Polka dots and pockets

Mom and I went Christmas shopping on Sunday, and I could not resist buying this one dress from Nordstrom Rack. Yes, I broke the shopping ban again (previously, two belts for 20 bucks!, loads of socks at Forever 21, the J.Crew warehouse sale).

Dress - Nordstrom Rack, Striped blazer - Nordstrom, Gray suede booties - Me Too

Black with blue polka dots? Tempting. Especially when the blue is so close to Carolina blue. And then I tried it on and discovered the dress has pockets!

My scream of excitement scared the dressing room lady.

But! I did not buy three dresses, two of which were really, really tempting (Calvin Klein for $40? Ugh, I'm still kind of bummed I left it behind). So really, I feel like I should be rewarded.

Amirite? Yeah, my face is not that convincing here.

H&M Virgin

Do you remember your first time...

Gold headband - Primark, Gold cardigan - H&M, Patterned dress - H&M, Bracelets - Uniquities and Nordstrom, White watch - Michele Watches, Black tights - Probably Target?, Black booties - Nine West

...buying something at H&M?

Because I remember!

It was in San Francisco, October 2007. I bought this dress and this cardigan.

I couldn't resist the dress, especially because of the pockets.

This was also one of my first patterned pieces in my closet, definitely very quirky and different at the time for me. Even the sparkly gold cardigan was a bit va-va-voom at that time for me. Obviously my tastes have grown and changed, but I still love both of these things.

Day at the NCMA

Currently the North Carolina Museum of Art has a special exhibit on Rembrandt.

You should go see the exhibit!

Husband, Child, and I had an afternoon of culture, which all of us enjoyed. The audio tour was great, and it was the perfect amount of paintings and information. I felt informed but nobody was overwhelmed or tired by the end.

Leopard hat - Nordstrom Rack (Present from Parents from birthday!), Necklace - Present from friend, Purse - Burberry Prorsum, Silk blouse - J.Crew, Black cami - Express, White watch - Michele Watches, Black pants - Gap, Boots - Luxury Rebel

The art was fantastic! I really gained an appreciation for Rembrandt's style, which made the faces in his paintings like so 3-D and life-like! I also enjoyed that other pieces were included that people once thought were painted by him, in order to compare.

It got chilly! Black cardigan - Banana Republic

It's officially embarrassing how many times I've worn this blouse. I just wore it on Tuesday!

Fave of the week: November 26-December 2

While I adored the colors in Sunday's sweater, I had to go with Wednesday's outfit for my fave:

Individually, I love all of these separate pieces, and together I also love them. I played with a palette of purple, pink, gray, and black, but also played with juxtaposing serious and fun pieces. The jacket is so lady-like, as is the shape of this dress. But the print of the dress (bunnies!) and mix of colors make it fun. While the boots are the same color as the jacket, they're a lot funkier. The purple scarf is simple while the purple purse is edgy.

Decorating the tree

Saturday was pretty low-key. Child, Husband, and I got out the ol' Christmas tree and decorated it.

Headband - Missoni for Target, Striped hooded shirt - American Eagle, Yellow necklace - Nordstrom, Green cargo skinnies - American Eagle, Yellow and beige striped socks - Forever 21

It was a fun time for the most part. Especially eating warm-from-the-oven snickerdoodle cookies during a mini-break.

The tree is in our super casual hangout room, where maybe we watch movies. Hence, the movie poster.

I love seeing the tree all lit up after decorating is done!

That and the Christmas music we play while decorating really puts me in the spirit.

I swore at some point I wore shoes (these boots, in fact), but I didn't get pictures of that. I was too busy having a fabulous dinner with my hysterical parents (you guys were in a really good mood yesterday) and getting some shopping done!

Celebrating the holidays

Hurray for Friday. It was the day of our holiday party, so I decided to be extra chill at work and wear Uggs. I'm sorry, I still love them.

Cardigan - J.Crew (warehouse sale, oh yeah), Blue tank top - from forever ago, White V-neck tee - Splendid (Present from Sister using a gift card!), Leopard belt - dEliA*s, Blue cargo skinnies - American Eagle, Boots - Uggs

They're like slipper boots! Whatever. I don't wear sweats in public, so I have some standards!

Closer in on the cardigan. Loved this! Another thing from the warehouse sale!

Finally, my outfit for the holiday party that evening was a bit more on the scandalous side than I would have preferred. I wanted to wear an LBD, but I forgot the one I wanted to wear needs to be taken up a bit at the shoulders because it looks a bit big in the back. So I wore this one:

Yellow necklace - Nordstrom, Dress - Urban Outfitters, Yellow purse - Kate Spade, Black hose (looked more like tights without the flash of a camera) - wherever, Black heels - BCBGirls

I honestly thought I didn't have any more LBDs. What the heck is wrong with me? I recently wore three of them on this blog, one of which would have been lovely. Need to organize my closet!

It's December?!

Whoooeeee, it's like I never recovered from my busy Wednesday. Because now it's Sunday night and I'm finally getting around to posting Thursday through Sunday, plus fave of the week.

Cardigan - Anthropologie, Dress - Proenza Schouler for Target, Coral socks - Forever 21, Boots - Frye

I was thrilled to find another way to wear this dress, plus a way to wear this cardigan, period. The colors are gorgeous, but its length really requires a dress for it.

But I could never really figure out what exact dress because the colors are tricky!

I threw on the coral socks at the last minute and regretted it when I saw the colors in the pictures. The coral was just to strong, and a fuchsia would have been more appropriate, as it was the binding color in the cardigan and dress. By the way, do we call this thing a cardigan? Should I just call it a sweater?

In other news...I tried the fishtail braid again, this time going with thinner strands of hair. I think it turned out better!

Should have teased my crown, though, as my hair looked pretty flat.