#whatsuziewears Archives - Page 3 of 3

Knockarounds before the Summer Kickoff!

TGIF! Happy friday guys and gals!

When I say TGIF - I seriously mean it. This was one long week. For real - I owe my sincerest of thank you’s to God that today really is Friday. I spent the past few days in DC working a trade show for my during-the-week marketing job… it really took me back to my salesperson roots. I was so fired up and on top of the world, just feeling like I was in my old groove. The hubs and my mom have both said it’s been the first time they’ve heard me excited about anything in a while. Honestly it just felt really good to be out of the house and talking to people. It also felt really good doing something I know I’m awesome at. I think I need that in my life every now and then…

So getting back to the fact that I am beyond exhausted and want to do absolutely nothing today other than catch up on overstocked DVR! As the not so fashionable lifestyle blogger that I am, I decided you were due a not-so-fashionable blog post of sorts.

My husband took me out to lunch today. It was rainy and dreary and like I said, I’m running on empty today. But I wanted to at least look halfway decent for our lunch date. And when I say “halfway,” we are seriously leaning more towards the I-picked-up-whatever-clothes-were-on-the-floor-and-threw-them-on half of the decent scale.

Some days you just want to be comfortable. You just want to wear your favorite ball cap. You just want to be in your flippie floppies. You just want to break all rules and throw on a cute necklace with a grungy shirt. And for me, today is that day.

Despite the fact that picking out causal knockarounds was the only thing I wanted to put my brain to work on today - I didn’t just stop by the blog for that. I have a very important announcement for you!

As you know, I really hate interrupting your regularly scheduled program (ha! like there is one!) but a few of us bloggers have decided that we really need to kick off summer the right way: The blog way!

Growing up, spending my summers in Carolina on the river, Memorial Day Weekend was always the official start of summer. It’s the first weekend the entire family and a ton of friends travel to the river house. The first time the jet skis end up in the water. The first big cookout of the year. The first true glimpse of what the summer season will hold.

Needless to say, I love Memorial Day weekend.

Which is why J and I put our heads together to find a way to kick off summer in blogland! I am thrilled to be teaming up with some of the sweetest ladies you will ever virtually meet next week to share a little bit of “summer” from each of our home towns with you!

All week long, we are going to prepare you with summer stories, and tips, and recipes, and things of that sort to get you ready for Memorial Weekend! Get your toe nails painted and your flip flops ready! Next week is going to be a lot of fun!

All of my clothes in the pictures above are from target. The white tank is still available.

The blue, boat neck, long sleeve shirt and the green cargo-style capris have been part of my wardrobe since 2006.

Jewelry is from Charming Charlies.

Comedy, Clothes and Belly Chuckles

by Susan

So on the absolute rarest of days, I leave my house. You see, I work from home. Which means I basically eat, breathe, and live in the same clothes I sleep, type, and lounge in. All. Week. Long. But every now and then I have a reason to brush my hair, do my makeup and put on something that doesn’t resemble high school gym shorts paired with an oversized t-shirt.

Surprisingly, it happened twice this past week! I’m not complaining.

Michael and I, along with my college roomie and her husband, bought tickets many moons ago to see one of our favorite comedians: Brian Regan. In college, every other sentence I said was either a direct quote or more typically an unnoticed reference to this man’s original CD. I listened to that disk so many times that I would proudly boast to folks (who could care less) that I wore out the cd. The fact that it wouldn’t play anymore really didn’t matter. I could quote the entire thing, start to finish. All 54:05 minutes of it.

With the excuse to cancel our normal friday night plans (i.e. Shark Tank at 9pm) in addition to the fact that it was a whopping 90 degrees out (way too hot for my norm: jeans and a nice shirt) I figured I really should put some thought into what I was going to wear. I also had not been shopping for anything other than groceries in what has felt like an eternity. Top it all off with the fact that on Thursday my mom repaid me for some Trader Joe’s almond butter with $50 cash. Cash that, if spent properly, would magically not be showing up on my husbands credit card bill…

So I went to Versonna. Of course.

I wish I had thought to put my hair up so you could see the back of this dress. It’s pretty fun with it’s semi-open back, but solid straps so you can still wear a normal bra. Hooray!

Due to many years of horrible knee issues, I am always a little hesitant to purchase a dress (or heck, even shorts) that are well above my knees like this one. Self conscious doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about my legs. Also, I very rarely wear heels or even wedges. I usually prefer having the ability to walk the next day, than to looking fashionable. But with clean eating and more exercise, I decided to give these wedges a shot. It was a bit weird being almost as tall as my pretty tall husband for the evening.

What’s a fashion shoot before a comedy show without a sneak attack from Zoolander? Not something this girl want to be a part of… that’s what!

Photo credit goes to the hubs! Thankfully (after an hour and a half in tunnel traffic) we got to downtown Norfolk a bit early. The city worked as a better-background-option, as the few pictures he snapped of me in our front yard looked like I was getting ready for my mom’s annual “back to school” photos. You know, the ones that you were absolutely required to take, every year, no matter what, at 6AM as the school bus was heading your way. Even when your face was covered in zits or your braces were extra shiny.

We had dinner at Freemason Abbey, and I was especially thrilled that they have plenty of gluten free options for me and my ever so fickle digestive system. Sorry for the crappy iPhone images below… apparently I had the camera set to iBlur for the entire evening.

Climbing up to the top level of Chrysler Hall was not enjoyable with my wedges, but sitting front row of the balcony was pretty darn sweet! Extra room for our husbands’ long legs and there was not a soul in the way to block my view. The show was terrific — but to be quite frank, I think I prefer his older comedy a bit more. Or maybe deep down, I just wanted him to recite every hilarious crack that got me through my college years. It’s probably the latter. (And for the record, for anyone who was at the show: I was not the heckler.)

Y’all enjoy the rest of your Saturday! We are heading out to a cookout (thunderstorm permitting!) And just in case you have no clue who Brian Regan is and you are in dire need of a good belly chuckle - let me just refer you to this, this and this. You’re welcome.

Dress — Versonna Accessories ($29)

Belt — Versonna Accesories ($14)

Necklace — Versona Accessories ($14)

Bracelets — purchased years ago on vacation in SC

Shoes — Target (on sale now for $20!)

Purse — purchased about 15 years ago!

I’m linking up with the awesome gals over at Pumps and Pushups for Oh, Hey Girl!

Wine Drinking and Fashion Blogging

by Susan

I am so incredibly lucky to be bless with so many best friends. Seriously. For our wedding, I had one maid of honor, two matrons of honor, and 6 bridesmaids. That’s not mentioning my wedding singer, my happy helper, or my stand-in wedding coordinator. Seriously. I have a lot of best friends.

Once I figured out that yesterday was Wednesday (I was very confused in the AM) I spent the entire day anxiously awaiting 7PM: my scheduled phone call with Jess! Other than texts, tweets, facebook stalking and blog comments - we really haven’t talked since November. And that’s just not right.

I discovered on Monday that Jess was keeping a secret from me… Apparently she became this hot shot fashion blogger last month and even didn’t let me know about it! This girl has always had such a keen fashion sense that I have never been able to keep up with. I remember spending hours upon hours together in our early high school years - trying to plan out our weekly wardrobe and penciling in onto our calendars. Not so we would be prepared with outfits, but so we could look back. I believe we had a three week rule: Thou shall not wear the same outfit, or a piece of an outfit within three weeks of previously wearing said outfit.

Ha! I don’t know about Jess, but that rule imploded when I got to college. And now, now that I am a stay-at-home-worker, I’m lucky if I change my outfit once in 7 days!

But in honor of our phone & wine date, I decided to be a supportive BFF, and I got dressed yesterday.

To be fair, it wasn’t just because of the phone date… it was also because I got a new sweater. The Limited is the brand on the tag but I purchased this gem at Sams Club for a whopping $5! Best part? Five dollar sweaters from Sams Club can easily be blended into a weekly grocery receipt and your husband will never know. Unless you’re a blogger. And then the entire world will know.

And with that, I bring you my attempt at fashion blogging.

I’m in dire need of a haircut. But I’m going through a mid-life hair crisis and I’m terrified that whoever cuts it will just make it worse. My hair has decided to go from super straight, very soft and a little thick to super straight only in the front, crazy curly only in the back, super duper thick and a tad bit coarse. On a normal I-don’t-have-to-do-a-fashion-blogpost kinda day, I wake up, try to gather the curls and the crazy fly aways, and throw it all in a pony tail. Yesterday though, I took the time to wash it (*GASP! There’s still hope for me!), condition it with special keratin conditioner, blow it dry, and semi-straighten it. It was still a hot mess.

I need a hairtervention. (Yup, I made that up just now. It’s an intervention for hair help. I expect there to be a banner similar to the #himym intervention banner.)

And for the record, I straightened that crap on the left in the morning.

My whole30s, clean eating, and pondered thoughts of going to the gym are starting to pay off!

Can you tell I haven’t had any gluten in a week?! Grain Free = Acne Free! Huzzah!

Sweater - Sams Club - $5.00

Tanktop - Target - Old but just saw it there for $9. Seriously - you need these in your life. I have this tank in 6 different colors.

Jeans - American Eagle - Old - and unfortunately I have been told they discontinued these boot cuts. Because, according the the world, bootcuts are no longer “in.” You fools.

Flippies - Target online - $3 - (the trick is to purchase your new spring and summer clothes from target online in October! I got two skirts, 2 dresses, a few tanks, and 2 pairs of flip flops for less than $60 in October. Put that on your calendar NOW!)

Necklace and Earrings - Old - Charming Charlies

Aviators with floral pattern - $6.99 - Versona Accessories

So there ya have it! Maybe I will give this fashion blogging thing a shot… or maybe I will just leave that up to the folks who actually are actually considered fashionable! While I sit and ponder what pair of yoga pants and t-shirt I will be wearing today, y’all should head over to J’s blog Bless Her Heart Y’all and show her some love! Not only is she a good blogger but she is a wonderful person in real life too. Hence our 4 hour, 38 minute, and 4 second phone call last night while we both drank our weight in wine and/or summery cocktails.

Let’s Go Wine Tasting On The Couch

by Susan

The best part about people knowing you have a blog? They don’t really question you when you say “Hey, could you stop what you are doing and take a few pictures of me real quick?”

To call this shirt an utter gem doesn’t even begin to describe it’s glory.

It was a random find on pinterest a couple of weeks ago that I happily pinned it onto my “wish list” board. About 5 minutes after pinning it I decided it was something that I desperately needed and couldn’t wait and wish for Michael or my mom to accidentally find themselves surfing my pinterest wishlist… So I ordered it.

And I waited for the mailman to bring it to me.

And waited.

And wished.

And waited.

And then it arrived!!

I rushed into the house. Changed my clothes. Put on my pink Chucks. Grabbed my camera and asked Michael to snap a few pictures of me in the front yard.

I asked him to make me look like a fashion blogger.

Instead he made look like a goof ball with an awesome t-shirt.

I hopes of trying to show you my pink Chucks, I practically fell over in the yard. Pretty positive I need to get a bit more serious about reading the ‘fashion blogging for dummies’ book. And possibly yoga classes. And working out. Or maybe just make this my first and last high fashion post.

Do you want one of these too-cool-for-school shirts for yourself? You can find it here. {Although, I’m not sure if I would wear this to school… it really is too cool to wear to school as these days they seem to kick people out for anything referencing sex, drugs, and alcohol… wearer beware, this shirt will make you cool.}

At this point Tyra would be telling me to pack up my knives or whatever it is that she tells her contestants.

And with that, I’m going to head downstairs and pour a large glass of Trader Joes Liberty wine and enjoy my Friday night drinking wine on the couch!