Sunny Day Jewlery

Some exciting things are happening at work which has been keeping me very busy. As the sun starts to come out more, so do my long necklaces. I have quite the collection of them. Last summer I attended a Lia Sophia Jewelry Party, which turned into hosting one of my own and attending 3 more before the summer was over. Lia Sophia quickly took over my life, and I became a jewelry wearer. Up until that point, I almost never wore jewelry. Besides a simple charm necklace and a hair band, jewelry wasn't much of an option. I attended the first party to help support the friend who was hosting it and I was quickly hooked. Lia Sophia is a great company who makes great pieces. They work largely with costume jewelry, which helps to keep their prices low. Don't get me wrong however, costume does not mean cheaply made. All of my necklaces have real stones and are well constructed. All of their jewelry also comes with a lifetime warranty! I've already had to utilize the warranty. One of my bracelets snapped sending beads flying everywhere. I collected the beads put them in a zip lock bag and sent off the bracelet. It didn't take long for my new one to come either. When we hosted the party, we had no idea that free jewelry was involved. We had figured there would be some discounts for us, but had no idea we would receive free jewelry! In the end my roommate ( at the time) and I each received over $200 in free jewelry! With Lia Sophia's prices being so reasonable, I paid approximately $150, and combined with my free amount was able to receive a ring, 5 bracelets and something like 12 necklaces. I have some small dainty ones, and some long colorful ones. Those are my nice weather necklaces and I'm so excited to begin pulling them out of the closet and wearing them around town.

Professional Golf Wear

Friday the weather was gorgeous here in New York but I woke up late and wasn't feeling very inspirational. My brown trousers made sense, but to help casually dress them up, I threw on my white polo. I am not much of a polo wear-er myself. I usually reserve them for functions with Johnny parents at the country club, or for golfing. It was the lack of polo's as everyday wear that made me decide to put it on. It was a great choice in the end. I had a bunch of unexpected meetings which had me shaking hands and introducing myself all over town. The polo helped me feel professional and approachable. With cardigans still an non-option for another day, the layered tank and polo was plenty to keep me warm. My favorite part of the outfit? It hid the winter curves that I am still trying to work away. Sometimes fabric really can be a girl's best friend.

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

* Sigh*

Epic Failure

Today's outfit was a complete and total failure.

The thinking was there. With cardigans out for a few more days, this sweater would help keep warm on a rainy day. To give the sweater a little bit more of a pop, I added a collared shirt. I matched my turquoise necklace with my teal boat shoes to add some color, but spacing the color out to make them both interesting additions. It was 15 minutes after I had left the house that I knew the thinking wasn't enough to make a great outfit. The sweater fits wrong. It is a baggy sweater hiding my shape. The color of the sweater is too similar to the color of my skirt. The collared shirt has lots of great detailing on it. The details run vertically and is ruffled and raised. Alone the detailing is great, but under a thin sweater, every detail can be seen. Suddenly my boobs look like they are wearing Madonna's infamous cone bra. This sweater will need to be folded and put into the winter box. It will be great as a layering piece to go under jackets, but on it's own it's simply not a great piece. Lesson learned. Most times I would simply mark today as a non-blogging kind of day. Instead I wanted to make sure I included pictures so I could remind myself of the lesson. Sometimes basic thinking isn't enough to make an outfit work. Some pieces just don't work with others, and sometimes you won't know that until you give them a try.

Monday Heels

I felt the need to keep Monday's outfit simple. I knew it was my one chance to wear heels for the work week, but I had 2 finals Monday night which meant tons of walking, and needing to be comfortable. A simple t-shirt and jeans was the winner. In an attempt to follow my " no cardigans for a week' challenge, I wore nothing over my t-shirt. Normally I would throw on a white cardigan, or one with a fun print to add a little something. I was warm enough all day, and the color of the shirt was a lot more prevalent without the extra layers. After looking at the pictures, I have discovered that I need to never take pictures in this twisted way. It emphasizes my hips, and they don't need be emphasized anymore. I also need to apologize for my facial expression in this picture. I woke up feeling fine, but by the time I got home that evening I could feel the bacteria in the back of my throat rapidly multiplying. Slippers, hoodie and soup quickly followed bringing my face back from Zombie to tired.

My heel choice for the day was fun, but comfortable. I grabbed these Wedges from a Wal-mart about a year ago for $5. I love them. They are a dark, worn navy color but have these silver sequin stars on them. They always add a bit of fun to an otherwise simple outfit.

Cowboys Boots

One of the major perks of Johnny's job is that we get access to a ton of cool concerts in the area. He is an advertising sales man for a local radio company. His responsibilities lie with ESPN radio mostly, but lucky for me, his other radio stations include our local country station! Last Friday, they held a special, anniversary concert to celebrate 10 years of their morning show. The concert featured a local country band, Justin Moore , and the Eli Young Band. As a country fan I am always excited for a good excuse to throw on my cowboy boots and yee-haw. Of course non of the other concert go-ers were yee-hawing, and most didn't have cowboy boots on, but it was a good excuse to wear my new dress! Working with the station means back stage passes, which is one of the best perks!

Justin Moore

Justin Moore's performance was great. Adam Gregory was scheduled to appear, until he was put on vocal rest. Justin showed up with a weeks notice and without a band so he performed acoustic. He did great. After his performance he spent the rest of the show at the bar hanging out with the audience. I love a humble performer.

The Eli Young Band's guitars!

J. Maxwell of Hell's Kitchen, JT and I

J is a chef in the area who made his way onto this season of Hell's Kitchen. I really hadn't watched the show prior to this season but he's becoming a bit of a local celebrity with a morning cooking spot of the local news, and he does a lot of radio shows each week talking about each episode. His son was diagnosed as being autistic just days before he left for the show. He always says he thinks that was a big part of his inability to focus while on the show, but he choose to never talk about while on the show. Now, each week, he goes to a different restaurant or bar in the area to host a ' Hell's Kitchen' party. Each Thursday night, the various bars and restaurant's help to raise money which is all donated to his son's school, which specializes in working with autistic children. It's a great program he's established, he's a great guy, and I'm always a fan of someone who gets 15 minutes of fame and uses it to help others.

Horrible picture. I was surrounded in the Eli Young band while I was hanging out backstage. I so desperately wanted to take a picture but my camera gives off a red light right before it takes a picture, even if the flash is off. I didn't want to be seen as a stalker so I moved the camera quickly. I managed to get a blurred picture of the drummer, who was standing about a foot away from me.

Eli Young Band Set List

The concert was awesome. Each of the acts exceeded my expectations. We had a great night! The bass player of the band, the bald guy in the foreground and I chit chatted a bit before he went on stage. He caught me yawning, which was a bit embarrassing until he admitted that he had fallen asleep in the bus 5 minutes prior to coming on stage. They were great guys, super sweet and stayed around for about an hour signing autographs.

The whole evening was great. Johnny isn't a country boy himself and for the most part doesn't enjoy the music. The Eli Young Band is much more rock, and much less country however so he enjoyed them. The drummer was so talented, and we always have fun when we get to hang out with his co-workers. Now I am so excited for this summer's Country Fest. The headliners are Montgomery Gentry! The cowboy boots will likely hide out until than.

Cardigan Love

Johnny let it slip today that he hates my cardigans. Correction, he doesn't love my cardigans. He thinks that they tend to hide my figure, and make me look a bit older than I am. My immediate reaction is one of concern, ' hate my cardigans! But they are practical!I'm always so cold and I can throw them into my purse...' But truth be what once was a practical element that I would carry with me just in case has become a standard part of my wardrobe. It's the last thing I put on every day, and I use them to incorporate a different feeling to a lot of my outfits. Johnny may be right though. Not about the cardigans of course, but about the fact that maybe I need to have a little variety in my life. Even when you think you are trying to colors and styles, if you are falling back on the same ol' same types of clothing are you really branching out? I've set myself the challenge. One week without cardigans. My first concern is of course the temperature issue, but I think it can be done. I'm excited to see what my closet has to offer, and how I can work some different pieces in ways I haven't before. Will I be able to live through a week without cardigans?

Bright Eyes

As I was sitting in the drive-through at Dunkin Donuts yesterday waiting for my sausage egg and cheese on a croissant, the employee leaned through the window with my eyes and exclaimed, " your eyes are beautiful". I thanked him, as I always do. It's one compliment I tend to hear a lot and I always accept graciously. As a child, my nickname was bright eyes. Now as an adult, my eyes tend to range between green and blue, usually looking more teal but it does vary by day. As a women, I naturally love compliments, on my shoes, my personality even my hair. But I especially love compliments on my eyes. I have no control over my eye color, I don't wear contacts and I hardly ever wear eye make-up. For that reason, whenever I get a compliment like the above, it always warms my heart for a moment. It's genuine and it's about something that I can't manipulate which has always given me a sense of pride. As I pulled away, I decided to play up my attributes and put together an outfit influenced by my eyes. Like all eyes, mine can occasionally change shade based on what colors I'm wearing. Eye color is largely affected by reflections, but I wanted to dress my best in honor of my eyes. The teal shirt with a blue under layer was a natural decision. My favorite part about my eyes is the yellow that rings my cornea. It gives that extra little sparkle and allowed me to wear my yellow boat shoes.

( Sorry for the scary picture!)

The sear sucker on the skirt just worked. My eyes are surrounded in a black circle, like many so with the little hints of black on the skirt and with my necklace I was able to give a bit of glory to my darkest of optical features.

Monday Heels

In theory, now that Monday is the only day of the work week I can pull out some awesome heels for work, I would spend all week planning a great outfit to go with whatever pair of shoes was lucky for that day. Instead however, I find myself spending all week figuring out how to incorporate flats into my wardrobe, and all weekend trying to catch up on cleaning, laundry, studying, spending time with family and friends. Come Monday morning I am completely unprepared, which is how this week I ended up with an overly simple black tee and jeans. These shoes had yet to see the light of day and I was excited to bring them out for their first time. Monday's are not only my only heel day, but also my longest day. I leave for work around 7:30am and don't get back home until after 9:30pm most nights. With 2 classes directly following work, Monday is the day I do the most amount of walking. As comfortable as these shoes are in general, by 8:00pm my feet were exhausted. The constant elevation starts to wear on a body after walking from room to room, down hallways that seem to get longer by the footstep. Even still, with a great pair of shoes on, it doesn't matter how tired your feet are, you will walk with your head up a little higher. I know my feet look good so hell if I care how they feel! Maybe I'm a bad foot owner, but I am a damn good shoe owner!

Boat Shoes

As I was putting away my new shoes last night, I made a realization...

Clearly I have a sudden thing for boat shoes seeing as how with-in three weeks my wardrobe has become surrounded in them, all of different styles and colors. You can't blame me though. With the new dress code guidelines at work, these have become my life savers. They are unbelievably comfortable. I can wear them to 8 hours of work and than 4 hours of school, with a quick trip to the grocery store afterwords without ever having to think about pain coming from my feet. They are also light enough to be comfortable and do not cause my feet to sweat from being in such close quarters without socks on.With a 'preppier' style I find they work perfect for my workplace and for the different event I often go to after work. And with so many colors, I'll never have a problem deciding what to wear them with! I think I'm done buying boat shoes for awhile now. As the above picture shows, I am pretty well stocked on this style.

Easter 'Dress'

Up until Saturday night, I had no Easter plans. Well the plan was to spend the day with my family, but we weren't planning on venturing out to visit any other relatives. Things changed last minute as they always do, which was great, except for that I hadn't planned an Easter outfit. Every year as a little girl, my mother would buy my sister and I matching dresses. Ever since, I always see the special day as a great reason to buy the perfect spring dress. Lots of bouncy, lace and layers is perfect for me. Of course, how often does your Easter dress get worn? I purchased 5 dresses last weekend, all needed for the upcoming Wedding Season and I decided to go with some basic options, instead of lacey, bouncy, and lots of layers. My church has always made Easter a special day, but not a holiday. You shouldn't attend church on Easter Sunday more than you should any other day so besides all of the little girls in their bonnets, it wasn't much of a special day. I decided I wanted to wear the purple skirt. The darker color is more fall and less spring, but I couldn't help but want to enjoy the weather. I would wear this on any day of the week, maybe minus the shoes.
I know I was going to church, but with the simple skirt, and cardigan over the shirt I thought the shoes didn't have a dance club feel. The leopard print is very neutral and subtle and that why I knew that would work well. My family ended up breaking tradition, and ate Easter dinner in the living room, ( something we never ever do) while we watched Twilight, my sister's Easter gift. I really enjoyed the movie, which completely surprised me, and now I'm considering reading the book. My sister, who turns 16 this week swears the book is better than the movie. After a short visit at my Aunt's, I headed over to Johnny's family. I had missed his relatives, but didn't miss the Master's so the holiday was still going on at his house.

My Easter was the first in 22 years that didn't involve Easter Egg hunts, fancy dinner and flouncy dresses. It is a special holiday for us all in a religious sense, but with my sister being stationed in Japan and me living 45 minutes away from my parents, it was a much more casual day. I preferred it. I had two large tests waiting for my Monday night, and now that both of my parents have full time jobs, as well as taking college classes, they wanted to keep the day simple, since we all had to get back to a normal day on Monday. I preferred it. When McKenna will be here for holiday's and we all start to expand our families it will be an Easter full of returning traditions. For now however, as we all reach the early adult phases of life we will enjoy a different kind of tradition. One of leopard print heels and darker pastel colors.

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pleated Petal Tank ANTHROPOLIFICATION GIVEAWAY!!!!

She inspires me to get crafty. If only my fingers could work as fast as my brain...

Tagged Random Facts

The lovely ladies at academichic, my favorite site (http://www.academichic.com) tagged me to write 7 random facts about me. I started writting and realized that there are a lot of things that you would never know by reading my blog. As per usual, I started writting and couldn't stop. It's a problem some people wish they had, but trust me, it is a lot harder to try to cut information out of a paper than to fluff in some more information. So here, ladies and gentlemen I present you with my 15 random facts:

1. I am and have always been Christian. I’ve attended a few Jewish Services including a Jewish Funeral. Many of my co-workers are Jewish and in being employed here I have learned a lot about the religion. All things theology aside, I’ve learned about the holidays and the foods. I’ve tried tons of foods that are common in the Jewish community. I now say “Oy Vey Ashmire” like a champ and as we speak I am enjoying Matzo Ball soup. A very tasty homemade treat.

2. In line with being willing to try new things, I started Golfing last season. My boyfriend is a huge golfer and I was interested in learning more about his favorite sport. Combined with JT and the promise of cute skirts and polo’s I was sold on the idea. I really enjoyed the few times I got to go last season and can’t wait to start again in the spring. Especially since I got my own set of purple golf clubs for Christmas!

3. While I’m busy golfing this spring here in the State my Marine sister will be busy with my little niece over seas. McKenna is my first niece and the first grandchild for my parents, a fact that scares them slightly. Being an Aunt is an exciting change in my life but I am eager to share in the life of the little baby. I just hope I will be able to see her before she turns two, the age she will be when my sister discharges from the Marines. I want to be a familiar figure in the baby’s life and will do that with pictures, emails and phone calls until Brittany and the baby can come home.

4. I’m in my second semester of Nursing School and wish I had been further along when Brittany found out about her little surprise. I would be better able to make her feel at ease with all of the medical procedures she’s been going through. In the future I’d like to be a school nurse, or to work in a Homeless Shelter providing care for those who can’t afford it. In the present, I’m just worried about getting through school first.

5. I’ve had an undying love for fashion for as long as I can remember. It’s not just about the runways, and it’s not just about the art of clothes. For me it is about a certain confidence that can be attained by simply getting dressed. I love pushing the envelope a little bit without being deemed outside of the box. I love finding old pieces that have been sitting in my closet for months. I love the challenge of getting dressed without simply throwing on whatever, although there are plenty of days when I do just that. Frankly, I love making it work.

6. My love of fashion and writing led me to my blog. I had read a number of fashion blogs and found myself signing up for one of my own about 3 months ago. I’ve been addicted to the blog world ever since. I don’t advertise my blog. I really enjoy writing in it and at often times during the day thinking of what topics I can talk about next. I love writing and always have, I love clothes and I love real life. It is in my blog that I can combine all three of those things.

7. My love of writing stems from my love of reading. As a child I threw a fit refusing to go back to school after my first day of Kindergarten. They hadn’t taught me to read and as far as I was concerned that was the only reason to go to school. All these years later I can always be caught with a book in my purse. My bookshelves are full and there are always a few books sitting waiting to be read. I made the commitment to not stop reading once I started school. It’s important to read about anatomy too but sometimes a great non-fiction book or an even better chic-lit is exact ally what I need to unwind.

8. My ideal job would be to be the First Lady. I would hold my position to a great level of respect. I would rule like Eleanor with the style of Jackie.

9. I don’t have any credit cards. Well none that I use. There is a very good reason for that too. I’m smart enough to make the conscious decision to not have any credit cards that I carry because that cute pair of shoes will be mine months before I can actually afford them. That’s part of the reason why my credit, considering my students loans is pretty reasonable at the age of 22 and with a huge shopping addiction.

10. It’s that addiction that has lead to my love of shoes. Over 40 pairs in fact. My current dilemma is trying to house them all. Each pair has been worn and on a regular basis. I always switch out my shoes and any piece of clothing or pair of shoes that doesn’t get worn for more than 3 months gets promptly put in a bag for my sisters to rummage through. They both love and appreciate me for that fact.

11. Josh Blue has some of my heart. Ryan Reynolds has some of my heart. John Thomas has all of my heart.

12. I used to collect crayons. Crayola was my love as a child. I loved coloring and so I gathered crayons and begged my mom for new ones everywhere we went. I loved the “expensive” crayons that came with a special sharpener in the back. My crayons were always in order by color. Every crayon a place and every crayon a task. I wrote a speech about my crayon collection in Elementary school. I cam in second place in the contest and got to read my speech in front of the whole school during assembly.

13. Public speaking has never been a problem of mine, probably partially related to my ability to speak to anyone. I’m not shy plain and simple. Even still my palms get sweaty and my knees get a little shaky even if I’m just raising my hand in class to talk. Speaking in front of people doesn’t scare me. Messing it up does.

14. I would love to live in the city. I would love to visit Rome and Greece. I want to wake up in Paris and shop by the Eiffel tower. I want to go to at least one major runway show. I want to see my picture on Page 6 under the fashion column. I have big dreams of traveling and no budget, or time for that to be a reality.

15. I love Reality TV. I enjoy all of the drama MTV and VH1 have to offer. I appreciate everything informative on Discovery Heath and learn a ton about design from HGTV. I laugh at the families on TLC and I feel sorrow for the teams on ESPN. I am a product of the twenty-first century. I love me some Reality TV.

I loved reading about A. S. and E. and I enjoyed thinking about my little habbits and quirks. I tag anyone who reads this! It is quite relaxing, and insightful to spend a few moments thinking about you! Specifically I would love to read more about these ladies. I visit their blogs so often, and can tell you all about their wardrobes, but would love to learn alittle bit more about their fashionable lives.

Africana in Atlanta : Bare Peppermint : Domesticated Sophisticate : Fashion Therapist : Fab finds under $50 : Christina's Favorite Things : and you!!

( I apologize, I haven't figured out how to include a link so you can just click on their name instead of me having to include the whole link)

Golf Shorts and Perfect Flats

There are a lot of people who shop with a mission. In fact, I have tried to become one of those people many a time. If I know that I'm on the hunt for the perfect black skirt, in theory you're blinder will be on, and you will be better able to leave with only a black skirt in mind. There are some people who shop with a theme. Knowing that you are looking for the perfect nautical outfit for vacation, means that pieces that don't have a nautical feel will likely be left behind. I have tried all of these techniques and have found that while the mission changes each time, having a mission can really help you focus your attention and help you minimize your spending. My shopping trip yesterday was simple. I was hoping to find some great pieces that will help me get ready for spring. More importantly, I desperately wanted to find great flats that can help me not feel so stranded when it came to dressing each morning keeping the new dress code regulations in mind.

A friend and I are planning on spending our Friday evening searching for great dresses for the wedding season. I have 4 weddings in the next 2 months, and she has 2 as well. We are hoping to be able to trade some dresses to help up get through, but great timeless dresses are essentials that I don't yet have in my wardrobe. Keeping in mind that I had a shopping excursion coming up, I gave myself a budget for both trips. I set the rules, if I spend more today than I have budgeted for, than I will be forced to spend less on Friday. Because Friday I hope to pick up a few dresses, I know that it will be the more expensive of the two trips. I wanted to start at Target. They have been getting some great spring lines in, and I keep seeing such great summer looking outfits on the various blogs, that I couldn't help but to stop and see if I could find anything myself. I, as always, started with the clearance racks. I tend top shop a certain way, like I'm sure many do. Check the price tag first, than look at the style. Occasionally I will see a shirt that looks so great, but if the price tag doesn't agree with what I had hoped, I have to move on. I decided to skim through the racks. I had stopped by last week and found absolutely nothing of any worth to me in their clearance section, but I can't help but to look. I am surprised to say that within 20 minutes I had found almost 20 pieces that I was eager to try on. I do that a lot too. I find a great style item, at a great price and I decide to try it on. I will take 40 items with me to a dressing room, because I know that realistically most of them won't fit. This wasn't the case unfortunately. Almost everything fit, and it all fit well!! I narrowed it down to the items I only really need, and left $26 dollars poorer and ready to dress well.


The Goodwill is only a block away so I couldn't help but to stop by there as well. I usually can find a good piece here or there, but yesterday was a lucky day. I have been looking to increase my cardigan collection, and apparently the good people at the Goodwill knew I was coming, and kept all of the good cardigans hidden. Our Goodwill is largely donated items, sometimes directly from the store but mostly from families. It's for that reason that I almost never buy an item without giving it a thorough inspection and making sure it makes it's way from my shopping bag to the laundry directly following the purchase. Target however, must have dropped off their latest donation and I was able to scoop up some great pieces. The green cardigan is used, and is 100% cashmere. It fits amazingly and I love the bright color. It makes me think spring, even with the sun doing nothing to heat up the world outside my office windows. The blue cardigan is also used, and on the rack looks dingy. On however, it took on a whole new look. The pink one still had on it's Wal-mart tags and was a great find. The skirt I was slightly torn over. Will I really wear it a lot? It had the special tag on it however meaning for this week the item was 50% off. I knew at $2 it would get more than that in wear. The shoes were my final purchase. They aren't cute. They simply aren't. But they are flat, and so comfortable. If I have to follow guidelines at work, I may have to look outside of my normal guidelines in shopping to help me find great pieces. These shoes are an example of that. I left the Goodwill with $22 less than I had gone with, but with great shoes and cardigans, I knew it was money well spent.

As I got home and laid out my purchases to remove tags and put into the laundry I started to smile. Apparently I want to have the look of a country club wife this spring into summer! With all of the bright cardigans and boat shoes, I will never have to turn down an invitation to dinner with John's golfing buddies! We have a golf excursion planned for this weekend, our first time out this season and I can't help but think that maybe that was in the back of my head the whole time.

The shoes I was able to pick up, looked much different on they they did sitting on the racks and I am excited to be able to show them off!

From the top view these shoes made my feet look wider, and that made me nervous. But from the side they are so simple and going to be a life-saver this season.

I found these beauties last weekend at the Goodwill. I couldn't pass up their $5 price tag, of the words Nine West that is clearly written on their inside. They have just a little ware and will make a much needed addition to my flat collection.

Heels have always intrigued me and for that reason my collection of them is so varied. My flats have always been special pieces with bright patterns and bold statements. I always thought I had everything I could need in both collections, but I have discovered in the last few days that I don't have any simple, go with anything flat shoes. Besides 2 pairs of black, they all have distinct looks that has made it very hard to dress this week. With the addition of these 3 simple pairs, I think I will be able to be better prepared for the new rules. And with such great preppy shorts hanging in my closet, I will be even better prepared for golf season to officially start!!

Proportions

The ladies over at academichic.com (http://www.academichic.com) have started their next ' lesson'. The art of dressing for your proportions. They've really got me thinking lately about how I perceive my body vs. how everyone else sees it. For years, people have always addressed me as ' tiny'. I've never complained, but it always surprises me. Why would you call me tiny? I am tall, and have long legs, but they don't look so long in comparison to my long torso. My hips are getting rounder by the day! Every a salesgirl brings me a pair of pants to try on, I have to return the size 2's to her and inform her that I am a size 8. " You must be wrong" is always, always they response I get. But trust me, I've been wearing pants for a very long time now and I wear size 6-8. I never understood why everyone was always so confused about my true size. Up until recently, I assumed it was my height that made me so deceiving and have always just chalked it up to good genes. As the academic ladies got me thinking however, I realize that it is much less genes ( sorry mom) and much more of how I dress myself. My first job was retail. I worked in a girls clothing store for 4 years, and a store that always carried tall girl options. My co-workers and I were forever trying on all of the items and putting together outfits for each other. The store was full of mirrors and I was always able to see myself from all angles many times in an hour. It was an annoyance back then, but now I see it for it for it's advantages. I unknowingly picked up a lot of clothing habits that have never left me, and have aided me for years.

Cami's have always been a life saver for me. You can get them in so many colors, and having a longer torso, I discovered pretty early that shirts just simply weren't always made to fit my length. With a Cami underneath, I can instantly lengthen any shirt. No matter the length,pattern, or color of a shirt, I add a Cami underneath. There are some shirts in which the extra layer isn't needed as much. It may be a longer shirt already, but when I bend over to pick up my purse my long pants and long shirt will inevitably appear much shorter. In comes the tank top. I've often heard, that adding a different color shirt underneath will draw attention to that area. For that reason, many hippy women would tend to stray away from bright colors at their waist. I heard Stacey and Clinton scold a women this past weekend saying that a peaking undershirt gave her the appearance of wearing a wide belt, at the widest part of her body. I however, find that breaking this rule is the best choice for me.

By adding the extra fabric, and color, it is almost as if my hips become covered up. Without the tank top underneath, my torso appears shorter, making my legs appear awkwardly long. The average length shirt also hits my waist at the top of my hips drawing attention to a much unwanted place. The colored Cami helps to give the illusion of a skinner elongated torso. The added pop of color, always helps to add another element to an otherwise simple outfit. Instead of resembling a bumblebee in a yellow top and black pants, a purple peaking Cami adds a third element, tricks the eye into not only thinking that my top is longer but that it is skinnier too!

Stacey and Clinton and all of those 'rule makers' aren't wrong. Women's bodies are all different. Each of us come in different shapes and sizes and most of us are ever changing. For that simple reason, there are a lot of great tips to follow and to try, but just because an 'expert' says it's a no doesn't mean that you shouldn't try it! The best rule for you may become a broken one, just like me. If years of getting paid to try on clothes taught me anything, it is that until the fabric is on your body, you will have no idea how it will fit, look or what image it gives off, so try it on, than try it again with something else. Break the rules and enjoy giving everyone the impression your body looks much different than what you may see in the shower. That's what clothes are for! Showing off your sense of style, and your greater sense of self.

Dancin' in wet grass kind of shoes

Shoe restrictions doesn't mean I can't dress with a little bit of sass. This royal purple color has become a passion of mine. Anything in this color seems to be catching my attention lately, and after studying the lessons of the ladies over at academichic.com, I knew that I could pair it with orange to make a great looking outfit. I picked up the shirt for $6 at Target. I went and picked up 4 plain, but brightly colored t-shirts. I'm finding more and more lately, that solid color basics are important for my wardrobe, and extremely versatile. These shoes hid all winter and were more than ready to come out and play.

First Day of Flats

I decided to keep it simple for my first attempt with the flats. It was a long day of meetings, and as the weather gets warmer, I can't help but want to dress in less and less layers. Even still cardigans are always my friend, regardless of the temperature. The bold black and white floral pattern made these shoes my frenemies last summer. I was never sure what to pair them with. This season however I was excited to bring them out. They can speak volumes when sometimes I just don't have the energy to do it myself. I really need to find a good photographing area. And a good camera holder too.

Dress Code

A few things are changing at work. We have a couple of audits coming up, and have used the opportunity to crack down on a few things. In general the plant managers have been extremely lenient with employee attire, but with food safety regulations getting increasingly tighter, the audits offered a great opportunity to make some changes. The biggest of them, as far as most of the employees are concerned is the loss of hats. Unless the hat is Food Safety certified, and belongs to the company, it can not be worn. Most of the guys I work with wear baseball caps and they all seem to be pretty depressed over the idea of having to show their thinning hair. We all have to wear hair nets in most rooms in the plant anyways. Combined with the fact that I am a total girl, I can't say I understand what all of the fuss is anyways. I am devastated over the loss of my shoe wear. I can no longer wear High Heels Tuesday-Fridays. I help out in our retail store on those days, which means I have to walk through the packaging rooms and warehouse. I really shouldn't be allowed to wear heels ever for safety reasons here, but since I spend most of my day in the office, I've been given free will over my clothing choices. Every job I've had has come with a dress code. My last 2 jobs in fact provided me with a uniform. A part of me enjoyed not having to think about what to wear. I could be ready for work in 5 minutes flat. I hated how I would lose my sense of individuality every time I stepped into that box.

My current collection of flat shoes is relatively complete. I have a lot of colors and a few different patterns. I always make sure that the flats are comfortable before I buy which helps to make sure that no matter what I pull out, it will not hinder my day. I'm afraid that I will find less reasons to dress up on those 4 days, because flats just aren't as fun as heels when it comes to dresses and skirts. On the flip side, it does mean that my Saturday-Monday are going to be overly stylish. Do I see a fashion challenge on my hands??

Rest well in your closet my dear shoe collection. I will see you on Saturday. I have yet to make weekend plans which may mean I will need to do dishes in some spikey beauties. Oh the ages of vacuuming in pearls and heel has yet to pass. Especially now, thanks to my job.

Grandma's Couch

Johnny and I celebrated our anniversary last week. We decided to go out to a fancy dinner, and I knew this dress would be perfect. I got it at Wal-mart for $3 just the week before. I wish I had taken a closer picture because I just love the details on the dress. The colors aren't my favorite, mostly because they bring me back to the 70's. The dress however doesn't have a vintage feel. The back is a little lower making it a little risque. The belt came with the dress, and it was built to sit on the wait. I found that on my waist however, the belt accented my hips and that was not the look I was ex actually going for. I took the belt out of the loops and slide it up a bit to the middle of my torso. Much better. I don't yet have a tripod, so a bookcase served as a camera steadying tool for these photos. I think that's partly why the images are so horrible. Plus the angle is up instead of straight on, which does nothing to flatter a person.

Johnny hates photos. And I means hates being in photos. I convinced him to smile pretty for one for our anniversary though. Of course that one photo, wasn't so good, but our only one of the night so It'll do.

We had agreed we weren't going to exchange gifts, but I always try to do something even still. My project this year was actually really simple. I stopped at Wal-mart one evening and purchased on of those 2 year pocket calenders. We've been together for 2 years, so I decided to decorate each month in stickers, words and a little story about something special that we did on that month. Last October for example we took a trip to Boston our first year together, so October 2010 I decorated with fish stickers ( for the aquarium) and I wrote about some of my favorite moments from our trip. The plastic cover they all come in just slips right on and off the actual calendar itself, so I decorated the actual cardboard cover with some decorative paper and gave it a title, than slipped it back into the plastic.

There were some months that I just couldn't recall anything special we had done, so I took those months and wrote about the different things I love about him. It ended up working out that while every month has some sort of colorful decorations, some months were mostly stickers and others were mostly words. I know that he will never actually use this calendar for anything other than a great reminder of how great the last 2 years have been. My craft box is always full of colored markers and stickers as well as a few other tools that came in handy for this project. I did stop by the sticker section when I picked up the calendar and grabbed some extra stickers that were relevant for us. The fish stickers were one, I grabbed one full of hearts and some stickers of camping tents and trees. In total I grabbed 5 sheets of stickers, all at $1 a piece, and only used a few off of each sheet so the rest went right into the box for the next project. The calendar cost $2.50. For under $10 and an hour of time I was able to put together a great anniversary gift for my love. It was simple to make, he really appreciated it, and I enjoyed spending some time reminiscing on all of the things we've gotten to do.