Not so formal-wear

Ahhh! I scored these adorable rose gold metallic flats for $6 at the Gap outlet, and they absolutely MADE my outfit for the Christmas party.

We don't go formal, but we all recognize that any excuse to dress up just a bit can be fun. I was planning on wearing boots, but when the temperature hit 60 degrees I felt I needed to seize the opportunity to go sock-less one last time! They were super cute with my skinny jeans, but I'm afraid ill have to wait until next April to pull off this look again.

Today's duds

Today I finally got to wear the cute cute cute sweater that I scored outlet shopping last week - leopard print cardigan, need I say more? I paired it with teal for a little color. This is my favorite kind of outfit, one that is super easy, but looks like it was hard to pull off.

At the moment I've got comfy clothes on, I'm headed out to see the latest installment of Twilight! Don't judge me. I'm actually one of those people who read the books, when they first came out, you know, before they started making the movies. I'm also trying to prove that I'm still young and fun by catching the midnight showing and still dragging myself to work in the morning. I am willing to push my way through a sea of screaming teenagers (and their mothers) to enjoy a good (if not a but far fetched) love story!

Brrrrrr!

I may be in Ohio, but we too are feeling the effects from the craziness that is Hurricane Sandy - at the moment it is ridiculously windy. Actually it's been crazy windy all day, which means cool temps feel downright frigid.

I am not a fan of being cold, so I've been piling on the layers. My favorite winter accessories are scarves. I love them, I may have a scarf problem. I have nearly 30 of them, and I would love to add a few more to my collection! My latest challenge has been finding ways to wear a necklace and a scarf at the same time. Here's what I did today:

Me day

Today was all mine. I let myself have a little me time. I took an hour and a half drive to Ikea (it has been calling me all summer), during which I jammed to some Taylor Swift (I was the girl that people laugh at as they pass me), shopped till I dropped, and then shopped some more. If I go to Ikea I have to stop at the Gap outlet on the way home, and while I was there I found what I am sure will become my favorite outfit for the fall and winter.

Check out this adorable t-shirt dress! Talk about versatile, this an amazing layering piece. I had to take a few pictures so I could share some of the outfits I came up with!

Nautical look

It is supposed to rain all day, which means my outfit options have just grown exponentially due to the fact that I will be inside in the air conditioning all day long, and therefore, freezing my butt off!

Today I went with my blue New York and Company yoga pants (most comfortable pants ever!) and a striped Gap tank, topped with a jean jacket. Add the crocs boat shoes and my runway necklace and I've got a cute nautical look going on.

I ordered all my new Premier jewelry yesterday and can't wait for it to get here so I can show it off, there are definitely more outfit posts to come!

Trying a new look

The athletic look is not a style that I typically go for, see, I'm a dancer at heart, so whenever I attempt to participate in any other kind of athletic endeavor I look like a fool with my pointed toes and gracefully stretched arms. But today my new shoes were calling to me, so this is what I came up with for the day; capris, a pink tank, the cute lace top that I got in Chicago and hadn't worked up the courage to wear yet, and some jewels.

I didn't want to go over the top with th jewelry, so I chose the very trendy Grace necklace, which actually looks pretty subtle against the lace tank, along with my Laura studs to accentuate the rhinestone necklace.

Comfy dress clothes

These are my favorite pants in the world ( and I am somewhat devastated because I got a giant grease stain on then today, but that's not what this post is about). I would wear them everyday if I could, an while I am lucky enough to be able to wear lounge pants to work, I often feel the need to dress it up a bit, so I did.

Today I put on a fitted short sleeve sweater an cute flats, and topped the whole thing of with my Swanky necklace, and off to work I went!

Creative jewelry

This was originally supposed to be a post on what to wear when the weather is warm, not hot, not cold, just warm, however after playing with my jewelry for 20 minutes to get it exactly how I wanted it, this turned into a post on using your jewelry creatively.

Here I am wearing my It's a Wrap bracelet as a long necklace with my baroque enhancer. I also have on my Morocco necklace, which I had to play with a little to get it to be the right length to go with the enhancer, but after some finagling (and finally just tying a knot in it to get it to stay), I think it looks amazing!

I accented with my Chantilly earrings, Milan bracelet, and Love Knot ring.

You can do it!

See! I wear jewelry with t-shirts all the time! There you go ladies, no more of this "I never wear jewelry" business, if I can do it you can too!

Here I have on Runway and Grace, yes, with yoga pants and a t-shirt.

All time favorite

Every woman has one, I'm talking about your absolute all-time favorite article of clothing. For some people it might be the perfect pair of jeans, your favorite yoga pants, or even those adorable shoes, but for me it is this shirt.

I've had it for years (at least 5 I think). It was originally purchased at New York and Company, and I love that it is soft and comfy like a t-shirt, but cute enough to wear to a party. The best thing about this top is that it always fits and it always looks flattering. I think that defines the criteria for a favorite article of clothing! Plus it's that top that I can throw on in a hurry and know that it is exactly right, which is great because it is way to cold for the dress that I was planning on wearing to the BBQ tonight!

Summertime!

Memorial day weekend is commonly regarded as the unofficial start of summer, and it definitely feels like it today - the high is 94! So I pulled out my all-time favorite summer dresses.

This is the Victoria's Secret Beach dress. I originally bought it to take on our honeymoon, and it was a bit pricey, but has proven completely worth it. First off, it is one of their bra-top dresses, which I wouldn't recommend for everyone, but since I have next to nothing in that area it works for me, I've also found that if I remove the padding from one of my swimsuit tops and place them between the bra-top and the actual dress it helps out a little.

If you are looking for a great dress this Is your best bet, it is supima cotton and so soft, and the material is thick while still light weight, so it feels more like a dress and less like a bathing suit cover up! I love it!

Another go at it

Here we go again with the shorts... Still a bit ambivalent, but I am in love with this red tank. The color is definitely my favorite part, it's really bright - I'll call it "ripe tomato".

The necklace works great too. This isn't one that I wear often, but sometimes it's just the right statement - silverado with the stylin' enhancer. I went simple with the earrings, cute Laura studs, and glammed the whole thing up a bit with the Monte Carlo cuff bracelet.

It'll do for a morning shopping expedition with my mom and sister.

Ugh... Shorts

I have mixed feelings about shorts, this could possibly be due to the fact that most of mine from last year don't fit, but we won't go there.

While they are not my favorite article of clothing, there are times when I will give in and wear them, especially when it hits 90+ degrees, like it is supposed to today. So here I am, in my shorts, pretending to be confident. At least I have my cute Botanical necklace on, maybe my jewelry will take people's eyes away from my legs!

Bargain outfit

I believe this may be my favorite dress of the summer - I see myself living in this dress, and I am so proud of the fact that I picked it up at Walmart for $10!

I did have to make some alterations, the skirt was a little too full for my liking so I took that in, and the neckline was way too low to wear without a tank top underneath, so I stitched it up a bit, of course for work I would wear the tank anyway... Obviously.

I was excited to pair the brown dress with a necklace that I don't wear very often - Sand Dune, it's a genius necklace, the piece that hangs down in clips so you can wear the necklace with or without it, or you can add a different enhancer - who thinks of these things?! Genius!

I love my job

Today I am loving my job simply because I get to wear this outfit to work! I am so comfortable - you are going to be seeing skirts on me all summer long!

Jewelry - I'm wearing Urbanite and Runway, along with Sydney earrings (adorable studs!), Crimson, devotion, Firecracker, and sensational.

Have a good Monday!

Why I do what I do

I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately, and i feel like I need to explain some things, for you, and for myself.

One of the things that I have started doing is posting pictures of the outfits that I wear. I often see other people post photos of their clothes on their own blogs, some do this successfully, others are not as well done. I want to tell you why I have chosen to do this, and hopefully that will make them more useful for you.

First of all, I don't post these pictures to tell others what they should be wearing, I fully celebrate that everyone has their own style. I too have my own style, the reasons that I post these outfits are; to show people that you really can find cute clothes for cheap prices. I am not a designer label girl, would I love to wear high end fashion? Absolutely, can I afford to? Absolutely not, remember, I'm a preschool teacher :) but I still love clothes. Plus I am lucky enough to live in the kind of place where labels don't matter. You will notice that most of my clothes are from GAP outlet, target, and New York and company.

I also take photos of what I'm wearing to show all of the different ways that my favorite Premier Jewelry can be worn. It is so versatile and my favorite thing about Premier is that they encourage creativity with their products, I want to share it with everyone. Even if you do not have Premier Designs Jewelry you may still get some ideas for layering and combining your own pieces (and if you see a piece you just can't live without I can certainly help you with that!).

Whew, I have been mulling this over in my head for days, it feels so good to get it all out!

Date night

Our first anniversary is on Monday so we are celebrating tonight. We're keeping it pretty low-key (sorry no two week trip to Jamaica for us), but I am always looking forward to an excuse to get dressed up!

I went for a dress since its such a gorgeous day (I got this one at target and am absolutely in love with it) topped with a jean jacket - can you tell I am obsessed with my jean jacket, mine is a GAP outlet bargain), and cute sandals a la New York and company.

Of course I've got jewelry too, turquoise Resort necklace and awesome antiqued gold Chantilly earrings. I really dressed it up with an arm full of bracelets - Mali, Milan, and I wrapped the pearl strand from my Resort necklace around my wrist too.

Can I just say I love summer clothes!

The perfect outfit

I've officially put together the perfect Saturday outfit! First of all, how cute it is! And oh so simple! Ok, start with a comfy jersey skirt, I made this yellow one via a tutorial on pinterest, but they also have them at old navy. Add with a simple tank and t (I chose a v-neck) and top with a jean jacket if need be. Wear this out to run errands and then add some jewelry for an evening out! Today I have on Fashion Sense and Runway, along with my favorite earrings - Rhumba, a couple of rings, Vanessa and Naomi, and my Cairo watch and finally my shiny Monte Carlo bracelet.

Have a great weekend, I'm off to make all those women wearing yoga pants jealous while I run my errands! :)