Style Influence: Icons of the 1970s

Maybe it was all those years of listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival instead of Brittney Spears. Or maybe it was just the naturally long locks I've always donned. Either way, I truly believe I was meant to be around in the 1970s. 

1970s fashion trends have (and probably always will) influence my personal style. I'm always drawn to jewelry with organic stones, like turquoise, or flowy, peasant tops and jeans - there is something simple and natural that I've always adored about this look. 

Seriously, I'd die to raid any of these ladies' wardrobes!

Which decade influences your personal style most? 

Today's Pickins:

1.  DIY Flower Crown

2. 100 Best Songs of the 1970s

Perfect Desk, Please!

I have serious nesting tenancies when it comes to my working environment. I love having a very personalized cube at work and an inspirational desk at home!

Since I've been at my current position for well over a year now, it seems like the right time to do a little updating and freshen up my daily view. I've been getting some inspiration from across the web and just had to share some of my favorites with you! 

But my favorite desk of all is this one, which belongs to a Lilly Pulitzer print designer! Seriously, please come and update my office ASAP! 

How have you personalized your desk at work or at home? 

Todays Pickins:

1. HGTV Tips for  Desk Organization

2. Printable Inspirations

What are you thankful for? {Desktop and iPhone Wallpaper}

Across the blogsphere, I see so many sharing what they are thankful fall for as part of getting into the spirit of November. 

When I got to thinking about this, I realized how much I am thankful for the "every day" things. I have an amazing job, loving family and friends and a wonderful boyfriend...I'm a pretty lucky girl! 

I used this as a little inspiration for a November Desktop Wallpaper and iPhone Wallpaper! 

Download these images here. 

What are you thankful for? 

Today's Pickins:

1. Five Fall Sangrias

2. Obsessed with Keds for Kate Spade! 

Inspiration: The Power of Style

Just finished reading The Power of Style by Bobbie Thomas and feeling totally inspired and confident! 

I found a fabulous quote from the book on Pinterest, which happened to be posted by my friend and fellow blogger, La Petite Fashionista! I used this quote as a starter for an inspiration board.

What do you love most about yourself and your style?

Today's Pickins:

1. Find Me by Boyce Avenue

2.  Pizza Quinoa

Getting Real: Staying Motivated

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on my last post on Healthy Living! I promised I would follow up...I did! 

One of the hardest parts of breaking bad eating habits and forming god habits is staying motivated. I once heard someone say that motivation is like food...you need it every day! I couldn't agree more. 

Here are some of the ways I am trying to stay motivated throughout my healthy living journey:

1.  Eat What You Love

If you feel like you're missing you, you'll never be able to stick with your food plan. Personally, I LOVE savory foods. I found so many great recipes on Pinterest that use foods I love, like mushrooms and peppers. I truly don't feel like I am missing out when I take the time to make these foods! 

I also love chocolate. One of my favorite ways to add chocolate into my diet is through EAS protein shakes. I like to mix half of a shake with some strong, chilled coffee to create an out-of-this-world mocha drink! 

2. Find Others that Motivate You

I recommend finding little ways to add motivation to your day. I love following Allie of Keep Your Balance on Instagram for quick, unexpected motivations. Allie and I danced together back in the day and she is a great example of a fitness journey. 

Here are some of the awesome things she's posted:

What I love about following inspirational people, like Allie, on Instagram is that the motivation is unexpected. Posting a quote on my fridge door only motivates at that moment. Looking through Instagram and randomly seeing an inspirational quote can last all day. 

3. Change Your Mindset

We always hear about the important of changing our mindset when looking to change the way we eat. I believe if you tell yourself something enough, you begin to believe it. This has been SO helpful thus far! 

The biggest help: Changing "I can't eat that" to "I don't like that or I don't eat that." 

I reallyyy wanted Jimmy Johns the other day when a coworker suggested going for lunch. Instead of saying "I can't eat JJ" and feeling depressed, I said "I don't eat JJ." As simple as that is, I didn't feel deprived...I felt empowered. I was right: I DON'T eat that. I don't eat is because I don't like the way I feel after eating large amounts of bread and deli meat. 

It's a simple concept. But it works. 

How do you stay motivated? 

Today's Pickins: 

1. Bacon Ranch Grilled Jalapenos

2.  Hair Tutorial: Bouffant Bun 

Oh, How Pinteresting!

One of the things I missed most during my blogging hiatus was linking up each week for OHP! I'm so excited to be back and to share what's been inspiring me. 

Today's Pins:

Can't wait to see what everyone else has pinned! 

Getting Real: The Big “D”

 Unfortunately “The Big D” isn’t going to be a funny post as the title suggests. It’s me being honest with the fact that the diets that I have been trying over the last few months haven’t been working for me.

I wasn’t nice to my body during college and unfortunately it all caught up with me. It was even worse once I entered the real world. With the crazy numbers of hours I work each week (for a job I love) I began to put myself on the backburner.

Two weeks ago, thanks to a suggestion from a friend, I began a journey on a new lifestyle change. She emphasized my need to get rid of The Big “D” word and make a change I could keep to for a long time—and not feel deprived.

I shared with her my lower calorie plan and the foods I was eating. What I soon realized is that while I was eating less calories, I was ONLY counting calories and not other nutrients. The biggest culprit? CARBS.

She asked me to name five “unhealthy/ carb heavy” foods I could give up with ease. My answers:

·         Pasta

·         Bread

·         Candy

·         Alcohol (really, I don’t drink much)

·         All Fast Foods

I began looking up lower carb recipes on Pinterest and realized that these meals wouldn’t feel like a diet. There were so many smart options when I began to focus on lowering my carbs (while watching everything else, of course) that didn’t make me feel deprived.

After two weeks of this routine, I already feel so much better. I’ve lost a little over five pounds but, most importantly, I have so much more energy! It really is amazing how quickly you can see the difference after changing your diet.

Looking to make a change yourself? While I am no nutritionist, I am someone in the SAME boat and I fully believe in the buddy system.

Thanks for letting me be a bit vulnerable, friends! Later this week I’ll be sharing more on my daily motivations.

Today’s Pickins:

1.       Lemon Chicken w/ Thyme ( Low Carb) 

My {Pinterest} Intervention

My Pinterest downfall began when I moved into my own place at the beginning of this

year. My Pinterest obsession was fed more each day and taken to a new extreme as I continued to pin home ideas, work ideas, workout plans, and recipes for one. The problem is, I wanted to do ALLLLL the things.

I started comparing my life to everything that all of the other perfect pinners and bloggers were doing. It seemed everyone had an amazing career, relationship, style, workout routine and could whip up a meal better than anyone on Top Chef on the side.  I thought now that I was living alone I could do it all, too.

Boy, was I wrong.

I'm slowly learning at at twenty-something, it's OK that I don't have my shit together. Just so long as I dress well, behave with class, and always do my best. 

Oh, How Pinteresting! {I'm Back!}

Linking back up! Hopefully this is the end of the hiatus... 

Can't wait to see what you posted!

Friday Inspirations + Wallpaper

I don't know about y'all, but it has been a hectic week for me! 

I have a favorite saying that I was reminded of this week and it'd definitely been helping me to chug along. As you may (or may not) know, I love changing my desktop wallpaper to reflect my mood and this week was no exception!

Hopefully this brings you a little inspiration for the rest of this week!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Today's Pickins:

1. Creamy Chicken Alfredo Recipe

2. Where is the appropriate place to wear this? I want to! 

Oh, How Pinteresting {Inspiration Edition}

Love love love this link up!

Today's post is full of my favorite recent inspiring pins.

Dreams

Party

Won't Wait

Te?

Pets

Dawn

Work

So excited to see what everyone else pins!

New Job Starts TODAY!

SO excited to be starting my new job today!! 

Hopefully I am back later with a million wonderful things to update you all on!

Wishing everyone and great Monday!

Today's Pickins:

1.  Victoria's Best Kept Secrets

2. How to Install Free Fonts

3. DIY Anthro Rope Necklace 

Home Inspirations: The Curtain Dress

Gone with the Wind was the favorite movie growing up in the Cotton house. Mama got us into the movie at a young age and her collectibles throughout the house are a fun way to show our love.

Now, I know emerald is "cool" in 2013 thanks to Pantone, but I need to toot my own horn for a sec and say I've been conducting the Emerald Train for the last 22 years.

Thanks for riding!

You see, I fell in love with the color emerald the first time I saw Scarlett's curtain dress. 

Seriously. I wanted an emerald prom dress SO badly.

Fast forward to 2013. Thanks to Pantone, my once hard to find favorite is now all over the place. Instead of being grouchy about being the one that loved it first (even thought I did), I have decided that I am going to embrace it and enjoy spending all my money. 

One of the places emerald is already popping up quite a bit is in the home. And whaddaya know! I am currently looking for a new place! 

As I like to put it, here are my current favorite home inspirations, all of which are inspired by that lovely emerald curtain dress.

How do you feel about trendy colors in the home?

Today's Pickins:

1.  Love this Tassel Bracelet, especially the green option

2. Emerald and Gold iphone case

3. LOVE the idea of adding emerald embellishments to a collar

Making the Most of your Wardrobe

As I posted a few weeks ago, I recently accepted a dream job offer!

Woo woo!

One of the best things about working for my new company is the trendy environment. Even when I was interviewing, I was worried my houndstooth pencil skirt would be a too bold, only to be greeted by a warm smile wearing an ivory blazer, floral top, and fuchsia cap toe pumps.

The only downside to a trendy office is the fear of wearing the same look twice. I know that can sound silly and even the biggest fashion moguls have a favorite, foolproof go-to. However, it is important to mix and match your trendy pieces in new ways in order to get the most use out of them! 

This can easily be done in three steps: inspiration, planning, execution.

Step One: Inspiration

Think of those favorite trendy pieces in your wardrobe that you know you cannot wait to wear again! Make a list of these items. For me, this current list includes cobalt ankle pants, fur vest, navy striped Cassie Slub from LP, and my army jacket. This list changes from week to week, depending on my mood!

This is also a good time to think about things you have going on in the upcoming week! For example, next Friday we have a Josh Groban concert going on at work, so I am going to want to dress accordingly! 

Step Two: Planning

This is my favorite because we get to use Pinterest! Yay! 

Now, using the search function, find some ways to wear the inspiration item. For example, I searched "blue ankle pant" and "cobalt pants"  on Pinterest to find ideas for my cobalt blue ankle pants.

Here are some of my pins.

I like a lot of these looks, but I know I have a tendency to pair a white top with the pants, so that is something I want to avoid this time around!

During my pinning spree for the pants, I found this gem!

While these pants are more of a wide leg trouser, I really like the black tunic tucked into the pant, the thin black belt, and the black heels.

And what do you know, one of my other inspiration items for the week is my favorite black tunic! I now have a planned look for that inspiration item, as well.

I then continue doing this for each item until all of my work days are taken care of. I also use pinterest as inspiration. The outfit below is a great example of this.

While the idea of using my mustard colored cardigan or rolled up boyfriend jeans might never be an inspiration, this ensemble is super cute! I also love the hair with the outfit--I love easy updos on a Monday!   Now I have an outfit for another day just by replicating a pin using items in my closet! 

Step Three: Execution

I then use folders on my computer in order to avoid the "staring at my closet and  forgot what to wear because I am a zombie" issue. I simply have a folder labeled "What to Wear" on my desktop. each Sunday, I copy my inspiration looks over into the folder and label them for each day of the week. I also put notes next to them to remind me of things.

This is my desktop! 

An example of a note can be seen on Tuesday's photo. Instead of wearing the chevron dress (which I do not have!) I am going to wear my navy striped Cassie dress from Lilly and my army jacket. On Thursday's look, you can't seen the bottom half of the inspiration, so I might question which pant/ skirt/ etc. to wear! Thus, I made a note that I was going to wear my striped dress under the fur vest this week. 

See where I am going with this? 

There you have it! This has made my mornings so much easier and I feel like I look so much trendier when I walk into the office each day. A little planning before the week starts can really save you time and make you look better throughout the week.

Which pieces in your wardrobe do you want use as inspiration?

Today's Pickins:

1.  The Best Nude Nail Polishes 

2.  Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

3. Trying this Pony Very Soon! 

Finally, Fur!

I have always seen faux fur as a timeless winter staple and this season, fur is out in full force! 

I have been looking for a way to add fur to my wardrobe but just hadn't found the right piece. That is, until I found myself at JCPenney yesterday! 

During the holiday season, JCP was giving out little buttons with codes on the back. You could enter in the code on their site and many of the buttons were worth prizes! I won $10 on my first try (from black friday shopping) so my family and I collected buttons throughout the season in hopes of a bigger prize (like a Kitchen Aid or a trip to Hawaii)!  See what I did with the buttons HERE! 

One of my buttons was a $25 giftcard to the store and yesterday proved to be my perfect opportunity to use it! 

This Liz Clairborne Sleeveless Fur Vest jumped out at me right away and I didn't want to take it off! I love that the stitching is done in a herringbone pattern, too! 

Priced at $50, I happily handed over my $25 gift card and thus scored this number for a total of $25+tax!

I am so excited to wear this vest this season and I am looking for some great inspirations as to just how I want to rock this statement piece! 

Here are a few cute ideas I found on Pinterest:

I love turning to pinterest for outfit inspirations--they have been great for coming up with fun ways to wear this trend!

Are you into faux fur? What is your favorite way to style it?

Today's Pickins:

1.  DIY your own Faux Fur Vest

2.  Funfetti Cake Punch

3. Rock Candy in Champagne--I posted about this earlier this week in my OHP post and actually tried it last night! It was such a fun way to add a little umpf to the champagne! My Cotton Candy flavor soaked into the champagne a bit and the rock candy also tasted like champagne  Not to mention, it also created a neat fizz effect in the glass! I recommend picking up rock candy at your local candy story or Cracker Barrel for NYE!