the only wedding of the season

 

Last night my college girlfriend Carrie (whose bachelorette party I went to a few weeks ago) got married! As it turns out, the seven weddings I thought I was going to go to this summer has been cut down to just this one, and I'm so happy that the one I could go to would be Carrie's - she's been with her now husband for over a decade! School starting means that I can't go to four of them and my newly booked trip to Germany cuts out the other two. 

Wedding attire has always been kind of a struggle for me. I don't really like spending money on clothes I only wear once a year, so in the past I've never been to comfortable with what I was wearing. I was thrilled when I found this J.Crew dress at Goodwill for a mere $7 a few weeks ago. The style is almost exactly like the version currently in store but for much less. It was also the first time I wore my new Cole Haan heels outside of playing around with my school clothes. I never wear heels (because I can't to work), so my feet definitely aren't used to having the pressure on the balls of my feet instead of comfortably evenly distributed. Although my feet aren't used to it, they were as comfortable as they could be. Usually my feet don't fit the shoes correctly, or I'm slipping out, or the sides rub the wrong way, but that wasn't the case here! I will be adding some pads to the balls of the shoe, and then I think they'll be set. I'm very happy with that purchase!

Dress: J.Crew, thrifted [current version....which is crazy]

Necklace: Jewelmint [exact]

Clutch: from a Julep box [save | beautiful splurge]

Shoes: Cole Haan via eBay [exact]

and a terrible lighted reception picture. how beautiful is Carrie?

linking up with Plane Pretty

5 Days, 5 Ways

It was so so bright out when I tried to take these pictures - my eyes are either closed in the pictures, I look angry, or I look like this. You just can't win! 

In other not weather related news, Whitney and I will be holding a week long link up the week of the 25th of March called 5 Days, 5 Ways. As women who blog about their every day style with their every day closets, we repeat item pieces all the time and we're always so inspired by you guys when we see all the different ways you've worn something.

This link up is an opportunity to share how you've styled certain items different ways - you can either pull looks from your archives, make new ones, or even make polyvore sets of how you would wear that piece of clothing different ways (and if you can't come up with 5, do 3 or 4! or be an over achiever and come up with 10! no hard rules here kids). The first two days will link to me (tops and pants) and the last three days will link to Whitney (accessories, dresses, and casual Friday looks). We will of course remind you of everything the closer we get, but now you have a few weeks to come up with some ideas, or find a new way to wear something you've worn a lot in the past.

I really hope you guys join us - I'm so excited to see all the ways you've worn items already in your closets!

Blouse: Forever 21  [very similar]
Sweater: J.Crew Fact. [exact on sale | splurge]
Jeans: Joe's Jeans*  [same style]
Necklace: Forever 21  [similar]
Watch: Fossil  [similar]
Shoes: Tory Burch  [exact]
Nails: Essie Berry Naughty





*I've come to realize that as comfortable as skinny jeans are, I think that bootcut jeans help balance out all the junk I have going on in the hip region. I'd love to own another pair of these jeans, possibly in a longer inseam so that I can wear them with wedges (I think I could probably get away with that at work). I've been stalking eBay for a pair in my size so wish me luck - $180 just isn't something I'm willing to drop on jeans right now but I can probably manage $50 ;)

via instagram

Have a great weekend!






Linking up with Plane Pretty.

adding piping to a blazer

If you follow me on instagram, you are already sick of seeing this blazer but I appreciate you all sticking around ;) I bought this blazer last week at Goodwill, and while I really like the color and fit, it was a tad...boring. I was itching  to do some sort of project, so I decided to add ribbon piping to this blazer.

by hand.

(because how else would one do this? please don't answer that question or else I'm afraid I'll go throw myself against a wall)

I was first debating doing leopard or a gold patterned ribbon, but some fellow bloggers brought me back to my senses. Leopard would have been fun, but cream is a lot more versatile.

It only took me one SNL episode (with the Biebs...shudder), the Grammys (red carpet and show), and one episode of the RHOBH to finish it. With Christopher on another away rotation, only quality television is watched at our house. So it did take me a while, but I'm thrilled with the outcome. 

I used a 7/8 inch ribbon purchased at JoAnn's Fabric Store for about $2.50 (if you have one near you make sure you download their app - they always have 40% off coupons, sometimes 50% off!). I ironed it (with my hair straightener...) in half. I used a binder clip to keep the ribbon in place, and then just stitched down the line. I also replaced the button with a gold button, also purchased at JoAnns. Overall, this blazer + revamp cost me about $11. Not to shabby, especially with this similar blazer costing 8 times as much.

Blazer: Thrifted, altered  {similar}

Shirt: Forever 21  {exact}

Jeans: American Eagle  {exact}

Belt: Aeropostale?

Necklace: Forever 21  {similar}

Bag: Madewell  {exact}

Watch: Target

Shoes: Rocket Dog via DSW  {exact}

...a total cop out for TOPIO, but I was just too excited to wear this blazer to wait.

linking up with thrifters anonymous!

Necklaced

I'm a huge huge fan of Lilly's Style and Hello, Gorgeous. After pinning the same type of their outfits several different times, I figured I needed to try it out for myself. I've already been working on the button-up under the sweater, so all that was needed was the necklace. My mom got me this necklace as a little Christmas gift and it was the perfect piece to try it out.

Turns out I over think just about everything as this wasn't a huge sartorial risk - I just need to try things instead of hmming and hawing about it for a year ;)

Sweater: Target  {exact}
Blouse: Forever 21  {similar}
Jeans: American Eagle  {exact}
Necklace: Gift  {exact, similar}
Watch: Fossil  {save, similar}
Shoes: Tory Burch  {exact}
Nails: seen here

via Instagram