March into April

Maybe this is a cop out because Mom couldn't take my pictures this week (thanks, weekend monsoon), but I decided to compile some of my favorite looks from March. Frankly, I think I sort of brought my A game. No, I don't know how one can "sort of" bring her A game, but just go with me on this one. Okay?

Favorite Dressy Look and Color Combination

Sure, I loved my pink and green combination this March, but this outfit came together perfectly without the help of Pinterest. The scarf served up a plate of steaming inspiration, and it was delicious. 

I'm hungry now.

Favorite Work Look

Typically, I throw some bright colors into my outfit because I love me some color, and I love my pants with belts; however, this beltless outfit full of neutrals happens to rank as one of my favorites. This blazer is the perfect fit and so are the pants. As for the sparkle of my sweater and bows on my heels? Happy details. 

Favorite Casual Look

A little sparkle in this shirt, too! Give me mustard, give me stripes, give me a jean jacket, and give me elation. Comfort defined right here, folks.

Favorite Date Look

The best date looks fulfill two criteria: 

1. Make you feel sexy.

2. Make you feel comfortable.

Comfortably sexy. There's a match made in heaven. 

I just spied an insect of an unknown variety scampering down my apartment wall. 

I'm going to go throw up now. 

Go Shopping with Me :)

Today's shopping tips:

1. If you don't want to buy a lot, wear stuff that makes you HOT (not sexy hot but temperature hot). When I returned something in LOFT today, I realized that hot stores make me want to do nothing other than run away. Quickly. And strip off all of my clothes. And jump in the fountain with all of that scummy change. (If you legitimately want to buy things and you're a woman on a mission, then be sure to wear clothing that's socially appropriate to remove when you get too hot.)

2. Buy an item and then create outfits with it once you get home.

3. Take pictures of those outfits because sometimes the mirror lies to you when the photographic evidence tells the truth. (Since I force myself into this habit every time I purchase something, I'm much less likely to buy more in a trip.)

4. Ask your husband/boyfriend to return something for you. If you're not in the store to return the item, then you can't be tempted to buy anything in that store...uuuuunless you go to their online site.
 
5. Make a list of things you're hunting for while you're out.

Today, when I went to the mall, I took a few items back. Since several stores had some nice sales, I decided to peruse (only momentarily because patience is not one of my husband's virtues). I also wanted to visit Old Navy because they were running some great deals.

Purchased: 
Old Navy:
* Indigo dress ($12!)
* Thick, braided white belt ($8)
* Skinny, braided black belt ($8)
(I used a gift card.)
The Limited:
* Black coated skinny jeans with gold zippers, which I plan to call my sexy pants (40% off of $39.99)
* Gold, braided necklace (40% off $6.99)

Returned:
LOFT--sweater for $22 (I tried to find it friends in my closet, and I just wasn't impressed.)
GAP--cognac, wool blazer for $58 (I tried to make wool work, but it was a lost cause.)
Kohl's--LC blouse for $20 (I envisioned it several ways in the store. When I tried those ways at home, it was a big fail. Jeff referred to one outfit as "old ladyish." Yeah, that's not a compliment.)

Now for the outfits!

First up, my coated skinny jeans from The Limited, which I stalked online (to no avail) and found plenty of in the store. It was meant to be?

They only have sizes 10 & 12 left online. 

(Big image for any of you collage pinners out there.)

Outfit 1

Top & Pants: The Limited

Flats: Steve Madden via DSW

Outfit 2:

Necklace: Francesca's

Shirt: Rock & Republic via Kohl's

Blazer: Express

Flats: Steve Madden via DSW

Outfit 3:

Scarf: gift from a student :)

Pants: The Limited

Shirt: Target

Boots: hand-me-down from Mom

Outfit 4:

Blazer: ModCloth

Heels: Aerosoles via Marshall's

Shirt: Target

Necklace: The Limited

Next up: Indigo dress from Old Navy (here--it's 25% off $26 online. I got it for $12 in store.)

Outfit 1:

Blazer: Jennifer Lopez via Kohl's

Necklace: gift

Dress: Old Navy

Heels: via Marshall's (they're on my reverse 30x30!)

Outfit 2:

(I didn't know what to do with the scarf, so I tied it in the back around my waist. I really like it.)

Scarf: Target

Boots: Franco Sarto via Marshall's

Outfit 3:

Cardigan (OLD): Express

Booties: Old Navy

Belt (OLD): Target

Outfit 4 (not pictured in collage):

(This look will have to wait for spring!)

Belt: Old Navy (the white braided belt I got)

Shoes: Rock & Republic via Kohl's

How did I do? Did I make you want to go to Old Navy and The Limited? ;)

And so the "Reverse" 30x30 begins.

In case you missed it, yesterday, I told you about my challenge for the month of January. I'm dubbing it, for lack of something more creative, "Reverse 30x30." It's "reverse" because, unlike a 30x30, which involves isolating 30 items from your closet and remixing just those pieces, you take 30 items that you want to reintroduce into your wardrobe. You choose clothes that you love (or think you could love), but rarely show the love. This challenge is a concentrated effort to make all of your closet well-loved. If, by the end of the challenge, you decide to donate/consign/sell any of the 30 items you chose, that's perfectly fine. You're one step closer to a fully well-loved closet. Right?

My first item of clothing is the Lauren Conrad polka dot button down. I love me some dots, I love me some LC, and I love me some button downs, but this shirt just sits on the sidelines. Not today, folks. Not today.

My method for success? It's two fold.
First: pair the shirt with well-loved items (black boots and burgundy pants) and new items that excite me (black cardigan and red necklace).
Second: make the shirt part of a color scheme I always fall back on (black, white, and burgundy)

Will I keep this shirt? Absolutely. It will definitely become well-loved. In fact, I have a few more ways to wear it.

Next time? Boyfriend blazer and jeans with heels?
Or one of these looks that I pinned:
polka dot shirt under dress
polka dot shirt with jean jacket, green necklace, and heels
polka dot shirt with cobalt

How I wore it today?

"Reversed" Item: Polka dot button down (Lauren Conrad via Kohl's)

Pants: Old Navy Rockstar skinnies

Boots: Etienne Aigner via Macy's

Cardigan: Express

Necklace: gift

Feel free to join me for this challenge. It can be for a day, a week, two weeks, the whole 30, whatever! If you participate at any point, I'd love for you to send me an e-mail or comment with the link to your outfit post. 

:)

-Danielle 

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday. 

Dry Shampoo Tips & Some Wardrobe Favorites

The first half of this post is filled with some of my favorite things. Cue Sound of Music singing. The second portion is filled with my dry shampoo tips. (How I make it to days 3 and 4 without washing my hair.)

The Favorites

This Scarf (and obviously this woman)

It's one of those scarves that could serve as a mini blanket, which I just might enlist it to do the next time I hop on a plane. 

It's $32.67 at Asos, but the husband caught it on a 30% off sale. 

(A little birdie might have told him. A little birdie might also have told him to cancel the order after finding out that he did not type in the 30% off code at check out.) 

This Dress from Gap

I didn't buy it because it was $60 full price, and I just don't pay full price at a store I know will throw it on sale soon enough. Patience, grasshopper. 

However, I fell in deep like with this dress. It's a thick fabric, has pockets, perfect work length, and will function in any season. I'm picturing it with a striped shirt or white oxford underneath. The reviews of it are not great, but I guess it depends on your body type? I'm not sure, but it took a liking to me. 

The Necklace & Booties are also new favorites

The necklace was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law. She has such great taste, right? I especially love it with this dress and the booties. Add a blazer and a skinny belt, and we're in serious business. 

The booties are here at Old Navy. We got them in store during a super sale. They were $19.19! 

This Blazer (which is on sale at Gap)

Typically, I'm hopelessly allergic to wool, which is in this blazer, but it wasn't bothering me at all despite the fact I continued to rub my neck against it like a kitten. It's the color that enticed me. I won't lie to you. Here, I'm wearing a 2. Typically, I'm a 0, but I think the arms would be WAY too small in a 0. I like the dress, too, but I wasn't sold on it.

This Top & These Jeans

It was $22 on the LOFT sale rack, and it came home with me. It will tuck into a skirt really well or it'll pair well with jeans (including these!) and a long, drapey necklace. I think I just made up that term, but I have no other name for it. I cannot find the top on their site, so you'd have to check the store. It was the only one left.

As for these jeans, they're "pencil" jeans by Lauren Conrad (whose book, Style, I was rereading tonight! Hey, I needed a break from Huck Finn), which Mom found at Kohl's. Find them in two washes here. They're on sale for $29.99. I am wearing them in a size 0. Mom argues that they elongate my legs. I really did not expect to love them as much as I do. Thanks, Mom, for bringing another favorite pair of jeans to my closet!

Dry Shampoo Tips

Previously, I used that Suave dry shampoo you can find at Target. I'm sure drug stores carry it, but I avoid touching anything at drugstores. Too many sick people. Germs. Shudder. 

Carrying on, I noticed that the Suave stuff just wasn't cutting it. It worked on second day hair, but that's about it. Third day hair? Mmm, not so much. My locks just harbor that oil. 

My stylist suggested Redken. Now, she told me that it works just fine on blonde hair, but I'm not sure how it affects brunettes. If you want some other products to try, Vogue suggested these 16 waterless shampoos. Redken's is one of them. (I found the link when I was looking for a picture of the product.)

Anyway, on the second day of no shampooing, I spray the dry shampoo on the roots at the very top of my head. I do not use a brush (too thick) or my hands (adds oil.) I spray the dry shampoo about six inches from my head and use a fine tooth comb because it more evenly distributes the product.  

On the third and fourth days, I do not spray just the top of my head. I work in three layers. 

1. Spray the top layer generously. Comb through with fine tooth comb.

2. Lift up a third of hair (just above ears) and spray generously. Comb through.

3. Spray the underside of hair (base of neck). Comb through. 

Oil builds up at the roots, and the roots are not at just the top of your head. As soon as I started spraying two other layers, I noticed a big difference in how not oily my hair looked. 

My Three-Day System:

Day 1--straight hair

 Day 2--with a flat iron, touch up spots that went haywire during sleep

Day 3--curl hair (hides oil much better than plain straight hair)

Linking up with Molly and Monday Must Haves Link Up.

Little Red Heels

My body hates drugs. 

I don't mean illegal drugs, but I'm sure it would really hate those.

I mean legal medications like Advil, penicillin, sulfa drugs, and anything else that's supposed to make a person feel better.

I think my body is actually building up an allergy to Advil.

Every month, the sickest I feel is several days after I start taking Advil for cramps. However, I'm caught in a catch 22. If I don't take Advil, my cramps are so bad that I will crawl the walls. If I do take Advil, I'm reduced to a nauseated, dizzy mess. I can't win.

Today at work, I felt ill all morning, especially after taking Advil, but I chalked it up to Mother Nature's wily ways. I shrugged it off until halfway through the day when I wasn't sure whether I would pass out or throw up all over the floor. I started to shake, I felt nauseated, my mouth was dry, my chest was tight, I was short of breath, I had a headache, and I was dizzy. I remembered all of these symptoms because they were the same ones that visited me when I suffered a much worse allergic reaction to an antibiotic. For the first time in a long time, I flew out of work. My poor intern started last week, and I just left him with a pile of work. If I didn't feel so awful, I would feel awful about it.

I am now loading up on lots of fluids and gluten-free crackers (if I can stomach them.) Luckily, the fluids seem to be helping...some. 

Seriously, body? I know you reject all medications, but what am I to do with you?

And, Advil? I hate you so bad.

Before this bottle of water sends me to the bathroom again, I shall share today's outfit with you. You can't see it, but my dress has little red heels all over it. If I felt better, I would have tried harder to snag a  clearer detail shot. You get what you get. 

Dress: Jessica Simpson via Marshall's ($14.99)

Blazer: Old Navy (~$35)

Silver belt: NY & Co. (old)

Silver flats: Nine West via Marshall's ($29.99)

I am going to take a nap now. 

Bye. 

Mustard Gingham Style

I think I need to dye my hair, not because I can't rock ombre hair, but because I found my first silver hair. Well, an army of them. Let me tell you what: those magnification mirrors are the work of the devil. I use them to pluck my eyebrows, and that's when I found a silver hair. Since it looked all shimmery (versus a dull gray), I figured I could pretend to be half unicorn. That way, I won't cry. If I do cry, it will be magical. 

Since Jeff has four white "spots" on his head, he told me to let it happen because it's "cool!" He said, later on, I'd be the "hot mom with silver streaks." I'm not feeling it, guys. Thanks for being supportive, honey. 

Anyway, please enjoy today's Thanksgiving outfit. I didn't actually gorge myself this Thanksgiving. Our house was so hot from the oven going all day that I didn't even want to eat. I just wanted to pound five bottles of water. 

Also, I would like for you to know that I think the "no white after Labor Day" rule is stupid and has always been stupid...in my humble opinion. Consider this: every season, we pull the colors that we wear from our natural surroundings. This fall, we see leaves changing and beautiful colors like mustard, dark green, and maroon (three of the season's hot colors). If this statement is true, and I believe it is, then why can't you wear white in a season THAT BRINGS SNOW? Snow is white. (Snow White, duh.) Unless it's on the ground and a dog or a drunk frat boy peed on it. Therefore, we can wear white in the winter, too. If we can wear white in summer and winter, then we can wear it whenever the crap we want.

If you would like to read about the history of this fashion "rule," see this article from Time magazine. You're welcome. 

Button down (or is it up?): Old Navy (this summer)

Cardigan: Target (current) - $15

Pants: Forever 21 (current) - $19.80

Red wedges: DSW (current) - $35

Red belt: was my mom's back in the day :)

Necklace (which you can see in the pictures below): Stella & Dot

Now, please enjoy my husband's and my iPhone self portrait session. His faces are hysterical.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :)

Fields of Gold

Okay, there are no fields, but there is some gold in this post, and what a great song by Sting. Right?

I can only imagine what my neighbors or the people who drive on that busy road behind my house wonder as they watch me moving around a camera tripod in my backyard. At least I am taking pictures of me and not them, which would be creepier.

At one point this year, I told my mom that I'm not a fan of gold. I said something about how it doesn't look good on me, and blah, blah, blah. Silver is better. Blah, blah, blah. Hot dog, have I proven myself to be a big, fat liar. I have bought gold shoes, this gold necklace, this gold top (can't really see the gold in this picture because I need to improve my self-protrait skills), and I'm sure there's more to come. 

I wanted you to see my Sasha Fierce face. And there you have it.

It's not sunny outside, but I'm squinting. I think I'm actually mean mugging the self timer on my camera.

Blazer & Necklace: NY & Co.
Pants: The Limited (and they're not skinny pants! WHAT!?)
Shoes & Purse: Marshalls (pretty sure the shoes are Aerosoles, but fact checking requires movement, which I don't intend on doing)
Shirt: The Limited (on sale, hooray!)

I know that, yesterday, I posted about picture poses to strike, but this one hand on the other arm thing does not work as well for me as it does for other ladies. I feel super awkward (big surprise there). I'd like to say it's because I was wearing a blazer, and they're not always the most flexible items of clothing, but, if I'm being honest, I know it's just because I'm a little bit like Gumby.

I'd like to add some color to this outfit. What would you suggest?

Since it's November, I shall tell you something that I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for not having killed a child this week. I'm not saying I haven't had to talk myself out of it, but at least I'm not being carried away in handcuffs because for the millionth time, a kid has asked me the question that I just answered...three times. Keep calm and teach on, Wo.

The Dude's Duds (and mine, too)

So, my husband wears a lot of hideous shoes. Okay, maybe I'm not being fair. I love bright colors, too, but I at least try to coordinate my bright colors. He, on the other hand, does not. On Sunday, he wore white shorts (whatever, that "no white after Labor Day" rule was ridiculous to begin with), a plaid shirt, and then those shoes you see in the right corner of this picture: 

He hates to shop. I mean HATES it. I think it stems from his frustration that stores simply do not carry his size (31x33 pants), so he gave up, which means his mom and I are left to find him clothes. Not fun, especially since 31x33 is not the same everywhere. How can that be true? It's not like a size 2, which understandably vary, but how can a measurement change? I'm confused.

Luckily, I conned him into trying on two pairs of shoes! One step for my husband, one enormous leap for this wife. Oh, the best part? He loved both pairs. Looks like I know what to buy him for Christmas ;) Okay, one of those pairs in addition to some fun car stuff. No boy (well, not my boy) wants only shoes for the holidays. He loves his electronics and tools. 

He loved this pair of Sperries, too. Oh, there is hope for him yet.

Also, we found his mannequin twin.

Not only did he put on some shoes, he happily agreed to try on blazers! Be still my heart. By the way, the salesman suggested he put on the shades for this picture. Hys-ter-ical. And hot. Very, very hot. YUM.

Because you're lucky, I'll show you today's outfit. Actually, I'm not nearly as cute as he is, but here you go.

I looked for a long time to find a formidable white blouse. I found this one at Old Navy for less than 30 beans. I know you're proud :) It's actually long enough. Most of these shirts are too short for my liking.

For the record, I really wanted to wear sweatpants to work today. I was this close. However, I exercised some self control, and here we are.

Shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: American Eagle

Shoes: Marshalls (they're Aersoles and SO comfortable!)

Jewelry: NY & Co.

Please enjoy the following picture. Jeff was peeling potatoes in the living room because he didn't want to miss his show. He gives me so many reasons to love him. (Our dogs are pretty funny, too.)