Anthro Review: Berry-Stitched Boots

This weekend I received my Berry-Stitched Boots and I LOVE them!

I noticed that they've gotten two negative reviews on Anthro's website. :-( One review commented on big holes where the stitching is but I don't see that on mine. It's true that they aren't lined, but since I'm from Florida, I don't really buy boots for warmth, so that didn't bother me. I would think you could layer some warm tights/socks underneath and they'd be just fine in colder temps. The other reviewers also didn't like the color but I think they're beautiful! My leather couch is about the same color which is what I was anticipating. I think they're a nice alternative to wearing black boots and definitely different than the brown boots I have. As you can see in my pictures below, they go with other neutrals, brown, grey, black, & navy, and they look lovely with my favorite color, purple. :-)

As far as fit, I'm often between a 7 and 7.5 so I went with the 7.5 so I'd have extra room and they fit me perfectly. They also aren't too slouchy or too big around the calves. I have average sized calves and these are roomy enough that I'll be able to wear jeans tucked in but not too loose with just tights. As far as I can tell, they're going to be pretty comfortable to wear even if I have to do a lot of walking.

Here are some of the ways that I plan to wear them this fall:



Here are some detail shots. They looks great with the Berry Bush tights!





Purple, grey, and brown: I like this fall color combo! :-)




They look good with turquoise too!



I know some people hate mixing black and brown but I like the way it looks here. I couldn't resist throwing on these cute striped socks for a fun look! ;-)


Here's another detail shot that shows the color pretty accurately:



For more great ideas for colors & Anthro styles to wear with these boots, check out this post that the Anthropologie Connoisseur did recently when I asked for styling tips. She helped me decide that I really needed these boots! :-)

My Fall Giveaway!!

Since I've hit 50 followers on my blog I thought I'd do a fun little giveaway as my way of saying thank you! I really appreciate everyone who reads and comments. :-) My favorite season is Fall so I wanted to put together a giveaway package with some Fall items. I stopped at World Market the other day to check out their pretty accessories and found this lovely grey scarf. It reminds me of the ones I've seen at Anthro lately. I also love the candy selection at World Market because you can get things from other countries. I grabbed one of my favorite chocolate treats to add to the giveaway package. The brand is Baci and I discovered it on a trip to Italy when I was a kid. I'm also including a Starbucks giftcard so you can treat yourself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte (or your drink/snack of choice). This will all be packed up in this adorable owl bag that I found at World Market.



Here's how to enter:
1. You must be a follower of this blog (click on the Follow button to the right if you haven't already done so). For one entry, post a comment letting me know you're a follower AND ask me a question to answer in a future post. I loved when Ashley did this for her giveaway and it generated a lot of fun things for her to write about. Also, make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

2. For another entry, post about this giveaway on your blog. Leave me an additional comment with the link to your post.

This giveaway is open to ALL readers, US and International.
The giveaway will close on Monday, September 27, 2010 and one winner will be chosen at random and receive all of the items pictured above. I bought all of these items myself (not sponsored or paid for by World Market or Starbucks).

Anthro Reviews: Kindred Spirits & Ruffled Plaid

I'm glad so many people enjoyed my Glee post from a few days ago. :-) I can't wait for the Season 2 premiere next week!

While Sara and I were putting together our Glee-inspired outfits at Anthropologie on Sunday we also set aside a few things to try on that we were interested in for ourselves. After seeing the Kindred Spirits Sweaterdress look so fantastic on other bloggers, I knew I'd have to try it out for myself. It didn't disappoint! I think it's surprisingly flattering and doesn't seem too clingy. I've got a medium on in the picture below. It's a nice light-weight for north Florida "winters." ;-) You definitely need to layer something underneath to avoid the see-through effect but a slip or nude colored cami & spanx (or maybe black?) would do the trick. The only thing I had really been concerned about was the color looking too drab but I think it looks really pretty in real life.



Unfortunately, this next dress didn't work as well. I really wanted to love the Ruffled Plaid Dress but the combination of the itchy fabric, the strange fit around the hips, and the ruffle on the front that felt like it overwhelmed me makes this one a pass for me. This has looked really good on others though, so I still recommend it but I'd suggest trying it on in the store if possible.



Here's my OOTD from the shopping trip:

Blue Paisley Dress (LOFT)
White Cardigan (Target)
Snakebite Belt (Anthro)
Brown Suede Flats (Lands End)

Stay tuned for my giveaway starting tomorrow!!

Anthro + Glee: Back to School Edition

Hey fellow Gleeks & Anthro-fans! A few months ago Sara and I got to do a guest post for Roxy at Effortless Anthropologie after I had the idea of creating outfits based on the styles of our favorite Glee characters using Anthro clothes (check out that post here). Since the kids at McKinley High are about to go back to school again (Season 2 Premiere on September 21), we thought it would be fun to do a Fall edition. Sara is going to post her looks later today, but here are mine:

Rachel is known for being super competitive and she loves to be praised for her talent, so the Highest Accolades Dress is perfect for her! I paired it with the red Breezy Polkas Cardigan for a really bright and fun look. I ended up loving this outfit! I don't think I would have ever tried on this dress if we weren't doing this project and now I'm glad I did. What do you think? Would Rachel give this outfit a gold star?




I also couldn't resist putting on this Dog Trot Cardigan for a bonus Rachel outfit. That girl loves her quirky animal sweaters! I think she'd also like this cute Homestead Denim Skirt and she'd probably put a crisp white button-down shirt underneath but all I had was my white tank top.



Emma also loves her cardigans and I think she would gravitate towards the pretty green color of the Remaining Lilies Cardigan
(now on sale!). She'd probably have a cute sweater clip holding it together at the top. Emma also likes her clothes to match perfectly, so the Turbine Dress was the perfect choice to wear underneath the cardigan. Of course she'd also have some fantastic shoes to wear with this outfit -- perhaps these?



I can also imagine Emma in the lovely yellow Learning Curve Dress but sadly my store didn't have any so I couldn't try it out. Sara tried on the perfect Emma dress, so be sure to check her blog later today.

I always associate Quinn with either softer colors or shades of purple, so we paired the purple Bianka Blouse with the classic khaki Gifted Skirt. We wanted to add the Precious Poppy Cardigan over the top but the blouse's sleeves were too bulky. Can you see Quinn going back to school in this outfit?



The last two Gleeks were a little harder for us to create outfits for but I think Sara did a great job with her Mercedes outfit and I took a stab at recreating Tina's look. Tina is known for her Gothic flair and she often has something slightly Victorian with a modern spin, so I thought the Wee Hours Blouse might work with the black Cream Confection Jacket over the top. I paired it with the black Pilcro Stretch Cord Leggings. To my great surprise, I ended up loving those pants!! As you know, I'm more of a skirt & dresses kind of girl, but these pants were awesome. They've definitely been added to my wishlist and I'm already envisioning how great they would look tucked into tall boots. See, sometimes it's a great idea to try on things outside of your usual comfort zone!



Another perfect Tina look would include plaid and I was really hoping that my store would have the Perthshire Dress but no such luck. I can definitely see her rocking that with some cool black boots and fishnets!

We had so much fun putting these outfits together and trying on things outside of our usual styles. I'd love to hear what you thought of these looks and feel free to leave your ideas for other Glee-inspired outfits too. Don't forget to check out Sara's Glee looks later today also!

In other news...
--I'll be doing my giveaway later this week (probably will start it Friday) since I've reached 50 followers! Yay!
--I have a couple of Anthro dress reviews for you that I'll post tomorrow.
--My Travel Tuesday feature will return next week. :-)

I hope everyone is having a great week!!

Super Sunday

Does anyone else have any fun plans for today? I'm excited because I get to make a little trip to Anthro with my friend Sara this afternoon! We'll be cooking up a fun post for you this week about the things we try on. [Hint: Anthro + our favorite bunch of singing TV characters + fall styling!] ;-)

I'm also looking forward to trying on this:


Another thing I'm excited about today is that I just noticed that I'm close to 50 followers! Wow! Honestly, I never thought that even ten people would be interested in reading this blog, so this is beyond amazing. When I hit 50 I'll do a fun giveaway, so if you're a reader but haven't hit that "Follow" button yet, please help me get to the magic number. :-)

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Travel Tuesday: Across the Pond

This week's travel post takes us back to the spring when I was in Norwich, England for a conference. Since I was presenting a paper and would be there for the whole conference, I stayed on campus at the University of East Anglia. This first picture captures the pretty flowers that were just starting to bloom all over campus. What you can't see is that there were also bunnies hopping around everywhere! So cute! In fact, I literally stumbled into a rabbit hole one day while I was walking around taking pictures. Unfortunately it did not take me to Wonderland. ;-)



One night during the conference we went into the city center for the keynote speech. It took place in this building, called the Forum, which also contains a library, restaurants, etc.



This is one of the many beautiful churches in the city.


After the conference was over, I spent my last night at a hotel in the city. It's about 3 miles from the campus to the city center. I know this because I ended up walking the whole way there! Luckily I had some comfortable shoes on! I recommend getting a bus map and time schedule if you're going to go outside of the city center. Once I made it to the city, I checked into the Beeches Hotel -- this is a nice smaller hotel that is located within walking distance to good restaurants, shopping, and the main historical attractions. I spent the evening just walking around the city. It started to get a little bit chilly as the sun went down so I stopped at a little coffee house called the Waffle House for a hot chocolate. It was so good! This place was not the same as the greasy dives in America by the same name. :-) I was tucked into a cozy corner sipping on my hot chocolate and reading on my Kindle when suddenly I couldn't help but overhear the conversation at the table next to me. Three giggly teenage British girls were discussing Glee! How funny! I was glad to hear that the show is popular over there too.



This was an interesting shopping area that you get to by walking through a churchyard -- see the grave stones on the left? There was a huge H&M store and also a Zara store, which I had never been to before. It was fun browsing through all the cute clothes but I didn't have any room in my tiny little suitcase so I didn't buy anything on this trip except a navy polka dot scarf at the train station on my first day, but that was a necessity for the chilly evenings!



Between my hotel and a beautiful cathedral was this lovely Victorian garden.





It was a fun trip and I had a great time at the conference. I was also very lucky because only a few days after I returned home, that volcanic ash cloud shut down travel in Europe.

Stay tuned for other posts in the near future about my adventures "across the pond"...

OOTD: Two-Wheeler Dress (Finally!!)

Thanks to my sweet mom, the Two-Wheeler dress is finally mine! I've been wanting this dress for a long time and I've watched the stock dwindle as I tried to hold out for a sale but I was afraid it would be gone in my size. And then my store just happened to have one in my size so I knew I had to get it. Hopefully it will go on sale this week so she can get a PA.
*[By the way, there was still one size 2 left if anyone is looking for it -- Jacksonville, FL store]

Here I am trying it on the other day in the fitting room with a big, happy grin:



I'm wearing it today out to lunch with a friend and then to teach my class tonight. Yay!