Sherbet Stripes

There is something to be said for making the most of your Monday. For me, that's rocking a really bright print. Bright colors = bright mood, and you know what? It worked. My Monday was pretty awesome. 

I didn't realize it until I saw these photos, but those nude pumps are really nude. I'm wearing my shoes in every single photo except for the very last shot, and yet... it looks like I'm not wearing any shoes. That's ok though, because this dress speaks for itself. 

 

  

 Dress - Zara

Jacket - Shade

Shoes - Via Spiga here

Earrings - previously worn here bought here

Recipe: Steak Chimichurri

As a Texan, I love anything that includes the flavors of Latin America/Mexico, and anything that includes steak. So something that combines the two? Perfect. Now make it healthy and you've got what could be the best meal known to man. 

This recipe was made from "So Easy" the second cookbook from Food Network host Ellie Krieger. If you don't have this book, I highly recommend it. Each meal is easy to make, healthy and really delicious. I've made a bunch of the dinner recipes in here, and each one has been really flavorful and doesn't taste like it's healthy. 

Steak Chimichurri: 
Chimichurri sauce:
1/3 cup packed fresh cilantro
1/3 cup packed fresh Italian parsley
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove of garlic (we used two)
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier)
1/4 teaspoon of salt (we skipped this)


1 1/4 lb shoulder center steak (we used a top sirloin steak) - make sure it's relatively thin - about 1 1/4-inches thick
salt
pepper


Puree all the ingredients for the chimichurri sauce in a food processor until it reaches the consistency of a sauce. 


Spray a grill pan with non-stick spray. Cook the steak  on medium-high heat, about 5 minutes on each side for medium rare. 

The Chimichurri sauce was light but packed some serious flavor. We also added fresh grilled corn and fresh steamed green beans with grainy mustard. The Mr. ended up putting Chimichurri sauce on his corn and said it was so delicious that I followed suit (and he was right!) 
 
The best thing about Ellie Krieger's book is that it gives you nutritional values for each meal. The steak includes 7 strips of steak and 1 tablespoon of Chimichurri sauce for 270 calories, 16 G of fat and 32 G of protein. Our entire meal was under 400 calories! 


I highly recommend this recipe if you're looking for a great summer meal.

Orange Crush

I love the color orange. Doesn't matter the shade; if it's got a hue of orange, I'm instantly smitten like a school girl crushing on the captain of the football team. Did you see how Kristen rocked sherbet orange last week, with the bright blue shoes? Fabulous!

This top is no exception. I picked it up during my trip to Dallas and I've already worn it twice. This top makes me feel good, makes me look good tan, and perks me up on a rainy day. I have to admit that these earrings rock my socks too. I love picking up jewelry at Forever21 and knew as soon as I saw them how well they'd go with this top.

Do you have a go-to color that you can't live without? 

 Top - Forever 21

Jeans - Lucky Brand

Earrings - Forever 21

Shoes - DSW, worn here

Bracelets - Alloy

 

Shake Your Tail feathers

Dress - Apart

Shoes - DSW (I think) a few seasons ago

Bracelet (Can't remember)

Feather earrings - Shabby Apple

Clutch - Kate Spade

Sunnies - Kate Spade

Handsome Mr. - picked up on a blind date with a friend (but that's another story)

 

There is nothing better than wearing a peacock dress and shaking your tail feathers at a wedding. After a beautiful ceremony, we headed to the Stockyards Hotel for some serious dancing. But before we boogied down in the 100-degree heat (seriously, Tejas, could you not have gone easy on me?) I needed to grab some shots of the dress. 

The Mr. was less than enthusiastic about snapping photos of me, but quickly relented when presented with the option of sitting in the car while I set up the tripod. To make things better, he got all "professional" on me, and started running around taking photos, which is where the images of me cracking up come in to play. 

The best part though had to be when we walked up to the hotel and a street vendor offered to take a photo and told me that "Brittany Spears got nothin on you." I don't know if that's a compliment or not, but let's pretend it is, ok? 
 

Monday Musings... On Love

The Love Shack, Fort Worth Stockyards

The beautiful couple's first dance

My handsome Mr.

Love is all you need

Love is definitely on my mind today
Watching two soulmates' journeys on their path
and the culmination of those two becoming one
I can't help but think about my journey
And how lucky we are to have each other
How he's made my journey more adventurous, and somehow safer
How I've never laughed harder than when he's being silly
How I still get butterflies when we kiss
That no matter where we are, as long as I'm with my love, I'm home
How The Beatles had it right
All You Need is Love, Love is All You Need

In Between Parades

Dallas

 

It's been an honor to be part of two of the greatest cities in the world, and to celebrate their athletic achievements. Unfortunately I'm in between these two cities at the exact moments that each are having their celebratory parades. 

Boston

I'm missing Dallas' parade by a matter of hours, and while I'm in Dallas celebrating a wedding, I'll be missing the Bruins' parade. 

In the grand scheme of things though, I think that's ok. At least I got to watch two of my favorite teams win championships, and when it's all said and done, that's what counts, right? 

I'll try to post while I'm in Dallas, but no guarantees. If I don't see you until Monday, have a great weekend!

Feeling Japanese

If I were a mathematician, I'd create an equation that took the cost of an outfit and divided it by the cost per wear. If I were good I'd math, I'd do that equation now. But I'm not, so you have to take my word that the cost per wear of this outfit is pennies. 

This kimono style dress is from Lucky Brands, but I scored it at TJ Maxx  3 years ago. I can't remember if I paid $20 or $30 for this dress, but, regardless of the difference, I'd say I got my money's worth. 

 I'm a huge fan of the bell sleeves. I'm also a huge fan of this dress hiding the half dozen cookies I ate the day before.

Dress - Lucky Brands, Scored at TJ Maxx 3 years ago

Shoes - Kate Spade Outlet last year

Necklace - Merona for Target

Sunglasses - Kate Spade

Earrings - Tilly's

Watch - Citizen

Monday Musings

Kate Spade "Cheers" Necklace via

Cheers! It's a phrase I repeat all too frequently now
One of my clients is from England and we always end our phone calls with this phrase
It's now spreading to my other, non-British clients
I love saying it though because it just feels so cheery
This necklace would turn any frown upside down
I'm definitely adding this to my birthday wish list
I have 6 weeks to go - that's not too early to send the b/f a wish list, right?
On my list (as of right now: 
Those Kate Spade shoes (at the top, natch), iPad2, a gold Citizen watch, and now, this necklace
Of course, always something sparkly for my ears or all important finger
Speaking of, Dallas this weekend
Wedding one of four for the season
Ready to rock my feather dress
Ready to rock a faux tan
Ready to see our friends
No matter how long we're away, it feels like we've never left
There really is no place like home

I cheated

I sort of cheated on my shopping diet. Crazy, I only lasted 6 days before I cheated. If this were a New Year's Resolution, I'd be shamed to eternity. Except... 

There is one purchase I never factored in. The one that helps my aging, weak knees. The one that is the difference between a healthy, active me, and the one that says if I don't give in I won't even fit into my clothes (thought that might be good for upcoming clothing swaps!)

I made the decision to break down and buy a pair of new running shoes today. My IT Bands have been getting destroyed lately, and while I work on rebuilding the strength in my legs with more weight training, I'm also going to try updating my shoes. Cheating is ok as long as it applies to your overall health, right? 

Adidas Response Stability - get them here:

The good news though is that I switched to a different type of running shoe, which saved me about $60 on the price of my previous shoes. So while I paid more than $50 for running shoes, I saved a boat load from my usual pair. Now hopefully these shoes will improve my running, because let's face it, paying a little more for a pair of shoes is much cheaper than paying for having my knees rebuilt, right?

Monday Musings

A photo I took of the George Washington statue in the Common

I love Boston in the spring time
Sun is shining and the birds are singing
Running in this weather makes me so happy
Clearly in a good mood today
Excited that my post on the solemates shoe project posted 
How cute is my cat? 
It helps that he loves shoes as much as I do
The other kitty is meowing for dinner now
Time to get out and feed those little lovable monsters


P.S. If you haven't seen it yet, go leave a comment about my solemate and me - we've got a photo post up on the Good Girl Gone Blog.
 

Feel Good Friday Faves

Don't you think at the end of a week we need something that makes us feel good? Each Friday I want to bring some of my all-time or new faves. So without further ado, here's my inaugural Feel Good Friday Faves: 

Summer Fridays at the office - I talked about it last week, but I love that each Friday over the summer my office closes early at 3 pm. It's so refreshing to have those extra hours added to my weekend. 

Shopping Diet - I'm all about challenges and this will be a fun one. But I thankful for the support of the Boston Fashionista and Miss Neira for saying "heck yeah, honey, you can find good stuff for not a lot of money."

Tripods - I don't think I've been this excited in a long time, but  my tripod shipped, which means I can finally start taking outfit photos again, thus relieving the boyfriend of his duties. 

These shoes - You'd think I'd be devastated to find these shoes just after I declared a shopping diet, but I'm going to buy these as a gift to myself with some of the money I've saved from my diet. Aren't they to die for?

Kate Spade Thea via Zappos

So tell me, what's making you feel good today?

Fashion Skinny

There are a few things that need some skinnying up in my life. My work schedule. My candy habit. And probably most importantly, my shopping habit (or more precisely, the spending that comes with supporting my habit.) The thought dawned on me as I was talking to a colleague. As we discussed some of our favorite brands (Kate Spade for me, Marc by Marc Jacobs for her) she also threw out a comment that her mom made about "expensive brands" and this colleague mentioned that she had to spend to fit in at the office.  

The comment bothered me for multiple reasons, but the biggest is that you don't have to spend a lot to look good. I quickly learned that by reading multiple fashion blogs (FFUF, Frugal Fashionistas, The Look For Less, etc.), so it got me thinking. About change. About going on a diet.

So, I'm making a pledge. For the next 60 days I'm going on a fashion diet. I'm imposing a strict limit of what I'm spending on clothing, accessories, shoes... you name it. I will not be purchasing any article of clothing over $50, shoes included (yikes!). And to make it even better, I'm cutting my monthly budget in half. I'll spare myself the embarrassment you the knowledge of what that is. I'll highlight the purchases I make with the goal of showing that you can be fashionable and savvy without spending a ton of money. To kick it off, here are few pieces I'm eyeing: 

Kimchi Blue Paperbag Skirt - via Urban Outfitters - $49

Deena & Ozzy Summer Skimmer via Urban Outfitters - $30

Striped Jersey Dress via Zara - $40

How rad are those blue skimmers? And that striped jersey dress from Zara is perfect for summer. It also reminds me of another dress, don't ya think?

I've got to say, I'm actually looking forward to this challenge. It should be really interesting, especially as my birthday is the end of July and I'm notorious for purchasing myself some wonderful gifts (we all deserve it, don't we?)

So, dear readers, are there any sites you love for reasonable fashion? I'm open to your recommendations.