Casual Friday - Tracey

Cardigan - Gap

Blouse - Forever21, LOVE21 line

Jeans - Gap, Essential Fit jeans

Shoes - Enzo Angolini via Nordstrom Rack

Snake necklace - Jessica Elliot

Hi, Ladies!! Sorry for the ugly backdrop. My house is a work in progress at the moment and I was in a hurry this morning and didn't have time to take the tripod and camera outside. It's too bad you can't see all of the black and white picture behind me. It's this fabulous print of Marilyn Monroe. I'm still trying to decide where I'm going to hang it, so it's been hanging around in various areas of my house for a couple of weeks now :)

So, as I reflect on the year since we started this blog, I realize this has been a very crazy year for me. Lots of major life changes. The death of my sweet momma, then I decided to go back to school, and then most recently the decision to leave the career I've had for the last 11 years and venture out into a totally different field. It's been crazy, but I'm really excited about the great opportunites that I have going forward.

I'm sure by now many of you have heard about Forever21's more "contemporary" line, Love21. It's supposed to be a more "mature" line of clothes and I have to say that I've been impressed by a few things that I've seen online. Our local F21 supposedly didn't have any Love21 items instore, but somehow when Ally and I were there on Wednesday, there was ONE item there. I had heard that the sizing was a little more generous than the traditional F21 line and I'd have to say from my experience with this top that it's true. I am normally a Large at F21 (On a skinny day!), but in this top I took a Medium. I've always been a fan of F21's cheap accesories and now I'm really excited about the possibility of picking up a few age appropriate clothing items! :)

This'll do 'em proud. -- Ally

I know I could (and will) embarrass my parents in a lot of other ways, but I think this is a whopper:

I don't polish my shoes. When I scuff them, I lick my thumb and try to rub it out and if that doesn't work, I color it over w/a Sharpie (I have a rainbow of them in my desk).

It's lazy and you'd think for someone who loves shoes like I do, I'd not be so slovenly. But that's just it - I'm lazy. I'm also REALLY bad with shoe polish and managed to wear it up my leg the last time I tried to polish my shoes myself. There's a reason the last time Daddy was over I gave him a pair of heels and a tin of polish. While I like to think I was doing him a favor (what dad doesn't love polishing shoes?!?!), we all know the truth: I'm spoiled rotten and have never had to polish or shine a shoe in my life.

That is until now.

Thanks to Tracey, I've discovered a new love in my life: KIWI Express Shine Sponge. She pointed out this little beauty to me the other day and said her mom always got her one for Christmas. I didn't really get why it was so fancy (looked like a goofy sponge and a lot of work to me), but filed it in the mental rolodex for later.

I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond earlier today with five 20% off coupons (you know you can use five per transaction, right?) and time to burn. I was looking for a deal and saw the shine sponges on the clearance rack. They only had three left so I nabbed them all. With my coupon, they were only $2.50 each (50% off retail!). I figured I could keep one, give one to Al and the other to Trae because I'm sweet like that.

When I got home I was super excited to see how well they work. Considering the awful condition of my shoes, I figured I'd be in for a long afternoon of work. Hardly! It took more time documenting the process than it took to work a miracle on my shoes. I'm posting some before/afters so you too can be as excited as I am:

My black Enzos were looking haggard but in under 30 seconds each, they were significantly more presentable:

The scuffy toe:










The snarled heel:























Pretty good, huh?? It gets better. I didn't think to do a side-by-side comparison with this pair, but I did with my brown Nine West wedges. These babies get worn to death over the summer and you've all seen them numerous times:

Before/after:














Amazing!

Front/Side:












Side:













Side 2:













Side 3:
















Sorry for the excessive before/after shots but I'm so blown away right now. You can click on any of the photos for a closer look. Just be sure to click "back" so you can come back to the blog.

I'm off to go find every pair of leather shoes in the house! This doesn't mean I won't whine and carry on and have Daddy polish my shoes though. It does mean, however, I won't go in public looking like I was raised by wolves. Mama will be so proud. :)

TGIF - Ally

New spot for pictures...I think the light is a little better here. We'll see.

Top: JCP

Skirt: H&M

Necklace: Walmart

Shoes: Enzo Angolini


Nothing special today - it's still too hot for me to wear anything other than cotton, and I don't think I'm going to stop bitching and moaning about the heat until it is below 70 for more than 5 days in a row. I'll pipe down sooner or later.

Our a/c was out at home last weekend (we won't even talk about how hot upstairs was!) so I have high hopes of this weekend being cooler. I work and we're having a pool party at work so I'll be dressed more casually - no bikini though! We're all not ready for that!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I need to post in Jamie's newest challenge so I'll be in search of a team - any suggestions of one with cute colors?

Friday -- Ally

I sound like a broken record, but what a week! I can't wait for the weekend! We don't have a lot in the way of plans, but what little we have to do is laid-back and fun.

I got several compliments on today's outfit and it surprised me as I wasn't 100% on the skirt. I don't own a full-length mirror (weird, right?) and usually just "know" how stuff looks and then check it once I get to work (when it's far too late). I saw this skirt at Old Navy on the clearance rack and must have passed by it a half-dozen times before finally picking it up. It looked too short and I thought the shape was "off." After eyeballing it and then seeing the price tag ($6) I said "what the hell" and got it.

Cardi: Target

Slip: visible at neckline, Old Navy

Skirt: Old Navy

Necklace, Belt: Walmart

Shoes: Enzo Angiolini (Marshall's?)










As soon as I decided to get the skirt I then realized I didn't know what I'd wear with it. I could always wear a black shirt but that's a little boring and predictable. I kept digging in the clearance rack and found a silk slip/nightie in the same pattern as the skirt, but in reverse.

The skirt is black with lime, magenta, ivory and light blue dots with stripes of the same colors at the bottom. The slip is ivory with magenta, blue and black dots. The slip served two purposes today: 1) it's real purpose and 2) alternate to a tank. Not bad for $8!


It's a little blousy at top so I had to mind it though the day, but it wasn't something I had to fiddle with constantly either. I think I'm more paranoid over it than necessary but it's better to be a little modest than having The Boob Show.














So I went to Target with a coworker earlier in the week (Hi, L!!) and saw a few new pieces for Fall (already!!) and yeah. I was already OVER summer but now I really am! I'm ready for cooler weather and cute new Fall clothes!

Monday night - Tracey

Zebra striped top - Nanette Lepore from Bluefly.com

Jeans - Gap Essential Fit

Shoes - Enzo Angolini from Nordstrom Rack

Bag - Rebecca Minkoff from NYC sample sale














Ok, so I have a confession to make. I'm quite often "cute", but not always on the "cheap". Although I never pay retail for designer goods, I'd say most of the people I know wouldn't exactly consider the things I buy a bargain. This outfit would be an example of that. I have this crazy girl crush on Nanette Lepore. I love her designs and feel like her clothing is a good representation of my style. Sexy and young at heart, but yet conservative enough to not look like I'm trying to 10-15 years younger than what I really am. It's very hard in your mid 30's to find age appropriate clothing to where you feel like you've still "got it" but you aren't letting "it" all hang out, if you know what I mean! I know how Nanette Lepore clothing is cut and so far it's pretty standard across the board... so if I see something in my size online on super clearance I can grab it and feel pretty safe that it's going to fit. I saw this Zebra print shirt online last fall and fell in love with it. I stalked it, but by the time if fell 50% off they were out of my size. When I saw it on bluefly.com, a couple of weeks ago, I acted fast and I'm so glad I did!

The shoes and bag are a little "matchy, matchy" for my taste, but I was in a hurry and it worked out good enough. The bag is the Rebecca Minkoff Morning after Mini bag. A friend of mine was lucky enough to get one from a sample sale in NYC for way under retail. For some unknown reason, she didn't like it, so I was happy enough to take it off her hands! I lovingly refer to her as "Becky". One of these days I'll take a picture of the inside of it. It's just as cute on the inside as it is on the outside! Oh! And the bottom of it is this gold crackle. FABULOUS.
The Enzo's I picked up on a recent trip to Milwaukee. They are super comfy and suprisingly versatile. I've worn them a lot so far.