Fall Fashion Week: Day Three

Today was a dress-down sort of day, for errands and coffee dates and such, so I almost didn't take a picture for fall fashion week. Then I thought, why shouldn't our dress-down clothes be fashionable, too! So, here's what I wear on a typical weekday - yoga pants, a tshirt, running shoes, and a windbreaker. And you know what - it's cute! There's no reason to look like a slob on your day off or when you're headed to the gym. You can make a great first impression if you put a little care even into your comfy clothes!

Pants: The North Face

Tshirt: Gap

Jacket: The North Face 

Necklace: Francesca's

Shoes: New Balance

Necklace close-up. Definitely check out Francesca's if you have one for great, affordable accessories.

Running shoes close-up. 

I met a friend for coffee, then took a walk around the art district and across the walking bridge! I live in such a beautiful city. 

The first tips of the trees are starting to change! Hooray! 

Fall Fashion Week: Day Two

Ok, day two of Fall Fashion Week! I was running out of topics for my fashion posts, so this gives me a week to take a breather and figure out what to post next. What would you like to learn in "Fashion 101?" Accessorizing? Adding your personal flair? How to follow trends on the cheap? Dressing for your body type? Everyone submit your ideas!

Today was another warm and sunny day, but there was a great breeze so it was just right for my favorite combo - jeans, sleeveless top, and a jacket! I love that you can wear jeans at our church, and I don't ever wear them to Arbonne parties during the week, so Sunday is usually my jeans day come fall. 

Here I am on the way to the farmers market. 

With the jacket. I love love love my jacket. It's a fabulously soft leather, in "oxblood" which is super on-trend this year, and it was $15 on Ebay. Did I mention it looks brand new? One of my best Ebay scores in a while. 

A close up of the shoes, because I know you'll love these beauties! 

Top: Clothes Swap (also Lexi's  - I'm sure...most of what I ended up with was hers!)

Jeans: The North Face 

Leather jacket: Ebay 

Shoes: Italian leather, bought at a discount shoe store (Marti & Liz in Hixson - you HAVE to check them out if you live in Chattanooga! Awesome, high quality shoes in the $20-40 range)

Necklace: Tiffany & Co (you'll see a lot of that necklace, I wear it all the time! :)) 

See you tomorrow! 

Fall Fashion Week: Day One

Hello, fashion-loving friends.

I've been talked into join a blog round-up of sorts this week by my dear friend Lexi. Apparently, a group of bloggers, led by the lovely Deanna, posts pictures of their autumn wardrobe throughout a given week in September. New day, new outfit. I suppose these serve as inspiration for those putting together their own fall looks, but I see it as an excuse to wear fun outfits, so I'm in!

Today's effort was a bit half-assed I hate to say. I snapped a ghetto picture in the hallway mirror on my way out the door for a movie and dinner with my little brother.

Let's face it, even though it's officially fall now, we still live in Tennessee and have warm days. I just got this dress at our clothes swap the other day so I was excited to wear it!

Dress: Clothes Swap (Lexi, i think it was yours!)

Shoes: TJ Maxx (i just bought these and they're amazing)

Cardigan: J.Crew

Necklace: Tiffany & Co. (a gift from Arbonne)

Watch: also from Arbonne!

I am all about cardigans over tank tops for fall in the south, because you can always take the sweater off if it gets too hot! And I love the cute, swingy dress because it has pockets! 

Pairing a girly dress with some driving mocs and a cardigan or jean jacket is a great way to dress it down for the weekend. 

Don't forget to check back for the rest of Fall Fashion Week, and check out the other bloggers participating, too!

Make it so: Sparkly pumpkins!

Oh, fall. I love the air, the pumpkins, the hot tea and cider, the falling leaves - I love it all!

And I really, really love fall decorations.

While I adore the sparkly metallic pumpkins you see everywhere right now, I do not adore paying $5 a piece for something that will only be out 2 months a year. So, guess what time that makes it - spray paint time! I had a can of silver Krylon spray paint leftover from the dining room canvases, and plenty of gold paint left over from the jewelry box, so this project cost next to nothing!

A few plastic pumpkins from the dollar store...$9.

Coated them with a few coats of silver and gold, let them dry, flipped them and painted the other side....

Ta daaa! Aren't they cute? Some of the pumpkins had a nice texture to them which showed up even better when painted. 

I still haven't figured out what to do with the large pumpkins yet...any ideas? They're each about 6 inches in diameter. Winner gets a painted pumpkin of their very own! :) 

Make it so: Kate Spade-inspired jewelry box

Kate Spade is always cheerful. Whether it's a handbag, skirt, or dishware, the colorful, slightly irreverent designs never fail to make me smile.

(The Kate Spade iphone case that's so popular right now.) 

Since Kate Spade is ever-so-slightly out of my budget, however, (ok, way out of it) I have to settle for finding and crafting cute things with that Kate Spade feel. 

Enter spray paint. My love of spray paint exceeds that of a juvenile delinquents'. Spray paint has the ability to take an old, tired household object and transform it into something new and shiny. Prepare yourself, you're about to see a lot of spray paint posts. 

I bought this old jewelry box from the thrift store a few weeks ago intending to give it a good makeover. When I plopped it into the cart at America's Thrift, Lexi raised an eyebrow, and mumbled something polite about not having the vision that I have for junk, errm, stuff. 

The little heart-shaped pulls really caught my eye, but i'm a bit too old for a ballet-dancer jewelry box, and the white paint finish had certainly seen better days. So I took it home, scrubbed it down with a soapy rag, and let it sit for a few days while I decided on what colors to paint it. 

As soon as I saw the metallic gold Krylon, I knew what had to be done! 

I covered the whole thing in a few coats of Brilliant Gold. I should have put it on in super thin layers, because it still ran a bit. Definitely go with multiple thin coats if you're using a metallic. 

You can see the imperfections. I'm ok with that. 

After the paint was dry, I took it inside and stuck removable round office labels all over it. Mine were about an inch in diameter, but you could probably use slightly larger or smaller ones too. I started out in a precise grid, but that didn't look quite right so I took 'em all off and stuck them back on randomly. 

Random was much better. I thoroughly dotted the whole thing, taking care to wrap some dots around the edges. 

Then, it was back outside for another round of spray paint. This was was Krylon glossy almond. When picking out your spray paint, just pay the extra $2 for the good stuff. That extra 2 bucks makes a huge difference in the quality and quantity of the stuff inside. 

After a few more layers of paint, more drying time, and a careful peeling off of stickers, it was time for the big reveal! 

I just love how it turned out! Some paint seeped in under the circles, and there's still a few subtle drip marks visible from the gold paint, but it think it just adds to the charm! 

What do you think? What's your favorite spray paint project? 

Fashion 101: Start with the classics

Ok, so you've realized you want to be more fashionable, you've defined what sort of styles you like, and you want to build a great wardrobe - how do you do that? More importantly, how do you do that without cashing in your 401K? 

Start with the classics. Every wardrobe needs a great foundation - basic pants, blouses, skirts, etc. to get you started. If that sounds boring to you, don't worry - we're going to add color and personal flair later, but if you don't start out with a good foundation, nothing else will work right!

So, let's have some inspiration to get you started!

(From Pinterest)

(From Pinterest)

(Yes, also Pinterest)

(Yep.)

Each of these lovely ladies is/was known for taking classic, tailored pieces and adding their own flair - and they always look classy! 

There are a few classic pieces that every woman should have in her wardrobe. You'll find this list, or some variation thereof, on thousands of fashion blogs and advice columns, so this is certainly nothing new. But here is what I think every woman should own in 2012. 

1) A pair of fitted black pants. 

2) A classic white shirt and 3) a pair of perfect-fitting jeans. 

4) A year-round, wear with everything LBD. 

5) A pretty silk blouse and 6) a pencil skirt. 

7) A toss-on-over-everything cardigan. 

8) A pair of comfy flats and 9) a pair of walk-able heels. 

10) A long-sleeved striped sailor shirt (i love these so much!).

11) A few basic tees in neutral and bright colors...

12) And last but not least, an all-purpose, wear everywhere jacket. Here's where you get to start to add your style! You could go more casual with a classic denim jacket, a bit edgier with leather, big-city business with a trench, or more preppy with something tweed. It's up to you! Just pick something that you could wear with most everything in your closet. Personally, I'm a huge fan of leather jackets, but I really love my broken-in, worn-forever GAP jean jacket, too!

Ok, ready, set, shop! Don't get districted by trends just yet, just stick to the guide and find some wear-forever basics to get you started. 

Lesson three: the classics can be classy! Start with the basics when building your wardrobe. 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Shortbread Cookies

I love pumpkin. LOVE it. I can barely restrain myself to wait for fall to cook any and every variation on pumpkin goodies...pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pasta. I love it all! 

Since it's after labor day, and officially close enough to fall to pack away the white jeans and sandals (which is just rubbish if you live in the south...it's 85 degrees for pete's sake!), I figured it was safe to dust off the Kitchen-Aid and break out the pumpkin! 

And sometimes, a girl just needs a cookie. These are kinda like a cross between a shortbread cookie and a fritter, except they're not fried and use very little butter. They're actually pretty good for you!

What you need: 

* One package of Gluten Free Shortbread Cookie Mix (I used Bob's Red Mill brand)

* 1 15oz Can of 100% Pure Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

* 1 T Apple Pie Spice 

* 1 T vanilla 

*1 T coconut oil  (I just added this for moisture - you could probably get away with a Tablespoon or two of water or something like applesauce)

* 1/2 Stick of butter 

* 1-2 cups of powdered sugar 

* 1 t. Apple Pie Spice

Mix the Pumpkin, spices, vanilla, and coconut oil with the mixer on low speed. Slowly mix in cookie mix. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. 

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. 

While they're baking melt the half stick of butter in a bowl in the microwave. Mix together the powdered sugar and apple pie spice in a shallow, flat-bottomed bowl.

When the cookies come out of the oven, as soon as they're cool enough to touch, dip each cookie into the butter until it's completely covered, then roll around in the sugar mixture to coat. Return to parchment paper to cool. 

The finished product: YUM. 

These were amazing! Kind of like dense little pumpkin beignets. 

It's ok to eat pumpkin now, so go make these! :)