Studded // Ankle Boots

Ahhhh….Target.  Or as I sometimes like to call it, “Tar-shjay.”  Did you read that pronunciation correctly?  It makes sense in my head, it’s kind of Frenchy sounding.  Anyway…Target.

I love it.  I need to stop loving it, but they just keep producing such good products!

Like these ankle boots:

Super cute, right?  And they were on sale.  Even better.

Today was one of those days where I woke up and thought to myself, “Life is too short to wear boring clothes.”  So I put on a skirt, my ankle boots & a denim shirt and headed off to the ranch.  My outfit might not seem so bold to you, but when you work on a ranch, a skirt is a risky thing to wear.

Denim Shirt:  Target //  Skirt:  Bar III  //  Ankle Boots:  Target

I didn’t regret my decision to wear a skirt…although I will probably keep my skirt-wearing days to a minimum when working on the ranch.  😉

That’s all for now.  Oh, one more thing, tomorrow starts Beef Month.

I smell steak…  and a giveaway.  Stay tuned!

Fashion: Floppy Cowgirl Hat

So last fall there was kind of this floppy cowgirl//rancher hat craze, in case you didn’t notice.

I loved the look and I thought, I have a total excuse to wear one of those!  I mean, working at a calf ranch is a shoe-in for being allowed to wear cowboy hats, right?

I found this hat that I loved on Anthropologie‘s website.  I discretely hinted toward my brother who had drawn my name for Christmas that I wanted this hat.  Ok, maybe not quite discretely… I told him that I really, really wanted this hat and I would be so sad if he didn’t get it for me!

Being the sweet brother that he is, I opened up my Christmas gift from him and there was the hat that I had requested!  I’ll be honest though, the hat has only been worn ONCE since I got it for Christmas because I haven’t been able to find the guts to wear it.  Sure, the cowgirl hats were in style, but it’s not like everyone was walking around wearing a big hat.

I came across this quote on Pinterest one day and I just loved it.  In my head I said a silent “Amen!” to myself, and I decided that I would try to have that mindset more often.  Quite frankly, I love getting dressed up.  I do have days where I just feel like wearing my fleece pajama pants with lab puppies on them, but most of the time I want to get gussied up!  But so often, I tone it down for fear of being “overdressed.”  This quote inspired me.

And today when I got ready to head to the ranch for work, I saw my cowgirl hat up in my closet just waiting to see some calves.  The wise words of Mr. Wilde flashed through my head as I reached for the hat and placed it on my head.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my hat.  It does quite a good job of protecting my face from the sun as well.  I would just like to take this moment to encourage you to remember that you can never be overdressed. 😉

Spring Fashion Wish List #1

As the days are beginning to get longer and a bit warmer, spring fashion trends have found their way to stores and boutiques everywhere.  I can’t help but get excited about all of it and I’ve been keeping tabs on some of my favorite spring fashion finds.  Here’s a few of them!

1.  Boyfriend Jeans from The Gap |  2.  Korin d’Orsays Heels from Anthropologie |  3. Sungarden Baseball Hat from Madewell |  4. Jeweled-Collar Short Sleeve Shirt from J.Crew

Are you in love with any of the spring trends?  I’d love to hear about them!

 

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaid Fashion

(There will be more fashion installments in the Wedding Wednesday series.  Today we’re talking bridesmaid dresses!)

No one told me that the hardest part about getting married was dressing the bridal party!  I love clothes…I love shoes and accessories…I love dressing people, and I love dressing myself.  I wish there was a usage for personal shoppers in Visalia because I would totally volunteer to do that.  Anyway, I feel as though I’ve gotten a mild dose of what it would feel like to be a personal shopper over the last few weeks as I’ve been on the lookout for possible clothes and shoes for the bridal party.  Let’s just say that it’s not an easy task!

Initially when I started planning this wedding, I thought that I wanted all of the bridesmaids to be in different, yet complimentary dresses.  However, once I started researching bridesmaids’ dresses, I realized how difficult it was to find one dress, let alone seven dresses that would blend well together.  So, I nixed that idea and continued my search for one perfect dress for the bridesmaids.

I know that many brides say this, but I really, really wanted a dress that my bridesmaids would feel like they could wear again after the wedding.  I also wanted a dress that wouldn’t break the bank.  My other issue that I was facing is that the trend lately is short short dresses and I have some pretty tall bridesmaids.  Pair together mini dresses and long legs….let’s just say that I didn’t want my bridesmaids distracting the groomsmen or any other people in attendance at the wedding!  So, in a nutshell, I was looking for the following in a bridesmaid dress:

1. Style – it needed to feel “vintage glam”ish, right?  Right.
2. Price – I was really aiming for the $100 range, but the reality is that the average price of bridesmaid dresses are about $130-150.  The ones I ultimately ended up picking were about $170, but they ended up going on sale and all of the bridesmaids were able to get their dresses for about $100.  Bonus!
3. Length – I wanted knee length.  I figured knee length would be safe.
4. Color – I wanted something champagne-ish…or metallic-ish.  Something glam.
5. Wearability – I don’t know if that’s even a word, but anyway, I didn’t want the typical “bridesmaid” dress.  I wanted something kind of fun that everyone would feel pretty in.

Those were my “Top 5” requirements for a bridesmaid dress.  It took a lot of online shopping (online shopping is kind of my new thing right now), but I finally found the dress.  I texted a picture of it to some trusted relatives and bridesmaids to find out what they thought of my find…..they all LOVED it.  Like, literally, their responses were, “I LOVE it!!!”  So, I figured that it was a safe bet.  It met all 5 of my expectations and from the responses that I’ve gotten from my girls so far…it sounds like they’d be willing to wear the dresses again somewhere!  My cousin even wants to wear it for prom  (Sorry, Ash!).

So, that’s the scoop on the bridesmaids’ dresses!  Next, we’ll have to talk bridesmaid shoes!

A sneak peek at the bridesmaid dress next to (gasp!) my dress. I figure it's safe to show you guys because pictures don't even do justice to how pretty these dresses are. That, and, I'm not really the type of bride who cares if people see her dress or not! Sometimes that's a big deal for brides....which is understandable too.