More Pieces of Me | St. Louis Fashion Blog: February 2015

Friday, February 27, 2015

Random roundup

Well, hello there, and welcome to another edition of Random Roundup! As you read this, I will be en route to Denver, so I hope to have pretty pictures of my trip to share with you next week. For now, here are some outfit selfies that I have accumulated! I will only be linking to the items that are still available!

When I posted this outfit on Instagram, I made a reference to Jordan Catalano because I totally felt like this is a 90's inspired outfit! I can't remember where I was - I think at one of the malls in California over Christmas break, and a girl walked by me in leggings, a denim jacket, and a plaid shirt tied around her waist. I thought about how I've always loved how effortlessly casual the outfit looked, but I cannot remember the last time I tied anything other than a belt around my waist! Running errands one weekend, I figured I would try it, and 90's or not, I still loved it.

Left: Original Post | Right: Original Post

I've worn this tee three times already during this #RemixFix2015 challenge, so I thought it would be nice to showcase these looks side by side by side. The fit is really great on the tee - I love that it still looks seamless under the cardigan even though the cardigan isn't a chunky knit. A good graphic tee is certainly a wardrobe staple!

I'm sorry to taunt you with this cardigan. I wish that it were still available because it's pretty amazing, as you can see. And I had purposely picked it for my capsule hoping that it would be available for the duration of the challenge. But alas, it's gone. You can see how else I've worn it below!

Left: Original Post | Middle: Original Post

I need to wear it with my white skinnies and cognac boots next! Or with a vest layered over it! Or even my army green jacket over it! See! Such a great piece. The possibilities are endless.

The day I wore this outfit, I had a two hour meeting in a conference room where the thermostat literally read 80 degrees. Oh my gosh, I was dying. I took the vest off, but the sweater over the long sleeve FLANNEL was still so hot! In 80 degrees!! We kept trying to open the door to let some cooler air in, but it was right off the lobby and very noisy, so we couldn't keep it open for more than 5 minutes at a time. Thank goodness my hair was in a top knot, because I would have probably passed out!!

This outfit is just a little famous. I posted a flat lay of it on Instagram (with different booties), and it ended up getting regrammed by a mega account here. One of the first comments was that it is the ultimate man outfit, and I was thinking - oh my goodness, do they really think this is meant for a man?! Certainly not with my necklace and bracelets, right?! But, you know, it really could pass for a man's outfit, so I guess I can't blame them either way! I cheated a little with my capsule and chose these leopard booties over my cognac booties, because, well, LEOPARD.

I feel like leopard and buffalo plaid are pretty overdone on Instagram, but I don't care because I still love it. But it's funny because I wore this to the mall (hence the dressing room selfie), and I got a couple of compliments from people telling me how they loved how I paired leopard with the plaid. I will certainly take that compliment, but at the same time, I know it's not a Carylee original since it is EVERYWHERE on Instagram. But it just goes to show you that no matter how massive the Instagram network feels sometimes, it's really just a drop in the bucket compared to real life population!

And on that prophetic observation - I shall bid you ado! Ahem. I meant, adieu. :)

There's still time to enter the ultimate cash giveaway HERE!

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Linking up for: Midwest Bloggers, Fashion Friday, Friday Favorites, Favorite Fashion Friday

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Internet friends

Oh hey, guess what! I get to go to Denver this weekend, which I'm extra excited about. I'm meeting some of my internet friends out there - ha! But it's true. And I don't know if it's funny or sad that my husband doesn't even bat an eye at it because I seem to have more internet friends than I do real life friends that are local! I've met a few of these girls in real life already, so it's not going to be all brand new. Though, I've never been to Denver before outside of the airport!

Annnnd, I get to meet a couple of other blogger friends there, too, and I can hardly contain myself! I may as well just tell you guys I'm breaking my shopping ban again this weekend. But, I mean, I'm meeting internet friends that I met on a SHOPPING FORUM. It would be blasphemy for us not to shop while we're together! I promise to do it in moderation though. Because I really don't want to check a bag. :)

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Linking up for: Thursday Favorites, What I Wore to Work, Spotlight Weekly Linkup with Elle and Jacqueline, Look What I Got with Sharon and Tara

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Looking back

I've been very retrospective lately because I'm nearing the end of my time in my current job role that I've been doing for almost the last 9 years of my life! Many have asked what I do for a living. I work in the real estate development/new construction department for a restaurant chain. My background is architecture, and while my current role interacts with architects, it's certainly not a requirement for the job. My new role will be in the design creative department, which means I get to wear my architect hat again to a certain degree. And it's awesome because the work that I will do will effect the entire system verses just the particular markets I was previously working in.

I'm even getting a new cubicle at work, even though my new boss is equidistant from where my current boss' office is! And that move will certainly make the transition feel like a brand new job. (Yay for getting to design my cube from scratch!) While I'm excited for the change, there's certainly a huge part of me that is sad to leave the team members I loved working with on a daily basis. And there's also that fear that I won't succeed since I've been in such a comfort zone for so long, on cruise control.

But, since I try and be creative in the way I dress and what I do for this blog, I'm excited to have that creativity back in my day job again! I say that, and then this outfit today isn't terribly creative! Sometimes when it comes to the way I dress, I have to force myself to NOT be creative and just be basic! So, here's a flannel and jeans for you. And leopard. I had to add leopard!!

Don't forget to enter the Ultimate Cash Giveaway happening HERE!

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Linking up for: Oh, Hey Girl!, Thrift Sisters with Ayana and Keren, What I Wore Wednesday, Random Wednesday, I Feel Pretty, Whatcha Wearin Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The dishwasher incident

I don't know if it's the fact that I just can't be monochromatic or the fact that I naturally gravitate towards cognac when I wear anything marled, but I had to finish this outfit off with my cognac booties. I could have easily worn my black booties or my black over the knee boots, but the cognac makes this cozier!

You guys were cracking me up yesterday with your comments! I'm so glad you enjoyed the little anecdote about my name. And of course, you can continue to call me Carylee whenever you're referring to me as the fashion blogger. I mean, Carylee can be my stage name! Ha!

I feel like I can't even top that story today! Well, I guess I can tell you about the dishwasher incident. So, yesterday morning, I was unloading and loading the dishwasher. We noticed that the dishes still seemed a little murky though, and we realized that the detergent was never released in the last wash. That made two cycles in a row, so I thought that maybe those pods had gotten too old, and were no good anymore. I looked under the sink to see if we had any liquid detergent, and I found a sample of another brand I had never heard of before, but figured it was worth the try. So, I popped it in and went about my morning getting ready.

A few minutes later, the husband says, "Um, the dishwasher is leaking!" He runs off to grab some towels, and I walk out of the bathroom perplexed. I guess the dishwasher was broken after all. Except. He opens the dishwasher a little and says, "This smells like laundry detergent!" Wait, what?

So I go digging in the trash to find the box I just threw away and show the husband. He reads the label, and sure enough. It's laundry detergent. Whoops.

As we're driving to work, I giggle a bit about what happened and said, "I can't believe I did that! But those pods look awfully similar!" And he says a bit timidly (I think to soften the blow of me feeling dumb), "Well... except for the fact that the front of the box has a ginormous picture of a front loading washing machine!"

So the husband may have a point.

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Linking up for: Tuesday Talk, Tremendous Tuesday, #AllAboutYou, Erin and Laura for Trend Spin Linkup.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Hello my name is

Caryl. My name is Caryl.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned in this post that I was debating whether I wanted to write about more than just my outfits or shopping. Whether anyone even cared if I wrote about more substance. I received a lot of sweet comments about readers wanting more, so I figured I may as well start with my name. :)

Which is really just like Carol, just with a Y instead of an O. Easy enough, right? Except all my life, it has been incessantly mispronounced. I'm certain that people see the Y and immediately freak out and want to make it more complicated than it is. I get called Carly, Cheryl, Carolyn, Karen. But what I get called the most, hands down, is Carl. So. When I started this blog, I wanted people to at least think of me with a girl's name! I found that when I slur my first and my middle name (Lee) together, that people tend to get it right more often. Or, if anything, people think my name is Cary Lee, but seriously, Cary is still way better than Carl.

Isn't it funny though how you can read blogs on the daily, and you start to get to know the blogger, but in a way that you've created them in your head? Not really created, but more so, filled in the blanks to the unknowns that you aren't privy to in real life. Just like characters in a book. I think that's why movie adaptations to books can be somewhat disappointing - because it's totally different than the images you have in your head.

When I first met Jenna in person, we somehow went our whole first date without having to say each other's names. On our second date, we made a stop at Starbucks. The cashier asked for my name and I said, "Caryl." Jenna immediately paused and said, "What did you say your name was?" I said, "Caryl." And she said, "But that's not your real name, right?" Haha! She had been mentally calling me Karlie (I'm just phonetically spelling it) in her head for, I don't know, the whole year we had known each other online? A couple times during our date, she slipped and called me Karlie again. I don't blame her though! It's hard to shake that habit! Until a few months ago, I was calling Rachelle from Pinksole, Rachel! Why? I dunno! It's so obvious with the spelling. And to this day, I still slip! Ruh-shelllll. Ruh-shelllll. It will stick once I get to meet her in person!!! (It will happen.)

And if you call me Carylee in real life or in emails, I certainly won't mind ever - I did actually give myself this name. And to be honest, my mom still calls me Caryl Lee more than she does just my first name by itself anyway, so I'm used to it!

Ok - so let's talk about this outfit. I told you I wasn't done with my capsule yet! I've been wanting to remix this dress for a couple weeks now, so here you go! If you can layer anything over or under a dress, well, that just makes me love the dress even more! And since this one is ponte knit, it is structured enough to still look seamless over a bottom layer, but still enough stretch so I'm not feeling constricted! I could have made this a little more dressy with my black blazer and black booties, but once I added the leopard belt, I immediately grabbed for green and cognac!

Hope you had a great weekend! Now it's time to linkup! But first, if you missed it, I've got yet another giveaway for you. It's a cash giveaway, and you can enter HERE!

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Linking up for Style to Inspire and Rachelle and Cha Cha for #HowIFall.

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday, February 20, 2015

Random roundup: I caved

Yesterday, I brought you up to my speed about last weekend's festivities, so today I thought I would recap what I wore. But I can't really recap what I wore until I recap what I bought. Yes, you read that right.

I totally caved.

I was only "allowed" to buy 1 thing this month but a) Express was having a 40% off sale, which included some new-to-the-season pieces b) there was no way I was going to go on our special weekend trip wearing things from my capsule (mentally, I could not do it) and c) Express was having a 40% off sale!! Yes, I'm weak, but I promise I'm not done with my capsule. I still have some other remixes up my sleeve, but here are some new pieces to act as an intermission of sorts. Let's start with the dressing room photos.

Knot front slub tee | Mid rise jean legging

I'm a big fan of the partial tuck, so when I saw this tee, I was immediately drawn to it. I had visions of layering it over a long tank tunic and wearing with my skinniest leggings. The jeans, I "needed" because, if you haven't noticed, distressed jeans have taken over my closet. I needed a non-distressed pair, and these fit and feel amazing.

Knot front slub tee | Mid rise jean legging | Utility jacket (not online yet) | 24" striped suit jacket

Same base with the tee and jeans, but I layered these jackets over them. You know I can't get enough of my green anorak/military inspired jacket - but the one thing that I wished was that it were appropriate to wear indoors as well. I found this green one, and thought it was perfect for this purpose - it's definitely still fine to layer outerwear over this vs. the jacket I have now, which really is more of an outerwear piece itself.

I expressed my love for the black blazer last week, and needed another backup that was just as versatile. The fit is just like my black one, and will look great with rolled up sleeves.

Mid rise jean legging | Plaid top

I loved the colors of this plaid top! I picked it up immediately and got two compliments just walking around with it in my hand in store. It's the perfect plaid color combination for spring! Though, that won't stop me from wearing it now!

Everything I ended up buying, coincidentally, ended up being perfect to pack for the weekend. Which is exactly what I needed because I certainly did not have time to spend hours figuring out what to put in my suitcase. This outfit above was easy to throw on, comfortable, but I still felt put together. I wore this for lunch Saturday when I was barely alive from the night before.

This is what I decided to wear for Valentine's Day at the fancier Mexican restaurant. And I styled the tee just as I had pictured it in my head - over my tank tunic. I'm pretty sure I need it in different colors. I love the layered look and I also love that the tee is not baggy but not fitted either - hence, perfect to conceal my problem areas with leggings.

Necklace: Stella and Dot | Top: Express | Bottoms: Express | Booties: Hinge (option, option)

And last but not least is my outfit to road trip it back home in. The jeans and top go together effortlessly - all I needed were my cognac booties to formally make it an outfit. I seriously cannot recommend these jeans enough. I always size up in their jeggings because of my hips. And the short length is perfect for my 5'-2" self. No hemming required!

I'm sorry to let you all down by shopping. Please don't think less of me. If there's one thing I've learned about this remix challenge is that everything is in moderation, right? I definitely needed to slow myself in spending, but to go cold turkey, or even one item a month really isn't reasonable. I need to figure out what that bare minimum balance is...

And since I've caved and failed my shopping ban, I figured misery loves company and I would let you guys all fail with me. Except, I'll give you the money to shop with! I've teamed up with some fellow bloggers to bring you this $600 Cash Giveaway! It was so much fun seeing what was new for the season and shopping for not-as-cold weather. I hope I've given you inspiration on how to spend your winnings! Good luck!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $600 Cash (via Paypal)

Co-hosts: The Classified Chic // Organized 31 // Jenn's Blah Blah Blog // True Story Book Blog // Pretty Thrifty // Blog by Donna // All in a Days Work // Memoirs of a Clueless Woman® // To Be Bright // Mae Amor // A Labour of Life // God's Growing Garden // Living with Beth // Libby's Library // Mermade Moments // Stacy's Savings // Wondermom Wannabe // Yogurt Hydro // Krystal's Kitsch // More Pieces of Me // Virtually Yours

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck!

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 3/19 and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Linking up for: Midwest Bloggers, Fashion Friday, Friday Favorites, Favorite Fashion Friday

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Big Cedar Lodge

Finally getting around to sharing about my weekend with you guys! Here's an outfit conundrum for you. What if you had to go to work, be a witness at a courthouse wedding, then go to a lodge resort for dinner and you had zero time to change in between? I definitely had to look outside of my capsule for this special occasion. Luckily I can get away with just about anything at the office, so I decided to go with my faux leather skort and my foolproof over the knee boots.

The resort we ended up at is called Big Cedar Lodge. It's about 4 hours southwest of St. Louis, and is owned by the owner of Bass Pro, and knowing that should give you a feel for how intricately designed and themed this resort is.

Golf Course

Top of the Rock (and my shadow)

Chapel

From inside the chapel

Golf course

We stayed in a 3-bedroom cabin that looked basically like this. (photo credit here)

View from our balcony

The guys made sure there were flowers, chocolates, and wine waiting for us when we arrived.

It was pretty breathtaking, and I had no idea the midwest could be that beautiful. The iPhone photos really don't do it justice. The smells were amazing as well - it smelled like fall the whole time with campfire scents, cinnamon, and crisp, fresh air.

Friday we had a nice dinner, then just kept it low key having cocktails in our cabin, snacking, and playing Cards Against Humanity. Saturday was spent… recovering. I definitely can't throw down like I used to in my younger years! We had a late lunch, a nap, early dinner, dessert cocktails, then listened to the country singer comedian, Clay Self. We divulged in the breakfast buffet before heading back home on Sunday. The perfect weekend getaway with great company!

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Linking up for: Thursday Favorites, What I Wore to Work, Spotlight Weekly Linkup with Elle and Jacqueline, Look What I Got with Sharon and Tara

Friday, February 27, 2015

Random roundup

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Internet friends

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Looking back

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The dishwasher incident

Monday, February 23, 2015

Hello my name is

Friday, February 20, 2015

Random roundup: I caved

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Big Cedar Lodge

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