My Favorite Outfits of 2016

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will enjoy a safe and jubilant New Years as well.

Every year I like to take a look back on my blog and reflect on my favorite posts.  It helps me not only to learn and grow as a blogger, but also to be thankful as well.  I like to do three different reflective posts:  My Favorite Outfits of The Year,  My Travel Adventures, and My Favorite Crafting Projects I completed during the year.  This post will cover my favorite outfits, and I will do the other two posts sometime in January.

I picked one outfit from every month.  In last year's post HERE, it seemed I picked outfits that were associated with specific happy memories;  even though that was not my original intention.  This year I didn't do that.  I seemed to just be drawn to outfits that I just generally liked and I thought I looked the best in.  Here are my favorite outfit picks for each month:

This outfit was one of my most viewed outfits of the year totaling over 2344 views.  It always amazes me what outfits get the most hits.  That's a lot of views for my little blog, but it still wasn't the largest hit of the year.  My most viewed fashion post was "What I Wore To A Casino/Hotel" HERE.  That post got  a whopping 3337 views;  and number two was "How To Wear A Novelty Sweater" HERE and came in at 2986 views.   Even though the outfits in those two posts were more popular than the one below, I still like this one better so it's my pick!

                                                  January

Original Post HERE

I really like how the plaid shirt goes so well with the cute skirt, and even though it was winter, I was still cozy warm thanks to thick tights and a scarf.

Another thing I was very surprised about when putting together this post, was how many dresses or skirt outfits ended up being my favorites of the year.  I don't even wear dresses/skirts that much.  I lead a very casual lifestyle and rarely need to dress up;  plus, I always feel more comfortable and more like "me" in pants.

February

Original Post HERE

I really like the outfit above because even though the colors are neutral there is so much interest through textures and patterns:  the studs in both the top and skirt, the suede texture of the skirt, and the snakeskin pattern in the bag.

Below is one of my personal favorites of the year.  I just love all the color in this outfit, even though the base is neutral.  I'm also holding a cup of coffee...that makes any outfit more special in my book.  I like this outfit so much, it might be on repeat this spring!

                                                   March

Original Post HERE

 In April I was excited to have flowers in my garden again and thus have a nice photo backdrop.  It's so hard to find interesting photo locations in the winter months, but in the warm months, I can just step outside into my backyard!

This was actually an outfit I cased from a very thin young girl on Lookbook;   but I adapted it to make it work for my age and frame.  I really enjoyed wearing it, and I never would have thought to pair silver and white together before.  It is a perfect example of learning from other fashion bloggers and also how women of different age groups and body sizes can wear similar styles with adaptations.

                                                   April

Original Post HERE

My next outfit I picked because it was such a fun outfit to wear.  I wore this outfit  to Chicago to see a my children in concert.  Whenever I'm in a big city I always feel more free to be a bit more experimental in my attire than in my hometown.  I just love the combination of white polka dots with the necktie and the brightly colored bag.  So fun!

                                                    May

Original Post HERE

It's not often a girl can dress up all glitz and glam, so this sparkly dress I wore in Las Vegas was definitely one of the best outfits of the year!

                                                  June

Original Post HERE

My next outfit is probably my husband's favorite of the year.  He loves to see me in anything black, and the short length of the dress plus the lace up detail put this outfit over the edge for him.  But he also loved my Vegas dress;  even though I ended up taller than him with the heels. :)

                                                   July

Original Post HERE

The month of August brought one of my favorite of all time fashion posts ever!  That's because I did a collaboration with Karen from "She Thought She Could So She Did".  We went on a virtual shopping trip together and purchased the same top and styled it three different ways.  It was such a fun experience, and a huge hit!

                                                 August

Original Post HERE

I had the opportunity to wear a dress again in late summer because my husband and I were invited to a wedding.  I really like this dress, but I only wore it once before to church, so it was nice to pull it out of my closet again.

                                               September

Original Post HERE

We had the most beautiful fall ever in Wisconsin this year, and we took advantage of it by going on lots of weekend adventures.  I don't know what I like better in the picture below:  my outfits, or the fall leaves.  Probably the leaves.  

                                               October

Original Post HERE

Out of all my purchases this year, this ordinary, plain, white sweater has probably gotten the most use.  It was a real lesson to me.  Usually when I buy something new I'm looking for an interesting design or color.  I never think of buying a simple background piece and adding style and color through accessories.  I just love everything about this outfit, especially the sweater!  This was another idea I got from a fashion blogger.  That's why I love fashion blogging so much:  I get all these amazing ideas from you gals!

                                              November

Original Post HERE

And finally, would you believe my all time favorite outfit of the year involves a simple sweatshirt?  Yup, it does.  The outfit below is my favorite of this year because it includes everything I look for in clothes:  comfort, style, and personality.  I love this outfit because I feel comfortable in it, it fits my casual lifestyle, and the sweatshirt slogan suits my personality.  However, as a disclaimer, lots of women thought I don't exercise because of the statement on this shirt.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  I exercise religiously, six days a week, including cardio.  But I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to.   And that's, why I love this shirt so much.

                                              December

Original Post HERE

So what about you?  Which of these outfits is your favorite and why?  Or do you remember an outfit I wore this past year that you liked better which I did not include?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

Holiday Blogging Break

It's that wonderful time of year when everyone everywhere stops spending so much time on their electronic devices and enjoys their family and friends.  I will be doing the same starting today!  We aren't going anywhere this season, but my children are coming home for the week and I want to treasure every single moment with them.  

I will back on December 30th with a post on all of "My Favorite Outfits of 2016" and then back to a normal blogging schedule on Monday, January 2nd.

Have a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!  

Sparkles For The Holidays

I am back with another holiday outfit.  Last week Friday I shared a cozy warm yet elegant holiday look HERE.  This week I wanted to show a holiday look that was a bit more dressy and not quite as warm;  although you could add black tights or a patterned hose to this look if you didn't want to go bare legged.

I don't know about you, but I don't like to go out and buy all new clothes for a holiday party.  Most items are only worn once a year, so why not wear it again next year?  Who is going to remember what you wore anyway?  Thus, everything I have on is old.  But the good news is I was shopping at JCPenney last week and I saw this sweater!  They brought it back for the holidays!

The last time I showed you this sweater was in this post HERE.  For whatever reason,  that post was one of my most popular posts ever.  I can't figure out why because the pictures in that post were terrible due to bad  hotel lighting.  Maybe it got so many hits because people to wonder "What to Wear to a Casino". :)

 This is a classic holiday sweater, I can see why JCP brought it back for the holidays.  It comes in burgundy, blue, and white but only the white is available on-line.  However, I did see the other colors in the store.

This sweater is just a beautiful jewel toned color, and it is covered in sequins!  It also has a unique keyhole opening in the back with a ribbon tie closure.

I kept my jewelry simple because I had enough sparkle going on with the sweater.  I wore a simple velvet choker from Forever 21.

The choker has a simple blue rhinestone in the center which matches the color of my sweater.

I carried a vintage black velvet bags of my mother's.

I could have worn sparkly, open-toe heels, but I chose these black suede wedges because they are more practical for my climate.

I also went bare-legged for the photography shoot, but normally in winter I would have to wear panty hose (even though I know they are out) because being bare-legged in winter in our state isn't possible.

My skirt is actually a pencil skirt.  The last time I showed it to you was HERE.  The blue in the skirt was the exact color of blue in the sweater, so I was able to combine the two successfully.  

a.n.a Long-Sleeve Sequin Sweater - JCPenney:  HERE,  Navy Blue Pencil Skirt, no longer available, similar:   HERE,  Fergalicious Tiny Too Black Suede Wedges - Famous Footwear:  HERE,  Velvet Choker, no longer available, similar:  HERE,  and Vintage Velvet Clutch, no longer available, similar HERE and HERE.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Brief Visit to Minocqua Wisconsin

If you read last week's travel post HERE, I shared about our visit to Wildwood Wildlife Zoo in Minocqua, Wisconsin.  After our wonderful visit to that zoo, we had a little bit of time before we needed to head back home, so we decided to check out the sweet little town of Minocqua.

Minocqua, is a cute little town in northern Wisconsin.  It is often called "Island City" because a portion of the town actually resides on an island.  It makes most of its revenue through tourism and is considered by many to be a water sports heaven.  It is a forested lake community that has many outdoor activities such as fishing, camping, water skiing, boating, hiking, bike riding, and swimming.

In addition to all the outdoor activities, there is the cutest downtown you ever did see.  It is filled with fabulous shops, restaurants and bars which provide live music during the summer months.

Our favorite shop in Minocqua was Minocqua Fudge.  Of course!  What else?  Oh, what a cute, cute candy shop this is!

It is so pretty, inside and out, and it's decorated like an old candy shop too.  And boy was it crowded when we were there.  It's very long and narrow inside and there were so many people inside it was hard to move about.

I always love it when candy shops have large windows where you can watch the workers make their delicious confections.

Don't these look amazing!  I can't believe the sheer size of them!

I love murals and I always appreciate it when towns and cities paint pretty murals on their buildings;  especially when they help explain the town's history.

Isn't this a cute popcorn shop?  And let me tell you that you could smell this popcorn blocks away.

I always notice flower plantings whenever I travel and visit new towns.  I was awestruck with the massive size and length of this hanging basket.

We did walk by and check it out the lake while we there.  Lots of boaters were out on this beautiful day.

I had my husband take this picture so I would remember this garden.  This is a raised garden bed that is a mix of vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  It is a side yard to a restaurant that also serves meals outdoors as well...see the chairs behind me?  That is the restaurant outdoor seating area.

I really love this idea of mixing flowers with vegetables.  I also love the idea of raised beds.  It makes gardening so much easier, especially when you grow older and bending and kneeling gets more difficult.

My husband loved Bucky Badger who was standing right next to these gardens.  He's making a "W" for Wisconsin, it's what all the athletes do when they score.  (PS, I actually had to ask him what he was doing with his hands.  I had no idea.  And then he laughed and said "Everyone else knows".)

Well by now it was late in the day and I was ready for my afternoon coffee pick-me-up.  We found this cute yogurt shop that also had a coffee shop.  I ordered their Autumn Blend special that day and it was delicious.

I was really awestruck with how well-maintened the historic downtown buildings were.  They were all so pretty and colorful, and kind of had a Scandinavian flair to me.  I don't know where that would come from as the town is named after the original inhabitants;  the Ojibwe Indians.  It began as a logging town.

This was a little garden created between two buildings.  It was a sweet surprise, but the garden seemed a little overgrown to me, although it was lovely.  There was a path in the center of the garden that led to a store.

Here I am standing in the middle of this path, enjoying my coffee.

Aren't these buildings just gorgeous?  I love how they are painted.

This was an Irish pub/restaurant that my husband had me take a picture of so we could remember it, for we want to go back someday.  We didn't eat here, we just walked through it.  Inside it has a long old bar (the kind you would see in an old western movie), a huge fireplace, and booths with high wooden backs.  It was so cool.  There is also the loveliest outdoor dining courtyard in the back

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE and Travel Tuesday!

Red Peacoat In The Snow

Last weekend I woke up to a winter wonderland!  It was so gorgeous that I couldn't pass up a wonderful photo opportunity, so I rushed to get dressed and take pictures of both this beautiful fresh snowfall and do some fun fashion photography as well!

 Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a big fan of the snow or cold, but even I couldn't deny it's amazing beauty!  And what better way to show the pristine white snow than with a bright red peacoat up against it?

This is a coat I purchased at an end of season clearance sale at JCPenney for $6.00.  Yes, you heard me right $6.00!!!!!  It was the end of a very unusually warm winter,  so a lot of people did not buy a new winter coat.  The store was so desperate to get rid of them, they were practically giving them away.  They had so many different styles and colors of other winter coats as well.  I really did not need another winter coat (I have so many as it is) but for $6.00, why not?  I also bought a new black pleather jacket with a fur collar that day...for, yes, $6.00.

I styled my coat with winter white corduroy pants, a winter white novelty sweater, and black boots, scarf, hat, and gloves.

Pea coats aren't that practical for a Wisconsin winter;  which is one reason I hesitated to buy it.  I didn't think I'd get that much use out of it.  But again, for $6.00, why not?

I've been trying to get into the habit of wearing hats more often.  I had a hard time keeping this one on my head because I placed it just on the back of my head.  I've since seen them pulled all the way down so that the forehead is partially covered.  I tried it that way too, but I looked ridiculous.  I have such a funny shaped face for that look!

Can you believe these evergreen branches?  They are so heavy with snow they touch the ground.

All the pictures were taken in my garden.  You can see just nature shots of this same garden and snowfall in yesterday's blog post.

Everything I'm wearing is old, but I will provide links to current like items at the end of the post.

And here is my novelty sweater.  I picked it up the day after Christmas last year and previously showed it to you HERE and HERE.

It's such a fun sweater, even though I only get a couple of wears out of it a season.  It was definitely worth the $10.00 I paid for it.

I think this was one of the few times I actually enjoyed doing fashion photos outside in the winter.  My husband and I had such a blast exploring our yard and seeing all the new beauty thanks to the fresh fallen snow.

Red Peacoat (no longer available) similar HERE,  Ivory Corduroy Pants (no longer available) similar HERE, White Holiday Novelty Sweater (no longer available) similar HERE and HERE,  Black Beanie (no longer available) similar HERE,  Black Leather Gloves (no longer available) similar HERE, and Kamik Boots HERE.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up With These Fabulous Blogs HERE.