Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dress: Ann Taylor Loft

Tights: New York & Company

Shoes: Baker's Shoes

Bracelet: New York & Company

This will probably be my last outing of the season with tights. I really wanted to wear this sweet ruffled placate dress from Ann Taylor Loft but it's a tad bit on the short side without tights. This seems to be a chronic problem with all my ATL dresses. I buy the Regular (not Petites) but they still manage to be a tiny bit short, which is odd because I am only 5'4'' and Regular anything usually needs to be hemmed two inches.

Anyway, I digress. I dug up the most light-weight black tights I own - these fun zebra patterned ones. How great are these? I totally forgot about them in the basket mess that is my tights collection. I'm glad they got to see the light of day at least once this season!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Top: The Limited

Skirt: Express

Belt: New York & Company

Shoes: Payless Shoes

Bracelets: Simply Irresistible


I've done a great job of cutting down on my clothes shopping but when I saw this top on sale at The Limited, I knew I had to have it. I love the color combination at the fun print. I'm a sucker for this electric blue! I also liked that it has short sleeves - I tend to go straight to sleeveless tops for summer so this is a nice change of pace. The bling around the collar is just a total bonus!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft

Tank: Old Navy

Pants: The Limited

Shoes: Steve Madden

Necklace: New York & Company

Earrings: Gifted

After a wonderful girls weekend in Louisville (where I finally got to meet the lovely Ally IRL!), the last thing on my mind when I got home was planning an outfit for work on Monday.

This outfit had one driving force behind it: I was freezing cold when I woke up. All I wanted was to be covered up so I could get warm. I'd vaguely had this color combination of green and navy in the back of my head, although I'd originally envisioned the cardigan with a navy pencil skirt instead of pants. I knew the temps would eventually reach the mid-sixties so tights seemed a little overkill. Pants win.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Dress: The Limited

Belt: New York & Company

Shoes: Charlotte Russe

Bracelet: Simply Irresistible

Hey, hey, it's my birthday!

And who doesn't want to look killer on their birthday? I loved the color of this dress the moment I saw it at The Limited and when it went on sale recently, I snapped it up immediately! It came with a much skinnier brown belt which I switched out for this fun patent leather version instead.

I discovered that I have no brown summery pumps (hello, shopping!) so I went with this fun yellow combination instead.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Top: The Limited

Skirt: The Limited

Shoes: Baker's Shoes

Bracelets: The Limited

Have you ever wondered who decided it was a good idea to package tights with those stupid cardboard inserts? You know, the ones that are three times the width of the tights and require extrication so painstakingly careful that it shouldn't be attempted by someone bleary eyed and running late at 5:30 in the morning, lest said tights be ruined by a pull in the material before you even where them a single time?

Yeah, I never wondered that either....

See Sara Win!

Remember this post where I sang the praises of my IRL friend Amy Cornwell? And encouraged you all to enter her giveaway even though I wanted to win this delightful necklace all for myself?

Well, guess what?!

I WON!

*Does the dance of joy*

Want to be just like me? Head on over to Amy Cornwell Designs to get your very own personalized ACD creation. And make sure you tell her I sent you!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Top: Merona for Target

Tank (unseen): Old Navy

Pants: The Limited

Shoes: Steve Madden

Bracelets: New York & Company

I have this 'thing' where I don't like to wear my tops tucked into my pants. I just don't do it. Ever. Mostly because I don't like messing with my clothes all day long - I feel like tucking means I have to readjust my clothes every single time I stand up.

But then I look at an outfit like this and I think how great it would look tucked in with a sweet little skinny belt. Or I see someone like the lovely GingerSnap who tucks all the time and manages to look darling while doing it.

Are you a tucker or a non-tucker? If you know the secret to successful tucking will you please, please share it?

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!).