Bows & Yellow Sweaters

Yellow sweater--New York & Co.; White bow-tie shirt--Old Navy; Coal Pants--Victoria's Secret; Shoes--Payless; Earrings/Ring--Gift from Husband; Bracelet--Gift from Ginny

Do you see a theme with my jewelry? I guess I rarely buy jewelry myself and just wait for it to be gifted to me!

I have never worn these two shirts together before. I really have to wear the white shirt under something, because it is so sleeveless that I don't think it looks very flattering on my arms. It's a little restricting, so if I put a tight shirt over it, it tends to bunch up around my armpits and is quite uncomfortable. This yellow sweater from NY & Co is perfect because it is very lightweight, and I generally wear a shirt underneath it anyway. My only complaint is that it is so lightweight that it is see-through, and the white shirt has darts, so I'm walking around repositioning the shirt so that I don't look extremely cold at work today. Luckily, I can mostly smooth them over once every 30 minutes or so. I hate fidgeting with my outfit.

Look at the cute little silver buttons on the sleeves of this sweater!

This bow actually turned out okay looking, which is a big deal for me. I am bow-tying-impaired. Usually they turn out lopsided and crooked, as on this day.

"B" Necklace for Weekend Wear

Torquoise polo--New York & Co; Brown shorts--Old Navy; Belt--Target?; Shoes--Ann Taylor Loft; Necklace--Create (Llano)

I'm not always going to post on the weekends on here, but this outfit was so much more casual than my usual weekday outfits, and I wanted to show what I look like when I'm not going into work.

The two main focal points of my outfit were my belt and my necklace. I got this necklace in my hometown last year. I also bought my friend Lauren one at the same time for her birthday.

Throw a ribbon in my hair, of course :)

I'm really mad at myself because we went to a party last night, and I wore the cutest pink dress and DID NOT take a picture of myself in it!!

P.S. I still haven't really attempted to use my real camera to do this. I think I need to buy a tripod or something. As I've mentioned, I'm rather tall, and its really hard to find a camera surface to capture my whole image without zooming out so far that you can't focus on the outfit itself!

Where's My Anchor?

Navy and green shirt--New York & Co.; Jeans--Victoria's Secret; Green wedges--Etienne Aigner; White belt--White House Black Market.

Lately, the best part of my 8-5 day has been updating this blog.

Today, I'm incredibly busy and haven't had time to post anything. I had a two hour meeting this morning which pretty much has wiped out the rest of my afternoon and whole next week with work.

But, because I am dedicated and can procrastinate anything--even the thing I'm getting paid to do--I'm taking some time to put this up.

Why of why haven't I bought an anchor necklace to go with my nautical outfits?


This shirt makes me think about color combinations: most people would normally hesitate to pair spring green with navy blue, but when you put it in a cute pattern on a silky shirt, it looks perfect together. I have a navy blue pencil skirt--I'm going to try to pair it with a green shirt next time I wear it.

Coco for Chanel (wannabe)!

Black tee--??(I've had it for years and years and long ago ripped the tag out); White lacey oxford--New York & Co; Khaki pants--Banana Republic; Pearl Necklace--Vintage (my great-grandmothers); Silver Necklace--Target; Pearl Earrings/Ring--Gift from T (James Avery); Loafers--Etienne Aigner

Do I ever think of cute outfits on my own? No, because left to my own creative wiles, I'm often standing in my closet, flipping through my skirts and pants, whining that I don't have anything to wear. I learned about a year ago that I could spend the same amount of time shuffling through magazines and other wardrobe blogs and get much more inspiration.

This outfit is my version of Andy Sach's outfit in The Devil Wears Prada. In that case, she's wearing Chanel, and I'm breaking Coco's Rule by mixing another color into my black and white--even if it is khaki. As difficult as it was for me, however, I steered clear of any red accent pieces. You know I wanted to throw a red bow in my hair, or my red heels on.

Unfortunately, I don't have a Chanel necklace like Andy does in her outfit, but I made my best version of it by mixing two of my own together. Earrings and ring are silver and pearls. Really happy with the way this outfit turned out.

And look how well my purse matches!!

Pink!!

PINK SKIRT--Isaac Mizrahi for Target; BLACK CARDIGAN--Sweaterworks (TJ Maxx); PURPLE TEE--Express; BELT--I don't remember, but its made in the USA!; BLACK SHOES--Calvin Klein; EARRINGS--Gift from Ginny; BRACELET--Gift from Tommy

When I've been bored lately, I've been scanning through Kasmira's colorful blog and was inspired to throw some unusual color combinations together. I'm not nearly as talented as she is, but I can usually put some shade of pink with any other color I have and make it turn out okay. I bought this skirt a few years ago from Target and have always loved the big bold print and Pepto Bismol pink. Chugging Pepto is one of my favorite pasttimes, so it only makes sense that I would have a variety of clothing options in this color (including my belt!)

I must wear a lot of subdued colors, because its only 9:00 and I've already gotten several compliments on my outfit today. Yay!

My bangs are already "long" again, however :)

P.S. I was going to try to break out my "real" camera instead of using my phone here at work today to see how much trouble it would be to download the pictures in the morning. I'm tired of taking separate feet shots...I think it doesn't really show the whole outfit if you don't show from head to toe. Also, I'm tired of the bathroom at work being my background!! Unfortunately, when I turned my camera on this morning, it was dead, and I was running late as it was! So, maybe I'll try again tomorrow. I hate downloading pictures onto my computer though (I know, how lazy am I!?!) so I'll have to see how much patience I have!

Black & Gold

Black wrap dress--Walmart (believe it!); Red camisole--Aeropostale; Shoes--Payless; Necklace--Aldo.

My entire outfit maybe cost $50. When I bought this dress from Walmart, I was ecstatic. It was about $25 and can be worn all year round, and really fits me quite well. These shoes do not fit so well, on the other hand. I have a skirt they match perfectly with, but I noticed that I really only wear these shoes with that skirt...and the skirt I normally wear them with is black lace over a gold skirt, so its a bit matchy-matchy. I wanted to wear them with somethingelse (so I took a risk and wore them with a black dress--brave, huh?!)


If you want to read a great blog on wrap dresses, check out Kasmira's "Multiple Looks with One Wrap Dress" entry. Kasmira is pretty much my inspiration on lots of occasions--we don't often dress alike (she is much more creative than me) but I can pull a ton of ideas from her.

Blair Waldorf wore a bow-shaped necklace in one episode on Season One of Gossip Girl. I saw this necklace on Aldo's website in silver, and wanted it desperately, but never bought it. Eventually they sold out. I went into Aldo over Christmas to cash in a gift card and they had it in gold for $3! I hardly ever wear gold (it looks bold, and dare I say, often quite garish on me) but I actually like this piece in gold--it stands out, and I feel like it should.

I'm also rocking the ponytail/bow combo, which I've been wary of since I got bangs. I hated the way my bangs looked on this day last week, but I like them today. Yay for getting the hang of bangs :)

Wishing for Fall?

Blue oxford--Merona (Target); pinky-purple vest--New York & Co.; Black skirt--Cato; Belt--Target; Shoes--Payless; Necklace/Earrings--Gift from Kimberly

You know, after looking at these picture, I think I'm going to tuck the oxford in. It doesn't look very neat how its half-hanging out from under the sweater vest.

Another weekend spent in my hometown. I really enjoy getting to spend time with my family, but it exhausts me right now to be away from home and not sleep in my own bed. Trying to fit two dogs (especially a giant one like Ellie Rae) and two people into a full size bed when you are used to a king size is not much fun.

This outfit comes almost directly out of Lucky magazine's 30 days of outfits from last November. I fell in love with so many of the outfits from that suggestion that I cut out most of them and kept them in my very own lookbook. This is probably more of a fall outfit (especially since it was featured in a fall edition) but I needed to dress up a little to inspire me to go to work this morning :) Plus, I'm craving fall fashion this year. I don't know how kindly I'm going to take to a hot Houston fall and winter.

I love these shoes. I'm not sure how they work with this outfit though, because I like to play them up with a bit of irony--they are very school-marmy to me, and I like to wear them with something a little less preppy. The heel is giant for me (when you're 6' tall, you don't often wear a 3" heel) but they are really comfortable. They look great in the fall with tights.

My jewelry is my bridesmaid's jewelry from Kimberly's wedding. It is very classic, and I can throw it on with any outfit and automatically make it pulled together and lovelier.

P.S. I think I'm getting the hang of these bangs!!

Sperry Love!

Shirt--Cato; Jeans--Express; Shoes--Sperry Topsiders; Belt--New York & Co.; Necklace--10-20 Boutique?

Very busy at work today, and I'm most likely leaving early, so I wanted to get this up while I could. I bought this shirt at Cato last weekend, and I love the "cowgirl" feel of it. I was going to wear my riding boots with it and the Houston heat be damned, but then I remembered that its been weeks since I've worn my Sperrys, and I pulled them out. I haven't worn them with jeans yet, and they looked better than I expected. Love them!!

I can't remember where I got this necklace, but I do know that it was like $2. (It may have been 10-20 in Lubbock.) A while back I fell in love with this bird necklace from Jeep Collins, but I just couldn't see myself paying $80 for it. This is my version of it! I've worn this necklace a lot, though, so that $80 price tag might be justified now.

I'll end with a quote to remind myself that it never hurts to look cute. If anyone knew the power of dressing up and moving up, it was Ms. Coco Chanel.

"I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little--if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny." --Coco Chanel

No coffee!!

Oxford--New York & Co.; Pants--New York & Co; Belt--Walmart; Shoes--Merona (Target)

As of right now, I'm working on no caffeine whatsoever. Jennifer and I attempted to make coffee this morning in the office coffee pot, but it overflowed with water as it was brewing. It was quite exciting to unplug an overflowing coffeepot. We then dragged out the "backup" coffeepot in the closet, remade coffee, and waited anxiously while it brewed...cold coffee. Luckily, Cristina lives right down the road and has gone to get her super-pot that she says we can only have for today and tomorrow. Is it better to have loved and lost great coffee, or just stick with reheating the cold brew in the microwave until we can replace the original pot with an equally cheap one?

My outfit was inspired by Gina Gershon in the final episode of HBO's Eastbound and Down which Tommy and I rented last night. I can't find a good image shot of her, so here is the video clip of the scene she is in where she spoofs that guy from Flipping Out.




Anyway, that's where the inspiration came from at least...and the only things that I kept from it were the white oxford and the silver skinny belt. Oddly enough though, I've never worn this belt with pants like this--I usually save it to loop loosely around a skirt or dress. So it was fun to wear it in a new way. When I first bought this belt, it was huge and I had to do some handiwork on it, some I proud that I was able to make it fit properly.

I'm wearing my knock-off Tiffany's necklace to bring out the silver, and gray flats. These pants really look best with flats, as they aren't Victoria's Secret 36" inseams!


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P.S. THE COFFEE IS READY!!!!

Matchy Pink and Black

Shirt--Old Navy, Camisole--J.Crew, Pants--New York & Co, Shoes--Liz Claiborne, Belt--New York & Co.

I hope this outfit looks cuter on than it does in this picture. These are one of my most comfortable pairs of pants. They are lightweight, so I can wear them in the summer, and down here in Texas (especially Houston, Texas), the winters aren't too cold to wear summer-weight pants. I love, love, love the pinstriping on them. They are gray with pink pinstripes! The pink in them is very faint, so it really takes a pink shirt to pick up the pink in it. Otherwise, they just look white.

I also love this belt. I've been wanting my husband to get a Tiger Woods belt (the kind with the big flat metal buckle) forever, but he isn't a fan. When I saw this one in a women's belt, I had to get it.

Shoes are fun...a bit matchy-matchy, but I'm that kind of girl!

I'm also the kind of girl that wears bows in her hair. My ideal is basically a watered down version Blair Waldorf, so I stick a bow in pretty often, especially when I'm running late and have to throw my hair in a pony-tail!

P.S. I can't believe I live in Houston. That is still weird for me to say!

P.S.S. My husband says I'm crazy to have this blog. To make it clear, I'm not issuing an invitation to any stalkers.

Brittany Being Joan

Shirt--Express; Skirt--Cato; Earrings--Gift from Christie; Inspiration: Joan Holloway (Mad Men)

My friends love Mad Men. For me, its a show that I enjoy watching, but it doesn't captivate me in the way that my other shows (namely, True Blood) do. I love the premises of Mad Men, and I lovelovelove the outfits, and even the story line is good. I bought Season 1 on DVD and watched the whole thing. I guess its time to buy Season 2 and give it another go. Leila claims that the first episode of Season 3 was "amazing."

So, in honor of such, here's my best Mad Men outfit. I think its my Joan outfit. Leila says I need a little more cleavage (this applies in every situation), and I think I need a bit more sex appeal, but this is as sexy as I get at work. My attitude just isn't in the right place knowing there's a phone conference at 9:00 and an inspection later today I haven't taken care of yet!

Go ahead, make fun of my vavavoom poses. I don't mind! I tried to wear some bright lipstick today, which I never wear. I always go for light pink, or my go-to "lipstick" is Lip Smackers lip gloss (3/$1!!) This coral has almost already completely come off by now, but I did make an effort!!

I kept my jewelry low key--simple silver hoops, a silver ring and silver bracelet. Joan doesn't need jewelry to stand out. She just does. I wish I had the energy to borrow her attitude for the day!

If you'd like to make fun of me some more, look how "un-girly" I am. I can't sew. I have a sewing machine and Sewing for Dummies, but have never even turned the thing on. My hem line was peeking out a bit from the bottom of my skirt...so I "sewed" it up with some safety pins. I know, I know!!