It’s been an busy week, however I did manage to spend a night out of town and go shopping.

I stayed in South St. Louis County this week with my boyfriend, Mike. I was waiting for him to finish work and decided to hit the clearance racks at Macy’s at South County Mall. I spent $55 for more than $221 worth of clothes. I purchased two dresses and two tops. I’m looking forward to sharing my purchases, especially once I start wearing them.

Whenever you get dressed in a different place than you’re used to it can present styling problems. I  only ran into two – I forget to pack my blow dryer and mascara. Not bad overall.

No. 1
Blue top -Value City (??)
Skirt – Daisey Fuentes,  Kohls, gifted (Dec. 2011)
Booties -Apt. 9 , Kohls, clearnance ( 2010)
Cardigan – Kohls, clearance (2009)
Wide belt – Target, clearance, $8 (2009)

No. 2
Skinny jeans – Fashion Bug, $17  (Nov. 2011)
Long Cardigan - Lane Bryant (2008)
Sequenined tank – NY Collection,Macy’s, clearance $9 (originally $39) ( Jan. 2012)
Wedge Boots – Mossimo, Target, thrifted NWT $5 ( Dec. 2011)

Even though I got ready in a different place it’s no different than taking a vacation. You’ve just go to learn how to pack. Rather than hauling an outfit with me that will need ironed I take things that are wrinkle free. The skirt was a Christmas gift and it’s made from a knit jersey material. It’s  oh, so comfortable and wears well for travel.

Of course the tank in my second look is one of my new purchases from my shopping excursion. I like the color and the length goes well with the jeans. The boots believe it or not have a 4-inch wedge heel and are quite comfortable and after the day I had that’s a good thing.

Recently someone commented on my blog about my thrifting style and asked why I never show any new styles. I actually do buy new clothing. I buy it on sale, clearance or with a coupon. I have a hard time paying full price.

I like to put together fashion on a budget. As a single mom I had to get creative and make a dollar stretch. I enjoy thrifting and going to yard sales, plus I enjoy sharing my finds with everyone. Besides my looks I also like giving helpful tips that I’ve learned along the way. Packing for overnight trips is one of them.

What do you like to take on trip to keep your look  stylish, yet keep getting dressed simple?

For the past week I’ve been crazy busy. I should have blogged but as we all know – life happens – and this time it was enjoyable, so sorry I didn’t show you what I’ve been wearing. I will however get back on track

Here are four looks I’ve recently worn. Some new, some thrifted and some I simply shopped from my closet.

No. 1
Dress — Fashion Bug, clearance
Booties — Apt. 9, Kohls, clearance
Cardigan — Kohls
Jewelry — Fashion Bug

  No. 2
Sweater — thrifted
Pants — Cato
Ballet flats —  thrifted
Necklace — clearance Macy’s, w/ Klout perk/gift card (free)

 No. 3
Dress — Jones New York , thrifted $4
Cardingan — Fashion Bug, clearance
Boots — American Eagle
Necklace — ABC Trading Co. (St. Louis)

 No. 4
Shirt — Michael Kors, Macy’s, clearance
Capri pants — Apt. 9, Kohls, clearance
Old Navy denim jacket — yard sale, $2
Moccasin boots — PacSun Clothing, clearance
Necklace — clearance Macy’s, w/ Klout perk/gift card (free)

I wore the first outfit last week and the latter this week. I think I’ve worn a variety of clothing styles, but it shows I’m versatile in what I like to wear. I like to go for girly (dresses) and someday’s its all about casual (pants.) Really it’s about about comfort and what mood I’m in.

Do you switch up your looks depending on you’re mood?

When I woke up this morning I was so thrilled to see the sun, albeit it’s freezing outside. Even when it’s cold I like to wear dresses. I just layer them and add tights to transition them throughout the year.

Today’s look is a bit of a fashion rewind. Last time I wore this dress my legs were bare and the weather a little nicer.

Today’s Look (left)

Dress — Dana Buchman, Kohl’s clearance $12 (orig. $60) (Oct. 2011)
Black cardigan — Lane Bryant (??)
Necklace — Kohl’s, sale, $9 (orig. $14) (Jan. 2012)
Bronze bracelets — Cato, $3
Ring —  Jewels by Park Lane, hostess gift
Striped tights — Target, clearance $5
Black print pumps — Missoni for Target , thrifted with tags $6.99 (orig. $39.99) (Dec. 2011)

 Fashion Rewind

Black blazer — Apt. 9, Kohl’s clearance (2009)
Leather and silver necklace — Chaps, Kohl’s clearance, $8 (orig. $20) (Oct. 2011)
Zigzag black and white pumps — Unlisted by Kenneth Cole, thrifted $6 (Sept. 2011)

 For me the shoes are what make both outfits and it didn’t hurt that I thrifted them. The Unlisted ones reminded me of the Missoni zigzag pattern and well I love that my newly thrifted ones are Missoni for Target.

I’m a shoe girl and it doesn’t hurt when I can find new ones for a fraction of the cost, especially when I’m thrifting. Recently I was asked how many pair of shoes I own. I had to stop and think about it for a few minutes. I own around 80, which is four times more than the average woman owns at 19.

But then again I’ve known for a long time I’m no t average.

Most women love shoes. Let’s face it they are the basic necessity of any wardrobe. We depend on them for safety and support, but if you’re a gal like me you also want them to be stylish.

There are literally thousands of footwear brands, but for fashionistas the epitome of luxury shoe style is Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik. They are the Holy Trinity of women’s footwear.

I’ve made a goal that by the end of the year I will own one of these three. I plan to save so that I can reward myself.

I just love stepping in style, how about you?

As Marilyn Monroe said, “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.”

Such a shock today to wake up to the cold. After yesterday’s beautiful weather I truly believe Mother Nature has an awful way of  treating us . No one likes the yo-you weather and for all us fashionistas it can be difficult to decided on what to wear.

Here are two outfits I’ve worn this week.

The outfit on the left is a INC International Concepts top I thrifted new for $3 and was originally sold at Macy’s for $69.50, black capris, black boots and leather and crystal jewelry.

The right is a thrifted pencil skirt, $3, wide faux leather studded belt  and yellow top (Cato), black cardigan (Kohl’s,)thrifted black wing-tip Franco Sarto Mary Jane’s and black necklace.

I have a lot of black clothing in my wardrobe , but I also like to break it up by adding color. I know that the my gray top really isn’t colorful, but it’s got sequins on it and added just the right about of pizzazz. The yellow was the perfect way to perk up the gray and black combo too.

Gray is a neutral color  and can be difficult to wear sometimes, but if you’re like me you’ll find something that goes well, i.e. bright yellow top.  I’ve got many gray clothes and I especially like a gray sheath dress that I wear with a red patent belt and red shoes.  Next I want to try it with camel.

There are so many shades of gray what do you think about wearing it?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I did. Actually it was fantastic.

I don’t talk to much about my personal life, as far as relationships go anyway, but this weekend I spent time with an amazing man. I usually don’t have a problem picking an outfit, but for some reason I didn’t know what to wear this weekend and then I found it.

II bought a new dress at Kohl’s on clearance for $10.80, along with a necklace ($9) and textured hose.

I like the print on this dress. It’s a little edgy, yet feminine too. I paired it with a shrug (Cato, $19.99) and wore black ballet flats, thrifted NWT $3.99. I accessorized with bronze jewelry.

I like the way the look came together. Of course he did too, which made me feel great.

I’ve been smiling for a while now and I really haven’t said why. Now you know my little secret to dressing fabulous – a smile. I know that the best part of any outfit is not the clothing you wear, but the attitude you evoke. A smile is the best accessory you can wear and it’s one size fits all.

With the weather the way it’s been it’s hard to decide sometimes what I want to wear. During these past few days I picked my outfit starting from the ground up. I decided to wear what I did because of the inclement weather.

On days with snow and ice I’m not really happy, because I’m a shoe girl and my snow boots are just that – snow boots. I’ve got a pair of Crocs and although I have UGGs on my list of items to get I just haven’t made the purchase yet.

Today I picked a classic jeans look. It’s somewhat of a style rewind of mine too.

I picked my Liz Claiborne boot-cut jeans, a snake-print top and off-white cardigan and accessorized with faux pearls and NWT thrifted black ballet flats ($3.)

The first outfit I wore last February. Rather than put on a pair of heals I just changed it up with jeans. The middle is what initially inspired my look.

I actually wore my snow boots into the office and changed when I got here.  I like the shirt/sweater combo, but with the weather the skirt and heals just didn’t work.

I think adding pearls to jeans gives it a classier look.  As you all know I’m not a girl who wear jeans hat much (Fridays and weekends in the winter) , but when I do I like to dress them up. What do you think of the classic look? How do you like to style your jeans?

This isn’t the outfit I wore today. I wore it earlier this week, but I thought I would share it anyway. I had two inspirations for the colors and one from the most unconventional place.

I was inspired to wear this outfit by a recent Chico’s flier that came in the mail. I just love the red, white and black look. The jeans are a few years old and the top was recently thrifted, but overall I feel I caught the essence of the look.

As I was deleting pictures from my iPhone it also dawned on me that a recent recipe I prepared was just as inspiring.

It’s peppermint ice cream pie. I made it for a party I attended this weekend. I just threw a few ingredients together, but it was delicious. All it takes it’s is a graham cracker crust (purchased or prepared yourself,) softened ice cream, whip cream, chocolate/peppermint sandwich cookies, hot fudge and red sugar for garnish.

It’s one of those recipes I plan to try with a variety of ice cream flavors and it can be colorful, because really look at all the ice cream, sherbet and sorbet flavors there are out there. I’m thinking this summer trying of making a lime sherbert/tequila one for a frozen Margarita pie.

Color inspires me and it doesn’t always have to come from fashion – food works sometimes too.

It feels like spring outside so  I decided to wear an outfit that works for warmer weather and gets you to think about it too.

I was gifted this dress for Christmas. Really it’s also a thrifted find too. When shopping with my mom this past year I saw it and thought “how cute,” so she got it and gave it to me for the holidays. I like the dress because it works for all season. During the winter I can wear it with tights, but in the spring and summer I will be able to put it on with a pair sandals.

I accessorized with chocolate suede boots, brown hat and bronze jewelry.

 I like the big flowers and bold colors.  I know the look will go great with a new pair of sandals I purchased on clearance with a gift certificate my son gave me. I think the dress is going to spring into style as the season changes.

What do you think of the look?

Of course it’s Friday and besides being the end of the week we get wear jeans to work. I’ve said before I’m not really a denim girl, but you know I recently purchased two pair of skinny jeans and I just adore them.

I paired my jeans (one of two pair I got on sale before Christmas at Fashion Bug) with a satin top and black velvet stretch vest I thrifted for $2. I accessorized with faux pearls, a floral pin (purchased with gift card I got from my son) and black boots.

By adding the pearls I feel like I can enhance the look just a little. What do you think?

Here are two looks I wore with skinny jeans during my vacation.

I thrifted the top during my break for $3 and the jeans are the second pair I got. It was a great deal because everything was 50 percent off, plus i had a $10 off coupon. I ended up saving $60. The second look is of a sweater dress I got at a yard sale for $1. I layered it and wore the faux fur vest I purchased last month. Check my post on it to learn more.

I like the jeans because they go great with both boots and flats. I’ve been transformed into a “skinny” girl.

It’s “Thirstini” as I call it. Tonight’s the night I go out with friends for $4 martinis. For years I went out Thursday nights because I didn’t work on Fridays. Well the tradition stuck.

My favorite place to go is directly across the street from my office too. Gentelin’s on Broadway has been serving up my fave drink – cherry lime martini – for many years now and it feels great just to go sit, relax and hang with friends.

For me it’s the “A-list” place in town to go. I think I’m dressed for it too.

The skirt and top are newly gifted (thanks mom for the great Christmas gift!) I paired the two with my thrifted boyfriend blazer, black booties, black tights and jewelry (bracelet was gift too.)

The look was inspired by one of the pages I pulled from Marie Claire called Rocker Repertoire.

It may not be the exact look, but it’s inspired by the style.  Some days to feel motivated in putting an outfit together I just open up my “look book” and voila!

What do you think? Does it work?