Neon Coral Leaves

     My title is a little simple. Just basically the key elements of an outfit. It was gloomy and supposed to rain but I was tired of wearing my dreary grays and blues. Plus I never like to wear all black so I thought... Pile on the color! Everything I have on has been featured on the blog before except for the boots and white leaf necklace. I love remixing, its so much easier on my wallet. I did recall that when I wore this sweater last time, I wanted to belt it and I have to admit that it looks way better belted. Yay. Comfy, cozy, warm, DRY. I think dressing in brights is like having an all day boost of caffeine! Sometimes I thought the spring in my step was eeking people out around me... oh well.

 I definitely like belting the sweater but I think a wider belt would have been more flattering. Must find a wider gold belt... Suggestions?

 Not one... but TWO leaf necklaces. :)

These boots were made for walking in the rain! They're comfy and water proof. Plus they fit over my calves. Yay!

Button Up Shirt: F21
Sweater: F21
Pants: H & M
Boots: Irene's Story
Belt: F21
Necklaces: Rosebowl Flea Market, F21

Toteworthy

Hi all! I completely forgot to share the pictures of the foldable-reusable-adorable tote I take with me while thrifting or grocery shopping. I love it so much simply because it has large comfortable straps, folds into the tiniest size, has a snap to keep the opening from fanning out like a gaping hole and is super lightweight. Everytime I use it I wish I had bought a couple more. boo. Does anyone happen to know where I might be able to snag a couple more? I've been using one as a gym bag and the other two I use for the grocery store. I know thats already three but I would like to give some to my friends and have one extra that I can have around the house for the odd job since my 'grocery" totes go in the car. Suggestions would be much appreciated! :)

 A water and bottle and maltipoo for a size comparison...

 All folded up and tucked into the mini-version. Looks like a bag made for my dog! lol

It also comes with a small metal key-link loop to attach to your purse :)



Tree-like

     Looking back at these photos I definitely think I resemble the trees that line my street. Lots of deep greens and browns. I love the street I live on. Every house has a tree or two out front and usually a few out back so there's plenty of green and lovely plants everywhere. If my dad could open an arboretum/zoo... he would. He has tortoises, turtles, koi fish, canaries, parrots, dogs, lizards, over 50 bonsais, 40+ orchids, banana tree, pumpkin plant, tomatoes, lemons, oranges, and 50+ cactus plants. Throughout our time at this particular house we have also had rabbits, chickens, snakes, hamsters and lots of uninvited guests including deer, raccoons, squirrels, hawks, rattle snakes, coyotes, opossums and skunks. We once discovered that a skunk family was living in the crawl space under our house. Weird.
     I think most people will read this and think that this isn't that significant at all but when you live in a bustling city, it's often a surprise to discover so many animals roaming near your house and that with a two minute drive you are back in the city where twigs trees are planted in 3' by 3' dirt plots, have yet to sprout more than ten leaves, reach a height of 4' and whenever you look around it looks like a concrete jungle. My point is that it's convenient to be able to go home to such peaceful surroundings yet not have to travel far for all my city needs. I am so very fortunate. Done rambling. Onto outfit pics. :)

 The whole outfit is inspired by colors found in trees except for the gold in the necklace. I think that it actually reminds me of the rings of the tree trunk though, no?

 The belt came with the dress and is super stretchy. Bonus points for being able to eat lunch comfortably without having to loosen my belt. :)

I don't really like this last picture of my outfit from the side but I had to include one with my maltipoo. Besides outfits and food, my maltipoo has taken over my camera phone albums.

Dress & belt: Ross Stores
Necklace: Foreign Exchange
Shoes: Kenneth Cole from Ross Stores

Mint and Coral

     One of my all time favorite dresses is one I picked up about a year ago from Anthropologie. The color, pattern and exposed back with a bow accent was just too cute to resist. They didnt have my size in the store but they did ship the right size straight to my house for FREE. Anthropologie clearly knows the way to my heart (via amazing dresses and top-notch service). It was a day where the big boss at work was retiring and everyone was asked to wear a hawaiian shirt or floral print to wish him a warm "aloha". (He's from Hawaii, hence the floral connection) This was the closest thing I had in my closet to a Hawaiian themed outfit and so I paired it with a necklace- also from Anthro-, wood heels, a white blazer, yellow flower hair clip and a painted wood bangle. This is as tropical/professional as I can get.

Blazer: F21
Dress, Necklace: Anthropologie
Shoes: Banana Republic
Flower Hair Clip: F21
Bangle: Trip to Hong Kong
Belt: F21

Ketchup

Okay. Playing catch-up with just about everything in life right now so brief and to the point it will be. Here's a work outfit I wore and some cupcake goodness I made from the other day. Enjoy! Have a happy weekend all! :)

Button up Top, Lace Top, Pants: F21
Cardigan: H & M
Shoes: Nordstrom Rack
Necklace: Anthropologie
Bracelet: Lucky Brand
Rings: Mom's Shop

Fancy Schmancy

     Hello There! So very very sorry for my unplanned bloggie hiatus. I definitely did not plan to take such a long break but I also definitely needed it. Truth be told, I was feeling a little uninspired and so to save you from the horror of lack-luster outfits, I'll just leave you with a snippet of my daily uniform: black skinnies and a clean top. Yup. simple and boring. I have no idea what got into me but I can tell you that food is responsible for rekindling my interest in putting outfits together again! As if there would be anything else as inspiring... oh well except maybe art? photography? books? Nah. Just food. More specifically, dessert. I'll be sharing these outfits soon hopefully unless I take on another self-imposed blogging vacation. There was one outfit that I managed to snap a few pics of that I can share today and mind you it is nothing of special note, it is a dress that I love because of the fit. I was planning on wearing it to a mad men premier party at a friend's house but alas, party was cancelled. This is my fancy schmancy work outfit... :)

Dress: Ross Stores
Necklace: Anthropologie
Shoes: Payless
Rings: Mom's shop

Comfort and Warmth

     I'm sure you can deduce from the title what my main focus was getting dressed this AM to go to work. The oversized sweater is one of my favorites and since I was wearing so many warm colors, I decided to keep it in the same family when it came to my shoes. Of course I spared you all the whole matchy-matchy by using similar colors and not all ONE color. I will never be able to pull that off but am very impressed when I see others do it in a not-so-tacky manner. I also included a bunch of shots of the shoes because well... it's all in the details isn't it?

 My maltipoo now knows exactly how to take outfit photos. He's mocking me by standing sideways too.

What a sassy little furball!

I love how this photo really highlights all the colors I had on today.

 Shoes...

So adorable! *sigh

Sweater & Top: F21
Pants: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: F21 (I also found them on Modcloth too)
Scarf: World Market
Purse: from a trip to Hong Kong
Necklace: F21