Daily MelWear BBCA : Pink and Purple

Every year my cousins and I get our kids together for a photo so we can give our grandmother a Christmas gift with a photo of her great-grandchildren. My brother and SIL are moving this week, so we had to get this picture done quickly in order to have their son included. There are six children total.

We got a grand total of THREE shots. Three. And in every.single.one, my daughter is not looking at the camera. At least in the one we picked, the rest of the kids are looking and my daughter's facial expression is happy. But still, really? Not one shot with her looking at the camera?

Perhaps I haven't been as much of an influence on her as I thought. Although I must admit that before the photographer got started, my daughter was the only one standing there posing with her hands on her hips. That kid cracks me up.

Today is FRIDAY and that means I'm HAPPY. I'm so glad the weekend is here!!! Hope you all have a great one!

Today's outfit:
Floral Skirt: Ross
Blouse: Charlotte Russe
Pink Belt: Salvation Army
Heels: Target

Daily MelWear BBCA: Accented

I'm really excited about how nice the weather has been here lately. It's been cool in the mornings, not too hot in the afternoons, breezy, blue skies...THIS, my friends, is why I live in Florida. Now if only it would stay this way forever, I'd be a really happy camper.

As excited as I am for the new fall trends and to wear boots and tights again,  I have to admit that I'm good with the heat and being able to still wear my summer pieces. 

Speaking of fall trends, what are YOU looking forward to the most this season? I'm so out of the loop, I don't even know what the fall trends are (this is something a style blogger probably shouldn't ever admit, but I'm nothing if not honest). So tell me what you're excited about and clue me in!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Today's outfit:
Skirt and Shirt: Target (super, super old)
Pink Cami: Charlotte Russe
Pink Belt: Salvation Army
Heels: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear BBCA: Springlike

Apparently I have an aversion to wearing just one color. Sometimes I can pull it off, like yesterday, but more often than not I've found myself playing with different combinations. Pink and yellow isn't an unusal one for me although it might seem unusual to most people. Or at least most people who aren't style bloggers (or readers!), because you all understand me, right? :)

Now my task is to come up with some other colors that can be combined with pink. That is a challenge I will gladly accept.

There are lots of fabulous women participating in the Blogging for Breast Cancer Awearness Challenge! Have you checked out their blogs yet?

I hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Today's outfit:

Dress: Ross

Jacket: Burlington (came with a skirt)

Belt: Can't remember
Heels: Target

Daily MelWear BBCA: Wearing the Pants

I am entirely not used to wearing pants anymore. I'm never quite sure how to make them work for me, but this outfit turned out okay.

Jeans are a different story...those rarely turn out okay! I need to work on those.

So give me your thoughts on jeans and pants. Do you like them, do you not? Why or why not? What do you wear with them?

I hope you've all had a great start to your week and that it just gets better!

Today's outfit:

Slacks: Charlotte Russe

Pink Blouse: Gift from ML
White Cardigan: Target
Pink Heels: Plato's Closet

Daily MelWear BBCA: BBCA Begins!

This post is going to be short and sweet! This is what I wore yesterday and rest assured, I did wear pink on Saturday, the very first day of the challenge, but I don't have pictures of that. You'll just have to trust me. :)

How are you all feeling about the BBCA challenge in this first week, do you have lots of ideas for how to sprinkle pink into your wardrobe? Remember, pink doesn't have to be the dominant color of the outfit; it just needs to be present.

I've updated the list of participants, so be sure to check that out and let me know if you're taking part and would like to be added as well.

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was fabulous. And happy. :) Have a great Monday, friends!

Today's outfit:
Dress: Ross
Belt: Salvation Army
Necklace: Wal-Mart
Sandals: Beall's

Blogging for Breast Cancer Awearness - 2011

It's time for this year's Blogging for Breast Cancer Awearness Challenge! If you're not familiar with the BBCA Challenge, click here to read more about it.

The bloggers participating in the challenge this year are listed below. Some are choosing to take part the entire month, some are doing just a week or one outfit per week, and others are sprinkling in the pink where they can.

If you'd like to join us this year, leave a comment or send me an email at {aworkingmomscloset at gmail.com} and I'll update the list with your link. I don't know how to create honest-to-goodness badges {I should really learn how to do that}, so just grab the photo and post it on your blog with a link back here.

And now...go check out everyone's blogs to see who's helping spread awareness among the internetz this year!


Amy of Amy Fashion Blog
Apples and Pencil Skirts
Jessica of Bows and Sequins
Bessie of Bravoe Runway
Tiffany of Breakfast with Tiffany
Cara of Cara's Closet
Van of The Clothes We Wear
Dayi of Dayi's Sense of Style
EE of eek!
Kelly of Fashion Fuel
Melissa of Frumpy Hausfrau Fashions
Heather and Kayla of H & K Style Journey
Courtney of I Can Be Many Things
Lisa of Just Fabu-LESS
Danielle of Keep Warm
Roseanna of The Long and Short of It
Francis of Mad Dress Game
Tara of Mix and Match Fashion
Randi of Not Just Mom
Charisse of Pretty Inside and Out
Rheannia of Rhe Style
Nico of Satin and Salt
Colleen of Scrap and Run
LeeAnne of Style 'n Season
Jenn of The Suburb Experiment
Tara of This Life, Redefined
Emily of Tinfoil Tiaras
Callie of Unladylike
Viktoria of Viktoria with a K
Andie of What Andie Wears

It's Time!

Happy Monday, everyone!

There's no Proper Professional post today because (and if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you've already heard this) the hard drive on my MacBook crashed on Friday, so I've been computer-less all weekend.

I have to be honest though, it was kind of a nice break. Now I have to rush to get caught back up in responding to comments and emails and things, but it really was nice to be unplugged for a while. Although I do have my iPhone, I find it easier to do most of my work on the computer so I've read all my emails; I just haven't replied yet. And since I couldn't get the Proper Professional post prepped, this will be the first time I have to miss a Monday. I feel awful about that. 

Okay so back to the task at hand: it's time to gear up for the Blogging for Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge!!! If you're a new follower and aren't familiar with it, click here for more information. 

I'm really excited about this, it's one of my favorite times of year and I think this is a fantastic way to raise awareness all month long, rather than just on one day. If you can only do one day, or a week rather than the entire month, that's absolutely fine. Just let me know when you plan to do it and I'll include those dates with your link. 

Without further ado, have at it! Leave a comment, let me know if you'd like to participate this year, and I'll start up my list to post as soon as we begin!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that you've had a great start to this new week!!!

Daily MelWear: Black & Blue

When I was in high school, the junior chorus wore blue dresses and the seniors wore black. They would combine for at least one song or two at each concert during the year and every time, we referred to it as "The Bruise".

I suppose that's why I'm hesitant to wear black and blue together, but I don't have a lime or turquoise top to pull out the other shades in the skirt, so I'm going with this midnight blue. I kinda like how it turned out.

Normally I don't post on Fridays but since I'm back posting outfits a day later, I figured I could try getting one more in. I wore this yesterday and we're allowed to wear jeans on Thursdays, but you all know how I am about jeans and pants in general. They don't seem to like me very much. So I avoid them. Often.

Just a reminder - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I'm going to post sign-ups soon for those who'd like to participate in this year's Blogging for Breast Cancer Awearness Challenge. Start thinking about whether you'd like to join in this year and keep an eye out so you can sign up!

I hope you all have a FANTASTIC Friday and an even better weekend!

Today's outfit:
Skirt: Burlington
Blouse: Target
Cardigan: Kohl's
Belt: Gift from my mom
Heels: Target
Necklace: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Changing It Up

Yes, it's me and yes, I do actually own a few pairs of pants. I just don't wear them often.

I feel like I need a change. So I wore pants. Who knows, maybe I'll cut my hair off next.

This shirt is a Salvation Army find from over the weekend. I found a few really nice pieces that I'll get around to wearing soon. I'm the type that has to take the tags off and wash new clothes right away, and wear them as soon as possible too.

Hey, I know it's still a couple months away, but I wanted to remind those of you who participated last year, and to tell all of you who are new readers, about the Blogging for Breast Cancer Awareness challenge in October. If you're not sure what it is, click here to read about it and give some thought into whether you'd like to participate this year. I'll probably start accepting sign-ups in September.

And now, to figure out what other changes I can make in my life...

Today's outfit:
Blouse: Salvation Army
Pants: Charlotte Russe
Cardigan: Kohl's
Belt: Wal-Mart
Heels: Target

Daily MelWear: BBCA Da- No wait, we did it!

It took actual effort for me to not wear something pink today. It felt unnatural, almost.

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweet already this morning. I went to work a little bit later because The Princess was up late last night trick-or-treating and I didn't want her to have to wake up super early today, plus I didn't want my mother-in-law to have to leave her house quite so early to come pick her up this one time. We met for breakfast at Einstein's. It was really nice.

And then...I had to say good-bye to my girl for the next three days. She'll be with her dad at his mom's house tonight and tomorrow night, then my mom will meet him at my office to pick my girl up on Wednesday morning and I'll see her again Wednesday night after work. I'll have her for this first weekend too, so that helps.

But I've never spent two nights away from her before. I had a mini-meltdown on my way to work so now that I'm here, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be at work with distractions. Thank God (no really, thank You God!) for FaceTime on the iPhone too; at least I'll get to "see" her to say good-night.

On the job front, I've been informed of an opening with a department that my current department works with regularly and they also have Fridays off, so I'll formally submit my resume for that position as soon as the job is posted. There's also another opening in Emergency Department Administration for which my resume has been submitted. I'll need to take an Executive Secretarial test to continue that application process; hopefully I can take that this Wednesday. It makes me nervous! I'll take a typing test and be test on Spelling, Grammar, Secretarial Skills, Vocabulary, Letter Setup-Block, Proofreading and Office management Skills. Wow. That's intimidating to me!

We moved this weekend. I ended up having to get a larger storage unit which means more money every month. That stinks. I'm eternally grateful to all the guys who helped us move, along with my friend Nicole.

So that's all my news. Moving is done. Need to get organized. Still searching for a job but have prospects.

And I miss my girl. A lot.

And now Blogger won't let me format my pictures the way I want. Irritation is not what I need right now.

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 28

Hi friends!

I have so many things to share with you, but I'm short on time today. I've got some fantastic giveaways coming up sponsored by the fabulous ML of Twenty York Street, and as we're nearing the end of October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to remind you about the Mammogram Promise campaign. As Megan mentioned in an email to me, "We are now past 3,000 promises (>$3,000 for mammography research), but there is still money to be raised and tons of prizes still to be won! ...There is even a new, fun video (includes some nice eye-candy) that got made for MammoPromise which is a cute way to share with all the ladies in your life as well." If you haven't checked out the site yet, hurry there now!

This outfit is inspired by Hillary and the spectacular way she is able to style vests.  I've had this one for a few months but just didn't feel like I could pull it off.  I figured what better time to try than on the last "work attire" day of the Blogging for Breast Cancer aWEARness Challenge? It turned out pretty well, I think.  I like the subtle pattern mixing between the stripes on the vest and the pattern on the skirt.

I'm going to spend tomorrow packing up the rest of the condo (SO grateful to my friend April for offering to come help and have lunch with me and The Princess!) and then we move on Saturday. Sunday is church and then settling in plus some Halloween-ing. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post again until Monday, but I'd really like to try doing a recap post of the challenge outfits. 

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Today's outfit:
Black/White Skirt: Salvation Army
Pink Top: Target
Vest: Ross
Black Heels: Payless
Pearl Bracelet: Gift from ML

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 27

Let's give Wednesday a round of applause, shall we?

We're halfway done with this week and that's a relief. Well...sort of.  I kind of feel like time is going by WAY too fast at the moment. 

The move this Saturday is coming too quickly and I still have so much to do.  I'm afraid my last six weeks at this job are going to be up before I know it. I've uploaded my resume to a couple of job search sites and have looked around at positions within my current organization, but there really aren't any for which I meet the requirements.  It's a little disheartening and slightly frightening.  

{Side note: speaking of resumes, if you need to have yours revamped, please visit Precision Resumes! They are professional, efficient and worked MAGIC on mine. They also offer a free review of your current resume if you're interested. Go check them out!} 

I'm trying to stay positive. This outfit, however, is not a reflection of that attempt at positivity.  This outfit is a result of lack of planning and inspiration. I'm also not entirely sure the cardigan truly qualifies as pink, but I decided to go with it anyway. I would've added a yellow belt too, but my only yellow belt also has orange in it and I didn't like it. I need to find a yellow belt.

Oy.  I really need to start brightening up my photos or taking them inside for now. I didn't realize how dark they were until I uploaded them and I don't have time to brighten them right now. Sorry!

And that's it for me today. I can't wait until things calm down so that I have time to start reading blogs again. Right now I'm spending my online time searching for jobs. So hey, if you have a few minutes, give me an update on your life in the comments so that I can get a little caught up with everyone.  I miss hearing about you all!

Today's outfit:
Gray Slacks: Forever 21
Yellow/White Top: Macy's
Pink Ruffled Cardigan: Plato's Closet
Gray Pumps: Payless
Necklace: Gift from co-worker

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 26

Have I mentioned lately how much I love pumpkin? I really do. I'm sitting at my desk (you know, the one that I have for just the next six weeks) enjoying some Pumpkin Spice coffee from the K-cups given to me by my generous mother-in-law (erm...ex-mother-in-law? I really don't like the way that sounds, someone give me a nicer adjective!) and while it might be a high of 90 today, the taste of pumpkin makes me feel like it's fall and that's really all that matters.




Along with the B&BW pumpkin scented candles and wallflowers. I love pumpkin.

At least when we move this Saturday the high will only be 81. Better than 90.

I'm surprised today's outfit didn't come to mind earlier this month.  This dress has to be one of the best purchases I've ever made because I wear it all.the.time. I wear it to work, to church, on nights out, on days at home, everywhere. And to think that I found it at Plato's Closet for about $8. Awesomeness.

I decided to use the polka dot belt for a little splash of pattern. The outfit turned out a little more sweet than I'd expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm not sure what's up with my bangs though. Sometimes I want to grow them out because that cowlick is so aggravating, but then my hair is so incredibly boring to begin with that the bangs at least add a little something.

You guys - we're coming close to the end of the Blogging for Breast Cancer aWEARness Challenge! And we have a few more joining us this final week so make sure you take a look at the list if you haven't recently. There were so many things I wanted to do throughout this month: featuring different bloggers, sharing stories, highlighting participants' favorite outfits. But, life happens and I ran out of steam (not to mention time). I'd really like to do this challenge again next October and hopefully can accomplish everything next time around! For those of you who are participating or did participate at some point this month, do you think it's something you'd do again next year?

Today's outfit:
Black Dress: Plato's Closet
Pink Shirt: Dots
Black/White Polka Dot Belt: Plato's Closet
Black Bow Pumps: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 25

You guys are the GREATEST.

I am humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude at the amount of support and love you've poured out to me in response to my last couple of posts.  I can't begin to express how much each and every single comment has meant to me and helped me to stay strong.

I'm so blessed to have you all in my life, albeit virtually for most but that's so much better than not knowing you at all.

Thank you.

This weekend was exceptionally busy and while I did sport pink in my outfits every day, I didn't get pictures to post. Sorry about that! Trust me though, I did wear pink.  Anyone who saw me can vouch for me.

The dress I'm wearing today is one that I've been wanting to wear again for a while. I really like it but didn't realize how short it actually is.  It would be appropriate in most normal office settings but in my office, our length requirements are knee-length at the shortest and although I'm being laid off from this position in six weeks, I'm still a professional and want to adhere to their rules and guidelines. So - I added a skirt underneath! I wasn't sure it would look okay but I think the black cardigan pulls it all together. Yay!

Okay I'm off to contact HR to see if there are any positions within the hospital to which I can transfer and start looking around for other jobs as well. I know that one day I'm going to look back at this season of my life, getting divorced and laid off all at the same time, as one where God prepared me for something exceptional. He's wiping my life clean to make room for new things. I'm trying to be excited rather than scared!

Today's outfit:

Black/White Dress: Macy's

Black Cardigan: Kohl's

Black Skirt: Ross (I think...)

Pink Belt: Salvation Army

Pink Heels: Plato's Closet

Pink Earrings: Beya

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 21 - And Life News

Hi guys!

Thanks so much for your encouraging comments yesterday. You guys are the best.  You always leave uplifting and kind words for me and I appreciate every single one of you! Hopefully in a few weeks life will settle down so that I can reciprocate!

For my new readers, if you're not sure what BBCA stands for, click here to find out and see who else is participating!

A few months ago, I never would have considered layering this shirt over this dress.  This outfit, my friends, is a testament to the power of style blogging! I've learned so much and become much more creative through reading style blogs.  There are so many inspirational bloggers out there and I'm grateful to have found them and become friends with many of them, as well as with some readers!

I realized that I've never taken a detail shot with the pattern of this dress, so I took one today.  It's probably not the best quality but it'll work.  I hope.

Okay, now for the life news. *Deep breaths*

Most of you know that I've had a lot going on lately. While I'm not able to get into details and I'm not quite ready to talk about it too much, I'll just tell you that today on Facebook, I've changed my relationship status from "married" to "single". When I move in with my parents next weekend on the 30th, it'll mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life as a single mom. 

For any of you wondering, we are going to stay friends and have been spending a lot of time together lately to make sure our daughter knows that we're not abandoning her or each other. He's my best friend and he will always be my best friend - but this still breaks my heart into a million pieces. And before I start bawling uncontrollably, I'm just going to end here. 

Today's outfit:

Black/Blue/Green Dress: From my mom

Pink Top: Target

Black Belt: Salvation Army

Black Mary Janes: Wal-Mart (I think...)
Black Necklace: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 20

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

How are you all doing? How was Tuesday, what happened, what did I miss? Actually I've missed the past five days of reading and commenting on blogs, but I'll catch up again. Eventually. I can't believe I keep getting so behind. Hopefully once we're done moving and the dust settles on our new lives, I'll be able to come up with a new routine that'll help me stay caught up.

Yesterday I needed to take a day for some personal things. It was strange to not blog but it was also oddly freeing to have an entire day away from technology.

I've gotten emails and comments from people to whom I really want to reply - please, please bear with me and forgive me for not replying quickly. Or for weeks at a time! Under normal circumstances I try to reply the same day but life has been so crazy that I barely have time to breathe. I haven't had a moment to  sit down with my email and respond to anything at all for the past month or so.  Please know that if you've emailed me, I WILL respond! It might take me a few more weeks with the packing and moving and other stuff happening right now, but I will!

Today I'm back in pink! There have been a couple more blogs added to the Blogging for Breast Cancer aWEARness list of participants - go check it out if you haven't lately, make sure you're listed if you're participating and check out everyone else's blogs! You're all doing such a great job. 

I wasn't sure this breezy little summer dress could be worn at work (and in FALL) but I decided to take my own advice and just throw a cardigan over top to make it office-appropriate.  Functional, within code and comfortable. CHECK.

Sorry these pictures are so wonky.  It was still pretty dark out when I left this morning so we had to use the flash on my iPhone instead of my usual HDR setting.  I'm going to have to find an indoor spot soon, especially with the upcoming time change. Meh.

Hope your weeks are going well so far! Catch me up on what I missed yesterday!

Today's outfit:

Pink Dress: Ross

Black Cardigan: Ross
Black Belt: Kohl's (came with a different shirt)
Black Flats: Target
Yellow Necklace: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: BBCA Day 18

Howdy!

See, I really am running out of greeting ideas.

Plus I just wrote a long, picture-filled post about the weekend.  I'm kind of worded out.

I'm also super busy and just as a head's up, I'm probably going to skip posting tomorrow.  I've got some personal things going on and will be taking the day off work, too.

I can at least talk about the outfit.  This is the dress I wore on Day 6 but this time I layered a skirt over it and skipped the tights.

Huh. Talking about the outfit didn't give me much to say either. Oh well, this gives you more time to catch up on everyone else's posts. :)

Have a great day everyone! I'll be back Wednesday!

Today's outfit:

Pink/Black Dress: Ross
Black Tank: Can't remember
Black/White Skirt: Kohl's
Black Pumps: Wal-Mart
Black Necklace: Wal-Mart