The Wedding Gear

I got this dress maybe a month before the wedding off the clearance rack at Dillard's.

I think I paid $106 with tax.

I kind of had another dress but at the last minute, decided to see what else was out there.

This dress was absolutely what I needed...Short and Sassy!

Juanette let me borrow her much coveted crinoline to give it some fullness and voila...a wedding dress was born!

(Sorry for the bathroom shots...I hate those...but they will have to do)

I get alot of questions about what kind of strapless bra I wear all of the time...so I thought I would let you see it.

I love this particular brand of bras because I'm top heavy and I need support but I don't need extra padding.

I get these bras from Macy's.

The brand is Lilyette.

(I'm obsessed with bangles. I found these bangles at Aldo Accessories)

I wore both shoes...I wore the Leopard LAMB heels most of the day and switched into the pink Steve Madden heels for the last few hours because they had a lower heel:)

(We were super non-traditional in the sense that we saw each other before the wedding...and might have even had a drink or two...to calm our nerves of course:)

One thing we both knew is that we both wanted to look the most like ourselves.

The hubby wears bowties regularly and I wear leopard print shoes just to go to the mail box, so we were determined to be us!

The whole feel of our wedding was laid back so a suit wasn't right.

2 or 3 weeks before the wedding, we went to Zara's and found everything he needed...ON SALE!

The vest was about $23 and the matching pants were under $50.

We all know I love tailored clothing, so his pants were altered for the perfect fit.

He has TONS of bowties but we found the red bowtie at Marshall's for $10.

The custom Chucks were the biggest expense for him but they were worth every penny ($88).

He went to the Converse website a few months ago and designed the colors and had them customized with our names on the side.

They were perfect!

As you can tell, we were not trying to go into debt over our wedding gear. But I loved every piece of both of our outfits!

(When we get our official wedding pics from the ever talented Nathan Russell Photography, I will be sure to link them:)

My Gear:

Dress- $106

Shoes- $145

2nd Shoes- $30

Bangles- $28 (for 2 sets of bangles)

Crinoline- Borrowed

His Gear:

Custom Shoes- $88

Vest- $23

Pants- $50

Bowtie- $10

Shirt- Express (it was already in his closet)

Honeymoon: Puerto Reiko post coming next!

Flattered

 Calvin Klein slouchy shirt...LOVE IT!

Lucky Jeans

You can't tell but I have on hoop earrings...I am NEVER without earrings!

I was checking out some of my fave blogs and was surprised to see the sweetest compliment about me! Click here to see Chastity in all of her thrifting glory and fabness! Thank you Chastity!

 Did a lot of running around today. I needed to be comfy but presentable. So glad I did, because in my running around today...a friend and I somehow ended up posing for pictures at a party...that we weren't even invited to. That's another story for another day! Have a great week! I'm working on a pretty project right now...I'll share when all of the irons are in the fire!

 Toodles!

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Update: The flattery keeps coming...I made The Stylish Curves' Top 5 Daily Reads! Thank you Alissa!

Frosted Flames

Ask me what I did today

Forget it...I'll just tell you.

Ate a huge bowl of Honeynut Chex Cereal.

Baked cupcakes.

Caused a small fire because a cupcake fell to the bottom of the oven.

Managed to salvage some cupcakes.

...That is all...

P.S...I almost didn't post these pics. There's nothing spectacular going on in them. Then I realized that I was becoming a blog snob. You know, getting dressed up with nowhere to go...not that I'm judging because I'm known to do that from time to time but this wasn't the case. It's so hot here, the least fussy ensemble usually gets worn these days. So, there you have it. I threw this on and if you really want to know the truth...I wore this twice this weekend! SSSSHHHHH!!!!!

This is my confession.
That is REALLY all:)

Inspired

(Click here to enter a giveaway to win earrings for the fabulous MISH DISH!)

It rained like crazy this weekend. Rain + Afro= Wearing a Cap/Hat

Here's just a quick weekend post. I rarely wear shorts...and by rarely I mean never. But for some reason, I've decided it's okay. I absolutely loathe the feeling of shorts "riding up" on me. It drives me crazy but these are actually comfy to wear.

Photos from NY MAG online

 I am not one of those "runway" watchers but I must say that I've stumbled across a few of the Ralph Lauren Spring shots and immediately fell in love. I'm really into menswear and this is done oh so right. It kind of has that "I'm a farmer during the Dust Bowl era and the only thing I have to wear are my husband's clothes" kind of look. My ensemble today was directly inspired by the Ralph Lauren "look". I already have a few more "inspired" outfits in mind:)

By the way, I was a having a discussion about my style today and I couldn't come up with an official title for my style. Scroll down this page and take a look at some of my pics. How would you describe my style?

Loyalty

I so didn't want to go out last night. Two of my favorite movies were both on at the same time and I was laying deep in my bed. I only went out to celebrate my good friend's b-day. But trust, had she been just a mere acquaintance...I would have stayed snuggled in my Snuggie flipping between Brown Sugar and Why Did I Get Married. But if I am one thing...I am loyal...thus I got dressed.

Cardigan: Zara

Top: Anthropologie

Tights/Skirt: Target

Belt: Thrifted Vintage

Shoes: Calvin Klein

Clutch: Charles David (I wear this clutch out!)

Earrings:Forever 21

I remember the days when I would go out and buy an outfit for any night out. Ummm...yeah...those days are over. Now I try to find ways to rock a Snuggie in public with heels.

(I so remember my aunt rocking these very belts in the late 80's and 90's! I wish she would have kept them. It would have saved me 4 bucks!)

Sidenote: I didn't know fishnets were so taboo. I had a high school class mate tell me that my image sure has changed over the years...while eyeing the fishnets! I guess they are kind of "zexy" huh. No wonder people were looking at me when I wore them with my leopard shoes...to a funeral! LOL. What? It was cute!

P.S...one of my BFF's said I looked like Wonder Woman in this outfit...I kinda like it!

By the way...I will be participating in the "Stay Fabulous or Get Slapped" Challenge hosted by Erin over at Work With What You've Got. Basically, the rules are to dress extra cute (whatever that means for you )and if someone crosses path who is NOT fly...you slap them...(not really, but you can in your head. )I can't wait!

Update: The CUPCAKES at the bday party were WORTH me getting dressed!

Enough Already

(Sorry for the horrible facial expression above.) This is what I wore to church today.

(Vintage belt, Target textured tights, Zara's Trench, Calvin Klein Heels, LV Speedy 35, JC Penney Dress underneath)

This is officially the end of me wearing all black. That's all I've been wearing for the past few weeks or so. I am challenging myself for this whole week to not wear any stitch of black. No black pencil skirt, No black dress, no black shirts...NO BLACK TIGHTS! Oh my god...No black leggings!?!? No Black Pencil Skirt!?!?

Let's see if I can make it. Do you wear something to death?

Who wants to take the challenge with me? It may not be "wearing black" obsessively. Maybe you wear jeans every single day, or heels every single day...challenge yourself to think outside of the box. Let me know what your challenge is in the comment section.

Update: Sounds like people are up for a challenge. The following bloggers are going to do the challenge with me:)

1. Kris Kross Coffee Therapy
2. Mish Dish-I've asked her to adopt me so that I may rummage through her shoes and purses...still waiting on an answer:)

Are you down for the challenge?

Catching Up...

Hopefully, everyone celebrated the Birth of Jesus in style:)

Here is an outfit that I've remixed ALOT over the last week. I wore this top as a dress a few days before Christmas and the very next day I had to layer it with tights/boots/cardigan/scarf and a coat! That's Texas weather for ya'.I am really loving these basic Calvin Klein heels.

I tied an old scarf from H & M to the handle of my vintage bag to spice it up. I tried to get a close up of the graphics of the top/dress...basically images of people from Woodstock apparently enjoying themselves a little too much. I searched for one black face in the crowd but alas, me "wearing" the shirt will just have to count:) LOL!

Apparently, a deep conversation with a 9 year old about a Snuggie being a gimmick got me this Snuggie for Christmas. It's from one of my favorite 9 year olds in the world and I must admit...I LOVE IT! LOL. Granted, I still say it's just a robe worn backwards but I must admit that it keeps me warm. I'm wearing it as I type this post.

I am going to have to research these Snuggie people and figure out how they brainwashed the whole country! From the Snuggie to a little piece of happiness in a BLUE BOX (thank you Santa) to Scrabble Playing Cards...I had a blessed Christmas.

Happy New Year just in case I don't post for a few days:)

WAIT...One more thing! I met up with a GFS follower! Benita, a follower in pharmacy school in Austin, Texas contacted me about places to vintage shop in Houston. I offered to meet her because let's face it....I thought only my family gets bored enough to read my banter (and by read, I mean look at the pictures only...BUSTED!)

We decide to meet and of course I catch a cold from hell. I wasn't well enough to shop with her but I did show her the ropes! Even the people who worked AT the store looked at me like I was crazy! I was totally having a Rachel Zoe Moment:) Benita and her tres chic friends came to check out a few of my secret spots and I snapped a pic of Benita as proof (Isn't she adorable)!

One of her friends, Melanie, is a blogger too, so this ultimately turned into my FIRST Blogger Meet up!

**Don't be fooled by my big smile...as I waited for the ladies to meet me, I was dozing off in the car as some remnants of NyQuil decided to take effect. Right after that picture was taken, I went back into my "coma". Ladies, the next time you come into town...I promise to be ALERT! From what I heard though...they got along fine without me and found some cool items!**

I Hate Stripes...

I hate wearing stripes but I wore them anyway. I'm trying to find ways to let go of all these rules that I've force myself to follow all these years...except wearing CROCS...I WILL NEVER ROCK CROCS!!! I would rather skin the bottom of my feet with a dull contaminated razor from the days of slavery and walk barefoot over the heads of 12 porcupines than wear CROCS! (do you get the picture now?) LOL

At any rate, here is just an in between time post until I have something super earthshattering to share.

Dress: Calvin Klein Sheath via Marshall's (2 years ago?)

Shoes: Nine West via Marshall's (last year perhaps?)

Necklace: F21

Bracelet: Gift from my Sister

Belt/purse/Cardigan: Thrifted

This isn't an especially postworthy outfit, I feel pretty ordinary in it..can't be fly all of the time, now can I? :)

I'll just call it my "professional" look so that I don't bang my head against the wall for finally accepting that I am getting older! Michelle Obama would approve of this ensemble though, don't you think? I am gonna have to rock my Prince t shirt and Skinny jeans soon, so I can feel cool again:)

I'll spice it up for the rest of the week. Let's call this a Mundane Monday Outfit Post:)

I Saved You The Trouble:)

Out of sheer boredom, I went to browse in Macy's Saturday. I had no intentions on buying anything but that never stops me from trying things on every once in a while.

I found some Calvin Klein boots that were uber sexy and different but kind of naughty all at the same time. I am always on a quest for boots so I thought I should try these. I don't really know how to feel about them. As I tried them, I immediately had an urge to hold a whip...don't know why? Hmph.

I felt very much like a video vixen, which is not a bad thing, if that's what one aspires to be. Several people came up to me and ooohed and aaahed over the boots...I replied by whispering, "I kind of feel like a fluzy". I used another word but you may be reading this post at work:)

They weren't in my budget...well because I am poor...but I couldn't rationalize wearing them that often. I wouldn't be able to wear them to school because they would probably change the teacher dress code in honor of these boots! Not that I would be entirely against that but I'm not trying to make any waves. I also don't go out to clubs which is where these boots would outshine the boppers, so these Matrix meets Video Vixen remained in the Macy's Shoe Department.

Allow me to digress for a hot second....

I did randomly meet this awesome chick as I sheepishly pranced around in these boots. We gabbed about our big hair and jobs and those Video Vixen boots I was wearing. She shared how she left a job that she didn't like for a career that matches her personality. I got inspired in the whole approximate six minutes of that exchange. She then commented that I seemed very "cultured" and wondered if I was from around these parts.

I told her that people ask me that all the time...but the truth is that I am as southern as you can get:) I will admit that when I travel to the east coast that I feel like I am more in my element though:) At any rate, THAT was an AWESOME compliment. I felt very proud to have been considered cultured and "cool" on some level! It's amazing how people pick up on your spirit/energy within a few seconds! If you are reading this Arianne, Thank you! Our short conversation was inspiring and your compliments made my day! *

Okay, back to the mockery of my Macy's experience...

I also tried on the jumpsuit by Rachel Roy's "affordable" line in Macy's. The model looks cute in it and I am starting to like the romper look on others.....but it was a big HELL to the NO on my body. HID.E.OUS! I think I am too short to pull off this look or not skinny enough or something...I couldn't figure it out. The crouch hung too low and the rear end view was not flattering at all. So I am posting the pics just for you...to show you WHAT NOT TO WEAR...Go ahead...and laugh at my expense...I did it in the name of fashion:)

I'm still having mixed feelings about the boots. I feel like if I wore them, the whole day I would be explaining how I am really a good girl but just like the boot because it's different and edgy. I can't have those types of conversations with strangers! lol

All in all...I walked out empty handed...which was the point anyway, wasn't it?

...I secretly kinda like the boots but I would have to buy a leather jacket and a gun to go with it....the gun is not in my budget this year though:(

...please excuse the camera phone photo shoot...:(

What do you think about the boots?

Oh My Goodness! I just had a visual of me going to my sister's ultra conservative church with these boots!! They would lead me straight to the altar for prayer!! LOL!