A million bucks.

Say the words "Black tie invited" on a wedding invitation and it's my cue to search for the fanciest, most extravagant dress I can find. I spent weeks before Sunday's formal wedding trying on dresses of all shapes and sizes. From long gowns to short dresses; drapey ones, bodycon ones, strapless, to long sleeved, I tried them all, but wasn't sold on any. When I popped into Nordstrom and zipped myself into this curve skimming ruched dress by Adrianna Papell, I knew I found The One. The one that made me feel like ten million bucks - and that is worth every penny :)

Oh, and do you like my hair bling? It's actually a pair an a half of sparkly earrings my sister pinned into my hair! That's improv at it's finest!

Cocktail Dress: Adrianna Papell via Nordstrom
Heels: Bandolino via Lord & Taylor
Clutch: Vintage, belonged to my grandmother
Rhinestone bracelet: Borrowed
Ring: H&M
Earring (in ears and in hair): Betsy Johnson

Ok, I'm obsessed with stripes.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me tweeting away excitedly about my stripey bargain finds at Talbots on Tuesday. Well, here's one of them! I featured the dress version of this top on my "If I Had a Million Dollars...Talbot's Edition" post a month or so back. I scored this green and cream striped top for $15; retail price is around $60 I believe. Apparently it was my lucky day, because the dress version (in cream and brown) was there too and I took it home for $39 (retail $134)!

Top: Talbots
Pants: Michael Kors via Nordstrom
Shoes: Franco Sarto via ideeli
Necklace: Chrdesigns
Watch: Syms
Bracelet: gifted
Sunnies: Target

It was heart-wrenching to leave this jacket behind, but even on sale for $63 from $169, it was a tad pricey I just couldn't justify it having purchased the other pieces.

The craziest part is that this is a 14WP and it fits perfectly! Talbots definitely runs large when it comes to blazers, though I found their pants to run true to size.

Random, but I love this silhouette pic I snapped yesterday. I felt like Beyoncé! LOL!

Floral explosion

I had some extra time before work today; it was nice to have a leisurely morning for once instead of my usual bum rush out the door. I made myself a tasty omelet and lunch for later, actually applied my makeup at home instead of at work, and stopped at a park around the corner from work to take pics in the pretty morning light.

Did you all have a good Fourth of July weekend? I must say mine was quite spectacular! Friday night was spent at a friend's Poconos lake house, sitting around a fire drinking and chatting. Saturday got a little wild down in Lancaster, PA, where we went to a giant Greek barbeque with my sister's BF's friends. The food...oh the food was phenomenal; roasted lamb on the spit, homemade gyros with all the toppings, steamed crabs, tons of apps and desserts, and more drinks. Best of all was the company, though! This group was so open and welcoming, and I was feeling confident and sexy in a strappy little blue and white sundress. Pics didn't happen but I'll show it to you one day!

So, this outfit is pretty simple and straight forward, but I was feeling amazing in it all day. The super bright colors really boosted my mood, and I can definitely tell that my hard work at sticking to WW and working out is paying off. I can see a definite difference in my silhouette in this form fitting outfit! I was feeling guilty about not tracking and eating and drinking so much this weekend, but I won't let it get me down, I hopped right back on track with Body Pump last night and yoga and round three of C25K tonight. If the scale goes up because of my sins this weekend, that's ok. It's life - I'll just work that much harder next week.

Do you like my little gold rings? They're a find from another awesome Etsy seller, MARYJOHN. I fell hard for her delicate little gold bands and tiny stones. You'll be seeing a lot of these in the future!

Top: Not sure!! Target? H&M? Old Navy? I've had this shirt for 4 or 5 years easy!
Tank: City Chic
Pants: Michael Kors via Nordstrom
Sandals: Franco Sarto via ideeli
Necklace: F21
Bangles: Some from Greece, some borrowed from the sis
Rings: MARYJOHN

Check back in a bit for the winner of the Forever21 Gift Card!

Swimwear for the Curvy Girl

Memorial Day is almost upon us, and for many (myself included) it marks the beginning of the much loved, but also much dreaded summer season. I say much dreaded because summer=swimsuits, which can be the bane of any woman's existance - thin, thick, short, tall, curvy or straight.

Besides the challenge of finding a suit that's cute and not matronly in a plus size, it's also hard for a girl with big girls to find a suit with enough support and lift to be worn comfortably. It boggles my mind there there are so few stylish bra-sized swimsuits out there!

So, on that note, I've gathered up a bunch of options I've seen around the interwebs - one and two piece suits, bra sized and not. Enjoy!

 Bra-sized

Tankini

One-piece

I like to mix and match my tankini swimsuits, and I've found that Land's End has some really great options as far as bottoms go.

I've already put in an order for two one-piece swimsuits, the mocha ruched one and purple v-neck above it, both from Land's End. I'm also planning to buy a tankini, either the beige and black striped one from Fig Leaves, or the navy and white polka dots from Land's End.

Hope you all have a lovely and safe Memorial Day weekend :)

Rainbow Brite

And we're back in business! Thanks, Blogger!

I love this outfit! This tank top is just so fun and bright, and the great thing is that you can pair it with any color - and with the size of my cardigan collection, that means endless possibilities. Today though, I decided to try a different route and paired it with this white lace blazer. I liked the combination of the blazer's texture with the print of the tank.

 

It's another (almost) head to toe day as everything I'm wearing with the exception of my Michael Kors pants and vintage ring are from Forever 21+. The tank is a 2x and a tiny bit snug in the bust; I've remedied the usual button gaping with a tiny safety pin. The lace blazer (2x), which I didn't look twice at on the site, jumped out at me in the store and fits to perfection. I never would have though I'd get such a great fitting blazer at Forever 21! It fits over the girls wonderfully, though it is button-less; but that's an easy DIY or quick tailor fix if you really need to button it.

Forever21+: Tank, Blazer

Forever21 accessories: Bangles, Shoes (in grey)

Pants: Michael Kors via Nordstrom

Ring: Vintage, La Casita

Buzzin' Just Like Neon

I've been so spoiled with outdoor ootd's lately that it killed me to have to shoot this spicy little number inside! These are the cropped Michael Kors pants I purchased with the gift certificate I won from the lovely Monique of Curves and Chaos. With the $79 price tag, they're a splurge I never would have made with my own money, but with Nordstrom picking up the tab, why not!

I'm so glad I picked these up as they are so, so comfortable and cute and will look great remixed a million ways over this spring, summer, and fall. If you're thinking of grabbing these, they do run big - I usually would have gone for the 16W, but after reading reviews I ordered the 14W and they fit perfectly.

This animal print jacket was an impulse buy from H&M, and I contemplated returning it more than once. Seeing it in these pictures I think it looks really cute and flattering so it's a keeper. This is only a straight size L so I almost didn't even try it on in the store, but it looks great. Forget about numbers, if you don't try it on you'll never know! I paired the jacket and pants with this neon tunic with pearl accents for some color and piled on the pearl accessories. I really like how this look turned out, I can see myself wearing many variations of this to work, out for drinks, or on a nice date with the boy :)

Tunic: INC via Macy's

Cropped Blazer: H&M

Cropped Pants: Michael Kors via Nordstrom

Pumps: Nordstrom Rack

Bracelet: Premier Jewelry

Ring: H&M

Polish: Orly Cosmic FX - Lunar Eclipse