Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Online, Jetlagged "Window" Shopping

I got back from my trip to Germany last night, where I was visiting my parents. While it was sad to have to leave my parents, I was very happy to be reunited with my boys!



I was greeted at home with beautiful flowers and a gift. I'll share the gift in a future post!


After a few hours of sleep, I was up thanks to jet lag. After catching up on work emails, I found myself surfing the Nordstrom Sale. Here are some of my favorites:

Questions: Did you do any after-Christmas shopping? If so, what did you get? 

Be well,
Andrea

[Disclosure: Links are affiliate links.]

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Trying to Stay Warm...

As I have mentioned before, I’m about to travel to Germany to spend some time with my parents. They usually visit us in December and we have been spending a week in Avila Beach with them for the past four years. 

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We were all supposed to travel to Avila Beach again this year, but my dad suffered a severe stroke in March. Thankfully, he is doing better, but my parents won’t be able to make the trip to see us this year. I’m very grateful that I get to spend some time with them in Germany instead.

I’m looking forward to my trip, but I am also worried about how I’ll stay warm. After living in California for almost 25 years, I don’t have much in terms of “real winter clothes.” This is especially the case since I don’t go skiing anymore, and we always spend time at the beach in December. Sure, I have boots, but they aren't very thick and more for fashion purposes than to keep me warm. And my regular coat may look like a winter coat, but it is very thin and doesn’t do much to keep me warm. As you may know, I actually had to buy a “real” winter coat a few weeks ago.

Plaid Coat 2

I got a chenille shaker scarf, a chenille shaker beret, and chenille shaker gloves at Macy’s to hopefully keep me warm. I was looking for a red scarf, gloves, & hat, and it was not easy to find what I was looking for. The chenille set wasn’t what I was originally thinking of, but I really like it now. The price has been reduced on all three items, and I think they are a good deal now.

RedBeretGlovesScarf
CharterClubChenilleScarBeretGloves2

Since my boots are not warm at all, I bought warm, cozy socks at Old Navy a few weeks ago. Luckily, I had bought my boots 1/2 size bigger, so the thick socks work with the boots. Plus, even though it doesn’t get very cold here, I will get plenty of use out of the socks because I get cold easily, and I like to wear warm socks in place of slippers at home. I love the fun leopard print.

CozySocks

I also got two long sleeve tees from Old Navy to layer underneath shirts & sweaters. I ordered them online and got them in long, and I love the extra length. I figure I will be able to wear them a lot year-round underneath shirts & sweaters as well as on their own at home. I had first thought about buying thermal underwear but then decided against it as I don’t think I will wear it other than on this trip. We will see how the tees will work out, or if it was in fact a mistake to forgo the thermal underwear…  

OldNavyLongSleeveTees 
I’ll also layer a white blouse underneath my sweaters, most of which are quite thin. I got the blouse a few weeks ago at Old Navy for 50% off. It works well as a layering piece, but does get quite wrinkly after you wash it (and since I don’t love to iron that’s not ideal…). I like that it’s roomy enough to layer a long sleeve tee underneath. While the blouse works well for layering, it’s not the “perfect white blouse” as it’s a bit thin and not the material I’m looking for to wear on its own (although it would work with a white camisole underneath). A “perfect white blouse” is one of the items on my wardrobe basics list I’ll be working on next year. It would have been ideal if I had found a “perfect white blouse” in the first place, but with all that was going on that just didn’t happen, and I really needed a blouse to wear underneath my sweaters. The Old Navy blouse works well for layering though...
WhiteShirt

Finally, I got another plaid flannel boyfriend shirt in long at Old Navy (I got a black/white one previously). I like the color of the shirt, and I think it’ll keep me warm with a long sleeve tee underneath and will be great for just hanging out at my parents’ house. Right before I put it in the suitcase, I randomly thought of trying it on under some of the sweaters I’m bringing, and it looks nice underneath two of them (and peeks out on the bottom, which I love)

OldNavyFlannelShirt

Questions: Do you live in a cold or mild climate? Do you like cold temps? How do you stay warm in cold weather? What items should I have gotten to keep me warm? 

Be well,
Andrea

Linking up with: Style Stories

[Disclosure: Affiliate links in this post may generate commissions for andreaswellnessnotes.com.]

Monday, December 7, 2015

Tunics & Leggings

My clothing purchase plan for 2016 is to only buy clothing items I truly need and love. I want to focus on quality over quantity and buy the best quality that I can afford. I decided to focus on “wardrobe basics” I’m missing or that are getting a bit too old and worn out. There are many wardrobe basics lists, and I think many of them are a good start, but I’ll customize my list to fit my lifestyle. I look forward to working on the list over the next few weeks.

Two Items that are very “me" and I wear every week are tunics and leggings, and I intend to add a few fun pieces to my wardrobe. I have two good, black leggings as well as black faux leather leggings, so the leggings I’ll add in 2016 will definitely not be black. I’ll pull out all my tunics and see what color will go with most of them and then plan on picking a fun, bold (for me) color (or maybe even a pattern?). My goal is to add a fun and interesting pair that goes with a lot that is in my closet so that I get a lot of wear out of them. We’ll see how it goes.

I also would love to add a few fun tunics. I love tunics but often play it pretty safe. I think I’m ready for some bolder prints.

I’ve had the tunic in this outfit for about six years. I really like the print. I bought the tunic in a small boutique on sale, but it was still quite expensive. However, I consider it a good investment since I have worn it often, and it has held up well. I’ll be looking for a few more fun, unique pieces.  

Tunic Leggings4
Tunic Leggings2
Tunic Leggings3

Questions: What is your shopping strategy for 2016? What are your go-to outfits? What wardrobe basics do you need to add or replace? 


Be well,
Andrea

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Slowing Down and Enjoying Life

Life has been very busy lately, but I have made sure to slow down every day and enjoy the small things, which really are the big things. 

I am very thankful for the time with my boys. 


I've been getting up thirty minutes earlier every day, which makes mornings a lot calmer. I also go to bed as early as possible every day and haven't watched TV. Getting more sleep definitely helps me to feel better and less overwhelmed. 

Finally, I make time for some yoga, a cup of tea while lighting a scented candle as well as a little reading every day - simple pleasures that make a difference in my day.

Question: What are you doing to slow down and enjoy life more?

Be well,
Andrea

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Triple Plaid

A few weeks ago I realized that I didn’t own any plaid, other than some plaid scarves.

Then I came across a plaid coat at Banana Republic when I was looking for a heavy coat that would keep me warm in Germany in a few weeks. I had originally eyed a different cocoon coat at Banana Republic and was thinking of getting it during a 50% off event. I loved the coat on the website, but Andy didn’t really like it in the pictures. Andy and I went to the store to check it out in person, but they didn’t have the coat I was looking for. When I spotted the plaid coat, I really liked it. And the price was great (it was reduced from $359 to $89). It looks like Banana has currently another plaid coat, but it’s not on sale yet.

Plaid Coat 2 
I decided to wear my colorful plaid scarf with the coat.

Plaid Coat 5
I also decided I wanted a plaid flannel shirt - it sounded so nice and cozy (plus it also sounded perfect for my Germany trip). I didn’t want to go for bold colors but decided to keep it white & black. I found this plaid flannel shirt online at Old Navy for 50% off. It’s the tall size, and I like that it is long enough to wear with leggings. I went to Old Navy on Black Friday early in the morning with the older kid (it’s been our tradition for 8 years), and I saw many other plaid shirts that I liked, but I didn’t buy any as I decided to order another tall one so that I can wear it with leggings. The shirt is boyfriend sized, and you may want to size down if you like it not too oversized.

Plaid Shirt 1
Plaid Shirt 3 
Questions: Do you like plaid? If so, what’s your favorite way to wear plaid? I just found a pretty plaid pencil skirt at Loft but restrained myself from buying it… :-)



Be well,
Andrea

[Disclosure: Affiliate links in this post may generate commissions for andreaswellnessnotes.com.]