Lovelies in my Life : These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ...

Some of the clothes and accessories in my closet, making me happiest this month -

~ boots in caramel leather (with perfectly tiny wedge and gold buckle)

~ a nude chiffon blouse with delicately crocheted neck line

~ pretty bows that accent any outfit

~ comfy hats (for gotta-run hair)

~ navy stripes (thick and thin)
~ sassy specs (needed or not)

~ little pops of bright color

~ hippie flares

And a vintage moment -
~ Gucci bag
~ a wedding shawl

I received several gift cards for Christmas and recently made a trip to T J Maxx to see if there was anything I could spend it on. Thankfully, their shoe selection was sparse. Whew! I was so close to settling on a great pair of Steve Madden sun glasses for $9.99 (toyed with a pair of cat eye Fossil sunglasses but eventually decided I just wasn't as hip as those LA/NY girls). And then I passed by this Cynthia Rowley blouse and it hung there so beautifully that I looked no further. And just $19.99!

{hat (ribbon on hat - Hobby Lobby), blouse & boots - T J Maxx, cardi - Gap, necklaces - Anthropologie & Loft, bracelets - grandmother, jeans - Forever 21}

Outfit #2 - gift card #2

I really should hold on to these gift cards for a while longer, but it's just too exciting to wait! I used my Express card to grab this sweater, a really loose fit in the torso but with slimmer sleeves and a pretty V neckline. It's a great, comfy fit that will work well into spring and they had it in loads of gorgeous colors. And on sale for $20.

{sweater - Express, jeans - Gap, booties - Michael Kors at T J Maxx, necklace - Goodwill, bracelets - American Eagle}

As I rummaged through a few boxes in our basement, I pulled out a pile of items to send to Goodwill and then a couple of lovelies I thought I'd share with you. I found this Gucci purse at an antique store about 6 years ago. It was about $25 and though I do not know if it's truly a Gucci (I know it's pretty easy to come across a fake), I have a good feeling it is. I knew at the time that I couldn't just leave it there at that price, though I'll be honest, I've never worn it out. I've never loved those designer bags boasting their names all over their entirety, but ... I saw a fancy lady at the grocery store last week, with a Louis Vuitton slung across her fur lined shoulder, and it was really stunning. (Very rare to see designer bags in these parts, which is quite nice, I think. Nothing worse than everyone walking around with the same stuff. Don't you agree?)

And I finally found this faux fur shrug/shawl/cover up. I've been trying to for a while now to use for this very purpose (in photo below). It was made for me to wear over my wedding dress ... at the reception. We were married in February, but in Tulsa so it was not too cold, though enough to need a little something to protect my strapless shoulders from the chill. The bridesmaids had a bit of fur to match, lining the collars of their little sweaters (worn with a floor length ball gown skirt - in a Valentine-sy wine color). Still really think they looked so lovely, even 11 years later. Lots of other wedding yucks though (had my makeup done at the Mac counter cause I was terrible at doing my own, but in my pictures I look white as a ghost!)