Fill in the gap

Looking for content today? Well you'll have to head over to my guest posts at Daisy Dayz; here you will just find some photos of the outfit which took me the longest to put together, and yet still feels a bit off.

The Rundown

Sweater Gap - Skirt Gap - Shoes Areosoles - Belt Gap - Necklace Gap - Ring Lia Sophia - Bag ? -  Tights TJMaxx

I think this outfit is evidence that I shop at the Gap far too much. But these pieces were acquired over quite few years. The belt is easily eight years old. The necklace, last winter, the tulip skirt... well that's only a few months old :)

Getting Dressed.

It seems to me, that the simple act of putting on clothes has become anything but. Now that I dedicate a portion of my free daylight hours to preparing the weeks looks and photographs all at once*, it has really sunk in just how much time I spend deciding what to wear.

From start to finish, including photo taking, a single outfit can take an hour. (And I cringe as I recall those days when it took longer.)

I always think to myself that I am going to develop a system, a template - the key to quick and easy outfit creation.
Dress + Blazer + Pumps = Office
Jeans + Boots + Leather Jacket = Weekend
ect. ect.

They are good in theory, they work in reality, but I get bored. Easily. And with a million other girls doing the same thing, there is a strong desire to work hard at doing something outside of the norm.

But as a result of too much time spent trying to think of something extraordinary, I have ended up with an outfit inspired by Suze and Kendi - as they both styled their striped top last week and I thought; "Hey, I 've got that top. I'll wear it too."

I also decided that this week I want to keep things bright and/or colorful. Looking at last weeks photos I realized I got sucked into the heavy winter pallet of black, grey, plumb and burgundy. (With the small exception of the turquoise pumps.) So I've brightened things up a bit.

The Rundown

Top Old Navy - Cardigan American Eagle - Pants TJMaxx - Shoes Thrifted Payless - Necklace Coco's on the Green - Bracelet Kohls

I can never have enough photos of this little girl doing the cutest thing ever, licking her nose.

How long does it take you to get dressed each day?

*I'm perpetually running late in the morning, so I don't have time to take photos, and when I get home at night it's too dark. So I get them all done over the weekend.

Sunday Best

Has everyone had as lazy a weekend as I have? Something about the extra days with everyone being home, plus lots of leftovers seems to result in a unique blend of lethargy.
The good news is, I didn't go out shopping. I did pick up a new 2 TB hard drive from Amazon for $100, but that doesn't count, as it's not fashion related.

Last night we managed to watch two Christmas movies, Love Actually and Scrooged. And we added a whole slew more to our netflix queue. We are determined to watch as many christmas movies as we possibly can.

I'm thinking next weekend will hold one of my favorite traditions, a viewing of Home Alone, which must be accompanied by my own cheese pizza.

Other 'productive' things accomplished this weekend included reading the book Water For Elephants from cover to cover. I haven't read a book in a while, and it was a good one to have devoured. Thanks for suggesting it Shelley Ann!

In addition to watching movies at home, I also ventured out to the theater and saw Tangled, which I loved. (and not just because of Zachary Levi, I swear!)

The start of Advent was today, and it was enough for us to get our lazy bums out the door and to church this morning, for the first time in... well... can't remember.
But we made it (and only two minutes late!)
At the fellowship after the service they were selling pies. Since we polished off ours, we decided to buy some more. You can never have enough pie.

The Rundown

Skirt Kohls - Top Gap - Shoes Areosoles - Scarf Lalia Rowe - Earrings Taken for Granite - Belt TJMaxx

I'm off to devour several pieces of apple pie... hope you all had lovely weekends!

Looking for leftovers

Today was a very lazy day, lots of pie is still left over, so I'll be fixing that soon.
I'm not so ambitious to head out and fight crowds for sales, I know there will be plenty of good deals before the Christmas season is through.

I did stop into one shop today, a small local business called Taken for Granite, that always decorates for the holidays in the most spectacular way. I probably could have spent an hour just photographing everything there which caught my eye!

Yesterday I got dressed in my typical over the top holiday fashion (if not on a holiday, then when?!) And wore my cute black and gold striped dress I got this summer.

The Rundown

Dress Free People - Top H&M - Shoes Jeffrey Campbell Splendid - Jewelry The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Since all I wanted was to be warm and cozy today, I did my best to keep things casual and not spend any time creating an outfit as I normally do.

Took a few photos at Taken for Granite, the outside decorations are just as pretty as inside!

The Rundown

Sweater Gap - Jeans Kohls - Boots Steve Madden Jessii - Bag Big Buddha - Earrings Thrifted

Day before Thanksgiving

You know the sales have already started.
NY& Company is having a half off everything sale. I love this. I wish more stores would slash the prices of their entire inventory semi-annually. Last spring I walked out with quite a few awesome finds, and hopefully I'll be able to control myself this time around (since I've used up my month's budget already). However, these are a few things I might be hinting at for Christmas gifts. (are you reading this family?)

Flyaway Cardigan, $25
Wool Camel Toggle Coat, $60
Sheer Ruffled Top, $18.50
Leopard Print Belt, $10
Gold Sequined Skirt, $25
Plaid Button Down Shirt, $19
Faux Fur Cowl, $18.50

You can also kick off your shopping weekend with this freebie; three MP3 credits from Amazon. You could buy some Christmas music, to get into the spirit, but I used mine to get some songs that were played in Monday's episode of Chuck...

Today I tried to channel J. Crew again, belting my velvet blazer over a ruffled top.

The Rundown

Top Gap - Blazer Urban Outfitters - Skirt Thrifted Ann Taylor - Belt Thrifted - Shoes Kenneth Cole Reaction

Damn it was windy and cold!!

Something bold

Happy Tuesday!
(happy because, tomorrow is a half day and then Thanksgiving and the long weekend, and how can you not love a short week?)

Today I wore something bold. What? Doesn't look bold? Scroll down...

There it is! Bright heels and socks. SO J. Crew inspired.
I feel like I took a chance with this outfit, but I am really please with the results.

I was worried when I put this together that I would get up this morning and chicken out, make up some excuse like it was too cold or 'forget' to shave or something, but I actually think they work. It wasn't even my intent to match my socks to my top, but they just happened to be the right height and were ribbed and managed to be exactly what I wanted.

This skirt is actually one of my favorite pieces. I love the shape, and it was the first high waisted articled I ever purchased.  There was a time when I wasn't really sure about it, but after I forced myself to start styling it, I discovered how great it was.

The Rundown

Top DKNY - Skirt Iisli New York - Shoes Thrifted Karen Scott - Necklace Gap - Belt Thrifted - Bag Thrifted

And, the winner of the CSN Stores $65 gift certificate is Diana from Dressed Up Alligators!
Congrats!!

Plaid Gal

Last winter I altered this strapless plaid dress and did a post on styling it, then I ignored it for the rest of the year. I finally styled it again today.

And it seems I can't stop touching my hat...

The Rundown

Dress American Eagle - Cardigan Kohls - Shoes Nine West - Hat Kohls - Ring Kohls

I wanted to wear something festive because my brother and his fiancé were visiting and we said we were going to take the christmas card photo. This is kind of a joke, because we say we are going to take this photo every year, and then never do. Meanwhile my brother and I photograph everything else under the sun...

He took this photo of all our starbucks cups, but it was totally my idea...

My Brother also took my Saturday outfit shots.

I finally got out my leather jacket, and added my new fur collar to it. The jacket was quite a conquest; it was from Express originally and I coveted it in high school, but could never afford it. Then I decided to look for it two winters ago, and finally found (and won) it on ebay!

I might have some lens envy...

The Rundown

Jacket Express - Fur Collar Thrifted - Top Gap - Jeans Max Studio - Booties Madden Girl- Ring American Eagle - Bag Thrifted

The Lucky look

I had put a big flag on this look in the December issue of Lucky, since it was one of the looks which was both adorable and easily recreated.

(Actually, all three are adorable, I might do them too!)

One of my coworkers told me my outfit was like a reverse Pippy Longstockings. So yeah...

The Rundown

Shirt Gap - Blazer Gap - Skirt TJMaxx - Tights Kohls - Bag Thrifted - Booties Madden Girl - Earrings TJMaxx

And earlier this week Shey from Modesty is Pretty did the outfit too!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Shades of purple

Thursday again. I feel like this week totally passed me by. I did something I haven't done in (dare I say) years. Went for a bike ride. It was just this perfectly perfect fall day, and the feel of the somewhat icy air whipping around me was so liberating.
My ride was very short, not more than a mile round trip but I was wheezing and gasping when I returned home and my legs felt like jelly for sometime after. But it's not like I could have expected anything different. The weekend forecast looks promising, perhaps I'll do it again.

I decided to experiment a bit more with my post processing -- what do you think?

And I finally FINALLY managed to get a decent jumping photo. I've been trying for months, and when I'm not too early or too late, I'm wearing a dress and flashing the camera.

Did you know that this weekend is buy one get one holiday drinks at Starbucks? Actually it started today. But it's only from 2 pm, to 5 pm (I think). Small window, but for a free $4 drink, I made a point to get it.

Another interesting tidbit, I asked for my peppermint mocha without the lid so I could get a good shot of the whipped cream, and was told they could not serve it to me without the lid!
I explained I just wanted a photo without crushed whipped cream, so they let me photograph it while it was still 'in their possession' behind the bar. Not quite the lighting I was hoping for, but that's what photoshop is for I suppose...

I got the Versatile Blogger award from Amber Blue Bird, thanks!!
I'm supposed to share seven more things about myself... what don't you know? I feel like I've been spilling my guts here for two years and I've run out of odd tidbits. Well, lets see...

1. I've been teaching myself photoshop since seventh grade. I used to like to make Buffy collages.
2. Right now I'm listening to Madder Red by Yeasayer. They are cool. Check 'em out.
3. My favorite kind of sandwich is Italian bread with green olives and sharp cheddar cheese.
4. Turquoise is my favorite color.
5. I'm the most eclectic dresser in my entire family.
6. I like to sew, but I hate it when people ask me to hem things for them.
7. I wish Michael Weston was my boyfriend.

And I'm going to pass this along to:
Mad Dress Game
260 Days, No Repeats
D, Et Cetera
this free bird
Ruby Tuesday
Dressed Up Alligators
Big Girl. Small Budget. Tiny Town.

You girls know the drill - share seven things about yourselfs and pass it along to seven others!

The Rundown

Dress Gap - Jacket Free People - Scarf Old Navy - Boots Migliorini - Socks Target - Necklace Kohls

Mustard is still chic

Last year when I brought home my mustard cords from the Gap, I was a little unsure of weather I was a "yellow pants" kind of person. But they were my breakout hit of the season, and I wore them eleven times! (two not pictured). So when I pulled them out of winter storage last month, we didn't immediately get back in action. I was wondering if I could still think of a new (and chic) way to rock loud yellow pants.

It took me a few tries, but I think I nailed it, and lets hope I will have another wonderful season with them.

Sunnies were completely unnecessary, but hey, I liked the look.
The dolman sleeved top was borrowed from my sister without her permission, but I know she stole my shoes, so I'm calling it even.

The Rundown

Pants Gap - Top TJMaxx - Scarf American Eagle - Shoes Areosoles - Sunnies Kohls - Bag Bandolino - Earrings Aldo

Previous Stylings