Blurg

My monthly friend is here and she brought a head cold with her. Needless to say, I do not feel cute at all... I decided to post today about my skin instead.

My dear friend Olive (or as I affectionately call her, O-Dog) always compliments my skin. It's a huge ego boost. Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit - I'm terrible about skin care! I really think it's 1 part skin care and 2 parts genetics. On the off-chance I'm wrong (and I rarely am), I thought I'd share my "routine" and if anyone wants to borrow and use it - more power to you!

So, yeah, like I said I don't take care of my skin. Most days I don't even bother to take off my makeup. There are a few things I do without fail though and they work pretty well:

1. DRINK WATER!!! However much you're currently drinking - double or triple it. I drink anywhere from a half gallon to a gallon a day. It helps flush toxins out of your system and less toxins = less crap to clog your pores.

2. BABY WIPES - Two/Three times a week after I get out of the shower, I use a baby wipe to get the rest of my make up off. I use generic brand wipes with no perfumes or dyes so it won't irritate my skin.







3. FACE MASK - I found this stuff a few years ago at Walgreen's to help prevent my sunburn from peeling. Also works great to refresh and tighten pores! Alba Papaya Enzyme Facial Mask, Walgreens, about $20. It lasts a long time so don't feel bad about spending so much :)

4. TONER - After rinsing off the mask, I use Clean & Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent to make sure I get whatever's left on my skin (Also Walgreen's, about $5). I use the Sensitive Skin formula



5. LOTION - Use it everyday, without fail and make sure there is at least an SPF15 (I use SPF30). I like Eucerin Sensitive Skin Everyday Protection. It's not greasy and doesn't make me breakout

And that's pretty much it - easy peasy, lemon-squeezy. I don't know that it'll work for everyone but if you're in a rut, try it out and let me know how it works for you :)

TGIF!

Hooray for Friday! Hooray for denim! Hooray for my boss taking the day off and me wasting approximately 3.5 hours looking at homes I cannot buy on the internet :)

Black/white geometric print blouse, jeans and insanely high heels (White House/Black Market)...

Currently, I'm curled up in Victoria Secret sweatpants (everyone should own these) and a t-shirt and warm fuzzy socks. No makeup, hair piled up and nerd glasses - I couldn't be more comfortable and happy.

Have a great weekend everyone - I know I will because it's NHL All-Star weekend and as much as it pains me to type this, go Team Staal!

Almost time for jeans!

Here's Thursday outfit - nothing special, it was clean (which is my only requirement for Thursdays):

Black flutter sleeve top with a teal blue undershirt, gray slacks and flats.

I just heard Dexter's voice on a commercial - it was hot and creepy all at the same time. Peace!

Surprise Post!!!

So I'm bored without posting and thought I'd show you want I've been staring at and judging on the internets all week: Spring 2011 Fashion Week!!!

For those not in the know, there are two main types of shows: Ready-to-Wear (RTW) and Couture. RTW is exactly that-the designer is mass producing the pieces and selling them in stores for us (the general public with insane amounts of cash) to buy. Couture is a fancy way of saying "You are normal and boring. There will never be an occasion in your pathetic life that you can wear this outfit". Naturally, I love Couture more! And dammit(!), I will find an appropriate opportunity to wear Couture. When I do I will let you know...

And now, onto the collections! The links willl take you the main review by Style.com. To see all the outfits from the show, click on 'Complet Collection' - trust me it's worth it!

Here are my top two favorites of what's been posted so far from the Couture shows:

Chanel                 Christian Dior

I had many (MANY) favorites from the RTW shows. Here's a few that, given the funding or the chance to trade a limb, I would own all or pieces of the collection. Someday, the inside of my closet will have these labels:

Burberry Prorsum         Chanel               Jason Wu               Isaac Mizrahi

        Lanvin             Marc Jacobs        Oscar de la Renta

Enjoy and happy day-dreaming! I know I will be :-)

"Wow, you look really nice today"

Yes, those were the first words out of my boss's mouth to me this morning. On the one hand - yay! On the other - nice backhanded complement, I look nice everyday:

Black/white printed wrap dress (I don't remember where I bought it), light gray tights and gray platform heels (Payless - I love that store)

The wrap dress is great for comfort and style - it's very easy to wear! I bought this dress years and years and years ago. The tag says XL but in all those years I've owned it, it's never looked this good. I think its because I can really cinch the tie now aroudn the mid section and don't have that 6-months pregnant look from my belly sticking out underneath.

Normally (at least since I've lost the weight), I don't advocate wearing something in a size (or two) too big. Despite what you think about it "covering" the bad areas, it actually drowns the figure you do have an makes you look bigger than you are. Trust me - I tried to wear the too big clothes to avoid buying new ones. Once I bought pants/shirts/dresses in the right size I started to realize just how small I'd gotten.

PS No post tomorrow. Technically I'm not working, I'm sitting in a class all day so I'm contemplating sweatpants and a hoodie...

Having a pity party kind of day

I didn't sleep well last night - combination of too many carbs while watching football and some distrubing dreams. Combine that with some challenging clients and an (hours-long) unanswered text from a cute boy and my mood is pretty low today. Luckily I have hockey, a Reese's cup and a Pepsi Max to tide me over until the sitcoms start and I can shut my brain down

Onto my outfit:

Black half-cardigan, burgundy/wine colored silk tee-shirt (Ann Taylor Loft) and brown wide leg trousers (NY & Co) with my silver wedge heels (Payless)

Couple things here: 1. New Nixon camera and different angle - do we like better? 2. The necklace is a skeleton-key style pendant and the top is an owl's face - I absolutely bogarted this owl obsession from my sister. I refuse, however, to also borrow her love for "grandma" prints.

Lastly, I am going to again profess my love of the gel manicure:

It costs me $15 and it lasts about 2-3 weeks depending on how fast my nails grow. Awhile back I decided that my standard French-tip acrylics were too much work and money. My manicurist suggested this. It's specially designed base, color and top coats that are baked under a UV light in between layers. When all is said and done it's as strong as the acrylics without the damage...and I can get my keys out of my purse without ruining my fresh manicure. I recommend everyone go find a salon that does this and try at least once (also called Shellac nails or Gellish)

Feeling better already, but that may be the glass of wine and the fact Hendricks just scored a goal :-D

"No - we're going again. That did NOT just happen!"

So no post yesterday but I had a good reason - a date! Not just any date, a first date. With a gentleman. It was, in short, awesome!

Black/Silver striped top from Forever 21; jeans from Torrid and silver, wedged heels from Payless.

His name is Matt, he's 32 and he's pretty cool. We had a great time at Dave and Buster's drinking a few beers and being uber-competitive with games. Final totals: I rock at basketball, trivia and Tokyo drift racing; he excels at skeeball and motorcycle racing. I had a LOT of fun and since he's already texted me today I'm hopeful there is a second date in my near future.

Ivory silk, ruffled blouse from Ann Taylor Loft, black trousers from NY & Co and grey cardigan from Torrid. Shoes are 3 1/2" peep-toe booties from Payless.

Too tired to be witty - work is kicking my ass this week. That is all.

I thought it was Tuesday today

This whole 3-day weekend has thrown me off, I woke up thinking it was Tuesday. Good news is I was wrong! Here's today's outift:

Dark green sweater dress from Torrid, light gray tights from Target and tan suede "swashbuckler" boots from Marshall's (or was it Ross?). I used to LOVE this dress and still kinda of do but now that it's two sizes too big I feel like I'm wearing a sack because it has no shape! It's too comfortable to get rid of though so I'm going to start a quest for the perfect belts (brown and black depending on the shoes) to cinch it in. On a side notes - I'm obsessed with tights right now and will probably buy 3 more pairs this weekend.

Not a lot of effort...

So it's the first day back from a three-day weekend, a Monday if you will. I'm tired and dreading what awaits me and I make no effort this morning:

 I think I did ok anyway. I'm wearing a White House/Black Market Dolman-sleeve sweater with dark gray wool pants from New York & Co. and black ballerina flats from Charlotte Russe. The things I love most about this outfit are:

1. Comfort

2. The horizontal stripes along the shoulder make me appear broader there and balance my hips

3. The sweater is solid black starting at my ribs - the smallest part of me and gives defination there to help create an hourglass shape

So that's 3 posts in 3 days - top that Molly!

"Sleeves are so in right now!"

So I don't have to work today, which technically means no outfit to post. But I've spent the last 30 minutes scrolling though all the gowns from the Globes last night. This Marchesa gown that Olivia Wilde wore was my absolute favorite:

Emma Stone came in second for me in a coral (love that color) Calvin Klein column dress:

Last but not least, I loved Kelly Osbourne for two reasons: 1. She's wearing Zac Posen (my favorite designer) and 2. I would give one of my arms to have her new body:

Ironically, none of these gowns have sleeves as suggested in my blog title, hmmmm. Just know that if you didn't watch, a LOT of celebs were wearing sleeves and apparently I didn't like them :)

First post - here we go!

So my lovely sister and her adorable friend have convinced me to start a blog. Why, you ask? Because they love my outfits and think I can parlay this into free designer clothes. I beg to differ but instead of boring all my Facebook friends with a photo everyday, I'll post them here and someday show my children how great Mom used to look :)

A little about me: I have loved clothes for as long as I can remember. The only problem? I've also been fat for at least that long and nothing I love is made in a size I could squeeze into. Solution? I lost a little over 50 lbs last year and I'm working on the next 50 as we speak. I've tried to make the styles and trends I love work in a size 20 and didn't ever feel I like I was making much progress. Now that I'm down three sizes to a 14, it's getting easier. I love hearing how much people love what I'm wearing (and more so, being able to buy it!).

If anyone I don't immediately know happens across this blog I hope you take away the following - no matter your size you CAN dress just like the models, actress and socialites you stare at every week. You'll just have to get creative with where and how you shop. My goal is to post my work outfit 5 times a week (unless it's a repeat - my closet isn't that big) along with where I got the clothes, shoes and accessories. Why not the weekend too? Because those are my off days which consist of only tank tops, team jerseys/shirts and jeans - seen 'em once, seen 'em all.

I hope that you, my darling reader, will comment on what you like (or what you don't) and share tips on places to buy great pieces!