Sorry for the long absence! The past couple of weeks have been super busy. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays...on to New Year's Eve!

For work yesterday, I wore this BCBGMAXAZRIA shirt with a striped skirt from H&M, black leggings and Matiko leather boots. To finish the look, I wore this studded red belt from The Gap. The shirt has an asymmetrical shawl, adding some fun without being too dramatic. The skirt was a fabulous five-dollar find and is super versatile! It's too short to wear with regular hose (plus it was very cold yesterday!), so I went with the classic black legging. I chose these boots because, although they have a lot of detail, they're solid black and don't take away from the outfit (which, as you can see, already has enough detail). Overall, this outfit was extremely comfortable and easy to move in, making it perfect for work.

Fab footnotes:

* I'm not sure if H&M still has this skirt, but a similar one (in the same price range) can be found here.

I want to begin by saying how truly saddened I am about what happened on Friday. My heart goes out to all those involved. If you're lucky enough to have your family and friends around you, hug them a little tighter :)

For work on Friday, I wore this navy polka dot blouse from J. Crew Factory (unavailable at the moment) with a neon striped scarf from J. Crew (purchased a couple of years ago), AG skinny jeans from Gilt and Via Spiga Darcie boots. As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post, the boots are the perfect height for a petite woman because they hit right below the knee. The neon stripes against the polka dots make a cute combination without being too busy. I really liked the brown shoe with the dark blue and light green.

I went with simple accessories. I chose jeweled dark brown hoops from Coup de Coeur and an estate ring my grandmother gave me as a birthday present. Classic jewelry goes with everything, so don't hesitate to mix it in with costume jewelry! The nail polish is Luxedo by Essie. 

Fab footnotes:

* Here's a link to the AG jeans. Mine are a bit older so they don't have the elastic waistband.

For work today I wore this Twenty cotton jersey dress (only $39.00 on Gilt!), with Tory Burch booties (purchased several years ago) and a beautiful scarf from Penneys, an Irish department store. The dress has impeccable ruching, which, as I've said before, is incredibly flattering. The dress falls slightly above the knee, so I thought it was short enough to pair with ankle boots (ankle boots can make you look shorter, if you're not careful); if the dress were longer, I would have worn a pump or flat. I went light on the accessories, choosing my cocktail ring from Coup de Coeur, Kate Spade "Monterey Bay" studs and classic watch. The nail polish is one of my favs, Luxedo by Essie.

Here I'm wearing a J. Crew polka dot blouse, J. Crew Jackie cardigan and XCVI black ponte skinny pants (purchased from RueLaLa). I am a huge fan of the Jackie cardigan because it's cropped and has a close fit. As usual, I cuffed the pants underneath to make them the right length, and also to stretch them and make them look sleeker. 

For an extra pop of color, I wore these green earrings I purchased from the same NYC street vendor who sold me the earrings in my Thanksgiving post. I love green and pink together, and I thought it was just the right amount of color. I finished the look with some gold bangles and a delicate N'Luxe initial bracelet (purchased from HauteLook). I wore my Marc Jacobs suede pumps because they're solid black with a nice feminine detail to match the polka dots!