Casual Weekends...

Happy weekend!! I know there are folks out there who don't care about weekends because either they work straight through them and have other days off throughout the week, or their are people who work for themselves, so they're always working. Not the case for me. I have a 9-5 (well, really a 7:30-4pm), and it's Monday - Friday. I can't stress enough how much I cherish weekends.

I do as little as I want, or as much as I can squeeze in (usually the latter). I spend time at home, in my yard, with my family, eating good food, having a drank, just lounging. You know. Whatever. 

Anyhoo, on to the OOTD. I wore this on Mother's Day. Oh Lawd! Where are my manners?! Even though I'm a week late, I hope that you all enjoyed Mother's Day. No matter if you're a mother, or if you know a mother, I hope you had a lovely day. Now, on to the OOTD.

I'm all about this dress! It's made from jersey fabric, and I can't even tell you how comfy it is. It's fairly shapeless, and I purchased it a size too big (on purpose) to achieve this look. My normal style is casual and cool.  I like to throw on an outfit and go. No shapers, no Spanx, no fuss.

I can't remember if I have shown my cute little boat shoes on the blog before. I've had them for quite a few years. They were originally purchased for my daughter, but she didn't like them. I was actually happy that she didn't because that meant they were ALL MINE! Score!

I recently read a blog post that listed Coach purses/bags as a terrible trend that needed to never come back again. I'm not sure how many feel that way, and I guess I'm hard pressed to say that I care. I love my bag(s) and I will rock them until the wheels fall off. Being that I have been buying and wearing them since I was a teenager, it's not a trend for me. My mother and aunts all wore Coach, and as a kid I can remember wanting all of their bags. So for me, it's COACH TILL THE WORLD BLOW UP!!! (not everyone will get that gang reference, and I'm cool with that, Ha!)

Until next time...

Denim Jacket - Rue 21

Dress - Target

Bag - Coach

Shoes - JC Penny

Connect the Dots...

Happy Friday!! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I LOVE the weekends!! There's just something about having the chance to rejuvenate after a long 5 days of work, work, work that makes me feel so good! :)

This was my OOTD last Saturday. The sun had finally come out, and the temps hit a little above 40, so naturally I had to show a lil leg. Ha!

This dress from H&M was perfect for dinner and drinks with my girls. My blue clutch was a no-brainer. I'm getting into taking pics with my bags now. That's new for me.

I was going to throw on a pair of simple black heels, when my leopard babies jumped out at me. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave them in the closet! They were perfect! I kept the accessories to a minimum because I feel like there's a lot going on here. A simple gold necklace and hoop earrings was all that I needed.

The dress is a little short for my normal taste, but as I said in my previous post, I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone. I'm enjoying it so far ;)

Until next time...

Dress - H&M  (I couldn't find the dress on their site for the life of me)

Clutch - Darby Smart (A DIY company)

Heels - Target

Busy Body...

Happy Sunday! Spring has finally arrived! Well not so much here, but I've enjoyed seeing the pics and posts of you guys enjoying the warmer temps and sunshine in your neck of the woods. Minnesota is always a little late to the party, but we'll be there soon enough. 

Back in December, I participated in a Twitter chat hosted by Alissa of Stylish Curves & Simply Be (click the link for the dress). By using the hashtag #HolidayCurves during the chat, I won the chance to choose a dress from the Simply Be site. I chose this cute little number. Although my eye was drawn to the dress, I was hesitant to order it because there's a lot going on! Normally when I wear a pattern, it's usually stripes, and maybe a little leopard when I want to call myself pattern mixing. 

I stared at the dress on the site for a little bit, then said, "Why not?!". I placed the order and anxiously waited for it to arrive. I have to be honest and say, when I took it out of the packaging, I wasn't impressed. I held it up to my body, and thought that it wouldn't look good on me. The dress looked lifeless.

Let me tell you. I couldn't have been more wrong. I put the dress on and BOOM!! Instant sexy! I fell in love with the colors, the material, the length, the fit, and the way that it laid over my curves. It was the perfect example of the saying, "Wear the clothes, don't let the clothes wear you".

I couldn't wait to style it, and take pics! Now I can't wait to wear it for a night on the town with my girls or with the hubby.

I decided to keep accessories to a minimum since I felt like such a busy body in the dress. I could have done a black clutch, but that's no fun. I pulled out my pink one since there's pink in the dress. But the way I see it, the possibilities are endless for color pairings.

These ankle strap Sam Libby heels from Target are the bizness!! I copped them on clearance about a month or so ago, and I'm swooning over them! They aren't too high, and they're just the right amount of sexy to pair with this dress.

Until next time...

Dress - Simply Be

Shoes - Target

Clutch - JC Penny

Weekend/Winter Flow...

The weekend is coming to a close, and we're also coming up on the last week in February. While I'm sad to see the weekend go per usual, I'm happy that the Winter months are going by. From what I gather, this Winter has been a pain in the you know what for quite a few states that don't normally have too may issues. I'm sure we all saw the icy happenings in Georgia, Mississippi, and a few other southern states. Well this Winter hasn't taken it easy on us here in Minnesota either. Our schools have closed for a record number of days this year due to the snowfall, and/or sub-zero temps. And more importantly, it's hard to get your "cute on", and head outside to take pictures in these conditions! lol!

OAN: Please excuse the salt on the ground. It's imperative that we use salt to melt the ice on our stairs in hopes of preventing folks from falling down and suing the pants off of us. Can't have that now can we?

Alas, my daughter and I braved the wind, and stepped outside my front door to snap a few, then literally run back inside. I look a little crazy because it's hard to genuinely smile when it feels like the wind has a vendetta against you.

I decided to take my plain old black (strapless) body-con dress, and make it casual by wearing a denim jacket, and my cute little boots that I picked up from on sale for $10 at Sears. There was a BOGO half off clearance sale, and I was happy that I came across these.

Until next time...

Denim Jacket - Rue 21
Dress - H&M
Belt - Target
Boots - Sears

Steal of a Deal

I could get used to this regularly posting thing! HA! I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but I'm freaking happy to be blogging again! 

You know the feeling that you get when you're browsing the clearance racks at your favorite store (in this case Target), and you come across an item that you just can't pass up? Well my friends, this dress was that for me. I had been hesitant to try the "Skater" style dress/skirt because I'm Poison… you know… BBD? Poison? Big butt, smile, etc. Yup, that's me! I felt like I was too Poison to have my business all in the streets from the back in a skater skirt/dress, so I never even tried them on. Then I spotted this color-blocked bad boy!

Picture is from my Instagram

When I looked at the price tag, I ran to that dressing room! lol! Once I saw that it fit, I knew that it was coming home with me. Now you may be wondering why the receipt says $6.80. I got to the register, and the clerk noticed that the belt had a rip, and gave me an additional 10% off. SCORE!! I think I may have even done the running man. I just love a great steal deal!

Have you scored any great deals lately? Do tell!!

Until next time...

The dress is a pretty nice length. Not too short for my taste.

I put on my Target leopard pumps, because the colors are perfect with the dress.

Even though the back of the dress does rise, the opaque tights add a level of comfort for me :)

Mixing it up...

I hope everyones week is off to a great start. I just wanted to quickly post one of my favorite outfits to date. If you've been rocking with me for a while, you'll remember the bottom half of this dress from a post last year (May, 2012) titled, Curves Ahead. This dress was my very first purchase from ASOS and I love it! I refuse to let this dress go, so I had to "take it in" a bit because I'm in the process of changing said curves. I'm thinking that's a good problem to have. At least in my case it is.

Aside from my striped dress worn here, here, and here this top is my only other peplum item. I love the trend, but have found that not all peplum is created equal. You have the find the right cut for you, and I do adore my two lonely little purchases.

 As some of you already know (and saw if you clicked the above links) I'm all about repurposing a wardrobe item. This is no exception. I wore the dress as a skirt this time, and added my new peplum top from Target (which I got on clearance for $8.97).

Last but not least, lets just take a sec to talk about these lace covered Steve Madden heels!! They've been in my closet for over a year, and this was my first time sporting them. Super cute, with a capitol C! I wanted to wear them with this dress/skirt because it gave me the feel of print mixing. Subtle, but still there.

Until next time…

Houndstooth and Me...

Hey peeps!! I hope you guys are enjoying your summer so far. We're coming up on the end of July and  I'm trying to soak up every bit of sun that I can. Minnesota can be tricky when it comes to weather, so I'm here for all of this wonderful heat.

I miss you guys! Is that weird to say? Maybe it is, but it's true. I'm just going with the flow and I post when I'm able to snap a few pics with my daughter. Our schedules are a bit hectic because she got a JOB!! You heard me right!! A paying job!! My baby-girl is a teachers aide for a Summer program. I'm so proud of her! =D With that being said, I don't really want to bother her too much with the blog stuff because I want to allow her to rest. I'm a nice mommy, huh? lol

I wanted to snap a few pics this morning, because it isn't often that I love my outfit AND my hair at the same time. Ha!

I copped this dress on clearance at eShakti. It is everything!! I was browsing through the "Overstock" section of the website, and that's when I spotted this cute houndstooth sheath dress. I had been wanting a dress or skirt in houndstooth print for a while now, but never found anything that I felt suited me. After a few clicks on some dresses that were possibles, there it was! My eyes lit up when I clicked on this dress!

Then, it happened. The dress only went up to a size 14. Even though the material indicated that it had some stretch, I entered complete let down mode. I was really bummed out. Then something told me to take a look at my progress/workout pics. And that brought me to this…

I posted this pic on Instagram about a month ago. I used it to motivate me when I went into a workout slump. I was feeling really down about the scale not moving, and I needed a boost. Once I looked at the before and after, I went through with my order. And I'm glad I did. That 14 fit me like a glove! I felt super cute and, so I had to snap a few pics before the kids and I left the house this morning.

**The moral of this story is... TRY IT!! You never know what works and what doesn't unless you try it out. Also, give yourself more credit. We sometimes get hung up on where we think we should be, and forget to be proud of where we are.**

Until next time...

I through on a light weight blazer for work. Reason #1, Sometimes a sista needs to down-play some of these curves. And #2, it gets chilly in the office & I don't like it :)

Dress - eShakti

Shoes - Steve Madden

Blazer - Target

Unexpected...

Good evening peeps!! The middle of the week is here, and as usual, I'm living for the weekend. I am loving the cooler temps. I know I will be complaining about the cold weather soon, so I'm soaking up these high 60's to low 70's while I can. In Minnesota, any time after September is very unpredictable weather wise. On to the OOTD…

I'm having what I would call the best problem ever. My clothes are getting too big. The nice part about this is, my body is changing the way I want it to. The not so nice part is losing the great fit of clothes that I love. Like this dress from ASOS, last worn/seen here. 

I put it on this morning for work, and it just fell right over my body with no tugging or pulling over my butt required. I then put the cardigan over it in hopes of concealing the fit. When that didn't work as I wanted it to, I added the scarf (the outfit needed color anyway). For me that still wasn't enough, and by this time I was running a little late, so I quickly added leggings. I didn't get to fully see how I looked before I left the house, but once I got to work and glanced at myself, I liked what I saw. The unintentional layering really worked for me =D

Have you thrown together an outfit, and unexpectedly liked it later?

Until next time…

Cardigan/Sweater - Target

Dress - ASOS

Leggings - Target

Scarf - Old Navy

Flats - Kenneth Cole

Peppermint Stick...

Hey peeps!! With school starting back, my level of busy has gone from 2 to 10. There's never enough time in the day! I'm so happy that school is back in that I could yell it from the mountain tops! These kids were eating me out of house and home! lol

Without further ado, on to the OOTD. I first saw this dress on fellow blogger Finichia over at Fancy Curves. At the time, my birthday was coming up, and it screamed "Birthday Dress" (and peppermint) to me!! I couldn't help but to head over to ASOS to look into it. Initially, I was hesitant to try the Peplum trend because of my "rumpshaker". Ha! I just knew it would bring all kinds of extra/unnecessary attention to it. After a little bit of deliberation & harassing asking Finichia about sizing (since I know ASOS can run kind of big at times), I bought the dress.

When it arrived, I tried it on immediately, and fell in love with it.

Until next time...

I knew that I didn't want jewelry or shoes to compete with the dress, so I went with nude pumps & these gorgeous leaf earrings that I won in a giveaway over at fellow #BLMGirl Kerissa's spot A Divamoms Journey. Thanks Kerissa!! =D Now that I think about it, I could have added a bracelet. Oh well, maybe next time.

Dress  - ASOS (main range)

Shoes - Payless

Earring - Giveaway

Celebrity Inspiration...

I hope your weekend has been going a fabulous as mine. Hubby and I have been kickin it all weekend as if we've had something in particular to celebrate. My weekends are never this packed. Thursday, we went to a Dave Chappelle comedy show. Friday, we went to a club to hear some live music. And Saturday, we went out for a nice dinner at an AWESOME restaurant. Today, I'm on chill mode. I will be taking my Kinky Twists down and relaxing.

Saturday I wore a super cute dress that I picked up on clearance a few months ago from Torrid. When I saw it, I immediately thought of this dress that Alicia Keys wore a while ago. Isn't she FAB?!

 The dress was yet another purchase that I made in a size 16 with the expectation of being able to fit it comfortably sooner rather than later. I'm there y'all(personal victory)!! I am completely in love with this dress!! It's super comfortable. I can't say enough about it! The silhouette that it creates brings out my inner sexy! lol!! (please excuse the lap wrinkles, as it wrinkles easily when I sit)

Until next time…

Dress - Torrid

Shoes - Urbanog.com