Daily Outfit - 12/29/11

My collection of flat (or mini-wedge) boots have been my best friends this week. I grabbed for a pair again today to pair with these "skinny" pants and new top that was just delivered from eShakti. Oh, and I grabbed a scarf just like Tuesday and Wednesday also. I guess I am a creature of habit sometimes (I have also eaten the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day so far this week!).




Rainforest Blouse - eShakti*, had referral credit plus it was on sale so $0 (Dec. 2011)
White LS Tee - Walmart, 2 pack for $11 (Dec. 2011)
Raspberry Pashmina - compliments of Nordstrom Rack (Fall 2011)
Black Pants - JC Penney, on sale for $15 (Summer 2011)
Boots - Avenue, on sale + coupon for $15 (Dec. 2011)

*for just a couple of more days you can save $20 off any eShakti order with code FFUF0811 (expires 12/31/11)

2011 Casual Outfit Recap

Last week I shared a recap of my work outfits during 2011, and thought I would share a recap of my casual looks for the year also.





I don't have any fancy statistics to share, but it looks like when it comes to casual looks I like to incorporate stripes, scarves and denim.

Thanks for spending 2011 with me. I look forward to 2012.

Daily Outfit - 12/28/11

Yesterday I was chilled at work all day, so the thought of wearing a blanket appealed to me. Since a Snuggie or Forever Lazy is out of the question for my business casual office I decided to do the next best thing and wrap this big, thick scarf around me.




Chambray Shirt - Goodwill (Target New Stock), $2.15 (Dec. 2011)
Scarf - Forever 21, $8 (2009)
Belt - Goodwill (Target New Stock), $1 (Nov. 2011)
Skirt - Thrifted (Lane Bryant), $4 (Dec. 2011)
Boots - Kmart, on sale for $20 (Nov. 2011)

Daily Outfit - 12/27/11

Going back to work after the holidays is never fun, but getting to wear new Christmas Gifts is! As I get older I get less and less clothes for Christmas, but I did get this gorgeous scarf from my mom. I love how full it is, yet lightweight. Since it was snowing this morning I decided to stick with flat boots instead of carrying an extra pair of shoes to change into at work and the rest just fell together from there.




Black Long Sleeve Tee - Walmart, 2-pack for $11 (Dec. 2011)
Scarf - gift
Skirt - Goodwill (Worthington/JC Penney brand), $2.15 (Fall 2011)
Boots - Avenue, on sale for $20 (Dec. 2011)
Watch - Orient
Bracelets - Miz Outlet, Tiffany and Co (gifted) and Roman Numeral One (gifted)

Daily Outfit - 12/24/11

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and hopefully enjoyed some extra time off work (and hopefully you still are!). I spent the majority of my Christmas Eve Day wearing lounge wear around the house, however, we did go out that night. We wanted to stop by Bed Bath and Beyond to buy a Ninja - - watch out, we are blending everything now! Also, we had dinner reservations at Seasons 52 (seriously my favorite chain restaurant) before coming back home to have "our Christmas". I kept things simple by grabbing the same dress I wore to work on Thursday, but this time I accessorized with a brown belt and boots.




Dress - borrowed from a friend
Brown Belt - Thrifted, $3 (Nov. 2011) + Owl Belt Buckle - Esty, $20-ish (2009)
Boots - Avenue, on sale for $15 (Dec. 2011)

A quick holiday pic that we snapped:

Daily Outfit - 12/22/11

Who's ready for a nice, long holiday weekend?! Me too! I am pretty much in holiday mode already despite still working. Tossing on a simple dress seemed like the way to go and luckily I had this fun one on loan from a friend.





Dress - Borrowed from a friend who bought it at Rag-O-Rama
Necklace - Miz Outlet, $1.99 (Dec. 2011) (Item # JN1149)
Belt - Goodwill (Ralph Lauren), $1 (2009)
Watch - won from Orient Watches via Da Fashionista.com
Heels - B. Makowsky via Clothes Closet, $21 (Dec. 2011)






Today kicks off a big clearance sale at Nordstrom Rack, so even if you have your holiday shopping done you make want to swing on by and pick up some super bargain goodies for yourself!

Daily Outfit - 12/21/11

I have been crazy for the color camel lately. I spotted this jacket from Old Navy last week and immediately thought "I want!".

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

So when I came across the jacket I am wearing today for only $5 I just had to get it! It is wool, completely lined and NOT from a thrift store. I couldn't believe the deal. I love the look of camel with royal blue, so decided to layer the jacket over this royal blue dress I thrifted a couple of weeks ago.




Dress - Thrifted, $2.50 (Dec. 2011)
Wool Jacket - Clothes Closet, $5 (Dec. 2011)
Snakeskin Belt - Walmart, clearance for $3 (and Dave paid for it, so I guess "gifted") (Dec. 2011) (it's the same one as yesterday - - it's reversible!)
Black Boots - Mootsie Tootsie via Burlington Coat Factory, $30 (Sept. 2011)

Camel Love:

Source: polyvore.com via Stacy on Pinterest

Source: saucyglossie.com via natalie on Pinterest

Source: simplelovelyblog.com via Jane on Pinterest

Weightloss Update

I shared back in August that I had started a weight loss journey in February 2011. I received and still receive a ton of positive and supportive comments and emails, and thought I owed a bit of an update on where I am at right now.

I know I enjoy and pull inspiration from Alison and Tammy's updates, and hope others will feel the same with mine.

At last night's weigh-in I earned another 5 pound star for a total of 60 pounds lost! Walking into it I knew I was right on the edge of hitting the, but also knew I had indulged pretty good on Italian Food and the dessert table at a family Christmas this past Sunday. So when I hit it I was pretty darn pleased with myself. It is truly the best Christmas present I could have given myself.

Not only does looking in the mirror make me smile when I see the "new body" looking back at me, but I have enjoyed having more energy, my knees not hurting when going up or down stairs, and I haven't had any acid reflux (I use to have a prescription for Nexium). It truly is amazing what eating better and loosing weight can do for your body (ha, what a concept!).

My Weight Watchers meeting moved to a new retail facility this past week and it is bright and cheerful inside with lots of fun quotes on the wall. One reads "I truly can eat like this for the rest of my life", and I couldn't agree more. I know a lot of people start giving their weight thought around the first of the year. If you are one of those people I truly recommend Weight Watchers. The concept is simple - you can eat anything you want, just in moderation and the more you move the better off you are. However, I have found the points system extremely beneficial in quantifying this concept and it definitely works for me and so many others.

Lastly, with my weight loss I encountered something interesting. My feet have shrunk! I have worn a size 9 since middle school and I weighed a similar amount as I do now in high school and college, yet with loosing 60 pounds now my foot has gone from a 9 to a 8 1/2. The last 4 pairs of shoes I have bought I have gotten in an 8 1/2. In my other shoes I am sticking insoles and rubber heel grips in all of my 9s. It's crazy! Anyone know how to "shrink" shoes? :-)

Daily Outfit - 12/20/11

I bought this skirt this past weekend (at the same time I bought the skirt from yesterday). I almost past on it because of its funky length - - its too long to be a midi and too short to be a maxi, so it just ends up being a weird in-betweeni. However, I loved the color and the price was totally reasonable, so why not buy it.

When I got it home and realized how well it matched this newly acquired top from Old Navy I was happy I decided to "splurge".




Stripe Tee - Old Navy, $10 (Dec. 2011)
Black Pashmina - ?? (discovered in our hall closet when cleaning it out!)
Green Skirt - Clothes Closet, $6 (Dec. 2011)
Black Belt - Walmart, clearance for $3 (and Dave paid for it, so I guess "gifted") (Dec. 2011)
Boots - Avenue, on sale for $20 (Dec. 2011)

Considering I have been wearing outfits that are almost all 100% thrifted it feels a bit weird to be wearing all new clothes today!

Daily Outfit - 12/19/11

This week is seriously one of my favorite weeks - - I love the holiday season so I am so excited for Christmas coming up this weekend. I am working this week, but that doesn't keep me from listening to holiday music and getting in the spirit. One of the best things about the holidays is of course the shopping and while it is better to give than to receive I just can't help but to give myself a few new things -- like this skirt! I picked it up over the weekend while finishing up my holiday shopping.




Camel Turtleneck Sweater - Goodwill (JM Collection), on sale for $2.15 (Nov. 2011)
Flower Necklace - Forever 21, $7 (Dec. 2010)
Skirt - Clothes Closet, $6 (Dec. 2011)
Black Tights - Hue via Nordstrom Rack, $6 (Nov. 2011)
Cap Toe Heels - Bandolino via Nordstrom Rack, $45 (Nov. 2011)

Daily Outfit - 12/16/11

On Friday I grabbed my trusty combo of scarf, skinnies and boots for a casual day at work followed by yummy Greek food and a night of shopping and wrapping. I have been done shopping for my family (and wrapping) for a while now. However, we tend to wait for the last minute to get Dave's family their gifts. We got it done though which is good because we traveled about 2 hours away on Sunday to celebrate the holidays with them!

In the pics below you will see a close-up of a locket necklace that you can't see in the full-length picture. This is a little trick I do - I like to layer a necklace under my scarf because I know 99% of the time I will ditch the scarf at some point and I still like to be accessorized!




Plum Sweater - Thrifted (Banana Republic), $7.50 (Dec. 2011) (a little high for a thrifted piece imo, but it was mint condition B-Rep and I am in serious need of sweaters!)
Locket Necklace - Forever 21, $7 (Fall 2011)
Scarf - Jule, $10 (2009)
Jeans - Goodwill (Lee Slim Straight), $3.50 (Fall 2011)
Bracelets - a mix of Tiffany and Co, Ebay and Miz Outlet
Boots - Avenue, on sale for $15! (Dec. 2011)

Daily Outfit - 12/15/11

I may have mentioned this before, but I love stripes! When my co-worker/friend wore this sweater to work a couple of weeks ago I may have said "I'm going to need to borrow that" before I even said good morning. Lucky for me she is a good friend and agreed. I knew I would love it layered over polka dots, and when I scored this skirt this past weekend the I knew the purple would be great with the combo!





Polka Dot Shirt - Goodwill, $2.15 (Spring 2011)
Stripe Sweater - Thrifted by my friend Emily and borrowed from her (wonder if she will notice if I never return it?!)
Necklace - DIY
Skirt - Thrifted (no tag), 89 cents (Dec. 2011)
Heels - Nine West via Marshall's, on clearance for $20 (2008)

Chunky Stripe Inspiration:

Source: thesimplyluxuriouslife.com via Asher on Pinterest

Source: thistimeisacharm.blogspot.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Source: thegirlsoflincolnpark.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

2011 Work Outfit Recap

I have done yearly reviews and recaps of my outfits over the past couple of years (check then out here - 2008, 2009, 2010) and just had to do it again this year.

I randomly selected one outfit from each month that I wore to work (during the "business casual days" - I'll share a casual recap next week). 2011 was a year of changes for me - - my hair got longer, I lost quite a bit of weight and I changed jobs. It was a great year - one filled with lots of fun outfits and all of you fabulous readers!

Let's take a look:




Next up, my statistics for the year. These numbers are calculated on the 190 daily outfit pictures I took in 2011 (as of the time I typed this up).

I wore a belt 33% of the time (-11% from 2010), a scarf as a belt .10% of the time (-4.9% from 2010) and utilized built in belts on dresses and tops 5% of the time (-3% from 2010) for a grand total of 39% of the days having some sort of waist definition (-14% from 2010). I still love waist definition, but I lowered my percentages greatly from 2010 which was my lowest year previously. Belts are still a great accessory, but I am glad to see that I haven't relied on them so much as years past.

I wore black or charcoal gray as the base color in my outfits on 77 days for a total of 41% of the time (-15% from 2010). Glad to see that I am becoming more colorful!

I wore a skirt or dress 56% of the time (-4% from 2010)! I realize I still don't wear a lot of pants during my Monday - Thursday "work wear". The percentage drop probably stems from still having "Casual Fridays" and thrifting some great pants this year.

And a couple of more categories that I introduced in 2010:

I wore a scarf 16% of the days (not as a belt) (-2% from 2010).

I wore a cardigan with 32% of my outfits (such a great layering piece throughout the year) (-4% from 2010).

I added a trendy necklace 35% of the time (-20% from 2010). Necklaces really are my favorite accessory despite wearing them less than in 2010.

All in all, I feel I had a successful year wardrobe wise. My entire wardrobe had to be replaced this year due to going down a couple of sizes. I am thankful that I was able to thrift so many great pieces to make this transition so much easier on my wallet!

Daily Outfit - 12/13/11

I adore the look of casual chambray with skirts and the such for office appropriate outfits. While this shirt isn't exactly chambray, it does have a similar look and casualness about it. I opted to pair it with a red pencil skirt and finished off the look with black which worked nicely for a rainy Tuesday!





Shirt - Goodwill (Target New Stock), $2.15 (Dec. 2011)
Cardigan - thrifted (George/Walmart brand), $4 (Nov. 2011)
Necklace - House of Harlow (2010)
Red Skirt - Goodwill (no tag), $1 (Oct. 2011)
Metal Belt - thrifted, 50 cents (Spring 2011)
Black Boots - Mootsie Tootsie via Burlington Coat Factory, $30 (Sept. 2011)

Target New Stock at Goodwill - - I get a lot of questions and comments about the availability of new Target items at Goodwill. I did a little research on the topic and thought I would share. Target donates customer returns and damaged merchandise to Target along with other items (often after the items have been clearanced out and stock still remains from my experience) and has since at least 1991 (source). I have also read that Goodwill purchases products from Target for $0.10 on the dollar, but I can't recall where I read that to confirm my source.  From what I have seen from other bloggers, Goodwills across the nation have Target new stock (confirmed in Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois and Indiana). I am guessing if there is a Goodwill in fairly close proximity to a Target they will have some items.

I learned from a rep from the Central Indiana Goodwills that Target New Stock Items make up roughly 10% of all items sold in Goodwill Stores. Locally they refer to these items as "grey ware" and are designated with a grey paper tag on clothing and a grey sticker on housewares, furniture, etc.

Have you seen Target New Stock items at your local Goodwill? Please leave a comment letting me know you city/state and any other info you want to share!

Daily Outfit - 12/12/11

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I went thrifting over the weekend. If you follow me on Twitter you saw a sneak peek of the Christian Dior blouse that I thrifted for a $1.09 while out on Saturday. As soon as I got home I tossed it in the wash and just had to wear it on Monday to work.




Blouse - Thrifted (Christian Dior), $1.09 (Dec. 2011)
Koi Necklace - For Love/Forever 21, $6 (July 2009)
Royal Blue Skirt - Goodwill (Sag Harbor), $4 (Oct. 2011)
Brown Tights - Beauty Supply Store, $2 (Dec. 2011)
Heels - Tribeca by Kenneth Cole via Marshalls, I think they were on clearance for $20 back in 2008 (this is the first time I have ever worn them!)

Layer Up a Pencil Skirt

Pencil Skirts and Turtlenecks are a staple of my winter wardrobe, so I was happy to see a Q and A with Designer Rachel Roy in January's issue of InStyle with some ideas of how to layer up this combo to keep it interesting.





And I put together some looks to illustrate Rachel's ideas:

Pencil Skirt - Remix 1 by fabkimberly featuring antique belts

Pencil Skirt - Remix 2 by fabkimberly featuring a plaid pencil skirt

Are you a fan of a pencil skirt in the winter months?  How do you style them up to keep your looks fresh?