2011: My Top Ten items in my closet

Hi everyone! We are back from our holiday vacation to Sedona, AZ where we spent a fun filled week with family...it was such a great break from day to day life! It was nice to be un-plugged for a week...no blogging, no laptop, very little reception on my phone...it was like a little techy detox. However, it was fun to come back and pull up my favorite sites and blogs and see so many new things/posts! Christmas was a fun day with all my inlaws, nieces and nephews...18 kids makes for a crazy Christmas morning! Hubby spoiled me with a new camera and new perfume which I LOVE!!! Somehow Santa (my mother-in-law) also managed to slip a nice little Anthro gift card into my stocking so I'm excited to use that! My kids and Josh loved their surprises too so that was good. It was a very Merry Christmas indeed.

With 2011 coming to a close in just a few days I thought I'd do a little re-cap of my favorite things I acquired this past year in my closet...after all, 2011 was the year my closet practically exploded. 2012 will be a calmer year for my closet I'm thinking as I plan to shop a bit less and be pretty picky about what I want/need. It doesn't mean a girl can't look at all the pretty things being offered though...there will just a little less purchasing going on. =)

Here are my top 10 favorite things I added to my closet in 2011...by favorite I mean I loved it the most, I wore it the most and I am so glad I didn't pass it up:

1. American Eagle Artist Crop Jeans
These were my go-to pairs of bottoms this past summer. They were super comfy, came in a few different washes (I own two)and were totally affordable (picked them up for about $30 a piece on sale). I cannot say enough good things about these. They will certainly be used a ton in the future.





2. Miz Mooz "Siri" Knee-High Boots from Endless
I really wanted to add one more pair of boots to my closet this year and I was hoping to find a true cognac colored pair. When I came across this pair by Miz Mooz I knew I had found the ones. They are the perfect pair of everyday boots. I love the wedge, the color and how comfortable they are. I mean, if you can Black Friday shop in a pair of wedge boots for almost 18 hours with your feet not hurting too bad until the end, I think you've found a pretty good pair of shoes! The down side of these were for sure the price point, but I waited until there was a promotion and grabbed them for 25% off.





3. Alstroemeria Tee from Anthropologie
I'll admit, I still have a hard time pronouncing the name of this cute tee, but I love it none the less. This top is one I had on my wish list for months before it went on sale and I had originally decided to pass on it when it went down in price. A few days later I had a change of heart and had to do some calling around to find it since it had sold out online. I have worn this top so much and the possibilities are endless for how to style it with all the colors it has. It's one of those you can dress up or down too. Love! So glad I got it!





4. AG Stevie Ankle Denim in Sulfur Plum from Anthropologie
I grabbed these cute jeans when they hit 40% off at an east-coast store and have loved them ever since! They are the perfect length on my short legs and the fit is fab. I have since also picked the Stevies up in the wine color and love them just as much. I'm (not-so-patiently) waiting for the white (bone) colored ones to hit sale too so I can add them to my closet as well!





5. Weave & Plait Belt from Anthropologie
This belt has become my go-to for both dressy and casual. I love the unique twist detail in the buckle and the band is super comfortable over any top or cardigan. This is my favorite belt in my closet by far!





6. Frilled Echelons Peacoat from Anthropologie
I was so happy to grab this cute coat at 40% off the sale price a few months back. The color is amazing and I love how it looks layered over a longer top. I have worn it a TON and plan on keeping it in rotation for years!





7. BP Three Quarter Sleeve Cardi from Nordstrom
I have this cardigan in about 6 colors...at $15 it was hard to pass up! Nordstrom knows how to do basics, for sure! I have found this an easy cardigan to style as the cropped length works so well over so many of the tops in my closet.





8. American Eagle Jeggings
This pair of denim makes my list because of their unbelievable comfort factor, and because of the amazing deal they are. At just under $30 during a 40% off sale, I couldn't go wrong! These are one of my favorite pairs of jeans (along with my Gap Always Skinny jeans).





9. Gathering Blossoms Top from Anthropologie
This was another top I stalked for months before it went on sale and when it finally did, I waffled about actually getting it. I wasn't quite sure how to style it. Well, I'm so glad I went with my gut because this top is amazing! I love the unique folds and architecture about it and the gorgeous blue color. A+ in my book! I've been able to pair it with multiple cardigans in my closet and love the outcome each time.





10.Seychelles "Purr" Wedge Heels from Shoes.com
I practically lived in these cute wedges all summer..they were my go-to neutral sandal. I loved pairing them with cropped pants to elongate my short legs. They are also suprisingly comfortable and easy to walk in. They got quite the workout during the warm months and held up very well. They'll be well used in the future!





Of course there are a ton of other items I purchased that I loved this past year, but these 10 represent my most-loved and used. In the coming year I'll be focusing on only purchasing items that really fill a need in my closet. I love adding unique cardigans, colorful shoes, and tops that I can wear without layers underneath. I need to focus more on these types of items...the ones that I don't already have something like. Since we'll be moving in the summer I'll also have to take inventory on the type of weather we'll be moving to and cater my closet to that (we won't find out where we're going until around March or April). Overall I really don't need a thing, but there are a few basics I would still love to add. I'll be making my wish list pretty soon so stay tuned for that.

So what were your 2011 must-haves? Are you planning on shopping more or less in 2012?

Plaid Love Once again

Back in the day I loved plaid. I loved plaid flannel button-up shirts (product of going to high school in the 90's), plaid sheets, plaid shower curtains, plaid socks, plaid-plaid-plaid-plaid. I moved away from the plaid trend a bit these past few years...I think it was a bit of overload for too many years in a row. Now, in the past few months, I find myself attracted to this classic pattern yet again. When I saw Anthro's cute Tartan Boucle Blazer online for the first time I got weak in the knees and my plaid love was once again renewed. I watched this cute little number sell out online and decided to track one down in a store when the 50% off coats/sweaters sale hit a few weeks back. Luckily I was able to find one in So. Cal and did a charge send. I pulled it out to wear last Friday to my son's class holiday party (I'm one of the room moms). It was the perfect daytime party piece!



What I Wore:
-Tartan Boucle Blazer-Anthropologie
-Muse Tank-J Crew
-AG Stevies-Anthropologie
-Anticipation Heels-Anthropologie
-Necklace-Ruche
-Ring-Forever 21

Tomorrow is gonna be nuts...time to do everything I've been putting off before we leave! I have a few more goodies to deliver to friends, presents to wrap, two more loads of laundry to fold, suitcases to pack, etc etc etc. Let's just hope the kids are in the mood to cooperate!

If I don't get on here and post again before I leave, I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!

TGIF

Here it is 1:30am on a Friday morning and I'm wide awake. That would be because I fell asleep on my bed at like 9pm (I laid down intending to just "rest") and woke up at midnight. Whoops! There went my night! Now I'm wide awake. I'm so glad it's finally Friday. Last day of school at last. A three week break is sounding fabulous right about now!

I wanted to share a quick outfit I wore last Saturday...I was in charge of putting together a Christmas breakfast for the ladies at church and wore this to the activity:



What I Wore:
-Top-Ruche (was a dress, but I had it altered)
-Cardigan-Loft
-Jeggings-American Eagle
-Land & Lake Heels-Anthropologie
-Earrings/Necklace-Ruche
-Ring-Forever 21

One of my favorite finds this fall has been these AE Jeggings...they are so comfortable and super affordable...especially when they hit a 40% off sale (coming in at under $30)! I highly recommend them.

Tonight we have hubby's work party to attend...I'm planning on pulling out some sparkle for the occasion. I'm thinking I'll wear my sequin J Crew Factory top I picked up last month. Don't you love a good excuse to get all dressed up!?!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Christmas Vacation is coming...a New Year's goal...and an OOTD

So we're on the last week of school before Christmas break, and let me tell you, I am feeling it. My kids are feeling it. My husband is feeling it. It's almost time for a vacation!!! This will be the first Christmas in four years that we have been able to go anywhere for the holidays due to hubby's residency. Last year we were fortunate enough to be able to get away for a few days after Christmas, but this year we are off to Arizona to spend the week with my husband's whole side of the family for Christmas. All 34 of us together. 16 adults and 18 children. That's right, we're outnumbered now. This could be bad. We leave in 9 days and I can hardly wait. I'm not so excited about the drive (I hate driving anywhere) but I'm excited to get away for a bit and visit with all my cute sis-in-laws, my bro-in-laws, nieces and nephews, and my sweet in-laws. It'll be a crazy week, but fun.

So I've been packing in my head already. It's gonna be pretty cold in Sedona I hear so I'll be putting to good use some of the new sweaters and coats I've acquired in the past little while courtesy of all these insane sales a certain beloved store has had. When, oh when will the madness stop? If you're like me you may be feeling a little shopped out by all these sales. When is enough, enough, you know? I've decided that after I return from my vacation, when the new year begins, it's time to get back to the root of this blog...time to start finding things in my closet and re-working them to create lots of combinations without buying as much. While I'll never give up shopping for good (let's get real...lol), I've decided to once again create a monthly budget and try my hardest to stick to it. My best friend and I are gonna do it together (right?!!!) Anyone else wanna join in?

So I have an outfit to share with you...I snapped it in the dressing room last week when I made my Anthro returns:





What I Wore:
-Thousand Carat Pullover-Anthropologie
-Frilled Echelons Peacoat-Anthropologie
-Ultimate Skinny Jeans-Banana Republic
-Boutique 9 "Darting Wedges"-Endless (also sold at Anthro)
-Necklace-Old Navy
-Bracelet-Silpada Jewelry
-Ring-random catalog
-Earrings-Nordstrom (BP)

I have worn this coat so much this fall/winter already...it's the best coat! It goes with so much! I love it with the mustard yellow Thousand Carat sweater...such a fun color combination. Whenever I wear yellow and blue I can't help but think of my high school days...those were our school colors and I wore them all the time...the good ole' cheerleading days! =)

Just as a reminder...if you'd like the chance to win a gift card to Anthropologie you should check out Liz's blog because she is giving away two $25 gift cards, one $50 gift card and one $100 gift card! Details and entry info can be found HERE. How nice of her, right?! Good luck!

I'm off to catch up on my DVR before I head to bed...hope you have a great day!

Another round of pattern mixing

Happy Friday everyone! I looked at the calendar on my phone this morning and couldn't believe it's already December 9th! We're celebrating Christmas with my side of the family early this year since we'll be out of town celebrating with my husband's side of the family on December 25th so today is crunch time...gotta grab those last minute gifts! My Christmas cards should also be delivered to day so hopefully I can get those out by the middle of next week. Tis' the Season!

Last Sunday I pulled out an outfit I was really excited to give a try. I paired a few classic prints...plaid and polka dots.



-Dots Within Blouse-Anthropologie
-Easy Keeper Skirt-Anthropologie
-Dot Tights-J Crew
-Land & Lake Heels-Anthropologie
-Ring-Forever 21
-Bangles-Gap Outlet

I felt a little loud walking down the hallways at church but that's ok. It's fun to step outside of the box.

So did anyone else get excited over the 50% off sale on coats/jackets and sweaters at Anthro that started last night? I placed my order within minutes of it starting so I guess you could say I was a tad anxious. Maybe more like scared of the dreaded cancellation notices others were getting during the Black Friday sales, so I wanted to get my order in before too long. I managed to pick up a few sweaters last night and then I have these cute things on hold at a store to call and do a charge send for this morning since they were already sold out online in my size:

Outlined Celandine Cardi (the ivory color with black stitching)



Tartan Boucle Blazer



At 50% off it's so hard to pass on so many great deals! I will be going back to the store next week to do another round of returns...just in case anyone is wondering, the Ardor Blouse was a total crop top on my long torso...so not cute. Back it goes. All well. Can't win them all!

Just as a reminder...if you would like to have the chance to win a gift card to Anthropologie you should check out Liz's blog because she is giving away two $25 gift cards, one $50 gift card and one $100 gift card! Details and entry info can be found HERE. How nice of her, right?! Good luck!

I'm off to get my day going...gotta hop on the treadmill and get my run in before anything else. I would have had it done already but my plan to get up and run before the kids got up was ruined this morning when 2 out of 3 of our kids were in bed with us at 6am. Our treadmill is in our bedroom...treadmills aren't exactly quiet. Sleeping children won out. =)

Hope you have a fabulous Friday!

Unexpected color mixing

Don't you love it when you get dressed in something you weren't really sure would look good together, and then end up totally liking it? This happened to me last weekend when I decided to wear an outfit based on a set I came up with on Polyvore months before owning all the pieces I used. I finally acquired the last piece of the clothing puzzle during what my friend and I now call "Anthro Black Friday week of shame" (no judging...you know you got sucked in too....lol). I had been waiting for what felt like forever for the cute Felted Colorbar cardigan to go on sale so when it finally did I jumped on it--and even got 25% off the sale price too!



What I Wore:
-Gathering Blossoms Top-Anthropologie
-Felted Colorbar Cardigan-Anthropologie
-Always Skinny Jeans-Gap
-Seychelles "Sweeping Stitch Heels"-Anthropologie
-Necklace-Pree Brulee
-Earrings-Nordstrom (BP)
-Ring-Forever 21

The teal is the unexpected color I would say...I went out on a limb a little with this color combination, but I liked the way it turned out. A little unexpected color mixing never hurt anyone, right?!

Last night I made my way to Anthropologie to make some much needed returns and had the chance to try a few things on. The store was about to close so I couldn't try too many things on, but I will say that I tried on and fell in love with this:

Brushed Lace Pullover



Oh, my goodness, it is the cutest thing ever. I love it's uniqueness. I also really love the pretty blush/pink color. It may have come home with me. Maybe.



One more thing before I go...if you would like to have the chance to win a gift card to Anthropologie you should check out Liz's blog because she is giving away two $25 gift cards, one $50 gift card and one $100 gift card! Details and entry info can be found HERE. How nice of her, right?! Good luck!

Alrighty, off to get some stuff done around my house. Also needing to get all my Christmas card addresses put together since my cards will be at my door step on Friday. It's always such a big job every year to make sure I have the right addresses for everyone. We send out about 130 cards each year...that number just keeps growing! That's what we get for moving around a lot and being in the military. =)

Have a great day!

Winter Maxi

I looked into my closet the other morning and could not deal with wearing pants for some reason. I just wasn't in the mood. I closed the door and moved over to the other closet (what is known as my husband's closet but really, half of that one is mine too...it's where I keep all my skirts and dresses). I looked in and surveyed my options...and then decided I'd try my hand at winterizing a Maxi dress. I love this cute, CHEAP (only $15!) Maxi dress I picked up at Forever 21 this past summer. I paired it with a cardigan I grabbed on super sale at Anthro this past year for just $25.

What I Wore Today by jennifoundinmycloset featuring a ruffle dress

Forever21 ruffle dress
$19 - canada.forever21.com

Polka dot cardigan
$30 - anthropologie.com

Wedge high heels
$178 - anthropologie.com

Banana republic jewelry
$29 - bananarepublic.com

Elephant Heart chain necklace
$78 - maxandchloe.com

Forever21 buckle belt
$7.80 - forever21.com

Jamie Pope - Stella & Dot Senior Stylist
$34 - stelladot.com

And here's how it turned out:



I ended up changing out the ring and wore a similar necklace...one I picked up at the Loft Factory store last summer. Making my Maxi dresses useful in the winter months is a fun way to break up the constant pace of wearing pants on a daily basis.

Can you believe Christmas is now less than 3 weeks away? CRAZY! I'm almost done with my shopping...still have a few gifts to go. I better get on it...it'll be here before I know it!

Hope you have a great start to the new week!

My First Booties

Well, these may not be my very first pair of booties, but their certainly my first grown-up girl booties! I've been searching the web for a few months now for the perfect pair of booties. I've mentioned my search a few times here on my blog...who knew it could be so hard to find the perfect booties?! After ordering a few pairs and then returning them because I decided they just weren't the ones for me, I have finally found them. My perfect booties. And on sale no less!



And a side view of the booties:



-Bojagi Pullover-Anthropologie (Black Friday 50% off sale score)
-Pilcro Denim-Anthropologie (40% off sale score about a month ago)
-Boutique 9-"Darting Wedge"-Endless (33% off Black Friday sale score)-also carried at Anthro
-Earrings-Banana Republic
-Bracelet-Stella & Dot
-Ring-Forever 21

I really love that these booties can be worn casually or even a little more dressy. They are actually pretty comfortable for how tall they are...the platform has a lot to do with that. The color is a rich chocolate brown and I've noticed no two pairs are alike...each one has it's own shade of brown. I also noticed that not all sizes are created equal. I tried these on in a size 8 and an 8 1/2 while at Anthropologie on Black Friday and decided the 8 was the much better fit. The 8 1/2's almost felt huge! I ended up ordering these from Endless on Thanksgiving morning before I headed out Black Friday shopping so I hadn't tried them on yet. Because of that I ended up ordering them in both sizes as well. When they arrived I almost didn't even bother trying the 8 1/2's on because of my in-store try-on experience, but am so glad I did because the 8 1/2's fit my foot much better this time around. The 8's were super narrow in the toe-box. This is odd, seeing as how I have really narrow feet! In the end I stuck with the 8 1/2's and sent the size 8's back. Moral of the story...try multiple sizes on in person before buying! I definitely recommend these!

So Anthro surprised us with yet another sale on Tuesday...who would have known?!! I couldn't pass up these two pretties when I saw them sitting in the sale section. They were calling my name:





I've never had the chance to try on the top (but have admired it online ever since it came out) so it's a maybe as of now, but that coat....oh, that coat. LOVE! I tried it on last week on Black Friday and totally fell for it. At first the shoulders felt a little tight when I tried it on in an XS but after a few minutes of having it on it felt like it fit just fine. I tried on the small to compare and it was just too baggy through the bodice, so I ended up going with the X-Small, just in case anyone is wondering. This is another item that can be dressed up with a cute dress or dressed down with jeans...so diverse!

Anyone get anything fun on sale this week? Do tell!

Alrighty, I'm off to go decorate my oldest son's bedroom door before heading to bed. He's turning 8 today! Party!

Hope you all have a great Friday!