June 4, Just Peachy

Ok, I’ll admit it- this is the lamest title ever, but I was stuck and the top I’m wearing today is a peachy color… and I made a delicious peach salad last night that I just have to share. I know I promised I would not give cooking advice on the blog- but this salad is so yummy, and so easy that I just have to share… more on that later.

I’ve had this cute silk top with a ruffle collar from J Crew for years- and yet I rarely wear it, so today I tried it with my wide leg jeans. Since it’s still chilly in the mornings, I threw on this cardigan and then decided my leopard flats would complete the look. Then I took my photo- and I did not like what I saw! The wide leg jeans and this loose fitting top are not flattering together.

I feel like I look like a middle aged woman. Wait, I am a middle aged woman! But I don’t have to dress frumpy- and this look to me is a bit on the frumpy side. So… I swapped out the wide leg jeans for skinny jeans. Replaced the dark cardigan with this cream duster and changed the shoes to my pointy toed snakeskin. Much better, don’t you think?!

When it warms up this afternoon I can remove the cardigan.

Ok, now for my salad recipe (sorry, I don’t have photos because I honestly didn’t think I would be sharing this) but it’s too good not to share!

Take 2-3 peaches, remove skin and chop up into pieces

slice 1 English cucumber into tiny pieces

slice 1/2 jalapeno into little pieces (remove the seeds)

add juice of 1 lime

throw in some chopped cilantro

add salt and pepper

Mix all together in a bowl and serve. So yummy! Weird, colorful and delicious. Let me know if you try it!

Jeans- Gap

Blouse- J Crew

Sweater- Target

Shoes- Franco Sarto, Nordstrom Rack

March 29, Wrap Sweater

I know you’re not going to believe this, but this is the same sweater in both photos! I swear! But the way I am wearing it- it looks totally different. This cute sweater has little buttons & button holes on the sides to wear it wrapped, and I love it! It reminds me of something I would have worn to ballet class when I was little.

Paired with these super casual jeans and dressy shoes- I have a cute outfit! You may recall that these jeans were actually in my ‘before’ photo the other day. But then after doing all my jeans research, I realized that this wide bootleg cropped look is actually in style! Yeah! Lesson learned- don’t ever get rid of your jeans- they will eventually come back into fashion. 

In order to make them look current, I just have to be careful with how I style them and what shoes I wear. 

These gorgeous snakeskin pointy toed sling backs are perfect, they make the jeans look trendy and modern. I also replaced the high neck white shirt from the before photo to a tank- which is much less matronly. 

Sweater- Nordstrom (old)

Jeans- Levi’s

Shoes- Franco Sarto, Nordstrom Rack

Sept 10th, Dinner With Friends

When you get invited to a friend’s house for dinner do you struggle with what to wear? I do!

You don’t want to be too dressy, but you don’t want to look like a slob either.

It’s so hard to get it right!

I wore this outfit to a friend’s house last weekend- and I thought it was pretty cute- with the exception of the shoes.

Don’t get me wrong- I really love these shoes- but for the occasion they seemed a little off. Most of the gals were wearing strappy sandals- and having closed toe shoes on felt a little too wintery, but oh well- what can you do?

Just for fun, let’s compare outfits on the right and left- and why the outfit on the right, although similar, doesn’t quite work.

Start with the cardigan- I bought this at Nordstrom’s a few years ago- at the insistence of the sales gal- and I have regretted it ever since. It just seems so ‘old lady-ish’ to me. The collar hangs funny and seems droopy.

The jeans are too long (see how the gather at my ankles) and the light blue color isn’t right for evening. The plain black flats are boring.

As for the left- I switched out the cardigan for this fun blazer. It provides the same warmth as a cardigan, but appears so much more polished. The dark cropped jeans are also more trendy and stylish. Lastly, my shoes- I opted for these cute snakeskin pointy toed heels. Lke I said before- I LOVE these shoes, but am not sure they were the best choice for a summer evening event. I would definitely wear this to work though!

This pale pink shell looks nice under the white blazer.

Shell and jeans- J Crew, Blazer- Nordstrom, Shoes: DSW, necklace- gift from my sisters

Linked up to Momtrends for Monday Mingle.

June 4th, Polka Dot Cardigan

  If you’ve been paying attention to fashion you’ll notice that polka dots are a huge trend right now.

For some reason I just can’t seem to join in on the craze. Part of it is that I haven’t found anything polka dot that really worked for me- and looked appropriate on a 41 year old.

Then I found this cute cardigan at Target. It’s a very subtle polka dot pattern. In fact, from the photos you can barely even see them.

Which in my mind is perfect. Sometimes, I’d rather be a bit subtle than scream ‘trendy’.

On the right I’ve paired this cardigan with my old faded jeans. It looks ok, but not very polished. My closed toe shoes are also a bit off- being that it’s summer!

On the left I now have on my dark blue bootleg jeans. These are almost like dress pants- they really don’t look like jeans. For my shoes, I’ve switched out the black pumps for snakeskin wedges. Finally, I added a cute necklace to follow my ‘rule of 3’.

Pretty simple and easy changes- but they make a big difference.

Happy Monday. Go check out my friends on Monday Mingle!

Jeans: Nordstrom, Tank: Loft, Cardigan: Target, Necklace: Target, Shoes: DSW

May 17th, One Dress, Two Ways

 Today I’m showing this plain blue dress worn two totally different ways.

First off, is my ‘work’ look. All I did was add a bright pink belt. So simple, yet it works. The belt defines my waist and the bright burst of color works keeps it current.

Taking it even one step further, below I’ve added my ever favorite J Crew grey cardigan (it gets chilly in my office).

Again, I’ve opted to keep the neckline very simple. I didn’t want anything competing with the  belt!

The solid grey cardigan adds to the color block look.

Now, for those of you who don’t work- but still want to wear a dress (because they are so comfy), you can easily dress it down. Below I have added a safari style jacket over the dress, swapped out the heels for flats and added a necklace. These small changes completely alter the look- making it totally appropriate for running errands!

(Sorry about the blurry picture)

The big slouchy handbag helps dress down this shift dress.

Dress: Marshalls, Belt: Target, Shoes: Marshalls, Cargo jacket: Marshalls, Flats: Nordstrom, Necklace: Forever 21, Bag: Boden