“Whoa, that’s so…. girly.”

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Diana

Last year I did nothing for New Year’s Eve. This year, my boyfriend and I went out to a local restaurant and watched Dex Romweber Duo while ringing in the New Year. It was a bit pricey, but it was tons of fun. The weather here was really cold last week, but thankfully it warmed up for NYE. I did end up switching to tights before we left, but that was the only difference.

In the background you can see our “Chirstmas pole”. We didn’t have room for a tree in the house this year, so I wrapped lights around our pole in the living room to create some holiday spirit.

Dress: Boden
Cardigan: Fossil
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Fluevog Malibrans
Necklace: Vintage

Quote: Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe), by Kimberly Pauley

“Groove the night long”

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Diana

This outfit was my debut for my new black straight leg jeans. I’ve been wanting a pair of black straight leg jeans for a really long time, but for some reason it never occurred to me to check out Levis until last week. I did some research on their site before I went to the store so that I would have a good idea of which jeans I wanted to try on (Levis gives each cut a different number). The only one of my picks that was in the store was the 552, and they fit like a dream. The rise is not too high, but not too low, falling about an inch and a half below my belly button. They are a nice, inky black shade. The straight leg is flattering on my figure, and the hem is long enough for me to decide what length I would like them to be. In these pictures, I shortened the hem by 1″ with fashion tape, to see if I like the length. I’ve come to realize that, on days that I feel like wearing jeans, I also tend to feel like wearing flats. I’m not sure why – I guess maybe it’s a comfort thing. I think these jeans will definitely be a multi-season staple for me.

And did I mention that they’re 98% organic cotton, with a touch of spandex for a nice fit? I love that.

This outfit was a color experimentation of sorts. I really wanted to wear my fuchsia cardigan, but I also really wanted to wear my red Born Codders. Normally, I wouldn’t mix these two colors together, but when I added the red necklace, and kept everything else to simple black and white, it worked.

Never be afraid to try something different.

How are everyone’s Memorial Day weekends going? I’ve been working on some gardening, sewing, and reading. These three things do a fantastic weekend make.

Cardigan: Fossil
Blouse: Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)
Jeans: Levis 552
Shoes: Born Codders
Necklace: Garage sale
Earrings: June Designs

Quote: Bring on that Beat, by Rachel Isadora

I realize that I’m a few weeks late, but I’d like to say thank you to Dolly Features for giving me the Sunshine Award.

“People only need people”

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Diana

Sorry if I seemed really stressed out the other day. I am actually feeling really happy overall, and I’m gradually learning how to arrange my new schedule in a way that meets my needs.

I’m learning that the most important thing to me is to have meaningful relationships with other people. This includes family, my boyfriend, my in-real-life friends and my blog friends. Reading blogs used to stress me out, because I felt like I was always behind and never able to keep up. I recently culled my Google Reader down to my absolute favorite blogs and to the blogs of those who stop by here frequently. This is allowing me to focus my blog reading time on a few people (well okay, it’s still about 50 blogs, but that’s a lot less than what I was reading before). Now, I feel able to actually comment and cultivate relationships with other bloggers. My stats may have suffered for it, but I really don’t care.

On to the outfit: I was trying to find a way to make too-short dresses work at my new job. Then I realized that if I simply view them as tunics and wear them with leggings, they work just fine. Since the weather has officially become too warm for tights, I’m thinking about getting some new leggings from We Love Colors to expand my options.

How do you remix not-quite-appropriate items in your wardrobe to make them work?

Cardigan: Fossil
Dress: Express
Belt: Anthropologie
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Born Sokal (via eBay)

Quote: The Rag Coat, by Lauren Mills

“Double-decker strawberry ice cream cone”

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Diana

Wow! Now that I’m working full time at a job where I actually have something to do eight hours a day, I’m finding myself with significantly less free time. I really love my new job though. I love what I’m doing, and the hours seem to fly by because I always have something to be working on. I’m just having to learn how to budget my time outside of work. It’s hard, because I have so many things that I love doing. I love to blog. I love to workout. I love to cook. I love to knit and watch movies with my boyfriend. And while I don’t love it, I also have to take care of everyday tasks like cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. And fitting all of these things into the hours between 3:30 pm (when I get home from work) and 9:00 pm (when I go to bed) is no easy task.

I don’t want to give up doing the things I love, so I’m finding compromises. Some days, I’ll go to the gym and not have time to comment on blogs. Some nights, I’ll stay in and catch up on the blogosphere. I’m learning quicker recipes to cook during the work week, and saving the more complicated stuff for the weekend. I’m still wishing I had about five hours more in every day, but I’m learning to live with less free time. The fact that I love my job helps a lot.

In order to keep myself from stressing out, I’m changing up my blog posting schedule a bit. Starting this week, this is what I’ll be posting: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays will be daily outfits. These are my favorite posts to write, so I don’t want to cut back on them too much. Wednesdays are Etsy Love, because I love supporting handmade. Saturdays will just be Links a la Mode. On occasion I will post feature articles on Saturdays, but they won’t be regular. And Sunday’s will be Shopping Plan posts. Changing things up will let me still post daily, without feeling stressed out. I love this blog, I love the blogging community, and I do not want to stop. I just have to cut back a bit. I’m still visiting other blogs and commenting, but not as much as I used to. I still love and appreciate all my readers, and I try to visit your blogs as much as I can, but please understand that often I won’t have time to read blogs until the weekend.

How to you budget your free time to make room for all the things you love?

Blouse: Anthropologie
Cardigan: Fossil
Jeans: Gap Curvy (altered by me)
Shoes: Born Sokal (via eBay)
Necklace: Jorgensen Studio
Purse: Morelle Charlotte

Quote: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

“Smile big and the world will smile right alongside you”

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Diana

As you can probably tell, there’s been a whole lot going on with my blog lately, and it’s given me a lot of reasons to smile. I made the shift over the weekend to using wordpress.org, and my blog is now hosted with Blue Host (which by the way, has an amazing support team, which kindly dealt with my frantic phone calls when I had a few hiccups in transferring the blog). Now I’m able to add a lot of useful features to my blog, as well as get into the HTML and CSS (which is exciting for me because I’m actually getting to use something I learned in school).

As you can see, I’ve changed up the look of the blog. I’m going for a clean, simple aesthetic. To keep the sidebar neat, my blogroll now has it’s own page. If I missed your blog in the transition, please let me know and I will add it. I’ve also added a Shop Local – Tampa page which features stores in Tampa that I like to shop at. This list will continue to grow as I discover more local stores and interview them for the blog. Pretty soon, I will also be accepting sponsors, so look for that announcement!

I’ve created an RSS feed for the blog through feedburner. You can use this to read the blog through Google Reader and other similar services. You can still follow my blog with bloglovin, by clicking here or on the button in the side bar. I’ve also added sidebar links to my Flickr, Twitter, Weardrobe, Chictopia, and Facebook page for the blog.

At the end of every post, you will see a few new features. There is a green sideways v icon called Share This. By clicking this icon, you can share a link to the post using a variety of services, including Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, Digg, etc. There is also a new feature that shows three related posts (although they don’t always seem to be that similar, it can still be a fun way to browse old posts.) Whenever you leave a comment on a post, a new feature called CommentLuv will link to your most recent blog post, if you have a blog. All of these features will make the blog more functional, and easier to navigate for you. Please let me know if you experience any problems with the new features, and I will work to fix them.

To talk briefly about this outfit, I continue to be amazed at how versatile both this cardigan and this dress are. They’re pieces that I wear on a very regular basis, and every time there seems to be a new way to style them. I’ve worn this dress at least three other ways this winter: once with my mustard cardigan and Dansko boots for a prairie feel, layered under a skirt and cardigan for extra warmth, and mixed with bright splashes of color for the weekend. I’ve styled this cardigan as a bolero, and I’ve worn it open with skinny jeans and flats. Since I have such a small closet, having items that can be worn in a number of ways is essential.

What are your favorite items in your wardrobe that you remix week after week?

Dress: Express
Cardigan: Fossil
Belt: from my mom
Leggings: Target
Boots: Dansko Nena (via Ebay)
Purse: Morelle Oyster
Short pearls: Coryell Design
Long Pearls: Garage sale
Ring: from my mom

Quote: Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, by Patty Lovell

“Ready to kick up their heels”

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Diana

I am continuing to adore this magenta cardigan I got for Christmas. I’m discovering that drape cardigans are insanely versatile. Last week, I wore it draped with a pair of skinny jeans and a blouse. For today’s outfit, I paired it with my little black dress and my goldenrod Malibrans. Yellow and magenta was never a color combination I had given consideration before, but now I’m discovering just how great it is.

I love how the soft, light fabric of this cardigan ties up perfectly as a bolero. I tried tying it back as a wrap sweater as well, but I didn’t like the effect, as it visually added bulk. I love how tying it as a bolero adds a bit of waist cinching.

As you may know from previous posts, scoop neck of this dress is really low, and requires some layering underneath to be decent. I originally tried a solid colored blouse for today’s look, but then I decided that adding a bit of black and white pattern would complement the rest of the outfit best.

What color or pattern combination have you tried lately that surprised you?

Dress: American Rag Cie (via Revolve)
Blouse (under dress): Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)
Cardigan: Fossil
Tights: Target
Shoes: Fluevog Malibrans
Purse: Morelle Oyster
Pearls: Coryell Design

Quote: The Three Silly Billies, by Margie Palatini

"The effect was charming"

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Diana

This little bridge over a spring is in that park just down the street from my house, and I’ve always wanted to take pictures here. It’s one of my favorite places to go to relax. Maybe it’s the Pisces in me, but I adore the sound of rushing water. This little spring flowing into the Hillsborough River has a tiny little waterfall right under the bridge. I love coming here in the summer and dipping my feet in the cold water.

I absolutely love this outfit. I wanted fabrics that were soft, drapey and just warm enough for the odd weather we’ve had in Florida lately (we went from temps in the 30s to temps in the 70s, and by the time this is posted it will be back in the 50s). I bought this cardigan with my Christmas gift card to Fossil, and I love it. It’s insanely versatile, and I love the strong, vibrant color.