Just a Trim Dress

I got this light-weight, black and green dress at a consignment shop when I was in high school. It hung unworn in my closet last summer so I decided to do something with it. The original plan was to take the whole top off of it and replace it… that was the plan up until I put it on to take a before picture.

Looked less “meh” than expected.

I decided that it just needed a bit of a trim… so to speak.

Dress to Date Night Top

I bought this dress on a super clearance from Target, in all honesty I needed to spend just a few dollars more for free shipping or something and I liked the print.

I wore this once as a dress over the winter with tights, boots and a sweater. I felt a little awkward, it came to a “midi” length on me which isn’t my best length option and felt just a bit too busy. I decided to change it up that day.

Old image via Target

I really liked the soft jersey material and the cowl neck, so I literally just chopped it off a few inches below the belt loops. I’ve now worn it several times to work with dress pants or with jeans. Last Friday, I wore it with jeans and my favorite green flats. After work Brad and I headed out for a date night.

What to Wear to a Graduation

If you’re graduating, let’s be honest your outfit won’t be seen during the ceremony. With that said… don’t wear jeans under a graduation gown, that will be seen.

I made the mistake of wearing “challenging” shoes when I graduated from college. Because of the horrible parking situation, we walked from our apartment to graduation. Add that to the processional, going across the stage, walking to lunch, etc (thankfully my parents drove me back to my apartment!) I had a college degree AND blisters.

What to wear if you’re a graduate:

• Sensible/comfortable dress shoes. They should look nice and give you the height you want… without giving you blisters or causing you to trip down the steps.
• Something that won’t look crazy under a gown. If your graduation gown is white, wear white underneath. If you wear a white dress with a yellow pattern under one of the thin white gowns, your gown will look dirty. If you wear any other color underneath, it’ll look like you’ve been in a wet t-shirt grad gown contest.
• Hair down. If you wear your hair up with a graduation cap, you run the risk of looking bald or having hat troubles. (Also bring a couple of bobby pins to pin to affix your hat to your head.)

What to wear if you’re a guest at a graduation:

• Not jeans.
• A dress, skirt or dress pants. If it’s a spring/summer graduation, have fun with patterns and colors. December graduations are a good time to embrace textures and jewel tones.
• Something comfortable but still nice. Every graduation I’ve ever attended has been a long ceremony and not usually in a comfortable seat… you can’t control those things, but you can control how comfortable your clothes are.
• Nothing too revealing or that could embarrass you during a hug or photo.
• Avoid hats and fascinators out of respect for the people sitting behind you.
• Comfortable but nice shoes.
• A smile. Someone you care about is graduating! (unless you attend graduations as a hobby, but smile regardless)

I attended my brother-in-law’s high school graduation over the weekend and put together some outfit ideas on Polyvore that might be helpful for some inspiration:

Emerald

I absolutely love the color green.

So of course I was psyched to find out that Emerald was the Pantone color of the year… also more psyched to find a new pair of “emerald slippers” to add to my collection of green shoes (my collection also includes emerald flats that were $2 and my dream green wedding shoes).

I was out thrifting with my friend this weekend for a project that I’ll let you in on soon and I stumbled across a bunch of new, tags-still-on Mossimo pumps (sold at Target). The emerald ones called to me… and were in my size for a whopping $6. It was love.

A little research later found that the Mossimo Viveca Blingy Heel in emerald is  on clearance at Target for $23.08 and originally sold for $32.99. I’d say that’s a thrift-score if I ever saw one!

I paired them with black dress pants and a white top at the office on Monday.

I’m linking up with Sharon and Tara to share my awesome find.

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Too Good Not to Share

Seeing Green

No one wants gray pictures

Too Good Not To Share

Ever come across a deal that you just have to tell someone about?

That happened yesterday… but let’s rewind and put it in context. Several months ago, I got two great dresses from Target on a BOGO sale and spent $19.99 for two dresses that were each originally $19.99 a piece. It was a good deal and I love my dresses that I got for 50% 0ff… even though they look completely shapeless and unflattering when thrown on the bed for a quick pic.

Yesterday, I stopped at Marc’s on my way home for white chocolate to make Brad’s birthday dessert (Baily’s Irish Cream Cheese Cake… yum). I also needed duct tape, so I headed through the closeout section and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dress that I knew was hanging in my closet. The clothing section of Marc’s was filled with Target clothes, including the dress above in green. It was market at $2.99. That’s 85% off of the original price! I also picked up another dress for $2.99 and t-shirt for $1.99. Along with my duct tape and white chocolate chips, my shopping total didn’t even meet the original $19.99 for one dress!

These are also shapeless when thrown on the bed for pictures:

I’m linking up (late) with Sharon and Tara to share this deal with Look What I Got!

Have you found any good deals lately?

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Ask and you shall receive

Dress for the Mood You Want

Diabetes completely kicked my butt the other night. A stressful, unexplained high + a drastic fall and shakey, sweaty low + lack of sleep and a low-hangover basically turned me into a Monday morning zombie… as if Mondays aren’t challenging enough on their own!

Instead of tossing on khakis (or jeans!) and a random top then dragging myself into work, I opted to go with an outfit that I’d recently discovered while cleaning out my closet: a black pencil skirt and a hot pink spring sweater.

I actually look kind of tall

I’ve found that if I feel like a zombie and dress like a bum, I end up being a bummy zombie all day, which on weekends and sick days can be a welcome break, but on a Monday when stuff needs done… bummy zombie is NOT an option. Wearing a nice outfit and make up even when I would only be leaving my office for more coffee/tea and bathroom breaks made me feel more… human. Not only that, I got compliments from coworkers on how nice I looked. Dressing for the mood I wanted to be in, distracted everyone (including me) from the mood I started my day with.

Do you have a go-to tactic to keep from being a zombie after a rough night?

Third Time’s a Charm?

Speaking of diabetes…. Last night I couldn’t resist snapping this picture of my PDM collection:

Hiding

Most of us get pretty psyched when we see someone wearing and insulin pump “in the wild” and dish out some education when people see our own robot gear. Diabetes may be an “invisible illness” but it manifests visually a lot more than others would think.

Honestly though, being loud, proud and pancreatically challenged all the time isn’t my cup of tea. On a normal day at the office, at home or with family the arm sites and visible Dexcom sensors are no big deal. Sometimes I just want to hide in all and look like the normal, healthy person that I am. Most of the time though, the attire for those occasions doesn’t make it easy.

My pancreas was still operational when Brad and I got married, so I didn’t need to worry about the mechanics behind wearing a wedding dress AND an insulin pump like many d-brides have to. On New Year’s Eve, I didn’t want anyone eying my robot parts so I shuffled my rotation and site change times to hide my pod on my thigh and my Dexcom sensor on my backside then wore made wardrobe adjustments to keep the delicate, clingy fabric of my dress from showing the bumps. I stashed my d-gear in a clutch and commandeered on of Brad’s pockets for my PDM (I bought the largest clutch I could and everything still didn’t fit!).

No evidence of robotics

5 Style Choices That Make Mom Proud

When I was a teenager I hated being told to tuck in my shirt. No outfit needed a tucked-in shirt. Now, 9 out of 10 times, I tuck in my shirt (I also wear belts too!). Mom would be so proud.

Here are some other grown up style choices that I’m sure would make mom proud:

1. Owning jeans that are in good repair. My parents used to wonder, “Why would you pay good money for new pants that look old?”

2. Owning more pencil skirts than mini skirts. (although since I’m so short most of my “pencil” skirts said “mini” on the tag) Fingertip length rule anyone?

3. Wearing panty hose or tights.

4. Matching my socks. Also, matching my earrings (wouldn’t you love to see a picture of how I dressed at 15?)

5. Keeping a cardigan on hand. I can’t tell you how many times I regretted not bringing a sweater like my mom had recommended.

Wearing hose, a pencil skirt AND that’s a sweater sleeve poking out!

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Refashioned Pink Cardigan

Dressing for success part 2

Things I love right now

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Work-worthy style I’ve pinned

Friday Five: Things I Love Right Now

1. Hummus. Brad doesn’t like hummus so I don’t get it very often, but I decided to pick some up for me the other day and it’s tasty! A good low carb snack with some carrots (also good with pita chips!)

2. Pinterest’s new secret boards. Don’t tell anyone, but I have a secret board for pinning gift ideas. I like keeping track of things using Pinterest so now I can keep ideas on there without worrying that the potential recipients might see them.

3. Tights. Warm, covered, cute legs make me happy. Now that I’m wearing dresses and skirts more, I like being able to keep that going in the winter. Also, the pods and I are making a fashion statement.

4. Seat heaters. Nothing like a toasty bottom in the morning. So much better than freezing it off on cold leather. The really lucky drives (*cough*cough* Brad*) have heated steering wheels.

Refashioned Pink Cardigan

Only on a rare occasion will you hear me call a cardigan a “cardi” I think it sounds a bit odd. But anyway, I love cardigans.

I’m more likely to be found wearing a cardigan sweater instead of  a traditional sweater like my light pink sweater… that may or may not have been purchased in the girls’ department several years ago.

If it’s a size large in my closet… it came from the girls’ department

I liked the pinkish, peach of the sweater, the pearl details and its soft look but I didn’t really wear it very much because I’m not a fan of pulling static-inducing sweaters over my head.

I love the dainty detail

I measured and cut straight down the middle of the front. Sewed the edges and affixed a little ribbon tie. Now I have a cute little “cardi.”