Anjolee Review

Hello, All!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

And, speaking of lovely (yes, I do love a ham-handed segue, thank you for noticing), I got some lovely new earrings:

They're from the wonderful people at Anjolee and are the diamond drop earrings.  The style I received are the triple diamond drop earrings and I ordered them in topaz because it's my birthstone.

I was pretty excited when Anjolee contacted me for a review and not just because their jewelry is gorgeous.  No, what I like most about Anjolee is that they're a fairly small company but are still committed to an environmentally-friendly manufacturing process.  Any waste created by the process is filtered to ensure only clean discharge it put back into the environment.  And the remaining material is sent to be refined or is recycled for reuse.

So, yeah, they're a pretty cool company and they make some stunning jewelry.

Thanks, Anjolee!

Gracey

Pops of Black

During the cooler months, I like to alleviate the more muted tones that are prevalent during fall and winter with pops of color.  And then, the other day, I got to thinking about black.  It's not fair that black doesn't get to "pop." I mean, what did black ever do to people that it remains pop-less?  Sure, it figured heavily in a very deadly and unpopular plague, but that was ages ago.  Black has totally gotten it's act together lately and, in my opinion, deserves to pop.

So, today, I wore pink and blue, with pops of black:

It's my new thing.  Well, one of my new things.  The other two are fruit (see yesterday's post) and big cats (you know, leopards, lions and such).  But, I digress.  I like black as an accent.  I think this outfit is more interesting with black as the neutral instead of brown or nude:

 I think it works in part because the blue striped shirt (vintage via Vintage by the Pound) and the skirt (thrifted) are mid-tones and not pastels.  Black with pastels could be a bit jarring.  Okay, you caught me; it's actually probably fine, I just don't like pastels.  But, black shoes (Hive and Honey via Piperlime), a black belt (thrifted via Goodwill) and black jewelry with mid-tones, I can definitely do.

Especially when the jewelry is all funky and stuff:

I think it's supposed to be a sweater clip, but they're pins, not clips and I don't wear sweater clips, so I just treated it like a brooch and wore it pinned to my blouse.  Because that's just how I roll.  That's right, pops of black and misuse of sweater clip/pin/things; I am a rebel without a cause.

Except, of course, the cause of thrifting.  This entire outfit, except for the shoes and the bracelet, was purchased second-hand, so I'm linked up to Coffee and Cardigans for Thrifter Thursday.  And I'm also linked up to IFB Project #95: Show Us Your Stripes.  Because, today, I am a linking fool.  So, I guess then maybe my cause is linking? 

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey 

Bringing Huaraches Back

I've decided that I'm bringing huaraches back:

And I'm feeling pretty darned smug about it.

Pockets!!!!

Why?  Because they're super comfortable, huarache is a fun word to say and they look good with my striped dress (c/o eShakti):

See?  Stripes and huaraches; a match made in heaven.  And when you add in a neon peach belt and this gorgeous necklace...

Image via TheHangingGarden Etsy Shop; click here to get your own.

It's like heaven is a place on earth.


Yep, you guessed it, it's Belinda Carlisle time:

My band, Neon Peach, would totally cover the heck out of this song.

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Sea Foam, Not Mint

Last year I railed against gross, institutional mint green as a trending color.  This year I still just can't with mint green.  But, I can with sea foam.  And I did, with this necklace (Onyx Phoenix necklace, via BaubleBar):

Yes, that's sea foam, not mint.  How can I tell?  Because mint is gross and this isn't.  Really though, sea foam has more blue to it than mint; it's like a greenish aqua.  Although, maybe this is just aqua...

Oh, well, whether sea foam or aqua, I wore it today:

And I wore it with coral ankle-zip skinnies (Gap), a gray sweater (Nordstrom) and silver and gray flats (Target, v. old).

Happy Wednesday, All!

Gracey

Shop the Look:
Exact BaubleBar* necklace (waitlisted)
Similar coral skinnies
Similar gray sweater
Similar two-tone flats

*If you're not already a BaubleBar member, you can use this invite link here.

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Pompoms and Lace

I have been eyeballing the FRANKIE necklaces from Etsy vendor, NestoftheBluebirds, for a couple of months now and finally pulled the trigger on this one:

And I love it.  Really, the only reason it took me so long to order is because it comes in quite a few color combinations and I didn�t know which one to choose.  I�m very happy with my choice though; the two neon poms  at the ends clenched it for me. 

I especially like the scale of it.  I like that it has pompoms, not POMPOMS.  It�s a good way for me to incorporate a little of the �global chic� trend into my wardrobe in a manner that compliments my style as opposed to overpowering it. 

Today I paired the necklace with a simple, cream lace sweatshirt (Macys) and burgundy cords (Banana Republic).  This lets the necklace be the star.  I also added blue leopard flats (Nine West �Naughty�) because 1) I love burgundy and blue and 2) it picks up the blue from the necklace tying the whole look together.   

That�s right, not all of my outfits are happy accidents; sometimes I actually think things through!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Gracey

Shop the Look:

NestoftheBluebird FRANKIE necklaces

Lace front sweatshirt

Similar burgundy cords

Blue leopard flats (here, here, here)

** Disclosure: Actions taken from the hyperlinks in this blog post may yield commission/compensation for the writer. Please see the Disclosure tab for more details.

Black and Blue and a Lynne Pin

Some time back, awesome, fabulous, gorgeous blogger friend Lynne sent me an awesome, fabulous, gorgeous vintage pin:

I wore it with black and blue: 

In what was, apparently, the most confusing outfit I�ve ever worn.  As I was leaving the house, my sister said �That�s a cute� thing.�  I asked her what thing she was talking about and she said my outfit.  She said she didn�t know what it was, but she liked it.  And, later in the day, I was trying to talk to my manager and he just kept staring at me until I asked him what the problem was.  He said he just didn�t understand what he was looking at.  I explained that it was three different pieces all layered together.

Specifically, I layered a turtleneck (Gap) under a cap-sleeve bow blouse (via Vintage by the Pound) and topped them both with a sleeveless wool dress (vintage Liberty House via Goodwill):

I also added leggings (Macys), a studded belt (JC Penney) and cuffed boots (Gap).  Oh, and neon pink stud earrings (Kate Spade New York via Nordstrom): 

image via Nordstrom.com

Confusing or not, this was one of my all-time favorite outfits.  I�ll be the first to admit that my attempts at layering don�t always work, but I think I frickin� nailed this one. 

Happy Monday, All!

Gracey

Green With Envy?

Nope.  I�m just green with poor photography skills.  Unfortunately, I had to take these photos inside and I had to take them myself (the horror!), so the end result is green Gracey in a cute outfit:

Now let�s talk about the cute outfit, shall we?  It looks like pants and a tunic, but it's actually a dress over pants.  See?

The dress is obviously too long to be worn over pants, but I didn�t want to wear it alone as the holiday party I was attending was in a bowling alley.  A nice bowling alley, but still, a bowling alley.  So, I belted the dress with a skinny belt and then pulled it up to hang over the belt, creating a sort of blouson effect.  Et voila, my dress is now a tunic:

In addition to the dress-as-tunic (vintage via Goodwill) and cropped pants (Vince Camuto via Nordstrom), I also wore leopard pumps (Merona �Maye� via Target): 

Merona "Maye" pumps - Image via target.com

I finished off the look with a vintage gold clutch (Goodwill), a couple of vintage bangles (Red Fox Vintage) and my black mini-bubble necklace: 

And there you have it, what I wore for my holiday party.  What about about you Reader Friends?  Are you attending any holiday parties this year?  If so, what are you wearing?!

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Gracey

Inspired By: The Braided Bandit

The other day, Hannah of The Braided Bandit wore an adorable combination of a cropped plaid jacket and a floral blouse.  See?  Adorable!

At the time I didn�t think I�d be able to recreate the look because I didn�t think I had the right pieces.  Happily, I was wrong:

As I was poking through my closet this morning, I found this gifted floral shirt (thanks, Mom!) and a cropped plaid jacket (vintage via Goodwill) of my own!  I paired my floral and plaid with skinny jeans (Old Navy) and black flats (Hive & Honey via Piperlime).  And I also added a black statement necklace, vintage bracelet (via Red Fox Vintage) and my new black & gold stud earrings that I won from Sarah at Just Take a Bow and bonnilu.

Thank you, Hannah, for the inspiration!  And thank you, Sarah and bonnilu for the awesome earrings!  And thank you, my Dearest Reader Friends, for visiting!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Gracey