The Dress

Several bloggers I follow either already have this dress or want this dress, and I wore this Grecian-inspired dress to my friend’s Indian wedding! I picked it up several weeks ago because it’s beautiful and absolutely perfect to wear to a summer wedding. You see, my friend, Waseem, is Muslim so as soon as I was invited, I knew I wanted to be respectful and cover up. The long skirt is obviously perfect, the flowy material was light and airy so I wasn’t sweating the whole time, and it looks great with a cardigan! But perhaps the best thing about it was that IT WAS AVAILABLE IN PETITE!

Dress & Shoes: Banana Republic | Cardigan: Old Navy | Clutch: Nordstrom | Charm Necklace: Target | Layered Necklace: Claire’s (old) | Bracelets: Old Navy

The Wedding

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was my first Indian wedding so I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was great. As you might expect, it was almost completely different from a traditional Christian wedding, but there was plenty of prayers, well wishes, and Waseem walked down the aisle with her father. Also, the food was delicious and everyone was so happy for the couple. In true NCsquared fashion, Nick matched his tie to my dress. Oh. My. Goodness. we are the cutest couple ever!

These are my awesome friends, Kristin (left) and Aarti (right). They specifically requested to be on the blog, so here you are ladies, this one is for you! *wink*

This is Kristin, me, Aarti, and our other friend, Leigh. We all met in my master’s program and graduated together. I absolutely love these girls. They’re incredibly smart, talented, funny, and I know I wouldn’t have made it through without them. Kristin just moved to the Triangle, so we’ll get to hang out all the time now. Our new mission is to find jobs for Aarti and Leigh in the Triangle so we can be together again. Unfortunately, Waseem is leaving for the midwest and we’re going to miss her!

Also, fun fact: Aarti and I went to the same high school but not at the same time because I’m 5 years older than her (I did, however, know her older brother because he was in my grade). After we discovered this, we bonded over our stories about our hometown and the people there. Now we’re the best of friends!

The decorations at the wedding were beautiful. This one little picture just doesn’t do it justice.

Ok, maybe I’m a little biased but I think my friend, Waseem, is the most gorgeous bride that has ever existed, even more beautiful than I was as a bride! She’s also really sweet and super cool, so I’m extremely happy for her and her new husband.

Congratulations Waseem & Ahsan!

Linking up with:
Start the Week Stylish | Still Being Molly | Mix It Mondays | Fashionably Employed | Garay Treasures | Trend Spend | C appuccio and Fashion | The Pleated Poppy | Tucker Up | Rachel the Hat | Charming Friday

*I’m devoting this week to dresses in an attempt to motivate myself to actually wear the dresses I have in my closet.*

I swear I didn’t mean to wear an olive dress twice this week, but that’s just how it happened. I wasn’t sure how I felt about wearing the utility vest with the dress since they’re so similar in color but it actually looks really nice together. In an attempt to break up some of the green, I added a black short-sleeved cardigan. Who says you can’t layer in the summertime? I wore this dress to lunch with Nick and then again to visit my parents and meet my new baby nephew.

Here’s the fun blooper: If I  look hardcore, it’s because I am! haha

Dress: Banana Republic Outlet | Vest: Conversation Pieces | Cardigan & Sandals: Target | Necklace: Claire’s (old) | Bracelets: Old Navy | Sunglasses: Target

By the way, today is my little Chico’s 9th birthday! I can’t believe he’s getting so old but he’s still playful and full of energy. So here’s to my sweet baby dog, the little life I would do anything for. He went from this tiny little baby puppy:

To this grown, grumpy little man:

I mean, come on, LOOK AT THAT FACE!

Happy Birthday, Chico Antonio! I love you with all of my heart! <3

My 30th birthday was on December 31st and to celebrate, Nick and I went for a nice breakfast followed by manicures & pedicures and then out to a fancy dinner. The following weekend, we had a party and invited a few friends. I love entertaining and try to have at least one fun activity for them to do. I wanted to do something fun this year so I gathered a bunch of pictures from my youth and created a collage around black craft paper. I wrote “Cheers to 30 Years” because I was turning 30, and the wrote a nice little quote that I thought really reflected my life: “Old enough to look back, young enough to look forward.” I set out gold sharpies and chalk and invited my friends to write memories and well wishes on the black craft paper. My guests really seemed to like it and I enjoyed reading all of their memories and notes!

I apologize for taking picture of pictures because some of them did turn out a little blurry. But I had a lot of photos and didn’t have the time nor desire to scan them all.

The photo above shows me at my first prom sophore year, my senior photo, Nick and I after we first met almost 12 years ago (we look like babies!), my very first college dorm roommate and me, a school photo from junior year in high school, my first best friend after college, and another senior photo in my dickie.

These are younger photos of me! 4th grade, me at Disney World at age 14 or 15, me in 7th grade, and my brother and me back in the day.

Me in 8th grade, me in 6th grade, and me being sassy having just blown and popped a bubble sometime when I was a kid.

We set up our table with lots of new years decorations and cooked a bunch of yummy food. I wish I had gotten some good photos after we set all of the good out, but our guests arrived and we were having too much fun! And if you’re new to the blog, this is what I wore:

Original outfit post here.

This is Mia and Chico. They’re our furbabies and the apples of our eyes. I obsess over taking pictures of them like parents obsess over taking pictures of their newborn babies. I get lots of videos of them, too, because they’re super funny and entertaining, but we’ll save those for another time. In all honesty, I haven’t gotten any good photos of my outfits lately so I thought I would leave you with these adorable little creatures.

Chico is my oldest at 8 years, but he’s my baby because I got him when he was 6 weeks old. He is my whole world. He isn’t usually very photogenetic but every now and then I can get some pretty good ones. I believe this one was taken while I was still in school and I was home after a long week of classes. He missed me.

Mia is my youngest baby at 4, and she’s a big goofball! Nick took this of her one morning while he was getting ready for work. She really sleeps like this or in some other contorted way that doesn’t look like it could be at all comfortable but she doesn’t seem to mind it.

Chico is pretty much the king of the castle and has claimed the corner of the couch as his thrown.

But he’s a big cuddlebug, which is one of my most favorite things about him.

Ahh, the kitchen/dining room, Mia’s favorite rooms in the house.

The little prince sleeping in his thrown/corner.

We set up an extra bed in the office while my family was in town and Mia thought it was put up for her. The bed is still up and if we can’t find her anywhere else, we know to check in the office. Since she’s usually in there, we’ve started calling it “Mia’s room.”

Sometimes they sleep together (Mia is in that silly position again, see!) and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I love it.

My furbabies!

Hi everyone, I’m still here; I’m just trying to get my life together. I spend most of my days searching for and applying to jobs. Honestly, when I’m at home, it’s difficult for me to get dressed. Not physically, but mentally. Most days I sit at my desk, writing cover letters and tailoring my resume, and I do it all in my pajamas. When you have no job and nowhere to go, it doesn’t really matter what clothes you put on. So, I spend most days in PJs or yoga pants. When I’m not doing that, I’m either babysitting or volunteering.

I’ve noticed the time that I really enjoy getting dressed is when I volunteer. I spend one day a week at a public health organization that I admire and wouldn’t mind becoming a permanent part of someday. On those days, I get to dress in my office clothes.  I even brush my hair and put on makeup, two other things I never do when I’m at home all day!

This has made me realize how my identity as a professional really defines my style. When I was in grad school, I wasn’t quite sure how to dress because everyone was so casual but my warbdrobe consisted mainly of office attire. When I’m at home, unemployed, I feel useless so I don’t even bother getting dressed. But when I’m working (especially in an office setting) I’m in my element and, aside from following whatever dress code they set forth, I dress the part. My closet is full of pencil skirts, trousers, high heels, and cute tops. Since I don’t have an office to wear them to these days, they get tucked in the corner of my closet, along with my self-esteem. I’m sure something will come along eventually, but until then, I’ll just have to admire my clothes that make me feel the most like me from afar.

Here are a few photos that I’ve taken on my phone from my volunteer outfits. I’ll try to get real posts of them up soon but for now, bathroom pics might be the best we’ll get:

I took some of my babysitting money and went shopping with my friend at the outlet mall (wow, do I sound like I’m 15 years old, or what?). I bought the dress in the above photo from Loft Outlet, which I wore this week to volunteer. I also bought a few pieces that I think will make for good interview attire, if I could ever get one! I also got the casual dress below from Banana Republic Outlet. I plan on wearing it this weekend to a friend’s birthday celebration where we will drink a lot of beer and eat a lot of food from trucks!

Finally, Nick and I are seriously getting our butts back into shape. We’ve started a strength training program together, consisting of a lot of lifting of free weights which makes me feel a little awkward but really empowered at the same time. I have to admit that I love it. It’s my favorite type of work out so far, and I’m getting more comfortable with pushing myself to do more (safely, of course). I took a photo during our last workout, but it’s really blurry because I had just worked my chest and tricepts, so my arms were shaking a bit when I took it. Oops. I’m definitely going to feel that later!

Me, being all badass with the free weights at the gym!

So, that’s been my life lately. I’ve worn a lot of cute outfits that I want to put on the blog, I just have to get it together to take/post pictures. Soon, you guys. I promise!

Photo 1: Pants, Shoes, & Jewelry: Old Navy | Blouse: Gap | Sunglasses: Target
Photo 2: Dress: Loft Outlet | Shoes & Necklace: Old Navy
Photo 3: Dress: Banana Republic Outlet | Shoes: Target

Linking up with A Pocketful of Polka Dots & Charming Lucy