Sunnies: Charming Charlie (c/o) (option) | Scarf: Modcloth (under $15 options here and here) | Jacket: Express (similar) | Bag: BCBGeneration | Top: Banana Republic | Bottoms:American Eagle | Shoes:Gianni Bini (Dillard's brand) (exact style in other colors here, other velvet shoe options here and here)
Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to be co-hosting the Layers & Lipstick Linkup this week with J Petite and Pucker Up Style! The themes for this week are scarves and glitter eyeliner. Well, if you frequent my blog often, you know that I'm more of a scarf aficionado than I am with glitter eyeliner, so I figured I would stick with what I'm good at and style one of my favorite scarves for you!
Yes, I'm still here, and no I haven't given up on blogging! My schedule has been wicked crazy over the last couple of weeks with a house full of guests and hosting Thanksgiving with both families and OMG let's just say it's been a lot of work! I was going to attempt to keep the blog on its normal schedule, but something had to give, and frankly, I didn't even have time for social media, much less proper blog posts. I'm a bit behind on life at the moment but I'm ready to settle back into normalcy! As normal as December can be anyway! Totally not complaining though because it was all worth the stress and scrambling! I'll recap more of my family's trip here in a roundup post on Friday.
This outfit was inspired by Kim (The Style Tutor) and her Instagram post here. I always love pairing opposites together like this sweet lace skirt and tougher moto jacket, so I knew I was going to recreate it the second I saw her look. Such a good combo. I threw on the blanket scarf for extra warmth and added interest. The plaid and lace print mix is a good one!
This is basically my weekend uniform. I'm definitely all about easy layers and a top knot when I really don't want to put much thought into my outfit. And let me tell you, this sweater is THE BEST! I've been on such a big sweater kick this year, as well as an off the shoulder kick. When you mix those two things plus a super soft, plush fabric like this, I am sold! CS Gems mentioned that it was only $25, and I finally caved and got it even though I've been telling myself that it's time to stop buying winter things and save up for spring instead! It was worth breaking my own rules though!
I travel a bit for work, though since I switched jobs almost 2 years ago, I don't travel near as much as I used to! And even when I did travel 1-3 times a month, my territories were so spread out that I could never build up enough miles with any single airline. Now that my job touches the entire system verses just a particular area of the country, I'm able to fly Southwest the majority of the time I fly. I feel like you either love or hate flying Southwest, and I would fall into the "love" category, for sure.
Moto details and camo are two things I always crave, especially for fall! When I stumbled upon this dress a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about it! It's the perfect camo print, and although I don't normally go for swing dresses because they aren't the most flattering on me, I still had to add this to my closet! I knew it would be the perfect base layer in the cooler months and I really loved the way it looked under a jacket, especially this moto one! I have a feeling that I will be shopping Evereve more often!
Happy almost-long-weekend!!! Who am I kidding, I've been off since Friday, and have been very much enjoying the time off! But for those of you who are still working, I hope the next couple of days go by really fast for you. In the meantime, it's kind of hard to avoid the Black Friday sales coverage! There's nothing in particular that I have my eye on at the moment. I usually like the excitement of venturing off early Friday morning and seeing how shopping fate sets in! For those that need to prioritize your time and money, I wanted to round up some of my most favorite recent purchases to help jog some inspiration for you to reference during these impending (or already started!) sales!
I mentioned last week that March was going to be a busy travel month for me, and I wasn't exaggerating. It's not only busy for me, but it's busy for the husband, too, so we've been passing each other at the airport and I can't keep track of where he is at, much less where I am at myself!! I thought I would round up what I wore on my three day trip last week and also share this cute little hotel we found in Buffalo. Let's get started!
White skinnies for summer: See original posts here 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Hello! Welcome to our fall collaboration series! I've teamed up with nine other bloggers to give you our Ten Take on Fall! It's a three-part series to help kick start your fall style. Today's topic is all about that one piece (or pieces) in your wardrobe that you loved in the summer, but can't part with even though the season is over. In simpler terms, how do you style your favorite summer pieces for fall?
I always try and do a recap post of my vacations because 1) it's nice to share and 2) I refer back to these posts myself quite often to remember where I've been and what I've done. It's also helpful when people ask for recommendations when they're visiting these same cities and I have everything already documented! It's funny how quickly these memories fade, so I always try to write about them while the details are fresh! Let's get started!
Minnie Mouse ears baseball cap: Bought at the park, option here.
So, not only did I get to meet my nephew for the first time this week, but I also got to meet this pretty lady! We have never met before ever, and although she has seen me in my blog videos, I didn't even know what she sounded like! The drive to see her was like mentally preparing for a blind date!
I've mentioned a few times having family in SoCal. I'm awful with geography though and never realized until I was in SoCal for my sister's shower in July that Gina was less than 2 hours from my dad's house. SAY WHAT?! So, we made a point to plan a meet up the next time I was in town, which was this week. Of course the plans were already mapped out in the stars for us - lunch and shopping, and most definitely including a trip to Express!
We didn't just run to Express though, we saved that for last. We were planning on getting sushi, but the restaurant ended up being closed until 4:30 despite the hours of operation listed on their doors. We opted for the Nordstrom bistro and chatted it up - which is way easier to do in person than text or email, FO SHO. After lunch, we made a quick stop down in accessories to see if they had any Kate Spade cases for the iPhone 6 yet (they didn't) and then we headed for Zara, which is a place we don't have at home - the closest one is 4 hours away! Yay - excited!
Unfortunately, we both left Zara empty handed. Everything was a bit wintery, which was hard to get in the mood for when it was pretty heated that day. Popped into Kate Spade also, but again left empty handed. Ok then, Express it is!
I will say that it's hard to shop in person in Express when you frequent the website so often. I was specifically on a mission to find the navy stripe portofino (seen here and here) and this floral skirt (seen here and here.) Unfortunately, the navy stripe wasn't there, only the black and white stripe that I already own. BOOO. I did end up ordering that when I got home when I saw it was not only marked down to $30, but an additional 10% off. Done and done. I was able to finally try on the floral skirt though.
I shall spare you the horror that is me trying it on. I figured it wouldn't work on me because I am already naturally high waisted and carry my weight in my midsection, so I always have to size up in high waisted fitting bottoms, and the result is just not flattering. I had already went up two sizes in this skirt because that's all they had, and it was still all the way up to my boobs! I would have had to go up a third size for it to fit comfy, but it would have been huge in the hips, and guys, sometimes it's ok to just say no. So, this was a fail for me, and I shall admire it from afar on the other fabulous bloggers.
Ah. This outfit was more up my alley. I hadn't actually noticed this top on line, and you can never have too much red in your life, in my opinion. I love wearing red, but I have so very little of it in my wardrobe. This felt true to size - I liked that it was fitted but not tight.
The skort. The infamous skort. Whenever I see this, I think of the Zara version that was all the rage a few seasons ago. Express seems to be good at remaking successful pieces from other brands. I've always liked this but have never been able to take the plunge. I decided to try it on for grins. Nothing to lose, right? This black one is actually minus-the-leather, and while I love faux leather, I like that you can't really tell by looking at it that it's faux leather. I did size up in this knowing that faux leather doesn't have as much give as some other fabrics.
When I saw Gina grab the wine colored one for herself, I decided to try it, too. I did not size up in this one though - it's satin and a little more forgiving. I liked it a lot, too, but didn't think I could justify having TWO skorts in my collection, so I opted to just get the black pair - I want to wear it with black tights and black booties!
I was on the fence about the moss green top. You're probably thinking - um, isn't it just another portofino? Yes and no. The difference is that it doesn't have a collar, and it has a bit of a ruched detail at the shoulder seams. I wasn't sure if the no-collar look would be as versatile as the traditional portofino (it could look awkward layered under blazers and other jackets), but Gina pointed out that my hair covers the collar anyway. True that. Plus, I'm a sucker for all things olive right now - I have my utility vest, anorak jacket, and olive skinnies on constant repeat - so I figured this top will definitely get a lot of mileage.
Sadly/ironically, that's all I bought! But even though it wasn't a super productive shopping trip, the fact that I could share it with Gina *finally* in real life instead of texting was just perfection. When we were driving back to my dad's house after dropping her off, the husband said, "I wish you had girlfriends like that at home." ME TOO!!!
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!
The last Wednesday of January! Already! How the heck did it get here?! I feel like I'm still recovering from the holidays, and poof! The year is almost 1/12th over. Anyhoo, it is time once again to link up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for What's up Wednesday! I decided to mix my life randoms with my random outfit selfies I've accumulated lately just to keep it interesting. You can always follow me on Snapchat (carylee07) if you want the latest randoms, including real time snaps of what I'm wearing every day for work! As far as today's post, I'm only picking a handful of the What's Up Wednesday questions to answer for the sake of time, but let's get started!
Thanks for everyone's sweet notes and understanding while I take a little step back from blogging for the next couple of weeks! It's all self-inflicted guilt over here feeling like I am failing by not being able to juggle everything at the moment, but I know at the end of the day, it is totally fine and you guys know that life just happens! It is SUPER refreshing to just let things go. It's amazing what it can do to lower your stress level and just give yourself some room to breathe and recharge.
For example, I was going to take outfit photos this weekend of at least one outfit for today's post. But we didn't have anywhere in particular to go, so it would have involved me taking 45 minutes to an hour to get dolled up just to take photos for 5 minutes. The logic doesn't make sense, and the second I decided to NOT take photos and just share a random roundup with you this week instead, I immediately relaxed. And poof, I just gained a whole hour or more back into my day (on top of the extra hour we got falling back!) So yay for knowing when it makes more sense to just say no.
Happy Manic Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend - mine was certainly eventful, to say the least! Eventful and RAINY which is why you are getting these outfit pics indoors! Friday night was another Saint Louis Fashion Week (#stlfw) event. A VIP Blogger Lounge soiree at Scape American Bistro located in the Central West End. As the name implies, the event was strictly for bloggers, and all that means to me is extra stress for the outfit planning!
I tried on a couple of iterations of this outfit for Gina while she helped me decide what to wear via text. I knew this skort (originally seen here) was going to make its debut this night, I really just needed to figure out what to wear around it. Similar to my outfit from Thursday's event, I decided to wear one of my moto jackets. This tweed and minus the leather combo felt just right as the finishing piece. I normally don't go all black for evening events, so it was a nice contrast in color to go with the light colored jacket. And this necklace is just my favorite. You've previously seen it here and here. I absolutely love how the jacket camouflages the ribbon ties of the necklace and truly makes it look like it's incorporated in my top. The tweed, the necklace, plus the asymmetrical hem of the skort made for a perfect combination of details that kept me from feeling like this was just like any other black evening outfit.
I was ridiculously nervous about this event in particular. This was an exclusive brand-to-blogger event, so we were not allowed to bring any guests - it was strictly invite only. Guys. I am not good at socializing with strangers. Put me in room full of people I know, and I'm completely outgoing and at ease. Put me in a room full of strangers, and I'm awkward and shy. Yes, liquid courage helps, but there's a balance because I didn't want to be sloppy drunk, obviously! Let me tell you though, it was 100% the best time! I managed to introduce myself to a couple of bloggers I had started following, and they turned out to be extremely friendly and easy to talk to. Then somehow as the night kept going, I didn't have trouble staying occupied - if I wasn't at one of the interactive booths, then someone had gotten my attention and captured me in conversation. This is a big deal to me, and I'm not only proud of myself, but I'm also so happy and grateful that the St. Louis blogging community is so welcoming and supportive!
OK, so what did we do? Well, outside of pure socializing, light bites, and yummy cocktails, there were several brands/shops/vendors set up so you could check out their products, shop, and learn more about their backgrounds.
My one purchase of the night was this custom Illinois necklace by The Foundrie. Then, they gifted me the adorable "C" charm just for giving them a shout out on Instagram. And yes, this is similar to the necklace I won at the Blogger Awards - I figured I had Texas stuff, Missouri stuff, so I should probably get some Illinois stuff - that is where my current mailing address is anyway!
There were tons of interactive activities - I tried a flash tattoo for the first time thanks to Glik's, which has been all the rage on Instagram. So many free giveaways - Well Dressed Midwest, Jamberry, The Foundrie, and Suzanne Lay to name a few. But I must say that my most favorite freebie of the night was this live illustration courtesy of the Regional Arts Commission. The artist was Noah MacMillan and I was blown away by his talent. He literally had a waiting list the entire night but kept pumping these out and the quality never diminished - just amazes me!
All in all, definitely a great night. I'm excited to have made some new friends and proud to be a part of such an awesome blogging community. Thanks for letting me share all of my fashion week endeavors with you! The two big runway shows are later this week, so expect a couple of more #stlfw posts to come!
Hey hey! Happy Friday! It's been a good week!! Baseball is officially upon us! We've made it through the first week of April (the year is almost a third over, holy cow!) And, well, it's Friday, which is always something to be happy about! I have a handful of outfits I wore last week to share with you along with the scoop about that "paint your pup" event I went to last Friday! Let's get started!
Hello Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a busy-ish Saturday. I took a Pilates class in the morning and made plans to teach Jenna afterwards and then grab some lunch at Peel. That evening, we were supposed to have trivia night, which I was looking forward to, but it got canceled because of icy conditions. (Though the ice didn't come until super late at night and we could have gone to trivia with no issues....) We improvised and met the group for dinner at 1818 Chophouse instead with cocktails after at Foundry and Big Daddy's. Sunday, my girl time of the month hit me like a bus and I spent the majority of the day sleeping as a result. UGH. So much for being productive! But that explains why you're getting this post on a Monday instead of a Friday as this will end up being my only post for the week unfortunately. Let's go ahead and get started!
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was asked to speak at a local moms group function to talk all things fall fashion! They solicited questions from the group and sent them to me ahead of time, which was great because it helped build content for me! (I honestly wasn't sure what I would talk about otherwise!) One of the questions they asked me was about jackets and which I couldn't live without for fall. I thought I would share my answers with you today along with some shoppable links and outfit inspiration! Let's get started!
The military jacket
The three jackets that I picked aren't specific to this season. These are timeless to me -- things I've had in my wardrobe for multiple seasons, and that will remain for even more seasons, too! The military jacket is such a huge staple for me, and if you still don't have one, you seriously need to find the perfect one or four. Ha! I have a few that I rotate, but what I love most about it is that it's a lightweight layer and the green goes with basically any color.
SHOP MILITARY JACKET OPTIONS HERE:
The neutral suede moto jacket
This jacket is the most recently added of the three types in my closet. I just got this last year, but it has staying power, for sure! I will say that I purposely sized down in this style. I love the look of the lapel with a double breasted, asymmetric zip jacket, but I don't like all the excess material when worn open because of the bulk and also because you can't really see what you're wearing underneath. I sized down knowing I didn't really have any intention of ever zipping it. That said, it's definitely meant to be more of a transition jacket for me than a middle of the winter, frigid temps jacket.
I love this style because the color mixed with the soft suede makes it so cozy! And as you know, it can get pretty dark and dreary in the cooler months pretty quickly, so it's nice to have a light colored neutral to cheer things up a bit!
This jacket is just about as old as this blog! Almost 4 years! And there's a reason why Express still keeps selling it! It has a stretchy ribbed bodice at the sides which makes this fit like a glove. It's lightweight enough to wear layered under a trench vest (or any vest for that matter), yet when paired under a blanket scarf, it will keep you just as warm, if not warmer, than a heavy winter coat. You can dress it up, or dress it down. And it comes in a jillion other colors if black isn't your thing. I also have this in white and burgundy! I'm not even going to give you any other options for this style jacket because I feel strongly that this is THE ONE! And it's 40% off right now, so you really need it.
That's all I have for you today! Thanks for stopping by and linking up!
Whether it's fashion, lifestyle, fitness, food, or DIY, share your latest musings with the Hello Monday Linkup!We just ask that you link back to the hosts within your exact blog post and throw a follow our way on Bloglovin or Instagram. Thanks for linking up!
Somehow, some way it is the last Wednesday of October, which means that it is time once again to link up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for What's up Wednesday! All that means to you as a reader is that you get to read about a bunch of life randoms that I may not otherwise share on the blog. Not for any reason other than I don't really think about it! You can always follow me on Snapchat (carylee07) if you want the latest randoms! I'm only picking a handful of the questions to answer for the sake of time, but let's get started!
We got back from Montreal last night, so as I've been doing lately, I wanted to share what was in my suitcase and the outfit options I had in mind while I was packing. I definitely felt a little bit more organized than the last time I packed, which was to meet the nephew and the Gina! :) I think it was mainly because my suitcase was already packed, so it was just a matter of switching out clothes. But all my travel toiletries, jewelry, garment bags, electronics, etc., were already in their right place. It was also easier to choose outfits because I was able to bring my highly anticipated fall pieces vs. having to revert back to summer pieces that I had already mentally retired.
I brought a few new pieces with me that I've been dying to wear. The Zara scarf is just as wonderful as I expected it to be. It is BIG. I definitely felt like I was wearing a throw around my shoulders, but I like my scarves like I like my hair - GINORMOUS. These booties passed the comfort test. I knew they were great when I not only survived wearing them at the airport, which is a test in and of itself, but I had to stand in the longest customs line ever in Montreal and my feet were absolutely fine. And then as you read on Monday - I wore them walking around the city for six whole hours. I did have to retire them for dinner, but still! The little break at dinner and I was able to wear them again the next day. And again today. That's awesome! As if I didn't love them enough already! And I'm soo very glad I decided to get this minus the leather moto jacket in a second color. My black one was on major repeat last year, and I know this oxblood one will get just as much, if not more, airtime. The fit is just perfect - and it's great for travel because it's not bulky (i.e. easy to pack) but still warmer than you would think for its weight.
OK, so all that being said - what did I actually wear?
Scarf: Zara | Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs | Top: Rubbish | Leggings:Express | Booties:Hinge
I ended up wearing everything except for my herringbone vest. It was a little bit too cool to just wear the vest, even during the day, and I knew it would be too warm for me to wear on the travel home - the scarf is way easier to fold and put away if I were to get hot on the plane. My booties and oxblood jacket proved to be the right choices for this trip - I love how they make every outfit a little more special! Pretty sad to head back to real life. However, St. Louis Fashion Week officially starts today which means I will have all sorts of goodies to share with you over the next week and a half! Told you October was going to be crazy for me!
