Stay-At-Home Mom Style: Sweater Love

scarf/ Kohl's | sweater, flats/ Target | pants/ Ross

1) This sweater is another from my Target haul last week. I can't decide if I like this one or the other one better, both are perfect holiday season sweaters!

2) Remember the maroon pants I bought two months ago, intending to get them tailored? Yeah, these are them... still untailored. The fit isn't awful this way, I'd just rather the hems be a bit more skinny ankle-pant type cut. Would make it easier to fit them into boots (which is how I wanted to wear this, since really it's too cold for flats, but at least I wasn't leaving the house the day I wore this). That's why these photos were taken inside. ;)

3) This is another example of wearing green and red type colors without looking like Christmas threw up on you. The leopard print is a nice way to tone down the holiday colors, I think.

4) I still have a lot of work to do on my DSLR skillz. I know the graininess and lack of being able to tell the pants are maroon is an ISO issue, I just need to play around a little more with the settings until I get it right. Or maybe look it up. But I'm more of a trial-and-error kind of gal.

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

Stay-At-Home Mom Style Remix: Seven Eight Nine

striped shirt/ JC Penney | plaid shirt, jeans/ Old Navy | boots/ Kohl's

Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine! Sorry, I know that's a lame joke and it doesn't even work written down, but it's all I could think after writing the title for this post. Moving on. 

I love layered looks like this, and pattern mixing. Particularly stripes with, well anything really, but I love it with this gingham/plaid pattern. I know the colors are a bit off but this shirt is actually navy striped, not purple. I love the navy and red together, and that it doesn't feel nautical.

tee/ Gap | necklace, cardigan/ Old Navy | jeans, flats/ Target

This one is a bit more conservative than what I normally wear. I don't mean literally conservative, since I don't really show off my cleavage or a lot of skin on the regular. I guess figuratively conservative? There's not much really going on in this outfit, but I still think it's cute and feel good in it. 

blazer/ TJ Maxx | tee/ Gap | jeans/ Old Navy | flats/ Target

I wore this for our parent-teacher conference. I tried to look professional but still casual, and I feel like the blazer + tee + jeans combo always hits that nail right on the head. I mean, I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but the blazer just takes it up several notches. I like it, but that's the reason I don't feel like I can wear blazers that often. Any casual blazer recommendations? 

(Btw, you're getting inside pics again because our new neighbors have been moving in next door the last few days and I don't want "Oh hi I'm just taking photos of myself to post online" to be their first impression of me.)

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

Stay-At-Home Mom Style Remix: Subtle Changes

necklace/ laurenelainemoore | cardigan, jeans/ Old Navy | tee/ Target | boots/ JustFab

I wore this outfit on Friday for our trip to Coldstone and the park. I know it's the same as outfit number two, just with a different shirt and plus a necklace, but it still feels pretty different. I love the subtle changes you can make in an outfit to keep it fresh.

scarf/ gift | plaid shirt/ Old Navy | jeans, flats/ Target

And this is the outfit I wore to the pumpkin patch Saturday. This is another example of subtle changes. It's the same basic idea as this outfit, but with a different scarf, shirt partially tucked, boot cut jeans instead of skinny, and cognac flats instead of boots.

What ways do you change your favorite outfits to make new ones? 

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

Stay-At-Home Mom Style Remix: Two and Three

cardigan, flannel shirt, jeans/ Old Navy | boots/ JustFab

necklace, sweater, flats/ Target | pants/ Post Exchange

Here are outfits two and three of the remix. All I really have to say is 1) I LOVE cardigans over plaid shirts like that. I don't know why. 2) That flannel shirt and those blue skinnies really are workhorses in my closet. I wouldn't have predicted that for either piece, but I'm loving it! You never know what's going to become a staple for you. 

Hope your Thursday is wonderful! 

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

September Budget

Target

1. Ona flats in cognac- $16.99 ($0 with birthday money)

2. navy popover- $19.99 ($0 with gift card)

3. black and cream striped dress- $22.99 ($0 with gift card)

JustFab

4. Marika boots in chestnut- $59 retail, $19.95 JustFab price (as my first purchase)

Old Navy

5. scarf (maroon option)- $12.94 ($8 on website right now but they don't have maroon!) ($1.88 with gift card)

6. plaid flannel shirt- $26.94 ($0 with gift card)

7. crew neck cardi- $24.94 ($0 with gift card)

$144.74 before gift cards, $21.83 actually spent

This month was a weird month. On the one hand, I bought more things at full price than I ever do. But I went into the month knowing that I needed to beef up my fall wardrobe, and once I found what I was looking for, I was afraid that my size would sell out. On the other hand, it was my birthday month so I had a lot of money and gift cards to spend, so paying full price didn't hurt as much, I suppose. Overall, I was really successful at finding things on my fall wish list.

Fall Wish List

cognac flats

comfy fall shirt

fall dress

cognac boots

fall scarf

second plaid flannel shirt

colored cardigan

neutral cardigan
maroon/fall colored pants

brown leather (or fake leather) jacket

Next month should go back to normal (have to spend my own money again, after all), but we'll see. J will be gone for a few weeks for a work-related thing, and E will be with her dad for part of October (yay, her dad gets back soon!), so I'll have a lot of time on my hands. I have a lot of projects planned to keep me busy, but I'll admit, shopping is going to happen. 

Linking up with Franish for Budgeting Bloggers!

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

Stay-At-Home Mom Style: Blue

popover and flats/ Target | pants/ Post Exchange | necklace/ Caroline G.

I titled this post "blue" for a couple of reasons. 1) I'm wearing a lot of blue today. 2) Yesterday I was suffering from a random bout of ennui, and did literally nothing on my to-do list. Including but not limited to: working out, running errands, making dinner, and of course blogging. I'm sorry that I missed a post (for the first time since I started!), but I'll make it up to you by posting a recipe tomorrow, so make sure you check back for that!

On to the outfit: I really like that it's simple, but the blue pants keep it interesting. (I feel like I always say that about my blue pants.) I'm in the market for a maroon pair, so if anyone knows of any good brands for ladies with wide hips and thighs, but a narrow waist, that don't show panty lines, let me know! Also, this popover is another purchase with this month's budget. I love it so much. It's comfy and soft, and loose without being shapeless. I keep reaching for it because of closet amnesia, of course, but also because it's seriously that comfy and a perfect fall piece, in my opinion. And I think it would go perfectly with maroon pants, too! Remind me to get a new coral necklace while I'm at it, because I'm always reaching for this one (coral goes with everything!).

Happy Friday the 13th, errbody!

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

Stay-At-Home Mom Style: The Things You Learn

dress and flats/ Target | belt/ Nine West via Ross | necklace/ Caroline G.

This is the outfit I wore to E's birthday party this past Saturday. After seeing how versatile my blue and white striped dress could be, I started hunting for another jersey knit dress that was just as flattering, but in a more neutral color palette. This dress is made of a bit thicker material than the other one, making it perfect for the fall/winter months, but still super comfy. I had no trouble at all running around at the birthday party chasing little ones and making sure everyone had cake.

This dress also made me realize something. As I was trying it on in the dressing room, there was something about it that I just didn't quite like. It turned out to be the fabric belt that came with it. The way it hit me across the waist was not flattering for my shape, plus it was thin and just sort of blended into the rest of the dress (being made of the same material and all). It just was not a good look for my body type. Exhibit A:

This is probably a little sad, but before I started following style blogs, it never occurred to me that I didn't have to just take things as they came off the rack. That there might be some small change I could make that could turn it into exactly the garment I was looking for. (My military vest is a perfect example of me finally learning this lesson.) If I had found this dress before I started reading style blogs, there would be two possible scenarios. 1) I would simply not buy the dress. 2) More likely, I'd go ahead and buy it because it was almost what I wanted, then I would end up not wearing it much because I felt uncomfortable in it.

Thankfully, I knew just what to do to make it more flattering on my body: add a thicker belt at the optimal spot on my waist!

With that small change, I felt fantastic in this dress, and one of the guests even asked if I'd lost weight! Consider that lesson good and learned.

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin

One Piece Many Ways: Flannel Shirt Edition

I'm super excited to be participating in the One Piece, Many Ways link-up again! (You can find my first attempt here.) This time, I chose another of my favorite remixable pieces, my jewel-toned flannel shirt! I love this thing. I love that it's jewel-toned, because I have a thing for those, but also the colors make it appropriate for spring and summer, while the fact that it's flannel make it appropriate for fall and winter, so it can be worn year-round. 

The first two outfits are from previous posts (found here and here), but I've worn it so many other ways that haven't made it onto the blog yet, plus I found a few new ways to wear it while playing around in my closet for this challenge! It is so versatile, and definitely a closet staple for me. 

flannel shirt/ Old Navy | necklace/ Caroline G. | white tee and shorts/ Gap | sandals/ Payless

I think this is a perfect end of summer casual outfit. I love pattern mixing, but sometimes you just have to tone it down or break it up a bit, and I think the plain white tee works really well for that here.

sweater/ thrifted | jeans/ Old Navy | boots/ Kohl's

This, on the other hand, is totally a late fall/winter outfit. And also one of my all-time favorite outfits. I think wearing it under a sweater that is also jewel-toned really gives the whole outfit a put-together feel (though it could just be me). 

vest/ JC Penney | jeans and flats/ Target

Another very fall outfit. A simple layer like a military vest gives it just the right touch, and while usually I'm a little wary of wearing two items that both have collars together, I think it works here. Also, meet my new cognac flats. I love them. They say hi.

dress and flats/ Target

I think this would be a cute casual date night outfit out with the hubs. Also, can you tell I like pairing this with fuscia yet? I love that the flannel really dresses down what would otherwise be a fairly dressy dress.

boots/ Kohl's

And because I couldn't decide if I liked it better with flats or boots, I'm including it both ways so you can help me decide. I'm torn. I love dresses with boots, but I also really like how it looks with the flats. DECISIONS DECISIONS.

capris/ Post Exchange | flats/ Target

And for yet another very-fall outfit, I paired it with my olive cargo capris and leopard flats. It's simple, but I really like how it looks. Also, can we just take a second to acknowledge that my hair is actually (almost) behaving itself in this picture? Because it wasn't in this one:

No, that is not me trying to look sexy. That is me flipping my hair out of my face right as the self-timer went off. I feel like I should audition for an Herbal Essences commercial now. 

Anyway, there you have it! This might be my all-time favorite piece of clothing, and I'm really happy with all of the looks I've made with it. Can't wait to go check out all the other remixes in the link-up, maybe I'll find even more ideas for this shirt! You can check them out, too, right here:

 

facebook | twitter | instagram | bloglovin