Teacher Style: Printed Skirt Inspiration

Okay, yesterday I showed you a floral printed skirt styled six ways. Today, you are privy to more pictures of my very favorite skirt, which also happens to be from Francesca's. I love this skirt, and I didn't even realize how in love with it I would be when I first bought it. In fact, when Mom was taking my pictures for this post, I declared, "If I had to marry any article of my clothing, it'd be this skirt." If my personality were illustrated by a skirt, this one would paint the prettiest picture. It's surprisingly adaptable (I can make myself comfortable wherever), affordable (I'm a cheap date), colorful (if you've read this blog for any length of time, you know how colorful I am), and fun (there, I said it).

When I worked on styling this skirt two more ways, I came across an idea I've never before considered: knotting a cardigan. Whaaaat? I love the effect of a tied shirt. I don't care how 80s it is; I think it makes a look instantly more fun and fresh. Also, I think the tied shirt is like the non-pregnant woman's version of adding a belt above a baby bump. It adds some visual interest just tucking in a shirt cannot always provide. The gray cardigan in the last look is very thin, so it tied up just perfectly. Obviously, a thick cardigan isn't so suitable for this idea.

The Skirt: Francesca's

Options: Mango (on sale), Dillard's (on sale)--might be too short, Midi version, DJ Premium,

black and white version

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Look 1 (winterized): blazer + sweater + scarf + booties

 

(Sweater: Elle via Kohl's / Blazer (old): Express / Booties: Old Navy / Scarf: made by my Momma)

Look 2: colored top + neutral shoes + gold accessories

 

(Top: LOFT / Shoes: Me Too via DSW / Belt: Target)

Look 3: colored shirt + colored cardigan + nude flats

 (Top: Merona via Target / Cardigan: Sonoma via Kohl's / Flats: Target)

Look 4: chambray + long necklace + metallic flats

 (Chambray: Old Navy / Flats: via DSW / Necklace: H&M)

Look 5: neutral cardigan + tank + pendant necklace + sneakers

 (Cardigan: New York & Co. / Tank: WHBM / Necklace: Lauren Conrad / Shoes: Converse)

Oh, and a close up of the skirt if you want to see it:

What exactly is boho chic?

I feel like I tried this shirt on with every pair of shorts that I own. All of them either looked stupid or no longer fit me. What gives? I'm working with slim pickings. The end of July quickly approaches, so is it worth it to buy more pairs? What are your thoughts on the matter?

My brain can function only in a list right now, so here it is.

One, what is boho chic? I guess it means hippie inspired, flowy fabrics. I'm going to say that this top qualifies, especially because I chose to wear it for exactly that reason. I did not want to feel constricted, so this top felt like a formidable choice. 

Two, doesn't this shirt look like a henna tattoo? The stitching reminds me of henna. Is that weird? If the rest of the top weren't flesh colored, maybe I wouldn't think so. Ah, who knows.

Three, I can't believe I wore a bracelet today without throwing it across the room. Usually, I will attempt bracelet wearing and grow so frustrated with its clanging against the keyboard that I angrily toss it off my wrist. This one slides up far enough that it's out of the way when I type. Looks like I know what kind of bracelets to look for in the future.

Four, no one would know we are in the summer season based on my pasty skin. Will that mean everyone my age later on will look like a rawhide, and there I will be with lovely, unwrinkled skin? I will tell myself this lie in order to feel better about having nothing to show for the sunshine and summertime once school starts.

Five, a few weeks ago, a mouse scurried across my foot as I reached for a 2a.m. snack in the kitchen. A few days ago, a spider fell on me in the shower. Yesterday, a bug crawled up at me out of the toilet. Today, I saw a cockroach crawl OUT OF THE SINK. Why do I even bother cleaning this breeding ground for disgusting things? I think I need a bat. Or a chicken. Or a toad. They can eat the creepy crawlies. Have you ever seen Stephen King's It? You know the part when the clown comes up out of the drain? Yeah, that's my reality. I can laugh things off, but even my sense of humor has its limitations.  

 The Look:

Top: Francesca's (really cute and similar)

Shorts: Jennifer Lopez via Kohl's (exact in two washes)

Sandals: Sole Society (exact) 

Cuff: gift from Mom awhiiiile ago

 I also wore the top this way. As you can see, I'm super creative with it.

Linking up for shorts week with Andi and Ginny.

What I Wore & Did: Hanging Out in Georgetown

So, as you might already know, I met up with Whitney last week in Georgetown (Washington, D.C. for those of you who aren't familiar with the East Coast). Since I'm a native Marylander, it was not my first time in DC, but my first time in Georgetown. I'm in love. As I drove into the city, I ogled the beautiful homes lining the streets--none of them the same, all of them exquisite. I told myself that getting lost wouldn't be such a bad thing because of such a great view.

As for Main Street Georgetown, HELLO, CUTENESS. When you look up Georgetown "shoppes" online, it will appear they offer about ten stores. Oh, no. They have everything, and the stores are all so deep. It's like entering hundreds of Narnias. Before shopping, however, we stopped for lunch at Pinstripes, which also boasts locations in Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota. Seriously, this place is the best place I have ever ordered food, and most of you know how many food allergies I have. I ate the maple glazed salmon with avocado salad and quinoa; they let me do butter instead of a maple glaze. On top of the great food, it also offers bowling and bocci! Indoor bocci pits? Whaaaaat? I loved the restaurant so much that when our friends from New York visited, we took them there for lunch on Saturday. These friends are serious foodies, and they raved about the food and atmosphere. Win. We all high fived at the end of the meal.

Meeting up with a fellow blogger for the first time is sort of like preparing for a first date. When Whitney said the same thing to me at lunch, I knew we'd be forever friends. We both changed outfits about five times before settling on what we'd wear for our outing in Georgetown. SO MUCH PRESSURE. I opted for this skirt with a black shirt and my giraffe necklace. When Whitney and I went into Aldo, the sales girl said she had the same skirt that Whitney also has in another color. I remarked that I would love it more if it had pockets. She said, "that's weird. Mine has pockets." I decided to investigate that very moment. And what do you know? IT HAS POCKETS. I have owned this skirt for an embarrassing amount of time not to notice that the pockets were so well-sewn shut that they existed at all. Clearly, Whitney is good luck.

Here's what I wore on my two trips to Georgetown in one week. 

She exists in real life! And she is even more adorable and sweet in real life. I loved her denim vest and midi-length dress!

 

Our favorite New Yorkers. (I opted for my Converse this day.)

Thank you to the random dude who took our picture after looking at me in the most dead pan of ways and saying, "No" after I asked him to take a group shot. You got me, dude, you got me. 

Oh, we did not mean to dress up as if we were getting professional pictures our coordinated outfits in the park. We're just that good. Naturally.

 

What I Did with Neiman Marcus

Should I call this post Hanging out with Neiman Marcus in Dallas, part two? Today, let's talk about the itinerary.

Day 1:
* Wake up at 3:45 in the morning, stumble around the apartment in a sleepy delirium, feel thankful that husband makes delicious breakfast every day, and leave the apartment by 5a.m.

* Arrive at airport, feel thankful husband is a veteran at flying and happily prints out boarding passes for Mom and me, stand in security long enough to realize that bottle of water is creeping up on my bladder and glare at Mom for managing to get through the "quick" line, fight with buckles on shoes and curse myself for wearing said shoes, and make it onto flight.

* Give Mom oil to put behind her ears in an attempt to prevent motion sickness, find out Mom is allergic to eucalyptus which is in said oil, furiously wipe behind Mom's ear with a wet one in order to remove eucalyptus oil, and make it to Dallas. (Mom white knuckled the arm rests for the entire flight.)

* Wait for baggage at baggage claim, watch as an old woman in a wheelchair tossed her cat in a glorified duffle bag onto the floor and lint rolled the cat while it was in the bag, wait around for the driver who finally got a hold of me, make it to the hotel.

* After exiting the car, photographers and videographers filmed me as I entered the hotel, the Joule. I wondered why they'd want proof of how haggard I looked after waking up early and sleeping on a plane. Thankfully, I had the foresight to put on lipstick before exiting the car. I entered and exited the building several times so that they could get multiple shots.

* After I met the coordinators and checked in, I face timed two of my colleagues so that I could show them our sweet hotel room.

* I met another one of the winners, and we hit it off immediately. We had a chance to check out the Neiman Marcus store a few blocks down from the hotel. They asked us to enter and exit the store several times (I was beginning to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day) as they videotaped and photographed. At one point, a grody guy leaned out of the passenger side of a Honda Civic and yelled, "How much, ladies?" Right away, I felt a little slice of Baltimore was right there in the heart of Dallas.

* At the store, two of us had our fitting. (The first girl I met.) SO MANY pretty and expensive clothes. I ended up picking a navy Kate Spade sweater dress and a white Theory blazer. Another blazer to add to my collection? I don't mind if I do. I got to keep the outfit! The stylist had awesome, curly, gray hair and glasses like Edna from The Incredibles.

* After our fittings, we decided to get something to eat because we were hangry. My friend who now lives in Texas and my cousin met up with Mom, my new friend, and me. We ate at a nice little restaurant on the corner of St. Paul and Main Street called Wild Salsa.

* We had a little more down time and then met up with everyone for dinner at the hotel. The chicken was the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted. I know it's weird to rave about chicken, but the chicken was scrumptious.

Note: Every winner was paired up with a Beauty Department Manager, who was our point of contact before the event and during the event. Mine was Claudio, and I don't think they could've paired me up with a better person!

* My new friend, Mom, and I all sat at the bar after dinner and chatted before bed.

* Bed time.

Day 2:

* Wake up at buttcrack of dawn. Play in coolest shower ever for 45 minutes. Spend 15 of those minutes trying not to scald the crap out of myself.

* The same girl they paired me up with for the fitting was the same girl I went in for make up and hair with. Make up and hair at 7 a.m. with the funniest make-up artist whom I told to do whatever it took to prevent me from looking haggard.

* At this point, things get a little hazy for awhile because things were so jam packed that it took me three hours to finish my breakfast of a muffin and fruit. It consisted of four things:
      -- Video interview of just me on camera
      -- Photoshoot with Claudio, the manager paired up with me (they wanted to pictures of the
        manager showing us how to do something)
      -- Group shot of all the managers and winners
      -- Video shoot with Claudio (same as the photoshoot but moving pictures)

* After all of the pictures and videos, I had to return to reality.

The campaign launches in August because it's for the fall. (I realize a white blazer doesn't scream fall, but their wardrobe choices weren't really very fall-like. Of course, I didn't have much of a problem with that. I think navy and white work all year round, no?)

In the future, I'll be telling you more about some of the products I received. (I am SO excited to try Neulash!)

Since I wanted to look more "fall" like, I wore this outfit with booties instead of these shoes. However, I really like this look. 

The Look:

Shirt: LOFT (new--exact in light lobster)

Skirt: Francesca's (also worn here and here)

Shoes: Me Too via DSW (also worn here)

Belt: Target

Seriously, who knew this $15 skirt would get so much mileage? 

What an all star. 

Caution: I am not this cool in real life.

At my age, we women walk a tricky rope when we say, "I have big news for you!" Most people predict a pregnancy announcement. I can assure you that is not the case for the news I am about to share. In fact, as you read this post, I am under the ENT's knife because my face doesn't like itself. Well, the inside of my face doesn't like itself. I'm working on trying to sustain my own life at the moment, not grow another one.

Anyway, as one of my juniors always says, you're probably wondering why I gathered you all here today.

I am not even sure how to tell you, so bear with me.

As you may or may not know, my mom is my biggest cheerleader in life. She thinks I can conquer the world, and the greatest reason I can defeat so many of my health-related obstacles is because of her "you can do it" attitude. She likes all of my blog posts on Facebook. She keeps up with everything that I write on here. She takes my pictures for the blog. She cheers louder for my victories than any of my adversaries could boo. Well, her love for me led her to write a paragraph nominating me as one of Neiman Marcus' Faces of Beauty, a woman who is beautiful both inside and out. I guess I inherited my flair for writing from her because Neiman Marcus picked me as one of their six faces of beauty for this fall. (Seriously, just typing that sentence almost made me throw up with apprehension and excitement.)

When I first received the e-mail, I thought it was a total hoax like those "you have a million dollars waiting for you in Africa" e-mails, so I called mom and hesitantly inquired, "Did you nominate me to be one of Neiman Marcus' Faces of Beauty?" Softly and with a hint of curiosity in her voice, she responded, "yes." So, I responded, "Well, I just received an e-mail that said they picked me. I'm exactly what they're looking for. They love that my mom nominated me." I think my right ear is still ringing from her shrill shrieks that pierced it at that very moment.

So they picked me. I can think of a long list of women I find more talented, beautiful, and giving than I am, but they picked me. Nothing really compares to a mother's love, and I can attest to that truth.

What does it all mean? Well, I fly out to Dallas May 5th-6th, they put me up in a hotel, I have a photoshoot with a NY photographer, I get $1500 in cosmetics/fragrances, I keep the wardrobe from the photoshoot, I get chauffeured in a limo, I get free dinners/lunches, and they use my face for their national advertising campaign. I do not know what I did to deserve a mother as wonderful as mine and an experience as exceptional as this one, but I am grateful. And that word seems so small and insignificant to express how thankful I am for my mom's faith in me. I know you're probably reading this, Mom, so thank you. Thank you so very much for being my mom.

There's the big news. Now, what do I wear?

Mom says this outfit would be a good choice. Since she dresses me better than I do, she's probably right. Plus, it's the spring version of my favorite fall/winter outfit.

The Look:

Cardigan: Sonoma via Kohl's

Top: Merona via Target (recent)

Skirt: Francesca's

Flats: Target

Earrings: Local Boutique called Sweet Elizabeth Jane (find them on Facebook!)

I think this outfit qualifies for the April challenge because it suits two themes: tribal print and local love.

Today is my big link up day. I'm joining all of these ladies:

* What I Wore to Work: http://www.mixmatchfashion.com/

* All Things Thursday: http://www.glitzandgold.com

* Look What I Got (for cheap): http://pennilesssocialite.blogspot.com/ 

* Three-fer Thursdays: http://www.everydayfashionandfinance.com

* Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday: http://vodkainfusedlemonade.com/

 

Favorite Outfit Recreated & Thoughts on Yoga

So, I tried yoga...again. You see, I've always been a lover of pilates and a believer of "yoga? oh, yes, that's an hour of trying to avoid one of two things: farting or laughing at someone who has farted."However, I have not visited the gym for a long time, and I needed something easy on my geriatric body, so I took a gander at the class offerings. Spinning? No, I don't need to set my ass on fire today. Body pump? Ohh no no no, my biceps and I are far from prepared at this juncture. Lil' Dragons? Welp, I am not in the 4-6 age bracket, so no. And then I saw an "Alignment Yoga" class, and it sounded (the most) appealing. 

You see, aside from the flatulence (and snoring at the end) that accompanied the three other yoga classes I attended, I am about as flexible as a titanium rod. The fact of the matter is that I cannot touch my toes unless I bend my knees. You see why yoga intimidates me?

Anyway, I arrived early because I was not going to be that girl in the front of the class to show everyone what not to do. I forgot a mat. Doh. Some kind lady told me we had to wait until the instructor arrived and opened up the Narnia cabinet, so I waited and I observed. I had to size up my competition. (Really, I needed to see if a room full of Lulu Lemon girls strutted in and proved to me that I was absolutely in the wrong place with my leggings I wear as pajamas, all covered in Roxy and Squirt fur.) The lady in front of me was stretching before yoga, which both confused and worried me. Then, a man in his, I'm guessing here, 70s sort of hobbled into the room. I was starting to feel better. Also, that man's "buddy," a younger man in his 60s, asked me what color my shirt was. I liked the class already.

Guys, I finally like yoga. Apparently, the class is filled with noobs. One lady didn't know she had to take off her shoes (despite the sign outside the door). Another lady also forgot a mat. The instructor never had to correct my posture. And I felt much taller and relaxed after class.

However, no one farted, and I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

In case you want to know--you might not, but I like to spew word vomit around these parts, which means I plan to tell you anyway--I plan to do yoga with that same instructor four times a week (along with some Zumba, of course!) for the next two-three weeks so that I can move on up to strength conditioning and, who knows, maybe even Body Pump. Whoa whoa whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. 

Anyway, let's carry on. Shall we?

Now that Mom takes my pictures and does a darn fine job at it, I wanted to recreate one of my favorite outfits previously taken in terrible lighting. 

 The Look:

Sweater: Elle via Kohl's

Skirt: Francesca's (got this bad boy for $15!)

Booties: Old Navy

Scarf: Made by Momma

Blazer: Express 

 Belt: Came with a dress

 

What would a post be without some outtakes for your viewing pleasure?

I call this first one, "Mom, I got this."

 I call this second one, "No one in yoga farted, but it looks like I did."

 

Before I leave you, I have three more things:

1. Next Trendy Tuesday is Pretty in Pastels.

(My colleagues and I are trying to usher in warmer weather.)

2. If you want to laugh so hard that funny tears obstruct your vision, read this Haribo review. (If you do NOT appreciate potty humor, then I suggest you scroll on.)

3. I think we should start a book club based on this list.

Carry on, folks.

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Linking up with 

Shanna

and

What I Wore Wednesday

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Best Outfit of the Year? You Decide.

Okay, I said the outfit is the best of the year, but I didn't promise you the photo quality would compare. (All day, the rain fell dreadfully and the sun hid, so what you see is what you get.)

I walked into a colleague's classroom this morning and she exclaimed, "that is my favorite outfit of the entire year. Ever." Parents who were milling about during parent-teacher conferences stopped me to compliment my skirt. Is it crazy that I was hesitant about my outfit this morning? I thought, "is there too much color? Does this 'go'? Can I pull it off?" I answered no, yes, yes and embraced the look. Maybe I shouldn't have experimented on parent-teacher conference night, but the parents might as well experience my colorful, pattered personality in its entirety. 

Two seniors (neither of whom I teach) squealed and high fived when I told them how fashionable they are every day. They twittered, "Mrs. Wo says we're fashionable! We're awesome!" 

And now I feel awesome. Today was make-Mrs.Wo-feel-awesome day.

My only gripe about this outfit is that the crotch of my sweater tights hung like they were waiting to be filled with extra body parts I don't possess. As a result, I kept hiking them up...to no avail. 

Wow, your life would be better without that information.

You're welcome. 

The Outfit:

Sweater: Elle via Kohl's (it has little nubbins on it that you can soooort of see in the last two pictures.)

Blazer: Express (oooold)

Scarf: Made by Momma, DUH.

Booties: Old Navy (surprisingly comfortable! I plan to get the red suede ones on Thursday.)

Skirt: Got it for $14 at Francesca's! I saw it online months ago but refused to pay full price. I found one in the store this weekend and knew it was fate. 

Linking up with Style Sessions, The Trend Spin Linkup, and The Pleated Poppy.