july 17th {limon}

 

old navy lace crochet top

merona doubleweave skirt   ·   merona milena wedges

i am having the most difficult time finding a true yellow top! when i put in an order at oldnavy.com a few weeks ago, this is one of the tops i added to my cart as i love the white one i own so much.  i guess my eyes deceived me while looking at the picture online as i did not anticipate it to be quite so neon yellow.  but for $6 and change i am willing to keep it and try to work it into my wardrobe, especially when i saw the yellow tone matches perfectly with one of the colors in this skirt!  i ended up really liking this outfit by the end of the day!

i also put in an order at j crew factory recently and ordered a double-serge pencil skirt in "succulent green" only to find that a more apt name would be "highlighter yellow!"  as much as i enjoy bright colors, this bright shade of yellow feels intimidating. i'll be sitting on that skirt for a bit before i decide to keep or return it as it cost a bit more than my $6 shirt.  sadly, i also ordered the pleated shift dress after seeing m at apples & pencil skirts post about it, but it is so short.  :(  i am going to try to see if i can recoup what i paid for it on ebay, otherwise it'll have to go back.  i am of average height, but i'm having a harder and harder time finding skirts and dresses that hit right at the knees, which for me is the length i am most comfortable with to wear to work.

clearly, i have not had complete luck online shopping lately!

january 14-15 {blah}

is it just me, or do you get discouraged with getting dressed and posting to your blog if you have an outfit or two early in the week that were misses?  this is what i wore on monday and i felt so incomfortable in it all day.  i was thankful to be holed up in my office all day aside from one quick meeting with my boss so i didn't have to see anyone!  what's wrong with it? 

i wanted to bring in another color and immediately thought of the magenta pumps on the left i got at target over the weekend.  i have a goal this year to add more colored shoes to my closet and was willing to take the plunge at $14.98.  they're my normal size, but something about the hidden platform and higher than high heel made them incredibly uncomfortable and pinchy.  i was thankful i wore flats into the office and carried these in my bag to change into and didn't wear them outside as they were promptly returned.  i wanted my shoes & necklace to match, but even though i have a lot of accessories, i am still missing certain colors of necklaces.  the necklace is more red/coral toned and my eye can immediately pick out that my shoes and necklace didn't match as well as i would have liked.  finally:  the button-down is another boy's shirt from the goodwill, donated target stock.  it fits but it's still a bit baggy in the sleeves and of course the sleeves are too short length-wise so i had to roll them up so it didn't appear as if i had shrunk the shirt in the dryer.  the cut and fabric of the blouse also feels more casual paired against the full, girly skirt.  maybe i should stop buying little boy's shirts?? 

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here's what i wore on tuesday--i love this skirt, but the sweater is too tight and showed too many lumps.  i tried the tank-top trick over the button-down so the buttons didn't press through and show through the sweater, but it just made for too many layers and i couldn't get them smoothed out.  maybe i also have bad posture!

let's chat / do you share your "outfit fails" on your blog?  what are your thoughts my outfits so far this week?  you can be honest, seeing as how i've already pointed out all of the flaws i see!

wednesday (pop)

 gap button-down   ·   handmade (by me) skirt

old navy necklace   ·   merona mari pumps {thrifted target stock}

pop / i've worn this skirt a couple times in cooler weather and thought i would pull it out before that cool weather is upon us once again!  i think the next time i wear it i should take a more colorful route and pair it with a pink cardigan since i've only worn it with darker/neutral colors so far.  i went with a basic black button-down shirt today to showcase the pop of color in the necklace from old navy that was a part of the order i made on labor day.  i'm pretty happy with the other items that i ordered, too, but boy is my closet getting pretty packed.  i find that i keep having to take tops off hangers and store them folded on shelves to make room for other items.  there are tops or skirts i glance at that i have only worn once or not at all.  i'm starting to feel a little guilty about that.  i'm glad that i've already gotten several wears out of this skirt though!  {please ignore the hint of my slip showing as i had my hands in the pockets and pulled the sides out & up.}

as for some of the other handmade skirts i've made... at least they have another purpose when they're not being worn.  i pulled out this under-the-bed storage container i have them all laying flat in to look through them and my cat decided it looked like a good bed for her!  :)

saturday (sales)

labor day sales / it is really hard not to get sucked into all of the sales that take place during major holidays, especially online!  i have pretty strict criteria, though:  there has to be a percentage off & free shipping.  i'm a stickler for free shipping if i am ordering something online!  here are two labor day sales i took advantage of over the weekend:

payless / i love when payless has a percentage off or BOGO sale.  i live across the street from a mall, so i always have my purchases shipped for free to that store.  however, their standard shipping at $5.95 is very reasonable when you think about the weight of shoes and the large boxes they have to be shipped in.  i figured this 20% off promotion {use code 78304 through sept 3} is a better deal than a BOGO, so i knew i didn't want to wait on either of these shoes.  i love the dexter kylie wedges in nude that i wear at least once a week, so picking up this cognac pair was a no-brainer.  i also like the nude heels on the left because they're a slightly different neutral shade and a heel, not a wedge.  they're also the perfect height and toe shape.  do you get as excited about new shoes as i do?!  i can't wait to incorporate both of these shoes into my wardrobe!  and if you're wondering why i didn't just walk my lazy self across the street to the mall and buy these shoes in person, the nude heels weren't available at my store {there is a great feature on payless.com where you can see what stores near you have shoes in stock!}.

{ predictions karmen pump & dexter kylie wedges }

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old navy / oldnavy.com is another online store that i only purchase from if there is a percentage off sale and i can find enough items to fill my cart to qualify for free shipping.  through sept 3 you can use the code fallcalls for 30% off.  my total was brought down even lower by using a gift card that i'd been holding onto since, oh, christmastime.  i just don't shop at old navy very often anymore, but hopefully i'll be pretty satisfied with each of these items and i like that they average out to be about $6 each.

clockwise from top left: multi-strand shell necklace / racerback tank / ruched button-front top / oxford shirt

did you plan to do any online or in-store shopping over the long weekend?  i will make the rounds to a couple goodwills on monday {50% off all colored tags - except the target stock} so i'll let ya know if i come back with anything worth posting about.  enjoy the rest of your long weekend if you have monday off!