I'm not usually into monograms, but this shirt got me. Maybe because it's baseball styled and you know how I love my baseball. I'm not sure, but this is one of those random things that popped up in my Facebook feed and I impulse shopped it! It's super soft, but it does run just a little bit big. I probably should have ordered a small, but did the medium because I was paranoid it wouldn't fit. Oh well, nothing a good knot won't fix, right?
It was exactly one thousand degrees when we took these photos. Ok, maybe it was only 96 but with one thousand percent humidity! Rompers are so perfect for the summer. I'm a serious fan. They're lightweight and effortless and not super clingy or constricting when you're sweating buckets! But, unless I know I am going to be outside all day, inevitably I am cold indoors, or at least chilly and need some kind of cover up. That's where my millions of plaid shirts come in handy over the summer!
Necklace: Charming Charlie | Sweater: Target | Bottoms: American Eagle (option) | Shoes:Converse
Woohoo! Happy St. Patrick's Day! I honestly don't have much green in my wardrobe that isn't olive. The husband saw this sweater during one of our trips to Target and he told me I needed it. Every year, we go downtown for the parade and head to an Irish pub afterwards to devour corned beef and cabbage. His best friend's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, so the festivities are truly more for the birthday than they are for the holiday, but I can never say no to corned beef and cabbage. So.
I don't feel like I have done one of these buying lately posts in quite some time, so I figured I should probably catch you guys up a little. These are things that I have bought but haven't officially worn on the blog yet. I do like to style things as soon as I receive them as a reminder to myself that I need to wear them. So when I'm in a "what do I wear" slump, I can just sift through my flat lays and it helps jog some ideas! Each of the outfits below features one recent purchase, so let's get started!
This Scarf: Nordstrom (similar here, shop other fringe scarves HERE)
Last week, I recapped what I wore on my work trip to Providence and Boston, so I figured this week I would do the same for my Toronto trip I went on late last week. Packing for work trips is so hard for me. My struggles for this trip were: 1) I had never met anyone I was meeting, so I had no idea if they were casual or super dressy 2) I hate meeting new people wearing flat shoes, but I also knew I'd be doing a lot of walking so the shoes needed to be comfy. 3) The weather seemed to be cold, windy, and rainy. With that in mind, let's get started!
I know that technically it's not the end of summer, but it's September 1st. Kids are back in school and the start of school will always denote the "end" of summer for me! I don't do these recap posts enough, so I figured with the new month, and the implied new season, I would look back at some of my favorite warm weather looks. I definitely see a more casual trend in my favorites. I embraced the basic tee this season, and I loved anything and everything that looked hand crafted or embroidered.
I seriously feel like summer has just started. Though a teeny part of me is excited for fall. I was looking through old posts from last year, and I'm definitely missing some of my transitional pieces! Next week, I'll pull those archives and share some of my favorite fall looks from last year that are still relevant to this upcoming season! Stay tuned!
It's hard not to dress the part of the holiday, especially when you're a fashion blogger and red, white, and blue are everywhere! I was going to come up with something super creative for the holiday, but I feel like the times that I do this, I end up looking ridiculous (like here and here.) Ok, I'm going to go ahead and put a padlock on that vault. *shivers* One thing I've learned over the couple years blogging is that I suck as an artsy, nonchalant poser. My traditional front view photos with some detail shots are way less awkward and distracting!
This year, I just wanted to keep it simple, and I was so excited that my favorite baseball tee was clean again (let's just say, it's been awhile…) because it creates the perfect all-American outfit, especially when you throw in some red Chuck Taylors to finish it off.
Sunnies: Ray Ban | Necklaces: Banana Republic layered over Express (option) | Bag: Kate Spade (option) | Top: from Amazon (similar here and here) | Bracelets: Tasha (option) and Nadri (similar) | Shorts: Express (last season) option here and here | Shoes:Converse
If this is too casual for you, you can pull the idea of color blocking from my look and translate it into something a little less sporty. I definitely felt less costume-y by doing pops of color and sparkle verses grabbing actual starred and striped pieces. I pulled items to build this inspirational outfit below from Farfetch as part of a 4th of July blogger style challenge!
I always love to look back to see what I was doing this time last year. Ironically, I was wearing these exact shorts here - they're my favorite then, and they still are now! I was also already talking about the Nordstrom anniversary sale that week, and if you follow me on Snapchat (carylee07), you know I never ended up getting my catalog! The anniversary sale is a big deal in my world! I refuse to google what is in the catalog because I want to experience it for myself with my sticky notes and pen and without my opinions or wants being skewed by what everyone else is lusting after! So, if you have your catalog and your wish list ready, *lalalalalalalalala* I'm not listening!
Hope everyone has a great short week! I'm super excited for a long weekend!!!
Before I get into this post - yesterday, Gina dedicated a post to shopping bans and how a few of us *really* feel about them. Check it out here.
Ok - so, if you've been a long time reader of mine, you already know how much of a big fan I am of Keysocks - you can see my original product review here. It's been about a year and a half later, and I'm still swooning, if not more. As long as I'm wearing pants, Keysocks are the only socks I wear, and I have about 6-8 pairs now in my collection as a result. For me, I don't use them for my pumps and I very rarely wear flats - I've purged the majority of them from my collection because I just don't wear them enough. However, these socks are invaluable to me when I'm wearing sneakers or booties. Seriously, they changed my life.
Keysocks reached out to me to do a product review, not knowing that I was already gaga over them. For the sake of full disclosure, I let them know that I've already done a review on the blog just so they're not sending me free socks I already own. (I mean, I would take them because clearly I love them, but I do want to be new and sincere when I share my reviews with you guys!) I didn't realize they had a new "light" line that are a little thinner and geared more towards spring and summer use! They're eco-friendly also. The soft, lightweight fiber is converted from coffee residue.
Honestly, I don't feel that much difference in the weight of the socks - they do feel a little bit thinner, but I really didn't think that the original style was that thick to begin with and I wore that version year round regardless. But, I am happy to add these to my collection and I do love the lavender and yellow colors that they come in!
As you can see in the photo above, they're a bit visible from the side view, but it's never bothered me because no one will ever be laying on the ground like this staring at my ankles. Plus, you can't see them at all from the front view and they will never ever ever slip off your heel.
Sunnies: Ray Ban | Necklace: Express | Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim | Top:Express | Bracelet: Express | Bottoms: Express (option) | Shoes:Converse (similar color here) | Socks: Keysocks ℅ (available on Amazon standard here and light here)
Do you all ever have the issue with your skinny pants riding up on your calf and bunching at your knee? Keysocks are the perfect solution for that as well. When you don't have anything between your bare skin and your pant leg, there's no friction barrier to keep your pant legs down and in place. Since Keysocks are knee high, they provide that friction barrier and help minimize this movement to keep your legs looking longer and leaner. I love this before and after example below. The pants on the left are just a little bit cropped, so my Keysocks were too visible to wear them. And you can see how horrible they bunch at my knee as a result. I switched to non-cropped pants so I could wear my Keysocks, and now the bunching is minimal and it makes such a noticeable difference for me. Not to mention I'm not constantly tugging my pant legs back down….
I can't speak more highly of them and it's no wonder they are a best seller on Amazon! I hope this has all been helpful. There are a few things that I swear by, and Keysocks are definitely on that list. I truly could not live without them, especially with all my booties!!!
And it's still raining as I type this, no joke. But I won't complain about the weather since you all seem to enjoy my selfies anyway! <3 And somehow I am not sure how it is Friday already! We had two days of department meetings yesterday and now today and I am beat. Early mornings and late nights are immediately draining! Fingers crossed that this weekend is relaxing but dry and productive!
Now that I feel like I can't wear my destroyed jeans to work anymore, I feel like I *never* wore them. I busted them out finally this weekend, and it felt so good! Another thing that feels good is this Bailey 44 top. Fitted but forgiving - it's the best!
Oh, Piperlime, RIP. So sad. This dress was one of the last things I ever ordered from Piperlime, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. And I love this vest - it always gets so many compliments, and I really wish JCrew Factory would bring it back! It's the perfect layer over a dress like this when I want to have pockets!
I completely plagiarized this outfit from my friend, Renata - you can see her version here. It's such a fabulous combo! I love finding new ways to wear existing pieces! And I love it when your friends basically dress you so you don't have to think!
Sneaking another game day outfit in here for you. I wore this to the Memorial Day game and the guy that took my ticket was very smitten with the fact that I strategically wore camo on Memorial Day. Haha! But yes, it was totally planned that way.
This romper is one of those pieces that you really wish never went out of stock because everyone oohs and ahhs every time I wear it. And, I really can't blame them because it's pretty fabulous. That's why I had to buy it in the first place after seeing it on Rachelle back in the day here! I have Rachelle to thank for LOTS of things I buy, actually!
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Have a great weekend, everyone! I truly appreciate all of your comments and support!
I received a frantic text from Gina yesterday morning asking/confirming that I didn't actually have a blog post live yesterday. Yes, it's quite weird for me also to not have 5 posts every week. I wasn't exaggerating though on Monday when I said it's been raining for an eternity. And unfortunately, rain means that I can't take photos outside, and if I can't take photos outside, well, that's basically the entire point of my blog. Yes, I can take photos inside, and perhaps if it's still raining this weekend, I may just have to resort to that. But in the meantime, I figured I would just keep it short and sweet this week with Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posts. And, since I have a ton of outfit selfies accumulated on my phone - you're getting two random roundup posts in one week!
If this top looks familiar, it's because I wore it for the style event last month. I really just needed something foolproof to throw on this day, and nothing is easier than a crisp white top and light washed denim. Leopard is always the perfect finishing touch. Always!
Top:Express | Bag: Kate Spade | Shorts: Express | Shoes:Converse
This is a weekend look that I wore running errands, but I had to go from running errands to going to a Cardinals game. This is an incognito game day outfit, no? It works for the fourth of July also if you need outfit inspiration for the holiday.
Jacket: Zara | Necklace: Express, Stella and Dot | Top:Express | Bottoms: Express | Shoes:DV Dolce Vita
This outfit was a product of another inadvertent Instagram outfit chain. This formula was black and white stripes, plus caged style cognac heels, and a pop of color. I realized when I was putting this together that I don't have a great striped cami, and ended up buying the one seen here as a result!
I have been trying to master the side Dutch braid for awhile now, and while I still have some perfecting to do with my technique, this was the first time that I got it presentable enough to leave the house. And yeah, I may have gone a little too costume-y with the poncho and the lace up sandals, but I couldn't resist.
I never really realized how much I love my leggings until I don't wear them for awhile. We were going through a cool spell - cool enough to whip my faux leather leggings out again, and I ended up really missing fall after I threw all this together. These second skin booties don't hurt either!
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And that's all I have for you today. I hope this gives you enough to chew on, and hopefully I will be back with proper photos soon! I think I'm going through withdrawals!!
After I spent the last week running around trying to make sure I had everything ready for the shower, I had to do MORE running around. You know how it goes - without fail there are always one or two small tasks that you've forgotten about and need to do last minute. And this outfit was perfect for for that.
I have this tank in two colors - the other is a neon peach. I put together this flat lay for a style idea:
It's the perfect alternative to a ribbed tank - sometimes ribbed tanks are not super flattering for my problem areas. Perhaps I will revert back to them later on once my workouts start paying off, but for now, I love how easy this tank is. It's relaxed but not baggy. I ended up ordering it in two more colors - black and white. I'm sure they will get tons of use!
Sometimes the best outfits are the ones that are stripped down like this. Nothing fussy, but just enough to feel cute. And, a statement bag always helps when all else fails.
