Sunday, May 22, 2011

Forever 21 Review Part 2 - the Maxi Dress

Seems that everywhere I look these days, there's a Maxi Dress in a store window.  So, during my little weekend shopping binge last Sunday, I couldn't help but pick one up for $14.97 at Forever 21. 

For us vertically-challenged ladies, I know seeing this dress just screams "ALTERATIONS!" but I actually think these dresses will work well for us as we can wear some tall heels or platforms, and hide the fact that we're getting a little height-help from our shoes. 

For this dress, I picked up a pair of Banana Republic wedges - which I can already tell are going to be my favorite pair of shoes for the summer.  They give me height, are super comfy, and, IMHO, are so freakin' cute!  Click here to find.


So, here's my attempt at fooling everyone into thinking that I'm actually average height ;)  Hmmm, maybe a belt would be good, as the dress is still a bit long - will try that soon!

Dress: Forever21 Nautical Stripes Maxi Dress, Size S (find here)



Readers, have you given the Maxi dress a go??

BTW, I am off to Italy tomorrow for 8 days and then to Slovenia for 6 - can't wait!  Needless to say, I'll likely not be blogging all that much!  I'll report back when I return!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Re-organizing Your "Jewelry Box"

So, let's be honest, given how bold and big jewelry pieces are these days, I'd be surprised if many of us can actually fit all of our jewelry into a dainty little box - complete with a tiny spinning ballerina.  Instead, I'm guessing that many of your jewelry storage areas look a little like this:


Ok, well at least mine did.  This lead to much opening and closing of jewely box drawers, lifting and putting back on lids of other jewelry boxes, constant untangling of necklaces, and frantically trying to find my favorite pair of pearl studs or that necklace with a pendant that my mom gave me during my engagement party...you get the drift.

Soooooo...enter in a very lost cost solution (got mine for $19.97) that you can find at any Wal-mart, Target, or in my case (being in the midwest) - Meijer*. 


This storage box is perfect for storing all of your accessories as it has tiny little drawers (perfect for those little stud earrings), and bigger ones to hold some of your chunkier pieces (like those beautiful Amitra Singh necklaces that I'm dying to own).  The see-through drawers also make this perfect for jewelry storage as you can quickly identify what is where, open the drawer, and pull out your target item.  If you're feeling really ambitious, you can even label the drawers for quicker retrieval, but I was feeling a bit lazy and am going to try out the un-labeled option first.

A word of advice - before starting to throw things into random drawers, spread your jewelry out and take an assessment of what you have more or less of (e.g., hoop earrings, dangly earrings, bangle bracelets, etc.) so you can strategically assign similar pieces to the appropriately-sized drawer.



Then, just start filing away.  The nice thing about this drawer system is that you can easily re-arrange the order of the drawers if you want to follow a certain system - for example, by color - anyone remember ROY G BIV? 

After about an hour of cluttering and then de-cluttering my bed (with a quick cat pounce interruption that caused my smaller earring to fly everywhere), Voila!  My jewelry is now in much better order, and I can hopefully use that extra time in the morning saved from looking for *that* piece, deciding which pair of shoes will go better with my improved accessorizing!


 
Hope you found this helpful!

*Author's Note: Meijer is a 24 hour super-store that basically sells everything under the sun for 24 hours/7days a week!  It's God's way of making up for the fact that we have to deal with such awful weather in the Midwest!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Forever21 Review - Part 1: Ahoy Matey!

I've been tempted into buying a few nautical items that seem to have exploded everywhere and getting press from other bloggers (Alterations Needed, Extra Petite, Really Petite).  This past weekend, while helping a friend shop for a dress for an upcoming black tie event, we made our way to Forever21 to find some jewelry that would complete her look.  Well, it's virtually impossible for me to set foot into Forever21 without wanting to try at least a gazillion articles on (I have no will-power), and so I ended up with a few goodies which will complete out my posts for this week.

The first is an off-the-shoulder top that looks pretty similar to the top Jean wore in her post a couple months back.  Though it's hard to tell from the picture, the shirt is quite gauzy and will be a great piece for hot summer afternoons.  To continue to the nautical theme, I paired this with a pair of drawstring skorts (with a rope-like string) purchased from Old Navy a few years ago.  I could also see this worn with a pair of white linen pants (of which I don't own, because I can see myself spilling something on them as soon as I wear them out).

I love the easy draping of this top and can't wait for it to be warm enough to wear!  If you like it too, you can find it here.



Readers, what fun nautical items have you found lately?

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Weekend Outfit

I was bacheloretting it this weekend (hubby out of town), so, that meant multiple girl-related activities - wine tasting Friday night with movies in the jammies, lunch on Saturday with some light shopping, then another lunch Sunday with much more involved shopping (posts soon to come with my new goodies).  Luckily, each outing was with different groups of beloved friends, so being my lazy self, re-wore the same outfit to each event (I know...gross - but there was no major sweating going on, so I was able to justify it). 

Since my crazed shopping spree after finishing my year of no-shopping challenge, I decided to bring together a few of the pieces that I've acquired in the past few months.  I'm certainly noticing that I'm gravitating back to the same outfits, and one of my favorite items has been the cardigan I purchased at Target for around $12.  It's been worn more than any other of my items and will likely be one of those purchases that will more than make its money back.

So, my outfit of the weekend is...


Target Cardigan (no longer online, find similar here)
Ann Taylor Loft floral blouse (no longer online, find similar here)
BR Boyfriend Jeans (find similar here from LOFT)
Loft leather woven belt (find similar here)
Target Tawny Wedges (find here)



Readers, what is your "go to" weekend outfit?