This little guy has cheeks for days and he wants nothing more than to be bounced or rocked while he's held. Such a cutie.

dress: Aéropostale

vest: thrifted

shoes: Target

number 4 of 7

from the Mr: 

"I have always liked this dress and wanted to see her wear it. We debate on whether or not it is long enough for work, so I thought it would be a challenge to figure out how to make it work, or maybe push some boundaries."

If you can’t tell, I’m in love/a bit obsessed with navy blue. And this shift dress just so happens to be navy blue. Fancy how that happens…It came from a friend who, instead of regretting giving it to me, tells me how great it looks on me every time I wear it around her. So, that’s nice :) I was a bit concerned that the dress would be too short for work, but then I remembered I have REALLY short legs (but my brother said I have long arms…?). And, in any case, tights season is almost here, so that should solve most of the “too short skirt” issues that reside in my closet…

dress: from a friend

cardigan: Plato's Closet via Hollister

scarf: Target

flats: Old Navy

eShakti

What feels like ages ago (but was really only the beginning of August), a company called eShakti reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in ordering a dress through their site and featuring it on my blog.

Of course I said yes

I’d read a lot about this company through other bloggers and couldn’t wait to customize a dress for my short self. eShakti encourages you to customize any piece on their website – want pockets? Sure. No pockets? Ok. Need it a bit shorter? Or a bit longer? Easily done. Ordering by standard size IS an option, but if you’re interested in any of these beautiful garments, I’d go for something a bit more custom. Why not? Why not order something you know will fit you, instead of ordering it, and then having to get it tailored?

I submitted my measurements, took out the pockets, and went with a shorter length on this dress (I’m 5”4’ with short legs, a short torso, and short shoulders. However, my brother once told me I have long arms…what?).

And what do you know? This striped dress is a perfect fit.

I wore this on a date this past Saturday for wine and cheese (same place we went for our wedding anniversary, The Welsh Rabbit – highly recommend this place). Aside from the compliments from my Mr., our hostess/server gushed over my dress, as did another customer at the bar who made it a point to stop by our table and tell me she’d seen me walk in and I looked

“Fabulous. Really. Fabulous.”

Since the dress is black and white, I added some color with my shoes and jewelry, and added a thrifted gold clutch to complete my look.

I’ve wanted to order something from eShakti for a long time, ever since reading about the company through other bloggers, but I haven’t had an occasion that I NEEDED a new dress for (I’m guilty of buying dresses without an occasion, and then allowing them to sit in my closet for ages…whoops…). But when THEY contacted ME, I figured “Why not?!” I’m thinking if we get invited to holiday parties this winter, I can throw on festive tights and accessorize it differently to take this outfit from end-of-summer to colder weather (boo). Not that I want to wait that long to wear it again...

eShakti’s website has PLENTY of other options – more casual dresses, skirts, blouses, and everything in between. Something else that caught my eye was an emerald green tulle skirt…so fun. However, I think I’ll get more wear (and maybe more compliments) out of my black-and-white striped dress than an emerald green tulle skirt *sigh* There’s always the next occasion I need something fancy for…

dress: c/o of eShakti*

shoes: ALDO

clutch: thrifted

*dress provided courtesy of eShakti, however, all opinions are my own