You're an animal tonight

Oh, sunshine. Between shorter days and lots of rain, it's a rare sight these days (and getting rarer).

So, I decided to keep my Evans booties after all. They're cute no? They are a bit roomy but with a pair of thick socks they fit well enough, and I love them with skinnies - these skinnies in particular, the Zip Me Skinny Jean from City Chic. On sale and with a credit I snagged these babies for just over a dollar! They fit so well through the leg and butt, but of course are roomy in the waist - it's my usual problem with all this junk in my trunk. I had to hold 'em up with a belt this time, but they'll be making their way down to my sewing room for a quick darting soon enough. But if you're straight through the waist and hips I can't recommend these jeans enough! They're super stretchy and comfortable, and I just love the rich, dark wash.

Oh, and do you like my new bag?? Finally, a purse big enough to hold all the crap I lug around. I scored it off ideeli; the price was so good that I just had to get the black version for my sister for Christmas as well! I just might have to borrow it - that's allowed right?

Sweater, button down: Old Navy
Skinnies: City Chic
Booties: Evans
Necklace: H&M
Coat: New York & Co. outlet
Bag: ideeli

Now or never

These pictures are not the greatest and there's only a few, but I wanted to get these City Chic pants on the blog. I've had them for a while now and I wear them constantly, but somehow the world seems to be working against me when it comes to snapping shots of my outfits. So here they are in all their glory!

Top: H&M
Pants: City Chic
Wedges: Payless
Necklace: Forever21
Rings: MARYJOHN

I love these pants. I seriously love them. I wait eagerly for them to come out of the wash every laundry cycle. They're so freaking comfortable and cute to boot. These are my "pajamas to work" pants, except way better looking. Pop on a pair of wedges and top and I easily pass for a put-together individual. My coworkers are so easily fooled! And guess what? They're on sale for $19.99. Did I say that I really love these pants?

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!

Wrap it up with a bow

Here's a quick shot of me in my new City Chic bow top. Cute, no?

Top: City Chic
Jeans: Target
Necklace: Macy's

City Chic

Have you guys checked out City Chic yet? I hadn't gotten around to it, but last week I found out I was the runner up winner of the Curvy Revolution & Madison Plus Twitter contest!! The ladies at CC and MP were so generous in giving me a $200 gift certificate to treat myself to some new clothes! Yay! Here what I picked:

Longline Tie Dye Top; Tribal Weave Tunic

Animal Lined Jacket; Puff Elbow Sleeve Top in Big Spot

Flower Rain Dress; Chic Cami in Pink

Shipping was fast, I ordered late last week and got my package yesterday! Here are my thoughts:

Keepers:

Puff Elbow Sleeve Top: I ordered a medium because I hate when you can see bumps from pants and jeans on a top, so I thought the looser fit would be best. A+ for the size, this fits great and is really cute on. Only problem is, they send me the bow print top instead of the polka dots! I noticed on the site, the buttons are switched - the one that shows dots will get you bows and vice versa. So be careful when ordering! The bows are cute in anycase so I'll still be keeping this top :)

Chic Cami: Not much to say, just a good basic. I ordered this in a small and it fit just fine. Nice long length for layering under other shirts.

Tribal Weave Tunic: I didn't realize that this top would be totally see through, but it is an open weave tunic. You NEED to wear it over a long slip or tank dress, or you'll be pretty much naked. You could wear it as is over a bathing suit, I guess! Anyway, once it's layered its a cute boho piece. Like!

Long Line Tie Dye Top: This will be a really cute piece for summer. The quality of the jersey is really nice, way better than I expected. The print is bright and fun, and with the deep scoop neck it would be cute as a cover up or as a casual going-out dress.

Sending Back:

Flower Rain Dress: I ordered this in a small because I thought the larger size might be too big in the bust, but I was wrong. I'm definitely a medium in City Chic, this I know now. I'll probably exchange this for the next size. Otherwise, it's a cute dress, I like the zipper detail, and it has stretchy bits and the side that will cinch my waist nicely. Don't know if it's worth the pricetag at $72 dollars though, I got a very simliar (style-wise) dress at Forever21+ yesterday that was only $22, and they're both made of the same weight fabric and lined the same way. If the cash was coming out of my pocket, I probably would have held out on this one.

Animal Lined Jacket: Cute jacket, but another that I ordered a in a small. Wrong again! Besides the size, I wasn't a big fan of the ruched sleeves, they were a bit of an awkward length on me. If they were elbow or 3/4 sleeves with no ruching, I would exchange this because the thick cotton was a very nice quality, not shiny or satin-y, and I could tell the body of the jacket would be flattering in the right size. Just a matter of preference I guess!

With my returns, I'm going to be getting a pretty nice chunk of change back on my gift card. I'm thinking I might get the puff sleeve top in the dots as well because I really like the bow one (stay tuned for an ootd!). There's also a cute belt that I might go for. We'll see!

City Chic Discount + Free Shipping!

Lookie lookie!

It's a little blurry so if you can't read it:

"Hi Ladies,
We haven't forgotten about you! City Chic Online will be opening in the Us on November 22nd. It has taken a little longer than expected but we wanted to make the site and the product perfect for you. We will be emailing you when we launch with your 30% off and Free Shipping coupon so you can be one of the first people to check out the site.
Stay Chic,
xx
CC"

Visit City Chic and sign up to receive 30% off AND free shipping when they launch on 11/22/10!

City Chic rewind?

I could have sworn when I visited City Chic's pending US site a week or so ago, it was on the last few days of it's countdown. All of a sudden it's back in the double digits?? Did they push back the launch, or am I just delusional??