Most Stylish Year #2

One of the most important things about having a great wardrobe is that you have to have a good foundation, meaning you must have the basics.  Some of my necessary basics might be different than someone else's (depending on profession, lifestyle, etc), however, there are some pieces that EVERY SINGLE WOMAN should have in her arsenal. These key pieces are the foundation on which you build around.

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Little Black Dress
A little black dress is undeniably the most important thing every woman should have, starting in her teens. It should fit well, and not be too revealing or trendy. This dress should be able to take you (given accessory changes) from work, to a date, to a funeral, to a wedding, to lunch with friends… you name it. It is the MVP of your closet. I can't emphasize enough how important this one piece is.

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A Blazer (preferably black or navy)
I love a good blazer. Blazers automatically take your outfit up a notch. You can wear them for work, for the weekend (who doesn't love a blazer + jeans?), for an evening out. Blazers are so versatile! I suggest black or navy. They are the most classic colors, and you will be able to wear either of them with just about anything.
My very favorite blazers are from J. Crew. They are well made, fit perfectly, and last for years and years. I paid a decent chunk of change for my navy school boy blazer several years ago, and it is still a constant go to.

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Great fitting jeans
A wonderful fitting pair of jeans can make you feel great about yourself. They should give you confidence, makes you feel sexy, can take you from the weekend to a date to a girls' night out… Jeans are a workhorse for your wardrobe. They are worn over and over, so they need to look good and feel good.

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A white blouse
Everyone needs a nice fitting white blouse. It works alone or as a layering piece. Another "dress it up, dress it down" heavy hitter, your white blouse should be fitted (but not too fitted).

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Black Pumps (can be high or low heel)
Black pumps… need I say more? Is there a better shoe out there? Opt for something classic, not trendy here.

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A flattering skirt (length depends on body type)
Solid or pattered, a good skirt can take you great places. Whether it is short or longer, pencil or A line, find one that really works for your body.

Have a great day! 

Winter Brights

Happy Monday, friends. Please tell me, where did the weekend go? 

I realize we still have a while to go, but I am tired of winter. We've been having some warmer weather here, and I am dreading it turning cold again. So, to combat my dislike of the cold, I dress in bright colors. 

I lean toward darks and neutrals in the winter, so every so often I really like to switch it up and go bright. I have had my eye on this scarf for a while now, and so I finally ordered it (along with the sweatshirt and a few other things) during the additional 40% off sale. It is so hard to pass up something like that!

Sweater: J. Crew; Scarf: J. Crew; Skirt: J. Crew (factory version); Boots: Coach (similar)

Have a great day!

101 Things Check In

Happy Friday everyone! I am SO glad it is almost the weekend. This week is killing me. For real.

It has been a little while since I have done a 101 Things Before I Turn 30 post, so I thought it might be time to check in and see how I am doing.

15. Update my phone
I finally got a new phone! My poor iPhone 4s was on its last leg, so I got the 6. It is amazing how long my battery lasts now!

78. Have a movie marathon

We spent our New Years Day snuggled in our new king size bed watching movies. It was great.  (Side note- that comforter is a temporary one, and I am in the process of doing the bedroom… so it is kind of a hot mess…)

82. Get new Kate Spade shoes

Thanks to the hubs, I can mark this off my list (although I will happily add to my collection).

Some things I haven't completed yet, but they are in progress, so I think they deserve mentioning!

Things in process:

21. Get yoga teacher certification

I began yoga teacher training in September. I will be finished in April!

48. Have a year long blog theme

Your Most Stylish Year started at the beginning of the year… stay tuned for more posts! (You can read #1 here)


Also, I am on my way to 500 Facebook fans… if you wanted to help me out and like The Fashionable Wife on Facebook, that would be the best!

Have a great weekend!

And don't forget to enter the $100 gift card giveaway to Nordstrom!

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Graphic Sweatshirt

Happy Thursday all! Hope you have had a really great week so far. We are almost to Friday. Is is so close, I can almost taste it… Now lets just survive today and tomorrow so we can have another weekend!

Over the last couple of years, I have really expanded my graphic tee (and sweatshirt) collection. They are some of my favorite things to wear. They mix and match so well - perfect with jeans, a skirt, dress it up, dress it down. They always look good. 

The same thing goes for graphic sweaters and sweatshirts. I scooped this one up from J. Crew a while back for a steal (like $30 or something crazy like that). It is so soft and not too heavy, so it is perfect for layering.

Sweatshirt: J. Crew (similar); Skirt: Gap (similar); Blouse: old (similar); Shoes: Kate Spade (different color)

Have a great day!

Make sure to enter the Nordstrom giveaway!


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In the Kitchen

I've mentioned here before how much I enjoy cooking. I have developed a recipe obsession and am constantly looking for new recipes to try.  And since I believe in sharing great recipes, I am sharing with you some of my current favorites (some are new, some aren't)! Plus almost all of the recipes I make are either healthy or healer versions of dishes.

I just made this 10 Minute Spinach Lasagna over the weekend, and it was so delicious! I added some ground turkey because the hubs likes some meat in… well, everything. Also, I just used Ragu for the sauce, but I do plan on trying her sauce sometime. One other tweak - I left out the basil. I am not a fan of basil.  You use no boil lasagna noodles, but unfortunately they didn't have any whole wheat no boil noodles (I generally buy whole wheat or whole grain pasta), so I had to use the regular no boil noodles.

Fettuccine Alfredo yummmm. It is kind of hard to believe that there is a SKINNY version of this dish that is just as good as the original, but there is! I added chicken to ours because, again, hubs likes meat.

I started making this Chicken & Dumplings in the Crock pot recipe last year. It is so good and SO easy. Some crock pro recipes you have to cook things before they go in or do a bunch of stuff before and after. My favorite crock pot recipes are the ones where you just dump everything and go.  And this is one of them (You do add the biscuits about 30 minutes before you are ready to eat).

This Chicken Pot Pie recipe is one of my very favorite things. It has no butter and no cream. Easy, delicious… can't be better!

I also made the Skinnytaste Oven Fried Chicken recently, but it isn't on her website (but you can find it here). I HIGHLY recommend getting the Skinnytaste cookbook. The recipes are amazing and the pictures are gorgeous. I am kind of a Skinnytaste fanatic… I probably make a recipe of hers at least once a week.

So what are some of your favorite recipes? Have you made anything great recently?

(Images are from the original recipe source)

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the $100 Nordstrom gift card!

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Tuesday Shoesday Week #121 + Giveaway

Happy Tuesday all! Hope you survived your Monday.

Today's Tuesday Shoesday is all about some great budget buys. Anyone else feel that they need to get control of themselves after all of the holiday spending? The good thing is you can update your shoe game without breaking the bank! There are SO many amazing sales right now, plus there are tons of great options at fantastic prices that aren't even on sale!

Here are a few that I have my eye on right now…

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The best thing is, these are all under $100. 

Now, wouldn't it be nice if you had a $100 gift card to Nordstrom to spend on some new shoes? Well you can! Enter the giveaway below!

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Stalking My Prey

Happy Monday, all. For those of you that don't have to work today, I don't know that we can be friends any more. I'm just kidding… sort of. I am feeling rather hostile about this whole "some people have the day off but I have to work" thing. I have got to get one of those jobs where you get a lot of days off… like at a school. Or the post office. 

Anyway, I am really not a bargain shopper. Stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, thrift stores - they freak me out. I don't like to dig, to search. The thrill of the hunt doesn't thrill me.

Instead, I prefer a different approach, since I am not a fan of paying full price. I take the "stalk my prey" approach. At any given moment, I have from 5 to 500 things on my wish list. So I patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) wait for a promotion or for them to be put on sale. I stalk my prey until I am ready to punch. 

This skirt was one of those pieces. I saw it online from Banana Republic and loved it. The twist with this one was that it was a BR Monogram piece, which means it is excluded from promotions. (Monogram and Heritage collections are ALWAYS excluded from promotions, except for maybe Friends & Family). 

This means I had to wait… once it goes on sale, then you can do the extra off sale. I had to wait for what seemed like forever (I first saw it in October, I think). I thought maybe Black Friday but no. So finally, FINALLY after Christmas it went on sale and then there was an additional off sale, and it became mine. 

Tshirt: Everlane; Skirt: Banana Republic; Blazer: LC Lauren Conrad (similar); Booties: Target

And in case you didn't notice, I had a friend join me in my pictures…

Scouty Boy really wanted to be on the blog today. He is in the background of almost every picture…

Have a great day!