Catching Up: This Sunday

This weekend has felt like a nice blend of going out and doing things around town and staying in to relax. I've been making it a point to visit the gym more regularly (I'm just so much happier after I've exercised), and so am hoping to hit up the treadmill later today as well! 

Yesterday evening we had some sweet friends over for dinner and their three kiddos tagged along too! I met these friends back when I was in college in California, and we hadn't seen eachother for 6-7 years. Isn't it so great to reconnect with people?! Since that time, they have had three beautiful children and I had so much fun holding their youngest who was nine months old-- so stinkin' cute! For a comfy dinner at home, I wore another one of my favorite cotton plaid button downs and the gray high-waisted Charlotte Russe skirt I've worn in a previous post. I wore my satin house ballet slippers around to keep my feet cozy. 

Excuse my #showerhair! :) Also, one of my favorite things that I made last night for dinner-- and that if you've never tried you should go make right now is an Ambrosia dish-- I use the FoodNetwork recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ambrosia-recipe.html  (Except I substitute in walnuts instead of pecans). I think I ate more than half the bowl myself.

For today's Sunday School class, I picked another comfy floral dress that I've owned for a long time. This one is from Ralph Lauren that I picked up in a Macy's back in college...and I paired it with another one of my favorite Kohl's cardigans. For Sunday School, I just wore my favorite comfy tan flats...but put on my caramel heels for a bit more flair at home! :)

xo,

Shannon

Catching Up: Last Sunday

When I started writing, I was hoping to make daily entries into my blog. I'm sure we all know how that goes...I'm so bad about overestimating the time I'll actually have available each day to get things done. Sometimes it feels like work just takes over life...sometimes I'll make exercise a priority and feel exhausted when I get home...and sometimes I just forget. Isn't that how it always is though? So I wanted to share two of my favorite outfits from this previous week... this floral dress & cardigan combo I wore to teach my second Sunday school class at our new church. I ended up with ten kiddos which was a pretty big surprise, and I felt pretty overwhelmed trying to keep my eyes on all of them! We also saw the movie The Secret Lives of Pets after church (my husband and I are kids at heart), and although we liked it, we are definitely bigger fans of Zootopia!  

In my closet...

 

I've had that floral dress for probably six years now, but I'm pretty certain I purchased it at a Ross back in California. Mostly, I remember it as a dress I wore while working abroad in the Czech Republic and we went to the border of the Czech Republic and Austria. I have a photo somewhere of me straddling the border (standing in two countries at once!), and so that's what I always think of when I wear this dress! My sweater is from Kohl's, and my shoes are from Old Navy.

Then Monday rolled around and I had a tough time getting out of bed! So I threw on this comfy burgundy wrap dress from Old Navy and managed to make it to work early. 

xo,

Shannon

Summertime Weather and Stella Time

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a blog post. I so enjoy it when I'm able to write a blog post every day because I love the opportunity to look back and think about what I was wearing and what was on my mind in the past. But I feel like it can also be a good sign when we don't make time to blog because it can mean that our attention is focused on our family, or our careers, or any other space in our lives that might need our time and energy more.

 

I had the opportunity to take a trip the weekend before last with my hubby down to the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area...we stopped in Colonial Williamsburg, went to Jamestown, visited the Dam Neck beach, strolled along the Virginia Beach boardwalk, and had fun on the roller coasters at King's Dominion. I love the time that we just get to spend together-- he really is my favorite person in the world, and I'm lucky to have a best friend that just gets me and makes me feel so loved and so comfortable at the same time.

 

I also am so thrilled because I made a decision to accept a new position for this Fall school year. I'm taking time away from graduate school to pursue teaching, which I think is a needed and welcome change. I've been struggling to find joy in my current studies/work for longer than is healthy, and I'm very happy with the position that I decided to accept-- it's a subject and age range that I'm excited to teach and it's a ten minute drive from my home (as opposed to my most recent 45 min/1 hour commutes)! I'm hoping that this Fall will be a wonderful new start!

 

 

xo,

Shannon

Birthday Weeks & Stella-brations!

This week included my 25th birthday, and also my puppy's first birthday, so it was a week of celebration (amidst a more ho-hum work week).

My birthday!

For my birthday, I wore a coral dotted dress (from Ross) with my light nude Charlotte Russe suede heels. My husband and I went out to dinner later in the day, so I changed into a red polka-dotted Bettie Page dress from ModCloth.

 

 

For my sweet puppy's celebration, I wore a white cold-shouldered shift dress (also from Ross), and my slip on nude heels (again, from Ross... can you tell where I shop most of the time?)!

xo,

Shannon

Sunday Clothes & Summer Barbecues

Today was my first day volunteering at my church's Sunday School, and I was assigned to the elementary school classroom. I really enjoy working with kids, and I just love the feeling of being back in environments that remind me of my own childhood-- I even like organizing materials into manila folders that I can use in lesson plans. There were only five little ones in the class today, so it was a pretty easy group to manage, which I think was good for my first time back in the swing of things!

 

Later on today, we're having a small barbecue with our neighbors, and I'm looking forward to spending quality time with my hubby and our friends.

 

Today I wore a white jacquard-style fit and flare dress that I picked up around Christmastime at our local Kohl's, and am wearing a caramel colored wrap heels that I recently ordered from Charlotte Russe. I really like these heels because all of the straps and the back zipper make your foot feel really secure in the shoe-- unlike some heels where I feel like the front part of my foot is about to fall.

 

 

xo,

Shannon

Dinner Dates & New Shoes

Both Wednesday night and yesterday night I had dinner out (and both times at Italian restaurants too)! On Wednesday, my husband and I went out to dinner with our two friends, their mom, and their absolutely adorable three-year-old daughter. They're also a military family and are moving out of state next week, so it was a nice chance to say goodbye and send good wishes along for their move. One of the worst things about being in the military is the fact that you have to say goodbye to people so often...but one of the best things about the military is that it's likely that you'll see them again at a duty station in the future.

Then yesterday, I got to go down towards DC and had dinner with one of my friends who lives/works down there. Having lived in Maryland for close to a year and a half now, I feel like I should have explored Washington DC a little bit more-- it seems like there are a lot of great things to do down there. At the same time, I feel like I often avoid it just because of the traffic! Oh well...

For Thursday night's dinner I wore one of my favorite summer-time dresses. I just love teal/blue combos...I have a couple of dresses with similar color schemes. For last night's dinner, I also picked a dress--this time a purple floral wrap dress!

Wednesday night's dinner outfit:

Dress: Ross // Cardigan: Target // Ballet Flats: Old Navy

Thursday Night's Dinner Outfit:

 

Dress: Vera Wang (Kohls) // Camisole: Kohls // Shoes (New!): Charlotte Russe // Purse: Michael Kors (Ross)

 

 

xo,

Shannon

 

 

Interview Outfits & Casual Date Nights

Today I had a professional interview, which...even after all of the interviews I've done up to this point, still scare me to death. So much of it for me is that I want to impress people and I want to make people happy, and so I think I have this ingrained fear of letting people down. I then come home an overanalyze all of the things that I think I did wrong, and fret and fret (every single time). Which is all terrible advice and I hope that as interviewees, you all are absolutely nothing like me. I hope you have confidence in how much you bring to the table, how bright your future is, and that an interview is a two-way street in every respect.

Along those lines, here is my most recent interview ensemble. I was a part of a professional sorority as an undergraduate student, and we took professional dress very seriously (for good reason--it's so helpful to go into a room with your head high knowing that you have the proper attire to take control and lead). For our sorority professional dress, we had black/gray/navy suits (pants/long skirts) and long sleeve muted color button downs and closed toed shoes. I still follow a lot of those same reference points, but I like to tone down the look with a slightly softer blouse and a patterned blazer or professional looking cardigan.

For my outfit, I am wearing a blazer that came as part of an ensemble suit at Ross-- I seriously can't say enough good things about the professional wear at Ross. I've gotten so many formal, beautiful professional suits (especially in their sale section) for less than $40. One of my favorite suits that I used back in my graduate school interviews was $16! The skirt I wear for most professional functions is the black high waisted pencil skirt from Express. I really like the cut and length of this skirt, but I do have a complaint that it always seems to twist around a little bit. At one point today it went from being a back-slit skirt to a side-slit skirt...if that moves around to the front, there is definite potential for embarrassment! I'm also wearing a white crepe zip front blouse that I got from the Burlington Coat Factory. I have the same blouse in different colors that I got from other stores too, it's one of my favorites because I think the zipper adds just a hint of professional bling! Lastly, I've got my trusty old Payless heels...they're short, comfortable, easy to walk in, no frills, etc. but add just a little bit of heel to add in some confidence.

I'd love to see some of your interview looks too! And any special nerve-calming interview tips you might have. :)

 

My interview outfit:

Then, I came home from my interview, kicked off my high heels and had some puppy playtime with Stella!

 

Lastly, I swapped out my pencil skirt for a cute little Sonoma Style Cargo skirt I just picked up from Express and tossed on some Charlotte Russe nude faux snakeskin heels for a date night with my hubby!:

 

Date Night Look

 

xo,

Shannon