Starlit Dress

When I went shopping for myself the other day I couldn't help but be drawn to a dress with lots of little stars on it. I have always loved the shape of stars. If only you could have seen my bedroom when I was 16 years old. It was covered in everything star shapes! I even got a little star tattoo when I was in highschool...only one of my only rebellious acts as a teenager;) So now that you know of my affinity for stars, you can understand why I would buy this dress. I gave Zach the biggest puppy eyes I could muster so he'd relent and let me get it, but I think he relented because he liked it too! hehe...

The best part of this dress is I could totally turn it around and wear it backwards! It has this amazing button detail on the back, but I thought I'd save that detail for when I wear it the other way around. I don't know if this dress is meant to be worn that way, but I figured I could get creative with it. No need to think inside the box all the time!

Dress, Heritage 1981
Shoes, Dolce Vita for Target
Rhinestone Bracelet, Lia Sophia
Tights, Target

A Rosy Feeling

I woke up this morning feeling like this is the best life possible. I don't know where this feeling came from, but all of a sudden I am truly grateful for everything that is going on in my life...including work. My job has gotten so much better in the last couple of months and I'm glad I stuck it out and continued working on my flaws. To be honest, August was possibly the worst month of the whole year for me, but it's made a 180 from that.

Does anyone else get that rosy feeling, first thing in the morning? Maybe I feel like this because I am lucky enough to walk to my job, to live in a great neighborhood with the best of friends in it, and because I truly enjoy all the simple things life has to give me. And of course my awesome husband, who has supported me through all my blogging endeavors and never once made fun of me for it. Well, except when I got myself a twitter. He found that extremely narcissistic.. hehehe...

Ok, so because I was in such a good mood, I wanted to wear a good mood outfit. Usually these outfits involve flats of some kind because lets face it; women are much more happier wearing comfortable flats. Another additive to my good mood outfit was my elf striped shirt. So what if I look like an elf today! Elves are happy people! haha.. I hope everyone else had a good day!

Top, BDG from UO
Skirt, Forever21
Flats, Dolce Vita from Target
Necklace, Vividot
Tights, Target

A Nice Christmas Dress

I guess it's fair to say I cheated a little with the 30 for 30. I didn't finish before I broke out a new dress that I receive for a Christmas gift. I absolutely love putting on new clothes as soon as I receive them and I just couldn't wait to throw on this dress with my new boots and do a little photo shoot on Christmas day. Plus it gave Zach a chance to try out the new camera. So it was a win win for both of us!

The best things about this dress is that it is floral (which I love), short, and has half sleeves for warmth in the winter months. I also appreciate a dress that can be a mini but with long sleeves, which gives it a more demure attitude. Usually the Forever21 dresses can be so revealing, you might as well be wearing a bathing suit, so imagine my surprise that you can actually find something that has coverage and has a sophisticated silhouette at a store catered towards teenage girls. Hooray!

Dress, Forever21
Boots, Avon
Bracelet, Archives
Headband, Forever21

Day 30 It's The Final Countdown

Remember when you were a kid and giddy with excitement about an impending snow storm? School would be canceled and all the fun white stuff was yours for the taking? I once remember hearing the news about a huge blizzard coming our way in Virginia, way back in 1996, and woke up the next morning to absolutely nothing. Nothing!!! I can't describe the disappointment I had and knew I'd be going to school that day. Luckily it started snowing mid-day and school was let out early. And then we experience an ice-storm which took our power out for 2 days. That wasn't cool, but at least I didn't have school! hehe...

That whole scenario played out again this morning, only we had already collected 15 inches of snow. After much back and forth between weather hotlines, my work finally decided at 8:30am to close for the day. Thank goodness!! My car is stuck in 15 inches of snow, with no hope for escape!

Anyways, since I knew I would be walking around in this mess, I felt the need to throw on jeans and my most comfiest of t-shirts and cardigan. At least my most comfiest of my 30 for 30 wardrobe. And what's this?!! I'm all done!!! Hooray! I finally accomplished something all the way through. So it took me almost two whole months, but at least I finished!

P.S. I hope my blog title got the song in your head! hehehehe...

T-shirt, Forever21
Boyfriend Cardigan, Forever21
Jeggings, Thrifted
Galoshes, Kmart
Scarf, Gift
Coat, H&M
Hat, Forever21

****Edit--Here's what's attached to my leesh:)

Apparently I was a Good Girl

Boots are from Avon
Flora by Gucci from Amazon
Tea Cup Necklace from Etsy
Trinkits from Vividot
The Sweater Chop Shop Book
Vintage Bird Print

Day 29 White Out!!

So, I am hoping that anyone who celebrates Christmas had a fabulous day! I did and for more than a few reasons.

Reason number 1! I finally have a DSLR camera. My parents gifted Zach and I the Nikon D3000 and we're so stoked for all the possibilities we have, now that I have a much better camera. Zach is way more used to photographing with a 'real' camera and was so much happier while taking my photos. It leads to much more natural movement and captures more of my emotions.

Reason number 2!! A white Christmas!! These photos are taken the day after Christmas, but it started snowing around 9pm on Christmas day and in all the years I've lived in Virginia (since 1992) it's never happened to me before!

Number 3 reason! I had a great time with my family and my loving husband. Zach and I had our own little Christmas after I returned from church on Christmas Eve and he gifted me the most beautiful necklace! He knows me so well. It's a mini ecosystem on a chain. The tiny jar is filled with dirt and moss and once a month I put one drop of water in it and let it flourish on it's own. He found it on Etsy from this store called Lili Funambule Jewelry

Lace Blouse, Thrifted
Jacket, Thrifted
Skirt, Thrifted
Hat, Forever21
Tights, Target
Vintage Boots, Ebay
Belt, H&M
Necklace, Lili Funambule Jewelry

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday with family!!! Here's my first picture with my new camera!
My parents surprised Zach and I with something that we'd use on a daily basis. A Nikon D3000 :-)

Day 27 Getting Creative

Oh my goodness!!! Life has certainly gotten in the way of my blog again! I guess that's not a bad thing. I do have certain obligations to attend to besides my blog. Like work and random shopping trips with my friends for Christmas. Who knew shopping at Target at 11 pm could be so much fun! I'm being facetious, by the way;)

Anywho, I wore this outfit yesterday and never got a picture of it, due to coming home late from work and heading straight out to dinner to meet some friends. It's probably the first time I layered a dress over jeans, but I wore the dress more like a jacket in that I didn't button it up, but just tied it together. I love the stripes peaking out from the floral pattern on the dress, so it just might be my favorite look so far this 30 for 30 challenge.

I will certainly try to crank out the next three looks before Christmas, so wish me luck with lighting and timing. Time is definitley the essence during the holiday season.

H&M Dress (worn as jacket), Platos Closet
H&M Striped Top, Thrifted

Jeans, Charlotte Russe
Vintage Boots, Ebay
Hat, Forever21

Day 26 Antiquing and Weekend Adventures

When it's cold, dreary and icy outside I would normally be one to stay in my bed, warm and cozy sipping espresso and playing on my laptop, but instead I got up extra early and got myself ready for a little coffee date/antiquing hunt with my friend Brittany from Finders Keepers. It's always fun to go shopping with someone who appreciates a good vintage find or two and Brittany is definitely one of those people. She finds great things and her shop is always full of the cutest vintage dresses and accessories.

We made our way to Starbucks for an early morning pick me up and then headed over to the huge antique mall called Barrett Street. If you wanted to rummage for hours, this is the place to do it. I find the most cutest little vintage Christmas decorations (as if I don't have enough of those) and Brittany found a great set of suitcases! All in all it was a fabulous trip and I can't wait to take her to my hidden gem...Thrift Store USA. That places is crazy awesome and dripping with vintage clothes, mid-century and Victorian furniture and an abundance of vintage coats from the 1950-60s. It's a pretty remarkable thrift store, in that they choose their inventory much like an antique store. So it's definitely on our next place to visit. But until then...

Have a great weekend!!

Vintage Blouse, Thrifted
Satin Skirt, Target
Boyfriend Cardigan, Forever21
Vintage Boots, Ebay
Tights, Forever21

Day 25 Snow Day!!

Hello friends! Here I am sporting my 25th look but I've completely covered it with my ultra warm coat. Here's why. It's absolutely freezing outside, I really like my coat, and it usually takes Starla 5-10 minutes to do her business in the snow. Who wants to be without a jacket that long? Not me! So I am wearing my jeggings, black Zara sweater, and my black boots and calling it a day. It really hasn't been too bad with all the snow, but they had to give my work an early day because weather in Virginia doesn't get like this much, so we're always poorly prepared for snow days. It's pretty scary to be driving in it, only because no one is used to slick icy road conditions.

So, instead of my usual routine of working till 5 today I am going to use this snow day to bake cookies (which I've been putting off now for 5 days) finish wrapping presents, and eating pizza. I've already decided that at 4:30pm I'll be calling my local pizza place and just lounge around the apartment stuffing my face while watching more Christmas movies. I need to get the bah hum bug out of me before I turn into a little green Grinch.

Coat, H&M
Jeggings, Thrifted
Rubber boots, Kmart
Hat, Forever21
Gloves, H&M

Day 24 Let's Get this Thing Over With

Christmas is coming up fast and I need to knock out these 30 for 30 outfits before I get new clothes for gifts! Not that I'm materialistic by any means...ok just a little...but I don't want to get something new and not be able to wear it for another two weeks! haha.. Anyways, I dressed myself up in this dress again, but paired it with my cognac accessories and bundled up with layers. I'm wearing a t-shirt you can't see, a huge fluffy scarf and my boyfriend cardigan. I needed to stay extra warm for my morning walk. I even wore two pairs of my black tights!

So how is everyone's week coming along? I have to say that I went ahead and put too much on my plate again. Yesterday I spent the evening at a local concert with friend, instead of baking cookies, and today I took a half day from work, spent the afternoon doing my Christmas shopping at a little handmade boutique in my neighborhood, got home wrapped gifts and ate a yummy vegan lunch supplied by this new home business called Path It was pretty delicious! Anyways, now I'm still wrapping gifts, watching Home Alone and then later tonight will be going to my work Christmas party. Since our company as a whole won't be doing a Christmas party, per se, my branch did decide to have a nice dinner together and exchange Secret Santa. It should be a fun night for sure. A bunch of co-workers sipping on tequila can always work out well:)

Dress, Thrifted
Boyfriend Sweater, Forever21
Vintage Boots, Ebay
Tights, Target
Vintage Men's Belt, Thrifted
Scarf, gift from Co-worker

Day 23 Hustle and Bustle

It's been quite the whirl wind lately. The holidays do that to you I guess, but I'm finally getting everything done and ready for mailing. All that is left is makings cookies and I'm all done! I'm notorious for putting too much on my plate and trying to be the perfect gift giver, baker, donor, and everything else that goes all with Christmas. Just the other day I was thinking what a great idea it would be to invite my parents over for Christmas Eve dinner, and Zach is quietly going, "are you sure you want to do that?" Haha!! I'll keep it simple though.

So I'm a little behind on these 30 for 30 outfits so I'm going to try and catch up this week. If that means I have to take pics inside, then so be it. Although I much prefer the outdoor shots. This past Sunday I had plenty of time to get them done in my parents back yard and although it was raining on and off all day, the lighting was really great for shots without harsh shadows. Overcast days are best for photo taking in my opinion. Or dusk is really good too. Anyways, here is what I wore!

I went casual, as I do most Sundays, and wore jeans, but dressed them up with my blazer and lace blouse. I liked the feel of wearing this while going Christmas shopping. I was surprised at how many people were dressed in sweats and pajamas while shopping around Target. Ok, no I wasn't but I looked like I was going to a formal dinner compared to everyone else! Hahaha...No not really, but do people really think it's a good idea to dress in pajamas to leave the house?

Vintage Pendleton Blazer, Thrifted
Lace Blouse, Thrifted
Skinny Jeans, Charlotte Russe
Vintage Boots, Ebay
Vintage Woven Belt, Thrifted
Scarf, Forever21

TJ Maxx/Marshalls Secret Santa

A few weeks ago I was asked if I'd be interested in a Secret Santa gift exchange hosted by TJ Maxx and of course I said yes!! My Secret Santa was Beth Jones from B. Jones Style and she got me two beautiful jewelry pieces from TJ Maxx. I was in love with the huge bracelet. It's such a show stopping piece and the dainty necklace was just my kind of style. I decided to show two different ways to wear each look for the holidays.

The first is with my necklace. This is an example of what I would wear to a day time holiday party with friends. Such as a cookie swap, work party, or church holiday open house. I went festive with glittery tights, my green satin and black lace skirt, and of course of pair of red shoes. This are my favorite pairs of flats at the moment. I love how they can work as a basic and still make a pop of color in my outfit. The creme de la creme is my necklace. A crew neck top was what I wore to show off the necklace and it's two toned metallic strands.

My second look is an evening party look. This would be fitting for a fun New Years party with friends, cocktails, and little olives you poke with a cute little silver tooth picks. The bracelet really needed to be the main focus of the outfit so I chose my little black dress to keep it simple and chic. The leopard print cropped fur jacket was another little gem I had sitting in my closet waiting for the right outfit so I threw this on for a little warmth.

First Look
Gap Tee, Thrifted
Satin and Lace Skirt, Ebay
Cardigan, Thrifted
Red Shoes, Kmart
Glittery Tights, ?
Necklace, TJMaxx

Second Look
LBD, Target
Steve Madden Suede Ankle Boots, Dillards
Gap Cropped Jacket, Thrifted
Bracelet, TJ Maxx