to get free drinks.

I saved my green cut-out dress from asos.com for my last night in Vegas for two reasons:

1. I wanted a nice base tan, so my pasty pale skin peeking out wouldn't make people vomit.
2. I'm a big believer in saving the best for last.

I could have gone with a smaller size (didn't have time to exchange) because it was a little baggy (when I say a little baggy, I mean you could see all the way down my back if you tried hard enough. Good thing I'm OCD and always wear matching undies). I appreciated the bagginess after 2 nights of drinking my weight in alcohol, though.

I wore my favorite bib necklace from BR and nude peep-toes from Cole Haan (with 8 band-aids, I had some blister issues), and carried the cobalt blue clutch from Club Monaco that I featured on this blog awhile back. For another pop of color, I threw on a bright pink lipstick. Check it out:

That's me with my fabulous best friend and co-bachelorette, Dr. Casey Bolten :)

All of ladies, minus KK (we missed you)! Love, love, love my beautiful friends+sister!

Many of the goings-on of Saturday night are not appropriate for the WWW, but I will say we were successful in our quest for free drinks, we have a new interest in NY football and we were not a very pleasant group of girls come Sunday morning :) Special thanks to my wonderful friends, sister, mom, stepmom and aunt for giving me the best weekend of my life, and an excuse to try the cut-out dress trend!

under her bed.

I always switch out my closet twice a year, mostly because unpacking my under-the-bed box is one of my favorite activities. I have a tendency to forget the things I own when they're buried away, so unpacking is like a shopping spree, minus the credit card bill :)

I freed this J.Crew floral skirt (bought for a job interview last year) and summer weight yellow sweater (I have absolutely no recollection of when I bought it...) and decided to layer them with the demin-y button down purchased for a previous blog post. I was in a very colorful mood that day, so I finished it off with some bright pink suede pumps from Kate Spade.

I'd like to write more, but I just got back from Vegas and my brain is not exactly functioning properly. Stay tuned for my cut-out dress post!

with some old faithfuls.

Whenever I am accused of shopping too much or getting rid of clothing that I've only worn once or twice, I'm quick to point out that there are a bunch of pieces in my closet that I've had for years. I'll also go on a rant of how many times I've worn these things, how many times they've saved me from a meltdown and how they've basically paid for themselves (this is usually when the other person walks away, shaking their head).

Included in this "old faithful" category are my teal shoes from J.Crew, bought in 2008ish, my J.Crew navy shift dress with pockets, bought back when pockets were the new thing, and my skinny gold belt (I'm not even going to say where it's from because it's getting sad at this point). I'm still holding a grudge against my best friend Jenn and my fiance because they wouldn't let me buy the pink version of the navy dress, and when I decided it was ridiculous to let them stop me from buying the cutest dress in the world, it had SOLD OUT. Horror. Then Sex and the City (the movie) came out and Carrie wore a bright pink dress with a studded black belt and black cage heels and it was adorable and I was even more upset. I'm still not over it.

Anyway, I was having an off morning last week and couldn't decide what to wear. Old faithfuls to the rescue! It's slowly getting warmer in Chicago, so I was able to wear the navy dress without tights. I put my animal print cardigan from H&M over it and finished it off with the gold belt. My teal shoes gave the outfit a little flair.

 

It was also really dreary and rainy last week, but I'm pretty sure I control the weather because I had just purchased a bright yellow rain jacket from Land's End. It was a warm and sunny day when I bought it, then it rained for 5 days straight. Coincidence? I think not. It was a lovely stretch of time to get acquainted with my new friend (soon to be an old faithful, I'm sure). Here's the commute version of my outfit:

Worn with croc-embossed Hunter boots, a necessity in Chicago.

Hope you have a lovely weekend! And give your old faithfuls a hug :)

to show a little skin.

My Vegas dresses arrived! They took a little longer to get here than my usual online purchases (ASOS is based in the UK) so I was very excited when they finally showed up. The colors were all great and very true to how they looked on the site, but the sizing was a little off (or I was a little off, which is entirely possible. I was very confused by the UK sizes and how the size guide converted them to US sizes. I ended up ordering each dress in a different size and hoping for the best....my version of gambling).

First I put on the berry colored, short shift dress. I should emphasize the short, bending over in this thing would get a little interesting. The fabric was a thicker cotton, which I thought might get hot in a crowded club, and the cut-outs allowed the very bottom of my bra to stick out (annoying).

Next, I put on the green dress. It was a much nicer fabric and felt light and silky. It's a little longer and looser, and I fell in love with the color.

I saved what I thought would be the best for last, and I have never been more wrong. The fabric was even thicker than the first dress and it was slightly ribbed, which made it look a little cheap. Attempting to get this dress on left me standing in the bathroom screaming for my fiance to come save me. The zipper on the top part did not open enough and my arms got stuck at a very uncomfortable, very awkward angle (hence my screaming). We finally got it back over my head (after contemplating cutting it off), and I had to settle for just holding the top up in the picture. This death trap will not be joining us in Vegas :)

The bathing suit I threw in my basket for giggles was super cute and very well made, but the size didn't quite work. I guess I have a long torso because anytime I lifted my arms a little bit, the girls came popping out to play. Call me crazy, but I prefer to keep those things under wraps in public.

In the end, I went with the green dress. It's just the mix of classy and sexy I was going for and I'll be more likely to wear it in the future (gotta stick to my blog rules)! At $70, I came in a whopping $130 under budget. UNDER budget!!! Looks like I owe myself a drink in Vegas.

P.S. I'm wearing my Cole Haan with Nike Air peep-toe pumps in every picture, bought especially so I can stay on my feet all night long...