like a diamond

Happy New Year's Eve! We're being awesome and staying in to eat homemade tiramisu and watch movies instead of going out, so I wore my sparkles to work instead. I've been wanting to try the sparkly tank/collared shirt/blazer look ever since I pinned this look when I first joined Pinterest. I was double inspired when Jessica instagrammed a dressing room picture with a similar look. Although I've had this tank for over a year, I've only worn it a few select times because really, how often can you get away with a sequin covered torso?

I just received this polka dot popover from J. Crew Factory and I'm really excited about it - I think it'll quickly become a favorite in my closet. I ordered it in 2 different sizes and have decided to keep the large. If you are interested, I also have a medium and would be willing to sell it to you for the price I paid ($32 which includes shipping). It is currently $48.50 online. If not, I'll return it back to our nearest factory store but thought I would put it out there since it's currently $20 more expensive than what I got it for. Just send me an email at fhasselhof (at) gmail (dot) com if you're interested!  Sold!

Blazer: J. Crew  {exact}
Popover: J. Crew Factory  {exact}
Tank: Express  {save, splurge}
Jeans: American Eagle  {similar}
Shoes: Tory Burch  {exact}
Bead Necklace: Wal-Mart  {similar}
Gem Necklace: Forever 21  {similar}
Watch: Fossil  {very similar}
Nails: seen here

via Instagram

Happy New Year! Can't wait to see what 2013 brings for all of us :). Linking up with the pleated poppy.

6 months of 2012: a review

Well, all the cool kids are doing it, so I felt obligated to do it too. Don't worry, I won't show you every.single.outfit of the year because if you cared that much, you know where the archives are ;) I only started blogging this year, and spent a good 2 months of that time as a "hiding in the bathroom faceless blogger" (my first real world post is here! such a baby) so it's really only a "best of the last 6 months" kind of roundup. Either way, here's a list of the best, worst, and wtf was I thinking of the year:

Favorite Outfit of the Year: This outfit is my favorite for several reasons. It has my new favorite purse in it, I really like this (new to me) color combination, and it has the perfect feminine/masculine vibe going on that I've realized is what I tend to gravitate towards. Plus the photography gods were on my side that day so overall, favorite.

Biggest WTF of the Year: This pattern-on-pattern monstrosity. In theory, not too bad since pattern mixing is all about staying in the same color family. Unfortunately, this is just too much, too bright, too overwhelming. You live, you learn. I'll stick to little pattern mixing instead.

Biggest Regret Purchase: Although these pants were only $20, I've only worn them one time. I don't really love drawing that much attention to my legs so bright green pants weren't the smartest purchase for me. I think this was one of those "everyone has colored jeans, I NEED THEM TOO" purchases. I've definitely learned my lesson.

Favorite Manicure of the Year: Although extremely simple in design and execution, I love this manicure and hold myself back from recreating it every week.

Biggest Learning Experience: I'm a huge fan of and participant on GOMI. There are some really smart and sassy ladies on there, and I love going to place that allows me to feel sane when looking at some of the more out there blogs. I've met some of my favorite bloggers on there as well. That being said, being on an anonymous site doesn't always mean you're anonymous. I've learned that as unoffensive as you try to be on the internet in general, you aren't going to please everyone but for every 1 person who dislikes you, there are in general 10 that do like you. My face and thighs aren't those of a supermodel, but I think I can add a little bit of value to "fashion" blogging as a whole in a normal girl kind of way.

Most Pageviews of the Year: This post about a little trick Bri taught me has 3 times as many views as the next highest viewed post. I hope all of the repins on pinterest have helped a lot of other women with the art of layering ;)

Favorite Thrifted Item: I'm pretty new to thrifting. My mother, literally the most stylish woman I know, is a huge thrift store person, so it's almost embarrassing to admit that reading blogs motivated me to finally go to a thrift store. I haven't purchased that much, but this mustard cardigan is my favorite. I'm unsure what the original brand is, or how old it is, but I love the color and fit, so I don't even care.

Favorite DIY of the Year: My tube bracelets are my favorite thing I've made this year, with my flannel scarf coming in as a close second. I made them in gold and silver, and reach for them almost every single day. Plus the materials cost less than $10 and are super easy to make - cheap and easy: sounds good to me!

Most Worn/Favorite Purchase: My favorite purchase of the year is also my most worn (makes sense, huh?). My J. Crew Schoolboy blazer, which was a birthday present to myself, is the most expensive piece of clothing I own, but I know the cost per wear will eventually be less than a lot of my cheaper pieces of clothing.

So that's it! I hope 2013 brings me the foresight to make smarter purchases to fill the holes in my closet, to still expirement with my clothes, and to continue to have fun with this little hobby.

under the sea

A little sea inspired manicure for the week by the sea.

Blue: Essie Mezmerised
Blue Glitter: Julep Ivy
Green Glitter: Julep Harper
Ring: borrowed from Karoline  {adorably similar}





Linking up with the Nail Files and Mani Monday

behind the blog: chic on the cheap

This week's Behind the Blog features Lyddie from Chic on the Cheap. Lyddie always looks fashionable and put together while not spending a lot of money. She has some great insight about blogging and shopping so I'm really excited to have her here this week!

Tell us what motivate you to start blogging. Were you following a lot of personal style/fashion blogs before you started blogging?

December Budget

1. Target Sweater {seen here}: on sale for $13
2. Julep Clutch & Nail polish: $30 - $20 credit = $10
3. Thrifted Wool Sweater {seen here}: $3
4. J. Crew Excursion Vest {seen here}: $110 x 30% off = $77
5. Madewell Tote {seen here}: $168 + 30% off + monogram fee = $135
6. Thrifted Cardigan {seen here}: $3

= $241 - $230 sold on eBay after fees = $11

This month I did go over budget, but I knew I was doing a lot of selling on eBay so I consider it a trade-off for my closet and budget.  I mentioned that I sold a smaller purse in exchange for my new Madewell tote, which is a purchase I've been contemplating for a long time now. I feel that a large tote bag is something I'm going to get a lot of use out of, which I can't say about the smaller green crossbody I sold (which I've only used three times in the 6 months I owned it). The vest was a purchase I've also been thinking about for a while as I wanted a thinner vest for layering in the winter, so I'm glad I bought it while I could before it sold out, but still during a sale. I realized that on days that I'm pressed for time when getting ready, I always grab for my dark grey v-neck sweater, so buying the Target sweater only made sense (plus it's so soft and so inexpensive). The Julep clutch was a Christmas promotion that had 1 sparkly clutch (something I didn't have at all but realized I would like in my closet), 3 nail polishes and a few little extras. The two thrifted items have already born worn a ton in the short time they've been in my closet, so I'm happy I got quality pieces for such a small amount.

Overall, I'm really pleased with how this month panned out. I sold some items that hadn't gotten any use in months/years, and have added pieces I know will be worn a lot. Next month I intend to buy some of the holes in my closet -  black pumps for interviews coming up (somewhat of a bummer to spend money on something I won't get a lot of use out of right away but something I need), possibly a black blazer that Audrey recommended, and I'm going to be on the look out for suede boots if I can find some in a decent price range. If not, that'll have to wait until February.

So how did you do this month? Did Christmas shopping mean you didn't spend much on yourself, or did the post holiday sales help you score some great deals? Link up below! Please make sure you link back so your readers can discover other budgetting bloggers.

sandy toes

Merry Christmas y'all (I'm in the South, I'm allowed to say that now). I hope Santa brought you everything you wished for and more! My family didn't do a gift exchange this year as we are on vacation together instead, so let me live vicariously through you - what was your favorite present this year?

We've been doing more of the same down here - lounging, playing board games, tanning when the sun is out, going on bike rides and walking along the beach.

Why did no one tell me sooner how versatile a mustard cardigan is?! I have seriously worn it every day we've been here.

Cardigan: Thrifted {similar} 

Tee: H&M  {similar}

Shorts: Aeropostale  {similar}

Sunglasses: Ray Bans  {exact}
Toe Nails: OPI My Throne for a Cranberry Scone

Dirty Hair: c/o laziness

Cardigan: thrifted (told you)
Tank: Old Navy  {similar}
Purse: via Boston Store
Jeans: American Eagle {exact on sale}
Sandles: Sam Edelman via AE  {similar}

We even did a little swimming and boogie boarding. The water was ....chilly.

Various locations around the world that are special to our family, and how far away/what direction they are.

Fireworks and monopoly rounded out our Christmas Eve. The weather the rest of the week is looking promising, so hopefully I will return to Wisconsin with just a little bit of color.



linking up with wiww and because shanna said so.

fly away

just a little update :) we're having fun doing a lot of relaxing, beach combing, bird chasing and reading... 

Shirt: Calvin Klein  {save / splurge}

Shorts: Aeropostale  {similar}

Bikini Top: Body Glove {exact-great for the big chested}

Hat: H&M  {similar}

Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren  {exact}

glad to have Viktoria here for the week as well :)

My fisherman sweater makes a lot more sense on the ocean.

thundersnow

...is a real thing apparently.

We've been hit with about 18 inches of snow (so far) so it's been an adventure (and by adventure I mean nightmare). I had to go to work today (for 3 hours...) so it was fun having the streets alllll to myself. But then I got to come home and nap. After said napping, Chris and I went out to explore. We hiked around in the snow for about 4 miles. Kind of dumb since trees were literally being pulled out of the ground from the heavy weight of the snow, but also kind of awesome.

"Take a picture of my gloves!"
"Why?"
"Because they're cute!"
"You are so weird"

But they are cute, right?

Jacket: purchased in Germany  {similar}

Hat: Gap  {similar that I want too}

Scarf: Forever 21  {similar}

Gloves: also from Germany  {similar, similar}

Pants: Urban Outfitters  {exact}

Boots: Steve Madden  {similar}

ketchup and mustard

I'm ready for this week to be over. Two people of 4-person team were pulled into a different department so now we have to cover their duties as well so this week has been a little (a lot) hectic. We're also supposed to get a huge snow storm tomorrow - gross. I seriously hate snow so I ask myself why I live in this state every winter.

The good news is once Friday comes, I get to fly off to the Gulf for a week to spend time with the entire family. Plus Chris will finally be home for a while :) God I've missed that guy.

linking up with wiww.

Sweater: Thrifted  {save / splurge}
T-Shirt: Gap
Scarf: DIY
Belt: Madewell  {similar}
Jeans: Joe's Jeans  {similar}
Shoes: Tory Burch  {exact}
Watch: Boccia
Nails: Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather {exact}

After my last post about my thrifted Grandpa sweater (did you guys like the song?), Bri asked if I had any tips for thrifting.  To be honest, I haven't done a ton of thrift shopping in my life so I don't have years of experience to tell you how the best way to go about buying clothes second hand. I've only gone to our local Goodwill, Savers and St. Vinny's but here are a few things I've learned from those experiences and from around the internet:

- Take your time. The thing with thrift stores is that there is no display or giant racks of the same thing. Look through each rack piece by piece.

- Try on anything that catches your attention. You'll never know until you try!

- Find out when your local stores have discounts. Our Savers store is 25% off on Mondays. Goodwill has weekend sticker percentages off. St. Vinnys often has a certain type of item on sale. A $4 sweater becomes a $3 - we all know how much I love a bargain!

- Don't forget to wash anything you buy. 

- For all your experienced thrifters, I would welcome any tips you have as well!

I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible

A little fisherman, a little old man, a lot of comfortable. I got this sweater this weekend while doing a little thrifting and although some may not be as enamored with it as I am (I was called a fisherman twice today), I'm excited to add it to my closet. Plus for less than $3, a grey wool sweater can't really be beat.

Sweater: Thrifted

Button-up: Gap  {save / splurge}

Jeans: American Eagle  {exact}

Shoes: Crown Vintage  {save / splurge}

Watch: Kate Spade  {exact}

...and if you've spent any time thrifting, you'll appreciate this song. plus it's so damn catchy!

 

holes in my closet: pieces for 2013

I tend to buy pieces I know I will get a lot of wear out of, especially in my day to day working life. Obviously this is great for my closet since I buy things I'll actually use, but there are times when I wish I had pieces but I just don't ever buy them because I know they won't get a lot of wear - except in those situations I always wish I had them. So for the next months instead of buying another button up shirt or sweater, I'm going to use some of each month's budget to buy the following pieces. I'm going to take the time to buy pieces that I truly love and that fit correctly so I don't have to buy the same kind of item several times until I find the right one. These are the pieces I'll be looking for and why:

+ Suede Boots: I mentioned last week that I think I can wear more skirts and dresses to work as long as I wear tights and boots to keep my legs covered. I own two pairs of boots, my dark grey Steve Madden boots and my light brown Frye boots, but neither of them are necessarily dressy enough. I loved this outfit on Kate Middleton and although suede boots aren't necessarily practical for a snow storm, I think they would look great for work and social occasions. I think this will probably be the major purchase in January.

+ Nude Heels: So far we have 7 save the dates on our fridge for this coming summer, so there are going to be a lot of dress up occasions this year. I don't own any nude heels (or many heels in general) and so a nice (and hopefully comfortable) pair of nude heels will get a lot of wear this summer. I probably won't purchase a pair until the spring.

+ Wool Skirts: I don't own many skirts, but I think a few pairs of wool (for now) skirts would be great for dressier outfits at work and (hopefully) for school in the future. I've heard great things about the skirts at J. Crew so I'll probably try to find some at the outlet store.

+ Hunter Rain Boots: My dogs got to my last pair of Target rain boots, and between the slush we have now and the rain in the spring, a pair of nice rain boots will get plenty of wear. I plan on buying mine on eBay and hope to spend no more than $60. And don't worry, I'll only wear them when the weather calls for it ;)

+ Black Blazer: I get so much wear out of my navy blazer that it only makes sense to buy a similar piece in a different color. I was especially inspired by Kultur & Stil's post about all of her outfits with her black blazer. I'm going to be in Chicago in early February so I plan to stop at Topshop to try this blazer on.

+ Dark Brown Riding Boots: I love my lighter brown boots, but sometimes I wish they were a bit darker. I may wait until the end of the winter to look for a pair just because I'm hoping they'll be cheaper then.

+ Black Pumps: I don't have a pair of black heels that are actually comfortable or that I can walk in for more than 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure as a 25 year old woman that that is pretty much unacceptable. I need a pair of closed toed heels that I can wear for at least a few hours.

+ Dark Wash Jeans: I've been wearing a lot of skinny jeans lately (something I really thought I would never wear - seriously, 2 years ago I swore up and down I would never wear them) partially because they are so comfortable and mostly because I only have 1 pair of bootcut jeans I like. I would like to find that perfect fitting bootcut pair of jeans. Wishful thinking or actually a possibility? ;)

So that's the plan. Are there pieces you're on the look out for? Are you the kind of person who needs a game plan for shopping? I didn't think I would be, but I think this will help with the "buy investment closet pieces" thing I'm trying to work on.

frivolous

Yesterday morning I was running a little early so I stopped at Starbucks before work...and was so annoyed that it took 10 minutes to make me a simple iced drink. It feels so stupid now to think that the worst part of my day was having to wait for a stupid drink while small children were being killed in cold blood. It all seems so frivolous - the coffee drinks, the taking pictures of what I wore, the typing of what I wore, while there are parents who lost their babies that day for no reason. My heart aches for them, and I hope this forces our country to work on the diagnosing and treating of mental illness.

I was unsure how if I should even bring this up on my blog. Fashion blogging is about escape and inspiration and fun, and the horrible events that happened in Connecticut are none of those... but those little children and their teachers have been on my mind all day as I'm sure they've been on yours, so even though we will continue to live our lives and hold those we love closer, I couldn't not acknowledge their tragic and untimely deaths.

here's what I wore yesterday.

frivolous, I know.



Blazer: Old Navy  {save / splurge}
Shirt: Gap
Scarf: H&M  {similar}
Jeans: Urban Outfitters  {exact}
Shoes: Tory Burch  {exact}
Watch: Fossil  {very similar}
Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.  {exact}

Franziska, Everyday

I read a lot of blogs and am constantly wishing I had all of the amazing pieces of clothing you ladies have. Unfortunately, I have a budget I (try to) stick to, so I generally just try to be inspired and recreate what you wear with items from my own closet rather than go out and buy a bunch of clothes every week. I say generally because once I saw this bag on Kendi, I needed it to be mine. I checked on it every few weeks, hoping it would go down in price. It did go down about $20 over Black Friday, but I still held off. Then two weeks ago when I was again telling someone about this bag, all bags happened to be 25% off, making it cheaper than it was on Black Friday...and I finally had to press buy. It took a little bit to get to me because I wanted a little monogram added, but it was definitely worth the wait.

To fund this purchase I sold this purse on eBay for the price I bought it for in the store. I know that I'll get a lot more wear out of this new purse as it works well for work now and will be great in the future (if I get into school). A smaller bright green purse just can't compete with a big leather tote.

Have you ever purchased something after seeing someone on a blog wearing it? Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Sweater: Target  {exact on sale for $13}
Gingham: J. Crew Factory (with tank top in between)  {exact}
Jeans: American Eagle  {exact}
Scarf: H&M
Purse: Madewell  {exact}
Shoes: Crown Vintage  {save / splurge}
Watch: Kate Spade  {exact}
Bracelet: DIY
Nails: Seen here

via Instagram

P.S. Two days left to enter the Firmoo Giveaway!

behind the blog: Loop Looks

In this week's Behind the Blog we have Erin from Loop Looks. Erin works in a professional environment in Chicago, and documents her journey in navigating the hardships of dressing professionally without being boring.

Tell us what motivate you to start blogging. Were you following a lot of personal style/fashion blogs before you started blogging?

uncool

Bubble necklaces: are we all over them now? I know they've been around for what seems like forever, and they're over done, but this morning as I was trying to figure out how to not have the most boring outfit imaginable, and without wearing another scarf...I put it on and wore it anyway. So maybe my Midwest is showing (you know, being like 3 years behind on trends)  but I'll wear it with pride...

...or something

Blazer: H&M  {save / splurge}

Blouse: Forever 21  {exact}

Pants: Urban Outfitters  {save / exact}

Necklace: H&M  {splurge}

Shoes: Tory Burch  {exact}

Nails: Seen here

linking up with wiww.

firmoo glasses giveaway

If you spend any time at all reading blogs, you will have heard of the glasses brand Firmoo. As you can see, I wear glasses every day (mostly because I'm too lazy to put in contacts) so if you are a glasses wearer, or you're looking for some cute new sunglasses at inexpensive prices (or need a last minute Christmas present), you're in luck because Firmoo is offering 10 of you a 2 x $20 gift certificates - one to keep and one for you to give to someone else. That's enough to pay for a pair of glasses (all you need to do is pay the shipping). Just enter the Rafflecopter below - good luck! This is open internationally. I'll announce the winners at the end of this coming weekend.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am not being compensated for this giveaway, I'm just trying to get you some free shades ;)

dresses at work?

Wearing pants is something that I thought was mandatory at work. I re-read our safety regulations recently and it specifies that legs need to be covered - nothing specifically about wearing pants! For most people, dresses/skirts with tights is a no brainer, but after 14 years of dance recitals, I was certain I would never make myself do that again. After watching girls like Kimmie and Whitney rock cute tights with their dresses and skirts, I was willing to give it another try. I was offered the opportunity to try out some No nonsense tights and leggings, so what's a better way to test out if I liked the dress/tights look than with free tights? 

I'm also unsure how I feel about Louboutin shoes and Chanel bags...

Kidding! Back to the tights. I received these cute purple patterned tights and red corduroy leggings.  The tights were a no brainer. I wanted as much of my legs "double covered" so I wore my old beat up boots (future post to come about upgrading to a nicer pair). Because I am fairly tall (5'9''), most regular dresses tend to be a bit short on me, so wearing tights actually helped me feel less exposed in the thighs. The tights held up very well throughout the day. They were long enough for me so there was no awkward gapping, and the control top meant I didn't have to suck in as much. Now that I know I can actually wear skirts and dresses (as long as my legs are still covered) to work, I'm excited to expand those parts of my closet.

Dress: Old Navy  {very similar}

Tights: No nonsense (c/o)

Scarf: gift from my mom

Belt: The Limited  {save / splurge}

Socks: Urban Outfitters  {very similar}

Boots: Steve Madden  {similar}

Watch: Boccia

I found bright red leggings a little harder to fit into my normal day-to-day wear. I maintain that leggings are not pants to be worn with a short shirt, so a tunic was necessary for me. I wore my leggings with a sweater tunic, scarf and jacket for a walk out with the dogs. The nice thing about these leggings is that they are corduroy so they kept me warmer than some of my other cotton leggings. I would recommend sizing down though, as my pair were a little too large for me. I've been wearing my pair around the house a lot as they are so comfortable!

Jacket: Souvenir from Germany  {save / splurge}
Leggings: No nonsense (c/o)
Boots: Steve Madden {similar}
Hat: Forever 21
Scarf: DIY

Dog: not for sale ;)

Disclosure: Find your pair of affordable No nonsense tights and leggings here. I was sponsored by No nonsense for this opportunity. All opinions are my own.