What (Not) to Wear Wednesday

OK here's a quick tip for you all.  When you do early morning workouts at your office's fitness center, don't forget to pack your nice shoes for when you're done...otherwise, you end up going to work like this:

that is all.

Friday 5 - vol. 9

Well, how's this for a flashback?  I haven't done a Friday 5 in almost a year and half.  Surely I can think of 5 things I really love from that gap of time yes?  Ok, Ok - I'll stick to the rules and keep it to things I loved in the past week.  So without further ado...

1. My new LuLaRoe Julia dress!

I can't resist the Julia dress.  It's so flattering on every shape and super comfy.  Plus it can be dressed up, down, or as a tunic.  I think I could wear a Julia every day and be a happy girl.

2. This dressy casual fall outfit I put together

My friend Shaunacey at Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy posted one of her favorite fall go-to outfits this week (check it out here).  I absolutely loved it and used it as the inspiration for my outfit above - which is now one of my go-tos!

3. Ace Pineapple Cider

I am a cider girl.  Cider and Riesling - those are my go to drinks.  I first had this cider at Burger Republic in Nolensville, TN a few months ago and had been on the hunt for it ever since.  I finally found it at my local liquor store and promptly bought 3 6-packs.  This stuff is SO GOOD.  And if you haven't tried it, you NEED to.

4. Cucumber Kiwi Smash cocktail

While cider and Riesling are my go to drinks, I'm not afraid to branch out to something new every once in awhile.  This week we went to a birthday party downtown and this cocktail was on the menu.  It was delicious - and so light and refreshing.  It's probably more of a 'summer' cocktail (it would be perfect out in the warm weather), but I would drink it year round.  Here's the recipe:
1 oz kiwi puree,
1/4 oz. fresh lemon-lime juice mix
3/4 oz simple syrup
1 1/2 oz cucmber-infused vodka
Shake all ingredients with ice, pour into a collins glass and top with soda water.

5. My perfect fall mani

Jamberry Copper Penny, Midas, & Stardust

I've been super lazy with my nails lately, but all of a sudden it was October, the weather was cooling down, and I was wearing Uggs.  I decided I needed my nails to match my fall style.  I feel like this manicure just screams Pumpkin Spice, Caramel Apple Cider, leaves falling, cool air, and all things fall.  I loved it. Too bad it only lasted about a day before it started chipping - boo!

And that's it for this week's five.  Have a great weekend, friends - and until next time...

What (Not) To Wear: Multi-Use Pieces

One thing I've been really, really loving lately is pieces of clothing that I can wear a bunch of different ways, so I can have fewer pieces in my closet (which my bank account loves) but look like I have a lot more.  

Being versatile with your wardrobe can be really easy - something as simple as changing the color and shape of the top you wear with a skirt, or changing accessories, can give you some really varied looks - such as with my floral pencil skirt below.  j

On 3 separate days, I wore it over a peach top with nude, round-toed heels, under a nude top with black booties, and hiked up under a loose-knit, mustard color sweater with black, point-toed heels.  

Another super easy way to change up an outfit?  Turn it around.  Yeah, just wear it backwards!  When I wear this dress to work, I wear it forward to be more conservative.  Then, I just flip it, scooch the zipper down just a tad, and I'm ready for date night!

You can also play with the shape of a piece to make it look like something completely different than it is.  [I've been slacking with my pictures in preparation for this post, so take my word for it when I tell you that the picture below features the same dress.]  On the left, I'm wearing the dress as a dress.  On the right, I've folded it up to wear as a tunic with leggings.  This is one of my favorite ways to easily go casual after work, without dirtying up too much extra laundry!

But my favorite thing to do is completely transform a piece, so it's nearly unrecognizeable (but in the best way).  Can you guess what this dress does for a day job?

It's a MAXI SKIRT!  What?!  I know.  I'm impressed with myself, too(and my hubs loved this particular transformation on our date night)!

I love maxis for their major comfort factor.  They're great on days when I really want to just wear PJs all day, but shouldn't, when it's super hot out, or when I totally forgot to shave my legs...ha.  Many of my maxi skirts are also long enough for me to hike them up and wear as a maxi dress! [Again, please excuse my lack of picture prep for this post...I may update it later with better pictures. I may not. You'll get over it.]  

So tell me, friends, how do you get creative with your wardrobe to maximize the value out of your closet?  I'd love to try out some new ideas!  And until next time,

What (Not) To Wear - What I've Been Up To

So it's been about a year (what?!) or more since I last posted a WNTW. So what's been going on in my wardrobe since then?  Frankly, tons.  And I think most of it has been for the positive.

I've accepted leggings as pants.  And I live in them.
I now work at a job wear jeans are a no-no... In fact, I honestly can't remember the last time I put on a pair of blue jeans (oh yeah...I got a new job.  Life update coming in a later post).
I wear dresses and skirts - no wait - scratch that - I ROCK dresses and skirts pretty much every day (and then I come home from work and put on my leggings).
I know what box pleats are, and I covet them.
I mix patterns.  Camo & Stripes.  Florals and Polka Dots.  Giraffes and Geometrics.  I'm not afraid of any of 'em.
I wear heels.  And flip flops that I didn't buy at Old Navy.

Let's do a quick comparison....here are some of the "good" outfits I posted last year -

Not bad...not bad... but how about now?

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

My saving grace has been a new direct sales company, LuLaRoe (I'm linking my fabulous consultant Jen).  I have fallen in love with their bold colors & prints, practical, yet fashionable cuts, and of course, their buttery-soft leggings!  If I could only shop LuLaRoe for the rest of my life, I would be too happy (my husband thinks I will get "peter griffen" syndrome if I do that -- you know he always wears the same green pants and white shirt day after day after day after...you get it -- but I think I can mix it up, especially with all those fun prints)!   And half of the fun of shopping LLR is hunting for your "unicorn" prints in the perfect size and style (each print is only made into 1000 pieces - so some can be tough to find)!

Between hunting for the perfect LLR prints and finding suitable clothing for my new job,  clothes are fun again.  I thought I loved having a job that didn't really have a dress code.  Being able to dress down for work was easy - but it was boring.  Not being able to wear open-toed shoes was an unnecessary torture.  I should have known better - when I had a job wearing scrubs everyday, I thought I would love it, because...scrubs.  But I hated it.  I wanted to wear a color other than maroon.  I wanted to choose an outfit.  Now I can be adventurous and classy all at the same time and I'm so excited!

So what do you think, friends?  How am I doing in the what not to wear area?  Would Stacy and Clinton still throw away my entire wardrobe?  Am I progressing (or am I Peter Griffen)?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And until next time, 

What (Not) to Wear #4

My thoughts...

My hair is a mess on Thursday.  As is my living room.  Do you like the little bicycle I added to try and cover it up?  //  I got a lot of comments on the fedora.  I'm glad Chad told me to buy it.  //  I had enough forethought to take pics over the weekend...but lazy dressing doesn't make for very interesting pictures.  A cute baby sure does, though.  //  Monday I finally styled the chambray in such a way that Chad didn't absolutely hate it.  He still thought it was a little Canadian Tuxedo-y and would have worked better with the red pants, but I consider that a win.  //  Tuesday I braved white on white.  I had spaghetti for dinner and came out of it unscathed.  The tank top ended up being super tight though - a lot tighter than I realized - and I was really self-conscious about it most of the day.  //  Today...ah today.  I was up way too late watching the All-Star game (Go AL!), then up most of the night with a feverish, teething, allergy-ridden, miserable little man.  Getting out of bed was hard enough.  I put no effort into getting dressed.  #sorrynotsorry

Stay tuned for my second post today where I gush on and on about how much I love my husband...or something :-)

Stay Chelish, friends.

What (Not) To Wear Wednesday - wk 3

I admit this week is lacking in photos.  I'm finding it harder to come up with outfits that I haven't already posted...and this is where I'm limited.  Once I put together an outfit I like, I keep wearing it over, and over, and over again.  I have to figure out how much longer I'm going to commit to this post.  I obviously can't do it forever.  Hmm...something to ponder.

Not pictured:
Sunday: Jeans, some shirt that I can't remember, some flops.
Monday: Skinnies, Circle Print Top, Black Flats
Tuesday: Skinnies, Striped top, Black Flats

Thoughts...LOVED my 4th of july outfit (not pictured, gold flops from old navy),  So comfy and I felt so cool in my fedora.  My regular jeans are getting big.  Or stretched out.  I've tried to buy new ones in the same style/size thought and they don't fit the same and the size down is too small.  They're really comfy, but they're a little saggy.  I struggled with shoes again today.  I really need to get that pair of nude flats.  I ended up going with leopard because the black was too dark and I didn't feel like the brown went with the grey.  I've never been a shoe person and that's becoming more and more apparent.  And Saturday starts my new haircut (ladies love my new haircut).  It's so nice to have some shape to my hair again!  And finally, apparently, I really like stripes...

What (Not) to Wear Wednesday - wk 2

Here are this weeks submissions for What (Not) to Wear Wednesday.  Your judgement is welcomed and expected... :-)

 I try to take weekends off of all blog activity, so I didn't get photos of my outfits on Saturday/Sunday (ok...that's just an excuse.  I just forgot to take them and/or didn't want to show because I reverted to lazy chelsea...deal with it).

Thursday: Chambray Shirt - Old Navy, Red Pixie Pants - Old Navy, Leopard Print Flats - Charlotte Russe

Friday: Free Hugs Tee - Victoria's Secret (Old/Similar), Jeans - Old Navy, Pink Chuck Taylor's - Converse

Saturday (Not Pictured): BFM Tee - The Chive, Jeans - Old Navy, Pink Chuck Taylor's - Converse

Sunday (Not Pictured): Mint Striped Tank - Old Navy (Similar), Black Shorts - American Eagle, Mint Flops - Old Navy (Similar)

Monday: Lace Top - BKE (Similar), White Boyfriend Pants - Kut from the Kloth, Black Flats - Old Navy

Tuesday: Top - VonMaur (Old), Skinnies - Old Navy, Brown Flats - Body Central

Wednesday: Striped Tee - Christopher J. Banks (Old), Skinnies - Old Navy, Black Flats - Old Navy

My thoughts:
Fridays are casual days at work, so I took full advantage.  Monday, I'm not so sure about the black flats with the outfit.  But I'm not sure what I could have done instead (I'm required to wear closed-toe shoes at work...).  Wednesday, I woke up realizing I had forgotten to turn on my alarm the night before.  I was already 15 minutes late for work and did. not. care.  Can you see it in my face and overall posture?
Overall - I need more accessories.  It's one thing to wear better shirts/pants/shoes, but to really make an outfit, I need to accessorize.

Your turn.  How did I do this week?

What (Not) To Wear Wednesday

I am, admittedly, fashion-challenged.  I've committed to working on bettering my so-called fashion sense - learning what does and doesn't look good, being more adventurous and trying items I might not normally have worn, taking time to choose an outfit instead of throwing on my staple jeans and a t-shirt/sweater/hoodie (or if I do wear those things, accessorize in a way that makes it look like I tried a little).  I've found inspiration from my blogger/mommy friend, Shaunacey, who has made some really awesome fashion updates in the last couple of months.  Now I want to do the same.

So to help me do that, I'm implementing What (Not) to Wear Wednesdays*- a spin off of the popular "What I Wore Wednesday".  It's basically the same concept - I'm going to post pictures of the outfits I wore for the last week.  My goal in this is two-fold: 1) I have some accountability for choosing an outfit that I'm not embarrassed to show the world and 2) get feedback from you!  What did I do right?  What did I do wrong?  What could I do to make it better?  Do those jeans give me "mom-butt"? etc.  I view this process as not something I should do alone, but as something I should readily accept help for.  So please, help me! (And also, please excuse the picture quality for the time being.  I don't have a full length mirror, so I'm stuck using the forward-facing camera w/timer on my phone.)

This will be a short week, as I only decided to do this on Monday.  Here are this weeks choices:

Wednesday's Sweater Detail

Monday: Striped Tee - Old Navy, Jeans - Old Navy, Shoes - American Eagle (old)
Tuesday: Tank - Kohls (Similar), Cardigan - Motherhood (Similar), Jeans - Old Navy, Shoes - American Eagle (old), Scarf - Modadorn (Similar)
Wednesday: Cardigan - Delias (Old), Tank - Vanity (Similar), Pants - Unknown (Old), Shoes - BCBG (Old)

 So there it is.  What works?  What doesn't (and don't say my face...)?  Your feedback is what will make this work, so get to it!


*Name in progress...suggestions are welcome.

Friday Five Vol. 7

Here comes this week's five...a random list of things I liked this week.  Hooray!












1.  These Anti-Jokes from Tickld.com
If I had been drinking coffee this morning, I would have spit it all over my desk.  My husband will tell me they're all lame.  They probably are.  But also hilarious.
What's green and has wheels?  Grass.  I lied about the wheels.

What do a duck and a bicycle have in common?  They both have handlebars...except for the duck.

Why isn't Helen Keller a good driver?  Because she's dead.

A gorilla walks into a bar and orders a banana martini.  The bartender thinks this is a little peculiar and then becomes aware he is actually dreaming.  He wakes up from his dream and begins to tell his wife about the ridiculous dream he had.  His wife just ignores him, the man rolls over and begins to sob because he realizes his marriage is in shambles.
I mean...come on!  Those are awesome.

2. Game of Thrones

I mentioned earlier this week that we started watching it On Demand.  We haven't stopped.  We're now halfway through season 2.  Our DVR is getting a little full because we haven't watched anything else.  And we won't until we finish season 4...which I'm not excited about (because that means I'll have to wait with everyone else until season 5...and I don't like waiting).  I said I was trying really hard not to get attached to characters because I know anyone's fair game for some brutal death...but that lasted about 5 minutes.  Tyrion and Daenerys have quickly become my favorites.  Tyrion (whose accent hurts my ears) is hilarious and the Khaleesi is just a total bad ass.  I can't wait to continue our binge this weekend (and yes, I realize this makes 3 weeks in a row that I've mentioned binge-watching a TV show in my five....stop judging me).

3. Paying off Debt.

Today is a big day in House Cooper (see what I did there?) - today we made the last payment on my engagement ring.  It's a nice little weight off our shoulders and the snowball effect is going to be huge.  We realized that by allocating the payment from the ring to another card, the card will be paid off next month instead of 8 months from now. #almostdebtfree #exceptnotreallyatall

4. My outfit yesterday.

Sweatshirt - Blue Marlin | Striped Tee - Christopher J. Banks | Skirt - Charlotte Russe | Tank - Sam's Club

Apologies for the picture.  The lights were out in the bathroom so I couldn't take a mirror selfie.  Had to rely on the forward facing camera on my phone (but I did discover that it now has a timer...score).  I don't care much about the World Cup, but I do like England.  So when the opportunity presented itself for me to wear my Team England jacket, I took it.  That it worked with one of my new skirts was also awesome.  I got a few compliments (and one guy who asked where my cape was...apparently I looked like Superman to him).  Of course, then England had to go and lose, eliminating them from the competition.  Way to go, lads.

5. Family Time

Chad came home early from work 3 days this week.  And that was after he took the whole weekend off.  I've seen more of my husband in the last week than I have maybe ever (not really) - I loved it, but even better, Miles loved it.  Seeing his eyes light up when Daddy walks in is just about the best sight in the world.  And then to top it all off, my mom is in town this weekend!  So Miles and I are going to my grandma's house on Saturday to hang out with them.  It's been over a month since she was here last, so I am very excited (and then in 2 weeks, she'll be back with my dad for 4th of July...it's almost like they didn't abandon me to move so far away)!

And with that, I leave you to enjoy your weekends.  As always, stay Chelish my friends.