Snowed In...

It is April 19th and it's officially Spring but we just just got done cleaning up after another snow storm. It started yesterday afternoon and led to a lot of school closures and went on all through the night and ended in the early hours of this morning. I had a torturous drive from work yesterday as my usual forty minutes drive turned to one hour and forty-five minutes. There were lots of crashes related to the storm too and I just pray for all those that were involved. At this time everyone is just tired and some people are a little frustrated; snow lovers that we are! You have to love snow to live in Minnesota...:) We were just recovering from the storm that we had last week when we got hit by this one. Although the snow is over but it is very windy and the wind is blowing snow flakes all around. Also, thankfully, the temperature is in the upper thirties and relatively bearable.

Stepping out of the house; the poster behind me on the glass is the one we used for a church convention a while back. Do you see one of my kids peeping at me from behind the glass panel in the door?..:) Hubby got up early to clean the sidewalk and the driveway and this constant plowing of snow is what everyone in my neck of the woods has been dealing with for months. We are supposed to be enjoying the spring weather by now but it seems we are just going to go from the winter season into summer. I remember a couple of years ago

What to wear on a casual Friday

 

This is a styling inspiration for putting together a quick look for casual Friday. I created this look on Polyvore and the statement piece in the entire look is the grey pumps. The red blazer adds a pop of color to the look. Happy styling.

Wooden Heel

These photos; photos??? Do we still use the word photo?...:) Okay, these pictures were taken last week after two days of weather precipitation which totally caught us off guard. I am wearing a brown long sleeve tee with a brown faux fur vest and skinny jeans. The main focus of this outfit is the shoes and that is what I want to talk about in this post hence I named it "Wooden."

This shoes were my first pair of red shoes (and I think I own about nine pairs of red shoes right now or thereabout) I bought it from Victoriassecret on line and it was the heels rather than the color that drew me to it the first time I saw it. The wooden heels give a glamorous look to the red and I wish I had gotten them in black color too. You might be wondering why I chose to wear this shoes on snow  and the fact is that this shoes are actually made for tough weather like this. The weather wasn't too cold too and I never really went any where. So, let's say these pictures were taken for dramatization purposes only...:)

Our tough Minnesota winter which has several precipitation ranging from snow to sleet to ice is very tough on car tires, roads, sidewalks and also shoe soles and heels. The de-icing salt that we put on the driveways and sidewalks are also very hard on shoes and make them wear out easily. For this reason, I save most of my other shoes in the winter time and opt out for this whenever I need to wear pumps. The thick heels are very sturdy on slippery surfaces and the wooden heels along with the entire surface of the shoes can be wiped out with a soft piece of cloth. They also dry out easily and after wearing them on a day like this, I just wipe them and leave them in the bathroom overnight and the next morning, they are dry and shiny and ready for another show...:)

Pleats Deal

Pleats! Pleats!! Pleats!!!

 

So timeless and classic; this trend has indeed come to stay. The pleats fabric can be used to make just about any style; pants, skirts, dresses. Also I love that they come in fun yummy colors. I was in the fabric store the other day and went to the pleats section and I was just drooling over all the lovely colors. I couldn't help going away with yards of pleats fabric and I would give my seamstress a call soon. I have a few pieces in my closet already and the recent addition is the green high low skirt below I purchased from venus.com.

 

 

I do not know what to do with my pleats fabric yet but I'm a little tempted to make dresses and pants since I do not have any pleats pants or dresses. The fabulous dresses below retail for $128 at Victoriassecret.com.

 

For now, I'm just content drooling over the yummy, colorful yards of fabric in my closet and seriously thinking of taking some sewing classes soon. I can't wait to start making my own clothes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credits: Victorias secret.com, Venus.com, Metrostyle.com

 

 

 

Beauty Ojo

 

Color and Style Inspiration Board 2013

 

The Color and Style Inspiration Board is a new feature and one that I intend to have on this blog every year. I know a lot of fashion bloggers and stylists do have fashion styling and inspiration boards which they work with but I never had one until now. If there are looks I love that I have seen somewhere else or thought of, I usually used to memorise or commit it to memory for future use. However, it has come to my attention, that my brain needs some extra support...:) hence my decision to set up a style board.


The way I have set out to do this is simple; rather than spend countless hours on the web browsing popular sites like pinterest for fashion trends, I just look at those catalogues that come in the mail. I do a lot of online shopping and usually get catalogues sent to my address from my popular stores. Most of those magazines used to end up in the recycling bin without my even turning a page. These days, I just keep them right by the kitchen counter and when I'm in the kitchen waiting for something to sizzle or in the dinning room waiting to clean up after the kids, I just pull out the magazines and flip the pages. I rip out anything that catches my eye and save them in a pile before tossing the rest of the catalogue in the recycle bin.


The next step was going online to view these items with a critical eye on the prize and trying to see if I can play the waiting game hoping that the items go on sale or to just order them right away when I know they'll sell out quickly. So there it goes! These are the styles and color combination I am hoping and willing to try out these summer and I will add any new item that catches my eye to the list. Another fun and creative way to shop.









This animal print shirt from victoriassecret.com retails for $98 and I am waiting on this one.

While I wait on these items from my favorite stores to go on sale, I can ocassionally browse other stores to see if they have similar items at a lower price. Although I saw several other animal print tops at a lower price in some other stores, majority of them were of low quality; the prints too large or the fabric too sheer. So, this victorias secret blouse might end up being the one but I hope it does not sell out while I play the waiting game.

 

 

 

I am loving the above blue color looks from metrostyle.com and I might not have to order anything to achieve these looks. I am inspired by the styles and the colors. So, if I can get pieces in my closet to achieve the color inspiration, then I'll put them together to achieve the above looks. They are definitely fun looks for the Summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not have a jumpsuit and have never tried this look but I'm thinking of giving it a try this summer. This jumpsuit is on sale right now at $86.40 at victoriassecret.com. The original price was $108. If I change my mind about doing the jumpsuit look, I can do all black with black and white print shoes. So, this is also a style inspiration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For these other looks below, I just like the color blocking and color combinations and I'm inspired to try out the combination of colors rather than shopping for the individual pieces. The pictures are from Metrostyle or victoriassecret.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love love polka dots! This look is effortless and has been done a thousand times over. Just throw a polka dot top in with anything and Viola!

 

 

 

 

 

Animal print skirt from victoriassecret.com: $59.50





There you have it; my color and inspiration board. I will constantly update it and add anything that catches my fancy to it over the summer months.


Beauty Ojo


 

 

The totally Unexpected!!

Yay!! I have a new background for my pictures; sort of...:) heaps of snow! Just when we were all excited for spring; boom!!! Mother nature pulled a fast one on us. As one of my friend always says; Minnesota weather is completely bipolar..:) We have had very mild winters for the last two years and everyone somehow forgot about the real Minnesota Weather where it is pretty normal to have April Snow and the Winter and Spring in competition until Summer mediates.

So, this snow storm started Tuesday and when it was all done yesterday, it dumped close to seven inches of snow in some parts of Minnesota. Instead of brooding over the snowy weather and the cold, we decided to enjoy it as much as we could and got the kids outside to play and help in the plowing of the driveway.

Okay, that is it for the weather...:) since the temperature was in the upper thirties and not too cold, I decided to wear my cute faux fur vest that I recently purchased from Forever 21 and talked about here and here. I threw it over a black long sleeve tee and paired it with a colorful midi skirt. Thank God I had not put my boots and tights away yet so I completed the look with black tights and boots.

I really love the faux leather ties on this vest and I think it gives it an edgy look. The vest is also well lined and I felt warm and comfortable.

Hello Spring...

We got an unexpected snowfall yesterday and most people were surprised. Even the meteorologists seemed to have missed it. It's a good thing the flakes melted on touching the ground. Nevertheless, that was a huge scare because we are all ready to move on. "Spring is here!"


If you know Minnesota and know that we had snow on the ground for over three months then you will understand the apprehension that was felt when those flakes started to fly...:) Anyway, I think we are back on track now. I'm so ready to enjoy the spring and summer.

I got a little colorful today and donned a red jacket over a pair of jeans and a white tee. I put on a pair of leopard print pumps and with my clutch I just purchased from Target a few days ago, I was good to go. Between, the clutch was a great deal. The original price was $29.99 and it was on clearance for $9.99. I had stopped by at Target to just get toiletries but could not resist taking a look around..hmmmmm

Jacket: Thrifted
White tee: Victoriassecret.com
Boyfriend Jeans: Neighborhood boutique here
Clutch: Target
Leopard print pumps: Colin Stuart via Victoriassecret.com

I'm always so excited when I sign into my blog these days and I believe most of my excitement is knowing that I'll meet some new friends who stopped by to say hi and left comments. And most importantly, I'll also get to read my inspirational message for the day. My message for today says;

   "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me."

                                                               Psalm 18:19
                                                            2 Samuel 22: 20



                                                                       

That's my food for thought for the new week. I hope you get to check out these verses too from the bible. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Leave me a link in the comment box and I'll pay your blog a visit. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a wonderful week.

Beauty  Ojo                                                                 

Cobalt and Print

Hi everyone in Blogs ville. From the background of my pictures, you can tell that the big thaw has started. The snow pile in my driveway has reduced a great deal and the weather is now bearable. Finally Spring is here and all the layers of clothing have started to come off. It feels good to step out of the house in just a blazer as an outer wear.

I am wearing one of the pants I ordered recently in my shopping spree at Forever 21 talked about here. The pants were a great steal at $9.99. However, they were listed as high rise pants but actually look and feel like harem pants. I paired it with a cobalt blue blouse, a black blazer and my ever so trusted patent pumps and I was good to go!

I am so glad that wearing of blazers is a trend that has come to stay because it's been right up my alley for a long time. I love to wear blazers with everything; dresses, skirts and pants. Apart from the edgy look blazers give to an outfit, for me most of the time, it is mostly worn out of necessity.

When you are very curvy and naturally endowed as I am, throwing on a blazer over your outfit can pull your look together and keep everything modest. I bless God for endowing me with all the curves in the right places but if you are like me, you will know that a curvy body can get really difficult to style sometimes. If you decide to flaunt your curves then you will look too sexy and out of place in most situations. So, in order to be appropriate for most events, you have to keep everything in place. A blazer is a must at all times...:) I have them in colors of the rainbow and have never been able to pass them up whenever I shop.

I am still very modest when it comes to jewelry and I only put on stud earrings for this look.

                                                     This is how the outfit looks without a blazer...

                                         This is the "Miracle look" with the blazer on...:)

Cobalt blue blouse (Neighborhood boutique) online store here.
Black blazer: Old
Pants: Forever 21
Purse: Aldo
Shoes: Qupid via Burlington
Earrings: Avon
 

      Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. God bless you and do have a wonderful weekend.




                                                                              Beauty
                                                                                 Ojo