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…

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 

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! 

Most Stylish Year #1

Happy Friday, friends! We have almost made it to another weekend. I don't know about you, but just making it through another week without having a nervous breakdown always seems like a huge accomplishment to me.

I recently challenged you all to make 2015 your most stylish year ever. So today we are delving into this challenge a bit more.

The whole idea behind this challenge is to make you think outside the box. If you come to this blog, then you obviously have some interest in fashion (or you are lost). Fashion and personal style should be FUN. It is my personal belief that personal style is a huge form of self expression. 

This isn't about spending lots of money or going out and buying a bunch of new things. This is about YOUR own personal style, and you can make what you want out of it. 

So here are a few things you may want to keep in mind:

1. Clean Out Your Closet

I know, I know. I hate cleaning out my closet. But you need to do it. Take a few hours and get it knocked out. Or, work on it 30 minutes a day, whichever works best for you. Get rid of the things you aren't wearing, that don't look good on you, that you bought because it was on sale but you don't know why. Start fresh. 

kate spade notebook

2. Make a list of things your wardrobe is missing.

Really need a new LBD? Or you realize that you don't own a black blazer? Make a list of the things that you don't have (or that need an update). Keep this list with you, so when you are shopping, you know what you need to keep any eye out for. 

3. Play with Color

Don't be afraid of color! If you are a mostly neutrals kind of girl, mix in a colorful scarf or a bright pair of shoes. Is there a color you normally don't wear? Try it! 

4. Look for Inspiration

Feel stuck in a rut? Look for inspiration - Pinterest is my personal favorite. Read some fashion magazines. Look at fashion blogs. Check out celebrity looks. You can easily make a lot of looks work for you with what you have in your closet. Or it might spark an idea you might not have thought of. 

Have a great weekend! 

Plaid on Plaid

Happy Thursday all! Want to hear a sad story? Yesterday, I kept thinking it was Thursday, and therefore that would make today Friday…

I always really love plaid, but this year it seems to be to the extreme. Everything I buy pretty much has been plaid. Generally, I buy everything striped. And the color doesn't really matter - black and white, colorful, red and black, navy… whatever. If it is plaid, I'll take it.

Sweatshirt: J. Crew (similar); Skirt: Banana Republic (similar);
Boots: Vince Camuto; Scarf: Land's End (similar)

So what is better than one plaid? Plaid mixed with more plaid. 

Have a great day!