TBMD

After Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house last night, bf and I drove by Best Buy for fun just to see what the line was like. We had considered lining up for one of the $200 LCD TVs earlier in the day, but passed because ours was still in working condition. Besides, I think if robbers ever get through our front door, they'd take a look at our tube TV and walk right back out. A great deterrent I'd say ;) Amazingly, we estimated around 300 people in line around 8pm. As we drove by slowly, we looked at what people were doing to keep themselves busy, but most stared right back at us, haha. I guess waiting in line gets boring after awhile. After that, I went home and browsed some online sales, but didn't end up buying anything. I also slept in this morning, so all in all, a typical Black Friday for me.

Did you partake in the shopping madness? How did you fare?

Today's outfit is once again inspired by none other than my favorite retailer, J.Crew. I've been seeing a lot of intertwined pearl necklaces and wanted something similar. I looked through my ever-growing stash of costume jewelry and figured I could try creating my own. I took a long multi-layered necklace, knotted the longer ends, then wrapped them up and around the shorter ones, twisting as I went. The result? A shorter, messily wrapped necklace that felt at home with my distressed jeans.

Raise your hand if all these fall promos from the last few weeks (and counting) have been killing your wallet. I know mine's been feeling like a money tree, lol. Hopefully these upcoming reviews will be useful when the real fall sale rolls around in a few months.

New items I'm wearing:
1) Ann Taylor overlapping placket long sleeve blouse in indigo ink, size 00 (sold here) - It took me long enough, but I've finally realized AT's petite blouses do not work for me -- the sleeves are always too short for my liking (of course, just as I'm saying this, I roll up the sleeves. D'oh!) Likes: opaque, fits well, pretty color. Dislikes: material seems very high-maintenance and snags quite easily. I also picked it up in the crisp nougat color... but I'm still on the fence about which color to keep, if at all.

See it on Fast Food & Fast Fashion. Did anyone else pick this up?

2) J.Crew classic mini in felted wool in vintage violet, size 00P (sold here) - This skirt measures ~12.5" across the waist and ~15" in length down the center. Likes: the color is gorgeous. Dislikes: the inside lining ends about 1" above the hem and the wool is sort of itchy. I plan on returning this skirt because I think one size up will look better on me. It's a little too high-waisted as is, don't you think? In the meantime, it's never too early to start planning outfits around this skirt ;) Tights, suede shoes, cozy sweaters in neutral colors that I couldn't pair with my wool bell skirt.

This Old Navy wool-blend cropped military jacket in heather green, size XS (sold here) was first on my list of outerwear wants (which is growing longer by the day, lol) this fall season. I tend to gravitate towards pea coat styles because I find them to be most flattering on me. I've also been on a green kick lately and absolutely loved the color on the website.

Pros: Color is a nice dark green, shoulders fit nicely, sleeve length is my preferred longer length.

Cons: There is a slight smell out of the box (must be the dye used), material made is on the thin side, too short, fit is a bit boxy.

I just don't love the jacket enough in person so it will be going back to the store. Old Navy, can you make this jacket in XS Tall? A tad longer would fit me nicely :)

My drive into work this morning couldn't have been more enjoyable. Light traffic (more federal holidays please!), perfect weather (leftover from the weekend), and the sunroof open. What more could I ask for?

Off to soak up the last rays of this Indian summer. Happy Monday!

The next Bloggers Do It Better challenge is all about animals. Prints? Textures? I rounded up two of my three animal-related items (faux fur vest with the snakeskin clutch) and went crazy with colors and texture pairings. Sorry for the sensory overload! Fall, I'm so ready for ya.

I'm a walking contradiction. Fall officially began three days ago but I find myself clinging to the remnants of summer through short skirts. I've also missed scarves, especially worn to serve their purpose of keeping me warm. So here ya go, a combination of the two as I transition between seasons.

I've had my eyes on a couple of coats since fall fashion started trickling in. One is this Zara Double-Breasted Coat in dark red, size S (sold here). Both pictures from Zara's site is misleading: the stock photo shows a model wearing a bright red coat, while a darker red was featured in the promotional ads. The color in real life is somewhere in between, but closer to a true primary red.

For a long coat, I was surprised at how light in weight it was. The fabric is pretty thin so I can only see this coat being worn in the fall and perhaps transitioning into the early stages of winter. Definitely will need something heavier in the dead of winter.

The coat fits me pretty well overall. The shoulders fit nicely and still allows for easy arm maneuvering (I always do the jumping jacks test but it's not like I ever find myself in that position...). I prefer sleeves on my coats to be on the longer end and I found these to be perfect. I did find the coat to hang on me in a boxier fashion when unbuttoned, but not so bad when buttoned. The buttons themselves are kind of cheap looking, but I can live with that.

I'm still on the fence about this coat. What do you think -- flattering enough to keep or return?

*Stock and promotional photos courtesy of Zara

I have trouble tying ties. This time around, I followed Kimchi Girl's step-by-step tutorial and achieved a better result, but still couldn't get the last step quite right. Happy Monday, everyone!

Summer isn't officially over yet, but with cooler temperatures the last few days, I'm slowly turning to the other side of my closet. There are still many summer-y pieces I haven't worn enough, so hopefully I'll find ways to fit those into my fall wardrobe.

For me, the best part about the upcoming season is the return of TV shows. I'm such a TV junkie that my days are often planned around it (no TiVo or DVR for this cheap dino). Summer shows have kept me busy so I've still yet to fully catch up on the spring episodes (that's what this weekend was for! Ahh! I blame the exciting tennis matches) What are you most looking forward to this fall?

Through Suddenlee, I was able to get my hands on this pair of Zara court shoe with snakeskin toe, size 36. They are a great alternative to this gorgeous Alejandro Ingelmo snake pump (sold here) which I fell in love with but knew I could never handle the heel height. The Zara pair did not have the straight heel, but it's walkable at a little over 3" in height. I took my regular size in these shoes and they are a perfect fit. I love the pointy toe without being too Halloween witch-like.

The pumps are surprisingly comfortable, with plenty of padding from the heel to the toe. Unlike some of the flats I own, these didn't require a break-in period. There is some toe cleavage (which I like, but others may not care for) but not as much as the Ann Taylor perfect patent pumps. The only negative is the $90 price tag. I didn't want to take a chance with it selling out before the next semi-annual sale, so I caved.

Two snake print items in a month and a half? I do believe I'm slowly getting over my phobia ;)

*My tripod (and sunglasses) weren't around, so thank you to my patient boyfriend for taking these photos!

Initially, I intended to wear the dress as is. After I pulled it on, the fabric sort of gathered around my hips, waiting to be smoothed out. I thought the draping nicely fell in a casual-messy-but-interesting way (I couldn't quite capture the flowy-ness in photos). The end result is certainly growing on me. What do you think -- experiment gone right or not worth repeating?

Bf bought a $10 for $20 Groupon to Old Navy, but could only find a polo for $15, so the remaining amount was up to me. Just my luck, they were having a shorts sale that final weekend with many at $5. $5 shorts?! (Can you tell I'm not a great bargain hunter?) Even better, a lot of small sizes were left. I picked up these pink/purple shorts with a longer inseam than what I'm used to. No biggie; I need to start the transition away from short shorts and this was the perfect starter item.

I know I have a lot of pink items in my closet, so I wished these came in other fun colors. But for my first pair of colorful shorts at $2.50, I shouldn't nitpick too much.

Are you a fan of colored shorts?

A big thanks to Sunshine for the hidden-face-behind-leaves idea :)

Hosted by Elle @ Fast Food & Fast Fashion, Petite Fashion Challenge #9: Heat Wave Appropriate has us creating a work outfit that accounts for the various environmental factors that plague us in the summer. How do you dress when it's 90 degrees outside and 65 degrees inside?

I had an extremely hard time with this challenge. Since my work place is very casual, I try to wear my most comfortable clothes (usually the bummiest) when there's a heat wave. To meet the requirements for this challenge, I picked dressier but still light-weight items that are machine washable because the worst is sweating through dry-clean only clothes in the heat. The choice was between light-colored fabric vs. dark-colored fabric. With lighter colors, sweat stains are more visible. But with darker colors, you tend to sweat more. So... it came down to grossing others out or dealing with periodic waves of hot flashes? (Ok, I exaggerate, it's mostly not that bad) I chose the former.

For the commute: A tee, pencil skirt, and flats.

For work: Don a blazer and swap out the flats for a pair of pumps.

I went in for my bi-annual haircut yesterday. (Sorry for being a tease, new hair debut will be on Saturday, at the next PFC -- are you in?) My stylist took one look at my bird's nest hair, tsk tsk-ed, then set to work. She chopped off about 5", thinned, and flat ironed my hair. I walked away with stick straight hair that felt silky smooth to the touch. Loveeee. Let's see how many outfit pictures I can squeeze in before it's back to headless shots. I'm betting I'll last three days before succumbing to a wash.

An outfit post with my old hair. I'll trade access to my closet for flat ironing services in the mornings ;) Hope you're having a great Monday!

Taking pictures in a woodsy location after a storm? Not exactly the best idea, for there were little bugs everywhere. I wish I could say the little buggers were the reason I'm walking funny (trying to evade them?), but nope, I'm just being my usual goofy self. That's randomness on a Monday for ya.

Normally when I go up to the rooftop parking lot to take pictures, there is no one around. Today I went up earlier than usual and was doing my thing, ie: walking, prancing, twirling, whatever you want to call it. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw this minivan back out of its spot. Eek! I quickly seeked shelter in the nearest stairwell and pretended that my timing was a coincidence. Who knew how long that person was sitting in the car before I noticed, possibly staring at me. When there's a crowd, I feel like I can blend in, even if people could be looking my way. When it's just one person? I get all self-conscious. Time to add this to my list of things to work on. Are you a public picture-taker?

This is as patriotic as I get, with a white top, red belt, and navy blue shorts. Happy Fourth of July to all the Americans out there!

Usually I have about 5 good pictures to choose from at the end of the day. This is the best of today's :( Which is sad, because the top looks washed out. But hey -- at least there's a change in background scenery :)

Thank you to everyone who helped me with my tripod dilemma. I'm happy to say that I went with the Vista Explorer from Amazon. It took about 15 minutes to learn all the ins and outs... but days before I finally took it out for a spin (notice the change of scenery today?) I have a feeling I'll be reverting back to my lazy ways of using ledges to prop up the camera though, especially during work days :D