Weekend Wants

From left to right:

1. Gap printed shirtdress

2. Jeweliq necklace

3. LOFT leather sandals

4. Banana Republic dolman blouse 

5. Bauble Bar python bangle

6. Old Navy seahorse shorts

Just a few summery items I've been lusting over recently!

xo
Courtney

Navy + Yellow { + Garage Sailing }

Happy Friday lovely readers! I forget how much I love the pairing of navy and bright yellow- it's summery and nautical. And although I'm nowhere near an ocean to actually go sailing, I am doing my fair share of garage sailing this morning- well, manning the cash box and making friendly conversation (and nursing a big iced coffee to stay awake so early).

I wore this outfit to work yesterday and threw on the lacy jacket from my previous post to make the frigid air conditioning more bearable.

Blouse: Target; skirt: jcp: flats: Payless

Necklace: H&M

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Can you believe it's almost July?! 

xo

Courtney

MAXI'n and Relaxin'

Yesterday was h-o-t. I started off the day wearing this light lacy jacket but shed it only a few muggy minutes later. And a brief disclosure: lots of outfit pictures were taken to compensate for my recent lacking!

jacket: Forever XXI; dress: jcp; bracelet/necklace/sunglasses: LOFT

jeweled sandals: Old Navy

My weekend was filled with pool time, night games of sand volleyball, shootin' some bball outside of the school at the gym. Summer is officially here, and my arsenal of SPF 50 says BRING IT.

xo

Courtney

P.S. - Thanks again, Mom, for taking the photos! {I assume she'll read this sometime...} ;)

P.P.S.- I hope I got the Fresh Prince song stuck in all of y'alls heads ;) ;)

Dress + Cardigan = Foolproof

Aside from the accounting practice set that I've been assigned to do before school starts, the only equation I'm working with this summer is the above.  Flouncy sundresses take up a pretty big chunk of my summer wardrobe, and with good reason- they're cute, they're not clingy in sticky Midwest humidity, and they're so incredibly easy.  I don't know about you, but it can be stressful to try to pair a top with some pants or a skirt, especially if you're running late.  They're also incredibly versatile- wear a dress with a blazer or cardigan for work or on its own for bebopping (my new favorite verb) around town.

But I'm probably preaching to the choir- if you're reading this, there's a good chance you love dresses as much as I do, so I'll stop gushing now and instead post my outfit for this beautiful day!

Dress: Jason Wu for Target; cardigan: LOFT; flats: Payless; watch: Macy's; belt: JCP; crappy phone quality courtesy of the iPhone 4 (I need to upgrade...)

And a quick shout-out to my awesome shoes: I ordered these after returning my Tory Burch flats that mutilated my heels, and lemmetellyou they are TEN TIMES BETTER! And way waaay more affordable. Katie has some too; she was the one who introduced me to them. The soles are made with two layers of Memoryfoam so it's kind of like prancing around on cumulus clouds all day. You can buy them here!

In other news, right now I'm on my lunch break, sipping iced coffee outside of Panera and eating my packed lunch (just call me Ms. Frugal). Just in case you wanted to know:)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

xo

Courtney

Well Hello There, Talbots.

Talbots was always a store I associated with, well, grandmas.  As a grumpy preteen tagging along with my mom on shopping trips, I'd be forced to spend precious Hollister/American Eagle time among the utterly boring cardigans and bermuda shorts.

Fast-forward to present day, and it's now one of my favorite stores in the mall. (Actually, that's not saying much considering the Columbia Mall is a bit pathetic.)  Maybe it's the fact that I'm now in a workplace environment that necessitates the "boring" stuff, or maybe it's because I'm now old enough to appreciate the quality and timelessness of a lot of their clothes.

I left there yesterday with a classic navy pima cotton cardigan, but I can't tell you how tempted I was by some of the other items. I tried on this dress and fell in love:

The dress behind me was also super cute- it definitely had a Lilly Pulitzer vibe going.


Other items of note:

Adorable patent bow belt in lots of fun colors

Nautical knot necklace

Starfish sandals

They're having a 30% off everything sale in stores and online, so hurry if you see anything you like!

xo

Courtney

(This is not a sponsored post, even though it may seem like it} ;)

Summer Smoothies in Style

Columbia has officially succumbed to the healthy smoothie trend, and I am just fine with that. There's a place that opened recently called Suite Leaf that offers meal-replacement smoothies that 1) incorporate HerbaLife products, 2) have a bunch of protein and are thus quite filling, 3) are all less than 230 calories, and 4) come in a lot of delicious flavors. You think it, they probably have it-- butter pecan, blueberry muffin, Snickers, cinnamon roll, etc.

Katie and I went when it first opened, but today on this sweltering day I brought my friend Megan along for a refreshing "lunch". We even got some outfit photos without melting!

On Courtney- dress: Express; shoes: American Eagle; purse: Nine West; bangle: Forever XXI; sunglasses: Loft

On Megan (she's got that blogger pose down pat!)- dress: Maurices; heels: Marshall's; bracelets: Loft and American Eagle; sunglasses: Fossil; purse: Coach

A little note about Megan: we met in our high school astronomy class and became fast friends. I count her as one of my closest girls, and if you heard our conversations you would probably think we were crazy/from a different planet. We can laugh 'til our abs ache but then we also have some deep, thought-provoking talks. Love ya girl!:) 

My dress collar kept flipping up in the breeze!

So I just went with it.

Meg didn't know what pose to do next.

I think she was singing "Mirrors" despite looking as though she's doing the Soulja Boy.

The freckles are starting to come out of hiding!

Megan got the German Chocolate and I opted for Turtle Cheesecake. Both were delicious! If you're in the area, give it a try! Smoothies are $5, which, considering they're a meal, isn't that steep. You get a complimentary "aloe shot" to drink beforehand which helps with digestion, and if you're willing to pay an extra $2 you get a metabolism-boosting iced tea. 

Say selfie!

xoxo
Courtney

A Sunny Day Ensemble {+ NEW Kate Spade!}

Blouse: Jason Wu for Target; skirt: Loft; flats: Gabriella Rocha (via Zappos); tote: Kate Spade

Necklace: Forever XXI

Sorry for the grainy iPhone selfies! I didn't have any photographers on hand when I was taking these before work. Yesterday was the first sunny day of the month, so I threw on a pleat-y floral-y skirt for the occasion. The blouse was the only thing I managed to snatch up from the Jason Wu + Target collab a few months ago- I made sure to get there right when it opened to beat those a-hole eBay sellers. 

Oh! By the way, I seem to be on a Kate Spade kick, because for whatever reason the UPS guy decided to give me a lovely emerald green tote bag... but actually, I was stalking the Kate Spade sale on Gilt and saw that it retailed for over $350 and they had it for $78. And even though I was "technically" on a self-imposed "shopping ban", this was definitely an exception. I don't regret it one bit! It's the perfect size for a laptop if you're going to a coffeeshop, or to hold farmer's market goodies. I'll have to take *real* pictures of it later.

Happy Friday! This week just whizzed by, didn't it?

xo
Courtney

{What I Wore}

Blouse: New York & Co.; pants: Forever XXI; shoes: Dorothy Perkins; bracelets: Loft and Forever XXI

Awkward crotch shot close-up of the buttons.


To work, and then out to dinner afterwards. I looked slightly out of place at Texas Roadhouse amidst the men in cowboy hats, but it's all good. I'm probably five pounds heavier than when these were taken this morning thanks to those buttery soft rolls...worth it.

P.S. is there a tutorial or something on how to pose for outfit photos?! This girl is clueless.

xo
Courtney

Happy Tunesday!

I love a good pun.

Or a bad one.

Today, since I've been feeling very unmotivated in terms of taking pictures and documenting what I wore, I'm going to instead share nine new songs that I've been listening to on repeat. Lucky for you, it's not the stuff that plays on the radio on repeat, because we all need a break from the Billboard Top 40 every once in a while, no matter how catchy that Selena Gomez song is. Am I right?

1. Diane Young by Vampire Weekend- to put it mildly, I've kinda been obsessed with these guys since their debut album. When I first heard this song, however, I didn't like it at all. Headache-inducing. Then I listened to it a few more times and fell in love and wanted to dance all over the room, much to the disdain of my sister.

2. My Number by Foals- so fun to sing at full volume: YOU DON'T HAVE MY NUMBAH!

3. Trying To Be Cool by Phoenix- this is off their new album "Bankrupt!" (I guess you have to exclaim it when you say it?) and I think they succeeded at being cool with this...

4. Breezeblocks by alt-J- what a weird song. So why the heck is it so addicting?!

5. Follow by Crystal Fighters- these guys are from England and Spain, and their music reflects it. I absolutely love Spanish guitar, so this one's a winner for me.

6. Get Lucky by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams- this has a 70s disco vibe that I am all about.

7. Gasoline by Alpine- a new band from Australia, a place that seems to be churning out a ton of great music lately.

8. Pompeii by Bastille- epic, although I dislike that word, is the only way I can think to describe it.

9. Out of My League by Fitz & the Tantrums- this will get stuck in your head for a few days after listening, just to warn you.




Until next time!
xo
Courtney