Good morning (or afternoon or evening depending on when you read this....) and happy Monday! Hope everyone enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo or Derby Day, or whatever you had planned this weekend! We had some tacos and margaritas with friends Saturday evening and then went to the baseball game last night. The weather was perfect for both, so I definitely cannot complain! So nice to feel warmth on my skin again!! Let's get started with today's post.
Hello Monday, indeed! This is my first day officially back in the office since December 21st, so needless to say, it's been a doozy! But it's nice to get back into a normal routine again, I'm not going to lie. I loved relaxing and vegging, but there definitely comes a point when you realize you haven't showered in 4 days and it's time to do something with your life!!! Hope everyone had a great holiday, and here's to a productive, rewarding, and even better 2018!!
This is the outfit I ended up wearing on New Year's Eve while we were in Orlando last week. If you caught my blog post over the break here or saw my try-on snaps, you're already in the know about this studded velour blazer. It's gorgeous; I fell in love with it instantly! I loved the idea of pairing it over a simple slip dress or a cami/flirty skirt like this. And, since we were in Florida, going bare legged was a reasonable life choice! If you have any winter weddings this January or February, this blazer would be great option!
We had dinner reservations at Roy's on New Year's Eve, and it was all very delicious! They had a special menu for the occasion. We started off with some lobster potstickers and I got some Asian chicken noodle soup. For our entree, we split a 34 oz. ribeye. YEP. 34 ounces of juicy goodness. We didn't finish it, for the record, we took some home in a box! I was most excited about their pineapple upside down cake. I've only eaten here one other time before, and that dessert is what stuck in my head all this time! Our dinner ran pretty late. By the time we got back to the resort, it was 11:30 eastern time, so we had just enough time to change and watch the ball drop on TV. I ended up being asleep before it turned midnight central time! But hey, at least I was up for eastern time midnight?
I don't really have a list of resolutions this year. I didn't do any last year either. I think last year my goal was simply to keep my head above water. This year, if I had to choose one thing to focus on, it would be to make 2018 about ME. I tend to let the situations and relationships around me dictate my mood, stress levels, and overall happiness. But, you can only control what you can control, right? And while I can't control life, I can control the way I let life affect ME. And I want to be more positive in how I react to life's twists and turns. I want to focus on making myself better and taking care of myself regardless of my situations. Instead of reaching for that bourbon, I need to clear my mind with a good workout and watch my body get back into better shape as a result. We will see how well I do with this! Do you have any goals for the new year?
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If you've been a long-time reader of my blog, you know that I'm a huge fan of American Eagle jeans. Express and American Eagle jeans have been my go to for years now. I've tried designer denim, but I always go back to my two old faithfuls. Last week American Eagle had a buy one get one 50% off sale on their denim, so I stocked up on 4 pairs. The sale was timely because the bulk of my jeans are a bit big on me now (read more about why here.)
I love how frilly this top looks, especially in comparison with these super ripped jeans. It makes for an effortless combo. I had to throw in the pop of pink because navy and pink work so so well together. And since these jeans have a hint of a relaxed fit to them, wearing them with the pointiest and sassiest of heels is a definite must to keep the overall look feminine.
If you've been following along on Snapchat or Instagram, then you know that last Monday was an EPIC mail haul day! I may or may not have had three new pairs of shoes waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home from work. But they weren't just any pairs of shoes. They are the mothers of all shoes! Today I thought I would start with these Rockstuds. I have them in a nude patent and navy leather, but I had been wanting them in a pop of color, too. When I stumbled across these on crazy sale (thanks to Rachelle) I got the husband to agree to calling these my birthday present (2 months early) because the price was just too good to pass up for Valentinos.
It's Friday!!! We all made it! I don't know about you, but I had to start Friday happy hour early (last night) to take the edge off. It's been quite a week, but I'm thrilled to kick off the weekend! Let's just jump right in! You know the drill!
Thursday means almost Friday and Friday means almost weekend! Over the weekend there is no such thing as too much distressing when it comes to my denim. The more destroyed, the better. Add an easy tee and fun wedges and I am set. I got this tee shirt for next to nothing, but it was last summer and it was too small. I decided to try it on now and was pleasantly surprised. Seriously the best feeling ever. Something splendid indeed!
This weekend, one of our work besties got married, so it was a pretty big deal and I was ready to get dolled up. Exactly one weekend ago, I still had no idea what I was going to wear and I hadn't even shopped around yet. The husband's cousin rents pretty regularly through Rent the Runway, so I decided to give it a try. Normally cocktail type dresses don't fit me well off the hanger without alterations, so I went into this pretty pessimistic that I would find something that would work for me. Clearly, I was wrong.
Happy Friday!! The first week of April is officially under your belt. That is crazy talk, but that just means that hopefully it's one more week closer to me feeling the heat of spring on my skin for real! This weather has been such a tease! I want to dress for spring so bad, but long sleeves and layers are still a necessity as you will see in today's random roundup of selfies! Let's get started!
Yay for being back to normal in terms of health and schedule! Although I say this and I somehow have three work trips from now until the end of the month, so perhaps I should just enjoy this while it lasts! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Ours was quite great, actually. I like to call Saturday the husband's and my "day of fun!" (Friends reference here.)
Today Gina and I are collaborating to each share 4 different ways to wear this berry colored textured knit moto jacket. Yes, reunited and it feels so good! It's great to be working on something with her again, so I hope you guys enjoy this project!
Left: Original post here | Right: From random roundup post here
If you remember, I already have this jacket in ivory and in olive. I bought the ivory one late last season after admiring it on Gina and some others who had it. When I finally caved and bought one for myself, I loved it instantly and kicked myself for not getting it sooner. When it was released in olive and now in berry, I didn't hesitate to get the additional colors. I personally size down in this jacket with no intention of ever zipping it. I just like the way it looks worn open, and I don't think it would be as flattering on me worn open if I bought my normal size. Today's focus is on how to style this in berry, so let's get started.
If you read my post yesterday, you saw that I was sick all weekend, but I did manage to take selfies for the purposes of this post! Since I was resorting to selfies verses proper blog photos, I figured I'd provide you with the flat lay also so you can see more details of the pieces I chose for styling. First up is this combo-- snakeskin print cami, metal bib necklace, blush skirt, silver metallic heels.
I'm not afraid to wear blush in the colder months, so I knew I wanted to style this skirt with the jacket first and foremost. I didn't realize until I pulled the older outfit photo of the ivory version of this jacket above that I also styled that jacket with this same snakeskin print cami. It's just a good backdrop to the jacket, adding interest, but not being too overwhelming of a print.
Possible outfit adjustments:
1. You could switch out the print cami for a black one and add black tights with black booties to make it more cold weather friendly.
2. This skirt also comes in navy, which would pair beautifully with the jacket. You could do the navy skirt with this and switch the snakeskin for a solid blush colored cami, or even just a white one, keeping the shoes and necklace the same.
Outfit #2: Black tee, long tassel necklace, camo pants, black pumps
I didn't include the jacket in this flat lay, but you get the idea. I already showed you that wine and olive pair perfectly together here, so I thought I'd take it one step further and style this with my camo skinnies to mix it up a bit!
Jacket: Express | Top: Express | Necklace:Kendra Scott (gifted) | Bottoms: Gap (option) | Heels:Valentino (budget option here)
I really loved the way this turned out. The moto jacket is a nice alternative to a denim jacket in this instance, as I always tend to reach for my denim jacket when I'm wearing my camo pants. The color contrast keeps it interesting and the pointy toe pumps keep it from being too masculine.
Possible outfit adjustments:
1. Switching into a white tee and some black Chucks would make this outfit weekend ready.
2. Instead of the black tee and wine colored necklace, try a light grey sweater and silver necklace, with wine colored flats or pumps.
3. Don't have camo pants? Try some solid colored olive skinnies instead! Don't have olive skinnies either? Do black pants with an olive colored cami or tee.
Outfit #3: Striped dress, statement necklace, black lace up flats
I did this flat lay for Instagram a few weeks ago, as part of my packing post for NYC. I didn't end up wearing this combo because the weather in NYC kept warming up each day we were there, and this jacket gets warm really quickly. As I was trying on this outfit for this post, I decided to make a couple of adjustments.
Since I already showed you that this jacket pairs well with black pointy toed shoes, I decided to skip the flats and wear leopard pumps with this as well. Wine and leopard go together like peas and carrots after all! The long bauble necklace would have looked great with this also, but I grabbed my gold bib necklace at the last second since the last outfit featured a long necklace.
Possible outfit adjustments:
1. Add a chambray over or under the dress for an extra layer if you need more warmth. If you layer a chambray over the dress, add a belt, too, to define your waist. And then ditch the bare legs for tights and boots - cognac knee high boots or booties would look great.
2. Pointy toe leopard flats would work just as well with this.
3. If you don't have a striped dress, try this with a striped colored top and your fave destroyed skinnies. Or to keep it on the dressy side do a solid colored top (in black, white, wine, grey, navy, olive, baby blue, blush, or even mustard!) with a striped skirt instead.
Outfit #4: Berry colored plaid blouse, navy and ivory striped scarf, black leggings, brandy colored booties
I knew I wanted to layer this with leggings, and a plaid shirt just seemed like the natural pairing. I have a ton (ok, "only" 6) of these oversized plaid shirts from Express, the weight is perfect to layer under the jacket, and the length is perfect to wear with leggings. All my bits are covered, and I'm offering you the side view as proof.
I went monochromatic here with the top, but that was only because I realized I hadn't done a monochromatic look yet with these 4 outfits. This might be my favorite of all of the combos because I just love my layers and my print mixing. And my new booties. Ha!
Possible outfit adjustments:
1. If you're not into print mixing, just swap the plaid shirt for a solid black long sleeved tee. Or keep your plaid top, but switch the scarf for a solid color that complements one of the colors of your plaid shirt.
2. You could easily just do a chambray, leopard scarf, same leggings, and cognac knee high boots with this jacket as well.
3. Switch to regular black pants and pointy toe pumps (leopard pumps if you're courageous enough to triple print mix!), and give your top a partial tuck for a date night ready look.
And here are all four looks side by side. After I put this collage together, I realized I didn't do a very good job showing you what colors pair really well with berry. I do always tend to reach for it as a good color pop with black and white, but it does play well with more colors than you would think. Here's a quick color collage I put together to prove my point.
Well, this has turned into quite a long post! Hopefully you were able to pull some inspiration from here, and if not, Gina has four more ideas you can chew on, so please be sure to pop over there if you haven't already to see how she plans to style this! And, if berry isn't your color, check out the other three colors in which this jacket is currently available!
Before I go, you should know that Shopbop is having their Friends and Family sale right now! I'll be back tomorrow with some of my sale picks, but wanted to make sure you got a head start on your shopping cart!
Oh my goodness, you guys! It's been such a fun and amazing trip! Jenna could not be a more perfect travel partner! If you've been following along on Snapchat (carylee07), I'm sure you're getting an NYC overload! I will have to give you the proper download in another post, but for now, I wanted to share some photos from last night's rewardStyle NYFW party! Naturally, let's start with the outfit!
The husband had a day trip today (Thursday) but he got home just in time for dinner. So, we decided to go out to eat, I enjoyed a Cosmo and the Cardinals game and settled into my chair after dinner feeling content.
And then I remembered I hadn't written my post for today.
Sigh.
Not that I don't love sharing my outfits with you, I just am shaking angry fists at Past Caryl for not being more prepared!
At any rate! It's Friday now, so here are my random roundup selfies for you! I'm sorry there aren't many items in this bunch that are still available. I think it's the curse of summer coming to a close and the shelves being cleared for fall stuff! I think the two skirt outfits are my fave looks! Which is ironic because I've been over-wearing my skinny pants lately. Sometimes it's nice to whip my skirts back out though!
How cute is this mug? Funny story. The husband has to travel a lot for work (like a lot a lot, way more than me.) During one of his work trips, he saw this mug, and he thought I would like it because of my Tutu mug obsession and because of my Rockstud obsession. But he didn't buy it for me! Instead he taunted me with the fact that it existed, and of course it was not available on Starbucks' website anymore! I've searched every Starbucks in real life since then to see if I could find it with no luck.
Fast forward to a couple of weekends ago, and the husband gets an email and says that I should be really nice to him. He ended up finding the mug through eBay, and not only ordered this for me, he ordered a dotted one as well! When they arrived, I could not resist a photo op. It was such a sweet gesture! Now if I can only learn what car parts I should buy that I can surprise him with.....
Sunnies: Ray Ban (other colors here) | Necklace: CS Gems (c/o) | Mug: Starbucks (via eBay) | Polish:Essie "Butler Please" | Top:Halogen | Bracelets: Express and a random handful of bangles | Bottoms: Express (in darker grey here) | Shoes:Valentino
Naturally, I had to wear my Rockstud pumps with the mug, duh! I love the way the pumps polish off this outfit nicely. It would have been a much different look had I grabbed my Jack Purcell sneakers instead, eh? The power of a good high heel!
And as I promised yesterday, this is another of the U-neck slub tees that I am currently obsessing over! I can't speak more highly of them, and I've been talking myself out of more colors!!!
In other news, thanks for everyone who linked up to our first ever Hello Monday linkup! We had intended for Jenna to just be a co-host for the week, but the more we talked about it and with such an overwhelming amount of participation, the more we thought it would be fun to just have her as a permanent host. She currently hosts her own Thursday linkup, so we will just be merging my Monday and her Thursday together via Hello Monday! We would love for you to visit us each Monday and join the party!
