The last of 2013 and second chances

Jacket: Zara (option) | Earrings: Kate Spade (similar) | Top: Splendid (option) | Necklace: JCrew (gifted) (option, option) | Cuff: Kate Spade (option, option) | Belt: JCrew (gifted) (option) | Pants: Express (option) | Booties: Sam Edelman

This is my last post of 2013 - I can't hardly believe that the year has come and gone! I actually had to be at work today (Monday), so I do have one last outfit to share with you, even though it is a casual one. It was hard enough to get out of bed! I certainly did not feel like putting much effort into what I was wearing, especially since there would be a limited audience at the office with the majority not being back until after the New Year. To be completely honest, I got the idea for this outfit from What Not to Wear. Clinton Kelly was wearing something super similar on an episode I recently watched. Yes, I got inspiration from a man, and I wish I could find a photo so you'd believe me. It works though, right? That's all that matters.

Now for the reflection part of this post. There are so many "best of" posts around right now, I couldn't decide how I wanted to end 2013 in terms of this blog; especially since my 1-year bloggiversary is right around the corner, and I can only imagine I will be doing some kind of outfit roundup at that time, too. (Or will I? Still can't decide.) I loved how Rebecca over at Red Tag Chic Los Angeles pulled together one look for each month in 2013. Her post has inspired me to do the same for you all now! I wouldn't necessarily say these are the best, but perhaps some outfits that I thought deserved additional airtime - second chances, so to speak.

January

Pinspiration of the week: Sequin Skirt

February

Pinspiration of the week: Pattern and color mixing

March

Shoesday: Glitter and suede booties

April

Boot Ban

May

Dresses and good friends

June

Death (almost) by maxi skirt

July

Routine

August

Floral and leopard

September

Limsanity Remix

October

Vest weather

November

Distressed and blue

December

Bootie Pinspiration

Wow, that was actually pretty weird going through my archives. It's crazy because I can see a gradual evolution/improvement in my style, and there were a lot of outfits I looked back on and thought - gosh, I hate that. Perhaps that is just my taste changing, who knows? But regardless, I'm truly excited to see what 2014 holds. Have a safe and happy new year! See you in 2014!!

Linking up with Elizabeth, Tori, Lauren.

READ MORE... "The last of 2013 and second chances"

Holiday Style Link-up: New Year's Eve

Earrings: Express (option) | Top: MSSP (option) | Necklaces: (Short) Express (option), (Long) Express (option) | Pants: BlankNYC | Ring: Stella and Dot (option) | Clutch: Saks (option) | Shoes: Alice + Olivia (other colors here, similar just no studs here)

Dressing up for New Year's Eve is much like dressing up for Vegas - anything goes. There is no such thing as too much glitter, too much sparkle, too much of anything on New Year's Eve. I'd say I "toned it down" a bit for this outfit. Our plans aren't solidified yet, but if we do go out, it will be to a bar to watch a local band play. Therefore, I wanted to be in something festive, but bar appropriate. I *wish* I had an extra fancy party to go to, but that's not happening this year. I don't want to down play this look at all though because I'm in love with it. I had been on a hunt for faux leather pants. Actual pants, not leggings. I ordered two pairs with my Christmas money and crossed my fingers that one pair would work. Both pairs were meant to be ankle length on regular sized people, and as you can see, the length is perfect on me as normal pants. This pair just felt and fit better, AND it was less than half the price of the other pair, which ended up being an added bonus!

I decided to keep the top loose and light, and reached for this wine colored one, which I knew would be a perfect backdrop for layered necklaces. I love mixing metals as you can see with this outfit from my jewelry to the pants hardware to the studs on my shoes. Since we are going to a bar, and dancing/sweating is inevitable, I wanted my hair out of my face, so this side swept do was perfect - fancy enough for a dressier night out, but still pulled back and in place. And then the shoes. Sigh. The shoes. I had to include both the side and the back views so you can fully appreciate how awesome these are! They were a birthday purchase back in August, and they're just now going out for a spin - I know, I know. I'm so bad at that. They do slip off my heel a bit, so I'll have to experiment with some ball of foot and heel pads to eliminate this. It's just amazing how these leopard pumps tie everything together!

What do you have planned for New Year's Eve? Have your outfit all picked out yet? Do tell!

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Link-up Guidelines:
1. Go to a HOST page (More Pieces of Me or On the Daily Express) and click "Add My Link" at the end of our first post. Make sure your link is for your actual post and not your blog's home page. Even though this is Holiday Style themed, we do welcome all fashion and holiday related posts as long as the participation guidelines are followed.

2) Be sure that your post links back to at least one host (preferably both!). You can use a button on your blog or the link-up language of your choosing in your post, but please find a way to inform your readers of your participation in the Holiday Style Link Up in order to benefit all participants. In the spirit of the holidays we want to help each other grow, find new friends and readers, and share our love for fashion and festivities.

3) Please follow More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express on Bloglovin'

4) After you post your link we hope you'll go check out other participants in the series and spread some holiday cheer with your comments and feedback!

Check out our favorites:
More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express collaborated  to choose our favorites from last week's Holiday Traditions theme! So many great stories were shared, but these two stuck out to us the most! Be sure to read up if you missed them!

Left: Beauty Girl Twenty Four | Right: Really Renata

Next Week: 

The theme is New Year's Resolutions! What is your goal for 2014? Did you make a fitness or fashion resolution? How did you do on your resolutions for 2013? Tell us and show us all about it on the first Monday in January.

        

Linking up with Lauren (Style Elixir), Doranda, 
Lauren (The Style Record), Erin and Laura

Bethany and Meghan for Three-fer Thursday

Erin for Working Girl with Style

READ MORE... "Holiday Style Link-up: New Year's Eve"

Christmas Money Spending

M.A.C. Lip glass: 'Viva Glam 1', 'Girl About Town' | Ring: Kate Spade | Leather pants: BlankNYC, G-Star | Wellies: Hunter High Gloss (Brick Red) | Metallic Skirt: Trouve | Print leggings: Splendid, Hue | Bailey 44 Dresses: 'Black Hole', 'Twisted Heart'

We're back from our little SoCal trip. Ok, I'm lying. I'm typing this on the plane while finishing my Bailey's on the rocks. (Not to be confused with the Bailey 44 dresses I ordered above. Hehe) However, by the time you read this, I will be in bed home from our trip. I didn't want to do any shopping there since packing space was limited. Just to get my Christmas presents home without having to check a bag was a feat. I may or may not have looked like this:

(source)

I really didn't want to exceed my 2 carry on limit and have to check a bag. I used all my body weight and managed to get it closed. You bet I let out a victorious squeal when it zipped! The added holiday weight certainly helped my endeavors - glad I ate those two breakfast tacos this morning even though I wasn't hungry! That being said, I certainly wasn't shy about loading up some online shopping carts. I've been on a self-imposed ban since Black Friday *and* I had Christmas money?! I was practically salivating to shop. We'll see how much of this actually works, but I'm pretty excited and looking forward to more shopping fun in 2014! What are you spending your Christmas money on? Anything Santa didn't bring you that you are *forced* to just buy yourself?

READ MORE... "Christmas Money Spending"

The Zara scarf dupe

 (Sources) Top: Left | Right Bottom: Left | Middle | Right

I've always loved plaid, but lately I've been obsessing over it. Specifically this scarf from Zara. There are things that blow up in the blogosphere, which for whatever reason, ends up leaving me with an aversion to that item, but not this time. I discovered this Zara scarf too late - it had already been sold out online and in stores, apparently due to the saturation of this scarf in Blogland. I had spies scour their local Zara stores, but the story was much of the same - sold out. And of course, eBay sellers are exploiting its popularity - just try to do a search for it, will ya? I'm pretty sure it retails for around $30, and the bids on eBay approach the $200 mark. I mean, I love you, scarf, but not that much. I was very excited when one of my friends texted me this pic from H&M.

Scarf: H&M

It definitely had promise! More of a cream background than a camel, but that was okay by me. The scale and colors of the plaid were perfect. The one thing that I liked about the Zara scarf was how big it was! But at the same time, I've heard it truly is like a blanket, and worried that it would swallow me. So, I was definitely looking for something that was wider than a traditional scarf, but not blanket sized! This one. Is. Perfect.

Sunnies: Tom Ford | Scarf: H&M | Top: Express | Bracelets: 1, 2 | Jeans: Express | Booties: Report (option)

I was able to achieve the blanket affect by tying the scarf like this. I don't know about you, but I love learning new ways to tie scarves. This one is a no brainer, not sure why I've never thought to do it like this before! Oh, and did I mention this H&M scarf retails for $12.95. Win win win win win.

Linking up with Vicki, Christina, Lauren, Sherry, Allison

READ MORE... "The Zara scarf dupe"

What Santa brought and what I wore

Colorblock tote (similar) | OPI Polish Set | Workout headband | Travel sized Root Pump Spray | Travel sized Hair Spray | Travel sized Leave-in Conditioner | Lululemon Vinyasa Scarf | Stila Lip Gloss Trio | Philosophy Gift set (travel sized) | Fur and sequin slippers

It's crazy how fast Christmas has come and gone this year! I swear I feel like it should only be Easter, not Christmas. I hope everyone had an amazing celebration - some of you are probably still celebrating as we speak! I am back to work on Monday myself but enjoying the rest of the long weekend. I received a lot of Christmas money this year, and since I've been on a self-imposed shopping ban since Black Friday, I'm pretty excited to spend it. What to buy, what to buy… In the meantime, just wanted to share a few of the style and beauty products I did receive as well as my Christmas outfit. For a refresher of what was in my suitcase, click here. I decided to go with the print dress and fur vest. I was inspired when my friend wore a similar look!

Print  shirtdress: Collective Concepts (option, love this print) | Faux fur vest: Express (option) | Belt: Target (option) | Bracelets: JCrew (option), Stella and Dot, Stella and Dot | Tights: Nine West (option) | Booties: Report (option)

December nights in SoCal make for perfect vest wearing weather, and I just can't get enough of this faux fur vest anyway! (Last seen here.) While I am not necessarily excited to get back to work, I'm excited to start working out and ridding some of the calories and fat I feel are hanging around my face, belly, hips, and thighs! Dang!

Linking up with:

Bethany and Meghan for Three-fer Thursday

Erin for Working Girl with Style

READ MORE... "What Santa brought and what I wore"

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!!! 

I will keep this short as this is the time for family after all! 

A few quick notes:

1. The title of this post is a reference to one of my favorite Christmas songs sung by the boy band known as 'NSync.

2. The husband was not excited to take photos until I told him they didn't have to be serious.

3. Yes, that's a Christmas stocking that I'm holding over my arm like a waiter's towel.

4. My sweater captures the 12-days of Christmas on the front and down the sleeves. I don't think it was supposed to be an "ugly" sweater. It's from JCPenny circa 7 years ago.

5. To read how we're celebrating, click here!

Hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and then some! 

READ MORE... "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!"

What's in my suitcase: Christmas travel edition

The pieces

As you could see from yesterday's post, this weekend was great, but jam packed. I ended up not having time to pack until 8pm last night, for our 6am flight this morning (read: needed to wake up at 3am.) While we were still at his parents' house last night, I swept through Pinterest real quick and started pinning travel looks into a secret "packing" board. This helped expedite things for me when I was home and actually ready to start putting things in my suitcase. The only set plans I knew of were Christmas shopping and Christmas Eve service at my dad's church, so for the most part, casual. My goal was to not have to check any bags. Here's what I packed:

(2) scarves: one predominantly for function and the other for fashion

(2) jackets: faux leather and cotton moto

(1) vest: faux fur to keep it festive

(5) tops: 2 portofinos (light and great for layering), chambray, fun striped/jeweled, and a graphic tee

(2) dresses: Satin shirtdress and cotton striped

(2) bottoms: Leggings and distressed jeans

(1) pair of tights

(2) pairs of boots: flat, knee high boots, and low heeled booties

Everything fit in my carry on bag just fine, room to spare even. This suitcase is great. I love that each side is held in place by the organizational pockets, so I usually put toiletries on one side (yep, even had room for my cover up and hair towel), and outfits on the other. 

Even though I only needed outfits for 5 days and 4 nights, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of overflow outfits in case I needed multiple outfits in a day. Right off the bat, I was able to come up with 12 different combinations:

Remember that nifty little post I put together; with a video and everything? Well, I had every intention of wearing that outfit today. I was feeling so proactive, at least having my airport outfit picked out in advance. Then, I checked the weather last night, and well, low 80s temps aren't really conducive to a thick knit skirt, thick pullover sweater, thick knit tights. I had to do a  little re-planning. It would still dip into the 40s at night, so layers were key. The outfit I chose for the airport was a similar concept to what I had originally planned, just with lighter layers and no tights. I ended up going with the 3rd outfit in the top row above, this one:

We landed at the Ontario airport at 10am this morning, and to be quite honest, the flights were rough. I had migraine-ish symptoms and felt pretty airsick. After my parents picked us up, we had some food, I switched to PJs and took a 2 hour nap. I felt much better when I woke up and decided to switch up my outfit a little bit, so we can call this lucky #13. I put the dress *over* the chambray instead of vice versa, and switched to the cotton moto-jacket instead of the faux leather one.

Jacket: Express (only available in black) | Sunnies: Tom Ford | Necklace: Express | Chambray: JCrew Factory | Dress: Express (option) | Bracelet: Tasha (option) | Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs (option) | Boots: Vince Camuto (option)

I ended up wearing this for Christmas shopping, which by the way, we managed to buy for 10 people in only 2 hours. I'd say that's success! We already had my parents taken care of before we got here, so that only leaves us with two gifts to get tomorrow. I think I do better when I wait til the last minute to shop! 

Tune in for the rest of the week to see what other combos I choose to wear and why! Hope you're getting everything you need to get done, done!

Linking up with Tori, Lauren.

READ MORE... "What's in my suitcase: Christmas travel edition"