Another birthday + a giveaway!

Necklaces: Kendra Scott "Amanda", Kendra Scott "Lizzie" | Bag: Charming Charlie "Fearless" studded satchel (c/o) | Kimono: The Fashion Lane (also sold here) | Dress: Joie (shop more black tank dresses here) | Ring: Kendra Scott "Kenny" | Sandals: Jimmy Choo "Alana" (other colors here) (shop more black dress sandals here)

Yep, it's my birthday! I can't believe this is the fourth one I've gotten to celebrate on the blog! Time flies! As I was putting together this post, I couldn't help but read back at my previous birthday posts to see what I wore and what I did. I gotta admit, I usually dread my birthday every year, but I really need to get over that. The last few birthdays have been absolutely amazing, and this year is no exception. We celebrated this weekend, and I'm writing this post ahead of time, so I'll have to share the day-of excitement in a later post. For now, let's talk about how we celebrated this past weekend!

READ MORE... "Another birthday + a giveaway!"

Hello Monday: Striped mini dress

Hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating all the moms out there! The days went really fast for us as usual. I kicked off Saturday with a yoga class, then quickly changed into my Cardinals gear to head downtown for the game. I promised the husband we would see Captain America this weekend, too, so we ended up doing that after the game. Before we knew it, it was bedtime! Sunday I was running around like crazy - working out, getting stuff in order for Mother's Day, then I ate my weight in food for the evening. But, alas, it's all consumed in the name of mom, right? So it makes it ok? Yes, yes of course.

Sunnies: TOMS (option) | Earrings: House of Harlow | Necklace: CS Gems | Bag: Kate Spade (Shop black Kate Spade bags here) | Vest: Gap (similar) | Dress: CS Gems (c/o) (Use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off!) | Wedges: Jimmy Choo (budget options here and here) (shop other black wedge sandals here)

You guys know that I love to layer. Layering vests over dresses is the best. Even though this dress already has pockets, you can never have too many places to hold things, right? And I just love how the vest adds something else to look at by breaking up the monotony of the stripes. Any one of my utility jackets would have worked just as well in place of the vest, but since the temps are actually warming up a bit, the vest adds another layer while still keeping me cool and comfy.

READ MORE... "Hello Monday: Striped mini dress"

Turquoise + midi

Sunnies: Vince Camuto | Earrings: Canned Goods (gifted) | Necklace: CS Gems (Use code CARYLEE15 for 15% off) | Bag: Michael Kors (option) | Jacket: JCrew Factory | Top: Express | Bracelet: JCrew | Skirt: Express | Shoes: Jimmy Choo

This midi skirt is basically the solid black version of my favorite striped pencil skirt midi. When I saw it was available in black, I figured it would be a great staple to have. I decided to mix some casual pieces today, but with a splash of shine with my sandals. This outfit is very travel friendly and came with me to San Antonio this week. Yes, I managed to schedule some posts for you even though I was on vacation. Sometimes I amaze myself!

And yes, this is the second time you're seeing the slub knot tee this week. I almost didn't want to wear them back to back, but I also wanted to show you how versatile they are in case you didn't believe me the first time I told you. :)

A full recap of my trip and my brother's wedding is coming your way next week! Stay tuned!

Bloglovin | Facebook | Instagram

SHOP THE LOOK:

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

READ MORE... "Turquoise + midi"

Things I do in bed

Well, I apologize in advance for any slow response times to comments and the inability to read around at everyone's blog posts! We had such an amazing turnout yesterday for Manic Monday, and it's just getting started! I feel bad when I can't enjoy everyone's posts who took the time to linkup and participate. At least not right this second! I shall catch up this weekend!

After having a travel free month for work in July, I have two pretty long trips scheduled this week and next week for August already. And since travel outfits aren't necessarily blogworthy, you'll be getting a couple of outfits I've worn over the last couple of weeks, but held on posting since I knew I'd need some filler outfits while I was on the road. This is one of them, which you may remember from Instagram:

via Instagram

I'm not even joking when I say I came up with this outfit lying in bed debating on whether or not I wanted to go to work. I had been fighting migraines all week and was not feeling the best that morning. I did what any girl does first thing in the morning and grabbed my phone to see what the latest was on Instagram. You know, in case I missed something while I was sleeping. Well, luckily I ended up seeing this post which led me to order this vest (seen here) at 6 in the morning, while lying in bed. Seems silly, but by 9am that same vest was backordered, so thank God for Instagram, amiright?

Anyhoo - I'm getting off topic here! After being gently persuaded to take the plunge and buy that vest, I was checking out Emily Gemma's other posts and came across her outfit here. And that outfit was the motivation for me to get out of bed and get dressed.

Polish: Chanel "Atmosphere" | Bag: Kate Spade (option) | Top: from Marshall's (option, option) | Bracelet: Gifted, Gorjiana | Jeans: Express (option) | Wedges: Jimmy Choo (budget option here and here)

Looking back at these photos, I can't help but be thankful for my curling wand. It has just done wonders for my hair, and I love the way it looks. Not only that, but I feel like these curls last a long longer, too. Remember my tea party look here? That was second day hair. I didn't re-curl it at all.

Clockwise from top left: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

I had to do a side by side comparison for you guys. The photos on the left were done with a traditional curling iron. The photos on the right were done with my curling wand. Definitely two different types of looks, but the wand just gives my hair more depth and texture. Yes, a little more time consuming, but certainly worth the results in my opinion. If you missed my video tutorial on how I use my wand - you can catch that here! How do you think your hair looks best? And am I the only one who looks at Instagram before I fall asleep and as soon as I get up?!

Bloglovin | Facebook | Instagram

SHOP THE POST:

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

READ MORE... "Things I do in bed"