Forever 21 Haul, OOTD & Ann Taylor

For those of you who don't know, the rodeo is in town right now. We were lucky enough to have a friend score us some tickets into his company's tent for the Saturday night cook-off so we headed over to the rodeo for some good ol' country music and food.

By the time we got there, food was limited, so I had about 5 bites of sausage and a dinner roll. I thought to myself, awesome less calories.

Except a couple of hours later, I stated to feel funny. Nauseous, stomach pains etc. I tried to brush it off because it came and went. We stayed until the end of the cook-off at 11 p.m. and on the taxi ride home I was holding on for dear life praying I wouldn't pass out from the stomach pain.

Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I had some kind of food poisoning, because I ended up just feeling awful all night, but I'll spare you the details.

My husband knew what a tough night I had so he didn't complain once when I asked if we could go to Forever 21 the next morning (today) to do a little accessories shopping (I had a gift card I wanted to use.)

I ended up getting no accessories and a few clothing items, go figure. The last few times I visited Forever 21, I was left feeling quite unsatisfied. I thought a location change might help better my luck so we headed to the Forever 21located in the Pavilions downtown, which is Houston's flagship store.

Here is what I wore today:

Jeans- GAP's destroyed "always skinny"; Racerback tank- Forever 21; Sweater- White House Black Market; Necklace- Tiffany & Co "return to Tiffany" heart w/ Forever 21 key charm on it as well; Flats- Xhilaration at Target. I love the little buttons on the WHBM sweater on the front and sides. Such a cute detail.

One of my Forever 21 purchases was this cute off-white spring jacket, which I put on when I got home so I could take some pictures of it for this post:

I love cropped jackets and especially love the detailing on this one. It's lightweight and perfect for Houston's in-betweenish kind of weather right now.

I've been wanting to add a bit more navy blue to my wardrobe and this cute top fit the ticket:

It's got little hearts on it and a sweet front pocket. The back has a great cut-out too, that makes the top a little more fun and unexpected. It was $24.50 and I got a size medium.

This pretty tiered top caught my eye right away:

It's definitely a top you have to wear a strapless bra with, but that's OK with me. I love it. Perfect with jeans and a cool necklace, or tucked into a skirt with a cardigan over it for work.

It was $27.80 and I got a size medium.

When I saw the ruffle-sleeve top I bought a few weeks ago in off-white in this gorgeous pinky/peach color, I knew I had to have it. I don't oftentimes buy something in more than one color, but this top was too good to pass up:


It looks a lot brighter and peachier in real life. Love this top! My white one is a size small, but they didnt' have any left so I got this one in a medium. It was $15.80, I believe.

It's always hard for me to find a long black tank, so when I saw this super-long one for $12.00 with ruffle/netting detail at the neckline, you know I couldn't pass it up:

I like to wear longer tanks with my skinny jeans and this one is just perfect for that.

My final item, not from Forever 21 which I forgot to post a couple of weeks ago is this gorgeous soft pink blouse from Ann Taylor that I got on sale for $29.99 down from $78.00. I love the big fluffy flower-like detail at the chest area.

It is such a beautiful blouse. The pink is super soft and perfect for spring. I can't wait to wear this top!

Did you go shopping this weekend? Share your steals with me in the comments below!

xoxo,

Veronika.

I Got It (Clarisonic) & Other Weekend Buys (Oh, and My Hair Cut)

Well ladies, I finally got it! I went and bought the Clarisonic Mia at Sephora with my 10% VIB discount. I got the pink one. I got the Mia because I like the size of the Clarisonic itself, and the charger takes up less space. Since it is the same brush head, I hope to get awesome results.

I have a strategy for my Clarisonic use. I pray I won't go through a purge period, so to avoid it, I am starting off slow. I am not going to use it twice a day (or even once a day) and I am going to use it only on my non breakout areas (so I'll use it on my forehead, nose and cheeks, and avoid my chin and jaw.)

I will give updates as I use it. I can't use it tonight because it has to charge for 24 hours first. So Sunday will be my first Clarisonic cleaning day.

Here is a pic of my Mia, right next to my Sonicare toothbrush:

Before I get to the rest of my purchases, I'll show you lovely ladies my new haircut. Today was hard because I actually had more cut off than I had planned to. I love it though. I needed it. Basically, my hair was so damaged and snapping off, that my "length" at the back of my hair was actually just the longest part of my hair that hadn't broken off yet, so it kind of formed a "V" at the back. When my hairdresser showed me in the mirror, I was like, just cut it off. David talked me through what he would do, I took at deep breath, and off we went to the washing sink.

I really love how much lighter it feels, and how he took the front layers up shorter. Now keep in mind, this is hair I've been running errands with all day, and laid on the couch with for hours before I took these pics (watching the last episodes of Season 2 of True Blood: love love love):

Here is a shot of the length so you can see how far it goes down my back now:

Here are some more shots of the layers:

Anyways. I really like it. It's a bit shorter, but it's healthier and softer.

I've made a new commitment to myself this year. I want to focus on making everything the best it can be. Taking better care of my hair, skin and body. I want to take my vitamins regularly and just focus on keeping my skin in great condition. Next on my list is a Vitamin C serum for my skin.


Now onto my purchases. My friend Heather (who got married on the beach) wore these gorgeous earrings on her wedding day from Swarovski. I had to have them. Not only are they oh-so-pretty, but they are exactly like my engagement ring! It is the same look of a round center stone with pave around it. Love them. They are the style called "Angelic." They retail for $75.00. I told my husband they were his Valentines day gift to me, and he said I ruin surprises. I think he meant to say "thanks for making gift-giving so easy."


Love them.

I also got this great final sale skirt from Ann Taylor today. It has an awesome animal-print-like texture (and we all know how much I love animal prints). It was $39.98...originally $120, which obviously I wouldn't have paid for it.


I was once again disappointed with my trip to Forever 21. The stock just wasn't great today. I tried about 7-8 things on, and bought one top. It's just a simple pink and black striped top, for $10.80.
It looks kind of shapeless, but it is really nice on. It's actually one of those tops I picked up thinking "this could be very good, or very bad." For $10.80, there wasn't much to lose.

You know I can't resist a Victoria's Secret coupon, so when I got one in the mail for a FREE lacie panty (they are my fave!) and $10 off of any bra, I was sold.

I got this cute animal-print bra for $24.50.

Here it is on VS model Miranda Kerr:

I love her. So pretty. Speaking of Miranda Kerr, how awesome is this recent pic of her ( I believe it's from GQ):

I love her hair...kind of actually reminds me of how mine is now (the length and layers.)

Back to shopping... I got this cute workout headband for $1.50 at Forever 21:

Yes, I wear headbands with bows on them to work out. I still like to have cute accessories. Plus, this one has little teeth in it to really hold hair back.

My final purchase was this awesome bracelet from Forever 21 for $7.50. It looks a lot like some of the ones I've seen at J. Crew and Ann Taylor for $80-$100.

It is much more sparkly and awesome in real life. Very happy to have gotten such a great deal on an accessory I've had my eye on for awhile.

That's all for today ladies. As always, thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

xoxo,

Veronika.