sunday round-up: outlet haul (with pix!)

Hello, Gorgeous ones!

How was your weekend?  Friday night hubs and I dined at this cute little Indian restaurant(YUM!).  Saturday was spent at the outlet mall.  It was supposed to be mostly for buying work clothes for J, but yeah... that didn't happen!  There were great deals and so I ended up picking up a few things as well.  

Whenever I shop, I try to dress as comfortably as possible while still looking fashionable.  I wore a simple tank, jeans, comfy flats, and a leather jacket.  I also brought a roomy purse to contain my scarf (in case I get cold!), granola bars, water, and other necessities.  

Banana Republic tank, Express Zelda skinny jeans, leather jacket from Italy trip, black ballet flats, Coach bag

J's purchases included sports wear from Puma, Adidas, and Under Armour.  He also scored a few nice sweaters from Banana Republic and JCrew and a pair of great jeans from Banana Republic.

I also got lucky with sales, and it helped that we went early-- we got the good stuff first!  

I purchased:

-JCrew corduroy pencil skirt that I had been eyeing for some time ($25)

-Banana Republic khaki pencil skirt ($25)

-Old Navy chambray shirt ($0.97--  YES, 97 cents! I don't know how this happened, but apparently it was on super clearance.  Either way WOOHOO!!!!!!)

-Banana Republic embellished chain link necklace ($20)

-Two cardigans from GAP ($15 each!)

Pictured: GAP Factory Cardis, Banana Republic Factory necklace & khaki pencil skirt, and JCrew Factory Corduroy Pencil Skirt

Old Navy Chambray Button-Up

So, all in all, I spent about $100 and bought so many amazing pieces!  And I can't even describe how excited I am to style these looks and share them with you!!

Oh, and before I forget, check out my "threads" tab to see what I wore during the week! 

Have a fantastic Sunday!!

 

odds+ends.

Hey, guys!

How's it going?  How was your labor day weekend?!

I'm just hanging out at home, wrapped up in my leopard blanket, unwinding from the day.

How cute is my little (big!) kitty cat?!

Oh, and here are a couple of outfits I wore this week:

Banana Republic top, Target Mossimo Ankle Stretch Pant, bubble necklace via e-bay, NY&Co watch, Jessica Simpson pumps

Gifted top, NY&Co. cardi/watch, LOFT skirt, H&M belt, Target Ona flats

It's so nice to have a 4 day week--Tomorrow is already Wednesday!!

dressing for an outdoor sporting event and NOT taking a purse.

Football season is here!  Yaaaaaaay.  Do I mean that?  I'm not sure.  Ask me in 4 months when it's freezing and I am tailgating in the bitter Michigan cold with icicles hanging from my Spartan face sticker. 

This may seem silly, but, dressing for a football game (or any outdoor game) and tailgating can sometimes be a challenge.  Our alma mater now has a new (stupid) rule in which you are not allowed to have a bag, purse, or umbrella of ANY kind.  The first time I heard this I freaked out: WHAT?!  Where am I going to put my ID/credit card, my phone, my lipgloss, my compact? What if my nose runs and I need kleenex?  What if I get a HUGE headache and need medicine?  What if I don't have my camera-- WON'T THE WORLD END?!!! THAT'S IT, I can't go to the game if I can't take my purse.

Yes, that really was my train of thought.  I'm that much of a spaz sometimes.  But, you'll be happy to know that somehow I've come up with a few ways that allow me to still stay fashionable and prepared WITHOUT taking my purse.  

Here's what I've learned:

1.  Take only a few things that are absolutely necessary for you to feel good and prepared.

2.  Skip the skinny jeans.  Wear jeans that are comfortable and roomy so that you can utilize the pockets.  Guys do this all the time-- it works!  But, if you love your skinny jeans, take a coat that will do the same job (see suggestion 3).

3.  If it's cold, take a jacket or sweater with pockets that zip.  You can use those pockets to store your stuff.

4.  My essentials are: 

-lipgloss in a tube

-MAC blotting powder compact

-a small tube of eye drops (my contacts get dry)

-1 or 2 sheets of kleenex (I get sniffly often)

-4 Advils (or whatever pain med you prefer)

-driver's license and credit card

-phone

-camera-- but, if and only if you are also taking a coat/sweatshirt with a pocket.  There's no way that you can store a camera in your pant pockets (with the rest of that crap) and still feel comfortable!  This is coming from a girl that's seriously attached to her camera.  You can take pictures on your phone.  Just go with it.

>>>I tuck the lipgloss in my right-front pocket, closest to the inside of my thigh.  I put the Advil in the little tiny pocket that no one knows the purpose of.  I place the eye drops in the inside of my left-front pocket.  My compact goes in my left-back pocket.  And my ID/credit card/kleenex/phone get placed in my right-back pocket.  TA-DA! 

I know that sounds like a lot.  But, if you spread it all out to the different pockets in your roomy jeans and jacket, you can carry your essentials and skip the purse. 

And last but not least, always remember to take your team spirit!!  (A team face sticker or two won't hurt either!)

MSU jersey, Charlotte Russe boyfriend jeans, Banana Republic Belt, Target Ona flats

meow!

I've been wearing a lot of animal prints lately.

What can I say, I'm a creature of habit! 

PUN intended!! ;)

Banana Republic tank, LOFT slash pocket shift skirt,Target Mossimo Ona flats , NY& Co. cardi/belt/watch 

F21 button-up/"Paris" necklace/belt, Target pants, NY&Co. watch, Target Mossimo Ona flats 

Surprisingly, up until a few years ago, I wasn't really diggin' animal prints.  They seemed cheap to me. And way too overdone.

But now I feel that, if styled properly, animal prints can be so chic and fun at the same time.

What about you-- Are you loving or hating animal prints?

wear that skirt, honey!

Lately, skirts and dresses have been my go-to outfit pieces.  They are so easy to style.  Throw on a simple dress, or a skirt, top, and a few accessories and you're done!--All dressed and put together in less than a minute. 

TJ MAXX top, LOFT skirt, gifted leopard scarf (Thanks, Mom!), Target Pearce pumps, NY&Co. watch

TJ MAXX dress, Express flats, bubble necklace via eBay

F21 button-up, LOFT skirt, DSW shoes, bubble necklace via eBay

Target dress, F21 belt, Express flats

F21 top, LOFT skirt, Express flats, gifted pearl's (Thanks, again, Mom!)

layer it--for Spring!

I have always been one of those girls who dresses for the weather.  Like, I really REALLY like to dress for the weather.  The main reason is that I cannot stand being uncomfortable.  I hate being stuck in a cold room shivering all day, or being stuck in sweltering heat in a stuffy outfit.  It makes me crabby, and that's no fun for anybody!

So, layers are my best friend in the Spring (and Fall, and Winter... and Summer!).  This morning it was 47 degrees when I left my house and 70 by the time I got out of work.  So, I decided to layer it up!  This way, I can add or remove pieces of clothing (wink wink) as needed.  My favorite pieces to layer are a big chunky sweater and a colorful scarf.

Shown above:

The Limited tank

NY&Co. cardi/necklace

Target skinnies/flats

F21 chunky sweater/scarf

Bag via JCP

Are you a layer-er?  
What're your favorite things to layer?

BEST ultra wear lipstick/gloss, Valentine's, and this week's style in pix.

Hi, Loves!  How are you?  How are your pre-Valentine's preparations going? 

J & I love Valentine's Day.  Well, I'm sure I love it way more than him.  But, still!  We actually celebrated this year's Valentine's this weekend.  We just don't have the time to go all out on a weekday.  So, we decided to celebrate yesterday by dressing up, exchanging gifts, and enjoying a delicious meal at a nice restaurant.  And, it was fabulous!

Big surprise--I have a lot of fancy dresses, and between work and every day life, I don't usually get to break most of them out.  So, I used our Valentine's date night to done one of my favorite dresses, and pull together a Joan Holloway/Mad Men look(complete with bright red Chanel lip gloss!).  On a side note, this lip gloss is THE BEST long lasting lip formula I have found.  I am not kidding when I say that it.does.not.budge.  You can eat/drink/talk/kiss with it on for hours, and it stays on beautifully.  Plus, it doesn't smudge, chip, or flake.  I tried on a million long-wear lip glosses/sticks for my wedding, and after throwing tons of money away on formulas that failed, I discovered this Chanel one.  The one I'm referring to is Chanel Rouge Double Intensite, Ultra Wear Lip Colour.  It is like a lip gloss, but the color is rich like a lip stick.  My favorite color is Ruby Lite, and that's what I'm wearing in the pictures (below).  

So, if you're looking for an incredible ultra wear lipstick, don't look any further than Chanel.  At $34 a tube, it's a little pricey.  But, it's so so so worth it!  I cannot recommend this product enough.  And if you're wondering where to find it, you can either order it online here, or find a Chanel counter at department stores like Macy's.

Here's what we looked like all done up for Valentine's date night:

On J: Express head to toe.  Unsure about the shoes...
On me: Ann Taylor sheath dress with bow, Nine West pumps.
I look pretty Joan Holloway/Mad Men-ish right?! ;) 

At dinner.  We went for a late dinner, and left as they were closing the place down.  Oops!  Haha.

Here's what I wore this week:

Express cardi/pencil skirt, Worthington by JCP top, Nine West Jobst pumps

Forever21 button-up/necklace, NY&Co. cardi, The Limited pants, Nine West Jobst pumps

Express cardi, NY&Co. zebra print belt, Banana Republic pants, shoes via DSW

Casual Friday @ the office:
Vintage UCLA sweater (my mom's!), Express skinnies, Banana Republic belt, Etienne Aigner riding boots

So, tell me...

Do you have any plans for Valentine's day?

Have a great week!