What’s my new obsession this week?  It’s scallops!  Wait a second, I didn’t mean the seafood… although those are pretty good too.  But I mean scalloped edges on clothing and accessories!  I’ve been seeing it around a lot lately and I think it’s the perfect little subtle edge to spice up a piece of clothing.  I think it adds a little cute, feminine, trendy flair and I am really digging it.  I think I only own one scalloped tank, but once May gets here and I can shop again, that will probably change.  Here’s a few pieces on my shopping “wants” list…

1 These are the cutest thing ever.  I love the yellow color and scallop detail.  This is on my list once May gets here.  Lucca Couture Scallop Shorts

2 Ease your way into scalloped edges with a little hint of it on your collar.  ASOS Shirt With Scalloped Collar

3 This top is totally cute for a party with a colorful skirt or for work with some classic trousers.  Conversation Pieces Martini Cocktail Party Shirt

4 Love the color and detail of this dress!  Shop Tobi Pinkies Up Scalloped Dress

5 Lace + scallop is pretty much a perfect combination.  Karen Kane Scallop Lace Top

6 Colorblock + scallop is another key to perfection!  Ali Ro Colorblock Dress

7 This backpack is totally cute with the little scallop edge detail, so fun! ASOS Scallop Edge Backpack

8 These heels scream fabulous.  Justfab Oksana

I can’t believe the weekend is here already again!  This week has been a busy one trying to deal with car repairs and the aftermath of the accident I was in last Saturday.  I’m currently driving around a huge Chevy Impala these days until my car gets fixed and that thing eats gas up like crazy, I tell ya.  This weekend I’m going to an event on the Plaza where I’ll get to see Tim Gunn, can’t wait to see some other Kansas City bloggers there!  Yes, Tim Gunn from Project Runway.  I hope to hear him say “Make it work” in person, haha!  This will be a true test of my willpower since I will be surrounded by all my favorite stores… H&M, Forever 21, Francesca’s, GAP, J.Crew, Anthropologie… I must resist for a few more days!

Are you a fan of scalloped edges?

Shirt: Forever 21 | Vest: Conversation Pieces | Jeans: Target | Shoes c/o B.A.I.T. Footwear | Bracelet: Forever 21 | Earrings: Pretties By Meg | Necklace: Oh, Hello Friend | Ring: Asos

A couple outfit posts ago had a top with stripes and it was in this exact same location for taking pictures.  I’m running out of new locations around the house to take pictures guys.  There’s this deck stairwell, the fence, the front door, the walking trail and rarely the side of the house, the sidewalk and on the deck.  That’s all I got around the house my friends.  My mom keeps encouraging me to go to the pond or a neighbor’s house that has a pretty flower in their yard, but it’s so hard to find the time to venture out and quite frankly, I’m a little paranoid by the neighborhood stares.  Even when I’m taking outfit pictures around the house and neighbors see me, I wonder what they think.  Why could she possibly be taking so many pictures multiple times a week?  Is she modeling for something?  Well I guess you could say yes, for the blog.  But they don’t even know I have a blog.

I’ve had people ask me how I find the time to always take pictures.  Actually the truth is, a lot of times I will take outfit pictures on the weekend and sometimes if it’s still light out after work we can take them in the weekdays (this never works in the winter though).  I always like to hear Marvin’s reaction on Saturday morning when I say, “Hey hun, I have 4 outfits I want to take pictures for today”.  Sometimes if he is in a good mood and not too tired, he’ll be like “sure”.  But most times, he comes back with something sarcastic like “OK, I’m snapping 4 pictures total” or “OK, you get 1 minute of picture taking in each outfit”.  Either way, I really appreciate him being my photographer!  (Did you read that hun?) 

Do you take outfit pictures daily or a bunch at one time?  What locations do you take yours at?

P.S. Have you entered the B.A.I.T. Footwear giveaway yet?  Win the shoes I’m wearing in this post or any shoe of your choice!

P.S.S. The winner of the $50 shop credit to Conversation Pieces is Amanda C. of Dragonflight Dreams!  Congrats girl!  Send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

Top: Forever 21 | Skirt: Urban Outfitters (similar) | Shoes: Michael Kors (similar) | Necklace worn as Bracelet c/o Twillypop | Necklace c/o Anna Delores

Never did I ever think that I’d write a blog post with the word “Mullet” in the title.  That just cracks me up.  And no, I’m not referring to the hairstyle (wouldn’t that be kind of awesome if I surprised you all with a mullet haircut) but I’m referring to this new trend for skirts/dress/tops!  It’s where the front is short and the back is long, also known as “hi lo” or “high low” or “hi low”.  I’d been on the hunt for the perfect mullet skirt to add to my wardrobe and last month I was at Urban Outfitters and found this perfect floral skirt just hanging on a rack all by itself with some other dresses (it was in the wrong section).  I quickly picked it up, realized it was my size and headed down to the dressing room.  I put it on and was SO SO happy that it fit.  And then I was determined to buy a nice top that would pull out one of the colors from the skirt.  Of course Forever 21 did not fail me in finding the perfect peplum ruffle tank.  My nude Michael Kors heeled sandals I got from Nordstrom Rack, beautiful aqua bracelet from Twillypop and fun Santa Monica ferris wheel necklace from Anna Delores were just what I needed to top this look off.

On a complete different subject, some of you may have seen on Twitter, this past Saturday I got into a car accident while I was driving my car with my Mom and little baby Austin in the car.  It was a fender bender where me and the other car were both turning left out of parking lots across the street from each other.  My car got hit on the front right headlight area and thank goodness NO ONE WAS HURT.  Baby A slept through the whole thing and none of us got whiplash or anything since the speed was pretty slow.  Just wanted to say thank you for all those that prayed for us and we are all OK.  I was just shaken up a bit and am nervous about driving, but life goes on.  So this is just a friendly reminder to all to please drive safe and pay attention to the roads at all times, life is precious.

P.S. The winner of the Fresh Tangerine layering bracelets giveaway is Pamela W of Heartbreak Boutique!

Do you own any mullet skirts, dresses, tops?

Shirt: Forever 21 (similar) | Necklace: Forever 21 (similar) | Pants: Charlotte Russe (similar) | Bracelet: T+J Designs | Shoes: YesStyle

Want to know what my go-to outfit for wearing colored denim is?  You are looking at it.  Stripes on top, colored denim on bottom, throw on a pair of shoes, and some jewelry and you are good to go.  That’s pretty much what I wear when I don’t have time to put together a more unique outfit!  If there’s two things in my closet that I have too much of, it’s stripes and colored denim.  Yet, I am still on the hunt for the perfect pair of mint denim, do I really NEED them, probably not, but I really want them.  And don’t worry, I still haven’t shopped yet in April.  I even won a ModCloth gift certificate giveaway from Julie Ann Art, but am going to try my hardest to wait until May to use it.  Aren’t you so proud of me, friends?    AND I still haven’t even gone thrift shopping yet (remember I said I’d give myself a $35 budget at thrift stores).  Honestly though, I just haven’t had the time.  Work has really decided to kick itself into high gear and is keeping me REAL busy.  When I get home, I went to spend time with my little bundle of joy.  My “me” time is pretty much writing blog posts and reading some blogs here and there.  So if you haven’t seen me around your little part of blog world in awhile (so sorry!), you’ll know why.  Everyone keeps asking me how I manage to do it all, the answer is, I don’t stop moving, I don’t take a break…  I generally like being busy, but I hope I don’t get burnt out one of these days!  :/

By the way, are you familiar with Chantilly Songs?  If you are a fan of good tunes, you must head on over to her blog to have a listen at her Up To The Moon EP!  It’s amazing stuff, friends!  She had an Online Release Party yesterday and I shared a little post about what I’d wear to the party (if it could be in real life)!

P.S.  The winner of the Ladyee Boutique giveaway is Melissa W. of Sigh…Gush…Gasp!  Congrats girl!  Send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and we’ll get the necklace sent right out to ya! 

P.P.S. There are THREE current giveaways going on right now!  Go enter here, here, and here! 

If you could just have one more hour each day, what would you do with that hour?

Have you guys heard of Stitch Fix before?  Well if not, you are in for a shopping treat.    Stitch Fix is an online personal shopping service where you fill out a survey about the style and then send you clothing or accessories right to your door step!  The survey is extremely detailed first asking you questions about your body type and shape, what areas of the body you like the flaunt, and what size you typically wear on top and bottom.  Then it asks you how much you spend on average on different pieces of clothing and accessories and what materials you absolutely don’t like to wear (like pleather, fur, etc.).  Then it has you characterize your personal style, I said that Casual Chic and Cute top and jeans kind of girl was totally me while Boho Chic and Edgy was not.  But I did say that I would like to add some more Glam, Romantic and Classic pieces to my wardrobe, so just because your current style may be one thing, you can always say you want to add different styles into your current wardrobe.  After that, the survey then asks you about your Color and Brand preferences and any other Personal Notes you might want to add.  Then lastly you put in your mailing address, billing information and you schedule your Fix!  Basically you get charged a $20 Styling Fee (no matter if you decide to keep anything or not) and if you decide to keep anything, that $20 goes towards the price of the item.  And if you buy all 5 items that they send to you in your Fix, you get 25% off the entire purchase.

I must say that the shipping was very fast and when I received the box I was SUPER excited!!!

Here’s a look at the box and its contents.  The box came with a letter to me describing all the different pieces that were in the box, a stamped and addressed envelope to send back the items that I didn’t want, and 5 items to try on!!  The package arrived on a Thursday and I had until Monday before I needed to send anything back if I didn’t want it.

Here’s the contents of my Fix!  Like I said above, these items aren’t typically ones that I would wear on a daily basis, but I chose that I wanted more Classics and Glam pieces so I think these fit that category quite perfectly.  Here’s a breakdown of the items and what I thought about them:

1. MM Couture Dress : day to night ellen one shoulder dress ($66) – I was excited about this one because I don’t have a lot of one shoulder dresses.  I was worried that it would be too tight, especially around my belly area, but luckily it has a little bit of drapery around that area to cover it up.

2. Max and Cleo Dress : day to night cassie halter dress ($115) – I LOVED the color of this dress, but unfortunately the fit on top was a little bit weird on me.

3. Whats In Store Jewelry : Cheney Necklace ($30) – The necklace is a classic piece with a great color that would go well with a lot.

4. Ark n Co Dress : Evening Wear quily matte sequin dress ($62) – I was very hesitant about this dress at first glance because of all of the sequins.  I knew that it probably wouldn’t work well if I had to carry Austin around while wearing it and it was just a little too much sequins for me.  I wasn’t a big fan of how it looked on.

5. BB Dakota Outer Layer : Blazer etta brown dotted blazer ($100) – I was SUPER excited to see this because I had been looking for a brown blazer for the longest time.  But I wasn’t a huge fan of the coattail in back.

One of my favorite things about each clothing item is that each item came with 2 suggestions of how to style that item.  Whether it’s pairing a dress with a blazer and tall heels or a belt, flats and a colorful clutch.

So which ones did I decide to go with?

Dress: MM Couture | Belt: Target (similar) | Necklace: Forever 21 (similar) | Shoes: Sam Edelman

I ended up going with the MM Couture Dress!  I figured it would be a great dress to wear for a wedding or just out for a fancy girl’s night.  It definitely is very form fitting but I figured that my baby belly is only going to go down with more time so the dress will keep looking better and better on me.    Prior to receiving the dress, I had never heard of this brand (MM Couture) and when I had looked it up, I realized there were a ton of pieces I loved at really affordable prices.

All in all I loved the experience of having my own personal shopper and getting clothes sent to my house.  With my new responsibilities of being a Mom, it’s rare that I have time to go out and shop anymore.  The only downside is that you can’t try things on for size before getting them but that’s pretty much the same as if you bought something online.  This time I decided to go out of my comfort zone a little a probably got too many dresses that I will probably only wear a few times, so next time I am going to go for some more every day pieces that are more my style.

If you’d like to try out your own Fix, you can sign up here.  It’s still in beta mode so you need an invite to sign up and I definitely think its worth trying for fun!    I’d love to hear about your experience if you have tried it out or once you do!

I was given a credit for $100 to do a review of Stitch Fix.  All opinions listed here are mine, truthful and honest.  They would have been the same regardless of if I got the credit or not!

P.S. The winner of the Jessica N Designs giveaway is Valerie of Mamavalveeta03!  Congrats!  Please send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com with your shipping address!

Have you gotten your Fix on yet?