Vacation Time

Is your office closed for Rosh Hashanah? No? Well mine is so I've tacked a few extra vacation days on to that and have a nice little break. There will be fun activities and relaxation going on over here but, don't think that means you wont be hearing from me either. I will be updating social media on happenings and some recommendations of fun reads from the archives that you might not have come across yet. I will be back to regularly scheduled outfit posting on September 21. Have a great week!

Close Out

What is going on with the lighting in this picture? I will have to talk with my photographer (AKA Hubby) about that.... Maybe he was letting his artistic spirit move him but, that only works when the goal of being able to see my ensemble is concurrently achieved. Perhaps flash next time? Perhaps I will check that everything came out ok on picture taking day before we head in from photos so I'm not stuck with a weird picture at the end of the week. While I could Photoshop and filter (the crap out of) this picture I prefer not to, I'm an all natural beauty kind of gal thankfully I was wearing something bright so you can see me in the darkness. If you are a blogger, do you filter your photos before you post them? If so, why?

Enough blog shop talk. Casual Friday (denim included) was alive and well with me this week. My manager was out of the office on vacation all week so, I was holding down the fort which went well enough but, was definitely exhausting. After all the craziness and running around a t-shirt and leggings jeans seemed like the perfect wardrobe solution to close out the week. It worked out especially since I ended up staying late and burning the "midnight" oil. What a way to spend a Friday, thank goodness for the weekend! Do you have any fun plans?

• Top: yellow t-shirt, Lilly Pulitzer via Clementine
• Bottom: denim cuffed capri pants, Rock & Republic via Ashby
• Shoes & Accessories: black Olive sandals, Dolce Vita; black pearl earrings, International Gem & Jewelry Show

I'm linking up with Fab Favorites, Favorite Fashion Friday, Passion 4 Fashion, and Casual Friday

Customer Service On Fleek

You can't stop my onslaught of continuous white after Labor Day; Wednesday was only the beginning! Muah haha... Ok, ok I'm getting carried away.

The first time I wore this (style of) Lafayette 148 skirt it broke. I sat down, some seams popped, totes embarrassing. Then the most amazing thing happened: I promoted the post, as I do, Lafayette 148 actually checked it out (yay, social media works!,) and when they saw what had transpired they contacted me. Yes, a real life person emailed me/called me and sent me a new skirt which is what I was wearing yesterday. They even sent it to me in a larger size because, apparently, I was in denial about my actual size but, I digress... To this day I count that whole exchange as one of the best customer service experiences I have ever had and remember Lafayette 148 and Nora (the rep who contacted me) fondly.

Fast forward to less face and this Lafayette 148 skirt was under criticism again because it didn't fit for a second time! After all the time I spent working on my fitness the skirt was swimming on me (yay?) I had removed it from my regular wardrobe circulation but, I couldn't bring myself to put it in the donation pile or even Poshmark it because of the positive memories tied to it. Also, rainbow and tweed? That combination couldn't be more me so, I took it to the tailor and now it fits like a glove but, not too tight. There will be no repeat of Seam Bust 2011, at least I hope not.

• Top: red ruffle embellished tank top, apostrophe via Goodwill
• Bottom: rainbow tweed pencil skirt, Lafayette 148
• Shoes & Accessories: black peep toe wedges, Dr. Scholl's; pearl earrings, Macys

I'm linking up with What I Wore to Work, Throwback Thursday, and Thursday Fashion Files

Summertime Scandal

I know you're shocked, I am wearing white after Labor Day... I am a rebel! You might have gleaned from my post yesterday that I am a firm believe in the fact that summer doesn't actually end until the official end not, Labor Day. Just because everyone goes back to school and summer Fridays end in the office (if you, unlike me, get that amazing benefit) doesn't mean that there's not still fun in the sun to be had and white to be worn. Besides that is a vintage fashion rule instituted by high society back in the day and what credence does that hold over us? That's right, we're all rebels to those snobby ladies of the past!

As rebellious as I am being with all my white I felt that this outfit was a little more work appropriate than what I was wearing on Monday Tuesday when I cam back from the long weekend. Not a T-shirt? Awesome. Not Sandals? Bonus! While neither of those items are inherently bad there I definitely feel more polished and put together when I am wearing a more structured shirt or fabulous dress, possibly a cute skirt or trousers, and actual shoes. On top of that, as the weather cools down blazers can again be integrated again and the business casual possibilities are endless but, we're not quite there yet...  

• Top: orange button down shirt, Eddie Bauer via Melissa's closet cleanout
• Bottom: ivory and navy printed skirt, Libertine for Target
• Shoes & Accessories: silver open toe wedges, Seychelles; silver bead earrings, Tiffany & Co.

I'm linking up with What I Wore, Watcha Wearing Wednesday, Style Me Wednesday, Mid-Week Muse 

Infectious Relaxation

Aren't holiday weekends supposed to be relaxing? Right, we've already had this conversation... While I had a fairly low-key long weekend spending time with family and doing things around the house I woke up this yesterday morning coughing and sneezing; even worse I had a fever (gasp!) How did that happen?! It took every ounce of my grown up responsibility feelings to go to work after I started feeling better, that is. I am definitely not that person who goes to work super sick and then gets everyone else sick because they are coughing and sneezing and touching the copier with their germs but, I digress...

When I was getting reach for the week I had a hard time conceptualizing amazing outfits that inspire me to want to talk about them. I would suspect it was due to the fact that I was so relaxed and embracing the vacation/legging lifestyle; Or maybe it was because I was delirious from my impending sickness... either way there is definitely still a summer feel going through my outfits for the week because it is still summer after all despite everyone heading back to a normal schedule and the impending PSL craze.

• Top: pink ruffle embellished tshirt, Merona
• Bottom: black and white capri pants, Kenar via Clementine
• Shoes & Accessories: black Olive sandals, Dolce Vita; pearl earrings, Macys 

I'm linking up with All About You, and Confident Twosdays 

Best Laid Simple Statement

While I was on the train, Thursday morning, on the way to work I started putting together this post. I was super excited to be keeping up with my new personal schedule and doing the things that I enjoy doing like blogging and thinking about clothes. Unfortunately, thanks to Verizon's crappy service while traveling, I was unable to publish my post in a timely manner. In fact, I was unable to even save all the fun interesting things that I had previously written so, I had to start all over again. Sufficed to say that was less than motivating...

But, just because things get a little annoying doesn't mean it's time to give up all together so, here's that one missing outfit from last week. I was really feeling dresses, if you couldn't tell. Maybe because they are cute, or maybe it's because they are easy, or perhaps a little bit of both. Either way that's really the extent of loquaciousness that this ensemble inspired. Sometimes it is just as easy as I like this outfit and I need to wear something so, I will wear the outfit I liked!

• Top: purple and orange floral patterned jersey knit dress, New York & Company
• Shoes & Accessories: black t-strap sandals, LOFT; amelia drop earrings, Stella & Dot

Long Weekend

Are you guys all ready to say goodbye to summer? Good, neither am I. However, I do plan on enjoying every bit of this (extra) long weekend. Like always, if you follow me on Instagram (like you should) you'll be able to check in to see how things are going... what are your plans?

A Favorite Contradiction

This dress is definitely one of my favorites. If I wasn't trying to wear a different ensemble to work everyday for a year you would be seeing more of this dress, for sure. Naturally, as I considered what items to keep, tailor, donate, or sell from my recent closet purge this dress made it's way into the tailoring pile quickly. When the Jason Wu for Target look book came out this was my absolute favorite of all the items out of the few that I was interested in. On top of that fact it was the only item that I could get my hands on when I went to the store. How could I donate or sell something I all but, had to fight for? Obviously, it wasn't even an option.

While we are in the month of September I am still clinging to summer; It is my (favorite) season. The hotter the better... I realize I am in the minority with that sentiment. Pumpkin spice, Halloween decorations, and changing leaves can put a pin in their inevitable decent. Conversely, the one thing I am excited for is to be able to get back to layering things; Blazers? Yay! Sweaters? Wonderful! While this is contradictory to my appreciation for warmer temperatures it is one of the things I appreciate about the fall season. I am a contradiction, wrapped in an enigma but, I digress...This dress would look so cute paired with a blazer, don't you think?

• Top: navy poplin dress, Jason Wu for Target
• Shoes & Accessories: silver peep toe wedges, Seychelles; dangle silver bead earrings, gift from co-worker

I'm linking up with What I Wore, Mid-Week Muse, Style Me Wednesdays, Oh Hey Girl!,Trendy Wednesday, Whatcha Wearing Wednesday, The Wednesday Pants, Style Elixer

Fresh Start

Let's get real! Sorry I have been MIA for the past month(ish.) Long story short, things at work got cray cray, think 10:00pm in the office most nights cray cray. Sufficed to say sleeping and grown up chores took up the rest of my extremely limited spare time. Before I knew it on top of work, chores, and other obligations I wasn't going to the gym or cooking healthy dinner regularly. We'll call that the turning point... I spoke with my supervisor about managing my time differently and she was ok with what I came up with. Hopefully this change will positively impact both my professional and personal time and enable me to do the things I need and want to do without feeling wiped out.

In terms of blogging, I was taking pictures of ALL the outfits but, I wasn't being diligent about keeping track of what was being worn on what days so I have made the executive decision to start again today with my "one year no repeats" mission instead of stressing about getting everything sorted out. This is supposed to be fun after all... Now, about this dress. If you follow me on Instagram (like you should) you would have seen the massive pile of clothes that I took to the tailor last month. While I could have donated all the clothes that didn't fit me and bought new or "new to me" things it seemed like a waste of time and effort when I could just have the items that I really loved (like this dress) tailored to fit me now.  

• Top: khaki green shirt dress, New York & Company
• Shoes & Accessories: beige striped pumps, Manolo Blahnik; yellow shell earrings, Steve & Barry's

I'm linking up with All About You, and Confident Twosdays