A little this and a little that....

Guess what this is?!  It might not be EXACTLY what you think it is.....and I will fill you in at the end of this post....

but for now.....

Does this picture look like a mug shot?  LOL!

Very simple outfit for a rainy day; thrifted gap turtleneck, Lia Sophia jewelry, New York and Co. houndstooth stretch trousers (pictured below)

I think the "Shoplifters will be Prosecuted" sign makes it look that way!

My friend Maria and I had lunch together and worked on some things for school on Tuesday.  When we finished we treated ourselves to a trip to the Goodwill store and she helped me get a couple of pictures.  

Maria found an Oscar de la Renta silk scarf for a dollar!

...and I sweet talked her into letting me take hers.  We stepped into a dressing room to take the photos because people were looking us a little funny; perhaps we should have considered how the "shoplifters" sign in the picture would look!!!  

My outfits this week have been really simple.  The weather has been temperamental; one day its cold and freezing rain, the next day its warm and stormy, the next (today) its rainy and warm but then the temp dropped and it snowed.  I've just wanted to be cozy and effortless these last couple of days.

The long leaf necklace is LS "Whisper"; I love the delicate leaves and I'm happy I ordered it because its now discontinued.  So is the pendant.  The chain that I put the pendant on is a triple strand from the current line.  Its really cool; each of the strands is detachable and there are two double clasps so that the necklace can be configured in so many different ways.  Its kind of like having 5 or 6 different necklaces  in one.  You will be seeing this worn in many different ways on my blog!

The collar can be work flat or stand-up

Love the stand up collar on this 'Neon Budda' jacket.  This is one of my recent, rare non-thrifted items.  It was about 65 degrees yesterday and I was happy to wear this spring-weight jacket!

I love the big buttons! The fabric is buttery soft and its so easy to wear.  I will love this for many years to come.

...and here my super comfy houndstooth stretch trousers.  

On Monday, I dresses simply for school.  Black NY& Co. stretch trousers and a thrifted lavender Izod cable sweater.  

Oh, how I love this sweater. Lavender seems to be a very flattering color for me; I would never have thought that it would be.  I went to the Goodwill last week SPECIFICALLY to find a lavender pullover to replace an itchy one that I could not wear comfortably. Hard to believe I found exactly what I was looking for.  Thank you thrifting fairy!

I paired the sweater with a lightweight leopard scarf and two LS "panorama" necklaces.  This necklace used to be called 'reflections'; its very shiny and reflective.  I found a you tube video of a woman demonstrating 12 ways to wear this necklace; most of them were pretty cute!

Here's close up of that de la Renta scarf Maria found on our Tuesday outing.  The colors are so pretty in person and I think she's going to get a lot of use from this scarf.  Maria is a little camera shy, but I would really like to feature her on my blog someday.  She has an amazing sense of style that I think you would all enjoy.  I really think she should write a blog of her own, but she has just returned to school to get her Masters in mental health counseling this semester so she probably won't have too much free time!  Maybe someday.

So.....here is the full size picture of the dress in my teaser picture at the top of the blog. 

Yep..its a dance dress.  Its a Latin dance competition dress.  And its for me!  I'm the girl who does not do Latin competition or Rhythm competition.  I haven't taken lessons in Latin or Rhythm but I've attended a few group lessons and I've picked up a lot of it at social dance parties.  

I don't have the same skill level as I do in American Smooth and International Standard.  But, I'm going to take a few lessons before the competition and enter in the novice/newcomer division and compete in a couple of  American Rhythm dances.  I'm not focusing heavily on it and I actually won't be wearing this dress yet.  I'll explain that below.

NOTE: International Latin and American Rhythm styles are similar and share some of the same dances.  There are technical differences between the two that distinguish them from one another and some different dances.  Latin dances are: Rhumba, Cha Cha Cha, Paso Doble, Jive, Samba.  American Rhythm dances are Rhumba, Cha Cha Cha, Bolero, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing and Samba.

I'm going to be dancing Rhumba, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing and maybe Bolero.  I won't spend a lot of time working on them, because my focus is MY style (Standard and Smooth)...but I wanted to try it out for fun.

I won't be wearing the dress pictured at this comp, but I did buy it.  It was a REALLY, REALLY GOOD DEAL.

The dress is pale lavender and it needs some additional color.  I'm going to be adding many Swarovski crystals in a variety of bright colors.  I'm thinking that I will add fuchsia, aqua and dark purple.  The goal is to take this pale dress from a "cute" to a "WOW", and the way to do that is by adding colorful stones.  Also, because I'm so pale, the light color washes me out.  Its a great base dress that is going to be even greater with personal touches. I will also be adding wider straps.  Spaghetti straps just don't flatter me, so I'm adding a one inch strap on each shoulder.  They will also be heavily stoned. Many dancers do this with dresses; buy a solid used dress and customize it.  

Its a money saver if you start with a good basic dress.

For the competition, I will be wearing a simple black dress that I own with some very blingy ballroom jewelry.  Because I'm entering in a novice division, I don't need a 'real' ballroom dress.

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There is something else that needs some work too before I wear this dress...and that's me.

I need to work on the soft parts of me and tone them up again.  If I'm going to be this underdressed, I'm going to be more fit.

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That's why I've started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.  So far, she's shredding me!  

OUCH!