Red Hot

As you may have noticed, I like no-fuss clothing. I prioritize comfort and versatility. But, this top was just too cute not to try. I mean, it came in tall so I was basically required to at least try it on, right?! But, to be honest, I passed on it for a long time before I finally pulled the trigger during a recent promotion. I put it in my cart several times and then deleted it when making other purchases because what did I need a spaghetti strap, silk peplum tank top for? It's definitely not the most versatile piece in the world and more concerning to me - it would require me to wear a strapless bra. Plus, I already picked up this top (also in fiery red; seen on the blog here). But, I decided to give it a shot and it is so much fun to wear that putting on that strapless bra isn't such a chore. Plus, I just feel good in it!

 I originally thought I'd prefer it white denim, but I think my dark jeans worked well. And I have to say, I think it would look great under a blazer (how dreamy would it be with a black velvet blazer?) in the winter for the holidays.

PS: I wore this exact outfit a couple of weeks ago and we photographed it for the blog. But, I hated the photos so I didn't post it. I wore it again on Friday night for date night and we snapped some more pictures (and got these, which obviously aren't great, but I don't hate them). I realized as I was preparing this post that every blogger is wearing red, white, and blue for the Fourth. Which kinda made me not want to post this because I'm not a huge fan of color coordinating for holidays. But, here it is!

Top | Jeans | Necklace (similar) | Earrings

Chambray Ruffles

I purchased this top on Tuesday when JCrew released its new arrivals online. They were offering free shipping but no promotion. However, I had received a discount card that was expiring soon and according to the website my size was already almost out of stock. So, I pulled the trigger. Of course a few days later they ran a promotion, which I figured (and hoped!) would happen. JCrew will honor a promotion on a purchase within seven days so I just emailed customer service and asked for a price adjustment which they did! It is still on sale if you're interested (link at bottom of post).

This was my outfit of the day today and we snapped these picture just about an hour ago, so pardon the wrinkles - it was hot and humid in DC and I ran a bunch of errands and walked the dog twice in this outfit. 

Because I don't own many shorts (I'm desperately trying to rectify that), I tend to wear and re-wear my white jeans in the summer. I also apparently wear these shoes ALL the time. I knew that, but seeing them so frequently on the blog makes it undeniable. Every time I try to wear a different pair of flats, I end up settling on these because I  think they make every outfit better.

Top | Jeans | Necklace

Lacey Frills

Since moving to DC, I rarely make it to Target. The one in the city is usually pretty picked over and it's a commitment to drive to the one out in northern Virginia. So, I just don't go very often (definitely a plus for my bank account!). But, I was in Charlottesville a few weekends ago with a childhood friend and we decided to make a Target run one night like old times (going to Target was one of THE things to do in high school!). I stumbled on this top and picked it up in two colors (white and coral). I've worn it several times since and I can't say enough good things about it! Reviews on sizing are mixed, but I took my usual size small and I love the loose, but not baggy, fit!

Top | Jeans | Necklace (similar)

Summer Blue Bell

 

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't jumped on the off-the-shoulder bandwagon. However, I have completely fallen for the bell sleeve trend! For those who know me well, this probably doesn't come as much of a surprise since bell sleeves are basically just ruffles and I LOVE ruffles. 

I picked up this top much earlier this year when the spring arrivals started hitting stores (you know, in February!). I kinda hate the fact that retailers are always so ahead of the season, but that's the way it works. I originally planned on pairing it with white denim, but I actually have yet to do so. I always end up wearing it with my regular jeans. I love the buttons up the back - such a fun, added bonus!

The photos above were taken a couple of weekends ago, but today we did a little tour of museum gardens and I paired the top with the shorts from this set. Although I can usually come up with several ways to style most of the items in my closet, I tend to repeat outfits because there's always one combination that I prefer and then I don't want to settle on the others. But, I really liked this combo as well!

Top | Jeans | Shoes | Necklace (similar) | Shorts | Sandals

Eyelet One Shoulder Top

Is it just me or are off the shoulder tops everywhere? I feel like they have completely saturated the market in a way few trends have recently. And to be honest, I haven't really had the urge to try them. I'm pretty sure I'd be readjusting the shoulders constantly plus I'd have to wear a strapless bra. That's a lot of commitment. But, the less popular one shoulder trend seemed much more doable (less hassle). So, when I spotted this one on JCrew's website earlier this spring, I snatched it up and its been hanging in my closet ever since. Spring has been pretty cold and rainy here in DC so I hadn't had a chance to wear it, but I met a friend in Chalottesville this weekend and packed it for a day of wine tasting. It was the perfect outfit for the windy 80 degree day. 

I took my usual tall size in the top, but most reviewers noted that it ran large so they had to size down. I did find it was a little loose on the left (the side without a shoulder), but not so much so that I needed to size down. It stayed in place just fine! I also just noticed that my entire outfit is on sale and JCrew is offering free shipping! And in case you were wondering - yes, these are the same white jeans again. They're that good.

Top | Jeans | Earrings

Wedding Guest Attire - Rent the Runway

Last year we attended five weddings and just kicked off the 2017 wedding season in California wine country this past weekend. I love going to weddings; I enjoy getting dressed up and dancing the night away (I can't actually dance, but that doesn't stop me). 

 As much as I love weddings, I hate finding the perfect dress to wear. Special occasion dresses are expensive and I find it difficult to re-wear them since a lot of the weddings include overlapping friends and family and lots of photos. So, they tend to sit in the back of my closet taking up space and collecting dust. 

Because of that, I've been using Rent the Runway (RTR) a lot. At first, it seemed very risky given my height and I always get questions on how I get the right fit so I figured I'd share my tips and tricks. 

It took a little trial and error to begin with to figure out the best size and fit for me. As I mentioned here, my very first order was canceled because of a late return and RTR provided two back-up dresses, but neither worked. I learned two lessons as a result of this incident: (1) order only midi or maxi dresses and (2) always have a dress on hand to wear just in case.

Since then, I've only ordered midi or maxi length dresses and have had great experiences. 

Below is a review of the three dresses I've worn and loved from Rent the Runway. 

I wore this dress to a wedding last summer in La Jolla, CA. It was my second time ordering from RTR and I was nervous because my first time did not go well. But, I absolutely loved this dress; the floral pattern is vibrant and fun and the skirt is full with a tulle lining. I received lots of compliments on this dress and I would definitely rent it again. It's my favorite out of the three I've rented and worn. It is still available for rent here.

I wore this dress to a black tie wedding last fall. Unfortunately, the tall was unavailable so it was shorter than I would have liked, but I made it work. It fit well (length aside) and was easy to move in. The fabric is beautiful in person and soft to the touch. It is available for rent here.

I wore this maxi to a vineyard wedding this past weekend in Hopland, CA. I loved the ruffle slit detail and the v-neck (it was deep, but stayed in place). The long was the perfect length for the two inch wedges I planned to wear (it has a curved hem so that it is shorter in the front due to the slit and longer on the sides and in the back). It is available for rent here.

I will definitely continue to order dresses from RTR. Although I don't believe that it is always cheaper to rent a dress, I prefer to do so because it means I don't have to store them and I can wear something new each time.

Have you used RTR? Did you find a dress that is tall-friendly?

Stripes + Leopard

My husband loves to visit the local museums. He makes a quick pit stop by his favorite museum almost every weekend and when the weather is nice we make the trek down to the national mall to visit museums and the gardens. We are so lucky to live in DC and its always a lot of fun to get out and explore.

I'm a huge fan of all of the gardens and last weekend we walked through the National Sculpture Garden and snapped these photos quickly. Since I started blogging again, we've been doing outfit photos on our weekend adventures which has been so much fun. But, it means I'm usually dressed to do a LOT of walking. 

I usually wear this outfit with my leopard print flats, but given the amount of walking I knew we'd be doing, I swapped out the flats for my slip on sneakers. These are about three years old and I've gotten a lot of use out of them. I'm tempted to add a blush pair to my collection.

 These are the same jeans I was wearing in the last blog post; they've been on heavy rotation given our cool DC weather lately. The top is old from Banana Republic, but I just picked up this cardigan from JCrew and it is the perfect summer cardigan. It is a lightweight cotton with stripes on the back. It is oversized so I sized down for a more fitted look.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Sweater | Jeans | Similar shoes | Cute chambray top

Mint Blazer + Middleburg

I said I was going to get back to blogging more regularly and here I am! We spent the weekend in Middleburg, VA celebrating our second wedding anniversary. The weather didn't really cooperate with us, but we enjoyed a weekend away!

Middleburg is about an hour outside of DC and we stayed at the Salamander Resort and Spa. We went for the resort, not the town, but enjoyed walking into town to eat and stroll around. We arrived on Saturday in the cold and rain and immediately headed off for our zip lining tour on the resort's property. It was a lot of fun, despite the weather. We went zip lining in Costa Rica while on our honeymoon which definitely offered a prettier backdrop, but because we learned a little technique here, I actually went faster on the lines. 

It warmed up (and stopped raining) on Sunday so we ventured outside a little more and headed to one of the local wineries, Greenhill. It's a beautiful property with good wines and live music. I wore this outfit to the winery and then out to dinner. We took these pictures on the terrace of our hotel room. The resort property is gorgeous and would have been a  LOT more fun if we could have enjoyed our time outside a little bit more because there are hiking trails, outside campfires, and an outside chess set.

  

Middleburg is the definition of a quaint town. Pretty much every building is picture worthy. We ate dinner here, the Red Fox Inn & Tavern.

As part of my commitment to blog more, you're probably going to see a lot of pieces that are older and no longer available. I was previously under the impression that I had to blog currently available outfits. But, I think that's a little unfair. I actually appreciate seeing how people continue to wear and re-wear items in their closet because I don't think most of us buy a ton of new clothes regularly.

This blazer is just over a year old. I bought in San Diego last March when I was there for a three week(!) work trip and didn't pack enough light jackets. I picked it up from Banana Republic in a petite size. It was characterized as a "boyfriend" blazer, but the petite sizing made it more fitted on me. The top is also from last year (J. Crew), but the jeans are new. I've always only had one pair of white jeans per season. For whatever reason, I thought that fulfilled my need for white jeans. Nevermind I always like 2-3 of dark denim on hand at all times. But, I found that because I spill (or sit in or brush up against) something every. time. I wear my white jeans, they spend a lot of time in the hamper or washing machine so that I end up wishing I had another pair so I could wear them more frequently. Of course the search for another pair was not easy, but I decided on these. They are JCrew's slim, broken-in boyfriend jeans.

My other white pair is also by JCrew (toothpick). The boyfriend jeans are a little thicker, less stretchy, and of course, looser fitting (I bought the same size in both). I still really like and wear both (in fact, I've worn both pairs of jeans with this jacket and top combo). 

Blazer: old (JCrew has fun colors here, similar color here) | Top: old | Jeans | Necklace: old, similar here | Shoes: old (let me know if you have any leopard flat recommendations, these need to be replaced ASAP).

Scallops & Eyelet

 

Helllloooo! I'm stopping by to share this outfit. I knew I hadn't blogged in a long time, but I just realized that my last post was in August 2016. How is that possible?! To be honest, I forgot about blogging until a good friend mentioned it. It made me realize how much I missed writing posts. But, as much as I love writing, I don't love taking photos. I got a bit discouraged when I didn't have a bunch of new outfits to share (I wear the same outfits over and over!) and I got frustrated with the quality of my photos. Also, it's hard to set aside time to take photos on the weekend since my photographer (aka my husband) works so much. So I stopped planning photo shoots on the weekend and before I knew it, it wasn't something I thought about. But, I hope to get back into a regular routine. 

I've never loved shorts. I've always had difficulty finding ones that fit well (does anyone else have a hard time with the rise in shorts?!) and are an appropriate length. Plus, I'm not very good at styling them. But, they are so practical, especially in the DC summers. So, I've been on the hunt. I found these and absolutely loved the eyelet and scallop combo. Then I realized that Loft carried a coordinating top and I was sold. Is it weird that I feel guilty about the fact that my first ever hookup (JCrew speak for matching top and bottom) is made up of pieces I bought from Loft?

I've worn this outfit twice in the week that I've had it and I've paired it with sandals, flats, and sneakers. I also think you could dress it up with nude pumps. 

As far as fit goes, I found the shorts to run small (compared to other Loft shorts I tried). The top is short and boxy, but works well with the shorts because they are high rise.

top | shorts | necklace