A Shade of Grey

Well hi there you! It is Friday (again!) and I am still on my dress kick. I love wearing dresses to work, don't you? It's easy, it's office appropriate, it can be snazzied up with a blazer and the right accessories or made more causal with tights/boots and a sweater.  This little dress here is something  I bought in black as well from Zara this winter and its so cute. I wear it alone (it has the cutest details on the pockets and shoulders) or with a blazer and its perfect. I tell you, I am READY for Fall. I hope this El Nino stuff is true, not only because we really do need the water here in poor thirsty CA but because I have so many new coats for fall!! Every year, my hubby just shakes his head at me as I trot on in with my winter clothes- he's like " Why are you buying that stuff? It doesn't get cold here. " (he's from Chicago, fyi). And I'm like "Who dresses for the weather? When there are fuzzy sweaters in the stores, you buy them and just deal with the sweat! " Right? Are you with me??   :)  I hope you all have wonderful things planned for this weekend! We have a birthday swim party from someone in my daughter's class  (it's a horse theme, in case you were wondering. Its so funny that horses are still popular with little girls) and we are going to spend some time with my parents and see some friends and then what do you know, it will be Monday again!  Thank you so much for stopping by, dearest ones! xx Michelle

Dress: Zara (old, but similar here )  Blazer: Banana Republic (Here)  Shoes: Vince Camuto (here)

Seeing Red? ❤️🇺🇸















Lets just pretend that I have on a beautiful shade of red lipstick, or a red bag or maybe even nice shiny red patent heels and if you can do that, then isnt this just a perfect outfit for the holiday week? Yes, yes it is!! (Whoops. I will get it together next year.)

This blazer is from my recent Zara spree and it is right at home in my closet. I am a very simple, classic dresser. I typically wear black, more black, and then something black. :) Navy blue is a color I also gravitate to and when I saw this blazer I just fell in love! I think I will get so much use out of it. And can you see the gold buttons? I just love it. I took this dress from banana republic out of the closet (it's from last summer) and they just look so cute together. The structured blazer makes the summery type dress a little more appropriate for the office. And like everyone's office, mine is fa fa freezing and there is just no way I would ever wear sleeveless.  And do I ever love nude shoes. The ones I am wearing (Gucci) have the slightest hint of blush to them. If I could find a pair of not ridiculous looking navy blue high heeled loafers, that would be perfect (do these even exist?) but in the meantime, these heels are just fine. (I think you could also pair dark leather heels with this outfit and it would be cute too.) Hope everyone is having an amazing week and as always, I sure appreciate you stopping by! Xx Michelle

Whispers of Blue 💙











Sometimes I just love the simplicity of a pencil skirt and a blouse.  Not a lot of accessories or fuss-- just simple, sleek and out-the-door I go. I actually consider pencil skirts one of the staples in my wardrobe. In the summer, I can tuck in a button down for the office and when it starts to get cooler, a little cardigan twin set is just perfect. Along those lines, a pencil skirt looks just as cute with some knee-high boots in the fall as it does with strappy sandals or heels in warmer temperatures.  You can get your money's worth out of these guys.  This Zara blouse is just a dream – – it is whisper thin and such a beautiful color. My skirt is from Nordstrom and it's the first time I've tried this line called Halogen. I really like it so far.  And it is super reasonably priced. If you don't have a few pencil skirts in your closet, you should consider investing in a few. 

 I am getting ready to head back to Chicago this weekend for a wedding and I'm having such a hard time deciding what to pack. The forecast calls for thunderstorms, which would make me think to pack warm clothes, except it will be in the 80's, which is just confusing!  In the best circumstances, I am an over-packer but with a wedding and rehearsal dinner and my daughter to worry about, I might just have six suitcases! Even though I've read the articles and seen the YouTube videos about how to pack lightly, I'm just not the kind of person who will bring four articles of clothing and make them work for a week. Are you? Do you like to bring everything you own or pack just the necessities? 

 I hope your week is off to a wonderful start and as always, it means so much that you stopped by. Xx Michelle

Said Yes To The Dress







I have a weird relationship with dresses. I love wearing sheath dresses under a blazer or a cardigan to the office.  I love the little black dress for any sort of evening function. I literally must have 30 of them hanging in my closet. But just a regular standalone dress for daytime in the office? Sometimes I struggle with deciding if I like it.  It has to be just right, right?

I also have been making an effort to put more color into my wardrobe. For a  person who loves black as much as I do, white is a huge wild step in the color direction. And florals are just gorgeous. Don't even get me started on all of the rooms in my house I would wallpaper with floral designs if my husband would let me ( why do I even ask? I should just do it. There's a 50-50 chance he wouldn't even notice!!) But back to the dress. When I saw it hanging in Zara ( my latest obsession) it just spoke to me for some reason. It's structured and sweet and it has pockets and it is ladylike and fits like a glove.  It is so office appropriate in this nice weather and can't you just also see it at a brunch with your grandmother or to wear to church? And the best part of all is it's made out of this sort of stretchy material. If you didn't think it was perfect before, you sure do now, right? I bought this dress about a week ago, so it still should be online at Zara.   As always, I hope your day is just wonderful and I appreciate you stopping by so much. XO XO Michelle