Designer Look Alike For Less

Valentino // Marciano // Nine West // KOHL'S // Betsey Johnson 

Who hasn't drooled over the Valentino rock stud trend? Sure the fashion house has made every single accessory item with rock studs but it doesn't seem to slow down. From the previous fascination with Rock Stud Heels we have  jumped into bags. Or maybe I'm just catching up with the times. In any case, if you have been drooling over the studded bags but cannot bite the price tag, here are some alternative options for you. All at a (very) reasonable price.

PRADA // Ralph Lauren // Dorothy Perkins // Tory Burch // Ralph Lauren 

This Prada Tote has been on my Wishlist for a while. That is why when I saw a very similar in structure bag by Ralph Lauren, I knew I had to have it. It's a classic with a thick leather and solid design that won't go out of style. I have not had a purchase that I loved so much and that fit my personal style so well. I have worn it more than I can count! A brown satchel/tote is a must in any girl's closet. And if you are aiming at the lowest end of the spectrum, Target is always happy to provide cheap alternative ($34). 

Valentino // Seychelles // Halogen // Sam Edelman // Sole Society

I saved the best for last - the shoes. Who hasn't admired these heels by Valentino? Who didn't ever think about one day buying them? Well, guilty as charged. Here are some affordable alternatives that will make other fashionistas turn their heads. Snatch them up before they are gone! 

MORE AFFORDABLE FASHION TRENDS

Linking up with Mama and More
Enjoy the shopping!

xo, Anna

It's a Holiday Season

dress: Target, coat: DKNY, booties: Guess

Black is definitely my go-to color, for any occasion. It's elegant, it's formal and it's slimming (something we ladies appreciate). Even though it's a great color to have, how many LBD can one have? That's why for the holiday party season I'm looking for fun yet classy dresses that I can still keep wearing the rest of the year. This dress was a great clearance find and although it doesn't have the body-hugging shape, it's still a nice version of LBD. The relaxed fit and the colorblock sleeves make this dress my favorite (for now) and I'm looking for more ways to style it. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! 

Been An Angel All Year (Smh)

top: H&M, jacket: LOFT, skirt: TJMaxx, booties: Guess

Every year around this time of year, I like to incorporate red, black and sparkle into my outfits. Also, I cannot stop listening to Christmas music (especially this) and smiling. Really, a yacht is not a lot ;-) Christmas time really is the best. It's all about spending time with family, eating lots of delicious food, going to parties and giving gifts. I love giving because when I have put extra thought into someone's gift and they like it, it's the best feeling in the world. And speaking of gifts, I'm all done with my Christmas shopping (talk about early) which makes my life so much easier from now on. Are you gifting or focusing on unworldly gifts? 

Thank you for stopping by and have a good day!

Color Scheme

blouse: Vince Camuto
skirt: from Belarus
shoes: Guess
coat: DKNY

For different seasons I like to stick with a single color scheme. For summer it's pastels and whites and for fall it's deep reds and yellows. Now that we are in full swing winter here, I'm all about blacks and greens. But before Thanksgiving is over this is the last outfit in fall color scheme. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day! 

What Would You Do For a Blog?

shirt: Loft
cardigan: J.Crew
skirt: Express
shoes: Guess
bag: Target

As the weather gets colder, it's a lot harder to take outfit pictures outside. The photographer is all bundled up in coat and I'm freezing my tail off for about ten minutes. Then I ask myself, why am I doing this?

Well, for one, I love doing it because blogging is my creative outlet, which doesn't let me get into mommy jeans rut at home.

Secondly, as I've mentioned before, my goal is to inspire people and show girls that you can dress fashionably yet modestly. 

I hope my efforts are not in vain.

Really, I will have to find a better location for outfit pictures this winter because I'm on the verge of giving up. The cold wind and snow will do that to ya. 

You can only go so far until you can't feel your toes and shivering from the icy chill.

What would you do for you blog? How far would you take your determination? 

Do share ladies! 

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

[Not] Copycat

top: H&M
cardi; Gap
skirt: J.Crew
shoes: Guess
bag: Nine West

First thing first, I did not copy color combo of this outfit. The above was my Sunday outfit and I was not anywhere close Kendi to even remotely think of stealing her idea. But I do love the mustard and plum-ish wine color together. It was not even that cold on Sunday but I pulled out all of my winter wool stuff (skirt and cardigan are pure wool). It's hard to to imagine what I'm going to be dressed like in winter now that I don't have the extra baby weight to keep me warm. 

Yesterday I started a link up party over here and haven't received many (well like none) submissions for the Inspiration Monday. Talk about discouraging. 

Ladies, link up your inspiration outfits, thoughts, pictures, DIYs and any other ideas you have so we all can be inspired by the creativity and words of wisdom. 

On the other hand, I've been working on so many different 'words of wisdom' posts lately that I'm running out of ideas. For a person who's not good horrible at creative writing and majored in mathematics in college, I sure picked a weird hobby. Ha!

 A fresh-off-the-boat immigrant is writing life advice and words of wisdom in a foreign language while taking outfit photos of church outfits. Are you still following?

Hope you are having a great week making leaf angels 

(like the snow angels but in the beautiful foliage. get it?)

Don't Give Me Excuses. Give Me Results.

top: Target
skirt: Dorothy Perkins (dress)
heels: Guess
glasses: DNKY

Welcome back! 

How was your weekend? Mine was busy.
#pleasestoptime

I've been meaning to wear this dress couple of times but every time it was a little too... hmm how should I say it? Too much booty.

Well, with me loosing weight and all, it's finally fitting just right. I love the feel and color, but it's still a bit too dressy for simple Sunday outfit. It was a bit chilly in the morning, so I dressed it down with a blouse.

Apparently, the diet has been working. Can I get a woohoo? 

Woooohooo!

I did one week with no carbs and no dairy, and then another week were I ate a little bit of bread and rice here and there (I did splurge on French Toast once). It's been amazing to see results! 

Now I'm back to eating pretty much everything but still limiting sweets, ice cream and carbs, while focusing on veggies and whole grains. 

Also, I take walks as much as I can. Jonathan loves taking naps and I get my exercise - it's a team effort.

I am on the roll and loving it.

Are you currently dieting? Trying to loose that last belly fat? 

Do share your secrets people!
And have a great day!

Date Night

dress: Target (similar)
purse: Target (similar here or here)
necklace: H&M (similar)
shoes: Guess (similar)

This outfit is supposed to be my date night get up. That is whenever, if ever, we will get a date night again [maybe this Saturday if it isn't raining cats and dogs]. 

Between having a house [always something to do/fix]; it being the beginning of summer [stupid grass grows so fast, the windows are in need of some thorough scrubbing]; and an infant [did you check his diaper? what time did you feed him?] - it's non-stop here.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. 

I'm enjoying my life. I just don't get the opportunity to wear my sexy dresses much.

I had this outfit picked out and ready to go for several weeks now. 

Date night is usually one hectic evening. Everything needs to be planned out in advance: diaper bags packed, reservations made and clothes picked out. Between dropping Jonathan off at grandparents and then rushing off to a dinner, there isn't time for outfit photos.

So to make sure I capture this PBD [perfect black dress], I snapped some pics.

I really wasn't one for the high-low trend but I'm loving it here. For some reason it works very well and kind of shows off a little bit of leg, which is always a plus for a date night.

Thunderstorm

top: TJMaxx (similar), cardigan: Old Navy (similar), skirt: NY&Co (similar), heels: Guess(similar) , belt: Target, sunnies: DKNY

 We've been hit with some severe thunderstorms for the last couple of days and, of course, I had to be dumb enough to get stuck on the interstate in the middle of whole thing. Yep, only me. 

Tuesday we had sort of a spring cleaning day and and after we were done, I headed out to get groceries. The sky was looking dark and I knew we were supposed to get a storm in the afternoon, but that, THAT was not a storm. Lemme tell ya! 

I was checking out in Walmart, a gentlemen behind me in line said that we were supposed to be hit with some severe winds, rain, thunder, lightning and hail, (yep! hail) at approximately 7:45. I asked him to check the time for me and it was 7:42. I almost forgot half of my grocery bag and ran to my car. I barely, I mean b-a-r-e-l-y made it to the car and loaded my groceries. 

I started raining. 

I should have went home right away but no.

We needed diapers and they were on sale at Walgreen's across the town. I looked at the dark blue, like-in-the-movies-before-the-bad-guys-take-over-the-world sky and decided that it's probably not going to be that bad. And I headed straight into the eye of the storm. 

Two minutes later and I regretted that decision. Bitterly.

Two minutes later I couldn't see more then 10 feet in front of me. Traffic was barely moving and the cars were pulling off on the side of the road. 

Then the hail started to come down and my car started swaying from side to side like I was on the great wide open sea. I pulled over to the side of the road and started praying. 

I WAS SCARED and oh so glad I didn't have Jonathan with me. 

I called my husband. Then I called my mom and told her not to go anywhere. 

Ten minutes later and it was still bad out so I decided to slowly make my way to the store. There was so much water, I was literally swimming through the interstate. 

Thank God, I safely made it through barely moving traffic, knocked down tree branches and not working traffic lights. 

So next time you see dark as night sky what are you going to do? Turn around and head home. 

A Little Fluffy

top: Loft, cords: Lands End, heels: Guess, bag: H&M

This post is part of Blog Everyday In May Challenge and although I'm starting kind of late, this is totally relevant and something I have been thinking about for a while. 

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

As you may have noticed, after having Jonathan, I've retained some of the baby-weight, a.k.a maternal stores. It's only been 3 months since I gave birth (via C-section) but it just doesn't feel like the weight is coming off fast enough. 

Right now my lot in life is this slightly over-weight body and all the remnants of big belly (stupid ugly stretch marks). I woutwould go on a diet and start a rigorous workout regime if I wasn't nursing. But when I have to make sure that my baby gets enough to eat, it's a whole different story. 

I'm pretty good at eating healthy, taking long walks with while Jonathan naps in the stroller and avoiding junk food but it's still not happening fast enough. All my pre-pregnancy clothes are safely tucked away in the basement waiting to be released by my newly slimmed down self.

In my mind I do understand that it takes time.

That my body went through a lot.

That it's not healthy to loose weight rapidly.

That some weight loss is better then none.

Then I look at myself in the mirror. 

Emotions come rushing in and I'm filled with sadness and disappointment.

Then there was yesterday. Yesterday was different 

 I step on the scale and there it is - the number has finally moved in the downward direction. 

YAY! I think I jumped and checked it twice. It's true.

I'm consciously thinking about every single thing I eat and make myself go the extra few steps, while skipping whipped cream at Starbucks, and it's FINALLY paying off! 

Nobody said that it's easy. I'm not one of those girls who gives birth and five minutes late she's in her skinny size 0 jeans. I have to work at it. 

. 

It's hard not to hate my body at this stage and not to throw into towel only because I don't see immediate results.

It's hard to pass up on that dessert when everyone is having some.

It's hard switching from regular to almond milk. Still debating if it's worth it.

It's hard getting my butt out of the bed and out the door when it's hot/cold/windy. Trust me, there is always an excuse not to exercise.

But one thing I know, it's ALL going to be totally worth it when I fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. 

And although right now, I'm not in the best shape, I'm happy to say that I'm doing everything in my power to get there. And one day soon I will.