Fall/Winter festivities

Well the holiday season is officially here. Things have been so crazy lately with Thanksgiving just passing and trying to set up every thing for Christmas. 

I did have a very lovely Thanksgiving though! My husband and I had lunch with his grandma and then we scooted off to my mom's house for a dinner later. 

 For my Thanksgiving day attire, I went with:

 this XOXO dress from Macy's.  (similar dress here)

Jessica Simpson tights that had gold flex embodied in them

Necklace: House of Harlow in White leather

Shoes: Report Signature

Bag: I used my Rebecca Minkoff minimac in a light brown/beige

Thanksgiving Eve with Bobbi Brown

 Happy Thanksgiving Eve, everybody! I'm so happy to have had a short work week and I finished it off using strictly my Bobbi Brown Caviar and Oyster Pallet. This pallet is divine, and the colors blend and mix beautifully together.

Winter Wonderland

It's not technically Winter yet, but it sure does feel like it outside. Metro Detroit received it's first official snow fall with a grand total of 2 whole inches (which I heard will probably melt away through the weekend). 

Although I've lived in Michigan my entire life, I still hate every minute of this weather during these months, and I take keeping warm very seriously. 

When I bundle up, I bundle up. Scarf, hate, mittens, CHECK.  My new asymmetrical coat from French Connection is 60% wool and is fairly long, so it's doing a great job of keeping me warm. But on days when that's not enough I throw on this fur scarf and bobble hat for extra coziness. 

Scarf: Target

Coat: French Connection (Nordstrom) SOLD OUT

Hat: Nordstrom Rack

First snow fall

Today we had our first snow fall! I couldn't believe it when I stepped out on the porch at 6 o'clock this morning and there were flurries in the air.  It was at that moment that I realized I had better dress extra snuggly. 

Black suede wedge boots: Audrey Brook from DSW

Leopard print scarf: Younkers

Rose gold watch:  Skagen (similar here)

Wednesday Winter Wonders

Winter is upon us, whether we want to admit it or not, and with temperatures dropping, skin and hair care is most important. 

When the weather gets brisk and the temperatures become frigid my skin dries out like crazy, so I try to take extra precautions before it it starts to crack and flake. The worst area for me, is my hands. I work in an office, so my hands touch paper all day long, which completely sucks out any ounce of moisture. 

It doesn't matter how much water I drink, I need to use as much moisturizer as possible to keep my skin looking soft and youthful. 

But when I put on moisturizer this time of year, I like to go for something seasonal that smells extra yummy. Ulta has an amazing selection of holiday goodies right now in their hygiene department, and I've been indulging in all their great deals. 

This moisturizing lotion smells divine, (and the packaging is cute too!), I've tried it already, even though Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet, and it does a great job. The formula is not too greasy, and it soaks into your skin in no time.

The best of the vest!

Who loves a good vest? This girl right here; and I've been searching for a good one for what seems like forever. I fell out of love with vests for a while after the Old Navy phase in middle school (Remember these????), but now that I'm older I'm kind of loving them again and I can appreciate them in a different way.

It all started when I  found this bad boy. It called my name from across the store like a scene from a movie. Our eyes met and I just knew it was meant to be. We were soul mates. 

Though, I should have known, considering I always fall for Vince Camuto pieces. This was the only one like it, and it happened to be in my size. I didn't see it on the Vince Camuto website, but you can find it on Amazon. I got it for half the price though!

Weekend OOTD.

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous so I spent Sunday out shopping with a friend.

I needed a bit of retail therapy after a long week at work, and we ended up doing some damage at some of my favorite places to find some great deals.

Halloween!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Halloween on Friday. I've discovered that since I've been in my mid twenties, Halloween doesn't really do it for me anymore like it did when I was a teenager; but I can still play along.

Fall fever

Good afternoon! I feel like I've been so incredibly busy that I haven't even been able to think about sitting down and posting anything, so I figured I'd do a style post from a couple days ago. 

Now that the weather is getting colder, I've been all about scarves and tall leather boots. 

I love this handkerchief scarf I picked up at my favorite consignment shop a few weekends ago. I love the color, as it added such a great pop to an otherwise dark attire.  Who said you can't wear brights in fall/winter?

bareMinerals: first impressions

So I've been told by another blogger and friends of mine that I need to try bareMinerals, but I didn't know where to start. I spent over an hour in Ulta yesterday looking at their collection but couldn't decide on what I should get. I spent the majority of my time pondering over a primer, that I decided I needed to do some more research on before laying down $24 dollars for, and I was also told that their foundations were really good. If I hadn't just bought a new foundation from NARS last week, I might have tried that, but instead I went for a holiday pack of their loose eye shadows. 

For $39 dollars you get 10 neutral, very wearable eye colors-- that are stunning. I've never used a loose shadow pigment before, but I decided to give it a go anyway.

TAG: Confessions of a Shoe-a-holic

Welcome to the Shoe-a-holic tag! I found this online and it sounded fun, so I thought I would give it a go. Shoes are definitely a vice of mine, as I'm sure you can tell by the photos above. *blush*

Top 10 Holy Grail: Makeup Edition

Have you ever noticed that there are a few products in your makeup stash that you keep repurchasing over and over again, or maybe you've hit pan on months ago but you're still trying to scrape the last little bit out before going out and buying a new one? 

These are my picks for that exact scenario. These are 10 products that I can't seem to live without and that I seem to reach for far more often than some of the other products in my collection. 

In no particular order...

So it all started when I spotted this tribal/western top from the brand Happening in the Present from Nordstrom Rack. I was there over the weekend and spotted it on the mannequin , but when I discovered it was the only tee in my size, I decided to pass it up as it would probably be such a hassle if I could actually find somebody to take it down.  

A day later I went back for it. I got to looking around my closet and realized that I had quite a few things that would actually look really nice with it and that I didn't have anything quite like it already. 

The season of plaid

This weekend had me seeing red. I spent my rainy Saturday running errands with a friend and doing a bit of shopping. After a long work week, I was looking forward to wearing something comfortable and casual. 

Hello October

Fall is officially here!

Not only have I been spending the past few days fall-a-fying the house, but I've been fall-a-fying my wardrobe. Even though the weather has been pretty nice and in the high 60's, low 70's,  that hasn't stopped me from wearing my favorite autumn trends. 

TGIF

Fridays for me means casual and fun. It's the last work day before the weekend and I'm ready to see Saturday. 

I based today's wardrobe on these Report booties that I got from DSW earlier this year (They're on sale now for a super cheap price). I love the rugged style of these, but with the chunky heal and pointed toe they are very girly.

Affordable fashion with a bit of luxury.

All I have to say right now is way to go Meijer. As I was making my way to the check out last week I spotted some cute scarves and hats in their accessories department. Grocery stores aren't exactly known for having the cutest selection of clothes, let alone decent quality, but I spun my kart around and headed over to take a closer look.

Renaissance Weekend and oxblood over load

(SEPTEMBER 2014)

This weekend was the Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan and I was asked again to work at the Red Lion serving beer. Costumes are a must and this year I went as a pirate. Last year I was more of a maiden, but with the cape and a long dress I wanted to go with something a little more practical. 

It was a wee on the gothic side, but I thought it looked pretty good. The hat and shirt were rented pieces from a friend, but I just paired it with some black leggings, some black and grey checkered socks, and a pair of grey and black flats from Puma.

Sweater weather

Hello weekend! Today's fashion forecast called for a sweater and a knit hat. Although it was fairy decent outside it ended up being kind of a drizzly day. 

I spent the evening doing a little bit of shopping with a friend and lounging around the house. 

Falling into Autumn

So I've wasted no time getting into the fall spirit. My wardrobe has embraced the crisp weather, my nails have been darker, and my eyes have been extra smokey.

Last week I slowly took out a loose fitting orange sweater from Maurices, and paired it with croc printed leather leggings from Express and Vince Camuto heels. 

Where have I been?

Well, I'm finally starting to get back into the swing of things. I've been AWOL for a little while but it's for a good reason, trust me. Last weekend I was a participant in the Warrior Ride, which was a 200+ mile bike ride along the west side of Michigan. 

The cause was for the Christopher Willis foundation which supports families of fallen or injured soldiers. It was a four day long bike ride through the rain and cold. 

Fall fashion trends: 2014 edition

With Autumn drawing near and new collections in stores, I've been really excited about what I've been seeing lately in the catalogs and on the shelves. Many of the trends this year are come backs from last year and classics that just never seem to go out of style. 

These are items I've recently purchased or already had waiting in my wardrobe to be taken out again this year to be reused.  

The following trends are at it again, and in no specific order. I'll be posting many looks with these pieces along with many more in the weeks to come. Enjoy!

Trend #1: Leopard Print

I have to admit, I was never an animal print girl my whole life, but for some reason,  this season it has really captured my attention. At first I would try my accessories to try and incorporate a little bit of the wild side into my wardrobe like these great boat shoes from Sperry Top Sider, a scarf, or a fun bag. But this season, I went a little crazy and got a great leopard print silky top and even cheetah print leggings (Target).

The best thing about an animal print like this is that there are so many different versions and prints, so you can find the pattern that fits best with your fit, frame, complexion, etc. 

I'm anxious to pair any of these pieces with some gold jewlery, dark denim, and smoky makeup. Perfection!

Keeping cool in September

Today's temp was in the 90's, so I decided to wear something that's cool and Septemberish at the same time.

Summer isn't technically over yet, but with all the Fall fashion hitting the shelves, it's hard not to dive right in to the natural hues and leather shoes.