Jean Capris

Do you ever have an article of clothing that you wear ALL THE TIME??? Mine for right now are my jean capris. Well, truthfully, they are not mine. Katie let me borrow them, and I'm still borrowing them. I have literally been wearing them with everything this summer. Most recently, I wore them last Friday night. Jesse and I went over the Stacy and Drew's house for a game night with a couple of other couple's from church and of course, I decided to throw them on. They are so easy! I love them!

Also, I just noticed that it's a little odd that we have had a little theme going on with our navy and white. I guess great minds think alike...or something like that!





What I Wore Wednesday...Summer Dressin'

Can you believe July is almost over?!  About this time of year, I am pretty much over summer.  I love the change of seasons, but fall is definitely my favorite of all the seasons, and by the time August hits, I am ready for the smell of crisp fall leaves burning in my wax warmers and for the leaves to turn from green to orange!

Although I am pretty much done summer shopping, when I saw this dress, I couldn't refrain.  The bright colors and amazing price ($12!) couldn't be passed up.  I really love the higher waist and the deep pleats in this dress.  The dress is also a heavy material, which makes it feel more sturdy and gives a nice quality feel to it.

Outfit Details:  Dress:  Ross; Shoes:  Payless Shoe Source

I just love a great summer dress!  I thought I would share my top three favorite dresses from this summer...

As you can tell, I love bright summer colors and bold patterns during the summer!  Also as I'm sure you observed from the pictures above, I've already darkened my hair in anticipation of fall, and I expect that over the next few weeks I'll be pulling out more warm colors in hopes that my wardrobe will bring along cooler weather!

How early do you start wishing for fall?  And which is your favorite dress that I wore this summer?

Happy Wednesday!
Linking up with The Pleated Poppy.

Navy & White

  Today's post was supposed to be about 2 things : Navy & Maxi Dresses! What's funny is that Katie's post was exactly that yesterday! So, I changed mine up a bit! First, I will show this navy lace dress that I love! I've had it for about 3 years now. I bought it at Stein Mart for $12. I paired it with my trusty pearls & nude wedges! (My crazy face is b/c my wonderful husband was driving me insane since I asked him to take my photo for the week! Good times! :))

   Now, the 2nd outfit is an all white outfit paired with neutral. Just a soft, mellow outfit. 

   The shirt is from Ross ($4.99), the shorts were from Ross ($6.99-which I got a few years ago & felt they were too short so I won't be wearing these anymore), the purse from Goodwill ($4), the shoes, necklace & earrings match perfectly but were bought separately. I cannot remember where I got either of them! :( 

Hope you are enjoying your summer! :)

Navy and white nautical maxi dress

I love maxi dresses. In the summer, there is something so effortless about a casual but cute maxi dress. Lately I have been loving all things navy. Isn't navy so versatile? I love to wear it with coral or yellow. Even with my love for maxi dresses, I don't wear them very often because typically they are always too long for me. I was excited when I found this cute dress last week at Ross and the length fit great with no need of any alterations. I was even more exited when I saw the price, $11.99! I know I will get a lot of wear out of this dress the rest of the summer. I wore it last Friday night when my husband and I had a double date with some friends. It's been hot here lately so this dress was perfect for a night out. Love it when I can find something so comfortable that is also cute.

Tooth Whitening

  Before I had kids, I was a dental assitant. I LOVE dentistry & miss it so much sometimes. So, you can understand my complete & utter disgust when I see a picture of myself & my teeth are yellow! Here is a trick I found on Pinterest to help whiten your teeth that really works!

Put a tiny bit of toothpaste into a small cup, mix in one teaspoon baking soda plus one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, & half a teaspoon of water. Thoroughly mix then brush your teeth for two minutes. Remember to do it once a week until you have reached the results you want. Once your teeth are good & white, limit yourself to using the whitening treatment once every month or two.

(Found on thebudgetdiet.com)

Wedges

One of my favorite things to wear is wedges. I'm really petite. 5'1. So, a lot of times I need some extra height with the dresses or skirts that I'm wearing. I used to be able to wear stilettos, but as I've gotten older I can't wear them for very long periods of time. They bother my knees! Ok, I know that made me sound really old...but it's just the truth! A better alternative for me is to wear wedges. It gives me the height I need, and I can literally wear them all day long. I'm going to show you a couple of my favorite pairs.

I love these shoes so much. I bought them at Target probably 3 or 4 years ago. I paid $29.99 for them if I remember correctly. When I worked in research at St. Jude and wore street clothes, I wore them all the time to work. They were really comfortable and I could wear them all day without them hurting my feet.

This is another pair of shoes that I wear a lot. I like these because they have a slightly raised heel, but they aren't as high. I wear these with my casual dresses and skirts. I cannot remember where in the world I got these, but they are a good example of a casual wedge.

I love, love, love these shoes! They are so comfortable, and I love the detail! They look great with casual dresses, but also with jeans, short or capris. These are Frye brand which is a really expensive brand. I got these at this outlet store when I lived in NYC. It is called Daffy's and I only paid $19.99 for them, which is ridiculous. Their cheapest sandals normally start in the $150 range.

These are my absolute favorite wedges that I own. I wear them all the time, with everything. I bought them last year from Maurices, and I paid $29.99. I have more than gotten my money's worth out of them. I love the braided detail on them and I like how they strap around the ankle. They are extremely comfortable and I love wearing them.

So, these are some of my wedges that I like to wear. Hope it gave you some good ideas to add to some of your outfits!

Bright Summer Colors

I'm back for my second post of the day!  Last week was all about fun patterns and colors!  Just quickly going to share two outfits that I wore...

In a random turn of events, for the fourth time this summer I am wearing a maxi - or at least something very close to one {a very big deal for me!}.  I know I have said many times (well, at least here) that I don't really like my frame in maxis {or long dresses}.  And here I am again, wearing another "almost" maxi.  This one I just couldn't pass up because of all of the summer colors.  What can I say?  I just love a good dress with a great pattern and a lot of colors...

 Outfit details:  Dress:  Ross (only $15!); Wedges:  Plato's Closet

Would this even be called a maxi?  I'm not so sure - it's a really weird length, but it's longer than most dresses that I wear!

Another fun outfit is this outfit I wore to church last Wednesday night.  I love the shirt, and the leggings are really fun for a change!

Outfit Details:  Top: Hand me down (original unknown);

Capris: Giddyup Glamour (HERE);

Sandals: Hand me downs (original unknown); Earrings: Hollidays

I love all the bright colors, but can I be really honest?  I am SO ready for fall!  I can't wait to share some of the great deals that I have been finding lately!  I don't usually start fall shopping this early, but right now is a GREAT time to be shopping for fall clothes...there are some really awesome sales going on, and I have been trying to snatch up fall favorites instead of still shopping for summer stuff.

Do you start fall shopping this early?  Or am I just crazy?

Hope your Wednesday was a good one!
Linking up with The Pleated Poppy.

In the Meantime...

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties I am not able to post my What I Wore this morning - the positive side to this, though, is that I will be posting TWICE today! Yes, later today I plan on posting a couple of outfits I wore over the last week.

In the meantime, let me share a blog that I can't get enough of lately...

http://dresscorilynn.com/blog/

I have spent WAY too much time looking at this blog! She is so adorable, her family is too cute, she's incredibly modest (which will always get my 100% approval and admiration!), and she is petite!! I love seeing petite girls pull off great fashion!

So, you're totally welcome for me introducing you to this blog. Just be sure you have a lot of time when you get ready to look at it.

And be sure to check back later in the day to check out What I Wore last week!

Hot Pink Dress & Black & White Dress

   This week for church I knew I wanted to wear more of a fun dress! Like I've said, I love pulling out old dresses & spicing them up a bit. I have always loved this dress that I've had for about 4 or 5 years from Ross of course! I just wanted to wear it a little differently so I put this turquoise necklace with it that my mom got me from Walmart for $5. The black heels I wore I got from Ross about 3 years ago & the turquoise purse was from Plato's Closet a few years ago.

   

Last week for church I went for a more classy dress style. It was so fun having Katie & her family in Texas visiting! (You may have seen this dress Katie posted on the blog last week...I loved her dress! She wore it so well!) I got this dress from Ross 4 years ago for Jenna's baby dedication! It's a very special dress to me! I can't remember where I got my pearl necklace but I wear it all the time! 

I LOVE dressing for Sunday's! I love dresses & I love Sunday's! :) Hope you have a Terrific Tuesday!

Pink stripes

I love a good bargain. Doesn't everyone?! At the beginning of the summer I was on a mission to find some plain tank tops that I really liked. I tried several different stores. I just couldn't seem to find any I loved... Until one day in a hurry I just had to have a tank for an outfit I was wearing so I resorted to picking up one at Walmart for $3.49. Immediately I knew I loved these tanks. They fit great. While they aren't the best quality tank I have ever worn, they fit so well and with the price, I can afford to replace them as needed. I love them! With this outfit, I paired my simple tank with a skirt I purchased earlier in the season at old navy ($19.99). I love this stripe skirt. It's so versatile and can be worn casual with flats or a little dressier like I did in this particular outfit. I also love the fit. It's fitted but so comfortable to wear because of the cotton material. The necklace was also an old navy find. This outfit was great for a perfect summer Sunday. And no black anywhere in my outfit!? I'm branching out! 

Hat days

Happy Friday! I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this summer. Summer living but with temperatures somewhat pleasant?! I'll take it! I have already told y'all, I am a casual dresser but in the summer even more so. I love hats and use them so often in the summer because let's face it, I really don't want to spend so much time fixing my hair every day in the summer. Hats can really make an outfit cute and make it ok not to spend too much time on my hair. Next time you don't feel like spending too much time getting ready, throw on a cute hat. They really make a cute accessory!  Here are a few of my current favorite hat styles:

Throwback Thursday

Since I post my blog on Thursdays, I'm going to do a little THROWBACK THURSDAY today and show you some of my (and my sisters') fashion choices through the years! Looking back on most of them I just have one question..."What was I thinking??!!"

 

This one goes way back...it's actually pre-Julie. You can see that from a young age we all loved our accessories. And our high waisted shorts with our shirts tucked in.

 

 

There's so much to say about this picture. My shirt buttoned up all the way to the top...Katie's Garfield shirt and jorts...Julie's head on the cowgirl costume...Good Times, Good Times.

 

 

I seriously can't believe that I wore this as a college student. These jeans are the definition of mom jeans. And the all white tennis shoes!! Oh my!

 

And then there was my overall stage. You can't tell in the picture, but that shirt was velvet. I think the white Keds really complete the look here.

 

And last, but not least, we have this jewel. That perm on my head and my shoulder pads are amazing. I'm loving Stacy's power suit, for a 15 year old. And Katie had on her lovely scrunchy, and her "I hate you" face!

 

It's pretty funny to look back at some of the outfits we used to wear. The crazy thing is, we thought we looked really good! It makes me wonder if 15 years from now we will be looking at our pictures from today and wondering again, "What was I thinking??!!" 











A Maxi & A Date Night!

I've shared before that I'm not crazy about maxis on my frame - it could have something to do with the fact that I'm only 4'11" - not a lot of leg to work with a maxi skirt or dress!  I did wear a maxi on Sunday, though, and I got a lot of compliments on it.

Outfit details: Top, Skirt and Belt: Hand me downs (originals unknown);

Necklace: Charming Charlie; Bracelet and Earrings: Body Central;

Black Wedges: Payless

This skirt is a lot of fun...it's one of the see through skirts, but didn't have anything underneath it, so I just got a white half slip to wear underneath it.  It almost looks like a cheetah print, which is probably one reason why I couldn't resist wearing it!  Did you notice that everything except my accessories and shoes were FREE?!  That's probably another reason I couldn't resist wearing it ;)  Here's a closer look at my shoes, which I absolutely love...

 

And my 8 year old photographer couldn't resist snapping a silly sideways picture...

 

I wanted to share one more outfit with you...on Friday night, Drew and I were taken out by a couple at our church and treated to dinner at Ruth's Christ Steakhouse and then to a night of fun at the bowling alley!  I wanted to wear something cute enough for dinner but casual enough for bowling.  I'm loving all the gold this year, so I pulled out this cute shirt that I haven't worn since last year and paired it with some gold accessories and nude wedges.  The top is a light ice blue color and has gold round sequins on the shoulders, and I think it ended up being the perfect balance of cute and casual for the evening!

Outfit details: Top: Ross; Skinny Jeans: Walmart; 

Necklace and Earrings: Body Central; Betsey Johnson Watch: Macy's;

Gold Bracelet: Target; Cross Bracelet: Hand made by yours truly! :)

Do you have a hard time coming up with casually dressy outfits for a night out?  I always seem to struggle with that!  Have a great week!

Happy Wednesday!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy.

Glowing While Growing

   Today I want to share something that is close to my heart - maternity fashion! It is always a challenge when you gain 15, 20, or 30 pounds to still look & feel "in style". I adore clothes & I especially do at this special time in your life. Last year when I was pregnant, I told one of my youth girls to tell me when I got to the place where you could really tell I was pregnant. Thinking it would be weeks till she told me this, she came up to me the next week & said "Julie, you are GLOWING"...which was her code phrase that sounded nicer than "Hey, you look fat"!! So, I had to name this post Glowing While Growing! In all reality though, I don't stress too much over how much weight I gain during pregnancy. As long as the baby is healthy, the weight will come off later...hopefully!! :)

   So, here's the dilemma I face while needing new clothes during pregnancy - maternity clothes are SO expensive!!! Here are a few tips I stick to while I'm growing (or glowing)!

1. I attempt to wear my normal clothes for as long as possible. You will actually be surprised at how much you can wear even until the very end. I usually have to wear maternity jeans/pants quicker than anything else.
2. I like to wear form fitting clothes(aka tight clothes!) while pregnant. The looser it is the bigger you will look.
3. Invest in some good pants(jeans)/leggings & undershirts. This doesn't mean they have to be expensive you just need a good fit.
4. Belts are a great accessory while pregnant! They help accentuate that precious baby!
5. Places I LOVE to shop maternity...you guessed it...ROSS! I also buy a lot from Burlington Coat Factory & some regular pieces from Old Navy in a larger size.
    Now, let me show you some examples of some of my favorite outfits.

   These were taken between 16-22 weeks pregnant. All of these are regular clothes.

   Now let me show you some where I was getting a bit bigger. In the first picture, the dress I was wearing was a regular dress. The second, third & fourth pictures show me wearing a maternity shirt & a regular skirt. These were taken between weeks 24-30.

 

Ok, now on to the big belly! These were taken the last 10 weeks. The very last picture is delivery day!!!

Most of the dresses came from Burlington or Ross. My black leggings from Burlington were a life saver! I wore them ALL the time. I also wore my blue jean shirt from Ross a ton & my black maxi skirt from Burlington!

  Two things I love...being pregnant & fashion. Together they are loads of fun! I hope today helped give you some ideas of things to wear while being pregnant. :)