Recently in Fashion Category

In my early twenties I never really did much with my hair.  I'd get up in the morning, wash, condition, and go.  No product.  No blow-drying.  I'd get my hair cut basically when I started to get frustrated with it.  There was no set schedule.  Needless to say, my hair did not look very good.

In my mid-twenties that changed.  At the suggestion of my sister I had my hair highlighted.  And I got a new cut.  And I started using product and using a blow-dryer in the morning.  It made such a huge difference I decided I better keep it up and turn it into a routine.  I get it cut about every 7-8 weeks.  I get the highlights done about every other hair cut.  Every once in a while I'll switch up the shampoo/conditioner and the product but the rest stays pretty much the same. 

I recently deicded I wanted to try tresemme for my shampoo and conditioner.  While I was at the store ready to purchase my new tresemme, I stood there for what seemed like an hour just looking at all the different options and trying to decide. 

• My hair is really fine so the 24 hour body option sounded good.
• My hair is colored so the color revitalize option looked good.
• My hair tends to break and I have those annoying little hairs that stick up at the top of my head so I thought the anit-breakage option looked good.
• My hair is a little on the dry side so the smooth and silky for dry hair option looked good.

Anyway, since I didn't want to wash and condition my hair four times a day, I ultimately decided on one -- the smooth and silky option -- and it actually does seems to be doing what it says it should do.  It could also be the new product I've been using -- paul mitchell super skinny serum smoothing. 

After applying the product I then blow dry my hair upside down.  After it's completely dry, if time allows, I'll quickly run it through a flat iron.  My hair is almost totally straight, but the iron gives it a bit of a more polished look.   

Just about two weeks ago, there was another piece of hair maintenence that I did for the first time.  It is still TBD whether or not it will be a regular part of the routine.  I had my eyebrows waxed.  I am guessing most other women have this done at least once long before they their thirties, but it's not unusual for me to be late to the game.  I am hoping to just keep it up on my own using the tweezers and only have them done professionally a few times a year.

 

What is your hair maintenance routine?

A while back I was shopping at kohls (a recent addition to the favorite stores list) and came across a black vest.  I tried it on, it fit, and I carried it around with me for a while as I continued shopping.  I ultimately decided to put it back.  I remembered I had an older vest at home that I never really wore so why would I need 2 of them?  I pulled it out of the closet about a week ago and threw it in the wash.  This morning I found a shirt I wanted to wear and thought the vest would go well with it.  I tried on the vest and found it to be entirely too large (I wore it anyway).  The reason it was too big is a combination that I used to be about 20-25 lbs heavier than I am now and I also wore everything way too big back when I bought it. 

I took a break at work this morning and decided to order the vest online.  It was super on sale and I found a 10% coupon code.  I bought the one pictured below, but in black.  Now I am thinking the white looks nice.  Ha.

 

 

I am looking for your opinion.  Yes or no on puffer vests?  Should I keep it and wear it, or will I be committing fashion suicide if I wear it and return it immediately?  Do you have any fashion guilty pleasures?

 

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Vera Bradley

Favorite Article of Clothing

I bought a dress a while ago so that I would have something to wear for a wedding I am attending this coming weekend.  I wasn't all that thrilled with it but it was cheap and so I bought it as my "safety".  I figured I had plenty of time to come across another great dress.  Well, all of a sudden the wedding was imminent and I had no other dress, and no shoes to wear with the dress I bought.  So the other night I started looking online.  I found a couple of things at kohl's (the two smaller pics below plus a pair of shoes) and planned to go the next night to try them on and hopefully buy them.  I didn't really want to wear a black dress to a summer wedding but I still wanted to buy this classic and hopefully find something else for the wedding. 




So all day at work yesterday I was anticipating going shopping and purchasing a pretty new shirt and a dress.  I should have known, but when I went to the store I wasn't able to find either of them. I may end up buying them online but I hate buying something without trying it on.

So I (really 'we', as my awesome boyfriend went with me) trotted over to macy's to find either a dress or a pair of shoes.  I didn't find a dress, but I did find some shoes.  I actually end up wearing them to work today to with a cute pair of gray dress capri pants and nice blouse.

Cute, no?  

I was left to my own devices, today.  Saturday afternoon entirely to myself.  What should I do?

My hair was crying out for some attention so I decided I'd go get it cut and highlighted.  I usually go to the same girl who works at a place over at the mall (yes, lame, I know) so I thought after the hair business was finished I'd do some clothes shopping. 

Normally, I avoid shopping.  I don't find it fun.  I usually find it tiring and I loathe looking at my body in the mirror, particular when my weight has been on an uphill climb.  I am very indecisive and never think anything looks good on me.  Nevertheless, I wanted to try to find a bathing suit, a cover-up, and possibly a few cute tops for my upcoming beach vacation. 

As I just mentioned, I hate trying things on and seeing how they look on me, so you can imagine how I feel about trying on bathing suits.  Pretty much my worst nightmare.  The good news is I ended up finding one.  Yay!  It may look dorky, but I think the colors are cute and it is the most flattering style for my size/shape -- petite with larger chest and thighs.  The top kind of flows outward like an A-line rather than being tight against the skin so it's good for hiding any extra tummy flab.

I decided I shouldn't stop there.  I have three weddings to go to this year, and two rehearsal dinners.  I have one dress.  And I haven't tried on that one dress in a while to see if it still fits.  It probably doesn't.  You don't have to be good at math to see the problem there.  So after the bathing suit was purchased I decided to head to some other stores to look for a dress.  I tried Old Navy and found a cute shirt, but no dresses.  Then I tried Macy's and after walking around and around the store I found a decent dress on the clearance rack for $30.  There were two sizes left, and one of them was mine.  In petite, even.  So I snatched it up. Since I was having such good luck I decided to trek over to Ann Taylor Loft to see what I could find there.  I found a pretty red dress on sale for $40.  Red is not really my color, but it fit well and looked decent.  I just need to buy a wrap or sweater or something to throw over it.  Any recommendations for what might look cute over the red dress below for a fall wedding are welcome.  In fact, I may pick my favorite suggestion and make that blogger's site the next "Blog of the Month".

      

Have you heard of endless.com?  I had never heard of it until I recently joined the amazon affiliate program.  Apparently, it is a site very similar to zappos.com.

They are boasting the following features which seem pretty sweet:

• free overnight shipping
• free return shipping
• 100% price guarantee
• and 365-day returns window

They do seem to have a pretty decent selection, with some pretty decent brands.  I've had a good experience with zappos, but these guys might be worth a try.  What do you think?

Endless.com - Women's Shoes
Endless.com - Handbags & Accessories