Sickly Kid

I've been sick all weekend.  Its pretty much sucked.  My throat hurts and my cough sounds like a lawnmower being revved up.  Its just as sexy as it sounds.  Being sick didn't stop me from having to run errands and take the Fiance to work when his car decided to suck.  So, I got dressed in something comfy that wasn't sweats.  It was a tough decision, but I figured since I felt like crap, I should try to not look like it. 

The Details:

tee: Old Navy

Skirt: Consignment 

Normally with an outfit this simple I would wear a necklace to add a little sparkle or contrasting color.  It didn't even occur to me to add a necklace, or any other jewelry on Friday to this outfit because I was so out of it.  To be honest, its kind of a miracle I put on a skirt, soooo not having a necklace isn't so bad.  Besides, the Fiance thought I looked cute. :)

My Wedding Dress Story

     Clearly, this dress is WAAAAAAAAAAY too long.  But I just haven't been able to get it hemmed yet.  So I've worn it as is a few times.  I got it last summer.  J.Crew was having a factory outlet sale where I got this dress and this red dress.  On top of the ridiculously low prices, we had a 20% off coupon, so both dresses ended up being ~$50.  
    Oh, AND I bought my wedding dress there too.  For $32.34 if I remember correctly.  I'm sure you're wondering how one buys a wedding dress for that much, but let me tell you, every once in a while I have the most amazing shopping serendipity you could imagine.  
     So here's the story.  My friend Jenn and I went to the outlet on a Thursday and I bought the first two dresses.  We decided to go again the next morning with some friends because they hadn't had a chance to go.  So when we went the second time, since we had already looked through most of the things there, we decided to go through the formal dresses.  Let me go ahead and explain how the store was set up.  The sale took place in a vacant building where the J.Crew people set up folding tables with boxes of clothes on and under each table.  Each box had a size and category like sweater or pants or whatever.  There were no dressing rooms so people were trying things on however they could in the middle of this big room.  Oh and there was no air conditioning either. 

     So Jenn and I were digging through the formal dresses and the wedding dresses and I pulled out a few in varying shades of white, ivory and champagne.  I tried them on on top of the dress I was wearing to see if they fit and one looked pretty good.  One passed this initial test so we walked on over to the wall so that I could shimmy into the potential wedding dress and out of my springy dress.  Luckily we had a guy friend with us and after getting his boy approval along with my mom's text approval, I bought the dress.  The Fiance knows about the dress of course.  Luckily he hasn't gotten curious about it as its been chilling in a garment bag in an upstairs closet since I got it.  Here is where I would normally put up a picture of the dress, but since I know the Fiance checks the blog every now and again, I can't post it. For those of you that have bought wedding dresses, what's your wedding dress story?

The Details:
Dress: J.Crew
Tank: Old Navy
Sandals: Aerosoles
Necklace: Consignment

useless

     I wore this a few weeks ago to work.  This of course was before I found out about my bar exam results.  But really, nothing's changed.  I can't practice law until I've been sworn in and I can't be sworn in until after I get my license.  And it will take a good 3 weeks for that to happen.  So, while I've received good news, now I get to sit around and wait for a piece of paper to get to my house.  *sigh*  At least if I'm going to be useless still, its only for a limited amount of time, right? RIGHT?!?!?
    So yea. . . I don't have a whole lot to say other than, um, thanks for dropping by! (?)  I'm tired guys.  I got up at 6:25 so I could get to work by 8 to go to an all day deposition.  I'm hoping for some cuddles then sleep soon as I'm feeling kinda useless I'm so tired.  So I hope you have a great Wednesday!
 



The Details: 
Henley: Old Navy
Skirt: Liz Claiborne (consignment)
Tights: Hanes
Booties: Tsubo

I Feel Pretty!

     Like I mentioned in my previous post, last night the Fiance had a work event to go to.  The thing is, the day was full of a lot of other stuff before I could even think about getting ready.  Normally, he takes the car and I stay home to study all day.  But because the event was at a hotel in town, it made more sense for me to take him to work and then afterward pick him up to go straight to the shindig.  Except that after I took him to work, I went and got a flu shot.  It took a good hour and a half to get in for a 2 minute thing, but since insurance covered it, I feel like it was worth it.  

    Anyway, so on my way home, I stopped to get my eyebrows waxed.  While I've been studying I haven't really cared much for grooming them.  Sure they're on my face and highly visible, but its such a pain to pluck them.  So I've let them grow out.  I used the event as an excuse to get them waxed.  A friend had recommended this hair salon, so I went online and checked out their prices.  Since I would get charged the same thing at the mall, I figured I would go to the salon instead.  I got there and was impressed by the salon.  Their prices are reasonable and the salon itself is beautiful.  I asked if I could get my eyebrows done and within minutes I was headed to the back to get my eyebrows waxed.  The esthetician was really nice and friendly.  She asked me if I wanted them cleaned up or shaped and I said yes to both.  I think they turned out excellent.   I would definitely recommend checking out Tanglez Hair Salon if you're ever in the Wilmington (NC) area and are in need of getting your eyebrows waxed. 

    So after I finally made it home I had to put the Fiance's clothes together so that he could change in the car after work.  Then it was time for me to decide what to wear.  Monday I had picked out 3 outfits and I let him choose which one I should wear.  Since it was his event, I thought it was only fair for him to decide what I should wear.  He chose this Talbots dress that I bought using my Talbots dividends last fall.  

     I got to decide on the accessories.  Even though its 66 and raining today, last night was pretty chilly so no bare legs.  I went with my Merona polka dot tights to keep me warm and add a bit of a youthful flair to my LBD.  To keep the theme of unexpectness going, I went with these burgundy pumps.  (Let's ignore that the mirror I used for this is not 100% clean and reflective, k?)  
     These pumps were my Christmas present from the Fiance.  I had been stalking them online for quite some time, and then mid-November they went on sale for 50% off with free shipping.  I got him to order them for me and they arrived about 2 weeks before Christmas.  *I* wanted to open the box and try them on.  He wouldn't let me!  So I waited until Christmas day to open them.  And lo and behold, I thought they were too tight.  I was a wee bit perturbed as I could have tried them on and gone to the mall to check out the sizes all before Christmas.  In the end, I dragged him to the mall to try on the shoes on in 9.5.  These ended up being too big.  The lovely lady behind the counter was able to stretch out the 9s for me so that they were no longer tight.  Hooray for great service!

Serendipity!

    So, let me tell you about my hair.  Since I washed my hair a few hours before having to leave the house, I had to figure out something to do real quick.  After washing and putting in my Hana Shine Shield leave-in, I threw my hair up in a towel to dry for a bit.  Once it was dry, I finger combed some mousse into it and dried my whole head with a diffuser.  The result was a lot of curls and a lot of body.  Unfortunately, it was also a lot of frizz.  I felt kind of Hermione-ish.  So I put my hair in a Clever Clip, ironed my bangs and decided that that would be good enough if I couldn't do something cute with my hair.  I ran out of the house with my hair up, resigned to wearing it up.   After picking up the Fiance I undid the clip and amazingly, my hair turned out beautifully!  I have no idea how it happened or why I was blessed with this serendipity, but I even *felt* pretty.  And that is HUGE.  So off we went to the Fiance's event looking and feeling great!

The Details:

Dress: Talbots (no longer available) Similar with Belt, Similar, Similar with Sleeves, Also Similar

Tights: Target Available Here

Heels: Nine West Available Here (not in burgundy)

Earrings: ?

Coat: Tahari (consignment store) Similar Shape

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
         

Serendipity!

     Do you believe in shopping serendipity?  I do.  This coat is one of the reasons I believe in it.  Every once in a while I'll stumble upon something absolutely fabulous that fits perfectly and is placed nicely within my price range.  This coat is one of those things.  Several months ago, just after I graduated from law school, I went to my local consignment store to look around.  Just randomly I pulled this coat out and almost died.  It fit perfectly so I checked the price tag.  It was originally $40, but was on sale for $25 or something.  My sister had $15 worth of store credit and in conjunction with my student discount, all I paid for this coat was $5.  Yup, $5!  

     The price alone is fabulous, but the fit and silhouette is what really makes it.  Thinking on these pictures, I was trying to figure out why I loved this coat so much.  I wouldn't normally think that a coat that was fitted to my waist and flared out would be so flattering.  In theory it should make my hips look HUGE.  But it doesn't.  It makes me look super duper tall.  And the reason is an optical illusion.  By making the waist as high as it is, it makes it look like my legs start at my waist and keep on going until forever.  Add to that illusion that it also nips me in at the waist and presto we've got shopping serendipity!

     Seriously though, this coat made me re-examine a few of the things that I thought were off-limits.  These being different silhouettes, winter white, and long winter coats for my short frame.  And a major reason for my going out of my safe zone is the wonderful fashion bloggers out there that showcase how they go out on limb and even though they may not always look their best, they still try their best.  Thank you to all of you for providing an example for me to follow in trying new things.  

The Details:
Coat: Tahari (Consignment) 
Pants: Gap
Sweater: Forever 21
Scarf: Target
Heels: Aldo 

Red Skirt!

     This is the skirt that I told you about here.  I was so excited to get it and even though I love the color and the sheen and the shape, the fit isn't 100%.  I should have gone a size down from the one that I got, but because I didn't want to be *too* optimistic about my weight loss, decided to go with a size 14P instead of a 12P.  I chatted with a customer representative that told me the measurements of both sizes, and based on that I went with a 14.  The 14 fits fine, but I think that the skirt is supposed to be more fitted than it is on me, hence why I probably should have gone with the 12.  It would probably be more high waisted in a 12 too.  Nonetheless, I love the skirt and just have to make sure that my tops don't make the skirt bunch up around my hips so that it looks like the skirt is too big.  If I end up losing more weight so that it becomes noticeably big, I suppose I would just get it tailored down to fit me better.  

Notice the bunching?  Also, no idea why Bella is checking out my shoes!

    Speaking of tailoring, I've got a question for you all.  So, as I've mentioned, I'm on a quest to lose weight and get healthier.  The only downside is that some of my clothes just don't fit anymore.  My bottoms and pants in particular.  Now, I'm able to wear my pants if I use a belt or wear my skirts lower towards my hips rather than my waist.  My question is, at what point does this "making do" start to look sloppy?  I guess my fear is that while I lose weight and am not in a financial position to buy clothes for the intermediate sizes I'll pass through, I won't look as polished as I would prefer.  Am I worrying over nothing or is there a legitimate concern?

    Speaking of not being able to replace items in my closet.  This will be the last time you'll see these, my favorite heels, for a while.  I have worn the heels down to the nail, and sadly, I don't know of a cobbler nearby nor how much it might cost to get my super awesome shoes repaired.  :(  Anybody have an idea of what kind of price range I should expect to for my heels to be replaced?
    Lastly, I *loved* how my legs looked in these tights.  That the skirt hit me mid-knee works perfectly with my height.  It allows my legs not to look stumpy, but I'm still conservative and professional enough to hang out in court all day if need be.  And of course the tights keep my legs warm and make them look amazing.  Isn't this cooler weather just amazing?

The Details: 
Skirt: Talbots
Top: Loft (via consignment store)
Heels: Nine West
Tights: Hue (?)

More Orange

     This is another outfit from my orange week.  Turns out I have 2 orange and brown skirts and 2 orange tops.  This particular skirt I got brand new from the consignment shop.  It was originally like $90 at J.Jill and I snagged it for around $15.  Oh and its silk.  

  It's a beautiful skirt, but I'm going to need to figure out how best to style it.  In this picture it looks ok b/c my hands on my hips brings focus to my waist, but otherwise, because of the pleats of the skirt, the focus goes down to my hips where they look huge.  I haven't tried it before, but I might try to belt this blazer to see how it looks.  Might end up being the solution I've been looking for.  Any other thoughts on how best to style this skirt? 

How it looks w/out waist definition

The Details:
Skirt: J.Jill (consignment)
Top: Express
Blazer: Old Navy
Heels: Nine West 

Saturday on the River

    Last Saturday the Fiance and I went down to the city's Riverfest.  Picture fair food, an arts and crafts bazaar, a playground for kids and some professional wrestling.  Oh and there are pirates everywhere.  Because you can't really have a good festival celebrating a river without pirates, can you?  
    So the Fiance and I headed down there and had a great time.  There were tons of crafts that had me really inspired.  I'm thinking that maybe I can try to monogram some of my makeup brush holders somehow.  I also realized that I would much rather re-cycle or up-cycle crafts than start from scratch.  Oh and fall is definitely my favorite season.  Apparently I was very inspired last Saturday.  :)  

    Speaking of inspiration and crafts, Bella is in heat for the second time.  (complete non sequiter, right?)  Well, I had put her in a pair of my old PJ shorts and cut a whole in the seam for her tail the first time around.  But such a cute dog deserves something better.  So I made her a fleece diaper.  Yes, those are bright big yellow rubber duckies on her fleece diaper.  The best part is that she seems much happier to wear this diaper than the shorts I had made for her.  She is able to wag her fluffy tail and I keep my floor and furniture nice and clean.  

   Saturday's weather was less than perfect.  When we left the house I wasn't sure how chilly it would get, so I wore my velvet blazer.  (Un)fortunately, it is now too big for me, so I took it in using the brooching technique that I got from Sally eons ago and used in March.  Cinching the blazer gave it a more fitted silhouette and made me significantly more comfortable as wearing something that is too big makes me feel weird.  

Notice the powdered sugar?

My favorite part of the outfit though is the boots.  I *really* wanted to wear them, but wasn't sure I could tuck my boot-cut (ie non-skinny) jeans into them.  As I've discussed before, I have big calves.  Nonetheless, I put the doubt aside and persevered.  I managed to squish my jeans into the boots and got the look I was hoping for.  

Fiance took this pic <3

The Details:
Tank: LOFT
Blazer: Old Navy
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Target
Brooch: Consignment Shop

Two ways

Outfit 1

    I got this sweater, a twin of the rose sweater when I went shopping last.  I really like the neckline, that its a silk blend and that its 3/4 sleeve.  So of course I got it in 2 colors.  Here are two different ways that I've worn it in the past few weeks.  The first with a pair of pinstripe pants for a more casual look and the second as a bottom layer for a blazer.
     Speaking of the blazer--it's new.  Well, new to you.  I got it months and months ago at the consignment shop.  It's super cute and fitted, but I could never figure out what to wear with it.  Apparently that's my problem du jour.  Anyway, this toffee brown sweater ended up being perfect.  I felt confident and put together.  That I chose the toffee sweater and not a black one or even chose the blazer in the first place helps me feel quite non-stuffy.  I don't feel like I need to wear a matching suit every day which is lovely because 1. I have all of 4 suits and 2. that gets boring very quickly.  Sometimes I wonder if men get bored of wearing the same suits all the time.  Or do they relish not having to think about what blazer goes with which top and shoes and skirt?  Any guys out there want to provide some insight? 

Outfit 2

The Details:
 Outfit 1:
Sweater: Loft
Pants: Gap (outlet)
Heels: 
Necklace: Kathy


Outfit 2:
Sweater: Loft
Blazer: Apostrophe (Consignment)
Skirt: Jones & Co.
Heels: Nine West


P.S. I have no idea why Bella decided she had to lick or sniff my leg at that exact moment.  She's weird like that.  But I still love her!
 

Weekend Wear

    This is what I wore Saturday.  As I mentioned yesterday, The Fiance took me out to eat Saturday night to cheer me up.  We went downtown, had dinner, then walked a couple of blocks to the riverfront area.  This area is absolutely beautiful and I wanted to match the atmosphere with this floral dress.  It is brand new to me as I got it at the consignment store before we moved.  I didn't want to wear heels so I opted for a pair of silver flip-flops that you can't really see in the picture.  Speaking of the picture, sorry for the quality of these and the last few posts.  I've been having to make do with my iphone camera and The Fiance instead of my Canon and the tripod.  The iphone/Fiance combo is ok, but it just isn't up to snuff.  Hopefully I'll be able to find my tripod soon so that I can resume taking pretty pictures.   

The Details:
Dress: consignment
Sandals: exhilaration for Target

Ups and Downs

See the awesome yard?!?!?!

     For whatever reason, I want to title this post "HI!!!"  But since that was essentially the title of my last blog post, I couldn't.  sad face :(   
     Anyway, life is pretty great right now.  Today was the start of my third week of work.  The Fiance and I had date night Saturday night and Sunday morning we went to the beach for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately, this weekend was not all great.  My mom called me Friday night to tell me that my cat at home had had another seizure and that she was pretty bad.  While I was on the phone with her, Charcoal (the kitty) made the saddest most painful meows I've ever heard.  My mom stayed up with my kitty all night until she died at around 2 am.  I wish I had been there.  It's been a tough few days for my family.  Sorry guys, I didn't mean for this to be such a downer. . . 

More awesome yard while gazing lovingly at The Fiance :)

    On a happy note I absolutely love our new house.  We have this amazing and huge backyard that just goes on and on and on.  Granted, at this point its so big because construction on this subdivision stopped when the economy tanked, but nonetheless, I love it.  The picture to the left really shows how large our yard is.  In case your curious, the reason my legs are cut off in the picture is that The Fiance thought it would be fun to systematically cut off parts of me with the camera.  So while this picture has all but my lower legs, I have others that have my whole body but only parts of my face.  True love, yes?

     Now on to today's outfit.  You might remember this skirt from this post.  For a while I had a mental block as to what to wear this green tweed skirt with.  I couldn't think of anything other than black to pair it with.  But THEN I was standing in my closet last night figuring out what to wear today and it occurred to me to grab the skirt and see if it would work with this sweater.  Lo and Behold, the greens and tans of the skirt worked perfectly with the dusty rose sweater.  
     So yea, life has been up and down.  Lots of ups like the new house, the new job and shopping along with some cute outfits.  But some downs too.  Oh well, such is life I suppose.  Hope your week started well. 




The Details:
Sweater: Loft
Skirt: Village (consignment)
Necklace: gift
Heels: Aldo 

Weekend Wear

    We went house hunting this past weekend in hopes of finding a great house to live in when we move in August.  Knowing that it would be a hot and busy day, I figured I would go with light and bright colors.  In addition, knowing that while we would be judging the house someone else would be judging us, I figured dressing up wouldn't be a bad deal.  
    I got these pants in May so I could wear them to my sister's graduation.  They are linen (surprise surprise!) and incredibly comfortable.  They are long enough that they require me to wear heels, but I'm ok with that.  For Saturday I wore my favorite brown Aerosoles sandals so I could gain the height necessary but still wear comfy shoes.  In addition to my awesome shoes, I grabbed my blue + turquoise beaded necklace that I got at the consignment store.  I layered it 3 times to keep it all up by my neck.  
    I really like the simplicity of the outfit and that all I needed was a shiny blue necklace to finish it all off.   There was no need to add bells and whistles and that made this a great house hunting and travel outfit. 


The Details:
Top: Carol Little (gift from mom)
Necklace: Consignment
Pants: Talbots 
Sandals: Aerosoles (not shown)

Blues + Turquoise

    Wore this to class today and loved it.  Granted, I had to wear a sweatshirt during class, but such is life.  I got this great cropped wrap at Old Navy about 2 years ago.  I bought it so I could wear tank tops to class and not show a whole bunch of my bra in the process.  Still works AND It shows off my waist.  That the shoulders are slightly bunched just adds to the cuteness.  


The Details: 
Tank: ON
Wrap: ON
Skirt: American Eagle (old)
Necklace: consignment 
Flip Flops: ON

Let's just pretend like I didn't cut my feet off in this pic, k?

Yoga day!

    Yesterday was yoga day and as such I had two different outfits.  The first was my cute class day outfit and the second was my yoga class outfit.  You may remember seeing this dress before.  I absolutely LOVE it.  It is so comfortable!  The jersey is heavy enough so that I don't have to wear a slip with it and the neckline is such that I can change the look of the dress by changing the color tank top I wear with it.  Have I mentioned that the length of the dress is pretty damn awesome too?  LOVE this dress.  


The Details:
Dress: Gap (consignment)
Tank: ON
Brooch: Sew Lovely
Flip Flops: ON


    As for yoga wear, I am much more practical than I am cute.  I've been wearing yoga pants and men's undershirts to class and it has worked out great.  The best part, honestly, is the part you can't see.  If you guessed sports bra, then you guessed right.  Ever since I got this Bravissimo sports bra I've been a whole lot more excited about working out than I have in the past.  With the girls not bouncing around or popping out from under a too loose sports bra or spilling out over a too tight one, working out is much more comfortable.  It makes a huge difference.  

    I'm sure that for ladies with much smaller breasts a sports bra is just as important.  The difference, though is that sports bras, and bras in general for that matter, for the smaller boobed are more readily available and cheaper than those I've been able to find in my size.  At the very least, I'm able to afford these expensive bras, but I wonder about other women who aren't so fortunate.  How do they handle F,G,H, or I cups when they can't afford $55 bras?  It's not like they're readily available at Walmart or Target.  In fact, I've never found anything more than a DD at either store, and even then it was in limited band sizes.  
    I guess I'm just frustrated with the lack of availability of larger bras.  Coupled with the great expense of bras when they are found and I'm just pissed.  I mean, why do stores insist on charging more for bigger bras and bigger clothing?  It's not like its THAT much more expensive to make a larger bra or a larger shirt or a larger pair of pants, right?  So why are they SOOOO much more expensive? 
    Sorry to rant at you, it's just frustrating and nonsensical.


The Details:
Tank: Hanes tank
Yoga Pants: ON
Sports Bra: Bravissimo

Skirts take 2

    So I tried my hand at long skirts for cold classrooms last week and I wanted to see if I could make do with a shorter knee length skirt without freezing to death.  The result was that yes, I can do it BUT I need to make sure to bring a sweater to class.  I forgot to do that when I wore this outfit.  My legs weren't all that cold, but my arms were.   Luckily I was smart enough to bring a blanket to class and that kept me relatively warm.   
    The best part about this outfit is the skirt.  I found it while perusing my consignment shop and fell for the print immediately.  I have very few patterned skirts and the large orange flowers on brown background called to me.  Because the pattern is subtle, I figured I could use it as a focal point with a simple top or as a background with a more attention grabbing top.  When I picked it up, I looked at the tag, and of course its linen, and we all know about my love for linen.  I lucked out that it isn't 100% linen so it didn't get super wrinkly when I wore it last week.  And its machine washable!
    I was a bit hesitant about the length of the skirt at first.  I was afraid it might be too long and therefore make me look stumpy.  But I gladly got over that and bought the skirt anyway.  I think that if I were to wear it with a pair of great heels my legs would look great, but its not so long that I can't wear a pair of flats and still look ok but laid back.  


 








The Details:
T-shirt: H&M
skirt: Cato (consignment)
flip-flops: ON
necklace: gift