OOTD- Before the Clock Strikes Midnight

Happy New Year!!!!!

Well, I'm a little early, but the sentiment is the same as if it was midnight already. I hope you guys are ready to ring in 2011. Whether you are going to party hard or make it low-key, spend it with the people, places and things you love the most (in that order)!!

This is my last post of the year 2010, I can't believe it. I want to thank you guys for making this year a great blogging experience. I'll see you next year for an even better Notes from the Dressing Room. What that entails, I'm not 100% sure, but I know good things are to come.

Spent a little time enjoying my day off with some Starbucks and magazines.

And Chipotle for lunch

Gotta figure out this no baggy knee in boots thing!!

I'm getting the party started early.

I'm ready to celebrate!! Got the balloon and cupcake, can you bring the champagne?

Outfit Details:

White tee- James Perse

Denim jeggings- Lauren Conrad for Kohl's

Brown leather hoodie- DKNY

Blue leopard scarf- South Moon Under

Brown pendant necklace- Forever 21

Brown ostrich embossed clutch- M.Andonia (available here)

Green flat boots- See by Chloe

Does This Make Me Semi-Quasi Famous?

I've mentioned before the jewelry of the month club, JewelMint, created by Kate Bosworth and stylist Cher Coulter before (see post here). Well, they held a contest for people to submit a stylish picture of them featuring their favorite JewelMint pieces. I decided to submit a pic that I featured here on the blog (see post here) and lo and behold, I won!!!!! I'm still giddy about it and just wanted to share. I'll be the lucky recipient of 3 new pieces of jewelry and guess who was featured in the weekly e-newsletter?  :)

Yay!!!

Kate Bosworth featured in the January 2011 issue of Lucky magazine wearing the necklace.


Interested in JewelMint, go now!!

Back from NYC, Barely!!

After spending a great weekend celebrating Christmas in NYC with my honey and a million other tourist, we managed to make it home safely in a snow storm. You guys, the snow tried to keep me from making it back, but after 9 hours of travelling on the road, we finally did it! I just wanted to share a few pics from the trip.

Early morning and off to the Big Apple!

I wanted to pack this big, fluffy bed up in my luggage and take it home.

The view from our hotel window. The sun rising was such a pretty sight.

It's Christmas time!! The bf did his first wrapping job on a lovely present from Shopbop.

Somebody was feeling fly in his new leather jacket.

I watched A Christmas Story too many times, including on the screen outside of the hotel during breakfast.

We went to the top of the Empire State Building. So did a lot of other people as you can see.

We tried to go ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza, but it was wall to wall people. We could barely squeeze past to see anything.

Times Square!

The view of the snow as we were leaving the city.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday. Did you get any Xmas goodies or had some fun times?

Merry Christmas To All And To All Have Fun

I want to wish all of my wonderful readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday!! A short work week and general holiday excitement have put regular post on the back burner, but shall resume next week.

I hope you all enjoy time with people you love, have an extra cookie or two and get tons of fun new toys. I will be in the big city (NYC, of course) with my bf having some a blast and trying not to break my butt on the ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza.

Later, alligators!

(Image source)

Opinion Poll-Keep or Return?

Have you all had a chance to check out the William Rast for Target line yet? I was up way too early on Sunday morning at Target for a certain somebody's Xmas gift. After checking off a name on my list, I wandered through the store and ended up in the clothing section. I would have totally missed the William Rast items since the Tucker for Target sign was still up. Interesting that they are getting no love or strong advertising from the store? I tried on a few things, but was a little disappointed in the selection. The styles were rather simple and although the jeans were nice, at $50 I feel like I can walk into Marshall's or Nordstrom Rack and find an actual pair of designer jeans at a comparable price. Besides, the cost of buying them and then getting them tailored made it lose even more points. Nothing was truly stand-outs or must-haves and I usually get one item from each Target designer collaboration line. However, I ended up with a little something in my shopping bag, but I'm wondering if I should keep it. I'd like to poll the class to see what you all think.

Keep and rock it or put that money back in my wallet ???

William Rast Twill Vest in Green (available here)

OOTD- It's A Mod, Mod World

I woke up yesterday with no clue as to what I felt like wearing. Even though the weather was cold, I didn't want to sacrifice looking somewhat cute. I flipped through my Lucky book (The Lucky Guide To Mastering Any Style) and was drawn to the Mod section. It made me wish I had a pair of red pants in my wardrobe and question whether I need another skirt. But it did inspire me to finally break out this striped dress that has been sadly sitting in a bag for almost a month. I slipped on some tights and a pair of boots and I was ready to go. I felt like a pop of color was missing, so I decided a red lip should be in order (unfortunately, it was long gone by the end of the day when I took these pics). It was getting dressed in a flash at its finest.

Lucky magazine has always been one of my favorite sources for inspiration and their book is one that I love to flip through every now and then to come up with ideas for putting an outfit together.

Where do you find your best or constant source of fashion inspiration? How do you stay chic in chilly weather?

Outfit Details:
Silk striped dress- Forever 21 (similar style here, here, here on sale, and a sexy number here)
Black knit tights- ???
Clear beaded bracelet- J Crew outlet (similar available here)
Black boots- DV by Dolce Vita (same brand, similar vibe on sale here)

Checking Off Your Xmas List- The Ultimate Life Planner

Are you finished that holiday shopping yet!!!??? If not, get to it. Some advice that I need to take myself considering I have about a week and way too many people left on my list to cross off. Although I should be brainstorming for myself, I'm going to help those of you out there who are still thinking of what to get.

Does your best friend always stare at her closet in the morning for an eternity trying to come up with an outfit? Do you have a niece who is a little fashionista in the making pouring over issues of Instyle or Vogue? Is your bff at work still using a paper planner for all her important dates?  Perhaps you should consider getting a Stylit!! A creation of one of my favorite, stylish bloggers, Beth Jones of B. Jones Style. It's a monthly planner, inspiration display and wardrobe tamer in one. My bf calls it my doodle book because I've been drawing out some outfits for the week. It's a great way to document any ideas that pop into my head, I have a go-to outfit if I have no clue what to wear and I can easily see what my days are going to look like so I can plan out what to wear accordingly. I absolutely love my Stylit and would highly recommend this as a gift for a lucky gal in your life.  Or you could be naughty again and get one for yourself too.

Buy your Stylit here.

A few of images of things I like, want to try or want to buy. 

I am by no means a great drawer, but it's fun to use color pencils as an adult. :)

OOTD- Tardy for the Party (But Looking Good)

Did you all have a great weekend? I got the weekend started at my company's holiday party on Friday. A fancy-schmancy affair at one of the area's museums; a fun time was had by all (and some more than others, judging by the dancing going on the dance floor).

Getting dressed for formal affairs is always a bit nerve-wracking for me. The selection of dresses in my closet is severely lacking. To keep the stress at a minimum this year, I decided to Rent the Runway again (see this post for first experience). It took forever to decide on a dress, but I went with a black number from Shoshanna. I love Shoshanna, she knows how to make a lovely dress and this was no exception. I picked my dress, told them when I wanted it to arrive, it came right on time in its garment bag and I had my dress for the party. If you ever decide to try Rent the Runway keep in mind that they charge shipping and a $5 insurance fee and you should take advantage of the offer to send a second size for free. One thing is for sure, the selection can't be beat. I was so close to going all out with a gold mini from Halston Heritage or a gorgeous Rachel Roy dress, but with Christmas gifts to still left to buy, my money had other plans.

A little lace, my pearls, some shimmering heels and I was out the door!! Okay, I was at least 30 minutes behind schedule, but I was fashionably late.

Me and my dapper looking honey!!

My ankle boots had a gold trim and a studded looking heel.

My new JewelMint bracelets!!! Love them!!!

Outfit Details:

Lace dress- Shoshanna (available here or you can rent it here)

Black suede booties (on sale in size 9 here)

Pearls- Marc by Marc Jacobs

Gold mesh and crystal bracelets- JewelMint (available here)

OOTD-Mad for Plaid

Yay for the weekend finally getting here!!! I'm going to get all fancied up this evening for our company's Christmas party and I'm looking forward to it (fingers crossed I win the raffle this year).

Although it took a little bit of time figuring out what dress to wear for tonight, this outfit took about a year in the making. I don't know why it was so long before I decided to wear this skirt, but I had several questions to ponder. How do you take a plaid skirt and not look like a Ralph Lauren ad or like you are ready to hop a saddle and ride off on a horse? I think making it shorter a la Britney Spears in the Baby One More Time video would help, but getting looks and possibly being sent to the principal's office (aka the boss as a grown up) is not really my style. I nixed the idea of a sweater because that brought back flashbacks of wearing a uniform and those weren't pretty days of the past. Instead I rolled up the waist (did you ladies do that to your skirts back in the day too?), added a little animal print, and loaded up my wrists with some arm candy. I think I need to hunt for sexier shoes and definitely a blouse, but what would you do to make plaid a bit hipper?

And so completes my tap dance routine!

Outfit Details:
White tee- J Crew
Tan blazer- Forever 21
Plaid skirt- J Crew
Leopard belt- J Crew outlet
Brown suede wedges- Target (thrifted)
Jewelry- bracelets (Hollywood Intuition for Target, mall vendor, JewelMint), rings (House of Harlow), rose gold watch (Shock Boutique, available here)

OOTD- Redskin's Mascot

I had an unintentional moment of matching my hometown's football colors. Maybe I should have worn this on Sunday instead for some luck. Sorry guys, there's always next week.

So, my mother and I went shopping last January for some after-Christmas bargains when I spied this skirt on the rack. I recognized it right away since I love Anthropologie and one of my favorite bloggers really liked to wear hers. I tried it on and fell in love a little, but decided to be a good girl and keep my money in my pocket. My mother thought I looked really cute in it and decided that I deserved a late gift. Lucky me for having a generous mother who can appreciate a good skirt!!! Unfortunately, it has waited close to a year to be worn, seeing as how the right accompanying items never seemed to come together. I gave it a good ole' college try and think I need to send my pictures in to the Redskin's owner so that I can be the team's preppy cheerleader. I just would expect to be paid at least 1% of that $40 million contract that was signed by Donovan McNabb. That's not too much to ask for, is it?

Obviously I need to work on my picture posing. :)

Outfit Details:
Scoopneck tee- J. Crew (on sale here)
Blazer- H&M
Skirt- Leifsdottir (via Nordstrom Rack)
Tights- Hue
Cheetah pumps- J. Crew
Pendant necklace- Forever 21 (very similar here)