Fare thee well 2011

2011 has been a really incredible year. Lots of ups and downs but blessed none the less. It began with a pretty terrible knee injury of which I'm mostly recovered. Let's see...I has an amazing time at the Winter Music conference, worked with some amazing clients, one of my best friends got married, Mexico with my family.

Lived it up, loved it up, worried, cried, laughed...baby sister bought a house. So many incredible blessings. Though I started my blog late 2010, this year was the first that I've taken it really seriously and made regular updates and it has been a blast!

I want to take this moment to thank all of you that have supported me, all of your emails, comments mean the world to me. I really love this outlet. Expressing my style and sharing things that I love as it relates to fashion with you is such a treat. So thank you from the bottom of my heart! I look forward to growing the blog and appreciate the love you've shown for my shenanigans!

Here's my last OOTD post for the year. I figured why not my absolute fav trend of the year, Neon & Neutral + Black Leather. So here it is!

Jacket - Lane Bryant

Dress - Asos

Layerd Striped Cardi - (Though you can't see it is from Old Navy)

Booties - (They are so comfy I can't stop wearing them Cloud Walkers from Avenue)

Feeling Peachy

I took these pics Sunday, a gorgeous sunny winter day in the city. Had a great time lounging around and brunching. I'm one of those people who will go out to eat at the same place over and over again so it was kind of cool to check out a new spot which, I loved so much that I will go there over and over again. Ha.

We went to Lido in Harlem which is actually down the street from my old apartment. My how that area has changed in the last 5 years. It was pretty bare, Mike Tyson used to climb on our roof to feed his pigeons (we had a sunlight and could see them looking into our living room, seriously). Now it's all, cafes and bars and Duane Reades and such.

On to my clothes. I had a gift card from Macy's and a 25% discount coupon so of course I spazzed out in there last week. These leather look tights from INC might be my fav thing I've owned in a long time. A-MAZ-ING. They have a high banded waist which is really great for comfort and keeping them still. They don't move around or slide down. I'm in love. Real love. Deep, true, love.

I'm going to wear these pants all the time, I've already planned a trip back to Macy's to buy 2 more pair just in case I actually wear them out. Don't judge me.

Here's what I'm wearing:

Jacket - TJ Maxx

Top - ASOS

Necklace - I made it

Leather tights - INC for Macy's

Boots - Blowfish

Bag - Urban Outfitters

Shades - Valentino

All That Glitter!(z)

I was really on the fence about this post simply because it's really hard to get great photos of yourself when you're at an event. But, since I've had this dress (worn as a top here) for more than a year and the tights for almost just as long and this being the first time I've worn them....I thought ahh hell, just do it who knows when you will wear any of this next.

So! Here it is. I wore this to the Simply Be event last week. The event was cool, the folks were VERY nice it was just a little lack luster since there wasn't a whole lot of pieces to check out and no take away info or images. But great brand and I def wish them well with their US presence. I saw a few UK bloggers feature a recent store opening of Simply Be across the pond and the store looks kind of amazing. Would love for them to open a store here!

Blurry but you get the picture (hehe picture).

Here's what I'm wearing:

Dress - ASOS (size 12 - remember look EVERYWHERE and try things on)

Tights - naKIMuli

Denim Jacket - Calvin Klein

Boots - BFT

Vlogging, not much unlike Voguing...or, not

DEETS: Jacket- Lane Bryant, Dress- ASOS Curve...everything else mentioned in the VLOG.

Cross My Heart and Hope to TIE

I went home (Philly) a few weeks ago to hang with my fam and to celebrate Father's day a little early since I had a wedding on Father's Day weekend. As always family time is nothing short of a blast, I have one of those made for TV families...not the Jerry Springer type but closer to the Cosby's. We actually like each other and enjoy spending time which is really fantastic.

You always hear Father's Day dread stories of Dad getting some terrible tie and smiling kindly and wearing it for the kids. This Father's Day was a bit different. My dad recently lost some weight and was cleaning out his closet and playing dress up (so sweet). Fast forward, the next morning I'm hanging out in my parents room and see a Yves Saint Laurent tie in a pile of "throw away clothes". First thought "SCORE!!!", second thought...hmm is my sister going to fight me fore it?

I take the tie into the bathroom as I was getting dressed and when I come out of the shower it's GONE! Yep, she took it. (Ok...don't panic, you can get the tie back).

ME: "Oh Karla, did you take my tie?"

Sister: "YES! It's Daddy's you can't take it"

I call my father and ask if i can have it, to which he answers "Yeah sure, I was going to throw it away...it's out of style, from the 70's".

SCORE! - I think it worked pretty well with the outfit I'd already planned on wearing.

DEETS: Tie - YSL, Top - ASOS, Shorts - Old Navy, Sandals - Antia, Shades - Gucci, Bag - Louis Vuitton Never Full