Monday, April 12, 2010

Top: New York & Company

Tank (unseen): Gap

Vest: New York & Company

Pants: The Limited

Shoes: Payless Shoes

Necklace: The Limited

Bracelet: New York & Company

I have been patiently waiting for warm weather so I could debut my new cigarette pants. I hunted high and low for months before I found a pair that met all of my requirements and even then I had to have them hemmed to the correct length. But all the effort was worth it because I am in love with these pants! I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of these in the next few months!

Do you have a piece of clothing you've been dying to debut? Do tell!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Top: New York & Company

Pants: Express (Stella Barely Boot Cut)

Shoes: Steve Madden

Bracelet: The Limited

Friday night I went with a girlfriend to see Carrie Underwood in concert. I went straight from work to the concert (both are downtown, an hour from my house), so my outfit had to pull double duty. I had to be work appropriate but I also wanted to be comfortable and fun for the concert.

I thought this top fit the bill perfectly. You can't see them well in the big picture, but the shoulders have sequined sailor epaulets on them. Wearing sequins to work made me smile all day long.

Keeping with the nautical theme, I paired the top with fierce red heels and a nautical themed gold cuff.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Dress: Ann Taylor Loft

Tights: Hue

Shoes: Steve Madden

Bracelet: Lia Sophia

Earrings: Ann Taylor Loft

We had a storm Wednesday night that blew a cold front into town. I decided to take the unexpected opportunity to wear this navy blue sweater dress I scored at Ann Taylor Loft last week for $14.88. Man, I love their clearance deals!

The dress is a heavy knit cowl neck, so it was plenty warm but the short sleeves make it a little spring-y. I envision wearing it layered over a striped long sleeve tee next winter!

It's a little too short to wear bare-legged, so tights will always be a must with this one.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Top: Liberty of London for Target

Tank: New York & Company

Skirt: Express

Shoes: Wild Diva

It's finally warm enough to wear one of the two Liberty of London pieces I bought from the recent Target collection. I loved so many of the patterns that I tried on nearly every piece in the collection! Unfortunately, like so many stores, most of them just didn't work for my body. But I did manage to score this sweet ruffled floral blouse and the peacock ruffled dress.

Unfortunately, looking at this picture now, I kind of hate the outfit! Maybe it's just the lighting in the picture because you can't really see the colors in the top very well and my sandals are actually blue, not black. I swear it looked better in the mirror. Or at least, I am hope it did! Geez.

Oh well, they can't all be winners, I guess!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Top: The Limited

Tank: New York & Company

Pants: Express

Shoes: BCBGirls

Bracelet: New York & Company

This outfit looks pretty plain in this picture, but there is actually some really amazing detail in the shirt. I tried getting a shot of it, but the print is so busy none of them really turned out very well. There is a fun ruffle that runs from the front center of the shirt down to the left side, kind of like a sash. It's fun and different and I kind of love it.

I decided to punch it up a bit more on the bottom by adding my studded BCBGirls heels. Bad idea because I've only worn them once before and they aren't quite broken in enough for all day wear! Ouch!

See Sara Shop

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of my IRL friend Amy Cornwell's jewelry. In fact, I was rocking one of my four AC Designs today! In addition to my own pieces, I've bought several as gifts. It's a fun way to do something meaningful for someone you love.

Want your very own Amy Cornwell necklace? You're in luck! She's having a giveaway of her new 'Enjoy Life' design pictured above. I told her it should have said 'Unwrap Life' but then she would have had no choice but to choose me as the winner.

So head on over and enter to win it for yourself or someone else or, you know, me. Since I was nice enough to tell you about it and all.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Dress: New York & Company

Tank: Old Navy

Sweater: The Limited

Shoes: Sam & Libby

Bracelet: New York & Company

Necklace: Amy Cornwell Designs

I spent most of the last week sick with the flu and then went out of town to visit the family for Easter weekend. I came home last night and crashed hard - in bed and asleep by 9pm! Which meant I put zero thought into today's wardrobe.

It's warm here, but the weather was calling for intermittent showers so I thought it might possibly get chilly sometime during the day. I chose a bright, fun printed dress and threw a cardigan over it in case I got cold.

I originally envisioned this belted, but then I realized the stance of the dress is way too high for a belt, so I ended up skipping the belt. Luckily for me, the dress has a really pretty gather on the side, so when I shucked the cardi half way through the day, the dress still looked pretty snazzy all by itself.

Looking at it now, I wish I had worn gray shoes instead. Live and learn (and plan ahead next time!).

Monday, March 29, 2010

Jacket: The Limited

Skirt: The Limited

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Sam & Libby

Bracelet: New York & Company

I had an interview this afternoon for a permanent, full-time position downtown. I always hate dressing for interviews. On the one hand, you want to look appropriately professional. But on the other hand, you want to show that you have some personality, especially for a people-driven position like the one I was interviewing for. It would require a lot of public speaking and executive-level interaction, so I wanted to show that I'm not someone they'd be embarrassed to put in front of others!

Every interview preparation goes the same exact way - I try on umpteen billion outfits, discard every one and reach for the same few key pieces every time!

I was pretty proud of myself today, though - the red jacket is a new addition to my regular 'interview' repertoire. I wasn't 100% sure about it as an interview outfit, but I felt good in it so I went with it. I went shopping downtown before my interview and got several compliments on it, so that made me feel much more confident by the time my actual interview rolled around!

And for the record (in case you're interested) the interview went really well. It's the first time I've really wanted the job that I interviewed for. But she's going on vacation next week, so she said it would probably be three weeks before I hear anything from her. Seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft

T-shirt: Gap

Pants: Express

Shoes: Payless Shoes

Necklace: New York & Company

Ring: The Limited

I had planned to wear something else today, but woke up to frost on the grass and a sore throat. All I wanted was to be warm and comfortable in my bed. Since that wasn't an option, I went for double layers (warm) and soft cotton (comfortable). Simple and easy.

And sometimes, simple works to your advantage - I got at least half a dozen compliments on my necklace today. Our waitress at lunch stopped in the middle of taking our orders to comment on it! I've worn it several times before and it's never gotten that much attention. Just goes to show that sometimes keeping it simple will make a unique piece shine!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Sweater: The Limited

Pants: The Limited

Tank (unseen): New York & Company

Shoes: can't recall

Bracelet: Express

I started my short-term contract position today. No one got back to me on my question about the dress code, so I kind of just winged it. Found a nice middle of the road look - not too business-y and not too casual. Turns out their isn't much of a dress code, so I needn't have worried!

It was chilly and rainy again today, so I thought I'd sneak in one more wearing of these fun tweed trousers. I decided to balance the masculine slacks with a light-weight ruffled sweater. I felt feminine but confident. Perfect for a first day!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Top: New York & Company

Vest: Express

Pants: Express

Booties: K-mart

Cuff: Express

A perfect sunny day here. Of course I would go and get a job just when the weather finally gets nice! Go figure.

I decided to take advantage of my last few days of freedom and took myself shopping. I checked out the new Jodi Arnold collection at The Limited and then the Liberty of London collection at Target. My head was spinning with all the fun spring prints from LoL. I think I tried on practically every piece in the collection! Luckily for my wallet, only three pieces really worked on me. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear them!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sweater: The Limited

Jeans: Express

Shoes: K-mart

Bracelet: New York & Company

Earrings: New York & Company

Well, after several days of nice weather, Winter came back to bite us in our sun-basking tails. It didn't make it out of the 40's today, with rain and cold promised for tomorrow too. Boo.

But at least it gave me a chance to sneak in a wearing of my cute bow sweater. I wore it once over Christmas vacation and then kind of forgot about it. I love, love, love the giant bow detail. Makes me feel so girly!

I picked up this tear drop earrings on Friday and I can already tell they are going to be a staple of my summer jewelry wardrobe. A perfect neutral color and a fun length that's not too in-your-face. Score for only $4!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Shirt: The Limited

Vest: Express

Pants: Express

Shoes: Bitten

Necklace: Vintage (my grandmother's!)

It is a gorgeous sunny day here in Indy and I had a ton of things to accomplish before I start my temporary contract position on Monday. The job happened pretty quickly and caught me off guard, so I feel a bit unprepared to go back to work so soon!

Today's outfit was all about being comfortable as I ran around town and popped in and out of the car.

This necklace is one of my all time favorite pieces but I don't get too many chances to wear it because it's such an unusual shade of blue. I decided to try something different and knot it up so I could pair it with the vest.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Top: The Limited

Jacket: The Limited

Pants: Express

Necklace: Forever 21

Shoes: BCBGirls via Macy's

Bunco girls night tonight! One of my absolute favorite nights of the entire month.

I was really unsure about the length of this t-shirt. I felt like it hit me at the widest part of my hips, but after debating too long over it, I didn't have time to find something else. I left the house mad at myself and feeling kind of fat.

Thirty minutes later I'm sitting at the table, stuffing my face with the Qdoba naked taco bar, when one of the girls asks if I've lost weight. Um, that would be a negative. To which she replied, 'Must be the outfit because you definitely look skinnier.'

Note to self: Wear black every single day for the rest of my life.