Happy Thanksgiving!

This is what I wore to the reunion at my grandmother's house and then to dinner at my in-law's. I really love this shirt - the ruffles and short sleeves make it pretty hip, I think. Plus, you can never go wrong with red shoes - especially with a high heel on them!

typical look for me

I like this look, its professional but still youthful (I think). Fitted slacks - flat front, of course - untucked striped button down shirt, and a v-neck sweater. And boots with a heel. These pants were a fabulous find - $3.50 at Goodwill for fully lined Gap wool slacks!

another "love it!"

This outfit was great - its not the best picture, though. The top I'm wearing has lace along the v-neck and the scarf has lace stitching all over it. I thought this outfit struck the perfect balance between sweet and business-like. I had been searching for a nice pair of basic khakis for several weeks and had not planned on getting a pair with pinstripes, but I really like these. Though my hubby said, "Wow, the alternating dark and light stripes make the fabric almost three-dimensional looking." to which I snarkily replied, "Yeah, I really want to add more depth to my thighs!"

sexy!

I love this outfit, I felt really sexy! It was my day off and I went out shopping and ended up having a horrible day... but it sure wasn't the fault of this outfit! I got the red bag at a thrift store last week and I'm pleased with it. I know its not necessary anymore to match your bag with your shoes, but I love doing it - especially when they're a nice contrasting color with the rest of the outfit. I was going for messy-curly with my hair here, but it seemed to have come out more frizzy than anything else! LOL

the shoes make it!

Don't they? I just LOVE these shoes! So does my husband, and even my four year old son told me he loved my shoes this morning! I also really love the look of this necklace, even though I've had to repair it four times since I bought it last month... but this time I got my hubby to fix it and I think he did a better job than I did the first three times. I wish I'd had time to do something more exciting with my hair and makeup, but I overslept.

hate it!

This was not the outfit I had picked out or put on this morning, but in the process of tossing one of my cats off the bathroom counter so I could do my makeup, she grabbed my (new!) shirt with her claws and tore it. I was quite upset. I ended up settling on this outfit - maer inly because it also matched my new labyrinth necklace which I really had my heart set on wearing. I thought that the textured tan shirt and brown pants would be a nice backdrop for the necklace and that a red sweater and red boots would punch up the look a little... but its just too soccer-mom-ish for me. I looked for a red zip-front sweater hoodie for months to replace the one I lost last year, finally found this one this week, and after wearing it once I'm left wondering, "Did I always look like such a big dork in hooded sweaters?!" I'm thinking this outfit would have looked about a million times better if my jacket had been a bright red corderoy blazer. Live and learn, I guess - now I have a new item to look for at thrift stores! The purse is a recent find - its really soft yummy leather and was only $2 at goodwill!








Even if the outfit sucks, you have to admit that the necklace is pretty awesome!

power suit

Okay, I don't know if this really qualifies as a power suit... but I like it! I was actually planning on wearing a black skirt instead of pants, but then saw it was going to be 18 degrees this morning and decided to go with the slacks! I had a conference to go to today and I wanted to look very professional. I really, really love the piping on this jacket. I got it at Target a couple years ago and I think this is the first time I've actually worn it! I'm tempted to wear it with my white tuxedo ruffed shirt under it, but I think it might be a little too over the top that way.

I also bought a new hat today, and got a pretty pin to decorate it. Its nice and soft made out of fleece so it can't get bent out of shape. Plus, it is super warm! I think the pin dresses it up enough so that it looks a bit dressier than a fleece hat normally would.

sweater-y goodness

Okay, this is an outfit that the picture doesn't do justice to! It was such a great, snuggly sweater that is oversized but still clings enough to show off my shape, and the slacks are just nice basic gray slacks that match the sweater great. The picture kind of washes the color out of both, though, and it looks kind of boring. It was a very cold snowy day here today, and this sweater was just perfect! I didn't feel like I needed any necklace or headband because of the oversized drape-y collar on the sweater... but I feel like I should have done something to zing it up a bit. Any suggestions? I think this sweater will also look great with tight jeans and I plan on wearing it a lot this winter!

By the way, I have to say that the absolute worst height to be is 5'4". That's the height I am, and it sucks! It sucks because petite clothes are made to fit women up to 5'4" and regular clothes are made to fit women over 5'4", and so I'm always left with pants either just a bit too short or just a bit too long! These pants are a bit shorter than I would like, but not embarrassingly short - not high waters!

the Happy Homemaker!

Here I am, about to host my daughter's third birthday party. What could be more appropriate than a nice full skirt and cardigan? I really, really love this outfit!

Happy Birthday outfit!

Today was my 29th birthday. I've been down about my birthday all week - I don't want to be almost 30, I'm not ready to give up being young and cute, my baby turns three years old this week and I'm just feeling very yuck about getting older. HOWEVER, I decided to try a new look to help me feel fun and young and cute - and it worked pretty well! I've always loved the look of dresses over jeans, but always felt like it added too much bulk to my frame. However, this combo works pretty well, I think! I used to wear this dress without pants under it, but it is uber-short! I actually felt better about it with the pants on, too. I love the wide neckline on it, too. I would have liked to have worn some super-high heels, but hubby and I went to an art museum today and I didn't want to walk around for a few hours in shoes that would make me sore... these boots are actually incredibly comfortable so they were a good choice.

not sure...

I'm not sure if I really like this outfit. I got compliments on my rainboots, though! And I'm very happy that after months of looking, I finally found an umbrella that matches! I also really love this sweater, its very simple but has a nice little twist at the neckline. I also got compliments on my necklace - the gray stone matched the outfit very well. I'm thinking I need to get rid of these pants, though. Even though they feel comfy, they look awful on me!

Pretty good

I like this outfit pretty well... this jacket was a thrift store find this week, as were the shoes:

I don't know why I look so hung-over in the picture - I was actually having a great morning! LOL This picture doesn't show much detail, though, of the pattern on the shirt or jacket, so I took a couple closer pics:

more coat pictures

Today I wore my coat again! I realized, though, that yesterday I neglected to post a picture of the back of the jacket. It has some nice detailwork on the back...

I did actually have a few doubts about the coat today. I didn't get a single comment on it all day and it made me wonder if its a little more on the "dated" rather than "retro cool" side. I love, love, love the length of it and I wear red fairly often so I do like it...

I will sheepishly admit that my outfit was picked solely on the fact that it matched my coat pretty well. LOL Also, I have three loads of clean laundry to put away, so it seemed like everything else needed something that was not put away and/or would have to be ironed. Notice the red boots - I picked these up yesterday at a thrift store before I got home and opened the package that had my coat. It was a pleasent surprise that they match so well! However, after wearing them together today, it felt a little too matchy-matchy so I don't know that I'll wear them together again.

TA DA!!

I got this jacket on eBay at a ridiculously low price! Its a vintage leather coat, fully lined, and I just love it! There's no tags, only a little scrap of yellow printed paper in the pocket that says, "Genuine Leather, made in Argentina"

Expect to see this a lot the next few months! Especially since I happened to find boots at the thrift store today that match it perfectly!

black and blue

This was a fun simple outfit, and I think the sweater-y tights worked better. Same skirt, but a fitted 3/4 length black sweater so it all didn't look so bulky.

LOVE these shoes!

I got these shoes because I knew they'd drive my husband wild - and they sure did! I wore them to church this morning and paired them with a very conservative dress and my little mini-trench coat and a grown-up looking purse. I think the whole look was great! Oh, I had a black flower pony-tail holder, too, to dress up my ponytail a bit. (I've been wearing my glasses the last several days because I've had a cold and my eyes are always more sensitive when I'm sick.)

family movie day

We took the kids and went out to see a movie yesterday, so I dressed comfortably. I had just gotten these jeans out of the dryer (I'm bad, I know I should lay my jeans flat to dry) and so my jeans were a bit tighter than usual in this picture, they loosened back up to normal after an hour or two, though. I'm still using my purple shoes to inspire me to wear purple shirts more often! And, I even had a pinky-purple flower pony-tail holder, though you can't see it in the picture. I love this jacket, I got it at a Gap Outlet on sale for $12 last summer.

meh

You know, this is a very comfy dress, and I thought it looked good on me - but after seeing these pictures I am not as thrilled with it. I actually bought it to wear in a play and it wasn't quite what I wanted - I was looking for a housedress type of dress with a drab print. This fit the bill, except the neckline is a bit plunging. I paired it with this cardigan to go to work this morning, then ditched the cardigan for the rest of the day. I think since its an empire waist style, my real waist gets lost and it makes me look quite a bit heavier. But, hey! Now I know not to buy any more empire waist dresses!

Love it!

I absolutely love this outfit! We're having some unseasonably warm weather this week and I've enjoyed the (possibly last) chance to wear skirts without hose! I got this skirt at a thrift store this week, and I usually have a strict policy of only buying nicer brands at thrift stores - nothing from walmart, target, or old navy. However, this skirt was a walmart brand skirt, but I just loved it so much I couldn't pass it up!

same old, except new shoes!

I think this was the outfit I wore in my first post! Except that I got a new pair of shoes to wear with it. This is probably my favorite style of shoe right now - very high heels, a little bit of a platform, and open-toed. I bought a bright red pair almost exactly like this last week! I also bought this purse this week. My patchwork purse that I made in pinks and browns has been so well-used this summer that it actually has a small hole in it, so I've been on a quest to find a replacement. The trend right now in purses is HUGE and lots of buckles and such, and shiney is very in right now. I hate all of that! This purse is nice and simple, on the biggish side but not huge by any stretch, and has very little in the way of hardware. Perfect!

the key accessory...

Is the "I voted!" sticker, of course! This is what I wore on Tuesday, I decided I ought to wear nice warm tights since I didn't know if I'd end up stuck standing out in the rain for awhile waiting to vote. The good news was that I didn't have to wait at all, the bad news is that looking at the picture I think this outfit makes me look a bit fat. Oh, well... I guess its hard to combine several heavy fabrics (courderoy, denim, and sweater-y tights) without it adding weight. Plus, neither the shirt nor the skirt are particularly fitted. I really liked the color palette of this outfit, though, maybe there's a way I can improve on it...?