granny prints and grampy sweaters

It feels good to back. *hugs blog* Hopefully the new design shows up properly for all of you. If you spot anything that looks weird (besides my awkward photos), let me know!

So here's 10 things that have happened since I disappeared from blogging back in late November...

1. Went to NYC for a weekend for a friend's engagement party.
   
   
2. Saw Alan Rickman.
   
   
3. Came back to Houston, work work work.
   
   
4. Got sick.
   
   
5. Got better.
   
   
6. Boyfriend got sick.
   
   
7. Finally met my goal of losing 10 pounds.
   
   
8. Threw a Christmas party where I cooked from 10am to 7:30 pm.
   
   
9. Went to other Christmas/New Year parties where undoubtedly the host cooked from 10am to 7:30pm.
   
   
10. Gained 10 pounds back.
    
    

Aren't the holidays just wonderful? I had a great time celebrating with friends and family, but I have to say that I'm relieved the festivities are over so that I can stop eating so much pie. Granted, I could simply not eat so much pie during the holidays too, but NO I CANNOT, YOU MUST BE JOKING IT'S PIE AND IT'S CHRISTMAS THEY BELONG TOGETHER.

Anywho, here's an outfit I wore while exploring Traders Village (aka the world's biggest garage sale) with Boyfriend this past weekend:

dress, f21
cardigan, target (merona)
tights, xhilaration
loafers, f21
belt, mom's
rings, novica + ebay
watch, fossil
bangle, kate spade

The cardigan is a recent purchase from the men's section of Target. It slowly became more and more loose throughout the day, but I think it's something a tumble in the dryer can fix.

feather weather

My J.Crew order should be arriving this week! Eeeeeeeeeek! I can't wait to try that pretty little dress on and to finally have the perfect navy blue cardigan in my wardrobe rotation. Now to just get my hands on the perfect heathered gray cardigan...

I am a cardigan fiend. Short ones, long ones, woolen ones, ones as light as air, bright ones, muted ones -- I love them all.

cardigan, j.crew
dress, target
sandals, mia
belt, urban outfitters
necklace, gift
ring, coach
bangle, kate spade

This cardigan isn't exactly the best choice for this dress (flutter sleeves smashed under cardigan = bulky upper arms), but I was running late and half-awake. A most sartorially dangerous situation.

HOWEVER, I will let you all in on another potentially sartorially dangerous premise -- next week will be PURPLE WEEK! I'll be wearing something purple every day to celebrate my new favorite clothing hue and to show off just how versatile the color really is.

Want to join in the fun? (You know you do!) Email me at amy.kelinda@gmail.com with your purple outfit this week and next to be featured alongside my grape-flavored OOTDs!

obsessing over some new j.crew arrivals...

I think I'm coming down with a serious case of the "I LOVE PURPLE"s. I'm finding that super punchy grape hues go with more colors than I had previously imagined -- you've already seen me pair it with yellow, so how about some purple + red action? It wasn't something I thought would work together, but somehow it does. For me, anyway. I mean, maybe for you, it looks like an ocular assault, waging war against your family values and moral standards. I don't know your life.

tiered cami, target
cardigan, f21
black jeans, j.crew
wedge sandals, lauren by ralph lauren
bangle, kate spade

Moving on, has anyone else been squee-ing over J.Crew's new arrivals? Because all those bright colors make me seriously happy. As much as I enjoyed last year's neutral beige-o-rama trend, there is nothing I enjoy more than mixing bright colors together so that I resemble a rainbow popsicle as much as possible. Thank you, J.Crew, for finally giving us some happy colors again! Here are some of the new arrivals I'm obsessing over --




I'll take one of each in every color, please! (if only)

What do you guys have your eye on?

GOING GEOMETRIC

Firstly, thanks to all of you for your awesome advice on yesterday's post for what I can do to shed some weight! I am continually amazed by how helpful and caring everyone in this blogging community is -- you guys are the best! I now have an arsenal of work snack options to try, an up-and-running account at Lose It! thanks to Unguren's suggestion, and a pretty sweet workout plan thanks to Anne. Seriously. This excess weight is about to get whooped, you guys.

In fact, if this box of delicious Girl Scout cookies represented the 30 pounds I am determined to obliterate in the upcoming months, then it will be nothing but a shredded and charred pile of cardboard carnage by the time summer rolls around. Which would be a much less disturbing image if it weren't for that sweet, smiling little girl on the cover. Sorry.

And now, the OOTD:

print top, target

daylight savings skirt, modcloth

gray cardigan, lacoste [x] [x]

leatherette accent belt, f21 [x]

sandals, target

starburst ring, target

bubble necklace, target

I've been really digging maxi skirts since the weather warmed up. They're just so easy to wear, and I love the way the skirt feels swishing around my legs. This particular one is my favorite thus far, but then again, I do only have two maxi skirts in my collection. Here are some other ones I've got my eye on:

accordion pleat skirt, zara

Okay, not exactly a maxi skirt, but it'll look pretty long on me!

long studio skirt, zara

shangri-la skirt, modcloth

I like the idea of having a kicky see-through black skirt -- obviously, with something underneath

windswept prairie skirt, anthropologie

Do any of you have your eyes on a maxi skirt for the spring/summer? If so, do share! Also, don't forget about my giveaway for a $100 gift card to Shopbop! Entries will close tomorrow.

lace dress, v 2.0

Oh my goodness, you guys. I am so cold. The managers of our building apparently don't believe in climate control because in the summer they refuse to turn on the air conditioning and in the winter they refuse to turn on the heat. The fact that one of my coworkers is still wearing her puffer jacket while typing should be sign enough that it is too ridiculously cold in here.

Over the weekend, Boyfriend and I finally got to run some long overdue errands. Whew! There are few things are satisfying as crossing things off your checklist -- especially if those things have been on there for way too long. We also got our Christmas tree set up! I know it's early, but hell, those things are a pain to put together, so I'd rather have it up to enjoy for two months rather than only having it up for one month (since I actually intend to take it all down after Christmas) (unlike my parents, who have had their Christmas tree up year-round now) (I am not even exaggerating). I just have a few more ornaments to make and stick on there before I'll be completely satisfied with it, though.

xhilaration tiered lace dress, target [x]

jacket, diane von furstenberg

black tights + sabine tights, target + modcloth

'allie' flats, bcbg

studded belt, j.crew

sunburst ring, target

monocle necklace, gift

I found this dress at Target and had a 10 minute mental debate with myself on whether or not I needed another lace dress in my life. Especially since I was going to likely wear it in a very similar fashion as my other one. But after determining that I love lace dresses and that this one is of a more modest length than my F21 one, I took it home with me.

For those of you who are interested, I'm wearing this in a Large because I wanted it to be longer and have a more night gown-y look. The dress runs kind of short, though you can adjust the straps. I would say that it runs TTS otherwise.

swingy

Sorry for the late post! I was running late this morning and didn't get a chance to upload photos to Photobucket before I left. BUT, here they are!

chiffon bubble print ruffle dress, liz lange for target [x]

olive moto jacket, diane von furstenberg

joley flats, j.crew [x-ish]

duchess stone cocktail ring, j.crew [x]

It's pretty funny, Dina of My Superfluities fame wrote a post today about the ill-nature of wearing maternity-cut clothing when you're not, in fact, pregnant. Mainly because doing so can very well make you look like you are pregnant. Well, what say you, readers? Do I look like I'm hiding a baby bump? Because this dress is admittedly from the maternity section, haha! I couldn't resist the pretty colors and pattern and the adorable bow at the bust, even if it is a dress for those with child! I'm notorious for not caring where I shop. I will buy clothes from the little girl's section, boy's section, men's section -- you name it, I'll shop there as long as there's cute clothes to be had!

I'll be drawing for a giveaway winner soon, so keep posted! Thank you all for entering!

floral delight

Something about a billowy dress can just make me feel airy and light and... preggers? Is it weird that sometimes when I don a particularly airy dress that I feel kind of like I'm rocking maternity wear? Probably.

This is my favorite purchase from Target's Liberty of London collaboration and I technically wore this outfit earlier in the week when it was warm. Now it's cold again. SIGH. Anyway -- It's from the Girl's section and features my favorite print from the collection, which is that navy and white print the skirt is made out of. I love! There were originally pockets on this dress as well, made out of the same print as the smocked bodice and bottom trim. I didn't like the way they looked, so I just used some handy dandy mini-scissors and cut the seams to take them off. I like this little frock much better pocket-less:

smocked floral dress, liberty of london for target [x]
gray cardigan, lacoste
yellow seed bead belt, anthropologie
'village slingback' sandals, mia [x] [x]
elephant ring, f21
blue stone ring, kohls

Sorry for the wonky lighting - getting used to shooting in Daylight Savings-sun is tricky!

with liberty for all (and justice too, I guess)

Like so many of my fellow bloggers out there, all last week I had been nervously waiting for the Liberty of London for Target line to be launched. The florals! The bright colors! And best yet, the affordable prices! I was as excited as any grown woman has the right to be over clothes. Plus a smidgen more excited than that.

Then came Sunday. I must have tried on everything in the women's section, much to the nice Target employee's dismay. But alas, nothing worked. I had such high hopes, especially after seeing some pieces on lovely bloggers like Dina, but nothing worked. Fitting room frustration took over and I was bummed as all heck when I trudged out of there and handed over the 3298 items I had taken in there with me. My face was almost as long as the woman who had to hang those 3298 items back up. Almost.

But then I passed by the Girl's section and realized that the XL would fit me just a well as a Women's S would. So I snapped up 3 dresses, 2 of which are featured here:





I loooove the print, and the quality is amazing, especially considering that all three dresses were under $20. The fit is perfect, thanks to the smocked tops, though obviously the shoulder straps aren't where they're supposed to be. But this is an issue I can easily overlook. So ladies, if you're petite and the adult Liberty line isn't working for you, check out the Girl's section!

runrunrun

AGH, late posting! I was running super behind this morning and I'm pretty sure it shows. Usually I'd throw on my "Lazy Day" outfit, but I couldn't even be bothered with that. So this is what you get with AmyK moving 80 mph:

xhilaration tiered tank, target

ruffle tiered cardigan, j.crew outlet

denim, joe's jeans

'joley' patent flats, j.crew

kimchi blue 'wide metal leaf' belt, urban outfitters [x]

'cluster' ring, j.crew

turquoise stone bracelet, lucky brand

I'm moving "Trendwatch Thursday" to Saturdays, so look out for that feature this weekend! I'll be catching up with blogs tomorrow!