A Week in Review... outfits, movies, and shopping

Hello Lovelies,

Sorry again for the lack of posting.  I've been super busy at work since it's Christmas shopping time.  However, the only plus to working a lot is I get to put together some cute outfits.  This past week in NJ was unseasonable warm so I got to wear a few items that I would never imagine wearing in December.

So without further ado, let's get on with the outfits!!!

 The first outfit was a black and white plaid chiffon blouse from Old Navy paired under a black V-neck sweater.  I also chose to pair this outfit with my boyfriend fit pants from Gap and my J.Crew CeCe flats, which I absolutely adore.

Probably my favorite outfit of the week was the one I wore when it was 65 degrees this Tuesday.  I paired my skinny cropped navy polka dot pants, a lavender boyfriend fit shirt, and a navy crew neck sweater all of which came from the Gap.  I also work my favorite gold cece's from J.Crew and my bubble necklace, which has quickly become a staple for me.  

Although I mentioned above that the polka dot outfit was my favorite of the week, this Chevron outfits was a close second.  I love this blouse that I got at Nordstrom during their Anniversary Sale, and this is actually the first time I wore it.  I paired it with a pair of Black Rockstar skinny pants from Old Navy, which I took a chance on because they were only $15 and surprising I liked the fit.  I also decided to wear my pink CeCe's as my pop of color because I felt like this outfit needed something to spice it up.


So onto movies.... I just got back from seeing Playing for Keeps.  Overall, I say the movie was cute and heartfelt but by no means was it amazing.  My favorite part of the whole movie is that Gerald Butler has the sexiest Scottish accent ever.  Jessica Biel, on the other hand was a little annoying in the movie.  I love Jessica Biel and am considering dying my hair like hers but in the movie she has this dark hair that just washes her out.  Again, it was a cute movie but I definitely think it's one of those that you can wait to see on Redbox or OnDemand.

I also attempted to watch Rock of Love but I lost interest about 45 minutes in and don't think i'll ever be able to watch it again.

Until next time......

I Came, I Saw, I Shopped....

Well another week has come and gone and my shopping addiction lives on.  I figured maybe if I blog about how much I shop and posting what I bought these posts will some how curve my shopping addiction.  To my credit, I did go through my closet the other day and decided to get rid of all the pants I don't wear and decided to donate them to someone who could get more use out of them.  I'm also starting to transition my closet from summer clothing to fall clothing, which is depressing.  I'm not quite ready to take all of my neon items out of my closet at this time so you may catch me wearing my neon hot pink pants sometime soon.  I'm thinking come October, I might need to put the neon pink broken in khakis away until spring...

Ok so on to the good stuff, the things I bought in the past couple of weeks:

Infinity scarves are my favorite fall/winter accessory.  I don't normally wear them casually but I'm hoping to use these two to help dress up a plain outfit.

Silver scarf from Express (Left) and sea foam green one from Nordstrom BP

 Chevron, Chevron, and more chevron.  I have a slight obsession where I buy everything that has a chevron print on it.  As you can kind of see I bought 3 chevron pieces all in the black/grey family.  The first dress is a Nine West dress that I got from Marshalls for $29.   It has 3/4 sleeves and is so cute on.  The next dress is a black sleeveless dress with a chevron print going down the middle of the front of the dress.  My favorite piece is the chevron shirt I got from Nordstrom (not entirely sure of the brand but it was included in the Anniversary sale!)

 Polka dots.... not just for little children and Dalmatians.  The polka dot shirt on the left is from the same designer as the chevron shirt from Nordstrom.  It has little white and sea foam green polka dots all over it.  The next sweater is from Old Navy and I can't wait to pair it with some colorful jeans.  It'a an off white color with black polka dots all over.  I love it because it's 3/4 sleeves which is my personal favorite because I have a weird phobia of long sleeves.

Polka dot shirt from Nordstom (left) polka dot sweater from Old Navy.

 As I mentioned before I can't wait to wear some fun colored jeans.  I have a slight obsession with neons so I can't wait to carry over some of the fun colors into the Fall.  The turquoise pair is a jean material but the other two are corduroy chords wich are not my normal style but these fun colors make them a little more me!

Indigo and Magenta chords from the Gap Outlet and Turquoise jeans from Old Navy

 Sweaters, my fall staple.  I love really comfy sweaters for the fall.  The one on the right is an oatmeal and navy stripped wrap sweater which I picked up from Marshalls for a great price.  It has a super cute hood which I can't wait to rock once it gets a little cooler here.  I'm thinking of pairing it with some dark denim and a pair of chestnut riding boots!  The sweater on the right is from the Gap and I think I got it for like $6 (it was more expensive but there sale was an additional 50% off.)  I love the color blocking of this sweater so I can't wait to wear this too with some chestnut boots!

 I'm a firm believer that if something looks nice on, buy it in every color.  Case in point the next two photos.  The first shirt is a cute oxford type shirt from Old Navy.  I originally got it in the pink and navy combo but I loved how it looked so I decided to get it in the rusty yellow color.  These shirts are very versatile because you can dress it up or dress it down.

These shirts are from Marshalls and I bought the blue one first because I don't really have any blue in my wardrobe but when my mom saw this shirt she was generous enough to buy me the grey version too.  These are a cute animal print style shirt with a neck tie bow thing  They are from Michael Kors and I think were $39 but they are made beautifully and I know I will get a lot of use out of these shirts.

Shirts from The Loft, guilted into buying because it was 40% off

My two purchases from today.  I originally saw these magenta broken in khakis from the Gap a few weeks ago but they were full price.  Today, I stopped by the Gap and they were on sale for $25 and an additional 30% off.  I have about 4 other pairs of these broken in khakis and I love the fit of them.  I seriously have to hold back from buying them in every single color but these are nice because they are a little less neon and perfectly acceptable to be worn in the fall.  The next shirt is a white and blue polka dot oxford shirt from the Gap.  I've been looking for things to pair with my new navy pencil skirt and this shirt is perfect.  I don't like dress shirts because I have a hard time finding ones that fit my chest but this one was a perfect fit and I'm considering buying it in every color, which is probably overkill.


Ok, after seeing all of these items I realize I do have a shopping problem however these were what I purchased over the last couple of weeks.  I'm trying to buy things that I can help build a professional wardrobe while still having fun clothing that I can wear for fun.  To my credit I did get rid of a lot of things and donated them and I'm in the process of losing weight so I can justify buying new clothing!

Until my next shopping spree.....

Closet Remodel and Organization Tips

*Disclaimer- I am no expert (I'm not a member of The Amanda's or an interior decorator) but I am someone who has a shopping addiction and needed to make room in my closet for all of my clothes.

I wouldn't classify my closet as tiny but I will say that there was a lot of wasted space in there.  My closet initially had one wire rack hanging straight across.  Sure, it provided ample space but not enough for a shopping addict like myself.  The picture below shows my closet after I raised the rack up.

As you can see in the picture there was a lot of wasted space in my closet.  To make the most of the closet I decided to add another wire rack about half way down the wall which spans 3/4 of the wall.  I didn't want the rack to go the whole distance because I needed to leave some space for dresses and gowns.

I wanted to initially place my shirts on the top rack and the pants on the bottom but I really wanted to utilize the second shelf as storage so I needed to switch my original plan (which wasn't really a big deal).  I took this picture to see what I liked better.

As I was cleaning my closet out I realized I had way too many shoes and needed to add some sort of shoe organizer.  I couldn't add a door shoe rack because my doors are accordion style but I did have an empty wall that was not being used.  I added some tracks, shelves and brackets to make a shoe rack.

Here is the view of my almost finished closet.  I still need to play around with where things are going but overall I am happy with the design of the closet.  After I took this picture I moved my blazers from the bottom rack to the top one.  I also hung all of my cardigans which you can see in the last picture. I bought baskets from The Christmas Tree Store and Marshalls/Home Goods.  Unfortunately, with stores such as Home Goods once you find something you like, chances are you will not find a match.  If you can see in the picture below I have a black weaved basket that has a chevron fabric lining in it.  I simply love this basket and wanted to buy a few more but I could not find any that matched this one anywhere.  So I just picked ones that matched the color scheme in my room.  

The finished bottom rack!

Some tips and tricks for your closet remodel:

1. No space is too small.  You need to make your closet work for you.  I would love to have a walk in closet but I simply don't have the room for that but I feel like I added enough storage space.

2. Double hang your jeans.  Jeans are thick and often take up a lot of room.  If you hang two pairs of jeans on a hanger it reduces the amount space you are taking up.

3.  Color coordinate and hang like items together.  I decided to hang solid tank tops, printed tanks, solid shirts, printed shirts, solid blouses, printed blouses, solid cardigans, printed cardigans, and work dresses.  The top rack is skirts, casual pants (khakis), jeans, dress capris, dress pants, and blazers.  Then in the right hand corner I have maxi dresses, sun dresses, and formal dresses.

4. Buy the same hangers.  It makes you closet just look put together.  I obviously have not cared this out but I intend to switch all my hangers over to the ones I have my pants on. 

5. Buy little bins to keep miscellaneous items in like belts, small accessories, extra hangers, etc.

Remodeling your closet it is a great opportunity to purge your closet of things you simply don't wear.  Take this opportunity to donate your clothing that you haven't worn in 3 months to a local shelter.  Your closet will thank you and you will feel better because you'll be organized and you will be helping those in need.

All the best!

Tori