Comfy Jewels

      I was looking through my Picasa album to figure out what pictures I hadn't posted yet and found these from November.  I have no idea why I didn't post them at the time.  Maybe because I took them in the kitchen instead of on the porch?  I don't know.
     This is one of my favorite big comfy sweaters.  It is exactly as it seems, warm, big and comfy.  The perfect attributes to a sweater, as far as I'm concerned.  Little did I know when I purchased this sweater, that it is also the perfect color for me.  According to this article from Shine on Yahoo, its the perfect color for me.  I've read several articles all over the place that claim to tell me what colors are best for me.  None of them have ever made sense to me.  This one, because of its simplicity, does.  After reading through the article, I determined that I'm a Sunrise and as such jewel tone colors are supposed to look best on me.

Sunrise: “In the morning, the sunrise palette colors are clear, clean and crisp,” says Eiseman. “Primarily blue undertones evolve into jewel tones.”
Coloring : Fair-skinned, dark-haired brunettes; fair-skinned silver-haired women; fair-skinned cool blondes; dark, blue-black skin tones with dark hair; and olive skin with dark hair.
Palette : Shimmering jewel-tones like emerald, sapphire, aquamarine and amethyst.

Messy kitchen over my right shoulder!

 I guess it makes sense.  I mean the sweater does look good, right?  And I am most definitely a fair-skinned dark-haired brunette that can occasionally be an olive skin chick with dark hair.  I'm not 100% convinced that these are the *only* colors that look good on me, but they are some of my favorite to wear.  So I guess this color scheme is a good place to start.  Its not, however, a reason to throw out all my pink, black, white or red tops though.  Just a starting point.

    If you've been looking for a color scheme to help you figure out your best colors, because of its simplicity, I definitely recommend the article as a starting point.  If, however, you know what you look good in, then it probably really won't rock your world any, but it might be a good read anyway.  Are you a sunrise, sunset or sunlight?  

The Details:

Sweater: Target

Tee: NY&Co

Pants: Gap

Heels: Aldo

Necklace: Banana Republic Outlet

"new" to me

     This outfit makes me really happy, and there are a couple of reasons for it.  First, its makes me happy because 2 of the items, the sweater and jacket, are "new-ish" to me, but not new.  You see, my little sister spent her Christmas break at my parent's house in Puerto Rico.  While there, she rummaged through my closet as well as my mom's and brought me back some of her plunder.  This jacket, for example, has been hanging in my closet at home for years.  I bought it on a whim because it was on sale and never wore it.  Seriously, when I got it from my sister the tags were still on it.  This time around, though, I knew exactly how I wanted to style it, which by the way, was my problem when I got it.  I just didn't know how to wear it, nor did it really fit into my life at the time as an Undergrad.  

     In fact, this is the second reason why I love this outfit.  I've seen plenty of women rock jackets as part of their outfits and not just as outerwear.  I have tried to recreate the look, but I just didn't have the right jacket in my arsenal, until now.  This jacket does exactly what I want it to.  It fits really well and goes from outside to inside without a problem.  And it fits my life now.  I'm in a position where wearing a jacket and a sweater looks put together AND appropriate.  It totally dresses up the jeans and boots combo.  Did I mention that it made me feel pretty?  What sorts of clothes and outfits make you feel pretty and put together?

Bella posing while I take pics.

The Details:
Jacket: Wilson Leather
Sweater: NY&Co.
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Candie's 

EDIT: My mom called me to tell me I look great in these pictures!  She even said I look skinny! :D 

Year in Review

      2010 was a big year for me, I graduated from law school, took the bar, failed it, started my first legal job, moved and turned 26.   Here's a look at my favorite outfits of 2010.

January

 

February

 

March

April

May

June

August

September

October

November

December

Air Force A-C

     I put this outfit together and immediately felt like a female Air Force officer out of the 1940s.  I didn't mean it that way, but so much khaki and that collar just sort of made it that way.  I got the dress months ago and just couldn't figure out how to wear it.  I got it at a consignment store over the summer and at that time it was too warm for think 3/4 sleeves.  Then it was fall and I thought there was just too much khaki and I needed to break it up.  Being that fall here is pretty mild, layering a cardigan would have been too much.  Then finally it was winter and cold enough to wear it, but. . .
    The skirt is just too long.  It's been tough to put together an outfit.  I kept wanting to wear it with heels but my legs would be cut off.  Even this iteration of the dress isn't great as my legs look stumpy.  Nonetheless, I prefer the boots look over the heels look.  I think its because while wearing boots + tights, its ok not to see someone's knees.  Anyway, I'm going to see about hemming this dress.  I think it will just be more flattering if it hits me just under the knee rather than mid-upper-calf.  I also think that I would like to add a tulle skirt ala Audi's outfit under this dress to add some floof and interest to the dress.  It would probably fit with the vintage vibe that I get from the dress too.
    If you've been following me on Twitter (@lawfashionista) then you'll know that I've already begun studying for the bar exam again.  As a way to better concentrate on studying, I've stopped working and will only be studying for the next 7 weeks.  This means that I won't be getting dressed to go to work.  I'm not sure what that will mean for the blog.  I have plenty of backdated outfits to put up and I'm sure when I go on errands I'll change out of my sweats, but don't be surprised if I end up writing posts about how awesome sweats and PJ pants are to study in.   As I figure out a good workable schedule while I'm studying I may not be on a predictable posting schedule.  For the meantime, the bar is my #1, 2 and 3 priority, so that comes first.  The advantage of my being home, of course, is that I have more time to work out, so maybe I'll end up posting about how awesome that is.  We'll see.  Just wanted to give you all a head's up.  Any tips or suggestions on how not to get stressed when studying a humongous test?

The Details:
Dress: Consignment
Cardigan: Target
Boots: Target
Tank: Old Navy
         

Polka dots!

Ready for Court

     I got these tights late last Spring at a time when I didn't feel like wearing tights anymore.  Nonetheless, I've been dying to wear them and finally was able to a few weeks ago.   

Closeup of Tights

Silhouette

The Details:

Cardigan: 

Blazer:  JCPenney

Blouse: The Limited

Skirt: NY&Co.

Belt: Target

Tights: Target

Heels: Aldo

Ruffles and Stuff

 First the Ruffles:

    This outfit is from a few weeks ago.  In fact, its from before I got my hair cut.  I've had this blouse for a little over a year, but am often hesitant to wear it.  While I love the ruffles on it, I'm often afraid that the ruffles add a bit too much va-va-voom to my figure.  That and the elastic bottom of the top just isn't my favorite.  To me it seems like all the extra fabric above the elastic adds volume to my body in an area where I don't want more volume.  In order to counteract this effect, I added a cardigan that hits at exactly the right spot.  The cardigan "hides" the extra volume and keeps the top part of the outfit close to my body.  That and the blue + purple combination just makes me happy.  Double win.

The Details:
Blouse: Target
Cardigan: Target
Pants: Gap
Heels: Nine West

Now on to the stuff:  

    I hope you all had a great Christmas holiday, if that is what you celebrate that is.  We went to The Fiance's parent's house for part of the weekend.  Of course we took Bella and had a very nice time.  I love going to visit them as they have been the nearest family for most of the past few years.  Luckily my sister moved to within 2 hours from us in August, so that's a plus.  But of course, my parents still live in Puerto Rico, a rather long set of flights away, so closeness of family is important to me.  

     Aside from seeing family, we also had snow!  It doesn't snow here a lot, and it definitely didn't snow as much as it did where I went to law school.  Nonetheless, snow is snow, and snow makes me happy.  Its so fun and makes everything, even sad dead trees look pretty and clean.
    On a not so happy note, I've begun to study for the bar again.  At the moment its just plain boring.  But I'm about 10,000% sure that at some point over the next 2 months I'll get really depressed because I'm going over the same thing I did this summer and even with all that studying I failed.  For some this is going to sound whiney, but I've never failed anything in my life.  I've been nothing but a great student my whole life.  And then I failed the most important test I've ever taken.  I've been trying not to throw myself a pity party since I got my results, but some days its really really hard not to.  On days when I'm reminded by how much my bills are or how hard it is to pay off my car or cable bill or anything else, then I feel really awful.  Essentially it goes like this: 

Bad thing (normally a big bill)--> Can't pay it b/c don't have the $ for it --> It's all my fault b/c I failed the bar --> feel like shit.  

When the cycle of feeling like crap begins, I know exactly how it will end, normally me in tears or pissed off at myself or both, AND its all but impossible to stop.  I feel tremendously guilty that The Fiance and I are in this position.  Everything was depending on my passing the bar and becoming a licensed attorney and since that didn't happen in August, well, life has been hard.  For example, even though I want to give him the world, all I could afford to give the Fiance for Christmas was a Fantasia Blu-ray and a SERIOUSLY down-priced iPhone 3GS.  He got me a pair of shoes that were 50% off.  
     I know I should count my blessings and be happy that I'm not alone in this mess and that we're both healthy and have jobs.  But its really hard to feel that way when there have been times the past couple months when I wasn't sure how I would be paying rent or health insurance or much of anything else.  
    Our situation has improved, luckily.  The Fiance started working at the beginning of November so that put an end to the several months where I was the only one working and paying bills.  But because it took so long for him to find a job, we're even more heavily in debt and really in the hole.  

The Mustang

     And on top of it all, his Mustang has decided it doesn't want to run anymore.  We're figuring out how to get him a clunker so he can get to work, but the past week and into the near future we've been sharing my car.  And let me tell you it sucks.  We've had to get up at 6 am, drive him to work (25 mins) then I turn around and drive to my work (1 hour 20 mins in the other direction).  On my way home at 5pm I have to go get him and then we get to go home and arrive around 6:45, 12 hours after we've left the house.  I'm figuring that I've been spending roughly 3 hours a day in my car instead of the usual 2.  ( I work ~60 miles from home).  
      I guess I'm just frustrated.  There's nothing I can really do until I pass the bar, which I retake in February.  I won't find out my results until the end of March either.  I would *love* for the blog to become profitable, but since I'm just a small slice of the internets, I don't think its going to happen anytime soon.  Anyway, to end on a happier note, here's a picture of Bella and Aslan, my sister's dog who we've been taking care of for the past 2 weeks.          

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  

I also want to announce the winner of my is Misikko.com giveaway!  The winner is Claudia!  I'll be emailing you in the next few days so Misikko can send you your goodies.  Thanks to everyone that entered!