April Shopping

"It's gonna be May" tomorrow, and thanks to everyone on the internet, I now have this song stuck in my head.  And I am trying to remember what even happened in April.  For example, this outfit is from mid-March.  This is one of the dresses I got from Bella Gravida, and I loved it, but it was a little short for my comfort, so I wore leggings, even though I don't love how they look.

As far as shopping goes, I know that I bought and returned many items, as I continued my search for the perfect casual shoes, and also a pretty dress for my sister's wedding.  I really thought the Sperry Zuma  slip-ons were going to be perfect, but they were too loose in the heel, and kind of slipped when I tried to walk around.  The casual shoe search continues, with increasing frustration on my part.

I ordered 2 dresses from Amazon, and 3 from ASOS, hoping something (anything) would work for my sister's wedding.  I also tried on pretty much every maternity dress option at the local Motherhood store, and the one department store that actually has maternity.  Fail!   I'm sure I've said this before, maybe multiple times, but you can be tall, or you can be pregnant, but good luck to you if you are both tall and pregnant!  All maternity dresses are made for someone who is about 6 inches shorter than me.  I had my eye on this Loft dress, but didn't want to pay full price, and it was never part of the sale offers.  I finally decided to cave (as a last resort), and it was 40% off!!  Hooray!  It is a little more casual than I was originally wanting, but at this point (wedding next weekend), I'm happy with it.

Otherwise, I bought a couple longer t-shirts at Gap factory, and I also had my Bella Gravida subscription, which I meant to cancel, but didn't get done in time, oops.

2 Gap outlet tees: $4 each
Loft dress: $48 (used a gift card)
Bella Gravida subscription:  $80

Total Spent in April: $136

Earned selling: $50

Since I have barely bought anything this year, I'm still well under my budget.  And I'm linking up with Franish, as always.

Cardigan: JCF
Necklace: ON
Dress:Bellyssima via Bella Gravida
Belt: Madden
Leggings: H&M mama
Shoes: Target

Accidental Matchers

Mornings have been tricky, because our child is a night owl like me, and then sleeps later in the mornings.  So we hadn't been to morning church in a few weeks.  We finally made it last week, and I accidentally wore a combination of what my two favorite guys were wearing.  In our defense, I was getting dressed while John was getting himself and the baby dressed, so I didn't realize we kind of matched until we were heading out the door, and it was too late to change.  

Church went pretty well.  Baby Smith slept for the beginning of the service and then woke up about halfway through the sermon, so we ducked out.  Then he fell asleep again for Sunday School.  

He's not really into outfit pictures!

Cardigan: JCF 

Dress: banana republic factory

Belt: gap

Sandals: target

Bok Choy Baby

Enough people have asked.  I figured I should finally turn to the side and prove that I am indeed looking quite pregnant these days.  This is actually my outfit from yesterday.  28 weeks pregnant, for those of you who care about that type of thing.  According to my super helpful "what type of produce is your baby" app, this kid is roughly the size of a Bok Choy.  Right.  Super helpful.  I had to look it up, because I didn't know what it was.  Answer: fancy Chinese cabbage.  

In honor of Valentine's week, I decided to try this skirt with the belly band, and it sort of worked.  Warning to anyone who wants to try this trick in the future - satiny fabrics do not cling properly to the band, so you have to be careful any time you sit down or stand up to make sure your clothes are still properly aligned.  Since I mostly sit at my desk all day, this wasn't a huge issue. 

Cardigan: JCF

Tee: Liz Lange

Necklace: Old Navy

Skirt: Dillard's

Tights: Target

Boots: Madden

Blazer Week - Black Blazer Blogiversary Remix

Just Another Smith turns 3 today!  I can't really believe it, but I supposed it must be true.  I've come a long way (I think) since that very first post.  I didn't realize this blogiversary would coincide with Blazer Week, but it gave me an idea to do an EPIC REMIX COLLAGE featuring my black blazers.  First up, my current one from H&M (which I'm wearing in the above pictures).  I bought this one back in April of 2013, and have definitely gotten my money's worth:

1/2/3/4/5/6
7/8/9/10/11/12

Prior to buying the H&M one, I got by with a Limited option that I'm pretty sure I bought at TJ Maxx for $10.  This was my makeshift suit for most of college and I know I wore it to every single job interview during my end of senior year panic.  It only made the blog 6 times (most frequently with my black/white blouse!), but I thought it deserved a little honorable mention.

13/14/15/16/17/18

In conclusion, if you don't have a classic black blazer, you should probably go ahead and get one!  If you are anything like me, your cost per wear will easily end up under $1.

Oh, and here's a bit of free advice: Outdoor pictures look better, but when the weather "feels like -2" it might be wiser to just stay inside!  Not that I took my own advice, obviously.  I took these pictures yesterday before going to work and just about froze.  What kind of person wears a sleeveless dress with a light blazer and tights when it's in the single digits?  A blogger, I guess.  I did immediately put a heavy coat on, so I'm not completely insane!

Remember to link up below!

Blazer: H&M (similar)
Dress: Younker's
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Belt: Gap (similar)
Tights: Old Navy
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Shrunk

Well, I'm pretty sure this dress is shorter than it used to be.  Probably because I ignore the "Dry Clean Only" care instructions and just wash it on delicate.  I mean, I don't put it in the dryer, so I'm surprised it shrunk, but these things happen.  Which is why I really shouldn't buy anything that says "Dry Clean" or "Hand Wash."  Or even "iron" if I'm being honest.

Do we think this dress would look okay with tights?  I'm worried the eyelets make it seem more summery and tights would look weird.  Maybe I'll have to try it and see.

Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Cardigan: H&M (similar)
Dress: Daniel Cremieux (similar)
Belt: Steve Madden (similar)
Boots: Steve Madden (exact)

Birthday Recap

My birthday was a week ago, so I guess it's about time that I wrote up a recap of what I did, huh?  Well, here it goes:

I had a meeting at work in the morning that I couldn't really skip, so I went in for a couple hours.  Then I met John for a quick lunch at Which Wich (my favorite!) before heading to the salon/spa for a pedicure and massage.  Best decision ever!  I was so relaxed afterwards. Seriously, I want to get a massage every day.  I should at least do it more than once a year!

I heard a rumor that Gap was having an additional 50% off all sale, so I stopped in really quick and picked up a few things, and then ran home to get changed for dinner.  Then I picked up John from work and we headed downtown to meet his family for birthday dinner!  There's a restaurant with the most delicious smoked gouda mac and cheese, and we never go there, because it's kind of annoying to deal with parking downtown.  But for my birthday, we made an exception.  Dinner was excellent, and then we went over to their house for presents, dessert, and a quick game of Dutch Blitz.  As usual, I was sufficiently spoiled.

The other fun part of the day was just getting random calls and texts from friends and family.  It just made me smile all day long!

And I completely forgot to take any pictures the whole day!  Because I'm the best blogger ever.  Oh wait, opposite.  But as I've said before when I forget to take pictures of big events, sometimes it's important to just enjoy the day without trying to document everything.  I did wear a really cute outfit for dinner, so I'll have to repeat it and take pictures before it gets too cold! 

On Saturday/Sunday, John and I took a little road trip, and I did actually take pictures throughout the day, so I'll have to sort through those and write up a little recap on that soon as well.

Oh, and Happy Halloween, I guess.  I'll probably just pretend to not be home this evening, because I'm a Halloween Grinch.  So stay safe and have fun if you are out and about.  Or I guess stay safe and have fun even if you aren't out and about.

**This outfit is almost an exact replication of what I wore for John's birthday, which I also failed to take pictures of.  Seemed fitting to put it on my birthday recap with no relevant photos, right!  Plus, I was having a really good hair day in these pics. 

Cardigan: JCF (similar)
Top: Gap Factory (option, option, option)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Skirt: Target (similar,similar)
Shoes: Target (flat version)

Confident Twosday

It's Tuesday, which means I'm linking up with Laura for her Confident Twosday party.  And this week is extra special, because she asked me to co-host!  Whoo!

I've been thinking about confidence, since that's the whole theme of the linkup.  I've never considered myself to be a super confident person, but I pretty regularly have people tell me I must be confident to wear whatever bright colors or crazy patterns.  That may be a back-handed compliment, but I'll take it.  The more I've thought about it, I guess I agree with them.  I don't walk around feeling super confident all the time, but I also don't spend very much time worrying about my flaws.

It seems like there's a trend recently towards celebrating different body types, and I think that's good.  What I don't like is that it sometimes swings too far, and we get into the "real women have curves" type comments.  So I would like to say that yeah, sometimes real women have curves, and sometimes real women have angles, and sometimes we are short or tall or medium, or whatever.  I don't buy into the "everyone is perfect" thing.  I'm more on the "everyone has their own set of flaws" side of things.  We've all got to work with what we've got.  So I probably need to lose a few (well, more than a few) pounds, but right now I'm a little bit fat.  And that's okay.  

And here's a SUPER HELPFUL definition of "self confidence" from Merriam Webster: confidence in oneself.  Wow, I never would have guessed that.  Isn't there supposed to be a rule that you can't use the word to define itself?  Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of defining things? 

Anyway, link up below!  And I'd love to hear your thoughts about confidence! 

Cardigan: H&M (similar)
Dress: Loft Outlet (option,option)
Belt: Steve Madden (similar)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Shoes: Target (exact)

I do deClaire (Bloglovin) | Just Another Smith (Bloglovin) 

An InLinkz Link-up

Currently

Today I'm jumping in on the "Currently" linkup with Anne.  So here's what I'm currently:

Writing:  pretty much just blog posts.

Anticipating: October is birthday month for both me and John, and this is a big year for me as I will hit the big 3-0.

Missing: family that lives far away!  After spending the weekend with my parents, sister and nieces, I just wish I could see them more often.  And of course, I wish I had been able to see my other siblings and nieces/nephews.  (And I wish there was a word to describe all of my siblings' children, without having to say "nieces and nephews" all the time).    

Wearing:  All my summery clothes that will be unwearable in a month or so.  I'm in the end of summer panic where I want to wear shorts, sandals and sleeveless things as much as possible!  

Craving:  A relaxing vacation, preferably to the beach.  I've traveled quite a bit over the last few months, but it's all been pretty busy travel.  I'm ready for another lazy vacation!

Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Sandals: Target (similar)

#24 - Mostly Repeat

Here's an outfit that I wore at the very beginning of the challenge (during the Des Moines weekend), but I didn't take official pictures.  I really liked it, so I wore it again and just added a cardigan for my cold office.

Cardigan: Gap (option, option)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Belt: Madden (similar)
Dress: Target (similar)
Sandals: Target (exact, similar)

J.Crew Addict?

About a week before I left for Indiana, I ordered 3 things from the J.Crew factory.  These shorts (in bright yellow) arrived before I left.  I love them, but they are a little too small, so I think I will have to return them, unless I lose about 5lbs before I make it out to the outlet mall.

My 2 other purchases (the Clare cardigan in brocade blue and this top in vibrant fuchsia) arrived while I was gone, but John was still home, so he rescued them from the front porch.  Then I bought this skirt at the regular J.Crew in Indy.

I wore this outfit on the first day back to work, and met John for lunch because we had no groceries at home.  He commented on my skirt, and I said it was new - from J.Crew.  Then the conversation went something like this:

John: Do you have a J.Crew addiction?
Andi: no - well, maybe a little.
John:  And is J.Crew more or less expensive than the Gap?
Andi:  welllll...

I then explained to him my new-ish shopping philosophy, where instead of buying 3 t-shirts at the Gap for $7 each and then rarely wearing them, I would buy a maxi skirt at the J.Crew for $22 and wear it more frequently.  It's just math!

Anyway, this is my new skirt and I love it.  For the first outfit, I went with the most obvious pairing of a white tee and cognac accessories.  I felt very fancy all day long!   

Tee: Gap (option, option, option)
Belt: Gap (similar)
Skirt: J.Crew (exact)
Watch: Fossil (similar)
Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Sandals: Target (similar)