May 31, 2014

Graduation Night


Happy graduation night to all my graduating seniors out there! I remember when I graduated a few years ago, it seemed like I would never get out of high school. But when I did, boy did time fly by. So enjoy it while you can! Soon you'll be in my shoes where all your friends are having babies and getting married. 

So for my brothers night (he didn't graduate, just participated in the ceremony), I decided to wear the classic, never fails, Little Black Dress. The LBD has been the secret weapon of every woman in the modern fashion world. It is so versatile and easy, yet can be so classic. My LBD came from a hunt through TJ Maxx one day, and I snagged it for about $10. The wedges came from Payless last spring, but I will find some alternatives and list them at the end of the post.

 The A-Line dress is a great silhouette for me because I have long legs and broad shoulders which is balanced out by the full skirt. It also has the most beautiful back. It wasn't a full open back, but had a gorgeous almost scoop line to it which showed off a tad bit of my workout progress. And of course to top it all off, the LBD is perfect when paired with a red lip. It is hard for me to do red lips because it makes me feel like my teeth are too yellow, but today I blended a few shades together to find the perfect match for my skin tone.

I felt like with a beautiful dress such as this, it did not need that man accessories, so I just paired it with some beautiful earrings, a small bracelet, and a small clutch. 

(These pictures were taken right after a hard hail storm, which explains the odd coloring and my squinting eyes.)







Shop Little Black Dresses from J.Crew Factory:

 $45     J.Crew Factory - $85   

   



Hope you all have a great graduation weekend! Have fun and be safe!

May 21, 2014

Monogram Frenzy


So, if you love monograms, which I do, you will love this post. I have been using this site for a few years, and thought I would share my little secret with you. It's called Printable Monograms, and it is the best thing to happen to every woman on earth. Basically its a vault of adorable, customizable, printable monograms. Can you say thank you Jesus? Because I know we all, well at least I, have a craving for monograms but can never find any cute ones, or they cost too much money. Check out how I DIY-ed my own monogram on a tumbler and sunnies for less $$  --> (click on picture)


               



When you want to download something however, there is a catch. It used to be that you could save them and change your monogram on your own computer, but I found that with their update, it is best to change the monogram on the site when it pulls up the PDF, and print it straight from there. This prevents and font mess ups downloading it to your computer can cause. Some of them you need to type in special characters for the third letter, but they have instructions on the page for that, just make sure to read them otherwise you will get very frustrated because it won't turn out like you want it. 

They have added a bunch this spring and I am in love! Here are some of my favorites, click on the picture to go straight to the page where you can download it. To go to their full website, click here.




So there it is ladies! My little monogram cuteness secret. Have fun going through all their stuff! (Btw, the first one on the last row: the yellow spots are lemons! I have serious lemon obsession right now)





May 16, 2014

Maxi Skirt (Day to Night)


Well lovelies, it's here . . . maxi-skirt season!! And I couldn't be happier. Maxi skirts are such a versatile piece that can be dressed up or down. Today I did two styles, one as a day wear and the other for night (or for me, date night!). 



This maxi I found at T.J.Maxx last season on sale for $15, so naturally I had to snag it. The chambray shirt I got from Gap a couple of years ago but now it is too small and so I normally do not wear it, but in this look I wanted a shirt I could knot up and so it worked out perfectly. I feel like J.Crew Factory is my dirty little secret, because lately I am constantly on their site, stalking their clothes. So here are some other options for a chambray shirt from JCF --> Short Sleeve | Dotted | Two Pocket | Light Wash | Light Wash Pop Over  

For my day look, I knotted my chambray shirt, pulled my hair into a loose braid, and slapped on some gladiator sandals to run some errands. Kept the accessories pretty simple, because I mean who wants to run errands with a million things on their wrists. And knotting shirts (or anything really) is my new favorite thing. It turns a piece that you already have into a fun and cool look for the warm spring weather.







For my night look, I wanted to wear the exact same thing to show that you don't have to bring a whole other pair of clothes if you are wanting to go out in the evenings. All the jewelry and clothing is the same, I just let my hair down, pulled out my wallet which doubles as a clutch, knotted my skirt, and put on some amazing heels. Voilá! Now you can go out and have some fun! So the only extra thing you have to pack is a nice pair of wedges or heels.

The shoes I got yesterday at our local Shoe Show (because it's really the only place to get cheap shoes in our small town) for Bogo 50%off. They ended up being about $15, while the other pair was the same shoe only in black. I felt like this was the perfect edgy spring wedge, plus it was super comfortable.




Now for how to knot the maxi. I would never thought of this idea, except I had an awesome revelation one day. I was in school up in North Carolina, I was headed to our heaven Super Target, and while I was getting out of the car, I found myself admiring this lady with her adorable baby and glamorous maxi skirt. For one, the baby was so so cute, and two, she was a fit and stylish mom, which I aspire to be one day. But as she was walking inside, her skirt was getting in the way, so she put the toddler down, reached down, and knotted her maxi skirt right there! I was like, "Waaahh?!" Never had I before seen a knotted skirt, and never would I have thought that it would be so cute! So from then on, I have knotted my maxi skirts. It was one of my biggest fashion Ah-ha moments ever.


Hope this helps you rethink your wardrobe! Even if you think maxi skirts aren't meant for you, give them a try! They are so easy to slip on if you don't want to wear shorts or long pants (or just don't want to shave). Show me how you wear your maxi!



May 13, 2014

Mothers Day 2014


Happy (late) Mothers Day! I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how amazing my mother is. She does so much for me without being recognized and is so great at encouraging me to be the best I can be. So a big thank you goes out to my mother (and Grandmother) and all the other moms out there for being so amazing! And in this shot, we are all so much taller than we appear. I'm 5' 8" and am wearing probably 4" wedges, which makes me just a tad taller than my grandmother. And my mom is like supermodel tall in those awesome navy wedges! Needless to say, we don't lack hight in this family.

(Grandmother, Me, Mother)


So for Mothers Day, me and my family usually go to the 1818 Club to eat brunch with the rest of my family. Sidenote: it is the best food I eat all year long. I wore this sheath dress (Feral Outfitters: 60% off $65) to the club with my white wedges (Payless BOGO $10 last spring). Because this dress was so beautiful and a busy print, I paired it with dainty accessories and my clustered pearl necklace (also from Feral). I really wish I had some funky purple heels to go with this dress, but my wallet is slowly catching up with my style. I recycled my bracelet from a gaudy gemstone bracelet with the ugliest gold I had ever seen, and just tore off the gems and sprayed it gold and it turned out beautifully.










So this is a funny story. There are a million carpenter bees under this deck for some reason, and today was especially hot so they were swarming about. And in between shots, one flew into my hair. This is my worst nightmare, because I mean, look at how much hair I have. And it is five times thicker than it actually looks so I was worried that I would never find it. And when I get stung, I swell up like none other. So needless to say, that was an interesting shoot.




So Happy Mothers Day to all those wonderful women out there who are mothers! Make sure to let your mom know that she is appreciated.





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