Christmas Wrap-Up: Holidaywear

This time of year, we're spending a lot of money. And while we all want something for ourselves (Like a brand new holiday outfit!), we're usually trying to figure out how much we can spend on gifts for our friends and family.

So a brand new party dress is probably the last item on your list of things to buy, but that doesn't mean you can't look amazing this Christmas.

After reading an article that listed a party dress as something to scratch from your shopping list, I subconsciously made it my goal to figure out how to get a new holiday look on a budget. It didn't start so well--I found a beautiful red lace dress at a department store in the mall a few days later, full price. After leaving it behind, I came up with a few things and eventually found what I was looking for, over $100 less.

Start in your closet

I love timeless pieces, those articles of clothing you can wear year after year. Basics like sweaters, button-downs and simple skirts can be resurrected time and time again. The same can go for dresses in classic shapes and basic colors. I have a black t-shirt dress that I've worn the past several years, adding scarves, belts and sweater tights to switch (and dress) it up.

A black t-shirt dress like this one by Mossimo is easily converted with accessories.

So before you head to the store, check your closet for something you can dress up with a sparkly belt or new jewelry. Repurposing something you already own will save your wallet, and make you feel proud of your fashion skills.

Shop the sale racks

I found my new holiday dress on a sale rack in the juniors department of Dillard's. The great thing is that it was probably a summer/fall dress, thus on the way out, but because of the color and fabric, totally convertible to winter.

When you're shopping the sale racks for winter dresses, look for darker solid colors or color-blocked dresses. Animal print is also very in, especially leopard, but avoid summery floral prints. You'll also want to look for heavier fabrics, or those that have the appearance of being heavy (usually with more shape and less flowy movement). Just remember that with the right pairings, you can make something intended for summer or fall ready for winter.

This emerald lace dress can be holiday party-worthy with a few additions.

Accessorize

The key to making any of the above options work is accessorizing. The right accessories can help your dress make the transition into the holiday scene. Think patent leather or sparkly belts, chunky jewelry and a coordinating clutch. Don't be afraid to go big on pieces you would normally keep small.

H&M rhinestone ring.

Patent leather belt from Lauren by Ralph Lauren.

Don't forget your hands and face

After you put your outfit together, top it all off with party-worthy makeup and nail polish. Don't be afraid to go darker with your shadow and create a smokey eye. (I really like Sephora's eyeshadow with micro glitter.) Finish everything off with a coat of gorgeous and totally in glitter nail polish.

Sephora Collection eyeshadow in Espresso Shot.

e.l.f. Essential Glitter Nail Polish in Golden Goddess, with a taupe base coat.

Find it Online Guide 

Mossimo Juniors T-Shirt Dress

Green Lace Dress on Wanelo

H&M Rhinestone Ring
Lauren Patent Leather Belt
Sephora Collection Colorful Mono Eyeshadow

e.l.f. Essential Glitter Nail Polish

As a side note: I've been thinking about eliminating the "Style Editor" blog (not like I've really been updating it anyway), and putting my periodic fashion/beauty posts on this blog. My original intent was to not clog this blog up with those types of posts, for those who aren't interested. So I made a separate space where they could live and be discovered by those who are interested. BUT since I'm not blogging that much about style subjects, I was thinking it wouldn't hurt to bring them over here. Any thoughts on that? I suppose anyone who really hates these types of posts could just skip them to begin with.

The 2012 Christmas Wrap-Up

Christmas. The best holiday ever. (With Halloween being a close runner-up, and the Fourth of July after that.) And in keeping with my love for the day, I am going to do a special Christmas Wrap-Up here on my blog. Consider it a blogift (yes, that's a technical term) from me to you. :)

I will share stories, photos, recipes and more! And as always, I love to hear from my readers! Please share your favorite Christmas memory/photo/recipe/video or anything that makes you feel particularly in the Christmas spirit. (And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I'd like to hear what you do instead!)

To kick things off, here are some pics from last year.

Some of the decorations we set up at work in the newsroom.
We won the Christmas decorating contest. :)

Last year we spent Christmas at my Grandma's house, where we'll be again this year!

Michael and one of his favorite presents.

Me with my grandma and mom.

Food & Photos

It's here! You are now looking at my reading material for the rest of the month. (Well, I'm actually about half-way through it already because I skipped some parts. They said I could.)

I'm getting more excited for the Whole30, which as I wrote in this post, I'll be starting Jan. 2. I'm still looking for anyone who is interested in joining. It's not just about "dieting" and weight loss, but also about the lifestyle benefits. Not only is Whole30 designed to increase energy, it also helps with a whole list of other issues (like inflammation and diabetes). So if you want to give it a whirl with us (Nick is joining me, as well as several of my girl friends), you are cordially and officially invited. It lasts for 30 days, so come on, who can't try it?! :)

If you are skeptical and want to see how it goes for Nick and me, just keep checking my blog as I plan to post plenty of updates. (Especially when I'm struggling!) I'll try to get Nick to add some thoughts/guest posts too, so you can get a guy's perspective.

In other news, if you haven't seen them yet, my engagement pictures are here! I have posted some of our favorites to a rather "protected" Facebook album (to guard against those who have been a little too stalkery). If you can't see it, just shoot me a message and I'll add you to the viewers.

And speaking of photos, I think I found photography bliss. This is now on my "I kind of want this really bad" list. :)

Life Revelations, a Few Years Later

Sometimes things get worse before they get better.

Sometimes they get a LOT worse.

I somehow got sucked into looking at old Facebook posts tonight on my profile. Thanks to the wonder of the timeline, it's easy to go back a few years and look at the silly things you used to write. Mixed in with the silly is the occasional meaningful post, or the post with an underlying message that the average reader wouldn't catch. But you know what's there, you lived the raw emotions, the moments of desolation, the secret fears.

I covered a lot of ground in the past 3+ years. Emotional roller coaster after emotional roller coaster. There were the highest highs and the lowest lows, and looking back, I remember many moments where I felt utterly lost.

I felt the most lost when I lived in Colorado and when I first moved back to Iowa. I know because I remember. I was reminded of that tonight when I crossed a few posts that said things to the effect of, "I wish I could figure out my life."

Okay, we all wish we could figure out our lives, because who really has it all together? But sometimes we're more lost and confused than other times. And that was my season, Denver to Clinton, I was so lost. That was the lowest of the low, when I hit rock bottom. I remember constantly thinking, where am I going and what am I doing? Life felt like a wilderness and I was wandering across it, not even sure if I was headed in the right direction, parched and looking for shelter.

One of the biggest things I learned was that life can take the steepest of downhill plunges before it even begins to get better. Looking back on that wilderness now, it seems so far away. Now, on this side where things are starting to make so much more sense and I have less of the "what am I doing?" feeling. Now it's like I can see again. And with 20-20, I know the past was the way it was for a reason. There was desolation, but there was also life and growth. The sand of the wilderness shaped who I am, who I am becoming.

Now I know that life sometimes reaches the point where you think you've come to the end of all things. Sometimes it feels like you've sunk so low you'll drown beneath the weight of everything crushing above you. Sometimes it feels like the wilderness is endless.

But if there is one thing I've learned, it's that life does get better. Maybe it takes months or years, but eventually we come to the end of the wilderness. And if we've learned all we needed to, we'll come out refined, purged, wiser, and able to see the path before us.

Here's to finding that path and following it wholeheartedly. Here's to remembering that when the worst comes, sometimes what's better is just behind that distant horizon. Here's to remembering that the wilderness is not endless.