Trend obsession: crop tops and flowy skirts

Happy Easter, blog readers!

This week I am loving crop tops and flowy skirts! They look to be the perfect spring/summer combination. I have yet to try this trend personally but I think it's gorgeous and crop tops and flowy skirts are on my shopping wish list.

                                                                   Source: jadedbohodreams.tumblr.com via Angela on Pinterest

                                                                   Source: my-second-closet.tumblr.com via Angela on Pinterest

                                                                    Source: fashionworship.com via Angela on Pinterest

Sadly, these items are few and far to come by. Here are my favorite finds, all from Forever 21. I especially love the lace and leopard crop tops and the ikat print skirt. I think these tops would go great with the skirts directly below them. I'm trying to decide which to add to my closet!

lace top // geometric top // leopard top

ikat print skirt // layered high-low skirt // ombre skirt

What are your favorite places to shop for crop tops? Which of these would you purchase?

Why fashion?

I like to write about fashion, and think I'm a decent source for fashion information and advice, for a few reasons.

1. I wear clothes on a daily basis (okay, that's an obvious one and now you are probably thinking, this girl is a moron for saying that. Please continue reading)
2. I know a few things about colors, patterns, etc.
3. People tell me I am well-dressed, often
4. I offer a different perspective: everyone is unique but also I am petite
5. I'm a bargain shopper

Let me elaborate on these...

1. I don't just wear clothes, I wear clothes.

From a young age, I have loved clothes and fashion. Sadly, I cannot find the picture of myself at age 2 or 3 where I am wearing some snazzy sunglasses and zebra striped pants to prove my point here.

The only times you will catch me in anything unfashionable is
   a) on the occasion that I put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt when I'm headed to class for the evening
   b) when I am wearing pajamas - and even then my colors/patterns are coordinated from top to socks
   c) on the weekend when I am being lazy and lounging

I put thought, effort, and time into the planning of every outfit I wear. I love prints, patterns, textures, and little details. I use to not wear jewelry, aside from a ring, watch, and the same necklace everyday, but in the past few months I have added more pieces to my collection and incorporate more "bling" into my outfits. Soon, I plan to share what is in said collection, but with jewelry I am still learning as a I go.

Favorite: Victoria's Secret Long Jane Pajama, sold out

2. In high school, I took photography class for two years. Through this class, I learned some artsy skills and have continued to use the knowledge I learned from those years into my adulthood years. I can generally recognize what patterns will go together, what colors are compatible, and what a fashion DON'T looks like. Take, for example, the time my brother (who is the least fashionable person I know) paired a yellow and turquoise striped shirt with plaid shorts that were primarily brown and blue, and when questioned about said outfit replied "This matches this and this matches this" pointing to minuscule stripes of yellow and turquoise on the plaid shorts and comparing them to the large stripes on his shirt. When I first saw him in this outfit, which embarrassingly enough for everyone, he wore on more than one occasion, I immediately recognized it as a fashion DON'T. Funny enough, since that day I have noticed many males wearing similar outfits and laughed hysterically. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't, and I feel that I have a good eye at differentiating the two.

BTW I really like this article here which explains how to combine colors.

Poor child. This just does not look right to me!

3. I have noticed lately, more than ever, that people comment on my outfits on a daily basis. People I know, people I don't know, it doesn't matter. I get the look, and the point up and down at me, along with the "that's cute" and "I love your top/dress/skirt/shoes" and "You look very nice today." My supervisor recently told me "For someone who works in education, you are very fashionable. That doesn't happen often." I took that as a major compliment and inspiration to continue being fashionable as an educator.

Here are some great fashion tips for educators.

4. I am 5'2" on a good day :) in actuality, I'm just under 5'2" but I believe it's okay to round up to the next highest number. Saying I'm 5'1-3/4" would make life really complicated. Being shorter brings challenges when it comes to shopping. I mostly shop in the petite section of stores and in just the past two years have really found the places that are best for me to shop at with my body type. One reason I have so much love for the LOFT brand is because they make petite sizes! For my fellow petite individuals, the following blogs are great: Alterations Needed by Kelly, extra petite by Jean, and cute & little by Kileen. I think it's important in fashion to work with what you have. I have a small frame, shorter torso, longer legs, larger behind, a B cup size, round thighs, and feet that don't quite fit my body (I wear size 7.5-8 and know plenty of people my height or taller who wear 5-6 size shoes) I would be lying to myself if I tried to wear anything that didn't work with all of that. 

Dream closet

5. I love to shop. Seriously, I think I have a problem, but I will generally not buy something without a coupon or some sort of savings deal. Here are a few points.

• Many store websites have coupons you can readily print for use in-store. 
• I am also a fan of Retail Me Not - this website has coupons to literally every store and has come in very handy while shopping online. I highly suggest you check it out. 
• If you have a smart phone, download apps for specific stores. They often offer mobile coupons that you cannot find online or anywhere else.
• Store-specific credit cards offer ability to earn points that can save you money on future purchases and card member specific savings.
• I also pay attention to ads in the Sunday paper. 
• It has also been a wise decision to sign up for emails from specific brands because even though these emails are constantly flooding my inbox, they often have a promotion code attached to them and are easy to delete with a couple clicks of my mouse if I'm not interested. 
• It's important to know what goes on sale when. As the seasons change, certain items get major discounts. For example, right now would probably be a great time to purchase a winter coat that is extremely on sale. Stores put items on sale that are going out of season to get them off their racks and make room for in season, higher priced items. Here is Target's markdown schedule.

I hope some of these tips are useful and give you a better picture of me and why I write about fashion often.



What fashion advice do you have? What shopping/savings information can you share?

Saturday fun and savings (ends today)

I joined a fun blog hop today that is being hosted by Kimberly over at her blog: Diary of a Brown Eyed Girl. I am excited to say that I gained a couple more followers, and started following a few new blogs, thanks to this event. Thanks, Kimberly!

I've also made some more design updates to my blog! I changed my About Me picture in the sidebar. I also added a Contact or Sponsor page, where you can purchase ad space on my blog. All ads are free with use of promo code. The ad runs through a site called Passionfruit and it as very easy to use and set up the ad with step-by-step instructions on their website, and they are rotated every time you refresh my blog.

I'm also trying to make some connections in the blogging world. I joined the link up for Southern Bloggers, The Lady Bloggers Society, and am waiting to hear back about Bigs and Littles Blogging Network.

Inspiration

In other news, LOFT is running a wonderful savings deal all day long! See the details on the main page of their website.

UPDATE: the 30% off and free shipping is extended for today!

Here are the bullet points you need to know:

• March 9 only - hurry to their website!
• Free shipping on orders from loft.com
• 30% off everything, on loft.com and in stores (For online savings enter code styleevent at check out)
• $50 in savings cards when you spend $50
• Double points for LOVE LOFT card members
• In stores: enter to win 1 of 3 FIAT 500 vehicles and $1,000 LOFT wardrobe

I couldn't make it in to any LOFT store today but I ordered the dress I was considering for my graduation and party, which I shared in this post, and also a pair of capris in Pebble Brown. I ended up spending over $50 so I expect my savings cards to come in the mail with the dress and capris. Hope both items fit! I will give a review of them when they arrive.

For my fellow Target-obsessed individuals, I had an email this week with a promo code: bogo50. Enter this code in your shopping cart to receive half off a purchase of shoes or a handbag with the purchase of one pair of shoes or a handbag at full price. I just now realized as I am writing this email that the code expires today at midnight! I am now eyeing the following shoes.

one. two. three. four

Which pair is your favorite?

An awesome app and blog tutorials

This morning, while I lay in bed, not yet wanting to brave the chilly air I felt in my room (the thermostat read 73 when I finally got out of bed!) I browsed Pinterest and came across some apps worth checking out. I downloaded a few new apps for my iPhone and the Cloth app is my favorite new "toy." In case you have not yet noticed by virtually all of my previous posts, I LOVE fashion. Most of the blogs I read are fashion blogs and I online window shop at least once per day.


Anyways, the Cloth app is super neat. You snap a picture of your outfit, or if you are like me and have not yet mastered the selfie photo in your full length mirror, you have someone else snap a picture of your outfit, and you can save that photo on the app. You can also upload photos from your photo library on your phone.

Once you have selected your photo, you can add notes, in response to questions such as: Where did you wear it? What do you want to remember about it? For this photo, I put that I wore it to my internship site and it was comfortable to wear all day. After notes, you can add tags, such as colors, designers, trend. For this photo, I added Loft Outlet, floral, and dress pants for the tags. Next, you can select a Category which includes Everyday, Event, Evening, Vacation, Work or Active. You are able to share each photo on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, submit it via Clothapp.com, save it to your photo album, or email the photo. Once you save the photo, it shows up in a feed. By selecting the wardrobe tab, you can see all your outfits by category. You also earn points for each outfit you add!




After spending some time with Cloth, I spent the rest of the majority of my morning working on my blog and am overjoyed with the results!

I have added blog post dividers, thanks to this tutorial from Blog Designs by Dani. It is so descriptive and did not give me a headache, much like the other tutorials I came across before this one.

I have added a cute little blog signature using this easy to follow tutorial from The Cutest Blog on the Block.

Now I am seriously struggling with the decision to change my social media icons. I found a ton of free downloads for social media icons via Pinterest. My favorite are these neutral icons courtesy of 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic. The Starfish color is my top choice. She also has links under the post (see You might also like:) to other sets of social media icons in beautiful colors. I used this tutorial by Sew Many Ways a couple of weeks ago to add the ones I have on my page.

So, what do you think? Should I add the Starfish icons? Or another color? Update: I added the Starfish icons...I think they really fit with the theme I am wanting for my blog, what are your thoughts?

Shopping expedition

Yesterday, I really had the itch to do some shopping. So, while I hung out in town, waiting to meet my brother to pick up my spoiled rotten dog who prefers car rides over being left home alone, I ventured to Old Navy. Old Navy is one of those stores I can almost always guarantee I will find something to buy at. I keep my eyes peeled for those signs that indicate an item is on sale for a much lower price than it originally was and search the entire store twice. This time, I was on a mission for some colored jeans. I tried on 2 pairs, same style, one pair in white and one in red, and the white fit well...the red, on the other hand, were SNUG to say the least. I felt like a sausage being stuffed into casing. Not pretty. They were having a sale, but I decided to hold off on the jeans purchase and check the selection online, which I did today.

Valentine fashion

 My outfits this week consisted of pinks, purples, neutrals, and reds. Sadly I did not get a picture of every outfit I wore but I put a lot of thought and planning into each one - more than I usually do. I also tried out a few clothing items and combinations that I had yet to wear.

At the right here is a combination I had not worn together yet. Please excuse the wrinkles, I snapped this photograph after wearing the outfit all day long. The brown pants are from Target (Mossimo Supply Co., no longer sold, similar) and both tops were purchased from LOFT Outlet. I really love this sweater, mostly because of the detail on the back. It is one of those items that is light enough for wearing in the summer.

New blog title, some 30 x 30 and good information

Ever since I started blogging, I have wanted to come up with a better title than Angela's Adventures. It felt silly to have my name in the title. So I feel I have finally settled...well not really settled, but am satisfied with "adventures to remember." In working with children, going to school, being around my family and everything else in between, I feel that my life is a constant adventure and each day brings new and exciting experiences. When I wake up in the morning, I have a general plan for how my day is going to go, a schedule of places to be and things to do, yet at the end of the day when I reminisce on everything that has transpired, I feel I have just been on a great adventure. I never know what to expect even with a plan in mind. I truly love that about my life, and obviously I feel it is worth remembering and hope to spread some advice, inspiration and information through blogging.

30 x 30; days 6-9

 Day 6: I kept this navy blue sweater in my 30 x 30 collection. It paired well with this blue/grey/green blouse from Kohl's and my grey LOFT capris. I wasn't confident about the shoes I chose for this outfit but I like the overall final product. Also, I attempted the stacking trend with this outfit. Side note: I love my FOSSIL watch! Mom purchased this for me for Christmas and the band can be changed out. I bought the grey band but it came with a nice tan. I haven't been able to find the same one on their website but this is the closest similarity. Mine was not that expensive though. I also learned they have a "watch bar" where you can select your own watch face and build it with various bands.

Days 1-5, 30x30

The first week is done, and I already had to cheat on this challenge :/ The comment I made in my previous post in which I said temperatures, even this time of year, in Florida, rarely drop below 70s was a tad presumptuous. Today temperatures started out in the 40s and never reached past 75! It was unexpected but amazing. Also, today was a jeans day at the middle school where I am completing my internship, which was also something I did not expect and originally had not planned to be at the school today, but I ended up going in for a few hours and decided to dress in warmer clothing than I had originally picked in the 30 items. I will probably substitute the sweater I wore for today into the 30 and take out the navy sweater I had included. I think I can get as much use out of it as I had intended for the navy sweater plus it will keep me warmer on any future cold days. The jeans count as a neutral item since I never wear jeans for work or internship unless it's permitted on a Friday and that's only when I'm doing my internship.

30 x 30

I have seen the 30 x 30 challenge on many other blogs and now I'm ready to give it a shot. Here is where I originally got the idea 

So basically you take 30 items in your closet and in 30 days you only create outfits using those clothing items. The goal is to use what you've got and (attempt to) not shop during the challenge. For me, that's difficult as I usually shop in my free time which I tend to have a lot of after the work day is over or when I'm in between school and work. Since the holidays are over and I just received a lot of clothing gifts, I decided now is the perfect time to do this. Here are my 30! See further details for where I bought the items.