outfit post: plaid shirt, skinny jeans, ankle boots

Inspiration - Reese Witherspoon

On Thursday evening my husband, kiddo and I went to the reopening of the newly renovated amphitheater & plaza in the middle of our city's cute downtown. It had fun live music, food trucks and lovely weather. I wanted to wear something cute and comfortable that worked for rolling around in the grass with the little one. This plaid shirt, stretchy jeans and ankle boots is what I ended up wearing. Easy peasy.

Top: Orange plaid tunic - Merona Target shop same, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Skinny jeans - Denizen Target shop same, similar, similar Shoes: Ankle bootie "Franell" - Vince Camuto shop same, similar, similar, similar Accessories: Red statement "Mae" necklace - Stella & Dot  similar, similar, similar, similar Silver link bracelet smartwatch - Apple shop same

outfit post: blue sheath dress, navy blazer, nude wedges

Inspiration - Kate Middleton

What a whirlwind the past month has been! Four back-to-back trips in four weeks (Tennessee, Ohio, Texas and Colorado) topped off by being majorly involved a giant philanthropy event our Jr. League puts on the week/weekend I got back. And of course work projects got busy. And the house is a wreck. And the tiny human lost her sleep training. And I haven't exercised outside of taking stress-relieving-keep-myself-awake coffee walks. Basically I've just been operating in survival mode - trying to attend to the critical things and know that I will someday catch up on everything else. Honestly, what I'd really like is a nice comfy rock to hide under for a few days.

Backing up to the first week of February... my San Antonio trip was for a ginormous company conference that my team was attending. (My team does specific software module implementations under the umbrella of the bigger company.) It was the first time I was meeting my new boss in person and some of my coworkers who I've worked with for 3+ years face to face. Plus I knew I would be mingling/networking with all the bosses and bosses' bosses that a 3K person conference entails. I wanted to really look sharp, professional and approachable.

I struggled a bit around what to wear because while my team leans 'start-up business casual' my company as a whole is much more on the formal side of business casual. I decided that it's better to be over dressed then under and went with a classic sheath dress, navy blazer and neutral walkable shoes. It turned out to be a perfect choice and I felt totally appropriate among the sea of other fancy pants professionals.

And bonus - totally surprised when my super fashionable and cute work friend (who we jokingly refer to each other as 'twin' because we have so much in common) showed up in basically the same outfit. If she's wearing it - then I did good! Picture of us below. :)

Top: Navy two-button wool jacket - Banana Republic shop same, similar, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Blue sheath dress - Loft shop same (love!), similar, similar, similar Shoes: Nude wedges - Nordstrom Via Spiga 'Farley' similar, similar, similar, similar Accessories: Silver link bracelet smartwatch - Apple shop same  Blue carbochon necklace - Loft shop same, similar, similar, similar

This is a pix with one of my favorite people ever & eternal work twin. We were accidentally twinning at the conference - same color dress, blazer, shoes and even nail polish! Totally unplanned.

outfit post: white blazer, lace shirt, bootcut jeans, camel flats

Inspiration - Talbots

Whoo-buddy. I have soooo much to do. Because I've traveled each week for the past three weeks - I have so much work to catch up on. And it all has to be done Monday & Tuesday because I'm leaving on Vacation Wednesday. I basically need about 72 hours per day to get everything done. Ack.

Top: White/ivory blazer - H&M similar, similar, similar, similar White lace shirt - Loft Outlet similar, similar, similar, similar, Bottom: Bootcut jeans - Denizen Target shop same, similar, similar Shoes: Camel "Reva" Ballerina Flat - Tory Burch shops same, similar, similar, similar  Accessories: Brown Brody laptop bag/tote - Tory Burch  shop same, similar, similar, similar Shape necklace - Banana Republic similar, similar, similar

outfit posts: january outfits

I really like it when fashion bloggers do a monthly recap of all their outfits in a single post. That way when I can easily scroll and see everything they wore without paging back a million times.

So in addition to updating my seasonal archives (see all archive links at very bottom of this post) I was thinking I'd also occasionally post the group of outfits I wore in a month as a main page post.

Here are January's outfits. A quite a few less 'regular' outfits then normal this month because I was doing a bunch of favorite pieces of 2015 posts. 

Outfits from January 2016
*Click each photo to view original post*

Seasonal archives:

• Fall/Winter (2011/2012)
• Spring/Summer (2012)
• Fall/Winter (2012/2013)
• Spring/Summer (2013)
• Fall/Winter (2013/2014)
• Spring/Summer (2014)
• Fall/Winter (2014/2015)
• Spring/Summer (2015)
• Fall/Winter (2015/2016) 

outfit post: navy wool coat, bootcut jeans, grey sweater, plaid scarf, black ballet flats

Inspiration - Atlantic-Pacific

And here's the final outfit photo I took while I was onsite in client workshops last week. I wore it to get a yummy steak dinner after the second day of workshops with my two super laid back coworkers. I wore jeans, a grey sweater, my fun plaid scarf and topped it all off with my favorite coat of all time - J.Crew Lady Day Coat. (I totally forgot to take a picture of my third work outfit. I was rushing around packing up on Friday morning so I could checkout of the hotel before heading to the client and it totally slipped my mind.)

(Since you can't really see it - here's a better picture of the sweater from an old post.)

Top: Navy Lady Day Coat - J.Crew shop same, similar, similar, similar Grey sweater - Banana Republic similar, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Bootcut jeans - Denizen Target shop same, similar, similar Shoes: Black bow ballet flat "Mayberry" - Tory Burch shop same, similar, similar, similar Accessories: Scarf - Target similar, similar, similar, similar

outfit post: henley shirt dress, black boyfriend cardigan, black fleece tights, black ballet flats

Inspiration - Loft

Here's a hotel snap of the outfit I wore on the second day of client workshops in Ohio. Loved this new dress & necklace combo from Loft and was nice and warm in my fleece tights.

While I liked how the outfit looked - I had two outfit issues:

• Because borderline between sizes when I ordered, I went up and during the day they sorta slid down in the crotch area. Sorta awkward feeling to be in front of 20 people and feel like you've got penguin legs. Think I need to get the smaller size so they fit properly.
• While I was gesturing during my explanation of some riveting database relational information - I barely hit the necklace with my arm and the lower chain broke. I took it back to the store when I got home to Florida but Loft didn't have it in stock anymore to exchange. So I picked up this cobochon one instead.

Top: Black boyfriend cardigan - Old Navy shop same, similar, similar Dress: Blue/purple "lapis" henley shirt dress - Loft shop same, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Fleece tights - Plush via ShopBop shop same, similar, similar, similar Shoes: Black bow ballet flat "Mayberry" - Tory Burch shop same, similar, similar, similar Accessories: Double pendant necklace - Loft shop same

outfit post: grey cashmere sweater, pink check shirt, black pants, black pumps

Inspiration - J.Crew

Work trip iPhone photo from my lovely hotel room. :)

I feel like cute professional guys often wear a uniform of plaid/checked shirts, nice pullover sweaters and slacks. So to mimic a 'guy' look and lead our software configuration workshop last week in Ohio - I did my own spin of the uniform with a pink check shirt underneath a grey sweater. (I actually wore this exact outfit almost two years ago when I was interacting with some higher ups during work meetings in Germany.) Plus I added a fun sparkly necklace and pumps. Felt cute and confident with my outfit choice during our all day meetings.

Top: Grey cashmere sweater - H&M similar, similar, similar, similar Pink check shirt - H&M similar, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Black suit pants - Zara similar, similar, similar, similar Shoes: Black pumps - Nine West   similar, similar, similar, similar  Accessories: Gold glass crystal Somervell necklace - Stella & Dot shop same, similar, similar, similar Gold Christina link necklace - Stella & Dot shop same, similar, similar, similar

outfit post: cowl neck cable knit cape, black leggings, green 'wellies' rain boots, plaid blanket scarf

Inspiration - Jean @ Extra Petite

Jean at Extra Petite is one of my favorite blogs to follow. She posts a ton of great work outfits. I wish I consistently looked as polished and sophisticated as she does in her office wear!

This Florida girl has been spending too much time in sub-freezing weather! Two weeks ago I was in Memphis in the middle of a cold snap and then last week I traveled to Columbus, Ohio for work. Thank goodness for this sweater-poncho-blanket contraption. I've been putting on all my warm clothes and then putting it over top for a final layer of protection. And for this outfit I added my Hunter boots for some traction in the snow. Cozy!

(This weekend I was back home and it was a lovely 70. And next week I'm in San Antonio, TX for work. So I'm looking forward to considerably less layering.)

Top: Cowl neck cable knit cape - Nordstrom   shop same, similar, similar, similar, similar, similar designer ($$$) Black long sleeved shirt - Target similar, similar, similar, similar Bottom: Black 'Essential' leggings - BP  shop same, similar, similar Shoes: Green "Wellies" rain boots - Hunter shop same, similar, similar, similar Accessories: Scarf - Target similar, similar, similar, similar