Matchy McMatchersons

I'm picture challenged. I think I got it all figured out. These are from Tuesday.

Sweater: Loft; Shirt, Jeans: Gap;
Shoes: Target

Look! It's grey and a sweater that isn't purple! I really had to resist the urge to pair purple with this. Blue is a nice color too.

After I had gotten dressed, I realized that I managed to match my nails and my shoes. It happens. Polish is black matte and silver from Hot Topic. Buying them, I couldn't help but giggle immensely. I recommend the silver, but not the black.

Lastly, I was in NY visitng my family recently to celebrate my step father's retirement, and since my 30th birthday is coming up, my parents gave me my present. It's a lovely necklace, but more than that it's a fairly sentimental piece. The center stone is from a ring my grandmother (on m mom's side) had. For many years, my mom then had it, and she gave it to me. The ring was a lovely old setting but didn't fit and the band was no longer in great shape, and she always said she wanted to re-set it for me. So for my birthday they had it set in this lovely necklace! The best part? My mom took another ring also from her mom and had it set in a similar setting for herself. So now we're necklace buddies :)

blog issues

hey guys- i'm having some picture upload related issues, so until i get things figured out i guess no posts.
sad :(

Deceptively Warm

Dress: Context? via consignment;
Jacket: Banana Republic; boots: Volatile

After seeing Tina's Target dress, I have had the urge to wear this one, which from a distance looks similar (at least to me). I had been yearning for orange tights to pair it with, but own no such tights. Why it didn't occur to me until I was staring at my jacket/sweater section of my closet this morning that I could wear my *orange jacket* instead, is beyond me! I was not only pleased with the way this all looks together, but was also happy with all the warmth! I have an undershirt under the dress and of course tall socks under the boots, so I was nice and toasty all day long!

I had been eying these boots online for ages, but in the picture they appear much lighter so I never thought they would be practical enough for me to buy. I decided to just give them a try because they looked so fun, and I'm glad I did! I really love this darker color and some cushiony inserts make the tall heel fairly manageable.

Really old and really new

Blazer: Eddie Bauer; Shirt; NY&Co;
Cami: Old Navy; Pants: J Crew;
Shoes: BCBG Girls

The pants are old. Really, really old. They were purchased during a big shopping trip with my mom shortly after I started my first post-college job, looking for big girl clothes. They've been shortened and subsequently let out a few years later. They're still in excellent condition, and are probably the warmest pants I own. Despite their all around awesomeness of pattern and a pretty forgiving cut, I don't think I've ever known how to wear them until right now. In the past, all I remember pairing them with is a fitted black turtleneck and black clunky shoes, which looked nowhere near as good as a purple velvet blazer does! But I didn't own a purple blazer until...

Saturday! Yes, this gorgeous blazer, which was originally $80, down to $50, was now finally down to $19.99! It is also offered in black (with a purple lining!) and is highly recommended. Detail shot is below- you can see just how pretty it is! You can also see my necklace, which was a gift and my green (!) cami. I usually try to stay away from pairing purple and bright green together, as they remind of Halloween. Not that I don't love Halloween, because actually it is my favorite time of year, but I don't like looking like a holiday- you will also see very little red and green together on me. But I thought little bit of extra color was a nice addition. While this outfit has much offer in terms of texture, I was wary of pins or scarves because of the toasty pants and my general fear of stabbing my clothing.

Proof that I was in fact wearing shoes- I think the pants give me gumby feet.

And yes, that is a framed picture of my dog hanging in our entryway. :)

Prima perhaps?

Jacket; Liz Claiborne, pants: Gap;
Sweater; Loft; Flats: Nine West

A pretty simple outfit for today in terms of pieces, but I don't think it's boring. It's hard for hot pink suede to be boring :) I bought this jacket at my local consignment shop many moons ago, but it took just shy of forever for me to get a can of spray protectant for it, but it is finally sprayed and I feel comfortable exposing it to the dangers of my untidy life! At first I wished I could add a pin to this outfit, but I wouldn't dare stab wither the sweater or jacket with a pin, but the simplicity of it all has grown on me this morning. I finished it off with some fun black pearls.

This shot does a better job showing of the fantabulous pink color! i have to say though, something about this color combination makes me think of scrapbooking. Must have been the color scheme of a header I've seen on some blog or website! funny what memories clothing can dig up...

There is some excitement in my outfit today- I have super-disco-sparkly-nails! The base color is actually a dark green shimmer. I yearn for warm weather so that my hands can actually be exposed outside- my nail polish will look so much better in direct sunlight!

Bellet night

A few weeks ago my husband and I bought last minute tickets to see the Cincinnati Ballet perform the Nutcracker- a favorite of mine. We were so excited to get 4th row tickets and even more excited when we got to the theater and our 4th row seats turned out to be 1st row seats! I'm no Ballet aficionado, but I certainly appreciated things on a whole new level being that close and highly recommend it!

I was also excited for a chance to wear my awesome purple party dress that I had purchased over the summer. Even though I had not been a fan of dresses until very recently, i had long ago found that I loved getting pretty cocktail dresses for special occasions- too bad the realization that getting a good fit and fun style would work for casual dresses took so darn long! Anyway, I usually would not buy a dress just because I like it, but when my husband and I were in the Calvin Klein outlet over the summer I tried this dress on for fun and when I showed it to him he declared I had to buy it!

Dress: Calvin Klein; Tights: Target;
Shoes: Franco Sarto; Clutch; Nine west

Here is a detail shot:

Awesome tights:

Dangly earrings:
I actually intended to wear my hair up, but the husband is a big fan of it down, so I decided to go with that this time. Next time I think I will try it up! That way you get the full effect of the neckline.

I usually wear a shorter, more casual winter jacket but broke out my old pea coat for the more formal occasion. I got this coat in college, and unfortunately it was during a time when I was several sizes larger, plus I got the coat to fit over a suit! Needless to say, it was a drafty walk downtown.

I did wear a very special pin on my jacket though. This pin was on my wedding dress! I still have intentions of donating the dress, but will be keeping the pin. It's just to pretty to part with!

Hooray for the ballet! We both enjoyed it very much and hope to go again sometime soon.

Super Professional Jess

Sweater, shirt, necklace: NY & Co;
Pants: Gap; Shoes: Me Too

I almost put on my grey pants which are also from NY & Co, but felt that would be excessive :P Sweater & fancy necklace are from recent sales, and it's possible the necklace was an impulse buy when wandering over to thee cash registers. Clever store layout, NY&Co, clever.

This is the first a-symmetrical necklace I've actually purchased, though I've tried on many. Expect to see it with purple!

These photos were taken in the entryway of the house- the blue is the dining room, the tan is over most of the common areas of the house. I was able to wrap the gorillapod on the staircase railing!

Mobile photography

One of my gifts this year was a Gorillapod (thanks husband!), so this week I have been trying to take photos in different places around the house looking for the ideal location. Yesterday I shot one quick pic in my master bathroom hoping to take advantage of all the decent natural light. Unfortunately the day ran away from me so I got no other shots. Days are sneaky like that.

Cardigan: NY &Co' Jeans: Lucky;
Boots: Madden Girl

This is the second time I've purchased a top in a lime-ish green with a weird flower applique near the shoulder- and the husband continues to think such a thing is a fashion abomination. Hush I say! I quite like these silly flowers :)

Funny story: I was stoked to nab several new plain camis at Old Navy during my post-x-mas shopping, and wore one this day. I made it until about dinner time until I realized my awesome new brown cami was in fact and awesome new black cami. Worn with my most certainly not-black-boots.

Back at it!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good holiday season :) After an unplanned hiatus I am back to blogging, and hopefully will get back into a regular routine of posting at least a few times a week. I did manage to snap a few pics during my absence, so I plan to post those as well.

Let's start with today! I decided to go back to my new favorite combination: grey & purple. I picked up several things at all the glorious post-Christmas sales, including this cute tee from Gap.

Sweater: Old Navy; T & Jeans: Gap;
Shoes: Steve Madden; Necklace & Bracelet: gifts

It's a big flattened bow- you kind of lose the detail with the sweater, but I like how the loose ends looks draped out over the sweater.

I am mocking winter and wearing shoes without socks inside today. Take that winter!

I've been wearing my watch a lot lately, and enjoying it, so I went wild today and threw on a bracelet as well! It has not been bothering me at all I am pleased to report. It is my Noah's Ark of Many Giraffes bracelet, and here is a rather blurry photo of it:

Purple and grey just make me happy!
See you all again soon! (no really, I swear)