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There isn’t really much that I need to say here.  Who doesn’t know the value of neutral shoes?  Who doesn’t love shoes $40 and under?   Who can’t see themselve slipping these buddies on with pretty much any outfit that you can come up with?  Who doesn’t know how comfortable these all look in addition to being cute?  Exactly.  All on sale at J. Jill.  Enjoy.

One of my favorite designers, Tracy Reese has these cuties on sale currently at Rue La La.  Click if you need an invite.  These prices are crazy!  Why must I be tempted so?   Sale lasts for the next hour…so think fast.  ALL OF THESE DRESSES ARE $79 so it shouldn’t be hard to decide.

So Diane von Furstenberg is having the online 70% of sample sale again and here are my two favorites.  Ignore the weird styling and get rid of everything and find your own cute black heels, and this Haytan Dress in Bubble Moons is perfect.  This is something that you really don’t need to accessorize much- maybe a silver bangle or two.  Thin, of course.  The styling on the Gallina Dress in Ombre Ferns Green is great.  I love those sandals!  I’d just switch out that bracelet for an all gold one.

Well around my way, Spring is in full force…in all of its incarnations.  You never know what the next day will bring this time of year.  One day, you can be out in tank tops and a light sweater and the next day you’re cursing yourself for putting away your warm jacket.  Currently, in my hood we are being regailed with everyone’s favorite…Spring Showers and cool weather to boot.  But I love it.  Spring is my favorite season because all of my clothes can come out to play.  

This post is inspired by yesterday’s ho-hum outfit.  I don’t always check the weather when I’m getting dressed and very frequently what I have planned in my head just doesn’t work out when I step outside.  So I just grab a scarf which can very easily and prettily cover up the clavicle that I’ve been hiding all winter and dying to let free. 

I’ve been pretty loyal to a boring black scarf of mine that I took off for this pic but I know I can use an upgrade to something way more pretty and way more Spring-like.  That outfit above* is dying for a way  more punchy scarf.  Oh and I had to go home at lunch and put on some hose…it was freezing out! 

Back to scarves….Anthropologie to the rescue, of course!  I would love to pull the trigger on all of these scarves.  They would brighten up pretty much any winter-worn wardrobe and make even your winter coat and all black outfits sing a new tune. 

Please note that all of these come in a variety of colors, these are just my absolute favorite.  The scarves are – Moments Pause, Shadowed Vine, and Catch And Release, respectively.  Someone must buy one, because I spent all of my money on pillows.  Anyway, I could have definitely used this  Catch and Release in Steel Grey yesterday.  

*I know my background leads much to be desired but I was rushing, I’ll be more prepared next time.  I think the trash can adds to the tone of the picture…lol.

Well we all know how Target does with the Designer Collections by now and we all know that many items are pretty hit or miss.  I’ve had more success just rolling with Target staple company- Merona.  Anyway, none of us can resist trying to get designer goods for Target prices so of course we all scamper around trying to scoop up these deals.  Maybe I can save some of you a trip to the store here with some reviews of the hats by Eugenia Kim and the shoes by Cynthia Vincent. 

First, let’s look at the display for the Cynthia Vincent shoes.  It’s simply just an endcap…that’s it.  I really don’t appreciate that at all as a consumer because obviously Target is trying to create shortages and frenzy right from the gate.   We all know how quickly these items sell out online and add to that the fact that you barely have a chance to grab something in person…awesome…NOT! 

The shoes that I was most interested in were the kente cloth wedges.  They’d been in a bunch of fashion magazine spreads and looked awesome in all of them.  I was also intrigued by the yellow wedges but I won’t even taunt you because they are no longer available online and were never available in the store.  The cognac ones look cool too but only available in stores.  Good luck with that one!

So, here they are and let me say that they photograph very well but in person for me they just look flat and lackluster so I left them in the store.  It was easy to do because although the store locator on the site said they were at the store in my size, they weren’t.  I read the online reviews though and took heed to some reviewers’ suggestions to try the shoe in a whole size down from your normal size.  Great suggestion, and it was pretty true.  If the velcro at the top front of the shoe actually opened, it would have been perfect a whole size down.  So you could size anywhere from a half size to a full size down depending on your foot.  Rejoice in that!  Another thing to rejoice about is the fact that the shoes were VERY comfortable which a great feet considering that heel height.  For me though, I just cannot see me wearing these shoes that much and I was really disappointed in the hue…I was expecting something much richer. 

On to some good stuff, the Eugenia Kim hats!  At first, I thought I was going to be disappointed again when I tried on the Straw Green Trim Hat and the material was shredding all over my clothes and hair.  Ugh.  But I pushed through and tried on a few hats and pictured below are my favorites. 

I left with the first one- the Plaid Straw Fedora and though I have absolutely nothing to go with the second one- Straw Fedora With Black/White Trim…I’m thinking about going back to get it.  The fit on the first hat was a little tight but the fit on the second was pretty loose and relaxed.  For the record, my dome is kind of big…lol.  The third cap- Striped Equestrian Hat was pretty cute too but I was way more into the fedoras.  So after a fun trip to Target to review the new collections…definitely head straight for the Eugenia Kim hats and then if you have some free time…try for the Cynthia Vincent shoes.

I love Cynthia Steffe.  Her styles are structured and classic but definitely girly.  Anyway, here’s the Dress of The Day- the Stella Sheath Dress.  It’s $99 on Gilt.  If you’re not a member, click for an invite.  I’m not a fan of these shoes or those dark hose but it’s Spring so we don’t have to worry about all that!

I love pillows and that’s a fact.  They can instantly take something drab like my living room and totally transform the look and feel of it with just a few of them.  Playing around with pillow arrangement takes time until you can get the perfect placement.  Such is the case with the couple of tries it took me to get my pillows looking as springy and as cohesive as I’d like.  So let’s look at the before, first.  Don’t fall asleep, now.

Okay now, here’s where I started bringing in the pillows after my first shopping trip.  I definitely wanted the brown pillows in because that’s the color of my rug and all of my old pillows…lol.  This arrangement just didn’t really gel together for me.  The brown really brought everything down and it seemed disjointed. 

So I went to this…

and it was definitely way too bright and juvenille for my tastes.  Great for someone else but for me it felt like someone else’s living room.  I needed to bring it down to earth a bit more but I was totally stumped as to how I was going to do that with the pillows I had.  So I shopped for some more and found two that I loved and felt would give me the balanced, bright yet still sophisticated look that I was going for and bam…now I’m happy. 

I love all of the texture and the frill and it’s brought together with the neutral tones that I didn’t want to lose.  My couch and my rug still seem like a part of the equation but this is definitely not the boring living room of old.  So pillows, done…but more decorating to go.  It definitely is starting to feel like Spring in my apartment.  What do you think?  Which was your favorite?

Peep these cuties that are $50 and under!  One for work, one for weekend, and one for a wedding (or a sexy night out). 

Work: AGB Dress, Sleeveless Empire Waist from Macy’s
Weekend: Knit Tank Dress with Pleated Neck from Ann Taylor LOFT
Wedding: Retro-Inspired Strapless Dress from Newport News

Orange is a fabulous color that works on pretty much any skin tone.  It’s another way to say “HELLO WORLD, I’M HERE AND I’M HOT!” and it’s becoming a favorite of mine.  Maybe because I’m livening up my living room with the color or maybe because I got the greatest deal on my $33 Easter dress (yes, I still get them) or maybe because I saw Miss Zoe Saldana killing the color in the most beautiful dress recently…but orange is at the forefront of my mind.  Take a gander at me and Zoe rocking our orange dresses and then take a looksee at a few orange stunners that I found online. 

Below are dresses by Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein again LOL, and  London Times respectively.  Enjoy!   Are you feeling orange?

Thank you to those who shamed me on and offline for my bland living room.  I’m getting it together a little more quickly than I thought.  Maybe I can bang something out before I lose steam.  I’m still looking for art and waiting for a bench that someone doesn’t want to seem to give back to me…ANYWAY, if you know any good/cheap art spots to peep let me know. 

Here’s a sneak peak of some things that I’ve bought and then some things I’m thinking about.   Like Meg (who has a great blog), I don’t believe in spending googobs of money for this.  What do you think?   Props to TamStyles (another great blog) on the Ebay pillow seller.  I am having a hard time finding a nice orange print pillow as strong as this pink one shown below.  Help!