Chapter One Says to Love Her, Love Her With All Your Heart...

On the Metro on the ride home yesterday, I ended up having front-row seats to an impromptu doo-wop concert. Normally I just like to read my book on the ride home, and any noise above a whisper would receive a slightly snarky glance from me, but these gentlemen were actually quite good, and it was just the thing I needed to lift my rainy-day-blah mood.



Purple Top: Charlotte Russe
Black Tee: Sears
Charcoal Gray Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Aldo, thrifted
Ring: Laila Rowe
Necklace: made by a friend

Closeup:


(It's kinda hard to tell in these pictures, but the top is really a beautifully rich purple, and while it was a darker outfit, it didn't quite look to depressing in person!)

Because it was so ick outside yesterday, outdoor shots just weren't gonna happen. I figured there was no better time to try out some of Kasmira's advice on how to get better photos indoors. I haven't perfected things just yet, but my pictures turned out remarkably brighter!

I made a point to take some pictures before adjusting my settings per her advice so you can compare:



At least you can see the fun hats I bought dear fiance and myself. He gets the monkey, I'm the bumble-bee!

Well I Never...

When another blogger pointed out weeks ago that pastels are a huge trend for spring, I said that I hardly ever wear pastels because they tend to wash me out, and also because I tend to see them as an overly-feminine style that I don't reconcile with my own style.
Well, color me a liar.



Aqua Wrap Top: Charlotte Russe
Orange Tshirt: H&M
Pants: NY&Co
Shoes: RSVP
Faux Peal Earrings: very old
Orange Pearl Necklace: Laila Rowe

Closeup:


Here I am sporting not just one, but two pastels. At first, I was concerned I would look like an easter egg, but the longer I saw the two tops together the more I liked the pairing, which was initially inspired by the orange pearl necklace.
I bought myself this necklace last spring from Laila Rowe, which is truly one of my favorite stores for accessories. I bought the necklace to add to my more delicate pieces, then I'm fairly certain I never wore it. If i did, it was only once or twice. I could just never quite figure out how to style it. After having already paired the two tops together, the addition of the necklace was purely natural.

Unrelated, I finally got myself a tripod, so I can venture out a little more with my photo locations. Of course, there are still actual, yknow *people* around, so I haven't ventured out very far just yet. Terra often posts about people catching her "in the act," but dare I saw that she is much braver than I am!

Is there a fashion trend of style piece that you once swore you would never take part in, only to find yourself wearing it later?

ETA: BTW, Danielle also has this same top in white. Small world!

Bright Sunshine-y Day...

I wore this outfit way back on Tuesday of this week, but I've been a bad blogger and I'm only just getting around to posting.



Top: Charlotte Russe
Pants: Marshalls
Shoes: Aeropostale
Earrings: Claire's
Cami: Kohl's
Bracelet: thrifted?
Flower: H&M

I have this same top in 4 different colors, and it is one of the few items I can still wear, despite my vast fluctuation in weight over these past few years. I went through a brief period where I thought it didn't work for my now-larger body frame, but seeing it in this photo, I think it's quite flattering!
I love the dusty rose and ruffles paired with the slightly punk-rocker vibe of the stripes on the flower. I really look forward to finding outfits to wear this flower with!
Hopefully it doesn't come across too much in the photo, but my hair was actually pretty dirty this day. I usually only wash my hair every other day (or maybe every third day, if it is behaving well), and it really needed to be washed but I just didn't have the time. To camouflage this, I decided to try out Hillary's french braid style (which I had filed into my brain and wanted to try now for a while anyway) -- despite having short hair, I actually have quite a bit of length in the front, and I love finding new ways to style my hair, since I easily get bored with the same look every day. It's been a very long time since I have french-braided my own hair, so I'm really rusty and the braid wasn't as clean as I would have liked, but generally I really liked the style and look forwarded to trying it out on cleaner hair after a little more self-braiding practice.

Flower Power...

I wore this button-up open for most of the day and just wasn't feeling the outfit, despite receiving a few compliments on it. It wasn't until almost the end of the workday before it dawned on me to actually button up the shirt, thus giving me a waist, and I liked the outfit much more after that!



Floral Button-up: Old Navy
Purple Knit Top: Charlotte Russe?
Gray Pants: Lane Bryant
Purple Heels: Vera Wang for Kohl's
Earrings: NY&Co
Green Cami: (seen through purple knit top IRL, but not in photo: Kohl's

I really liked these pants when I bought them, but nowadays, I'm thinking they are too big in the pooch region. I sure don't need any help looking larger there! These may end up in the giveaway pile, especially now that warm weather is coming and I won't need to be wearing pants for much longer!

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