Dots and stripes.

• Button down: Maurices (previously)
• Cami: Maurices (buy)
• Skirt: Maurices (previously)
• Sandals: Lela Rose for Payless

This post is part of Megan's challenge to show off your stripes. Okay, this is going to have to be super quick: I got slammed a little yesterday and today, and have a lot of non-blog things to do (trust me, I would rather be blogging! :) ). And for all my blogging buddies further to the north... our weather is supposed to get unpleasant later in the week, so please don't hate on the bare legs! And of course, the pictures today were taken by my awesome wife.

New Year's Eve.

• Dress: Maurices
• Necklace: Torrid (previously)
• Bracelet: Torrid (previously)
• Shoes: Payless
• Purse: Maurices (previously)
• Coat: Kohls (previously)

Due to a confluence of unused vacation that wouldn't roll over, and Christmas and New Year's being on a Saturday, my wife had a rather long vacation, and so I took the time off to be with her. And between family holiday events, some (still ongoing) end of the year clean-up and clean-out, and spending some quality time together, it turned into a bigger blogging break than even I meant it to be. And now that 2011 is in full swing, I'm even more behind than ever (not just on blogging). But I've missed everyone and I look forward to seeing what everyone has been up to!

However, today's post is not my first outfit of 2011 (coming soon though). While we didn't have plans to go out on New Year's Eve, I decided I wanted to glam it up just a bit for a while, and put together this outfit. My wife did my hair and makeup, and we went out for a drive, bought some drive through dinner, and went home to watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV, although by then we were both in PJ's.

Oh, and in addition to all that, we took some time to take some outdoor shots near our apartment. It was surprisingly warm out, but the streets were mostly deserted. And I have to add, I bought this dress on a clearance rack for $5 several years ago. It was actually one of the first dresses I ever owned, and I still love it, although I need to take it to tailor, the zipper gets hung in one spot, and I think it needs to be fixed before something really goes wrong with it.

Oh, and I have really appreciated the comments everyone left about our Christmas tree and my Christmas party outfit last year, and in particular, Melissa from A Working Mom's Closet featured the outfit in her Favorite Holiday Outfits! post. I can't wait to get started posting some 2011 outfits and see what I've missed! As always my wonderful wife took the pictures (and held my purse and coat)! :)

Spring into Fall.

• Top: Maurices
• Skirt: Maurices
• Flower Headband: Maurices
• Wedges: Payless

First, I have to say thank you to everyone for their response to yesterday's post! I definitely have some more fun ideas to try that incorporate more "menswear" into the blog in the future, now I just need those ideas to work out! And of course, as always I love questions to answers.

It finally feels like fall here, albeit a dreary rainy day type of fall, but I was unprepared with my pictures. So for today, you get something more springlike. I think I've been coming down with something for the past few days too, which probably means I put this together to protest dreary days and feeling sick! We'll go with that explanation. I may have to skip out on a post tomorrow but if I do, I'll be back on Thursday. I hope everyone is having a great day with as much fall as they can handle! And of course, my delightful wife took the pictures for today!

Funky florals?

• Top: Maurices
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci via Torrid (worn previously here)
• Pumps: Nine West
• Necklaces: Maurices
• Bracelets: Torrid
• Bag: Nine West

This is actually an outfit from a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about posting it. I really like all the pieces, I'm just not sure about the whole thing. I kinda think the top doesn't "work" with the rest of it. And the top and the shoes are both floral-ish(Sure, that's a word, right? right?) prints, and I like the color pairing, so I thought they might be fun, but now I'm not sure. But this is a style blog, mistakes and all, so I finally decided it was good enough to ask everyone else what they think. So, what do you think? :) I mean, personally, I think the sky is blue (Actually, looking out the window right now, its gray... so I'm wrong again... oh well). Okay, bad joke, I know. (I like bad jokes!)

So more than one style blogger has mentioned Halloween, so like fall, I figure that means I can officially be excited about it on my blog. And why am I excited? Because when I go to parties, I am not the only guy in a dress! Okay, I may still be the only guy in a dress, but it does lead to some funny conversations like "What are you going to do with those shoes the rest of the year?" (Wear them, duh!) or "Did you lose a bet?" (That would make this easier to explain wouldn't it?) or "I think your costume cost more than the prize?" (But its such a fabulous costume, who cares?) Most of the people who I expect to end up at the same parties are actually in the know, so it might be a bit more boring this year. But whatever the case, I will totally post my costume on here.

And as always, I love questions in the comment and I will try very hard to answer them in a future post. And of course, my totally awesome wife took the pictures.

Pattern mixing party.

• Cami: Maurices
• Shirt: Maurices
• Pinstripe Skirt: Maurices
• Belt: Torrid
• Shoes: ? via Amazon

Okay, so Sunday ended up being a crazy day, and yesterday I went on a road trip with a friend to a book signing, and now I'm playing catch up today (including comments on other blogs!). Unfortunately, now I'm a little wiped out, and so it would just be for the best if everyone pretends this entry was far more clever and entertaining than it is. Although I have to add, and I know this might be getting old, I'm amazed at how awesome and friendly style bloggers are. There's a lot of personal reasons I decided to do this blog, but it has ended up being about the people. Which surprised me. But it shouldn't, because one of the few things I know is that the best things in life are ALWAYS about the people: making connections, making new friends, finding out how truly special and creative other people are. So having said all that, I still really love questions in the comments, it makes these entries a lot easier for me to write!

The incredibly sweet Jasmine of Tragic Fairy Tales recently gave me The Sunshine Award. I really appreciate this, thank you Jasmine! But now I'm supposed to pass it on to 12 other bloggers. There are so many other great bloggers and other bloggers who already have it, that I would hate to pick favorites or leave someone out, and so I think I will have to pass on that part of the award. Again, thank you Jasmine!

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that my beautiful wife took these pictures (er, except for the picture for the award! ;) ).

Comfortable Colors.

• Top: Maurices
• Cardigan: Old Navy
• Skinny Jeans: Z. Cavaricci from Torrid
• Pumps: Payless
• Necklaces: Maurices
• Bracelets: Torrid
• Messenger Bag: Target
• Bag: Target

It was a rainy day here, so I protested with color. I realize that I have two different bags in this collection of pictures, but I wasn't sure how I felt about the color of the orange'ish one, and then I ended up liking the pose, so I kept it. The rain also cooled things down enough that I broke out the skinny jeans. Unfortunately today is a bit of a hectic busy day, but this outfit is super comfy. The top and the cardigan are really soft and warm and bright, so take that rain.

Quirky Casual.

• Top: Maurices
• Pants: Maurices
• Shoes: Payless
• Bag: Target
• Bracelets: Torrid
• Necklaces: Maurices

This outfit was a casual bit I put together somewhat inspired by a friend and the excitement I had at recently finding some bracelets at Torrid that fit my wrists. I'm still learning to play with accessories and I've only recently started really trying to add them to my wardrobe. Maybe I overdid it? I had fun trying though. I'm also exploring adding more flats and low heeled shoes to my wardrobe, although I still love my excess of fabulous high heels. My wonderful wife took the pictures.