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.
Before I get into this post, I know I picked an odd week to get my blogging schedule back on track! Thanksgiving is a crazy week in and of itself, after all, and my normal outfit posts don't seem super relevant with Black Friday and holiday shopping, etc. So, just to give you a heads up on my schedule this week - I have my Pilates recap today (#sorrynotsorry but I can't put off writing about this ginormous milestone in my life), I have an extensive gift guide post + giveaway coming at you for tomorrow (Tuesday), I will share my random roundup post with you on Wednesday, and then sometime over Friday/Saturday, I will share everything I got for Black Friday, because I do plan to do my normal 6am shopping on Friday! Ok! Not for Pilates.
Happy Monday, everyone! (If there is such a thing as a "happy" Monday anyway....) This weekend was nice and low key. I had a hair appointment early Saturday morning then got to spend a long lunch with Jenna as a belated birthday celebration for her! The husband and I then caught a movie later that afternoon (Geostorm, which was better than I expected. Really, I would have watched any movie, I was seriously just jonesing for some movie butter popcorn!) Yesterday, we had our annual fall car cruise with the Camaro club and I was able to catch up on some blogging. Nice and relaxing!
It's the last Wednesday of the month which means it's time for another dose of What's Up Wednesday, the linkup hosted by Mel, Shay, and Sheafer. I really don't have an editorial type blog, if you didn't notice. Because work can be stressful, I often keep my content on the blog very light and easy to read. But, it's also nice to share actual life stuff with you guys once in awhile, and these prompts are the perfect conduit to allow me to share! Let's get started!
I've been reaching for vests more and more over the last couple of weeks. Especially this one! Usually, I'm all for my green military version, but I am loving this one because it's trench colored, yet obviously not a trench. Regardless, I love it, and I'm glad that I got it when I did. Vests are perfect for adding a little something to an otherwise basic outfit, like a chambray and white shorts!
Being sick this weekend and not having new blog outfits to share with you just gives me more time to share sale finds with you instead! And I mentioned yesterday that the Shopbop Friends and Family Sale just kicked off Tuesday at midnight. It's been hard narrowing down my list of things I want, but here is everything I've had my eye on in case you need some inspiration! Normally I like to entice you guys with sale stuff once I actually have my purchased items in hand! But, since it's only a 3-day sale, and I can't shop in a brick and mortar store, I'm not going to have my items in hand before the sale ends, so I'll have to share my wants via stock photo collages instead of my usual flat lays or dressing room selfies. I tried to select items that are unique to me so hopefully your blog feed isn't a sea of the same sale stuff!
I really try not to just jump right in to shoes and handbags. I'm not sure why, but clothes are always the last thing I shop for during big sales like this. But, in an effort to provide you with well-rounded choices, I made sure to start my picks from the top down - literally and figuratively. I always tend to crave Free People even more, specifically in the fall. Perhaps I have more of a boho style in the fall? I don't think so? But for whatever reason, I love their stuff even more during this time of year vs. any other season. Maybe it's because literally every piece they make pairs well with booties!
I have a pretty healthy collection of faux leather jackets, yet somehow still not quite enough. Jackets are also a favorite of mine to shop during big sales because I feel like I get more bang for the buck - I can wear it with several outfits vs. just one outfit, which makes the price per wear a better value. That's my logic anyway!
Shop Current/Elliott "Stiletto" jeans HERE and Joe's Flawless Vixen Jeans HERE
The same goes for designer denim. It's a relatively bigger ticket item, but denim is something that is a constant workhorse in my closet, so I don't mind dishing out a few more dollars for it.Waiting for a sale like this to invest in some designer denim makes the price tags a little more palatable anyway! Jenna convinced me during the anniversary sale that Current/Elliott jeans did wonders for my tushy, and you'd know she was right if you saw this post here. I've picked up another pair since then, and have my eye on a couple more. You can also see me sporting a pair of the Joe's Flawless Vixen jeans here.
Admittedly, I'm not even quite sure how to pronounce the word "Cuoio" but I can tell you that it's gorgeous. As I was perusing the site, I noticed that I would instantly start drooling when a bag in this color appeared on my screen. And then I realized they were all named exactly the same color. I am obsessed! Picking a bag is going to be a tough decision!
And last, but never least are shoes. With fall upon us, pumps and booties are my jam. Shopbop has a ton of options in every price range, but I did turn to my old faithful, Sam Edelman when I started my search for pumps I "needed." And these black peep toe Splendid booties are calling my name! I am swooning over that zipper detail!
And, if you're looking to just buy one splurge item and be done with it, I recommend the infamous Clare V clutch. I know, it's a bit blogger cliche, but that doesn't stop everyone from posing with a Starbucks cup, now does it? I resisted the clutch for a long time, but then Jenna pointed out this olive one, and it was hard to say no to it. And for 25% off, I think it should be hard for YOU to say no to it, too!
______________
Well, I think that's enough for one post! Hope you had fun shopping with me! I'll be sure to share everything I ended up buying in a future post! The best thing about Shopbop is being able to log in with your Amazon Prime account and having free 2-day shipping! That means I will be flat laying my new purchases by the weekend! Woo!
Happy Friday! Super excited because first thing tomorrow morning, I will be headed to see my nephew! Eeee! I've managed to accumulate a handful of random outfit photos to hopefully leave you inspired for the weekend. You can see my other random roundup posts here, and you can always follow me on Instagram for day to day updates! And, you know the drill by now - for the sake of time (and my sanity), I'm only linking to pieces that are still available. Lesgo!
This top is an oldie but a goodie. I love jersey tops and dresses by BCBG. So effortless and the prints are always saturated and so much fun. I also love the fit - it's fitted but forgiving and not constricting. Perfect with these ponte knit Express pants. And can we talk about my hair for a second? I've started to really embrace my second day hair (not to be confused with UPS 2nd day air) and allow dry shampoo (I use this) to be my best friend. I would always, and I mean ALWAYS throw second day hair up in a pony or a bun or other updo, but I've realized that, although time consuming, curling my second day hair produces the prettiest results sometimes!
Vest: JCrew Factory | Necklace:Stella and Dot | Top: from Amazon | Bottoms: Express | Shoes:Steve Madden
Ah, my favorite vest. I wore the top/vest combo here, for those of you who like to see an old school post. I could not, for the life of me, take a good outfit selfie this day. No joke, I took about one million photos from the top view looking down. These pants have a subtle railroad pinstripe that give the outfit a bit more dimension. And, not shown in this pic, is the same Foley + Corinna bag above. The husband caught me trying to take a "from where I stand" selfie in front of some flowers outside at work. Still unsuccessful. Definitely some #fashionbloggerproblems right there. Just for fun - I'm also wearing this baseball tee with my pajama pants while I was trying on my beloved Zara shoes I wore earlier this week:
I told Gina, the shoes kinda go with my jammies. Don't they?! (Pajama pants are last season Old Navy, btw.)
Guys, it's really hard not to wear this top every single day. The outfit with this top plus my scuba leggings (here) is seriously one of my favorite outfits on the blog to date. This was a quick weekend breakfast date with the husband. I know I will be grabbing this top plus leggings plus riding boots as the weather continues to get cooler. #sorrtimnotsorry
Speaking of hair - I got a lot of compliments this day on my hair - that it was super fancy and I was ready for homecoming. (OK, maybe some of those comments weren't actually compliments.) I really didn't mean for it to be fancy, I just threw it up because I didn't really have time to do it, and just haphazardly started pinning it. It's nice to know that I can camouflage laziness with an updo!
I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this top because it's more sheer than my other portofinos, but honestly, it didn't bother me. I did, as you can see, wear a grey cami under it, but it wasn't obnoxiously noticeable (and if we're being honest, I used the shelf bra as my real bra that day….so it was extra comfortable.) One of the perks to being smaller chested :)
Another easy weekend look for you. We were out and about running errands, and this was the first time I took my black slip ons out for a spin. So far, no regrets buying these bad boys, especially with the $22 price tag! And this is another BCBG top - guess I didn't realize how many of these I had in my closet. But they're really great - this one is easily 2-3 years old, but something that will be in my closet until it breaks. Effortless tops like these are staples for me.
Two other things on repeat here - my denim jacket and my Rebel pendant necklace. The fit on this jacket is just the best! Some denim jackets are boxy - and I'm just so in love with this one. Every time I wear it, I am thankful I bought it. Same thing with this necklace. I had avoided it for the longest time, but now that I have it, I can't not wear it. It provides just the perfect amount of bling. This dress you have seen two other times - awkwardly here and winterized here. Definitely one of my favorite dresses in my collection because it has so much layering potential.
Yep, all my favorites are in this post today! I la-la-love this skirt! I can't be too mad at Rachelle for enabling me to buy it, nor can I be mad at her that I ordered it in grey, too! It's so comfy and effortless, but still interesting and fun! Adding my black slip ons to complete this black and white look was perfect for dinner at a local bar with the husband!
And last but not least is this outfit styled with one of my four Barcelona camis. Funny how the weather has turned in such a short amount of time! It was ridiculously hot this day, and I really just needed to not be sweaty. This was so lightweight and perfect. Little did I know, within a couple weeks, I'd be wearing layers! Woo!
And that's all I got for you today, folks! Still amazes me how fast these random outfits add up, but thanks for letting me dump them off on you! Now time to go squish my nephew!!
This weekend we were celebrating good things. I wore this Saturday night to dinner celebrating five years --- five years ago we got married on a beach in Riviera Maya Mexico. Sigh. We went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner, and then we may or may not have smashed some Cold Stone Creamery afterwards. I chose this outfit because I felt the dress was perfectly romantic feeling for the occasion. I was really excited to feel the temps drop about 20 degrees since Friday, so this blazer was a perfect cover up!
In other news - my sister had the baby this weekend! Meet Jonathan James, born Saturday, September 6 at 2:52pm pacific time, 8lbs 2oz and 20" long. She was admitted Friday night and IV induced. So basically, I was checking my phone late Friday night up until he was born Saturday afternoon. I love technology because my mom was in the room with her and my brother in law the whole time texting me and my brother with updates along the way. And I was able to send my sister a sappy "wish I was there" video before the real work began. So excited! I get to meet him in person later this month!!
Hope you all had a great first weekend in September also! Just a reminder about my St. Louis Fashion Blog award nomination! Thank you to everyone that has voted and continues to vote! You can vote once a day per email here (category #6). If I win, you guys have to pick something I should do for you as a thank you for the support!
