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.

Keep that summer glow all winter long!

Good morning lovelies!  One thing I've read on a lot of the blogs I follow lately is how to transition your wardrobe from Summer to Fall.  I'm loving all the tips, because as we know, I'm somewhat fashion challenged.  Today, though, I want to go in a slightly different direction.

I was blessed with my mother's (and her mother's, and her mother's) Irish skin.  It's pale, it's really dry but also oily in places, I have patches of what I call "chicken skin" - tiny raised red bumps on my arms and legs...I also have perpetually rosy cheeks, which is probably a mild form of rosacea.  I am covered in moles, several which have been deemed 'precancerous' and have had to be removed, thus leaving me with some gnarly scars, thanks to a tendency toward keloids.  I'm also mildly allergic to the sun (I break out in hives with too much exposure).  Let's just say I'm incredibly blessed when it comes to my skin.

rock that sunhat, gurl.
ironically...this is the day that I got one of the worst sunburns of my life.  i was methodically applying and reapplying sunscreen every 30 mins, but apparently missed a spot.  it was more than 3 years ago and i still have the 'tan line' .

All that being said, I have come to accept and embrace a lot of those...shall we say...quirks, as part of who I am.  And I'm learning to work with them and tailor my beauty routine around it all instead of trying to fight it.  In the past, I tried tanning.  That's no longer an option because...hives.  and cancer.  I rock some SPF 50 all day erry day.  For my wedding I did a spray tan, but that can get expensive and time consuming to try and keep up.  I've tried self-tanners, tinted moisturizers...the works - but if you know anything about me, it's that I'm completely uncoordinated and I always end up streaky and with orange hands.  With time, I've actually come to love my pale skin (at least from the waist up...my legs are still pretty scary and see-through pale, which is why I tend to keep them covered when I can).  Plus, if you'll remember from a friday 5 post many moons ago, red lipstick looks totally fab on my light skin and dark brown hair (just call me snow white, y'all)!

So when I was approached about doing this post about keeping that summer 'glow' through the fall, I was initially hesitant.  I'm not sun-kissed by any stretch of the means.  And my rosy red cheeks negate the need for blush or bronzer.  In fact, I tend to avoid much makeup on my face, because it makes my skin look more dry (not that I haven't experimented).

this is how you contour...right?

But I quickly realized, glow doesn't necessarily equal color.  A glow can be natural.  And in learning how to love and care for my skin type, I learned the products that help give my skin a healthy, natural 'glow', all year round.  Especially as the weather cools down and the air gets dryer, I have had to learn how to adapt my skin care routine in order to keep my pretty porcelain face looking on point.  The key to that?  MOISTURE!  I can't stress enough how important proper moisturizing is to great skin.  For me, proper moisturizing involves 3 steps.

Step 1: Hydrate!

1. 24 oz Tervis Tumbler | 2. Fruit Infuser Water Bottle | 3. Propel Water | 4. Water with Lemon

Drink ALL the water.  Good skin, great health, it all starts on the inside.  I'm the first to admit I'm a little bit of a tea junkie.  And I've recently found an affinity for iced coffee.  The problem is that the caffeine in those drinks is SO dehydrating.  So you have to drink more than the recommended 8 glasses of water per day to make up for it.  One way I do that is to keep my Detroit Tigers 24 Oz Tervis Tumbler at my desk and keep it full all day.  This results in several trips to the rest room, but keeps me nice and hydrated.  I try to refill it at least 3 times a day to get all my recommended water.  Bonus?  I get to show my home town pride!  I know what you're thinking though - water is so BORING,  Frankly, I don't share those sentiments.  I love water. But ok, I can work with that.  Spice up your water with a little bit of flavor.  One way I do that is with an infuser.  I throw some of my favorite fruits into my infuser and I get my water with some delicious extra flavor.  There are other health benefits to drinking infused waters when you are mindful of your fruit combinations.  Here are some healthy fruits and their benefits -
Lemon, Lime, & Cucumber: Hydration, Digestion, & Appetite Control
Lemon, Lime, & Orange: Immune Defense, Digestion, & Heartburn
Cucumber, Strawberry, & Kiwi: Blood Sugar Support & Digestion
Green Tea, Mint, & Lime: Fat Burning, Digestion, & Headaches
Pretty sweet right?  And all so yummy sounding right now!  Add a capful of Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar and get a whole host of other benefits like suppressed appetite, digestive health, lower cholesterol & blood pressure, indigestion prevention, clears sinus drainage, gets rid of dandruff, boosts energy, clears acne, reduces bad breath, reduces nighttime leg cramps, whitens teeth, fades bruises, controls blood sugar, wards off kidney stones...the stuff is my (not-so) secret miracle worker!

Step 2: Exfoliate!

1. St. Ives Apricot Scrub | 2. Perfectly Posh Classic Snarky Bar | 3. Perfectly Posh The Stripper mask | 4. Perfectly Posh I'm Shrinking mask

Exfoliation is key to smooth skin.  Putting lotion on top of dry, flaking skin is going to do a big fat nothing for you.  I have a few exfoliating and pore cleansing/shrinking products that I love, love, love.  The first is nothing so special - just your basic, everyday St. Ives Apricot Scrub.  I love this stuff.  Been using it forever.  It's my daily face wash and it works so great - exfoliating with crushed apricot pit instead of those awful microbeads.  And it's gentle enough to use everyday.  The second is my body exfoliator (skin care doesn't stop at your neck after all).  I can't stop singing the praises of Perfectly Posh's Classic Snarky Bar.  First, the scent is to die for - bergamot, mandarin, freesia, lily, and sandalwood - I can't get enough of it (no for real, I think I own almost every Snarky scented product they make)!  More importantly though - it is the most effective exfoliator I've ever used.  They call it snarky because it's pretty mean...in a hurts so good way.  It takes some getting used to, but I've seen a major improvement in my overall skin smoothness and my chicken skin is actually clearing up a little.  This is another everyday product.  The next two I don't use everyday, but more when I'm having some trouble and need a little extra help.  The Stripper is a detoxifying mud mask for your face or body.  It pulls out all the nasty gunk that might have built up.  It's not for overly sensitive skin and has a burning/tingly feeling that lets you know it's working.  Another hurts so good product.  Finally, the I'm Shrinking pore reducing mask.  That's another thing I was blessed with - massive, highly visible pores, that get gunked up pretty easily (another reason why I avoid makeup for the most part).  I use this about  once a week to help keep those bad boys in check.  It's another tingly mask and does leave my face a little red immediately after use, but the results really speak for themselves, so I don't mind. 

Step 3: Moisturize!

1. Clinique Clarifying Lotion | 2. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion | 3. Perfectly Posh Moisturize 911 | 4. Perfectly Posh Snarky Butter

So, once you've given your skin a healthy foundation by keeping hydrated, and gotten rid of all the junk on the surface, you're ready for the final step - the moisturizer.  I was raised on the Clinique 3-step system (I get the full system every Christmas) and have not found a toner that works better than my level 2 clarifying lotion.  It perfectly preps my skin and opens up my pores just enough to allow the moisturizer in.  I tag team with my moisturizers.  Because the skin on my face is super combination, I have to be very careful about what lotions I use and where.  On my oily spots, I use the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing lotion - a classic, which moisturizes just enough on oily skin so as not to encourage blemishes.  On my dry spots, I use Perfectly Posh's Moisturize 911.  It's a thicker cream that really penetrates the dry skin.  It's also caffeinated to brighten and tighten (I've heard some people tell me that if they use it at night, it keeps them up.  I haven't experienced that, but if you're really susceptible to caffeine, stick to morning applications with this one)!  Finally, for the below the neck moisture, I am addicted to my Perfectly Posh Snarky Butter.  This stuff is AH-MAZING.  It's full of so much good stuff - shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower seed oil, almond milk, honey - plus it's got the classic snarky scent that I adore.  I've never gone through an entire container of lotion in my life.  I emptied out my first 8 oz tub of Snarky Butter in a matter of months and am into the second.  Addicted.

As I touched on in the Hydrate portion, healthy skin ultimately comes from a healthy YOU.  This post was prompted by ALOHA who aims to "share the breath of life" by making health simple, fun, and accessible.  ALOHA provides different health food products like teas, protein bars, snacks and supplement 'super foods' that help you support your overall nutrition.  Besides being able to shop for their products, ALOHA's website also offers some yummy recipes (and cocktail recipes!) that I am so eager to try - especially since I'm on that new health kick.  Here are some of the ones that I'm ready to make, like yesterday...

Organic Superfood Margarita

Pineapple Punch

Watermelon S'mash Superfood Cocktail

Thin Mint Smoothie (um...yes please!)

Healthy Homemade Frosting

5 Ingredient Chocolate Protein TEE-A (Chia) Pudding

Seriously...don't those look and sound amazing?  And not too difficult to make either, which is key.  Check out ALOHA's recipe page for more ideas for food and drinks that will keep you feeling great - and give you a beautiful *inner* summer glow, all year long!

Until next time friends...

*Disclaimer - All opinions expressed in this post are my own and were not influenced by any of the featured companies.

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.