corduroy

Tieka and I had an unbelievable amount of fun yesterday shopping. We laugh so much about stupid things and we're probably the most disgusting girls ever. We both grew up having more guy than girl friends and I think that's why it's so easy for us to be such good friends. Nothing grosses each other out and no drama!

At first, we had a hard time finding things because we both wanted to look fabulous. We then realized we were thinking much too hard about what to wear. We had a revelation as Tieka calls it--just wear what we like to wear. It took us a couple hours of looking at things I would never normally purchase to realize we should just stick to what we like. I made some purchases that I'm going to hold off wearing until NYC. I still need a couple more things to finish those outfits. So excited!

Tieka helped me style this skirt. It's always nice to have a set of new eyes look at your closet. I've been neglecting my very many scarves and she pulled one out that went well with the skirt. I paired it simply with a black tee and Tieka draped it a little bit differently than what I've done in the past.

[corduroy skirt by lark and wolff, tights by anne klein borrowed from tieka, oxford heels by ciao bella, tee by f21]

I have these photos in color on Chictopia.

Seen and Submitted Feature on American Apparel

Yay! I wore this just a couple days ago and was contacted to be featured on this page wearing the chambray jumper pant.

Tieka is spending the night tonight and I anticipate a late night of giggling and feeling like a 12 year old girl at a sleepover. Whenever Tieka or my friend Kimmi spend the night that's what always happens. I definitely need sleep though for a full day of shopping in Detroit. I'm on a mission to find items to wear to the Chictopia conference!

light sensitivity

My eyes are so sensitive to light. Even when it's cloudy, I'm continually squinting. Hence, half closed eyes in a majority of the photos below. I was so pumped to wear these new pants to work today. I'm obviously enjoying this style and the roominess in them. While I got weird looks from my boss and the highest pitch laugh ever from my friend Tom who photographed me, I am still obsessed and plan to wear these very often. That's why I like living in the midwest. I can wear things that are not all that crazy and people are blown away (in good and bad ways I've discovered.)

T minus 1.5 days until Tieka gets here! I miss her!

[t shirt by t by alexander wang, pants by american apparel, belt by ecote, boots by deena & ozzy]

Who the hells know why I was making that face in that photo.

poofy pants

"What are you wearing? Are those..Are those poofy pants?" was my supervisor's response to my pants once I stood to leave her office. I proceeded to proudly display my pants and move from behind the desk so she could take it all in. I love these pants. My top is a long tanktop/dress and I had all the room in the world to stuff the extra material and wear the top as I did.

I attended an event this afternoon for work. It was a statewide alumni celebration for people who went through the Michigan Works! system and were success stories..ie received training and other services, overcame various barriers and are now a shining example of a once unemployed person who now has a successful career in the state. The alumna from our agency did such a fabulous job speaking. She was interviewed by a local television station and I realized how much I love my job. Media relations is fun and while I don't speak to the media directly, I enjoy coordinating it. I like being on T.V. though. For example, when I coordinate events for college students to tour IT companies and we get media out at the companies, I'll slyly walk into frame and make sure to not look at the camera and pretend I'm engaged in whatever is going on.

[blazer by silence + noise, colorful tanktop by silence + noise, black tank top by f21, poofy pants by bcbg, shoes by deena and ozzy]

You can see the tank top a little better. I was thrilled to find a top that wasn't black or grey AND on sale.

Now for the real cuteness...photos of my gorgeous and fabulous friend, Haley. I adore this girl. She's been dating one of my good friends, Kyle, from high school, for five years now and we've been friends almost since the start of their relationship. I can hang out with the two of them and not feel like a third wheel. She'll graduate with a degree in packaging this spring and Kyle will get his masters in geology by next winter and the two of them will leave me forever. Ah sadness. Anyways, Haley joined me at Grand River Connection's 4th Tuesday event which is basically a monthly networking event for young professionals. It was at this hip club Enso and Haley looked so cute I had to bust out my camera shouting, "I NEED TO PUT YOU ON MY BLOG!!

[dress by forever 21, booties by nine west, rings from mad eagle]

erin part deux

Mondays. Normally I hate them, but I was super busy at work and the day flew right by! I met up for dinner with my friend, Jasmine and shopped some sales at Urban Outfitters. The pleasant mood today helped fuel some of my energy to clean my apartment. And now time to shop online! Or at least look..

As promised, below are some photos of my friend Erin from Saturday.

[dress by f21, tights from j crew, cardigan by bdg, boots from urban outfitters]

bay harbor

Returned from Bay Harbor, Mich. today! I helped someone at work with some side projects and was handsomely rewarded with a free weekend at his Bay Harbor cottage to ski and relax. This place was amazing. I didn’t end up skiing, but I did spend time at the spa and did some shopping in the quaint towns surrounding Bay Harbor. I has assumed this cottage would be somewhat rustic and we would be in a town somewhat rustic so I didn’t pack much. Little did I know this cottage was apart of a golf resort and hotel and that there were actual places to go out. I love how I can dress this dress up or down. It’s versatile and I’m glad I tossed it into my suitcase.

[dress by american apparel, boots by steve madden, belt by gap, cardigan by coincidence & chance]

Here's a photo of the cottages I stayed at along side the hotel. They were right against the bay and the spa, coffee shop, restaurants and other other shops were only a minute walk away. Ah it was wonderful.

I'll be posting more photos of my friend, Erin and her outfits tomorrow!

Erin

This weekend I'm up in Northern Michigan staying in the cutest cottage with hotel amenities near a ton of clothing boutiques and other cute shops. I'm here with my friend, Erin who's style is similar to mine and I absolutely love everything she wears.

[leather jacket by french connection, jeans by express, wedge heels by aldo, bag by marc by marc jacobs, scarf from macy's]

Ah, I like the structured shape of her purple bag more than mine. I believe she got that gorgeous jacket for some ridiculous deal in Chicago--like $100 or something.

We grabbed lunch at Stafford's Pier Inn I believe. It seemed promising. It overlooks the pier and her salad looked so pretty. When she was almost done eating it, she discovered mold on one of the raspberries. hahaha.

a bit of lace

This has been haunting me:

I've been trying to eat a bit better since my diet currently consists of redbull, hot cheetos and chocolate in any form. So I took the plunge and purchased one yogurt. I don't like yogurt. It grosses me out. But asparagus used to also disgust me out and now it's one of the very few fruits and vegetables I actually like. I've had this in my refrigerator for a week and I just keep looking at it. Sorry, nothing to do with fashion/style..but I just need to try and eat it soon. Maybe I will like it.

So my outfit today is pretty weak. I didn't give much thought to what I was going to wear but to spice up a simple dress with lace tights and a pair of heels I got for a steal last year for $11. I thought I would post it anyways since I like updating this blog and it may be harder for me to this weekend as I will be attempting to ski for the first time at Boyne Mountain in Northern Michigan. Wish me luck!

[hat by bdg, dress by kimchi blue, coat by elevenses from anthropologie, oxford heels by ciao bella] Click here to see what the coat looks like buttoned up.

grey gloom day

This outfit is pretty simple. I wore this to work today and I was excited to wear my new sweater. I got it half off at a boutique. It's a size large, but I like how it fits. I just love oversized sweaters and tees. I pass these black jeans off as dress pants at work. WIth a pair of heels, I feel dressy!

[sweater from caruso caruso, jeans by guess, purple heels by bcbg, bag by bcbg, vintage ring and cuff gifted from stepdad (used to be his!)]

Today felt like such a blah day. Everything is grey and gloomy. To combat Seasonal Affective Disorder, I decided to join a dance/aerobics class. So now, every Tuesday I will participate in Zumba and show everyone my white girl moves. I had so much fun making an ass out of myself and exercising at the same time.

running errands

THANK YOU Tieka for redesigning my blog! It fits me much better than the template I previously selected. She definitely knows me and created something that fits my personality perfectly.

Today's look is a result of dirty hair and throwing something together to run errands in. I was so proud of myself for wearing my regular scarf as an infinity scarf. I tied the ends together and then wrapped it in two loops. I'm sure so many people already do this, but I was so impressed with myself. hehe.

I used to wear my hair up on top of my head a lot in high school, but I've become increasingly self-conscious of this bump on my forehead that resulted from an accident on a swing when I was in 4th grade. I saw this photo below in Glamour magazine and I thought this model and her hairstyle was so cute. Of course, I don't have gorgeous red straight hair, but I thought I would give the messy bun a try again.

My interpretation:

[jeans by bdg, scarf from urban outfitters, sweater by silence+noise, leather jacket by frenchi, flats from urban outfitters, but so old I don't know brand they are]

I ran into a t.v. reporter I sort of know at Michigan State University's student union. He was working on a story and I've only talked to him in professional capacities--where I'm dressed up for work or photographing an event. He seemed to surprised to see me and said, "Oh.. you blend right in." I got a kick out of that. I tried SO hard not to do my hair like this in college. Here I was blending in with them all!

we were walkin' downtown...

Today I feel back to normal! No longer sicky! Tieka and I got together for lunch at the Olive Garden and then took some pictures in downtown Muskegon. I absolutely love photographing Tieka. Everything she does is so cute and she doesn't just stand there. She moves around and is a photographer's dream. She's just a natural in front of the camera. We then took some video of each other walking around and being silly. I think she's going to make a video out of it haha can't wait to see it! I was dressed a bit fancy today, but I've been wearing sweatpants almost all day everyday, so I decided to wear a comfy skirt and one of my newer purchases--a fabulous shirt with shoulder pads. The skirt is so versatile and it will go with nearly anything I own. Click here to see how I wore it the last time.

[Skirt by Ecote, shouldered padded top by Zara, belt by Kimchi & Blue, tights from Target, socks from Target, boots by Deena & Ozzy]

I love Tieka, so I'm adding some photos of her too. She'll have more up soon on her blog as well!

muskegon

I'm in Muskegon for the weekend. I managed to take a few photos today despite STILL being sick. I went to the hospital for the second time this weekend and got some shots and I immediately felt better. Hence the quite casual look… I own a couple of these t-shirt dresses and they are so comfortable. The cable knit tights kept me warm and I didn't feel like wearing jeans like I normally do, so I wore this to the movies with my grandparents. Petey, my grandparents' pomeranian makes me feel better so I played with him for a little bit today.

[t-shirt dress by American Apparel, scarf by Free People, tights from Urban Outfitters, boots by Miss Me, leather jacket by For Joseph]

friday restday

I'm pumped to share that Tieka and I will be attending Chictopia10 Social Influence Summit in New York City! We're roadtripping it and staying at Hotel 91. Our room will have twin beds! It's the last room available that weekend and it's so cheap! I've never been to NYC before so I'm a little nervous! But also excited to hear the founder of Modcloth speak, see the designer showcase and meet some of these fabulous girls I see on Chictopia.

I've been feeling terrible with a migraine that I've had for the last 24 hours, so no outfit post like I originally planned. I was instructed to take the day off which I hate doing. I'm a control freak and I had things to get done and we have Monday off for MLK Day so everything is going to get put of until next Tuesday. :( But I did want to share a couple things that I like on the blog while I'm couchbound. I just took vicodin and I'm feeling a bit better for the moment.

I've been really drawn to anything grey, which isn't uncommon for me but every accessory or shoe I like happens to be grey.

I am in love with this leather belted hip pack that's on sale at Need Supply. Sometimes I just don't need a purse and I hate carrying things around on my arms if I'm out with friends or shopping.

This shoe was apparently designed with the help of Emily who won the Jeffrey Campbell contest on lookbook.nu. How exciting and this shoe is amazing.