More Wedding Attire Options

I went to White House Black Market today in search of a good dress to wear to the wedding.  The sales girls were soooooo helpful and nice.  Here's the first option.  It would be steamed before I bought it so the ruffle lays flat.  Also I might have the tailor take up the top from the seam in the back.

  

The next option has pockets and a sweetheart neckline, always favorites of mine.

 

What do you think?  Neither is cheap, and I was kind of hoping for a unique, fun dress.  These are both super flattering though!  Thankfully this weekend there is a $10 mall gift card with $100+ purchase.

Wedding Attire Options

So I have a wedding to attend in August, and I would love to buy a new dress to wear.  I found one from Anthropologie a while back that I love, but it's way too expensive.

  

Yesterday I tried on a few dresses at H&M as well.  Only two fit decently. (Also check out that messy bun...so good even after a day of work and trying on a bunch of dresses!)

 

The second dress from H&M I loved!  I tried it on hoping it came in a different color.  I would love it in black and silver.  Unfortunately, it only comes in white and gold.

 

Do you have any suggestions for a great dress for me to try on?  I am still on the hunt for an affordable dress to wear to a wedding.  It's an evening wedding at a nice hotel, but the ceremony will be outside by the hotel pool.  I want something light for the hot summer weather, but formal enough for an evening reception.

Movies

I saw a lot of movies this week.  On Sunday I saw Despicable Me in 3D at the AMC theater, on Tuesday I saw Inception at the Laemmle's theater, and tonight I watched Nine on demand.  All great in their own ways!

  

More AE Sale Scores

First up, my new short sleeved sweater from American Eagle.  It was so comfortable at work!  Unfortunately I see in these pictures that I need to pair it with more form fitting pants next time I wear it.

Sweater: American Eagle

Tank: Forever 21

Pants: H&M

Shoes: Naturalizer

Necklace: Cost Plus World Market

Another American Eagle sale purchase, a polka dot bandeau top made for a good undershirt with a t-shirt.  I wore this to work with navy khakis (no cardigan), then changed into the shorts to see Inception at my local art house type movie theater.

T-shirt: Victoria's Secret PINK

Bandeau and shorts: American Eagle

Cardigan: LOFT Outlet

Shoes: Birkenstock

Now, not an exciting outfit per say, but I love my hair today!  I followed this demo on how to do a messy bun.  I think it turned out fantastic.  You can see it better in some dressing room pictures I took at H&M while shopping after work, but I'll post those later.  I wore this with jeans for work.  Also I tried out Tania's signature pose: toes in, looking down.  I think I'll stick to my normal pose since I can't even really turn my toes in, and my knees look lame when my legs are straight.

 

T-shirt: Lucky Brand

Shorts: American Eagle (also new)

Shoes: Cynthia Vincent for Target

Necklace: Forever 21

Another Random Post

Some pictures from last week... One night after work I changed into one of my favorite cute dresses to go grocery shopping.

Dress: American Eagle

Shoes: Naturalizer

Necklace: Forever 21

I also caught my cat taking a time out in the corner, hiding behind pillows and blankets.  Silly cat.

  

New picture frame for a picture of my great-grandmother on her 95th birthday.

An AE Weekend

I celebrated my great sale scores from American Eagle by wearing them this weekend.  On Saturday I went to the Summer Aerospace Games at the beach.  I had to wear a company t-shirt most of the day, but I wore my new linen shorts and wore the crop top before and after.  I got a lot of compliments on this top.  This was taken when I got home, and I'm so sunburnt!

Top and shorts: American Eagle

Bikini: Victoria's Secret

Shoes: Target

Today I wore my new AE vest with a dress that I haven't worn much at all.  By itself this dress is way too Barbie pink.  I think the vest balanced out the bright pink color very well.  After I took the first picture, I realized I needed to add a necklace to bring out the gold in the belt buckle.  I wore this to go to the movies and see Despicable Me in 3D.  It was such a cute movie!

 

Dress: LOFT

Vest: American Eagle

Shoes: Naturalizer

Belt: Old Navy

Necklace: Cost Plus World Market

Comfy Casual Friday

Today I was inspired by the comments on this post to wear something simple.  Or I just wanted to be comfortable.  Take your pick.

T-shirt: Victoria's Secret PINK

Jeans: Lucky

Bandeau: American Apparel

Shoes: Puma

I stopped by American Eagle tonight to check out the sale and use the 15% off code I posted earlier this week.  I did so well!  Two pairs of shorts (and these in grey), a draped cotton vest in slate, a crop (on a normal height person) top, a short sleeved sweater, and a polka dot bandeau top.  Drum roll please.....total cost $65!  Any great ideas on how to style these items? (The sweater is a v-neck light blue chunky cable knit.)

A Plethora of Work Outfits

Let's start with last Friday.  We had broken AC, so I wore a dress for the first time ever to work!  I can't go into the lab or shop in a dress, but I figured on a Friday I'd be okay.

Dress: Converse One Star for Target

Tank: Banana Republic

Shoes: Clarks

Belt: Forever 21

Headband: CVS

Next up, Monday's outfit.  Another outfit that's good for a hot, stuffy office.

Shirt: Old Navy

Pants: Lucky

Shoes: Naturalizer

Now, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'm not feeling very inspired this week with my outfits.

 

Top 1: Banana Republic

Tank 1: Ann Taylor

Shoes 1: Naturalizer

Both pants: Lucky

Top 2: Victoria's Secret PINK

Tank 2: Old Navy

Blazer: Target

Shoes 2: Clarks

In Wednesday's outfit I'm wearing my old jeans, newly hemmed!  So exciting!  That's my mom I'm talking to on the phone.  I had her on speaker.  Also, no work outfit picture today.  I changed too quickly.

Beach Outfit

I found a picture from Sunday at the beach on facebook.  Picture taken by Jeremy.

Bikini: Victoria's Secret

Cover-up: Guess

Sunglasses: Ray Ban

AE Deals

I got this text from American Eagle this morning - AE: Have U Heard? Try On Jeans & Get a Free Smartphone Offer w/ 2yr plan. Plus Take 15% Off Ur Prchs Thru 7/26. Store Code 85; AE.com Code 54876589. 1code/prchs

When I tried to load their website on my phone, I got a screen saying the site was down. Instead there was a free shipping code: 74936062, good until Sunday.

I'm definitely going to check out the selection tonight! Hopefully there will be cute cardigans or camisoles on sale.

Sahiti's Visit to LA

Sahiti, from Adventures in Soro, visited me in LA for the weekend.  It was so much fun!  First up, our outfits from Friday night.  We went out to a bar in the suburbs that was full of cougars.  It was SO much fun!  We took this after we got home.

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: Target

Headband: Forever 21

Sahiti's dress: Anthropologie

On Saturday we started the day with a trip to the Calabasas farmer's market.  In the afternoon we tried to go to an awesome mansion pool party, but we ended up just hanging out at my coworker's apartment pool.  It was on the roof in Westwood, so it had great city views.

Cover-up: Forever 21

Swimsuit: Target

Shoes: Cynthia Vincent for Target

Saturday night we went out in Santa Monica to a great bar called Chloe.  The bartenders even made me awesome fresh fruit alcohol-free drinks since I was driving.  Sahiti posted this picture on her blog already.

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Shoes: Franco Fortini

Belt: Old Navy

Ring: Forever 21

On Sunday we went to the beach.  At first we couldn't find my friends, so we just sat and relaxed.  Eventually we found them, and the boys played volleyball while Sahiti and I just socialized.

No outfit pictures, but here's the view from where we were sitting.

And last but definitely not least, we caught Zadie doing cat yoga on the pull out bed!  (Yes, she's just washing herself, but it's funny.)

More Heat Wave

So today the AC broke in my office today.  We're also in the middle of a heat wave.  Tomorrow I might wear a skirt or dress for the first time to work, ever.  When I got home from work, I took this photo very quickly, then changed into the least restricting dress I could find.  Never mind the old woman also shopping in World Market tonight wearing a dress with the exact same shape as mine.  Thank goodness mine wasn't also floral print, or else I'd be convinced I had been tricked into wearing a muumuu.

 

Shirt: American Apparel

Undershirt and pants: H&M

Shoes: Naturalizer

Dress: Lucky Brand

Shoes: Ann Taylor

Necklaces: Forever 21, amber and turquoise from a local artist

Earrings: Barbara half dollars from San Francisco artist

Summer Cold

No, we're not having a cold front.  In fact summer finally found LA.  It's officially hot.  No, I have an actual summer cold.  I left work early today and after a run to CVS for meds, I slept the day away.  I woke up this evening in time for a little dinner and tv.  Hopefully I sleep well tonight and it'll all be gone.  I don't feel that bad, I just want to get this gone asap.  So this is a "I don't feel well but I absolutely need to go to work" outfit paired with a "I'm melting so I must smile so I don't have to redo this photo" face.

Shirt: Victoria's Secret PINK

Tank: Ann Taylor

Pants: H&M

Shoes: Naturalizer

Pumps Vs. Toes

So with a quick look, this is the same outfit.  But look again, there's a big difference!  Well big according to my toes.  I had intended to wear this outfit with nude pumps since the dress pants are so long.  I only brought along a pair of flats so I would be prepared if I had to go into the lab or shop.  It only took the walk from the parking lot to my desk to realize that I don't wear these pumps very often for a good reason.  My toes were actually numb.  I switched to the flats at that point.  I'm not sure who won this battle, but bottom few inches of my pants definitely lost.

 

Shirt: Banana Republic

Pants: LOFT

Flats: Clarks

Pumps: Target

I dipped my toe into the stripes pool.

H&M had a sale on t-shirts, 2 for $13, one striped and one solid.  I picked up a grey and white striped and a purple.  On another note, I discovered that tube tops are great undershirts for work.  They're very modest.  They can be pulled up as high as needed to cover cleavage, and they're tight on the top.  It eliminates the gap that can happen when bending over.  They would be perfect for someone whose job involves a lot of bending like a teacher or nanny.

 

Shirt and pants: H&M

Undershirt: Hollister

Cardigan: Division

Shoes: Naturalizer

Necklace: Tiffany's

Great Deal!

Seriously, if you like the Bath & Body Works signature items, go buy some now!  They have them on sale for "buy 2, get 1 free" or "buy 3, get 2 free".  I also got a coupon for "spend $10, get 1 signature item free" last time I was in the store, so I bought 4 items for only the price of 2!  In my bag, I got a coupon for 20% off a purchase July 26-August 29, and on July 26 the hand soap/sanitizer sale starts.  Last year I stocked up on awesome foaming hand soap for the year.  It's 5 for $15 or 7 for $20.  With the coupon, they're cheaper than the grocery store hand soaps!  Seriously, go and stock up on your favorite smell good stuffs.  My new favorites are Summer Coconut Vanilla, which smells like vacation or pina colada mixed with suntan lotion, and Summer Lemon Vanilla, which smells like lemon creme pie.

The outfit I wore to the mall is simple and comfortable.  I picked this dress because I woke up feeling extra skinny today...my stomach was almost flat, something that never happens!

 

Dress: Ann Taylor

Shoes: Bass

Headband and necklace: Cost Plus World Market

Stay-cation Outfits

My mom flew out to LA to visit me for almost a week.  It's probably the only vacation time I'll take this summer, so I tried to enjoy it as much as possible.
First up, this outfit I put together with items I bought at the outlet mall on July 1.  My mom arrived in the morning, so we got Sprinkles cupcakes, dropped her luggage off at my apartment, In-n-Out lunch, and headed to the outlets in Camarillo.  I did very well!  New shoes from Bass ($13!), a few items from LOFT, and a lot from American Apparel.  We drove to Neptune's Net seafood on the beach after for dinner, and it was a lot cooler and windy.  I did a quick change in the car into new items that would keep me warm and covered in the wind.

Cardigan: LOFT Outlet

Skirt: American Apparel

Shoes: Naturalizer

Next, my mom and I went to Hollywood and Universal CityWalk on Friday.  I wore a new purchase from the LOFT outlet.  This really reminds me how much I need a new, longer pair of shorts.  This photo is at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Top: LOFT Outlet

Shorts: American Eagle

Headband: CVS

Shoes (not shown): Birkenstock

Saturday we went to the Calabasas farmer's market, walked to Corner Bakery for lunch, and walked around the little mall.  We went out to a nice dinner at Cheesecake Factory as well.

Dress: LOFT

Shoes: Bass

Ring: Forever 21

  

Dress: Anthropologie

Shoes: Bass

Earrings: Savannah Art Market

Necklace: Cost Plus World Market

Ring: Forever 21

Mom's necklace: Tiffany's (mine)

I already posted my fourth of July outfit to the blog, so here's Monday.  We went hiking and to the beach, so this is what I put on after a shower for going out to dinner at my local little Mexican place.

Dress and necklace: Forever 21

Cardigan: Banana Republic

Shoes: Bass

Tuesday was my mom's last day in town, but we made the most of it by going to Catalina island.  The island is gorgeous!  My mom flew out on the red-eye flight, so we had all day to site-see.

 

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Cardigan: Anthropologie

Belt: Old Navy

Shoes: Naturalizer

Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren