Two More Tahari Arthur S. Levine Dresses!

So obviously Tahari Arthur S. Levine is my favorite dress brand now for reasonably priced work appropriate dresses.  I always keep an eye out for this brand on those flash sale sites, and they do pop up quite frequently.  So last time when they were on ideel , I got 2 more for $50 each.  I am definitely keeping one, and I am still deciding on the second, but leaning towards keep.

The first one I got is called Sleeveless Ponte Dress:

I think this dress is super cute, and I really like the color combo and fabric texture for fall/winter.  The funny thing about this dress is that I accidentally ordered a size 2!  I know from experience with my other dresses from this brand that size 4 would be ideal.  And I really thought I ordered a 4!  But I think I accidentally clicked on the wrong size or something.  But when I saw that it was a size 2 (and checked that I indeed ordered a 2), I was freaking out thinking that it would not fit.  

Well, who knew that it actually fits perfectly!  I am so happy, because one size up would have been too large for sure.  So I inadvertently ordered the correct size!  This is what it looks like on me:

And here is a shot of the close up of the fabric:

The only thing about this dress is that it is not lined, and the fabric is not very thick.  This was a little weird, since the other dresses I have are lined with thicker fabric.  So this dress could be a bit see through under the right lighting, but not too bad - you can only see the outline of my legs but not really anything else.  But that can be fixed by wearing some slip thing under.  Anyway, so I am overall very happy with this dress and I am definitely keeping it!  I already wore it to work actually, so tags are off!

The second dress I got is called the Slit Neck Sheath Dress:

I ordered this one in a size 4, and it is actually a little bit loose.  Hmmm maybe I can wear both sizes in this brand, or they are a bit inconsistent.  I don't mind it being a little loose though, since it is white/ivory and all.  I am just not sure if I will wear it enough to work because of the color.  The style is good though, and this one is lined which is a must for such a light color.    

So I am leaning towards keeping this dress.  But I think I'll let it hang there for a few more days with tag on, and try it on a couple more times before making the final decision.  

Sunday Funday!

I did better with my workouts this week, and ended up weight lifting 3 times.  I really really like weight lifting.  I haven't really written about this in a while, but I've been doing it seriously since the beginning of this year and I've seen so many changes in my body.  I have definitely added muscle mass and feel so much stronger now.   And I really have seen the results of more calories burned due to these added muscles.  I've been eating kind of crappy lately, and if I was only doing cardio and light weights like I used to before, I'd be packing on the pounds.  However,  nowadays I just bounce right back into shape, it's really quite amazing!  Of course it doesn't mean this will last forever and I should still continue to lift and eat as healthy as I can.  It's just nice to be able to "cheat" more than before.  =)

Monday 10/22
What I did:  My mom was in town so I went to dinner with her.  But I was able to get some weight lifting in beforehand.  I worked on arms and ran five 1-minute sprints.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in black embossed manifesto print, with flash Centered Energy bra under.  I wore my coal/passion wee stripe Empower Crop and my Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes.

Tuesday 10/23 - Took it off and saw a movie instead.

Wednesday 10/24

What I did:  Weight lifting - leg day, which means hell day.  I hate/love my leg workouts, they are so tough.  I was sore for 2 days after, and I even skipped my usual sprints afterwards since my legs felt like jello.

What I wore:  Lululemon swiftly tank in pink mist, with white Flow Y bra under.  Bordeaux drama wunder under crops (love these so much!), and New Balance Minimus Road shoes.

I wore my beloved Journey Jacket as to/from.

Thursday 10/25

What I did:  Weights again, I worked on back this time and did my sprints afterwards.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in white, and power purple wunder under crops.

I wore my Diesel Fluvy hoodie as to and from.

Friday 10/26 - Took it off

Saturday 10/27

What I did:  Went to my power yoga class.  It was a very good class, and I felt a lot stiffer since I hadn't gone to yoga for a couple weeks.  It's amazing how much yoga helps...

What I wore:  Lululemon Practice Freely tank in heathered paris pink, and astro crops.

And today I did not workout again!  Well, maybe I'll go later.  But I went to hit golf balls this morning, did a pretty crappy job, and got over it real fast.  So I went to eat brunch instead.  Now I'm all full and don't feel like moving... haha.  But I'm happy with 4 days of solid workouts this week.  My goal is to go 4-6 times a week.  So at least I hit my minimum!

Swarovski Paloma Round Drop Earrings

I just bought some new earrings from Gilt and I am absolutely in love with them!  They are Swarovski, of course.  I just love Swarovski earrings.  These are called "Paloma Round Drop Earrings".  They are light pink swarovski crystal surrounded by small clear ones.  They are super light and comfortable - I wore them all day the other day and couldn't even feel them.  Sometimes I had to feel my ears to make sure they were still there!

Here they are:

The light pink crystals are interesting because they kind of reflect whatever the background color is.  That's why they look lighter on me than they do in the box with the dark blue back drop.

Anyway, so I really like the size and style of these earrings.  They can really be dressed up or down.  I feel comfortable wearing them to work or to a night out.  They were on sale on Gilt for $40, down from $75.  But I had credit so I ended up only spending $20 on them.  A great deal!  

Josh Brody Sequin One Shoulder Dress

I bought another Josh Brody dress from Hautelook last week and it just got delivered.  I actually really like the first Josh Brody blouson dress I bought in black, then I bought the same dress in nude!  So I figured that I would give this brand another shot, and I think this one is a keeper as well!  It's a rather simple style with the one shoulder thing, and the banded sequins decorations are not very overwhelming.  I can find many occasions for this dress, so I think I will be keeping it for sure.

I'm actually not wearing a bra in this pic lol.  But I could definitely wear a strapless bra under.  I bought this dress in a size XS, and since it is pull-on style, it's a bit tough to get on without the sequins scratching me.  And once I put it on, some of the sequins on the shoulder strap actually still rub my skin, so I hope that won't be an issue if I were to wear it all night.  Oh well, I guess we'll see!  Otherwise I'm pretty happy with this dress though!

Sunday Funday!

I feel like this should just be called "Funday" instead since I've been such a slacker writing it on Monday night and all.  =)  Well as I've always said, better late than never!  It's been another busy week that I didn't get in nearly as many workouts as I wanted to.  But oh well.  It is what it is!  I can only hope to do better this week.

Monday 10/15
What I did:  I went to the driving range and hit some balls.

What I wore:  Lululemon groove pants in power purple, with my matching burnout UCSB tank top that I love, and Nike Frees.

Tuesday 10/16

What I did:  Weight liftings, I worked on back.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in wish blue, with currant Energy bra under.  And astro wunder under crops in black slub denim.  I wore my Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes.

Wednesday 10/17

What I did:  Weights workout again, worked on chest this time.  Followed by sprints at the end.

What I wore:  Lululemon pink mist Let It Loose tank, with my other astro wunder under crops in heathered black/dewberry, and New Balance Minimus Road shoes.

I took Thursday night off to go to this Halloween haunted maze thing in Santa Monica.  It was pretty cheesy but kind of scary too!  I get very jumpy and scream really loud and these people love to chase me around!  I scare my friends by screaming as loud as I can, before anyone else has a chance to scare them.  =)

Friday I also took off because well... it was Friday and I was lacking sleep all week so I just had an early night.

Saturday 10/20

What I did:  Weight workout again, and worked on shoulders.  Followed by sprints again.

What I wore:  Lululemon Power Y tank in discovery stripe, with deep indigo Ebb & Flow crops.

I actually went and played golf after the workout too, and it is finally cooling down around here so I had to put on a long sleeve.  Well, I actually changed into another Power Y tank, in three print, and put my power purple swiftly 1/2 zip over it.  I love this top/color.

And that's all the pictures I took last week.  I took yesterday off too so I could be lazy and do nothing... I promise I will try to be better this week!  Blogging more is definitely on top of my list.  I should just bring my ipad with me everywhere so I can do it on the go...

Mango Pleated Sheer Shirt

So during the last "Sunday Funday" post, I posted a picture of my new blouse which I am in love with. It is from Mango, which is a really popular store all over Europe, but they also have some locations in the US.  I have a few shirts I bought from there while I was in Europe, and I really like them.  So when I visited the Santa Monica store, I picked up this Pleated Sheer Shirt.  This shirt is so cute, I am crazy about it.  I wore it last week to work and again today!  This is rare for me, since I hate repeating tops so often.  But I just really wanted to wear it again!  Here it is on me:

So it is a semi see-thru super light weight shirt in a gorgeous deep blue color.  It's got pleats down each side in the front as well as one on the back.  I have worn it with pants and a skirt as seen above, and both work for this shirt.  If I don't tuck it in though, it is a bit too loose and flowy for work.

Here are the photos from their website of this top:

Anyway, I'm super into these types of flowy blouses nowadays for work.  This shirt was $49.99 which was a bit more than what I'd like to spend on a work shirt (I'm cheap).  But oh well, I love it and I could wear it a lot.  I find that Mango has pretty cute shirts that fit well, true to size, and are constructed ok, but their skirts fit me pretty horribly.  When I tried a couple skirts on, I just saw lumps and bumps down both sides making me look like I have cottage cheese thighs.  So I'm going to just stick with their tops.  They have some very cute blouses right now.  I think I am definitely going to keep an eye more closely on this store from now on!

Sunday Funday

It feels like only a couple days ago when I wrote the last "Sunday Funday"...  oh wait, it was.  =)  Well, I'm glad to be posting this one on time today!  I tried to workout as much as I could this week, but my schedule was quite busy for a few days.  I think I did ok though!  I just wish I got more weights and cardio in.  It finally cooled down here earlier this week, but today it went back up to the 90s... ugh!  I can't wait till this heat wave is over so I can run and do more stuff outdoors.  I went out for a run/walk with Whiskey today and we both nearly died.  Poor guy in his fur coat.  =(  So it will be nice if and when winter finally gets here!  But then I'm sure I'll complain about how it is so cold here in the lower 60s.  =)

Tuesday 10/9

What I did:  We get Columbus Day off of work since the bond market is closed.  So I took Monday off of the gym as well obviously.  On Tuesday I was going to go workout, but I wasn't really in a good mood, so I went to hit golf balls instead.

What I wore:  Lululemon white swiftly LS, with bubbulicious cool racerback underneath, and my bordeaux Dance Studio Pants.  I'm really glad I bought/kept these pants in this color because I seriously love them.

I also have my work outfit from Tuesday.  I bought this new blouse from Mango that I haven't had a chance to write about yet.  But I love it.  I am all about wearing loose blouses with pants or skirts (and a belt) to work these days.

Wednesday 10/10

What I did:  I went to lift at the gym and worked on arms, followed by ten 20 second sprints with 10 second rest in between.  Although these ten sprints took only 5 minutes to complete, it is such a killer when you do it in a high speed since the rest time is so short in between.  It's a very efficient use of my time since I was running late to meet up with my driving range buddy.

What I wore:  Lululemon swiftly short sleeve in white/ultraviolet, with Power Vinyasa crops and New Balance Minimus Road shoes.

And for golf, since it was getting quite chilly at night, I wore my coal Dance Studio pants with fruity tootie swiftly LS.  I love Dance Studio pants for golf.  I think I will use it as an excuse to buy more of them when nice colors come out.  =D  These coal pants are in size 2, whereas the bordeaux ones are in size 4.  Looking at the pictures, I think you can tell that these fit tighter all the way around.

Thursday 10/11

What I did:  Weights, worked on legs.  It was such a killer!  So I skipped my usual sprints afterwards.

What I wore:  Old school Lululemon Tri Y tank in this blue gingham print, with my CW-X Pro tights and my New Balance shoes again.  Been wearing these a lot lately!

It was a pretty chilly morning, so I wore my new hoodie from Cotton On as to/from.  I love this hoodie so much...

I skipped Friday morning workout, since I had a late night on Thursday for a New York colleague's happy hour when he came in town.  Then I skipped Friday afternoon workout to have happy hour drinks with another friend.  Hmmm... this social trend is killing my workout schedule!

Saturday 10/13

What I did:  Yoga class.  Much needed.  We stretched a lot and it felt good since I was so tight!

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in pow pink, with pow pink Free To Be bra underneath.  Paired with black/bon bon Astro Crops.  Why won't this color bon bon make a come back?!  I love it, along with fruity tootie!

Sunday 10/14

What I did:  Today was quite an active day for me.  I got up at 7 because one of my friends is crazy and wanted to play tennis by 7:30 am.  I guess it was a good idea, since it was such a hot day today.  Straight after tennis, I went to my golf lesson and played for a couple hours.  I think golf is definitely my game more than tennis, but that's just because I'm better at it.  Tennis makes me curse.  =)  After golf lesson, I took Whiskey to the park for almost 2 hours.  He's napping right now.

What I wore:  Lululemon Stuff Your Bra tank in fossil/flash, with Run A Marathon crop, and my Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes.

And that concludes today's Sunday Funday!  I think I will now join Whiskey for a nap as well.  That is the best thing to do on Sunday afternoons after an active morning!

Cotton On Hoodie

I bought this super cute hoodie from a store called Cotton On in Santa Monica.  I had never been in this store before, but a cute jacket on the window display drew me in.  It has some trendy clothes, and a pretty good sized selection of active wear.  The prices are very cheap.  I couldn't believe that this cute hoodie I bought was only $25!

I actually saw an almost exact same hoodie made by Nike at Nordstrom the week before.  But they were selling it for $98, and they only had a size XS which was a little too small for me.  So I was pretty stoked to see this hoodie for a fraction of the price.  It fits well and is super soft and comfy.  I love the collar too (it does not have a hood).  I have been wearing it here and there and love it so far!  But it is still a bit too warm here to wear it comfortably.  So maybe when "winter" comes, I will get more use out of it.  =)

Very Very Belated Sunday Funday

I totally get the irony of posting "Sunday Funday" on a Tuesday, but I suck.  So that is that.  I have had quite a busy weekend with my friend's wedding which I was a bridesmaid in.  And another friend came from out of town to hang out with me one night.  I know I've never mentioned this on the blog before and won't say too much here, but I've also been having marriage problems with my husband.  It is generally a really sucky situation for me, especially given how short of a time ago we got married which makes me feel even worse.  So I'm not doing too well these days, and shopping/blogging hasn't been a main priority.  But anyways, I do have a lot of outfits for this post, so here we go!

Since I missed last week, I will start with my outfit that I wore to my 1 year wedding anniversary last Monday.  It is definitely ironic how timing works.

Monday 9/24:  I wore my Tahari ASL Woven Surplus dress which I love.  I paired it with my pink BCBGeneration tapis sandals that I wore to my wedding.  Also my Swarovski Nina Vintage Rose earrings that I wore to my wedding as well, though it is pretty much covered by my hair.  I guess I was feeling quite sentimental.  I grabbed my pink Chanel caviar medallion tote to match.  I sort of liked the girly pink with the military style dress as contrast.

Wednesday 9/26

What I did:  The only day I worked out last week unfortunately.  I went to lift weights and worked on legs.  I had such a hard leg workout that I was sore for about 3 days afterwards.  I was also feeling a bit sick last week, but I did run 5 sprints after weight lifting.

What I wore:  Lululemon bubbulicious cool racerback with bordeaux drama wunder unders and New Balance Minimus Road shoes.  I really love bordeaux drama as bottoms.

Monday 10/1

What I did:  Weight liftings - worked on back, followed with sprints again.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in little boy blue, with bright blue Flow Y bra under and wunder groove crops.  NB shoes again.

Tuesday 10/2

What I did:  Weights, chest.  Followed with sprints.

What I wore:  Lululemon Run Energy SL in angel blue, with coal Team Spirit crops and Nike Frees.

I wore my Zella Stripey Melange hoodie as to/from since I worked out early in the morning before work and it was cold.

I haven't posted any work outfits in a while.  I feel like I haven't been wearing anything worth posting to work.  But as a sample, here is what I wore last tuesday and this is pretty much the type of clothes I've been wearing:  Express Wide Waistband Editor pants in blue, with an Express ruffle front blouse.  Here I am also wearing my Rebecca Minkoff mini M.A.C shoulder bag which I've been getting a ton of use out of.

Tuesday night I also went to hit golf balls, so I wore my groove pants with Scoop Me Up tank in caspian blue.  I love this tank, it's so flattering.

Wednesday 10/3

What I did:  Yoga.  It was a good class.

What I wore:  Lululemon Hot Class tank in chirp, with Astro crops.  Here I am also wearing my Diane Von Furstenburg Lana Thong sandals.

Oh I also have another work outfit.  I wore my new Express Studio Stretch Pieced Pencil skirt, with the  Foiled Drape Front tee.

Thursday 10/4

What I did:  Weight lifting one more time.  This time worked on shoulders.  And then sprints.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in black embossed manifesto, with pow pink Free To Be bra under.  And Run: Empower crops in coal with Adidas Adizero Adios 2 shoes.

I wore my currant Define Jacket as to/from.

Times like these I am glad I worked out in the morning, because I had to drive out to Huntington Beach after work for my friend's rehearsal dinner.  It was a very nice time, but traffic took 2 hours to get there!  Crazy!!  I sat in my Sue Wong Applique Cap Sleeve dress the whole time too. Glad I finally got to wear this dress though.  I wore my Ivanka Trump Pinkish pumps with it, since those were the shoes I planned to wear for her wedding and wanted to practice walking in grass with them (not good).

Friday 10/5

I didn't workout since I had a late night on Thursday.  And one of my college friends came to visit from out of town.  So I took a pic of my going out to happy hour/dinner outfit.  I wore my True Religion jeans with Calvin Klein drape wrap top, and my new favorite jacket from S.Y.L.K.

Saturday 10/6

This was the day of my friend's wedding.  It was such a long freaking day!  I drove out to Huntington Beach again, her wedding was at the Hyatt there on the ocean.  Very nice place.  Started my makeup/hair by 9 am.  Then busy all day taking pictures and helping her.  She had a well over 6 figure wedding, so she had her team of people helping including a wedding planner.  But somehow there was still so much to do and we were running so behind!  This whole wedding thing is way too crazy... Anyway here is the bridesmaid dress I had.  She actually had 2 different styles alternating.  I think I got the more flattering one, but it is very quintessential "bridesmaid dress".

I was so tired after that long day, I passed out by like 10 pm.  Hahaha.  So glad it's over!  She echoes my sentiment.

Anyways so this is it for now.  I promise to be better next week about posting on time! 

Express High-Waist Studio Stretch Pieced Pencil Skirt

I bought this Express High-Waist Studio Stretch Pieced Pencil Skirt over the weekend for such a good deal - it was on sale for $29.99, and Express has a 30% off of sales price deal going on right now, so I ended up paying only $20 for it!  It is pretty unbeatable price, and I actually really like this skirt too.

So the main, middle part of this skirt is actually a dark navy color.  It's very dark though, and could almost pass for black.  The side panels are a charcoal gray color, and the top portion is faux leather.  It's a very unique look and gives a quite slimming visual effect.  I would have been happy with anything for 20 bucks, but it is super comfortable too, which really surprised me!  It is definitely high waisted, as it looks on the model.  And it falls to knee length on me as well.  The store I went to only had one of these left, which happened to be a size 2.  I usually wear size 0 or 00 pants at Express, but always wear a size 2 in pencil/work skirts.  And this one was no exception.  It fits perfectly!  I think this is a great purchase.

I also bought 2 tees that were on sale for $14.99 but after the additional 30% off, only $10 each!  One of them I bought is this Foiled Drape Front Tee in ivory:

If you look at the fabric up close, you can see a slight sheen to it so it looks fancier than just a cotton tee.  It's quite comfortable as well.  I got it in size XS, which was the only size they had left in it.  It fits on the tighter side.  

I also bought another tee in the same exact style but a dark blue burnout material.  I can't find a picture of it online, but you get the idea.  I'm sure I'll take a photo of it on me at some point later.  I love that these two shirts also can work as work shirts, or casual shirts.  They were also the same price.  So basically I left the store with 3 items and only out $45 after taxes.  Really can't beat that!