delightful exceptions

Tommy Bahama tank, thrifted

necklace, Nordstrom Rack

pants, Old Navy

Born sandals, Ross

      Flat shoes, being fairly unstructured, usually don't work well for my feet. This pair of gladiator sandals is the surprising exception - I thought they'd be relegated to weekend wearings, but I've worn them several times to work with no discomfort. This is my first pair of Born shoes, and I'm a fan. And yay for scoring them for $17.99 on clearance at Ross!
     Not only are they comfortable, but they are an easy way to add a little something extra to simple outfits. Here I've matched them with a necklace.

     It has been unrelentingly hot here, which means I want to wear things that skim the body. I've been sticking to dresses and even a skirt the other day - as much as I enjoy my jeans, the thought of wearing them is unbearable right now.  

flower power

BLACK Saks Fifth Avenue silk top, Off Fifth

Love Fire pants and Carole agate necklace, Nordstrom Rack

       Instead of power dressing, why not try flower dressing? I wore this to work the other day and felt a little like a tulip, which isn't a bad thing when I'm feverishly compiling my data binder.
       I'm still not convinced that blush doesn't translate to blah on me. I love this color on other people, but I'm not used to seeing myself in pastels. What drew me to this top, however, was the interesting cut and draping. I think it's one of those items of clothing that looks better in motion.

What color or colors are out of your comfort zone?

hail to March and a few iPhone outfit photos

 Top: Bobeau cardigan, Nordstrom Rack; top and necklace, Forever 21

Middle: Old Navy floral top, Savers; Banana Republic gray cardigan, from Mom;

 lucite necklace, eBay

Bottom: Pleione lobster print tee and Carole agate necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance; 

Gap Factory yellow cardigan

      
       I guess you're getting old when you find yourself commenting often, "Wow, I can't believe it's already 2014/February/March/almost April!"  But here we go ... I can't believe it's almost April.
      But before we welcome April, let's talk about March, which is a big month for my husband and I! The 18th is what I call our "meet-a-versary" -- the anniversary of our first date. The funny thing is, we went to this Thai restaurant for dinner, and we haven't been able to eat there since! Whenever we're in the area and pop in, it's inevitably closed. If I was a bigger romantic, I'd imagine that it was open just for that one special night ...
     March 30th makes one year since we got married, too. Sometimes I'm surprised that it's already been a year, and other times I'm surprised that it's only been a year. (Does that make sense ...?)
      Outfit talk: I think the middle outfit is my favorite, because before I might have shied away from pairing the necklace with a ruffled top. I really like how the necklace picks up the different hues in the top. In regards to the bottom outfit, I'm not usually drawn to nautical  themes - I have no interest in anchor-emblazoned anything - but I found the lobsters strangely whimsical. I'm already looking forward to pairing this top with my navy polka-dot skirt! 

inspiration Monday: tripping over the details

The inspiration: Katharine McPhee

My take: 

New York and Company chambray shirt, thrifted

UK Style by French Connection pants, Sears

belt, from dress

Carole necklace, Nordstrom Rack

bracelets - gifted, InPink, HauteLook

Dansko "Calliope" sandals, 6pm.com

     I love this pants silhouette - but I'm not convinced it works for someone of my height. Add in the complication that I hemmed the pants just a tiny bit too short. Then I got wishy-washy about the accessories  and styling - shirt untucked, knotted, belted? Necklace or no necklace?

       I ended up wearing this as shown above - untucked, no belt, with a necklace. I belt high-waisted skirts and just about any dress without hesitation, but putting a belt over a top or cardigan - I think that it just emphasizes my short torso and throws off my proportions. Although I'm surprised that it looks better in the photos than I remember it looking in the mirror ... 

      The next time I wear this outfit, I'll try wearing it with both the belt and necklace. I think the waist definition from the belt balances out the ultra-flowy pants legs and the lighter color of the necklace breaks up the dark top and picks up the pants' pattern. Whew, that was a lot of overthinking for a simple outfit!
      (And while I'm sure you knew that last week included National Doughnut Day, judging from the photos, it was also National Touch-Your-Hair Day. Nothing like editing photos to make you realize that you need to mix up your posing just a bit ... )

I'm linking up with two birds' inspiration Monday! Check out the other creative looks here! :)

February Freeze: red + purple

JJ Basics cardigan, hand-me-down

shirt, India

Grane flare jeans, Ross

Carole quartz necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

Dansko sandals, Nordstrom Rack

      I used to send this shirt to the dry cleaners, until one day it occurred to me that probably
very few people in India dry clean stuff and I should chance hand-washing it instead. Now the bottom part is horribly wrinkly. It's almost as if those little red threads don't like water and shriveled up. Anyhow, the shirt counts as a February Freeze item but every time I do wear it I remember how much I like the color scheme. The flares are also a February Freeze item and I think this is my favorite outfit with them so far. 

 

     Totally gratuitous peek at my wedding shoes. I knew right away that I didn't want white or neutral shoes, and was excited to find these for $45 at 6pm.com. I'm already looking forward to adding them to my regular-shoe rotation after the wedding ...

February Freeze: flare jeans

     iris silk top, thrifted

navy cardigan and necklace, Forever 21

Carole disk and quartz necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

Dansko "Sakura" sandals, Nordstrom Rack

     These flare jeans are my next February Freeze item. I've only worn them a few times since buying them a year ago; I love the fit and different silhouette, I'm just not sure how to style them for different situations. I think I'd have an easier time styling them if they were a dark wash, too.

     This is really what I wanted to wear, but I decided to save the quirky color combination for the weekend vs. a day when I needed to pop in at work: 

  Julie's Closet burnout animal print cardigan, Ross

February Freeze: orange

  Splendid top and Carole quartz necklace, Nordstrom Rack

Beau skinnies, Ross

cardigan and necklace, Forever 21

     My second February Freeze item is this orange top. It's cute, but like my first February Freeze  choice, the strange neckline means it hardly gets worn. It appears that the lesson for me when shopping is to not buy it if it has a strange neckline ... 

     Using Susannah Conway's Unravelling the Year Ahead planner, I picked a theme for each month. January's was "laying the foundation," when I focused on getting on track with healthy habits. So, basically, I  ate a lot of oatmeal (which I love) and resumed my regular schedule for physical activity.

     The theme for February is "acts of love, big and small." The focus is on taking care of myself and others better. To that end, I attended my first meditation class on Saturday,  because I've realized that establishing this as a daily practice is something I need to move forward in my life. Also, any $5 bill that comes my way is corralled in an envelope and headed to the bank to build up my savings.
      In terms of taking care of others, I'm trying to look more carefully to see what small things might need doing, and doing them without being asked. I think one of the things I love about having a little extra money is spending it on others, whether it's mochi ice cream for the Mr., pastries for the family, or little care packages mailed to friends or family. But since I'm not working regularly (I've been playing an economical grad student for the last two years), I've had to shift my mindset. What can I give? My full attention, careful listening, and thinking ahead about what needs to be done, and just doing it. I also enjoy cooking for my family because it makes me happy to see them enjoying a home-cooked meal.
     What do you like to do to show others you care?

skeeters, 10; Carrie, 0

     On those days when the sun is like a baleful eye glaring down from the sky, all I can think about wearing is an easy cotton dress that skims the body. I just added a little jewelry and shoes in a punchy hue.

dress, Esprit, very old

pearl bracelets, HauteLook

Softspots "Ventura" sandals, Ross

     My purchasing pattern seems to be: buy something nice, ignore it for years, dig it out on a whim one day, and fall in love with it.

     I kind of like this photo spot. While it's fairly close to one of the campus dorms, there are some trees and bushes that I've fooled myself into thinking render me invisible to residents. It's part of a garden, but a less-trafficked area. The bench and a rock wall offer a place to rest the camera for photos, since I'm working without a tripod. The worst part? I can spend 10 minutes here and walk away with 10 mosquito bites. Mosquitoes love me, but it's a one-sided affair.
     Many years ago, I foolishly went off to a weekend camp without repellent, returned with probably 70-plus bites all over my legs that necessitated a trip to the dermatologist, and had to wear pants for two weeks (in very hot weather) while I got over the allergic reaction I had to the mosquito bites. Since then, I've figured out that a Bounce dryer sheet tucked into my pocket will drive away the bloodsuckers ... but a dress without pockets makes it a little hard to hide the dryer sheet on my person.

Try-it-out Tuesday: all-star outfit

     I wore this two Saturdays ago, to catch up with a friend. This is one of those rare outfits that makes me smile when I look in the mirror: it just looks like my style. Garnet, onyx, gray and a splash of aquamarine are a pretty good color combo.  (Note: I wore black wedges instead of the gold ones I'm wearing in the photograph.)  I haven't really worn this top due to the too-long straps, but I figured out that knotting them was an easy fix -- and I felt like a genius aaaalll night. :)
 

rayon-linen top, Old Navy (pink cotton)

beach INC linen shorts, Macy's (Old Navy's version has cotton)

Banana Republic cardigan, passed down from Mom

Carole necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance (this one is cute, too!)

Oia Jules bracelet, giveaway win

    And before you go, let me sing the praises of these linen shorts for you: a) great length and fit = not too short or too long, not too tight or too loose; b) linen = cool; c) pull-on waist = comfy and lots of room for that Greek pizza; d) black, so even though they're made out of wrinkly linen, the wrinkles are harder to see.

Try-it-out Tuesday: cool and collected

     In contrast with last Tuesday's feature, when I dabbled in summer layering, this time I tried to lighten up a pencil skirt for summer. I really stumbled across this look by chance -- I was trying to think of a new way to wear this skirt, and I found this top lying forlornly in my drawer. While I love the print, color, and dusting of sequins, it hasn't been worn much due to the oddly high side slits and short length. This pencil skirt is really a miracle worker: it makes shirts that are too big, boxy, or  short wearable.

top, India

petite pencil skirt, CK outlet

Carole necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

bracelets - Hautelook and very old Macy's

      I added a light-as-air necklace whose bronze discs reminded me of the sequins and some green bracelets.

    I have now officially fallen in love with this shirt ... and am tempted to dig out my sewing machine and whip up a bunch of similar tops. There's no tricky buttonholes or zippers involved, and we have an amazing (and large) stash of cottons that would make beautiful shirts.

     One of these days, I will learn to look natural/normal/smile when taking photos outside the safety and privacy of my home. Until then, I will be cutting my head off when required. Too bad Picmonkey doesn't have a de-weirdifying tool (yes, that is a photographic term). ; )

Try-it-out Tuesday: white tee, version 2.0

     On Saturday night I took my friend K out for martinis and happy hour. That day, the clutch I won from Joanne of Fabulously Average's Purse & Clutch giveaway arrived, so it was the perfect occasion to break in my new bag. :)

    First off, let me express my awe at how beautiful this bag is! The web site photos don't really do it justice. I love textiles, and these fabrics are gorgeous. I also love the company's focus on empowering women to build better lives for themselves.

The card with the artisans' names is a lovely, thoughtful touch.

      Given the quality of the fabric and the great cause, I think the price they charge ($28 for the classic clutches) is a steal. The only thing that would make this bag even better is a small wrist strap that could be tucked inside, but popped out and slung over your wrist when you need both hands while running errands. However, that won't stop me from using this clutch often. :)
        Now, let's get back to the clothes ... I'm still on the hunt for the perfect white tee, but tucking this slightly baggy one into a pencil skirt did wonders for the shape. I also like the casualness of a white tee juxtaposed with a pencil skirt. I consider this version 2.0 of the tee-and-jeans uniform I'm trying to break away from.  :)

Bird Classic Clutch, Purse & Clutch, c/o Fabulously Average's giveaway

Cherokee tee, Target girls' department

pencil skirt, Calvin Klein outlet

Carole necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

Revlon lip butter in Raspberry Pie