OOTD: The Pink Dress

It's almost Friday, Friday, gonna get down on Friday, looking forward to the weekend, weekend, Friday, Friday, Friday....

Okay, that's enough of that---and for those of you who didn't catch the funny in that first line---you haven't watched Rebbecca Black's "Friday" video so I'm going to link it here for your viewing pleasure.

Yesterday, I showed you the Banana Republic olive dress (which, BTW I checked the freaking tag today and would you believe it---it was originally $115!!! I didn't even see that when I bought it for $41.99 plus 30% off...so now I feel even awesomer about it---if that's even possible!)

Today, I'm showing you the pink Banana Republic dress. I didn't really accessorize either dress because I wanted to show them just on their own---I'll play around with belts and such next time I wear 'em. Also--- a few people have asked about sizing. I got the olive in an XS and the pink in a Small. I have no idea why but I liked the olive in the smaller size. Weird.

HI LULU!!!

Dress-  Banana Republic
(On clearance racks right now!!!)
Cardigan- Express
Shoes- Jessica Simpson
(and yes, I've been wearing these every darn day)
Necklace- Tiffany & Co.

What are everyone's weekend plans?  I'm going to try and hit the gym, do some shopping and having dinner with Candice Saturday night!  Sounds like a perfect weekend to me!

Oh, and don't forget to check out Chloe's blog, See Chloe Shop, for all of the sales happening this weekend!
xoxo,

Veronika.

PS- I finally got back into the gym today and my quads feel like they are going to rip off of my legs. Ahh yes, the burn. It feels good to be back :)

OOTD: Pants Again (Express Editors are Seriously the Best Dress Pants Ever)

Tonight is an off night for me (no workout) so I'm going to relax and finish my Christmas cards so I can mail them out tomorrow.

I wore pants again today.  Some days it's just more comfy.  I know the Express editor pants have been a big hit lately so I'm trying to style them in different ways.

 

Top- LOFT
Cardigan- Express
Pants- Express
Shoes- Aldo

Necklace- Forever 21

Tomorrow morning I have another early AM workout so I definitely need to get some good zzzzz's tonight!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Outfits Times Two & Back to Blogging

Oh...Hello! So nice to see you all on a Wednesday evening!   Monday was just a brutal day for me which is why I didn't blog.  After lunch at work I suddenly got these very sharp pains in my stomach and I was so nauseous and dizzy and just felt hot and cold flashes constantly.  I ended up having to leave work early (in tears) because I was in awful pain (and dry-heaving, ick).  The nausea I could deal with, but the jabbing pains in my stomach were awful. I medicated and the next day I felt a bit better, but to be safe I ate only from the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast.)

Tuesday night I had an event for work so I didn't even get home until 10 at night.  So that's why I've been gone!

Having had two days to recover, I got back into my workout routine this morning. It's the first early morning workout I've done...ever.  I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and headed to the gym (sans makeup---a first!) and my friend and I worked with our trainer. The workout was pretty intense today but I must admit it did feel amazing to get the workout done first thing and be able to feel accomplished first thing in the morning. 

I'm definitely going to be doing morning workouts whenever they work with my schedule.  It's not as awful as I thought it would be and it's nice to come home from work and just relax for the rest of the night.

I did have a chance take some OOTD photos for the past 2 days. Here is what I wore to the work event I had on Tuesday evening:

Dress-  Marc by Andrew Marc New York (Nordstrom Rack)
Jacket- LC by Lauren Conrad Lace jacket (Kohl's)
Tights- Hue (Macy's)
Shoes- Jessica Simpson
Necklace- Forever 21

I really love this dress and jacket combo. The jacket was bought for me by my lovely mother in law!  I saw Chloe wearing it a few weeks ago and just loved it!

Today was a chilly day in Houston so I threw on my trusty H&M sweater coat:

Top- Ann Taylor
Sweater Coat- H&M
Pants- Express Editors
Shoes- Aldo
Belt- J.Crew

I hope everyone has had a great week so far! I'm just happy to be back to blogging and my normal routine.

xoxo,

Veronika.

(Black) Friday Shopping: Best Buy, Express, LOFT & Bath & Body Works

I hope everyone had a safe and happy thanksgiving!  Ours was spent with my husband's wonderful parents and my best friend who joined us for a turkey dinner.  Candice even baked an apple pie (from scratch) and it was delicious!  I couldn't have asked for a better thanksgiving.

I was able to get some reading done this weekend. I had read about this book in a few magazines and it peaked my curiosity so I bought it Thursday after work using a 50% off coupon from BORDERS.  It's called "Some Girls: My Life in a Harem" by Jillian Lauren.  It was a really quick read---definitely a page turner.  It's sort of a mixture of her life and what happened both before and after she decided to go to Brunei and live in a harem serving members of the royal family.  The descriptions of her time there are very interesting.  I almost expected it to be more shocking than it was, but it's certainly a great read and takes you into a world 99.9% of the population will never experience.  Candice is already next in line to read it!

So...I went Black Friday shopping. I had planned JUST to go to Best Buy but then I got all of those emails from all of the stores I shop at and when you see 40% OFF OF EVERYTHING IN THE ENTIRE STORE(!!!!!!!!!!)...well, that's kind of hard to ignore ("think of the money I'm saving!" I exclaimed proudly--- as my H rolled his eyes.)

Many of you ladies will be excited to learn that I finally took the plunge and invested in a good camera.  I purchased the Canon Rebel T2i!!! I am beyond excited!  This means better photos on the blog which I'm thrilled about. I also purchased a camera remote so I can take multiple frames using a tripod.  Very exciting! Finally, I purchased a DVD that's all about how to use the specific model I bought because honestly, I have no idea how to use it outside of automatic mode (haven't even taken it out of the box yet) and I'd love to learn to use it how it's meant to be used and learn about things like white balance and aperture.  It will be a fun little learning journey for me. I can't wait!  Plus getting it now leaves me time to learn to use it before we head to Paris.

So that's my BIG purchase...it's my Christmas present :)  We aren't really exchanging gifts this year (the H and I) because our trip is our gift.

Next up, I got this pretty sweater from Express for 40% OFF:

It's got this pretty, gunmetal colored metallic thread through it.  It was $79.50 and I got it for 40% off.

I picked up 4 packs of Wallflowers from Bath & Body Works too because they were on sale for $5 for a pack of two refills. For anyone who doesn't use these---I recommend them above and beyond any plug in air freshner I've ever used. The quality of the product and the variety of amazing scents available simply beat out the competition.

Lastly, I purchased these two incredible items from LOFT (at 40% off) that I am very excited about!

First, this gorgeous top (*sigh*, it's just so feminine and romantic)

The second item is this lovely lace skirt:

and here they are when I tried them on
(I wouldn't wear them together, this is just from the fitting room):

The top photographed a bit red...it's more of a reddish hot pink---a color I was actually worried about but I think it's nice to add a little something bright in once in awhile. I thought it looked flattering with my skin tone.

Lastly, I forgot to share something I bought at H&M when I was in Slovakia. Believe it or not, I didn't ASK to shop, my grandma's sister and her husband took me to the mall because they wanted to show me where my grandma had liked to shop (her and I shared a love for shopping.)  I only went to about 3 stores.  I ended up getting this sweater coat from H&M.  It's super long and warm...yet also lightweight so It's perfect to layer under a long coat, or even wear as a coat here in Houston where it's not too chilly:

and here's what I wore today---comfy clothes for shopping!

Tee- Love Culture
Hoodie- Victoria's Secret PINK
Tights- Lulu Lemon Wunder Under Pintuck (crops)
Boots- Nine West
Scarf---- My grandmother's---it was one of the items I took as a memory of her and I absolutely love it!

By the way---the Nine west boots are INCREDIBLY comfortable. I was so impressed with how great the felt when I walked around in them for a few hours. I am so very glad I bought them :)

How was your thanksgiving? Did you brave the malls today to get some great deals?

xoxo,

Veronika.

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.