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Hi everyone! We are in the home stretch of holiday shopping. Is everyone ready for Christmas? I have some presents to wrap and a few more gift card/stocking-stuffers to buy. I’ll do that on Friday, after grabbing my Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks.

I was summoned to the office for the last visit of the year and was able to wear my flair skirt again. I’ve worn all three of mine at least twice each this month. I think my they are my favorite purchases of the year and probably the most worn!

Cardigan: J Crew Cashmere
Blouse: J Crew Natasha in Savannah/Wildcat
Skirt: J Crew Flair Skirt, Heather Acorn
Shoes: Cole Haan Booties
Tights: Forever 21
When I got home I changed into jeans and un-tucked the Natasha before heading out to dinner.
Jeans: J Crew Bootcut Jeans

Today, I have on the most coziest sweater from Anthropologie. I hope to post an OOTD of it tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

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On Wednesday I took the afternoon off and went to the Prime Outlets “up the road” with my friend Catalina. I hadn’t been shopping shopping at the outlet in a long time. Usually when I’m in town, it is for work and then I just pop in to the J Crew FS. I’ve never had enough time to walk around and pop in to the other stores. We had a lot of fun and brought home a few things.

First off, from J Crew, natch…Most everything in the store was an extra percentage off. One thing I did notice was that they received a lot more shoes so they had them on a wall as opposed to the other side of the jewelry stand. Otherwise, there was nothing new from my last trip there.

Cece Tortoise Ballet Flats

Tissue Turtleneck Tees

I have been looking for a brown bootie for a while. I have 3 pairs of the J Crew Bronson booties and love them. (I’ll do a “Shoes-day” post on them soon.) I found these Cole Haan Cheyenne booties at Neiman Marcus Last Call. I had originally found them at the Cole Haan outlet for $238 plus 30% off. Then we went to NMLC and I found them for $169 plus 30% off. Of course I took the others back. They don’t have Nike Air but that’s ok as Cole Haan shoes are well made. Cole Haan did have these in Black but NMLC did not.

At the Lucky Brand outlet, Catalina and I both loved this cardigan and we both bought it. The embroidery on it is just perfect. I’ve always been a fan of their items that have embroidery on it. This, as well as a few other items in the store were buy one get on 50% off.

At Talbots I tried on a few skirts that were reminiscent of the J Crew Harvest Tweed items but was unable to find a size that fit well. I felt like I was in The Three Bears: The 6 was too small. The 8P was pulling at the hips and the 8 was too loose. None were just right.

When I walked out of the dressing room, Catalina had this skirt in her hands. I found another one in the petite section. It is exactly like the J Crew Merino Pleated Skirt except it is not 100% wool but a wool blend. Considering what happened to my original skirt from J Crew, the first thing I did was pull at the waistband seaming to see if it would come apart. I guess because it is a wool blend the stitching was staying put. This, and most skirts, were 50% off so I go this for $40.

Kate Spade was another stop we made. I hadn’t been in the store since it opened a few years ago. I wanted almost one of everything. Handbags were all 30% off and some were even another 30% off. After seeing the wallets I really wanted one but couldn’t make a decision on which one so I ventured to the clothes. I found the City Lights skirt but since I had just received my City Lights scarf from the Sample Sale I passed on it.

I did find the Matinee Floral Top on sale for $89 plus 60% off. I love all the different colors in it.

I also found the Celeste Too Pumps in Fuchsia on sale for $225 plus 40% off. They also had the black satin and the black wool, both very pretty. I just couldn’t pass up this gorgeous festive color.

We had a lovely afternoon browsing and getting each other’s opinions on clothes. I always shop alone and it was kind of fun to shop with someone else for a change. We promised each other we would not wear our cardigan at the same time (but if we do, I won’t mind because it is just too cute.)
And here is what I wore. I wanted to be comfortable but not chilly since it was cool outside so I layered a tee, dress and scarf.
Dress: J Crew Sweater Dress, ebay find
Tee: J Crew Perfect Fit
Scarf: Airy Wool Scarf
Boots: Corso Como

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Here are a few OOTDs from last week. This first outfit I loved! I’ve had this belt for years and love it. It can be reversed so the multi-buckles are at the back. The skirt was so comfortable to wear and the weather was nice enough to be cozy but not too warm. Unfortunately, this skirt had a big issue. After I took it off, I noticed the seam where the waistband meets the skirt had come unraveled. There was at least a 5 inch hole in the skirt! The seam was stitched with the same merino wool it’s made out of and apparently any slight tugging or pulling on it made it come undone. I had to return it. If any of you have this skirt just be aware of the stitching. I don’t need anything falling apart for $128. And it’s too bad because I was eyeing the black skirt as well.

J Crew Silkspun Sweater
J Crew Merino Pleated Skirt
Corso Como Boots
Anthropologie Belt

One of my favorite shirts from J Crew. I have it in the Almond color as well. It runs big so I was able to size to a small in this. The purple is gorgeous IRL. And of course, my Cece Ballet Flats don’t know what they’ve gotten themselves into. They will be my work-horse flats for most of the Fall and Winter. I’m glad I have multiples!

J Crew Silk and Sequins Scoopneck
GAP Curvy Jeans
J Crew Cece Ballet Flats

I wore this to a wedding shower on Saturday. The Bride-to-Be was gorgeous in a Shoshanna dress. My fashionable NYC prima wore the Nanette Lepore Cafe Sheath Dress (see on Chloe here) (LOVE!!!) for her engagement pictures. The Blouson Dress is a favorite dress style of mine. I have the lace in both colors as well as the stripe in black. The Royal Paisley does not disappoint. I was excited to see I have so many cardigan and sweater options for it, including this Jackie in Buttercup…perfect match!

J Crew Jackie in Buttercup
J Crew Blouson Dress in Royal Paisley
Cole Haan Mary Janes

No OOTDs so far for this week. Husband has been home ruining my daily groove but I’ll give him a pass. He’s been sick for 7!!! weeks and now has shingles. Poor hubby. Luckily I’ve had chicken pox and The Boy has been vaccinated for them. But there is no kissing going on ’round here right now. I’m too busy to be sick. Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? I’m busy every weekend starting now but I love this time of year.

Have a Great evening! I’ll be back with more reviews this week from that crazy 25% off sale. I am certainly shopped out. Luckily I’m not into all the Black Friday shopping. I go, but only to be my mom’s chauffeur. I can do a curb-side drop-off and then find a parking spot in BFE and not have anyone complain about how far they have to walk. I also run packages back to the car so our hands are not full of bags. And now that I’m old enough and have my “own” money, I can go eat anytime I want. My brother and I would starve for hours begging to go eat while she was in a zone shopping. Of course, I’m exaggerating…only slightly. Those marathon shopping trips my mom took us on is probably why I like to shop alone. Fun times.

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I’m sad to say that not all Shoes-day items work out and the Tory Burch Flannel Blaire Riding Boot is one of those examples.

They are a gorgeous equestrian boot with leather and flannel. They come in two colors: Charcoal/Almond and Bright Navy/Black. I love the flannel contrast on the first boot pictured.

I have to try on all boots due to my calf challenges that I have. Even though these stated the leg circumference was 13 1/2 to 16 inches I was a little wary. I saw these in both Nordstrom’s and Neiman’s so the last time I was at the mall I tried them on. 
I tried on a size 7 in the Charcoal/Almond and the fit through the foot-bed was great so these are TTS. Sadly, I could not zip them all the way up, with the zipper stopping right at the thickest part of my calf. No amount of strength used to tug and pull at the zipper would make it budge. I was so very disappointed. Now that I have these in my head, I want them. Sizing up only made the boot loose in the foot-bed so that is not an option, even with a thick sock. It just feels like I’m clomping around in shoes that don’t fit.

One possible option I found was the Cole Haan Air Kennedy Buckle Boot. This has a pretty significant heel with a slight platform. It comes in this Dark Chocolate/Gray Flannel, Black/Black Suede, Chestnut/Tweed and a neutral Greige/Greige Suede. I really would like a flat boot as I will wear that more often than a heeled boot. But I do not have any heeled boots since I grew out of them all.

So, I will have to live vicariously through one of you readers who might get this boot. Unless, I can figure out how to lose some weight in the calf area, or find a SPANX knee-high sock that will actually slim my calf. 

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“…get your adverbs here.” OK…so maybe not adverbs but that’s what I hear in my head when I see these pants. The J Crew Bright Dahlia Lolli Pants are amazing IMO and perfect for this holiday season if you are looking for an alternative to a dress or skirt.

I saw these in-store and on a new SA and she looked fab. I went ahead and tried them on and really liked them but didn’t get them. Little did I know these pants were all the buzz on the inter-webs and then I saw them on Debye, where she looked FAB in them.  I couldn’t stop thinking about them and was waiting at the store when it opened the next day. I ran straight to my “Lolli’s” and tried them on once more for good measure. As Debye said, they are very lightweight, unlined and the color is TDF!

I tried on an 8, and only because they didn’t have a 6, which I know now would have been snug on me. The 8 sits on my hips and the length is the perfect ankle length. I am debating on whether or not to get them hemmed so they are more cropped like they are meant to be (27 inch inseam).

They are sold out online but I’ve seem pop-backs daily. Have an SA or your personal shopper do a WWFIFY because my store did have some smaller sizes available as of Friday.

I was able to immediately wear these this weekend to our neighborhood holiday party. It’s basically our ladies luncheon but we get to bring our husbands. I was afraid Husband would make a comment about the color and not like them but he only mentioned the shoes I was going to wear. I was going to wear them with my Flannery Platform Peep-Toes but he said they were too “flashy” for the crowd we would be in and I had to agree with him. I opted instead for some small wedge Cole Haan’s which were perfect since I stood most of the evening.

Here’s my dinner outfit from the night before. Notice the sweater color? And I did wear my Flannery’s that night.

Anyone done shopping yet? I am almost done. Just a few little gift cards to get and another present for Husband. He’s trying to spoil his Christmas so I’m looking for something he’s not expecting. He figured out on Amazon that he can look at what was purchased from his wish list. He doesn’t know who bought what but just like a kid to “shake the box” and “inspect the packages”.

Have a great evening!