Spring Fashion and other things I’m loving right now

Today, my husband treated me to something every girl loves – shopping! The necessity was new trainers for running, and since I got those on sale for only $40 (I was going to spend up to $100), I asked if I could spend the other bit of money on clothes! After hearing the loveliest word I could (yes!) I ran downstairs to one of my favorite shops Charlotte Russe. I’ve always thought Charlotte Russe had a sort of European influence even though the company is based out of San Diego, California.

I was delighted to find all the new Spring trends on the racks. Lots of romantic dresses – I always find the cutest dresses at Charlotte Russe. Here are some of the new clothes I got (and outfit I put together):

 

Black cardigan – $10, Dress – $16 (Leggings from Target & ankle boots from Citi Trends)

Also got this cute $5 tee shirt. I love bright colors and this aqua especially goes nice with red hair.

Not pictured is a pair of jeans I got for $14 on clearance. I love it when stores have sizes in petite or small for those short-legged people like me! I’m sure you long-legged girls like the fact that they make tall or large sizes, too.

Speaking of Charlotte Russe, I’d like to take the time to mention a few other shops I love. These two are based in the UK, but you can always shop online! The first is Topshop. Check out a few of their Spring dresses, which by the way, are totally floral for the season. How romantically chic!

Topshop have great accessories, too. Rings are all the rage right now (and I’m very much into them as well) especially oversized ones of animals or random objects. These are from Topshop, too.

While in England, my husband bought me a little bag (from another cool English store called NEXT) which I use for my most popular pieces of jewelry.

The last shot is of the chunky rose earrings and a leaf ring I got from Topshop.

The next shop is Dorothy Perkins, and I hold a special place in my heart for this store since I found my dress and complete outfit for my 5th wedding anniversary celebration there.

Dress, tights, flats, necklace, and hair piece all from Dorothy Perkins perfectly matched and my best friend, Robin’s, outfit all from NEXT, except for the shoes, which were from Matalan.

Dorothy Perkins has such cute things for Spring, too.

Spring trends for this year are still tunics…

(these are from Topshop) which are fabulously worn with leggings and flats. Also, I’ve seen the “boyfriend shirt” making an early appearance this Spring. I bought this one recently from Wal-mart.

It’s so comfortable and equally as cute.

I’m so excited about the weather that Spring brings, but just as delighting as that is the fun clothes to wear. It’s the time when we can shed those bundled up winter coats and let our skin breathe a little! Keep in mind that too much skin showing too soon is totally NOT cool, so pace yourselves, ladies! Scarves are a perfectly acceptable accessory for even Spring, so don’t pack those away just yet! And the best fashion advice for any season is to wear whatever you decide to wear with confidence and passion. In doing so, you really can’t go wrong.

Faux-Shopping

It’s about brushing up on your fashion awareness, building your self-confidence, and having fun!

My husband and I went to the mall last night, and we took “window shopping” to another level! Our first stop was American Eagle, and we each picked a couple of outfits for ourselves – our own tastes and likes – and then tried them on oohing and gooing at each other when we opened our opposite doors. We then went to the Gap and chose to pick an outfit for the other – whatever we’d like to see the other person in. That was personally one of my favorite parts. David has a laid back, very chill, comfortable style, so it was so fun to give him a preppy beach look from Gap. I swear he could be a male model.

Here’s a few of the shots I took:

You can see the rest on flickr.

I think everyone should go out and do this. Don’t even look at the price of the clothes. I know I had so much fun and enjoyed seeing how I look in different things.

“You have no idea how much this stretched me,” David said. So go on out and stretch yourself a little!

Cardio and Crunches

I had a great work out tonight. Got a ton of cardio in and learned some new ab workouts and variations on crunches. I HATE WORKING OUT MY ABS. But it’s my trouble spot and my “goal spot.” I met this girl last week who works out at THE RUSH as well, and we had an amazing chat tonight about health, exercise, men, beauty, goals – and reaching them – and I could feel the excitement and passion for becoming and staying healthy rise to a new level. It’s about choosing every day what you are going to do to take yourself further along on your road of progress.

I’m really amped tonight. I’m going to bed after this, though, so I can get up in the morning and do the “gym thang” before work. It’s going to be awesome.

I freakin’ love life.

Update

Sadly, this post is only going to be a little update (not quite sure who I’m updating…) even though a true, well-thought out post is totally in order. It’s just I’ve really been way to busy to post regularly. I haven’t even been able to do anymore freelancing either. I’m loving my new job, exactly because of the reason that I’m not sitting around online all day anymore, but yes, I do go through withdrawals. Mostly, this is a very good thing that I don’t have the availability to be so obsessed.  

Speaking of my job, Wednesday is my very first day on the phones for real. I’ll have the opportunity to put all this stuff I’ve learned in the past several weeks into action! I’m scared royally, because honestly, it is rather scary to do something I’ve never done before. But I’m also quite confident. I’ve heard that success is where opportunity and preparedness meet. Well, my opportunity is Wednesday, and I’ve definitely been prepared – pretty extensive training I’ve had. 

I’ve also enjoyed meeting lots of new people at my new job. Asheville is forever filled with the most interesting human beings. 

I’ll end this post with a few pics. 

 

Marinated chicken with melted mozzarella, seasoned mashed potatoes, salad with homemade dressing

It’s from dinner earlier. David and I had ‘date night’ tonight. (We have one every week.) And our date was going to the grocery store together, getting food, cooking it, eating it, and cleaning up after it all together! It’s true the kitchen is the heart of the home, because tonight’s date night was pretty romantic!

Here’s another. 

 

my dad and his RV

We spent a little time with my parents this weekends while they camped in Seneca, SC. It’s their new RV, and my parents love living that life – traveling from place to place taking in the sights. 

And just one more.

Shannon and I

My friend and I went to a ladies mentoring meeting yesterday in Greensboro. She’s my friend with the beautiful (next week) one year old. She teaches me a lot about being a young mother… And I cut my bangs recently. Yesterday, at this event a lovely girl approached me randomly to tell me she thought I was really pretty. That made me feel wonderful, of course, so I took this shot of me and Shannon just after that girl said that. I think that must be what I look like when I’m confident. I want to be that so much more. I’m glad I’m improved a bit.