Black-Out Challenge, Day One...

I almost ended up with a belt that had black in today because the buckle is blue and I think of it as my blue belt. Glad I caught that detail in time, since I'm planning on going totally and completely black-less!



Dress: NY&Co
Belt: NY&Co
Shoes: Fioni, thifted
Necklace: Laila Rowe
Earrings: very old

Closeup:


I have further challenged myself to try to avoid neutrals as much as possible during this challenge, with one exception: white. I don't really think of white as a neutral, though it is. In spring and summer (whose door we are knocking on!) white just lifts an outfit to a different level of cheeriness.
While this outfit has no white in it, you will be seeing some tomorrow!

Totally unrelated, I had a few days of outfit photos and even a product review all lined up for you, but now those pictures are nowhere to be found. Not on the camera, not in the Flickr, not on the home or work computers.
How Bizarre.
Anywho, if you're interested in my review of The Morbid The Merrier, just sneak over to Hillary's review, since hers has images. I pretty much second everything she said about the perfume solids. I ordered Dessert Absynthe, Natali, and Black Leather, and seriously, I can't stop sniffing my own wrists when I wear these scents.

Stay Fabulous or Get Slapped Friday...

As most of you probably already know, Erin over at Work With What You've Got has instituted a new holiday entitled "Stay Fabulous or Get Slapped Friday." The rules are pretty simple:
(1) Stay Fabulous.
(2) If rule #1 is broken, get slapped.

This is what I wore while hoping not to get slapped:



Striped Turtleneck: Target
Sweater: H&M
Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: American Eagle for Payless
Flower: H&M
Earrings: Gift from fiance

I have been coveting the stripes I've seen on other bloggers for WEEK now, and I'm excited to have landed myself an awesome striped turtleneck! Of course, the weather is finally supposed to turn warm on us, so I will have to pack this baby away soon until fall/winter, but maybe I'll have one or two more chances to wear it before its too late. (I haven't yet crossed "Long Sleeved Striped Top" off the Want List on my sidebar because I still want one that isn't a turtleneck. Still hunting...)

Have you ever seen an outfit on another blogger and totally fallen in love with it and filed it in the back of your brain... then one day, you get dressed, totally NOT imitating another outfit, only to realize that your outfit is completely inspired by the one you loved? (Did that thought totally not make sense to you?)
While there are several differences between the two, I think my outfit today was utterly inspired by Hillary's outfit from a few months ago.
True, the sweaters are different colors, and hers is a cardi whereas mine is a pull-over, but I remember loving that she had the striped peeking out past her sweater sleeves. And since I don't have a striped scarf to tie bow-style around my neck, I added my striped flower as an extra stripey pop (and they also mirror the flowers that are part of her cardi).
Still love that outfit, Hillary!

Mixing high and Low...

I wore this outfit on Monday, and I must admit, I felt rather smart in it.



Top: swapped
Jacket: Nordstrom Rack
Pants: Marshall's
Shoes: NickelsSoft, thrifted
Earrings: Claire's
Necklace: Laila Rowe
Bracelet: Tiffany

I love the idea of mixing high-end and low-end pieces in one outfit.
I don't recall the brand of this jacket offhand, but I bought it at Nordstrom Rack, and it is definitely something I couldn't have afforded if I would have had to pay full price for it. Likewise, this Tiffany bracelet was a gift from my parents for my 30th birthday. (Every girl needs a little piece of Tiffany, dontcha think?)
However, the pants were purchased at discount retailer Marshall's, the shoes were thrifted, and the top was free via a clothing swap.

This is of of those outfits that proves that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg to feel like a million bucks.

PS: Let me introduce you to Raul Duke. Some people have children, some people have "fur babies," and some people, such as my fiance and myself, have these adorable little monsters waiting for us at home:

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.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short...

I worked from home yesterday because dear fiance dislocated his finger at soccer practice on Sunday, and it took him until yesterday to realize that it might be a good idea to have it checked out by a doctor. Since I was already home, we decided to head over to our new leasing agency and actually sign our lease.
That said, I wasn't really wearing anything blog-worthy.

Yesterday's inspiration calendar called for Color Combo: Coral and Gray. Since today's theme called for Denim Shirt & Skirt and my office frowns upon denim, I decided to go with yesterday's theme instead.



Gray Top: H&M
Coral Cardi: Old Navy
Charcoal Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Steve Madden
Earrings: Claire's
Belt NY&Co

I swear, the cardi and belt match more in real life.
I love wearing these earrings with this gray top because they both have that lace-esque detailing that reflect so well on one another.I love the detailing on the top of this gray top, but often find myself tugging and smoothing out the bottom. I am wondering if maybe I need a little spray starch to give it a little more *umph* so it doesn't get so wrinkly when I wear it.

May not post for a few days, due to moving. Hopefully it won't be too long before our internet us up and running!