Casual Friday: Black & White Stripes (OOTD)

Happy Friday everyone!  I just got back from an awesome session with my trainer. He actually had a holiday special recently where he had an awesome deal on unlimited training sessions so I'm going to be working out pretty hard/regularly for the next 6 weeks. I'll miss the 9 days we are on our trip, but I'll more than make up for it. 

I think the promo is valid until midnight tonight---if you're in Houston and you're interested, please email me as soon as you can and I'll send you the info!

Today was casual Friday at our office so I went with a really simple black and white ensemble and threw in my cognac boots for a little warmth.  Here's what I wore:

Tee- Love Culture
Jeans- GAP "Always Skinny" in black
Boots- Nine West
Sweater- Forever 21
Necklace- Forever 21

Tomorrow I have a busy day of errands.  First I'm going to see my doctor and get a bunch of blood work done.  Since my grandma had some medical issues that can be hereditary, my aunt who is a doctor recommended I get a series of tests done just to be sure. Then, my H and I are going to go to return some things at the mall and try to get the last little things we need for our trip---he needs a hat and some warm boots.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Weekend Finds & Lauren Conrad Style Book Review

Happy Sunday everyone!  Today Kevin and I went to Rice Village to try and find a coat for him for our trip.  We didn't have any luck at any of the stores we checked out, so we'll probably have to try the Galleria next week. It's more difficult to find stylish, heavier coats here in Houston since it doesn't get that cold here, even in the winter.

Today it was SO hot out. I mean like you could lay out by the pool hot...and it's nearly November!

Banana Republic was having a 20% off everything in the store sale today so we got a few things there and Kev got a new sweater at Express.  Here's what I got:

Black dress from Zara- I actually bought this yesterday but forgot to include it.  It's a perfect length for work and very soft and comfy.

Bath and Body works Wallflowers.  I absolutely love these. They keep the house smelling awesome. They were on sale 2 packs for $20 plus I got 20% off of my purchase using a coupon.

GAP "always skinny" jeans.  I got black ones.  I got these in a 28 (size 6) I like the way they fit and love that they have the stretch in them because they are much comfier than my always skinny destroyed ones which are just a denim without stretch.  I used a GAP Groupon and a store credit so these technically only cost me $45.

I love this satin top from Banana Republic's Monogram Collection. It was on sale for $31.99 and I got an additional 30% off.  I love tops that have detailing at the neckline like this. It almost acts as an accessory, no necklace needed!

Yesterday at Sephora I tried on a bit of this glittery gold nailpolish and I thought- it's perfect for the holidays!  I like to do my nails Lorraine-style and just paint glitter on one nail (it is a PAIN to get off.)  So I picked this up today.  I also ordered some stuff online because Sephora is having their Friends & Family sale (20% off everything on the site, use code FF2010).

I stopped by at MAC and picked up a Mineralize skin finish natural in Medium-Plus. I have seen a lot of bloggers and YouTubers using these powders and although my MAC Studio Fix is my Holy Grail powder, I thought I'd give this a go. If I don't like it, I can return it (I was not aware MAC had a return policy like this.)

 
 Here is is compared to my Studio Fix in C3 (on the right). The C3 is definitely a bit more yellow. I tend to enjoy yellow-toned foundations because they give a brightness to my skin.

I will report back when I've had a chance to use it.

I snapped some shots of my favorite parts of Lauren Conrad's Style book and wanted to share them here.  While I didn't think the book provided any ground-breaking information, it did give me a few cute ideas. My favorite feature was the Little Black Dress five different ways: (click to enlarge)

 

I really love the black lace slip under the dress in the first photo (from the left) I have been trying to find one online ever since I saw it with no luck!  I think it's great to have that one fabulous black dress in your closet that can really be styled so many different ways.  Every woman needs one of those dresses!

Here are a few of my other favorite shots from the book:

 Ohh a PINK bag!

Her hair and makeup are always so pretty and I love how she sticks to a signature look.  I feel I'm the same way. I know how I like my hair and makeup to look, and I stick with a look that works for me.  It's nice to try different things, but my hair has been every color in the book and I've tried different hair lengths...I've finally found a look I love (my current) and I'm sticking to it!

Lauren shows how a dress goes from day (office) to night (dinner)

Dear gorgeous rosette dress, I am in love with you. That is all.

Bottom line- if you love Lauren Conrad, I think you will like this book. The information isn't ground-breaking or something you haven't heard before, but it has great photos and great tips on things like organizing your closet, shopping better and even packing. 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

xoxo,

Veronika.

PS- did you miss Motivation Mondays this week?  Check it out HERE!

Lulu helping me blog!

Finally Colored My Hair & Weekend Shopping (Some OOTD's too!)

I am SO HAPPY today!  You know how I was all nervous about getting my hair done and going to a new person to get my hair colored? Well, I think a picture says a thousand words:

I am THRILLED with the way my hair turned out!  I went to Stephanie at Cutloose and she totally understood exactly what I wanted.  I am SO happy I found such an awesome hairdresser.  Stephanie recently got to work at fashion week, so I asked if she would share her experience with my readers so look out for that interview soon!

I mentioned to Stephanie that I love the ombre hair look but that I wasn't ready to take the plunge so she added some lighter pieces in the front underneath part of my hair and they just blend beautifully with the rest of the color.  I honestly hadn't realized how horrible my hair looked until I got it done today.  You see, Stephanie has mirrors both in front and behind her station so I was able to see the back of my head and man oh man did I have a lot of roots and dullness! I am so happy to have had my color touched up, everything is back to normal now!

I am also going to have Stephanie trim my hair in the next week or two.  I really trust her and she has long hair herself so I know she gets that I want to keep it long.  I can't wait to see how she trims it! I definitely need to have my layers taken up and overall just have it reshaped so it styles better.

Here are some more pics of the color (excuse the messy hair, I was trying on clothes all day while shopping.)

With Flash

 Without Flash

Now onto some OOTD's that I wore this week.  I kind of dressed more casually this week. Here's one of my outfits:

Top- Target
Cardigan- Tristan & America
Pants- Express
Shoes- Aldo

 

Dress- Target (I've worn this one a lot!)
Belt- Forever 21
Cardigan- White House Black Market
Shoes- Jessica Simpson

In addition to my incredible hair appointment, I had a wonderful shopping trip as well!  I was so happy with my finds.

First, I got this AMAZING blazer at Express. I have been wanting one for quite awhile but could never find one that I loved the fit of.  This one is perfection and has stretch to it so it's so comfy in addition to being stylish. It also looks equally great worn both opened and buttoned.  It retails for $98 but I bought it using a discount coupon.  I highly recommend this blazer. I got a size 2 because I love the look of it being really fitted.  The size 4 fit as well but I thought the shoulder part on the size 2 looked nicer on my body (the jacket has shoulder pads).

Next up are these two incredible dresses from Charlotte Russe. I was so surprised when I tried these on because number one, they are both long enough to wear for work and number 2, they fit extremely well and are totally flattering.  I am beyond thrilled about these dresses. They were both $26. 

I just realized I have fitting room pics of these!

The first dress (above) has the most gorgeous full skirt.  The top is very flattering and the straps are adjustable so if you want to pull the neckline up you can.  The second dress (below) is stunning on.  It skims the body and hugs it in all the right places without being too tight. I actually got this in a size large because the medium fit perfect but it's a dress that needs a slip so I needed to have room to accommodate that.  I also wanted to get the extra length that comes with a larger size. It doesn't look like much on the hanger but it has very interesting sleeves. I honestly think this dress looks expensive when it's on.

I picked up a couple of things at VS PINK too!  I got these v-neck tees (2/$24). I got these in a size large because I like my tees to be looser for working out.  They are so comfy and they have such cute colors out right now!

Lastly I got some super-comfy boyfriend sweats.  They are really flattering especially if you don't like tighter fits around your thighs. They are a relaxed, loose-fitting style. Absolutely love them!  I got the black ones in a size small. You can see them here, on the Victoria's Secret PINK website. I am wearing them right now! They are the perfect lounge pants!

While shopping, I also checked out GAP's sale.  I got this cute navy-blue patent wallet for just $7!!!  I was really happy to get such an inexpensive wallet since I hadn't been using one for quite some time.

I do have a vent though.  GAP's customer service was atrocious today.  Not only does their new logo look awful...but their service was terrible too. I was shopping in the Houston Galleria store and I was trying to find something in the store that was on a mannequin.  I finally tracked down a girl who worked there and she pointed in some random direction and said "it's probably over there" even though I told her I checked that area. OK.

So I finally just give up and start trying to take the jacket off of the mannequin because there was no one around to help me (why isn't their store adequately staffed on a SATURDAY when they are having a SALE?!) I soon realized the arm of the mannequin was attached to the hip so it would have to be removed to take the jacket off.

I once again went on a search for ONE employee that was not working cash and they were nowhere to be found. I even checked the fitting room area to try and find someone to help me there and instead of employees I found 2 people waiting in line, also confused as to why the store had no staff.

Someone at the cash register finally helped me take the arm off of the mannequin and I tried on the jacket and wanted to put it on hold (I ended up buying the way cuter Express blazer anyway) but I had to buy the wallet. There were 3 people on cash with a line of 6 people or so.  Does anyone else get annoyed when you have to wait in a long line to buy something? I know it's inevitable but sometimes it's just ridiculous.

I have recently had a lack of good customer service at both Banana Republic (which I emailed corporate about and got a response) and now at GAP.  I have worked at GAP before when I lived in Canada so I'm not really sure what's going on with the stores and why they aren't staffed properly on weekends.

So ladies...what do you think of my hair!? Did you buy anything this weekend? Have you experienced bad customer service recently? Share your story below!

xoxo,

Veronika.

OOTD & GAP's New Line of Dress Pants: Black Magic?

Happy Wednesday everyone! I had a meeting today for work so I decided to stick with a simple look: all black, of course. As you all know I wear black a lot because it's easy and flattering. 

Yesterday one of the ads I showed from the September issue of VOGUE was a GAP ad for their new line of dress pants called "Black Magic."  I hope that by magic, they mean "magically elongates legs and makes hips looks smaller" because if that's the case, sign me up! According to their website, the dress pants are a part of a new "Premium Dress Pants" line.  They look great on the models...can't wait to try them on IRL.  I am not known to wear pants very frequently, but I think if I could find a really flattering style (like my Express plain black "Editor" pants) then I might wear them more often.

I am really loving wide-leg pants, they work well for me because I'm tall. I plan to invest in a pair for fall/winter.  What I'm finding interesting is that GAP's new pant line features black dress pants in a "really skinny" fit.  I always wanted skinny fit black pants as an alternative to normal dress slacks, but I'm wondering if they would look appropriate for work or not? I thought worn with a longer top, jacket or blazer and simple, round-toe black pumps, they could work. I'd have to put the outfit on to see for myself, but in my head it looks awesome.  There's also a "BoyFit" pant...interesting.

What do you think of GAP's new pant line? I plan to try on the one they call "The Perfect Trouser," and maybe some of the skinnies.  How about you?

Here's my OOTD:

Top- Costa Blanca
Cardigan- White House Black Market (buy it here)
Skirt- Banana Republic
Shoes- Jessica Simpson
Bag- MbMJ (buy it here)

Thank you for reading!  I noticed I am almost at 800 subscribers (you ladies are awesome!) so it will be time for another subscriber thank-you contest soon! :) 

xoxo,

Veronika.