Playing Favorites

Pants: H&M; Shirt: Clevotine America; Shoes: Zara; Bag: Miche (Stella)

Leather is work appropriate right? Good, because I thought so too.

This outfit consists of my favorite tee, my favorite shoes, and my first pair of leather skinnies that I am simply obsessed with!

You know when an outfit just feels like you? Well this is one of those outfits for me. I felt comfortable, sexy, casual, edgy, and chic all at the same time.  I need to work on incorporating more of this "feeling" in my wardrobe more often.

What type of outfits make you feel like you?

Oxblood is fancy for burgundy

Dress & Jacket: H&M; Shoes?; Bag: Miche (Madison Demi)

Wow its been so long since I have participated in a Blogger's Do It Better challenge. Feels good to get back into it. 

I always think it's funny when the fashion industry tries to make things sound cooler then what the really are. Take an old denim button up for example, call it Chambray and viola it automatically makes it fashionable.  Call burgundy, oxblood and it takes it to a whole new level.

I however, feel more comfortable calling burgundy, well- burgundy.  

Burgundy jeans are at the tip top of my wish list and I was a little bummed I didn't have any for this challenge.  All that I had in this color are these tights that I wore here and the dress you see above. 

With the burgundy and navy combo I am feeling a lot like this chick today:

I even got the frizzed out wavy hair going on.  All that is missing is my wand.

Work stuff: Buy this bag

Dress: H&M; Shoes: Deb; Bag: Miche (Eve Shell)

K... this is how it is. You have to go buy this bag. And it's not because I work for this company but because the woman this bag is named after is pretty dang cool and is doing something pretty dang cool with her commission off of this bag.

The handbag company that I work for is a little different, we are a home party business- like Stella and Dot.  Oh and have I mentioned that all of our bags are interchangeable?  We have Representatives that host parties and make money off of the bags they sell. A home party business is so different from retail. In some ways bad different but in some ways really good. One of those really good things is that this industry is really built on relationships and that is a really cool thing.

Back in February at one of our conferences I got to meet one of our Representatives, Eve.  Eve wanted a bag named after her- all of our bags are named after someone- and they all for the most part have pretty cool stories behind them.  I told Eve that with her name being Eve we could probably name one of our Holiday bags after her- she didn't really like this idea and I couldn't really blame her.  Her style is definitely not a bag with snowflakes all over it- not that there is anything wrong with that. 

Some time passed and when it came to naming our fall line, the bag pictured above, immediately brought to mind Eve. She has this beautiful thick black curly hair that reminded me of the weaved center pattern.

Fast forward to our conference in July, we debut our fall line. Eve, the awesome Representative that she is is in attendance and she loves her bag! Which makes me sooo happy. It's kind of scary when you name a bag after someone- you worry if they will like it or not. 

Not too long after our July conference I got this email from Eve:

Hello, I hope this email fines you well! I want to say THANK YOU for personally pulling for me to get the beautiful new Demi shell to be named Eve! I feel so honored and excited!  I wanted to do something special with this shell as a way to say “thank you”. So I have decided to take my commission on all Eve Shells and donate to a charity. I have chosen a foundation that helps family’s adopt. Adoption is so near and dear to my heart as I am adopted. I recently have met some incredible women that have shared their stories of adoption which have touch my heart in ways words cannot describe!  Something as simple as a  designer handbag can bring so much more than I could have ever imagined. Meeting incredible women and hearing their stories is such a blessing!

Seriously, how cool is she? This is just one example of why I love not only my job but the company I work for so much. I am constantly surrounded by inspiring and motivating people. We are so much more then a fashion handbag company and I am very proud of that. 

So if you'd like to help Eve out and get yourself the ever so fashionable Eve Shell you can do so here... and if you live in the Indianapolis area and want to host a party make sure to hit Eve up!

Sorry to sling my companies product at you all- but this time it's for a good cause. Hope you don't mind.

Real Estate

Shirt: H&M; Shorts: H&M; Bag: Miche

The hubs and I are ready to ditch apartment life and find ourselves a home. Problem is... I have expensive tastes.  I operate on two extremes. I either want a steal of deal that is the cheapest that we can find that I can fix up myself and on the opposite end I want something that is already done they way I want it but is at the very tip top or our budget and slightly overflowing into the "well we could live on Ramen noodles for the rest of our lives but at least our house would be awesome" scenario. I for one like me some Ramen noodles- the husband on the other hand, not so much.

And I just really need to be honest with myself, as much as a remodel sounds fun, I know myself better then that and it would never happen. I am not a DIY'er.  I'm kind of lazy. And projects take work. 

So let the house hunting begin!

Sisters and my little stud muffin of a nephew

For the LOVE of pants!

Shirt: F21; Pants: Zara; Shoes: Charollette Russe; Bag: Miche

Purchasing clothes online is always a little terrifying for me. I usually go with safe things like shirts or dresses and never pants! Those must be tried on.  But I found Zara and their pants fit as if they were made for my little tush so when I saw these beauties online (no Zara in the UT) it was love at first click!   Zara's free shipping doesn't hurt either. My favorite detail on these pants are the double side seams. It's those little details that get me every time. I also like the Asian influence on these they make them a little different then all the other floral pants out there on the scene right now.

I had been on the hunt for some floral pants for some time- I was desperate to be the first to showoff this trend in my office because honestly once someones else does it- I don't feel like I can do it anymore. Kind of like those famous bauble necklaces, or those geometric printed H&M pants that all the bloggers have been wearing the last few weeks.

What do you think about the floral pant trend?

I had worn these once before but I didn't like how the pictures turned out- which I was okay with since it gave me another chance to style them.

Work Stuff: Behind the Scenes

I get to be a part of a lot of fun stuff at work. Planning photo shoots is one of them.  It's fun but also an insane amount of pressure- especially when everyone is telling you that the styling/wardrobe is going to make or break the shoot and you are responsible for all of that. Yep- no pressure at all.

Add in the pressure of launching a new line- a higher end line- well let's just say that makes for a lot of sleepless nights.

But when you when you mix an insane amount of pressure with an insane amount of passion. It usually ends up being a good thing.

I have been so excited about this new line, which we call LUXE to be launched. It something that we have been wanting to do forever.  It was so fun to design and really fun to follow it through with the photo shoot.

Line launched on the 1st! So excited to see how it does.

I designed the grey ones btw!

1 or 2

I am going to a fancy shmancy fashion event this Saturday in a garden and I can't decide which I dress I should wear.

Do you have a vote?

Smile & Wave

Dress: Ruche, Bag: Miche; Shoes: Charlotte Russe

Smile and wave is exactly what I had to do while having these pictures taken. Having an audience is incredibly awkward and makes you feel very self-conscious and vain. But hey I guess if you are posting pictures of yourself all over for the world to see then there just might be a little truth in that last statement. I say own it.

The phrase "just smile and wave" as simple as it is, resonated with me in a deep way.  I sort of think it is a great life philosophy. When all else fails . . .

Just smile and wave!

Fall into Fashion with Polka Dots

Shoes: Aldo, Dress: Ruche; Bag: Miche

Special Monday is taking a back seat today since I wanted participate in Erin's Fall into Fashion link-up over at Living in Yellow.  

According to all the fashion gossip out there polka dots are apparently the must-have fall trend this year. Lucky for me I had this little number hiding in the back of my closet. I've only worn it once in the time I have had it.  I love the silhouette of this shirt dress but I think this color is hard for me to wear, it clashes with my skin tone but i bought it so I am going to wear it damnit. 

Again like in my last fall into fashion post, I like this outfit for fall because it's a good transition piece while the weather is still in the 90's. 

Because I feel kinda drab in these colors I added in a pop of red lipstick- which makes me completely self-conscious every time I wear a color lip but I guess that's what is fun about fashion- taking risks and trying new things!

Happy Monday everyone!

Puppy Pride

 

Yes. I have a boston terrier and yes I am wearing a boston terrier t-shirt. What can I say- I am obsessed with their adorable goofy faces.  If you too have a thing for goofy faces you can get your shirt here. 

Last Friday, a bunch of us  took a trip back to the 80's. It was epic. We saw Journey, Pat Benatar, and my favorite, Loverboy in concert. And when I say epic- I'm talking about the people watching. Prime people watching took place.  From the young to the old, to real mullets vs. fake mullets, to things I have never even seen before. It was truly great.

My favorite though had to be watching all the drunk people navigating their way through all the blankets laid out on the lawn- in the dark. My mom being one of these- but she didn't even try to step over them she would get someones blanket snagged on her leg and just drag it away with her.  Like I said it was great.

Spectacular!

Spectacular was my works theme for our annual conference in Nashville- our first one out of state. I am kinda of sick in the head because conference time is my favorite time of year at work.  I have successfully been involved in 4 conference thus far- I enjoy the stress, the frenzy, the excitement, the  months of preparation, the long hours, the bossing people around, the chatting to hundreds and hundreds of people until my braces cut up my mouth and my lips are swollen twice their size.  And of course- the attention and the showing off all the hard work and amazing designs my team and I bust out- it is a nice little bonus (see attention whore in "if you really knew me" post)

Here are some pictures from the event and our week in the nasty wet heat of Nashville! I missed my dry desert heat mucho. 

Our DJ/VJ for our Fashion Show

Fashion Show!

We hosted a 5k for our Hope program

I don't recommend running in 90% humidity.

Our sitting area in our Design Room- the place where we showed off our new upcoming designs 

Design Team

had to jump over this display every day. Some days my skirt was a lot shorter then this
which made for interesting maneuvering. 

Design Studio: Purses are blurred due to them not being released yet. 

Miche rented out the entire Wild Horse Saloon for our own private party.

 

Gala Night

and that's a wrap!

Work stuff: FEARLESS

This is from our new "Fearless" collection for fall. This shoot was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it very much. Even the 5 am call time- okay maybe not that- but everything else!

Lookbook.

Open publication - Free publishing - More august 2012

Fall Into Fashion

Dress: Aerie; Blouse: F21; Hat: H&M

Fall is definitely in the air- despite the 102 degree weather. I know this because my allergies have flared up. Damn ragweed.

Today I am linking up with Living in Yellow for Fall into Fashion- one of the best things about fall is the fashion. However, since it is still pretty hot outside I feel this outfit is a good transition into fall. I usually layer this maxi with a crochet tank, nautical inspired belt, and delicate jewelry. To help give it more of a fall vibe I went for a blouse-y top, brown braided belt, and chunky wood bracelet. Subtle changes but I think I hit the mark for what I was wanting to achieve.

On another note- I've been playing with filters- which is your favorite effect?