Last weekend I was up in Dallas to celebrate my best friend’s birthday. She’ll be 30 next week, over the Thanksgiving weekend, so her Husband planned dinner and a night out in Lower Greenville.

 

I knew the weather would be chilly that night so I wanted to be sure and dress in layers since we would be inside and outside throughout the evening. I also knew I was going to wear the Violet Poppy Mini Skirt. I had ordered the Carrie Cami in Blue Grotto and thought it was perfect to bring out the same color in the skirt. I added the Jenna Cardigan in black (similar) and used my Black Lexington Blazer (Rhodes)as my coat. I debated on wearing heels or not, but in the end the heeled Bronson Booties (JC Adele) won out. I was pretty comfortable in them all night. I kept my jewelry to a minimum and wore my new Kendra Scott Amanda necklace in Pyrite. I am not a fan of the brightly colored necklaces and earrings but the Amanda necklace was unique and a better fit to my style. I’ve actually been wearing it every time I go out.

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My friend had mentioned she wanted gold “30” balloons. Her cake was from a bakery very near the restaurant.

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The evening was so much fun and I love spending time with my girls!

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Happy Friday! I am so ready for the weekend. We have some construction going on outside and it will be nice to not hear jackhammers and pounding and loud noise for a few days.

I wanted to be sure to share with you the other item I bought during the Tory Burch promo, which was the Willa Dress. The gray and black vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines all help in making this dress look like it’s bodycon dress. In fact, it’s very comfortable and not constricting at all. I bought a Medium and it does run TTS. If you are a 6/8/M then the size Medium is for you.

I have a little help from some Spanx to help smooth everything out. It worked like a charm. 

I was hoping some booties would look good with the dress, especially with a black tight. It looks ok with the J Crew Bronson Booties (similar – onetwothree) but I think I need more opaque tights than the ones I have on.  
I like the Willa Dress much better with my J Crew Harper Boots in Black (similar – one, two, three). I love that the gold zipper is on the outside of the boot, changing them from your average black flat boot.
Did you get anything from this last Tory Burch promo? There were several items from my wishlist that were on sale, before the promo, so I was really picky on what I purchased. 

Follow me on…
 

Unlike many of you, who switch out your closet to flow with the weather changes in your area, I have to be prepared for daily changes in weather.

For example, I wore the gorgeous Cashmere Bateau Sweater in Stripe on Thursday with my GAP Essential Jeans and Bronson Suede Booties in Black. I added the Velvet Schoolboy Blazer in Black for the evening.

These jeans have been my favorite for a long time and they have held up well.

The Velvet Schoolboy Blazer from last year for a little nip in the air.

On Friday, I was at the opposite end of the thermometer so I grabbed my Cap Sleeve Column Dress and Kate Spade Kiki’s to run errands and hit the salon. There are still a few of these dresses left and at a great price too. I really love the Column Dress that Bailey 44 seems to do every season. I’m glad they started making a knee length version too.

Speaking of “Kiki”…


LOVE!

Today, we’re hitting warm temps again so a mini skirt and tee will do nicely for the day. This is an embellished Loft tee with the Surf Tweed Charter Skirt and Bright Dahlia/Wild Berry color accents with the Belt and Cece Suede Flats.

A little trim and lovely highlights from my Friday salon visit.

I am lucky enough to have a larger closet to keep everything out all year. I only store away the Cashmere and heavier knit sweaters in March but they are easily accessible in the closet if needed for a nippy Spring day.
Have a Great Day!

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.

I’m off to jury duty in a little while but wanted to post a few pics of what I wore last week. I hope to post my court outfits by the weekend.

I couldn’t wait to wear my Double-Serge Stripe Pencil Skirt and was able to head in to the office on Wednesday last week. I paired it with my black cashmere tee and black suede Bronson Booties. I went sans tights only because it wasn’t a cold day. Necklaces are J Crew.

This was just a quick dinner outfit I wore on Friday.

J Crew Cashmere Tee in Matisse Blue –  These are just so easy to wear (and layer…see below). 
J Crew Suede Bronson Booties
J Crew Blizzard Pearl Necklace
J Crew Flower Pin
J Crew Boutonniere Blazer (not seen)

This was to go see Black Swan Saturday night. After telling husband I never get to pick a movie when we go out he surprised us with tickets for Saturday night. And by us, I mean me and The Boy (Husband too, of course.) There was no right way to tell him that the movie wasn’t quite a teen-age boy kind of movie so I just encouraged Husband to watch the other trailers and decide for himself. We took The Boy anyway and he walked out of there saying it was a scary movie! and he was going to have nightmares. Funny that he thought of it that way. Oh, he also said he will never tell his friends he saw it, even if it was with his parents.

J Crew Polar Bear Sweater – Holiday 2006 (I think)
J Crew Cashmere Tee in Rose Dust
J Crew Ankle Stretch Toothpick Jeans
Louboutin Black Flats
J Crew Boutonniere Blazer (not seen)

I purchased both the Matisse Blue and Rose Dust Cashmere Tees on final sale and was very happy with them. I am hoping to pair the Rose Dust with my Lolli pants soon. The Boutonniere Blazer has been a great staple I’ve been using as outerwear since I purchased it. It hadn’t been that cold for a real coat but that all changed this weekend. I will be able to use my new Italian Wool Blazecoat this week.

Now off to jury duty.

Have a great day.