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: An Old Favorite

I realize I've worn this dress with red before. I know that. But when it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Or something like that? 

I really like the blue and red together, especially when it can be done without looking like Superman. And this dress does not look like Superman. Right? 

Mkay. Well, I do like this dress. It's one of my favorites and I wear it a lot.

And...I've run out of things to say. :) I hope you're all having a great week! 

Today's outfit:

Dress: Target

Bolero: Sears

Belt: Salvation Army

Shoes: From my mom

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: In Love

I found this chocolate brown skirt at the Salvation Army store and seriously, I'm in love with it. It's perfect. I wish I could find one in every single color. I would be a happy camper.

It's just so comfy and it fits well, the length is good, the shape is good...I just love it.

These heels are pretty awesome too, but I rarely wear them because I don't have much of a reason to wear bronze snakeskin. Heh.

Now let's move on to the blouse. Which, incidentally, was also a Salvation Army find. It's not a pattern I'd normally wear, nor are the colors ones I'd typically wear (there's navy in there Kish, are you proud? I did that for you!), but those are the reasons I bought it, to break out of my own style a little bit.

However, now I'm at a loss as to what to wear with it. I don't think black would look very good with it, but black is my primary neutral and I don't have much else.

So...any suggestions, dear friends?

By the way, I want to apologize for my lack of comments lately. Life is crazy (in a good way!) and busy and I'm also trying to slow down a bit and stress less...so my blog reading and commenting time is one thing I've had to sacrifice right now. I miss you all, I want you to know that!

I hope you're having a fantastic week - it's almost over!!!

Today's outfit:
Skirt: Salvation Army
Blouse: Salvation Army
Heels: Can't remember
Necklace: Gift from ML

Daily MelWear: Fully Clothed

It's Thursday! Happy dance! Or not. I can't really dance .

Thanks for being so sweet about my beltlessness (yes, that is now, in fact, a word) yesterday. I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling naked when I'm missing a favorite accessory. It really was pretty comfy and maybe I'll go beltless again, but not today.

Clearly.

We had a little class type thing in our office so I wanted to make sure I did the closed-toe, no jewelry, jacket thing. Yes, there's pattern and more color than I'm sure Corporate would like, but...really, this isn't too far out of code. I think.

I can't belive there's so much talk already about fall. Listen, I live in Florida, we don't really get a "fall" season here. It goes from hot to not-as-hot. Sometimes I think I'd like a real fall with the changing leaves...but then I remember how much I hate being cold and suddenly I'm okay with leaves going from green to dead. I like my Florida sun too much.

Although, I will admit to being a little excited about wearing tights again. They're fun. And my leopard booties. Also fun.

Have a great day, ya'll!

Today's outfit:

Dress: Target

Jacket: Ross? Eh...

Belt: Wal-Mart

Heels: From my mom

Daily MelWear: Brightening My Day with Everybody, Everywear

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Everybody, Everywear! This month's theme is yellow.

Are we all on the same page about how much I love yellow? I love it.  A lot.

Granted, I don't think it's all that flattering on me, a pale brunette, but I love its sunny disposition so much that I choose to ignore the fashion rules and flaunt the yellow anyway. It makes me happy.

I do have to admit that I'm not actually wearing this today. I wore it yesterday. We have a board meeting tonight and while *I* think this would be appropriate (considering some of our board members show up in scrubs or jeans), I'm fairly certain my boss wouldn't approve of the pattern and the bright yellow. And I don't know about you with your boss, but I'd like to keep my boss happy. Remaining employed seems like a good idea at the moment, especially as a single mom.

Speaking of which - I actually got to go OUT last weekend! My closest friends are the ones that live farthest away from me, so I don't get out much. I was whining to a local friend about it and she invited me to join her on a girls' night with her friends on Saturday. We went to dinner at a soup/salad/sandwich place and then hit the outlets (they're open till 11PM - WAY past my usual bedtime!). It was fun to get out of the house for a little bit. Granted, it was with a group of girls and not like I was on a date or anything, but it's a start. They're a great group and I had a blast chatting and shopping with them. I'm so grateful to my friend for inviting me!

And now I'm going to get some work done and hopefully take a peek at everyone else's yellow outfits.

I love yellow. Have I mentioned that lately?

Have a great day, ya'll!

Today's (uh,  yesterday's) outfit:
Dress: Target (One of their daily deals last week! It's so comfy, I just hope it doesn't shrink after washing it; I'm  planning to hang it to dry.)
Yellow Jacket: Burlington (came with a skirt)
White Belt: Wal-Mart
Gray Shoes: Payless

Daily MelWear: Momma Likes Flowers

If there is one thing I wish I had more of (besides time, sleep, energy, chocolate, and wine), it would be flowers. I could probably go out and buy fresh flowers each week but that would get expensive.

So I'll wear them instead. This skirt makes me particularly happy because it's not the typical red, pink and yellow flowers.

My boss is out this week, so us girls are plugging away getting lots of projects done. Whee! I may have a bit more freedom in my next couple of outfits, too. :)

Hey, did you hear that Everybody, Everywear's next theme is YELLOW? It was MADE for me! How will I pick just one outfit?!

What's your favorite color to use, either to pop an all-neutral outfit or to contrast other colors?

Did you all have a fantastic long weekend, with either Friday or Monday off? I hope so, and I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday too!

Today's outfit:
Skirt: Burlington
Shirt: Penney's
Belt: From my mom
Necklace: Gift from ML
Heels: Beall's

Daily MelWear: Black & Blue

I truly, honestly, wholeheartedly believe that I have the best readers in the world. Because you're not just readers, you're friends - and you've given me so much support and encouragement that just saying thank you doesn't seem to be enough. 

I'm going to say thank you anyway, and in the meantime I'll try to come up with a better way to express my gratitude. :) I so very much appreciate all of your comments yesterday. Yes, I'm in the middle of a rough patch at the moment with a lot of things, but I tried to make my post lighthearted in spite of all that. Thank you for recognizing that I needed some encouragement and for sending some to me. 

Now before I get all weepy...

This is what I wore for the board meeting. I don't know why I'm having such a difficult time coming up with board meeting attire lately. I feel like I should wear a standard skirt suit but I've worn them all already. My boss isn't big on prints in skirts, so I there are a few dresses that I can't wear and several skirts that I can't wear for board meetings. 

I do like this though. I think it's the jacket that pulls it all together! There's some subtle pattern mixing with the vertical pinstripes in the skirt and the horizontal stripes in the shirt. Those shoes are really fun too with the zipper detail on the toe bed. 

And...since our meeting ended up being around 3 hours, I didn't leave work until 9PM so I'm kind of exhausted and am going to bed.

Thanks again, friends. If you've ever doubted how special you are, don't. You're all very, very special to me. :) Have a great day!

Tuesday's outfit:

Black Pinstripe Skirt: Ross (part of a suit)

Striped Top: Macy's

Blue Blazer: Burlington (part of a set)

Black Belt: Can't remember

Heels: Target

Daily MelWear: White Out 2!

Well. Surprisingly I was able to get around to a few blogs yesterday. Here's hoping I can keep that up today! Thanks for all of the sweet encouragement, you guys!

Today's outfit is not at all what I'd planned to wear. I was going to wear this dress with the white blazer, but the drop waist wasn't working for me with the blazer and I felt like it was too short for this office. I know it doesn't look short in that post but trust me, it looked short today.

It's a good thing I changed (although I'm not sure this qualifies for a White Out without the blazer, and that's how I'll probably wear it since our AC ends up at 80 in the afternoon), because at the last minute my boss asked me to accompany her to teach a class to nursing students this morning. Oy! I'm much more comfortable in this outfit so I was okay being in front of the room. Until a roach almost fell on my head. At which point I remained calm anyway. Entirely unlike me.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you all what your tips are for dressing professionally in the sweltering heat. Some of you had some great comments and I wanted to include them in today's post.

Victoria said, "My tip for dressing professionally in summer would be to invest in a very lightweight ivory blouse (like mine, obviously ;) ) and always carry a cardigan with you! Once the A/C is on full blast it gets cold!"

TiAnna said, " As far as dressing professionally in the summer, I'd say make sure you're not being too revealing at work just because it's hot. Also, peruse your employee handbook to see what you can and cannot wear, and take an example from your co-workers."

Heather from H & K  Style Journey said, "My main tip for dressing professionally in the summer is to wear a skirt with a cute short sleeve top. Grab a cardigan or a jacket for the office (A/C) and you're done. :)"

rlutz said, "My tip for dressing professionally this summer would be lots of blazers with skirts and dresses to stay cool!"

Beck said, "I don't really have tips on keeping cool, since I like the heat and our office A/C is usually on too cold for me. I guess one thing I could say is I use shawls and scarves as alternatives to cardigans and jackets over sundresses (they're also easy to pack and light to carry in a bag usually :) )"

Thanks for the tips, ladies! And now, I'm diving back into tracking my hours at work! Whee!

Today's outfit:
Skirt: Target
Blouse: Penney's (?)
Belt: Kohl's (came with a dress)
Blazer: Stein Mart
Shoes: Payless

Daily MelWear: Weekend Attire

I don't normally post my weekend outfits but a few people have asked about them and I have some extra time today (my daughter is with her dad for Father's Day and my parents are out visiting my brother and his family) so I thought I'd go ahead and post some. So exciting, no?

There are no photos of today, because I slept in and haven't showered (and may not today. TMI? Sorry, but this is the ONE day I have to stay home and get things done!) and probably will not be wearing anything cute. Moving on...

Friday is my day off work because I work 10 hour days Monday - Thursday. My daughter knows Fridays as Mommy Day since we always have the day together. I love my Mommy Days!

I was originally going to wear this dress just by itself, but then it seemed like WAY too much pattern so I threw the cardigan on top even though it was almost 100 degrees outside. Pops of yellow in the belt and shoes are always fun with the blue and green pattern. Usually I wear something underneath too when this dress goes to work but since it was the weekend, I left that off. 

I spent the morning with my daughter, having pillow and tickle fights, and then I had a nail and hair appointment at 11AM. When I came home, we had lunch together before her nap. After her nap, we played, had dinner, then took a trip to Target so that she could pick out anything she wanted with the gift cards/money she was given for her birthday. She picked out the new Alice In Wonderland DVD with Johnny Depp (that's definitely my daughter!), a bath toy, a Toy Story car racing toy, a Rapunzel doll and some new black sandals that matched my yellow ones I was wearing.

On Saturday, we went to my cousin's daughter's dance recital in the morning and then to lunch with the whole family. After lunch was nap time, then I brought her to her dad's house so that he could spend Father's Day with her. He opened his Father's Day gift then instead of waiting so I could see him open it. I found Star Wars lightsaber chopsticks! One adult and one kid-sized pair. He was so excited and so was our daughter. Yay for good gifts! :)

I went back home, picked up my mom and headed to Wal-Mart and Bath & Body Works, then we went back for my dad and he took us to dinner.

That was my weekend! Now for a few other things to mention...

Daphne from Fashion Confessions of a Mommy tagged me in a What's In Your Bag post. My bag isn't all that exciting, but here's a photo (I have one of those purse organizer thingies because I'm a neat freak - there, I said it):

And here's what's in there (basically): hairbrush, medicine case with ibuprofen, dramamine and chewable pepto, gum, pens, business cards, sanitizer, lotion, make-up, thigh-highs in case my boss freaks about us not wearing hose, and two extra pairs of panties in case my girl has an accident. I usually have my wallet, keys and phone in there too but didn't take a picture of them.  I'm entirely unexciting, I know. Heh.

One other thing is that I was awarded the Lovely Blog Award by B. Inspired at Bravoe Runway. I know this has gone around several times (and I also really don't like leaving anyone out) so I'm not going to tag anyone else, but I'll quickly share seven things about myself.

1. I like to sing. A lot. I'm no star or anything but I do get paid to sing with an entertainment company during Christmastime. In fact, my ex-husband and I met at a restaurant where we both worked, where the waitstaff put on shows each night. I was a hostess, he was a chef. FUN times! :)

2. I have weird fears of elevators and water. I'm claustrophobic so I HATE elevators for fear that I'll get stuck in one, and I don't like natural bodies of water. I'm okay with pools, but lakes, oceans and other natural things freak me right out. And I also hate flying. The last time I flew was on a missions trip to Thailand back in 2005. Nothing happened on any of those flights, except that I had a panic attack for no good reason. Even though the flights were "okay", I'm still PETRIFIED of flying.

3. My favorite color is green.

4. If our daughter had been a boy, we would have named him Giovanni Michael. However, I'm SO GLAD we had a girl and that we had EXACTLY the girl we have. I adore her!

5. My two favorite jobs were working as a barista at Barnie's and as the administrative assistant in the music department at a huge local church.

6. I'm a little bit terrified of the day when I'll pay off my bills and be able to move out of my parents' house into my own place with my daughter. I've never been on my own and it scares me. Plus I'll have to learn to cook. Meh.

7. I could probably live on coffee, chocolate, and pizza. Not for long, cuz I'm sure eating that badly would kill me young, but I do love those things. :)

And that's it for my weekend post! I have the next 7 hours all to myself to get several loads of laundry done, more blog posts written, guest posts completed, organize my room a bit and who knows what else. Hopefully I can even get all of that done!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend and Sunday!!!

Daily MelWear: Spring Into Summer

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Did you enjoy the SheCon Lovely feature with Rachel last Friday? How about the Proper Professional with Ashley on Monday? These are really a lot of fun for me and I can't wait for you to see what's coming up soon! My SheCon Lovely for this Friday is hysterical and my Proper Professional next Monday is someone that, if you've been reading A Working Mom's Closet since February, you probably already know. I'm excited!

Today we had a class on HIPAA in our office, taught by our boss, so I had to make sure I changed into some closed-toe shoes and removed the bracelets. It's frustrating, but I am grateful to be able to wear them otherwise instead of being denied sandals and jewelry without exception.

Speaking of HIPAA - let's take a pop quiz. Anyone know what HIPAA is and what it stands for? If not, consider yourself lucky. That's what I have to say about that.

I've been thinking about hosting a giveaway for Facebook fans only, sponsored by one of the SheCon sponsors. If you're not a fan on Facebook yet, hurry on over! While you're at it, connect with me on Twitter too! I want to get to know you better!

And now, my friends, I'm going to get some work done. And hopefully get some blog reading/commenting in today too. I am SO frustrated with Google because I can't comment on any Blogger blogs that have the comment form embedded. It keeps redirecting me to sign in and never posts my comment, so just know that if you have your comment form embedded, that's likely why I haven't been able to leave you a comment. I'm sorry! And I'm strongly considering switching to Disqus these days. Eh, who knows

Hope you've all had a great start to the week and if you haven't, turn it around to finish great!

Today's outfit:
Dress: Ross
Jacket: Uh...Ross?
Belt: Uh...I can't remember (Are you sensing a theme here? I have an awful memory.)
Sandals: Beall's
Bracelets: Stein Mart

Daily MelWear: Blue Flowers

Happy Day-After-Memorial-Day to my U.S. readers! Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend relaxing, barbecuing and giving thanks for the freedoms we've been afforded.

I spent Saturday with my girl at our family's annual Memorial Day pool party (my aunt had to work on Monday so we had to switch the day) and then I brought her to her dad, since this was his weekend with her. Sunday was spent at home, going through clothes to donate, cleaning things up, getting blog posts ready (did you read yesterday's Proper Professional with Kileen?) and organizing a new series of blog posts.

Speaking of a new series of blog posts, I have SO much good stuff in store for you guys! I had a fantastic time at SheCon last weekend and I know that I can't possibly capture every part of it. I want to share the experience with all of you and I want you to meet all of the great new friends that I made. 

What better way for you to meet all of these fabulous people than to have them each introduce themselves to you! Starting this Friday, I'm beginning a series called SheCon Lovelies where each of my new friends will guest post in an interview format, sharing themselves and their SheCon experiences with all of you. This way you'll get to meet each of them and hear their perspective on what they learned and enjoyed at the conference. I'm SO excited! YAY!!!

Okay so back to the weekend - Sunday night, my mom and I went out with a good friend of mine to see Bridesmaids. SO HYSTERICAL! I loved it!

Monday was full of errands. FULL of errands. And kind of full of annoyance because certain places were closed or I forgot something or something else happened. I ran out of time and didn't get to finish everything I wanted to do, but I did get to go shopping with some coupons at Payless and DSW. Those shoes will be on the blog soon. VERY soon.

My mom wanted to look for some dresses for our family reunion-type vacation at the beach in June so we stopped by Ross. I remembered that TiAnna mentioned she doesn't have a Ross but heard that  Burlington was similar, so I decided to pop into Burlington (where I rarely shop) to check it out and compare. Today's outfit is the result of that trip and TiAnna can expect a bill in the mail for all the clothes I ended up buying there. {I'm kidding. Sort of.}

So - whew! That was a lot of text. If you got through all of it, you deserve a cookie. No seriously, go get one. Bring one back for me, too.

Have a great Tuesday, friends!

Today's outfit:
Skirt / Jacket / Belt: Burlington
Black Tank: Target
Black Heels: Beall's
Green Necklace: Beya