Look of the Day: Tribal Patterned Skirt

We all have those days where we wish we could throw on sweatpants and lay in bed. Yup I had one of those days today. 

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I had to wake up super early for work and had no motivation to try, but of course I still wanted to look cute. A plain black t-shirt and a gathered A-line skirt did the job. This is one of my favorite summer skirts. I bought it at Forever 21 without trying it on and came home to realize that it was way too big. After having it sit in my closet for months on end, I finally decided to hitch it up to my natural waist and tie the belt (hard to see in the photo) in a perfect bow right in front. It's still a little big, but oh well. I love how it is so vibrant! I look put together and I didn't even try. 

I decided to go against the grain and wear my black Gap tee with my favorite Urban Outfitter brown sandals. Who says you can't mix brown and black? Breaking 'the rules' got me going and I decided to wear a clash of metals. I'm wearing copper heart earrings, a silver zipper bangle, a bright red friendship bracelet, and a gold Rams' head bracelet my grandma gave to me (she got it at a casino with a ram's theme years ago). I love how they looked stacked together. I kept the red going by wearing my new tarte lipsurgence in the color Spirited. Spirited is an orange-red and I adore it! I'll have a full review coming soon. I really think it completed this outfit to the T. 

I was comfy, but boy did I feel good!

t-shirt: Gap

skirt: Forever 21

sandals: Urban Outfitters

red friendship bracelet: Gap

zipper bangle: Jewelmint

Ram's bracelet: vintage (grandmother's)

Look of the Day: Graduation

Last Saturday I officially graduated with my Master's degree! All the stress, struggles, and sleepless nights finally paid off. My entire family came from Chicago to DC to be there for the celebration. My biggest concern for my big day was finding the perfect dress.
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It took me three tries to find the perfect dress. I had my heart set on wearing a white, lace dress but they all were too short for my taste or out of my budget. I gave up and bought a navy blue sweetheart dress at work that I decided was too casual for wearing to my own graduation, a second navy lace dress at Shabby Apple that was too long and too big and just not what I was looking for. Finally I pressured my mom to stop into H&M for a few seconds and I found the perfect dress (at just $30!) within 5 minutes. I love the peplum detail and how it makes the dress a little more playful than just a plain shift dress. I think the length is perfect and I felt comfortable wearing it all day. The marshmallow color is a bit warmer than a stark white and makes me look tan! I love how subtle the lace detailing is. It is a sweet and pretty dress. Plus, I think I could easily re-wear it for other special occasions.

I loved the bracelet I found at H&M because of the pastel turquoise and pink. We then headed to Forever 21 to see if they had a necklace that worked with it. This was the first necklace I laid eyes on and I love that it brings out the gold in the bracelet and adds a little roughness to the very sweet dress. I didn't have money or time to buy a new pair of shoes so I wore my trusty brown pumps from H&M they worked well since it again played up the golds in my accessories.

I spent a lot of time on my makeup and tried really hard to perfect the cat eye, which I've never done before. I used eyeshadows from the Kat Von D True Romance Palette. For an all over base I used the peachy Sister and for the lime green cat eye, I used multiple layers of Snake Eyes wet. And on my lips I'm wearing Tarte Lipsurgence in Amused, which I got in my Teen Vogue Birchbox. I was very happy with how my makeup came out, it was subtle, timeless, but had a little edge to it.

 dress: H&M

shoes: H&M

bracelet: H&M

necklace: Forever 21

earrings: Lydell NYC

Now on to the next journey...

Look of the Day: 70s Inspired Floral

This post marks the first Look of the Day (LOTD) post!  Random goodness of budget-friendly fashion/jewelry of the day and maybe even makeup. I may even include a little bit about where/when I wore it.
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When I got home to Chicago I was expecting the weather to only hit the high 60s, but we have had some lovely, warm days. I decided to wear my new button-up 70s inspired floral dress to celebrate the warm weather. I got this dress a few months ago from Forever 21. I loved the bright, large floral print against the warm brown. I love that it commands attention yet doesn't require much effort! I paired it with a Twisted Orchid purse I won last month from Eugenia's blog! I got to pick any purse from the Twisted Orchid purse and I fell immediately in love with the slingbak backpacks! You can wear it as a backpack, slung on one shoulder, as a large hobo, or even across your back! It is so roomy and goes with everything! I cannot get enough of it.

dress: Forever 21

sandals: Steve Madden

purse: Twisted Orchid

I wore this outfit out to lunch with my mom and sister. We went to Thanks Jordan Raw Vegan Cafe of Lockport, IL. If you aren't familiar with raw veganism it is a diet that excludes cooking anything above 118 degrees fahrenheit. Many people eat raw because they believe cooking destroys the balance of nutrients and there may be chemicals created due to the heating process. This restaurant is an interesting concept in the fact that it is run 100% by volunteers. All proceeds are donated to the Thanks Jordan foundation which benefits children battling life-threatening illnesses. It was one of my first experiences with raw food and I can say it was amazing and filling! I'd definitely go back!

I had the taco salad (the meat was made of almonds!).

My sister had mushroom alfredo that was made with zucchini shreds as pasta. It was so good! Even though it was cold!

Lastly, my mom had dill covered bagels with a mixed salad and a fruit salad. She loved the salads, but thought the dill topping was just okay. 

Warm weather, good food and company, what's not to love? Thanks for stopping by!

Look of the Day: Forever 21 Life In Progress Chino Ankle Pant

I don't normally wear khakis, chinos, or whatever you like to call khaki style cotton pants. Growing up I always had a fear that Id get out of my seat and have dirt all over my booty or other unfortunate incidents. My anxiety is so bad that I do not own a single pair of khakis. But all of these gorgeous colored khakis and chinos this season made me envious! I finally decided to take the leap when I found these reasonable priced ($22.50 a pop) Forever 21 Life In Progress Chino Ankle pants. Unfortunately the US site is all sold out, but they are still available on the UK, Canada, and EU websites. They came in pale banana and brick. I have never ever worn Forever 21 pants, I always just assumed that they would be a terrible fit, look cheap, and I'd have to size up 20 sizes. But, I could not resist!

 I got my regular 'Gap' size in the banana and the size up in the brick colored. I was so pleased when they arrived. The material was softer than any of my expectations, a bit thicker than I thought I'd be getting for the price, and they have the perfect amount of stretch. I decided I had to wear a pair the day after I got them. But, what do you wear with colored chinos?

I was at a loss for a few hours trying to decide what to wear with them. Should I play it safe and wear a boring button up or plain t-shirt? Go crazy with prints?

I needed to find inspiration online through other blogs, google searches of yellow pants, and street style. If it wasn't for blogs I'd still be wearing flood jeans with running shoes (circa 2000), horrific. Having an online fashion FOTD diary for 4 years really helped me gain confidence to try crazy looks and find out exactly what is my style. Although even today, my looks don't always end up as cool as I first thought. But hey I tried. Here's one of those looks that I look back and wonder...why?

this is an example of poor fashion choices...

So my first look with the pale banana chinos is a relaxed and casual look for work. I love this Gap V-neck tee since it has so many gorgeous colors: mints, lavenders, corals, navy. They all really compliment the yellow. Purples and corals are perfect colors to match with yellow without feeling like you threw up the primary color wheel. And if you want to be a little more subtle, any graphic tee with pops of beiges or yellow of the same hue/color family as your pants will be a perfect compliment. 

The pants and this look were a hit at work. I was comfortable but still felt put together. I'm so excited to come up with more styles! 

What do you think of all the colored khakis? What would you pair with these chinos? Let me know in the comments!