Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

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1. Fess up - if you could do anything professionally what would it be?

Oh crap, this is the whole "What do you want to be when you grow up" questions, isn't it?? Yknow, I still have yet to figure that out!

When I was little, I wanted to be a Rockette. Then I decided I wanted the job Tom Hanks has in the movie Big. At another point, I was intrigued by the idea of doing something in forensics -- but then the idea of dealing with dead bodies oogied me out. When I was heading into college, I was *thisclose* to being a Psych major, because I was really convinced I wanted to be a psychologist.
Honestly, at this point, I still just don't know!

For the sake of being able to answer the rest of the questions, I will say an Interior Designer/Decorator, because this is the one career that has piqued my interest all my life.

2. What draws you to this?

I love the idea of decorating -- it's kinda like getting dressed for your house! You can create a feeling, evoke a time and place... You can take something that's not practical or functional and make it so. I think the main thing that appeals to me about it is that it's sort of a more technical way of expressing my creative aspirations -- and that is just so very me.

3. When did you first start dreaming about this ideal?

I remember when I was a kid in elementary school, we took one of those career aptitude tests. This is actually the career it chose for me, and for just the very reasons I stated above -- it is a good mix of technical and creative, concrete and abstract.

4. What's holding you back from going all in?

Well, lack of knowledge, for starters. And let's be honest -- laziness. Plus, unless you land million-dollar contracts or one of those shows on TLC or HGTV, I'm not sure that it pays amazingly well ("I'm not sure" being the key phrase -- I really don't know), and I will be blunt -- I need money to support all of the hobbies/habits I have in my life.
Beyond that, there is fear of failure. What if I put all this work into something and my client hates it? And speaking of clients, the main thing that turns me off is that I would actually have to put together a design based on what someone else wants, instead of what intrigues me at that moment.
What, I'm supposed to care what someone wants in their own home? Pshaw.

5. Sometimes the first step is the hardest... what's one step you can take now on the way to realizing your dream?

Well, hubby and I are currently starting the process of figuring out if we can afford to buy our own home. There will be meetings with money-people and realtors and lots of house-hunting in our near future. I have always held back on really decorating the places we have lived together because they have all been rentals -- why put that much time, effort, and money into something that we will only live in for a year or two? (Did I mention that I am both cheap and lazy??)
But once we have our OWN home, I would LOVE to turn it into exactly the type of place we want to live, to create a home that works just right for US.
After all, if I can't even create my own perfect oasis, how can I even consider trying to do that for someone else?

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

Actually, this week's Friend Friday is a visual one sponsored by Miss Rockwell of the blog Lifestyles of the Thrifty and Shameless.
For her selection, Miss Rockwell requested all of us to share photos of our manicures.

Now, I have been keeping up my manicures all summer long -- ever since winter ravaged my nails, I love to keep them in shape and colorful! Sometimes I have a bright color, sometimes it's dark. I have done glitters, jellies, cremes, appliques... you name it!

For this week's post, I had originally wanted to do something that would make my readers ooh and ahh, but unfortunately, I have had the week from hell. Mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. I just didn't have it in me to do much more than simply paint my nails.
However, I did recently buy a fun new super-glitterly polish while on vacation that I have been dying to try out, so I took this opportunity to do so!

I recently picked up a bottle of nail polish from Claire's called "Bedazzled" (I think). I normally don't buy Claire's polish because the one bottle I bought many years ago was terrible, but recently, I had heard ok things about their polish. But really, the main reason I bought this bottle was because it reminded me SO MUCH of "Happy Birthday" by Deborah Lippmann.

Let's Compare.

My bottle of Claire's "Bedazzled" :


Deborah Lippmann's "Happy Birthday" :


Multi-sized, Multi-colored, Multi-shaped glitter.
Check, check, and check!
Why spend $15+ when you can pay $5 or less and get the same thing?

Now, let's see this gorgeousness on my fingers.


Sooooo sparkly...



It only took me 2 coats to achieve uber-sparkles. One coat even looks good on its own. I could also see myself doing 3-4 coats to seriously cover all visible bare nail or even applying a coat of this over a multitude of other solid colors.
Seriously ya'll, this stuff is like a party in a bottle -- oh wait, Deborah Lippman already said that on her site.

I can only say that after the total crap of a week that I had, it's wonderful when something as simple and silly as glittery nail polish can put a smile on your face.
It certainly did that for me!

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

1. What part of the world do you blog from? (feel free to be as specific or as vague as you are comfortable with.)

I work in Washington DC and live in Maryland. Sometimes I blog from home, and sometimes I sneak in a quick post in my downtime at work.

2. If you had to describe the overall mode of dress for where you live what would you say?

In DC, the general look is businesswear: suits or business casual, mostly. Where I live in MD, people have money and often dress in clothing that reflects that. Does that mean they are always well-dressed or tasteful? No. But they do look expensive.

3. Do you fit in with the status quo around you or do you break the mold?

At work, I follow the rules while bending them as much as I can. I don't even own a suit, but thankfully my office is business-casual. I express my creativity as much as possible, and I think I manage to do so while still being office-appropriate.
Outside of work, I think I totally break the mold. I don't spend tons of money on my clothes, I don't care to wear name brands, and frankly, I don't even dress like a lot of my friends. I'm not sure exactly what my look is, other than "me."

4. If you have lived or traveled to another part of the country/world did your clothing choices evolve?

I traveled ALL THE TIME growing up. my parents are from England, and my mother worked for an airline. Travel was our MO!
I think what I loved about traveling was seeing all the differences across the country and around the world. There was so much variety, and to me, it pretty much just solidified my desire to be unique...or at least to not worry so much about trends. Did I ever follow trends growing up? Sure. But only the ones that actually piqued my interest.

5. If you had to describe your style by naming a specific city, what would you be?

I'm not sure. But definitely not DC. heh.

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

1. As a someone who writes/blogs about fashion, have you placed
yourself into some sort of blogging category?

I actually don't consider myself so much a fashion blogger as a personal style blogger. I think fashion bloggers actually follow the world of fashion, trends, runways, brands, couture, etc. I don't follow any of that. I may pick up on what's trendy from the blogs I read or the people I see, but that's about the extent of it. However, I have always reserved the right to blog about anything that catches my interest, so long as it is related to the world of fashion and style.

2. What keeps you from or encourages you to label yourself as a
certain kind of blogger?

While labels are useful tools to help describe yourself, your outlook, or your blog, they also serve the dual purpose of putting you in a box. Once you label yourself a certain way and present yourself that way to people, it becomes more difficult to do or present something different. Too often, people become trapped inside the box and can't find a way out.

3. When picking blogs to read and follow are you drawn to ones that
indicate a certain group or way of thinking/being?

Yes and No. There probably is a certain theme I am most drawn to in the blogs I read, but I don't actively seek out blogs that say/do/show something specific (ie "I will only read blogs about thrifting" or "I will never read blogs if they participate in the 30x30"). My decision to read a blog is based on a multitude of different criteria, most of them subconscious.

4. Do you think there are benefits in labeling yourself or others?

As I said before, labeling does have the benefit of helping to more quickly identify things. If I know someone is a daily style blogger who likes to thrift and remix, I have an idea of what their blog is like, and I know I would be more likely to be interested in that blog than, say, a blog that is all about high fashion.
However, those labels alone won't keep me reading a blog. And certain labels may turn me off of reading a blog that, otherwise, I may actually have been interested in, had the label not lost my interest.

5. Agree or Disagree -- We're all just people; we don't need all the
labels.

At the heart of that statement, I agree.
However, I think we, as people, have a certain need to qualify things. We want to know what is similar and what is different. We want to be able to quickly identify things, and thus, labeling happens, even if we don't want it to.

I think what we really need to do is to understand that while we may throw a label on something (or someone), that label is not the end-all be-all definition. People aren't black-and-white -- we are much more complex and there are so many subtleties that it is such a shame to not explore further. Further, people change! We grow and evolve, and if you've thrown a label on me in the past, you may not see who I am today.

So I guess what I'm saying is, sure, feel free to write a label on my forehead, but do it in pencil, not permanent ink.

Giveaway...

Thanks to this wonderful world of blog-land, I have discovered my love for dresses and skirts. They really are a girl's best friend! You can go up or down a few pounds (or many pounds) and somehow, they still fit and flatter. They are MUCH easier to find and more forgiving than pants. Dresses -- YAY!

As such, the gals over at The Pretty Life Anonymous are hosting a giveaway of the Ashley Dress by Mikarose.

Now, I would love to win this lovely dress for myself, but I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't share the opportunity with you too, dear readers.
If you'd like a chance to win the dress for yourself (or hey, for me!) head on over to their giveaway post.

Don't say I never did anything for ya. ;)

Friend Friday...

Welcome to this week's edition of Friend Fridays, sponsored by ModlyChic.

I missed the questions from June 24, so I thought I would take the opportunity to answer them now.

1. Since you began blogging do you notice a change in the types of
things you gravitate towards while shopping?

I definitely buy more dresses and skirts than I used to. I am more willing to try different things and things that I assume won't be flattering on the off-chance that they are. I have rediscovered my long-lost love of thrifting. I have been pulling more pattern and color into my wardrobe. I have also discovered a slew of stores (both online and brick + mortar) that I wouldn't have known about or considered had I not seen their clothing on other bloggers.

2. Do you find, as a fashion blogger, that you dress differently from
your family and friends? Do they comment on that?

Like everyone else, I think I kinda of always dressed differently -- for better or for worse! Nowadays, I am a little more fashion-forward than most of the people I see on a regular basis (but I am only speaking relatively here -- I don't think of myself as being very fashion-forward at all!).
There is a set of ladies who work in my office who comment every day on my outfits -- they think it's awesome that I have a blog (they are some of the only people I know who know I have a blog) and every day they comment on how "cute" I look. I must admit, it's a really nice ego-boost. ;)

3. What's the weirdest fashion that you secretly like, even if you
aren’t bold enough to wear it?

Nothing specific comes to mind. It's not "weird" but for the longest time, I was afraid to try leggings/jeggings because I thought they wouldn't work with my plus-sized body. Now I own 2 pairs of jeggings and leggings are on my must-have shopping list.

4. Looking at current trends – what would you like to try but need to
build up the courage to do?

Again, nothing specific comes to mind.
I did just build up the courage to make yet another drastic change to my hair. If you're my friend on Facebook, then you already know what it is, but if not, you will have to wait a little while for photos.
(Nothing like a juicy teaser to keep people coming back!) ;)

5. Toot someone's horn – what fashion blogger out there inspires you
with her bold fashion choices?

Audi, Christine, Suze, Terra, and Erin, just to name a few!

Honeymoon Dress...

When hubby and I got married 8 months ago, we honeymooned in Disney World at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Having gotten married at the end of October, we predicted autumn-like weather for our time there, and holy cow, were we wrong! We had packed mainly jeans, tshirts, and hoodies, but we were so hot on our first day out, I knew we wouldn't make it through the whole week dressed like that. Luckily hubby had brought a few pairs of shorts, but I don't own shorts and hadn't thought to bring a skirt other than my dressy outfit. I knew I had to remedy my sartorial situation STAT!

Our first day out, we decided to visit Animal Kingdom. I spied this dress and instantly fell in love. It was a tad more expensive than I normally would have paid for a piece like this (yay, tourist-pricing!), but I knew it would be a nice souvenir of our honeymoon, since I would be able to wear it again! (And I did -- every day that week -- talk about a capsule wardrobe!) I knew once I got home I would be able to wear it on weekends and after work, but I wanted to find a way to make it office-appropriate. On weekends I would just wear this dress solo, but for work, I wanted to ensure there would be no wardrobe malfuntions, so I opted to wear both a bra and a cami underneath, just in case. All straps are hidden by the cardi, which was also needed for extra warmth in my overly-air-conditioned office.


Dress: Disney World
Cardi: Target
Shoes: Fioni via Payless
Ring: Laila Rowe
Earrings: gift

Closeup:


I love being able to make more casual clothing work for the office. While my office is business-casual, we are really allowed to lean a little heavier on the casual side. I'm lucky in that respect. I know not everyone would be able to wear a dress like this one to work, but I love that I was able to pick up a fun reminder of my wedding and honeymoon that won't just sit on a shelf. Every time I wear this dress, I remember all the fun we had and how lucky I am to have such a fabulous husband.

Do you have any souvenir clothing that has special memories for you?