Day 289. 76 days and $78 left to go.

I’m going with a little black and white, a little striping, and a little scattered polka dotting today!

Day 289 - Before

I adored the pleating on the skirt, especially how the stripes of solid black and polka-dotted fabric went along with the folds, but I wanted to give the top a little more shape, so I got to taking off the sleeves first.

Sleeves-be-gone!!

I took off the left arm and the right arm and was left with this.

Sleeveless!!

Woo hoo for sleeveless!!  The only other adjustment I needed to do was taking it in just a bit.  I took in about two inches on each side and it fit like a glove!

Day 289 - After

Paired with some Michael Kors wedges snagged on eBay last year, I had my ensemble for the day.  I loved the way it fit and that the skirt part of the dress hit me at my hips.

Slightly closer up..

After my day in my dress, I came home, threw on some pj’s and got to cooking.  And when I say cooking I mean this.

Literally the best thing ever!!

I’m a mac & cheese gal and I swear by these Trader Joe’s white cheddar shells! But, it didn’t end there…I was on a bacon kick still from yesterday (cue chocolate covered bacon), so I went to my pack of turkey bacon in the fridge, cooked up a few strips and threw them in along with some peas.

Guiltless Carbonara!

Insta-pasta!  It was not only quick but healthy-ish, and delish too!  Perfect way to ring in the week and the new season of Gossip Girl. Pasta is the guiltless pleasure.  GG is the guilty one.

Aaaahhh the wardrobe of S & B...

Day 287. 78 days and $80 left to go.

It’s Saturday! Sun is out, college football has arrived, you couldn’t put a bigger smile on my face if you tried 🙂

My dress for today had a mix of pleats and ruffles.  I loved the print of the fabric too – I really liked the flowery business going on, but that ruffle at the bottom was trouble.

Day 287 - Before

It was taking care of business time…got my seam ripper and began detaching the ruffle at the bottom.

Goodbye trim!

The trim that I was left with could have made a bed skirt.  We’ll bring it back somewhere though, just wait.

Two pieces!!

So, before I was ready to wear this, I got out my machine and took it in.  I brought in the sleeves and took in about three inches on each side.

Bringing it in...

Because the neck was collared and had a deep V, there were no buttons and after taking it in, it opened a bit more in front.  Couldn’t really get away with wearing it as it was, so I paired it with a black cami underneath and added a belt to break up the pattern a little.

Day 287 - After

Not completely the same but after scoping Anthropologie’s site (like you do…) I found this dress that had similar aesthetics.  The collar, the pleats, the V…

Heart Anthropologie's "Sugar Coated" $128 Version

I was very happy with my outcome.

ECU! (Extreme Close Up!!)

Perfect dress to enjoy the sun, the footy, and a little reflection this September 11th.

Day 286. 79 days and $81 left to go.

My Friday piece is all about the excess!  I’m going with leftovers today!  Anyone remember this lovely piece from Day 275??

Day 286 - Before

This was the lovely top that was made…

Day 275 - After

…and these were my leftovers…

Layout leftovers

The second half of the dress was my doggie bag today.  What to do with these leftovers?  There was a lot of fabric left and right off the bat, my head was going in one direction.  Maybe it was because I woke up sweating this morning (I love nights where I forget to turn the fans on) or that I looked at the strapless bra that was sitting on the floor of my bedroom when I got up today?  Whatever it was, I was going to make this another top…a strapless one.  I didn’t have a whole lot of time this am before work to prep, so I quickly gave the top of the piece a new seam.

Layout leftovers

Next, I was trying to figure out if I wanted ribbon straps or something cute to hold it up, but ended up going the vintage brooch route.

I pulled up my newly seamed fabric in place to where I wanted it and then pinned the brooch.

Adding the flair!!

I gathered the material to the perfect fit and pinned down.

Pinning down!!

This was just the quick and easy fix that was going to allow me to jet out the door at 8:23 this am. (I have my cutoff time down to the exact minute to get to work exactly on time…)

I took a belt and belted the top at my waist…

Day 286 - After

…and did a little bit of ungathering to give it some flounce.

ECU!! (Extreme Close Up!!)

I must say…for the amount of time this took and the usage of the excess material in construction, it was just the thing to get me started on my way to a complete non-stress Friday!  Ooh and did I mention that I saved a bit of moolah too?? Woo hoo – this was a total savvy Friday in my book!

TGIF!  Happy weekend friends

Day 285. 80 days and $81 left to go.

I LOVE the bold and busy prints and bringing them from a “no way” state to a “sign me up” one!!

Day 284 - Before

I was feeling just like Lucille Ball in this…

Lucille!!

There were lots o’dots on the fabric itself and I really disliked this blend of dainty, Victorian (in the collar) that went along with the dots.  So, hello adios time, you’ve arrived!!

Starting to take off the collar!

I grabbed my seam ripper and began to unstitch the piece at the collar.  In just a few minutes, one side was completely removed.  I continued and got rid of the entire thing.

One side done...

I wasn’t loving this as a dress either.  There was just too much going on here so I got my scissors and trimmed right at where the “skirt area” (the little mini skirt that fell at my waist) was.

Trimming the skirt!

After going from dress to top I wanted to tweak one last thing.  Now these sleeves as they were, were a bit big.  I thought it would be fun to try this out…instead of cutting and reseaming, I pulled out my “Crafty MacGyver-ness” and made them shorter with a little trick.

I just grabbed a hair tie (a bigger, more elasticked one) and put it in the area between my elbow and hand…

Sleeve Trick!!

Make sure the hair tie doesn’t cut off your circulation, first and foremost 🙂  I then literally started rolling the piece around until it looked like this…

Roll Bounce!

The rubber band kept it in place which was great – quick and easy!!

My new top was good to go with the addition of a white tank underneath and the pairing of another polka-dotted piece.

Day 284 - After

A close up of my fave part of the piece – the mixed nature of the dots on the top along with the smaller ones on the fabu belt is what I really loved.

Mix 'n Match!

The top turned out super chic and I must say I was getting polka-dotted compliments all night!!

Sunny day!!

Day 283. 82 days and $83 left to go.

I absolutely loved the color of this dress!!  I was totally brought in by the greenish shade when I first found this puppy!!

Day 283 - Before

What I did first was take the dress in.  It was open too much at the top that I really wanted to make it fitted on me.

Tightening Up!!

I got out my sewing machine and got to work!

Taking in!

Now that it was fitted in my chestal area, I wanted to change up the straps.  I began by undoing the seams that kept the straps in place on my back by my shoulders.

Strap Tweaking!!

With these undone, they’re going work perfectly as halter straps!!  I tied the straps together at my neck, added a white sash around my waist and prepped some sweet potato casserole to bring over to cooking club.

Day 283 - After

It was Southern themed tonight…we gathered up at JS’s and brought our dishes.

The Eats!!

The dress definitely had an apron-y look to it which made it totally work as I served plates of some delish blackberry and peach cobbler.

From the back...

Our dinners are clearly about the food, however they always turn out to being more about the catching up.  So nice to do that this eve.  Girl talk really is the best 🙂  I’m already looking forward to next month’s already!

Day 280. 85 days and $86 left to go.

It was a super hot day so I was really looking for something to stay cool in.  Wasn’t sure if I wanted a dress or just a top, but I thought this lavender-y, crepe number would do just the trick.

Day 180 - Before

It was light and airy which I thought was great.  Loved the color, but wasn’t crazy about the fit or the top of the dress.  My mind started racing and I came up with a fun idea that was going to bear a lovely, cool top.

But, parting with these was first on the agenda.

Not happening!

I got rid of both shoulder pads in no time!!

There they go!

In getting to the coolest place possible so my sweat-o-meter wasn’t crazily off the charts, I decided to cut off the shoulders on both sides.

New shoulder time!

I trimmed off one and then easily tweaked the other.

Shoulderless time!

I had a little halter-esque project going on, just that my back wasn’t going to be exposed.

Shoulder Exposé

I pinned down the raw edges on both sides, cut off the length of the dress…

Shorten up!

…and stitched everything into place.

Sew it down!

Paired with some jeans, a vintage hanging locket and Havaianas on my feet, I enjoyed the warm weather and made an evening trip to the movies.

Day 280 - After

Fun night to go check out Going the Distance where I immediately fell in love with Drew Barrymore’s wardrobe – fun and casual (lots of stripes and deep backed T-shirts)…

Love the outfit! Love the pretzels! (Courtesy of Life Magazine)

…with some scattered sequined/beaded pieces that I salivated over.

Loved what she wore to her London premiere…

Drew!!

Because I did leave the arm holes larger (when I toyed around with the idea of adjusting, it tightened the top a smidge too much and lost a bit of the drapey/flowy element) I threw on my olive tank underneath which kind of matched DB above…

Fab undergarment!

Let the weekend continue!!

Day 278. 87 days and $88 left to go.

Today’s dress began as a zip front nightgown!!

Before - Day 278

I would have passed over this piece but I ended up taking it mostly because of the below…

Embroidery!!

I loved the embroidery (and the color in general) so I threw it in my bag of gear I found at the pile sale for a buck!!

I wanted to take this down the top road, so I had to get rid of the zipper.

Unzip and Pin!

I unzipped the top and pinned it together as this is where I was going to actually stitch the two halves in place.

Stitching down!

After stitching this down, I cut out the zipper!!

Getting rid of the zipper

After the zipper was out, I cut the nightgown short, cut a strip of fabric from the excess that was going to work as my belt…

Cutting it short!

…and cut the sleeves so that they were shorter.

I headed back to my sewing machine to take in the new top a few inches as well  to make it a bit more fitted.

More sewing!!

Belted, paired with a headband, and worn with some jeans my new top was less for sleepytime and more for hanging time and watching football time!

Day 278 - After

Got to see my fab gal JM…

We like posing for the cameras...

…while I watched my team (USC) beat Hawaii on their first game this season.

Touchdown!!!

I know we’re without a bowl game these next two years because of some shady activity by some folks…

Argh Reggie Bush!! Gets a Super Bowl ring & loses a Heisman in a year...muy frustrante!!

…but I’m not saying any names, Reggie Bush.  I’ll still root just as hard.  And you can make sure that I’ll have some themed gear to accompany games over the next few months as well 🙂

Day 277. 88 days and $89 left to go.

I’m going for an Indigo Girls kind of look today…well less on the band vibe and more specifically on the color to be honest.

Day 277 - Before

This dress had these awesome buttons at the neck and pockets (!!!), however the sleeves were some of those fitted at the wrists/baggy by the arm pits kind.  The dress was gathered with elastic at the waist, giving a baggier look here, so I wanted to contrast that with something that was going to be a bit more fitted on my chest.

First thing’s first though…later pads!!

Pads!

In fixing the top of the dress, I’m going to go the strapless route.  Before we get there, I’m taking both of the sleeves off!

Seam ripping sleeves!

Using my seam ripper, I began unstitching both sleeves around the armpits.  I got one off without a hitch…

Sleeves are off!

…and the other one followed.

They're both off!

In prepping the top for the straplessness that was around the corner, I took off the top six buttons with my seam ripper and then cut a straight line across the top of the dress that hit where the fourth button was just removed.

Buttons off...

I folded the raw edges under to prep for a new seam and sewed up the sides where the sleeves were removed to close up shop.

I paired my new dress with some of my eBay gold and purple baubles, a lavender belt, and my black Michael Kors kicks (another eBay find a year ago) for my night that included a little hang out action with some friends at La Vida…

Day 277 - After

I ran into the awesome/fab/insanely talented Lauren, Billy and Chike who are A, still rehearsal-ing before the SYTYCD tour starts up in a few weeks and B, making me want to go take a dance class asap because bopping to Cee Lo and Kanye tonight just wasn’t enough…

Just a little hanging with some new friends

…before taking some iPhone pics with my favorite @nyquil32.

Cheese!!

Awesome way to ring in September!! Humpday hang nights rule!

Day 276. 89 days and $90 left to go.

Today was a bold and bright one!  I’m just warning you as this piece is literally fluorescent orange.  No joke. Fluorescent. Orange.  Ooh, and PS…it’s a muumuu too!!

Day 276 - Before

Slightly blinding but exactly the wakeup call…this and my cup of Folgers 🙂

Holy Sleeves!

I grabbed my seam rippers and started undoing the seams right around the sleeves…

Clip the pits!

…until I got them completely off!!

No Mo!!

I didn’t cut the length of the dress but just grabbed a braided belt, put it around my waist, ungathered it a bunch and had a new dress for my day!!

Day 276 - After

Went to grab a little Mexican with some friends and literally enjoyed a carne asada, chicken, and pulled pork trio for $3!!

Taco Tuesday!!

Some tacos, margaritas, and fun company equals the best way to spend a pre-holiday weekend Tuesday night.  Now, this gal loves her some Taco Bell, however tonight’s dinner was cheaper than fast food!!

Margie time!!

I mean, a mid-week margie?  Sign me up…Mexican food is the key to my heart.

Day 275. 90 days and $91 left to go.

I totally loved this blue and white frock that I ended up using for the dress for the day.

Day 275 - Before

The bold palm leaves were what drew me in, but it was a bit too busy right now.  The contrasting striped material was a slight headache as well, but it’s going to definitely get to a non=headachey spot soon…

To begin getting rid of the annoying fabric contrast, I began by trimming out the striped V that sat on the chest.

Trim out that collar!

I really disliked the two toned nature up here, so sniptime was around the bend.

It's gone!!!

In a hot second, the two toned material went from attached to adios!!

Clearly the pads had to go next…

Pads-Be-Gone!!

…and lastly it was all about making this into a top.  I trimmed right below the waist and cut on one of the striped lines that sat at my hips.

Going Short!!

I was left with this excess which I will be reusing in no time!!

Leftover

I paired the new top with an olive green tank, a wooden beaded necklace (thanks to a trip to the Melrose Trading Post Flea Market), and a pair of skinny jeans for the day.

Day 275 - After

I loved the way this looked now – just a few easy tweaks to go from overwhelming to A-OK.

I went to a quick dinner with JS at Doughboys where we went a little splitsville in ordering (always the best because it’s always SO difficult to make a dinner decision) right before she gave me one of the coolest gifts ever…

To share with you guys, I was just featured in this month’s Los Angeles Magazine as their September tastemaker (woo hoo for being in a September issue!!)!

Best Present Ever!!

To commemorate the issue which just came out, JS did a little framing action of page 84 where I was featured…

My September issue!!

Now I’m a total scrapbooker, so clearly this was going to be included, however the whole framing idea was the icing on the cake.

Speaking of icing, a low-key night with the best company you could ask for was just perfect, but this was the kicker…

BOOM!! Red Velvet!!

Courtesy of a lovely picture I found posted by jleighb on flickr, this is how we ended the dinner.  I was overwhelmed by the frosting so I clearly lost my mind in not remembering to document this on my own camera.

There was a total food coma post this treat, but rightfully so and so worth it!!