Black and White and Pretty All Over

Shopping, to me, is a chore. It is a chore that I love, but loving it makes it no less work. I go to the store, try on ten or twenty dresses, and finally find about three that fit alright. This is the part where I tell myself I do not need all three of them, especially if I don't absolutely love them. I tell myself that just because it fits doesn't mean I should buy it. If none of them make me feel just amazing, I tell myself to walk out of that dressing room and save my money for another day. 

Yes, it is every bit as difficult as it sounds. Trying to build up a wardrobe and develop a style takes some discipline when I am on a budget.

Luckily for me, a shopping trip just as I described above recently resulted in me not going away empty-handed, but going home with this beautiful black and white patterned dress.

Nothing makes me feel quite as pretty or feminine as a new dress. 
Whenever I get something new I rush home to try it on again, even though I just tried it on in the store. Sometimes I just want to try it on with different shoes or see how different bags look with it.

This dress is such a great find, especially when you consider that it is not only in that timeless black and white, but it's in a really fun print as well.

Also, I love the ruching down the middle of the chest. This makes the dress even more interesting and creates a bit of a slimming effect. 

Now, about these adorable little pink heels. It's just amazing what I find in my local thrift store, isn't it? I fell in love with these lovelies the very second I laid eyes on them. Aren't the little bows just ridiculously cute? True love does exist!

You know what else makes me all happy inside? I had this dress for a little while before I wore it anywhere, and that was only because I didn't like any of my shoes with it. I know that sounds silly since black and white goes with everything, but nothing felt right. Then I brought these shoes home and tried them on with this dress, and I noticed they were the exact same shade of pink as the little piping detail on the ruched part. I'd totally forgotten about that!

This dress and I were meant to be as well. Heck, anytime I find something this pretty on a clearance rack, that's destiny. I must tell you, wearing this dress makes me feel like I could conquer the world. Anything that makes me feel that good is not getting left in the dressing room.

Dress- JCPenny
Shoes- Local thrift store
Jewelry- Local store, Charmed
Clutch- Wal-Mart

Loving the Tacky Christmas Sweaters

Christmas probably is my favorite holiday. The baking, the shopping, the gift-wrapping, the somewhat annoying music, I love it all!

I've noticed many of the bloggers I follow are sporting gorgeous holiday dresses and their tacky Christmas sweaters; I figured I should, too!

Since there's no such thing as fancy or formal Christmas parties where I come from, I'll skip the pretty dresses and just get to the tacky sweaters.

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Pardon my squinting in some of these photos; it was pretty bright outside. Anyway, I found this festive red sweater at a local thrift store. Aren't the little snow-people cute?

I decided to belt it to give the look a little more shape, although it was pretty cute without it, too. I just love the bright red! How can you get more Christmassy than that?

My furry boots here are from a flea-market. My adorable little brown clutch came from a local store called Charmed.

Did I mention that this post is a double-feature? That's right! When I bought the red sweater above, I also picked up this awesomely tacky Santa-Claus sweatshirt. 

I knew this sweatshirt, being quite loose, would make my top half look larger, but so what? I decided to wear my flared jeans, which I got at a thrift store. I'm pretty pleased with it. Also, how comfy can you get? Jeans and a sweatshirt? Sign me up anytime! I added silver heels and earrings for a little more fun.

So apparently, ugly sweater parties are a pretty big deal. Unfortunately for this would-be party goer, they aren't that common around here. Some do have them, but not that many. Do I let that stop me? Heck no! I'll rock my tacky Christmas sweaters whenever and wherever I want! I've worn both of these shopping already, and I'll probably wear one outfit each for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Who says wonderfully tacky Christmas sweaters are only for parties?

Thanks for reading!

                                                               Love always,

                                                                     Ashley