/ TravelBella

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are heading to Europe this summer. We finally decided on our country destinations and now are whittling down the cities. We’ll fly in to Madrid and spend a few days there before heading to Italy. We currently have stops in Rome, Naples, Matera, Puglia and Sicily/Palermo in our two week plans. Because some of our stops to the smaller cities/areas will be a night or two Husband has declared we will only survive on one carry-on each. I laughed as I had grand plans of wearing skirts and dresses while strolling through these cities. Instead, I’ve had to whittle down my thoughts and wardrobe to be the following.

  • Practical
  • Easily washable by hand
  • No ironing needed
  • Easy to mix and match
  • 3-4 days worth of clothes total

It truly is difficult to pack this way but I do tend to over-pack and bring more than enough close and shoes wherever I go. So, here’s what I have so far.

Italy Packing

Five tops: The four tops I have are all jersey and either have flutter or cap-sleeves that cover my shoulders. They are all random brands I found at Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx, or Marshalls. They are easily washable, don’t require ironing and can be mixed with my bottoms. The Striped Tippi Sweater I just added because it’s linen but I think I won’t bring it because the weather might be too warm and I don’t want to lose it or leave it behind.

Italy Tops

Five Bottoms: Old Navy Jersey Skirt, Anthropologie Go Anywhere Skirt, J Crew Maxi Skirt, J Crew Shorts
I prefer to wear a skirt or comfortable dress on a plane and the maxi skirt will be perfect, especially if/when I get cold. The other two skirts and shorts will hide dirt and spots well and can be washed and dried quickly.

Italy Bottoms

 Italy Bottoms by audreybella featuring a jersey skirt

One Dress: I have to choose between these two dresses. I had originally planned on taking the Blouson Dress to wear when we go to dinner (one nice dinner in Madrid, Rome and Palermo) but I was able to find the Castle Lake Dress in my size recently. (I sold my size Small because it didn’t fit up top any longer.) Now, I’m leaning towards that one because it’s a little more casual, floats away from the body and has pockets.
Swimsuit: We’ll be at the beach once or twice and I love this Tulle Polk-Dot swimsuit from J Crew. I just need to find a cover-up.
Scarf: I’ll carry this in my bag in case I need it to cover up at any point during our sight-seeing. This one is from Talbots and is linen.
Shoes…I don’t have any really good sturdy walking shoes other than tennis shoes. I will start looking for some that are sturdy, comfortable and just a little bit stylish. Here are my current options.

  • Tom’s Ballet Flats: I don’t have these yet but plan on getting them and breaking them in before we go. I was going to take my Black Glitter slip-ons but the ballet flats might be better and a little more comfortable.
  • J Crew Madras Converse Sneakers: I will take these to wear with my shorts I’ll be taking.
  • Tory Burch Thora Flip-Flop: These will mainly be used when we are travelling to our next location (plane, train, automobile).
Italy Dresses & Accessories

I want to take a bag and thought about this one but Husband said he’d rather I not carry anything if possible.

So, that’s my outfit planning…3 months early. I thought about taking a cardigan instead of the scarf but the weather should be warm.

What do you think of my choices? Anything I shouldn’t take? Anything I’m missing. Any other tips or suggestions about the cities?

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I am quite enjoying our beautiful weather here in Central Texas. It looks like a lot of you have been experiencing milder temps for Winter. But now it’s Spring!, which came really fast. I can’t believe April is less than two weeks away. Staying busy with work has made the time fly by. And now I have something to really look forward to.

We booked our trip to Europe!!! Whee!! I’m so excited but Husband is making me be very PRACTICAL about what I pack. That word isn’t even in my vocabulary and now I have to figure out how to do that very thing with packing. I’ll worry about that later. Besides…that’s what Polyvore is for.

I was so excited to finally wear the Gimlet Skirt in Coaster Stripe and my new Tippi Sweater in Succulent Green. I am a sucker for beautiful shades of green. Both have been sitting in my closet for a while but they were both pieces I knew I would enjoy wearing. I added my new Stuart Weitzman wedges that are the most perfect shade of Nude. You can hardly tell I”m wearing shoes. They are comfortable and I lasted all day wearing them at the office without any issues. The Gimlet Skirt is something I so want to bring to Europe with me but won’t be able to because it’s not practical. Blegh…bad taste in my mouth for that word even when typing it. 

Next up is the Crepe Myrtle Shirtdress by Sarah Ball from Anthropologie. I tried it on here and instantly fell in love with it. I added the sunny colored Featherweight Cotton Cardigan and Anthropologie’s Dearie Me Wedges. I was un-prepared for the height of these shoes. I did last all day long at the office but will need to make some adjustments with the strap so it’s a little tighter on me. This dress would be another great Europe item but won’t be travelling with me this time.

Lastly, my outfit from today. This is the Old Navy Wrap Dress in the black print. You’ve seen me in the green print dress here. I added an old Banana Republic lace cami and brought out my Lanvin Espadrille Wedges. This wrap dress is a great item and is now on sale for $10 in-store! Grab it if you can. I also have it in solid black and red.

Have a Great Evening!

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I’ve had this little made-up corny joke in my head all day after seeing myself in the mirror.

“Yellow. Owl You Doin’?”
“Oh, Spicy but a little Blue.”

Told you it was corny but it does sum up the outfit I wore to the office today. As soon as I knew I had to head in today I planned on wearing my No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Ultra Eyelet in Chili. (That would be the “Spicy”.) This was the first opportunity to wear it and I couldn’t decide which top to pair it with. It was either going to be the Stripe Sequin Tank with my Featherweight Cotton Cardigan in Yellow or my Lemon Liftoff Blouse (That would be the “Yellow. Owl You Doin’?”) with my Short-Sleeved V-Neck Cardigan in Navy (“a little Blue”).

At first I went with the Juliets in Poppy but they kept slipping off my feet so I switched them to my Simple 70 Louboutin’s in Navy. As you can see I went with the Lemon Liftoff Blouse and Navy Cardigan. I felt great and received soooo many compliments today in this outfit. The second pic was taken at the end of the day, when I got home, while the first was taken this morning. I had no idea my make-up really wore off that much by the end of the day. And no, your eyes are not deceiving you. My hair is different because I did stop and get a haircut at the end of the day. You’ll see it styled much better, soon.

Do you like this outfit with or without the blue?

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I did my weekly stop by J Crew Sunday, mainly because I couldn’t get the Striped Maxi Skirt out of my head. They had a full stock of them in all sizes. As I was looking around I also found the Maxi Skirt in a solid purple (TGR, #76784, $69.50). I am wearing a size Small here and it fits the same as the Striped skirt. My PS said it also comes in solid Gray.

There was also a new dress my PS wanted me to try. It comes in this dark mustard color, HCH-Heather Chartreuse?, #72122, $138, and a navy. The Size 6 was really snug on the top. The bottom portion hit about two inches below the knee. I’m also wearing the Drea Pumps in Leopard in a size 6 1/2. They are on sale for $139.99. I tried a size 7 in the Neon Peach and they run about a 1/2 size too big for me. Most of my shoes in JC are 7 so this does not fit TTS for me. That’s good to know when the rest of the colors go on sale. The size 8 in the dress fit better in the top but was a bit longer. It does have pockets.

Size 6

Size 8

A favorite of mine from last summer is back. I have this in Navy, Modern Red, and Olive Green from last year and wore them at least once a week. The Linen Perfect Shirt, this time in Festival Green (#42841, $79.50). I’m wearing a size 6 here which is the same size I took last year.  I saw Navy, Modern Red, and White in store for this year. This is a great color and I know I’ll get much wear out of it this year. I hope it will come in some sort of Bright Blue.

What do you think of the new Linen Shirt and Maxi Skirt colors?

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As the weather transitions from “Winter” to Spring here in Central Texas, we’ll see a range of temperatures from week-to-week and day-to-day. Case in point is this past week. These outfits are from  Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can see I’ve transitioned along with the weather from Winter-ish clothing to late Spring.

Monday I had some personal meetings after work to deal with some HOA things and it was chilly enough that day for layering. I went completely matchy-matchy. I started off with the J Crew Perfect Shirt in Medium Gingham, (Pink, 8,  popback here). I think I’ve stated before I’m not a “pink” person. I gravitate more towards the bright pinks like the Bright Dahlia, Neon Pink, Fuchsia but I saw this pink gingham shirt and imagined it immediately with my J Crew Bubble Necklace in Gray (new colors here) that I bought from a fellow JCA. And under my Black Cashmere Tee. And under my Blue Eden Blazer. And under my J Crew Cashmere Shawl Collar Sweater, Bright Dahlia, M (sale colors here). It’s a sign for me if I can immediately see an item with several pieces I already have in my closet. I added my trusty GAP Essential Jeans that I have had for about 5 years. I don’t know what I’ll do when they are so worn I’ll have to throw them out. They don’t make this style any longer and they are the perfect, almost trouser, dark wash, boot-cut, dressy jean. I added my J Crew Bronson Suede Booties (Anchor Gray, 7) that hadn’t seen any action this year.This is my favorite style of bootie. It is not a typical ankle bootie in that the leather/suede material doesn’t come up to your ankle bone. It’s like a scoopneck but for a bootie. I stay away from any booties that come up to the ankle or over it slightly because it cuts off my leg and I look stumpy. But when these came out last year I bought them in multiples – Suede Anchor Gray, Suede Black, Leather Camel. I wish I had bought the Suede Brown but I did find a similar Cole Haan in Brown leather so I’m happy with that. Though these are around 3 inches in heel height there is an interior platform, about a 1/4 inch, that makes these quite comfortable.

Wednesday was The Boy’s soccer game and the weather was quite nice. I had a few errands to run before the game and decided to wear my Kate Spade Suede Kiki Wedges. When I bought these I really didn’t think I would get a lot of use out of them. I had planned on taking them back and then realized I didn’t have anything that would really go with the Anthropologie Stilt Striders Skirt except for a perfect neutral shoe, like the Kiki’s. I did change to my Factory Cece Leather and Tortoise Flats (retail here). The Grenada Palm Cami (8) was also a “unicorn” item that I found on ebay last week at a reasonable price and in new condition. After missing out on this originally I realized I loved the colors and that the bow can be tied in the back or on the side. I don’t have a cardigan that matches the colors in the cami so I paired it with the Jackie Cardigan in Beechwood (M, new colors here). I was able to find my beloved GAP Cropped Boyfriend Jeans on ebay late last year but try not to wear them as much because I know they will eventually meet the same fate as my other ones.

And Friday…I found this amazing Michael Kors jersey dress at Norstrom Rack for $20, retailed for $100. I love the drape neck and it has some mild ruching on the left side. I also like that the sleeve is not quite sleeveless but slightly cap-sleeve. I added a little navy cami and my Kate Spade Kiki’s. This was so comfortable to wear all day long and I still looked pretty chic. To help with the little bulges I added some Assets Mid-Thigh Shaper. I’ve been happily wearing my Assets and Spanx lately as they really do help make clothes look and fit better and now I’m not worried about those little bumps and bulges.

So, as you can see the weather went from one extreme to another with sweater weather at the beginning and a lovely Spring dress by the end of the week. Today is cool so I’ll be wearing a long-sleeve tee and hoodie for The Boy’s soccer game this afternoon.