wear*it Wednesday: Printed Dress or Skirt

Here is Salazar from 14 Shades of Grey with a beautifully lit, professional looking photo and an adorable outfit. She says, "I finally got a Jason Wu for Target dress - for half off, which goes to show good things do come to those who wait :)" You can check out her full post for more details.

Then there's me. Folks, I learned a valuable lesson. Don't take photos in direct sunlight unless you want this to happen. I wanted to use a picture from Easter with a cardigan over my dress, but all my pictures looked blown out from all the sun. Not that I'm complaining. Live and learn.

Instead, I'm using my outfit from yesterday. I'm back to my old spending ways, so I'm going to do a shopping haul post later this week, but this skirt and these purple tights are two of my purchases.

wear*it Wednesday: Pastels

Blazer and Cords: Gap; Vest: Talbots via swap; Shirt: vintage DVF via E-Collectique; Shoes: Kohl's; Watch: NY&Co

Unfortunately, I think wear*it Wednesday has run its course here at the Mixed-up Files. There are so many great participation challenge meme things out there, and I haven't yet thought of a way to put a twist on this one and keep it alive. Thank you to Rachel for having the confidence in me to host it, and I'm sorry for killing it! If anyone has a great idea and would like to take the reigns, I bestow it upon you!

Next week will be the last week, and the theme is a printed skirt or dress. Your Easter outfit maybe?

It's been fun! Thanks to those who have submitted to, read, and commented on wear*it Wednesday posts in the past!  For other fun challenges, I encourage you to check out:

Inspiration Monday
Style Imitating Art
Everybody, Everywear

If you're the host of a linkup, feel free to comment below to promote it! I'll definitely check it out. I'm a sucker for these things.

wear*it Wednesday: Bold Lipstick

Not that you're judging, but although I did a post wearing this top on Friday, the pictures were actually from last Sunday (a week and a half ago). But again, not that you care.

Both Tank Tops: Old Navy; Cardigan: Boston Store: Pants: Gap; Shoes: Famous Footwear; Watch: Michael Kors; Flower in Hair: Kohl's, I think; Necklace: World Market

Darn Gap pants. The hems have now fallen out on both legs, and I haven't gotten around to sewing them yet (actually, I just completely forgot). I did get these on clearance; they are probably not representative of the typical quality of Gap pants. At least they're symmetrical now, though. Last time I wore them, only one of the hems was undone. That was an awkward day. Oh well, I need new pants anyway. Belts have been a requirement lately.

And here's me trying to catch the camera before it falls off the post I have it balanced on.

Rawr! (It didn't fall, by the way.)

Next week's theme is Pastels if you'd like to participate. After that is a Printed Skirt or Dress, and then I'm out of ideas if anyone has any suggestions!

wear*it Wednesday: Green

First up is Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, who says, "I decided to go all out for St. Patrick's Day, even though technically I have no legit reason to celebrate it :)" Haha, me neither except that it's fun! I love a good tone-on-tone look, and Salazar's gingham dress is adorable!

Next we have Kezzie of KezzieAG. She says, "We were asked to add something green to our all black outfits for our St Patrick's day concert but I decided to do it to my daytime outfit too! I wore green accessories (earrings, necklace) and then a green top and leggings! However, the leggings did inspire a lot of leprechaun comments! I've worn a lot of emerald green over the last couple of weeks in outfit posts!!!" I think the green leggings are great! They look very cute and comfortable.

As for me, I wore my green to the park and then out for the dinner with the family. Although it was nearly 80°F in most of the state this weekend, we barely hit 60 by the lake.

Thanks for joining in, ladies! The theme next week is How to Wear Bold Lipstick!

wear*it Wednesday: Trench Coat

Trench Coat and Striped Shirt: NY&Co; Sequin T-shirt: Express; Skirt: Gap; Tights and Shoes: Target; Bag: Michael Kors

It's too bad you can't see the sequins in the picture, but this is actually a sequined T-shirt. I kind of patted myself on the back for my print mixing abilities with this outfit. Although really, all I did was mix two different previous outfits in paper-doll fashion by taking the top of this and pairing it with the bottom of this. At times during the day, I was a little self-conscious about it, but I think it works because the bottom is neutral with a somewhat subtle print. I don't know if I'll ever really get used to mixing prints (or wearing sequins to work), but practice makes perfect, I guess!

wear*it Wednesday: How to Wear Your Favorite Item of Clothing

First up is Rachel from for the birds, who says, "This dress from eshakti is the most comfortable dress I own.. it's made of this flowy, chiffon material and of course, I love the print. I also wear this hat and these boots all.the.time. This hat is by far one of my favorite accessories."

This blush-colored dress from H&M may or may not be my favorite item of clothing. I guess I don’t get very emotionally attached to clothes because I had trouble selecting a favorite item. If I still fit into my wedding dress, and if it wasn’t preserved in a box at my parents, I would’ve donned that for a few hours and pranced around the house.

But this dress counts as a favorite because I keep wanting to wear it time and time again. I bought it for one of the many weddings I attended the summer I was pregnant (I wasn’t that far along at that point); and since then, I’ve worn it to work a couple times here and there and also to my 28th birthday party. I wanted to wear it for Valentine’s Day this year, but I resisted.

Dress: H&M; Tights and Sunglasses: Target; Blazer and Shoes: Kohl's; Faux Leather Jacket: K-mart

wear*it Wednesday: How to Wear Gold

Let's see your gold-infused outfits, ladies!

World-Class Surgeon Dress

I call this my Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh's character on Private Practice) dress. In the spring, I'll have to style it more like her--no shirt or tights underneath and a long necklace instead of a stack of bracelets. Except my accessories will most likely be from Target or Kohl's instead of Chanel or YSL.

Dress: Target; Blouse: Christian Dior Chemises via E-Collectique; Tights: Simply Vera/Kohl's; Shoes:  Poetic License via (shoo); Watch: NY&Co; Bracelets: Charming Charlie, Target, probably Claire's

Oh hey, I found another pair of tights hidden away. I forgot about these.

Also, Nigel and Tyra would be very critical that I did not find the light in these photos. And that is why I'm only a top model in my mind. My specialty is runway anyway, haha. OMG I just remembered that Top Model starts back up tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! It might be super lame this cycle, but I'm still excited.

Remember to link up with wear*it Wednesday: How to Wear Gold tomorrow! The post will go up at midnight. Like I said, if you guys don't like this format or it doesn't work that well, I'll switch it up again next week.

wear*it Wednesday Preview: How to Wear Gold

I'm trying something a little different with wear*it Wednesday.  If it doesn't work, I'll switch it up again! I'm going to post the theme for the week on the wear*it Wednesday page on the blog. Then Wednesday, the post will go up at midnight with a link-up that will allow you to upload a thumbnail that will link to your blog (similar to Everybody, Everywear and other link-ups like that). Ideally, I would like to have bigger images and add the functionality of you being able to write a description for your image, too, so I will continue to look for solutions to those.

In honor of the Oscars tonight, the theme for this week is How to Wear Gold. Anything goes--whether it's gold jewelry, gold-colored clothing, or gold hardware on handbag. Feel free to link up an old blog post if you don't wear gold this week. All participation is encouraged!

Here's a bit of inspiration:

Source

Source: habituallychic.blogspot.com via Salina on Pinterest

Source: thatluciegirl.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Whitney on Pinterest

Ladies' Night

Last night was the fourth annual (my third) ladies' night shopping event here in town.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

My mom and I went earlier than usual, and I had Bridget strapped to myself in the Baby Bjorn, which made it more of a laid-back experience than past years. We mostly just wandered in, ate the free food samples, and my mom bought a couple things. I saw a wrap watch that I liked (I have a bit of a watch obsession, I'm re-realizing), but I didn't have my birthday coupon with me, so I'll have to stop back another time, assuming I haven't thrown out the coupon. Part of the event is that if you get stamps from all the places you visit, you get entered into a drawing, but we didn't bother with the stamps or hitting every shop this year.

I don't have any pictures from during the event, but here's what I wore:

Sweater: H&M; Jeans: Old Navy; Vest and Boots: Macy's; Scarf: Boston Store: Arm Warmers: Fred Boutique

Thankfully, it wasn't as cold as past years, so I didn't bother with a coat. Most of the time, I didn't even really need the arm warmers.

I must say, carrying Bridget kept me from eating and drinking as much as I normally would have, and I got extra exercise on top of it. I probably would've spent money, too, had I been more inclined to linger. She was a great sport and enjoyed some of the cheese and cracker samples. Still, hopefully hubs will be available to watch Bridgey next year.

Check out how the other wear*it Wednesday participants styled their faux fur at shopfreak.

wear*it Wednesday: How to Wear Pink

I hope you all had lovely Valentine's Days. Or, if you're anti-V'Day, I hope you had a lovely Tuesday! Let's get right into the pink outfits:

Bekah from Matters of Merrymaking shared on Twitter that she actually does not really own any pink. In spite of my gasping at her a couple times, she was able to pull it off with this cute flower pin she made!

shopfreak's outfit is reminding me once again how much I need to find a decent pencil skirt. She looks great! I love the pink Coach bag, too. Pretty sure I want to live wherever she lives right now. I'll take sun and palm trees!

Jess from Animated Cardigan is rocking that bright striped skirt. I, along with all the commenters on her post, am coveting it! And how does this girl always find the best photo locations???

Rachel (You remember Rachel, right? Course you do.) from for the birds submitted this cute pink tunic outfit from a few months ago. This looks super comfy and makes me wish it were the weekend already, and I want to steal her boots and scarf!

As for me, they still had the pink blazer at Gap! Only in big sizes, though (at Bayshore, for the locals), so I guess I lucked out. Both times I went there and admired this blazer, a different saleslady gushed about it. I'm pretty sure all the women who work there probably own it, too.

These pants have always been a little long, and are even longer now that they're a little too loose, so I had to wear super high wedge heels (for me, at least). I felt very tall and awkward today. And bright, but in a good way.

Blazer: Gap; Striped Top and Booties: Old Navy; Pants and Necklace: NY&Co

Thanks everyone! Join in next week for How to Wear Faux Fur, hosted by shopfreak. You can email your submission to shopfreak14@yahoo.com. Also, if you have any theme ideas or would like to host upcoming weeks, please do email me at mixedupbek@gmail.com!

W is for Wide Leg

wear*it Wednesday: How to Wear Pink Reminder

This may be the best week ever to start participating in wear*it Wednesday if you haven't before. Or it'll be the easiest week for those of you who've participated in the past. Why? Because you can kill four birds with one stone:

Inspiration Monday: Red blazer
Bloggers Do It Better: Red
Everybody, Everywear: Pink and red
wear*it Wednesday: How to wear pink

I wanted to encourage everyone to get excited and link up with all these fun challenges. I'll be taking submissions for wear*it Wednesday until Wednesday at 5PM Central, and the post will go up soon after that! You can email your pink outfit to mixedupbek@gmail.com.

Also, there's still time to enter my giveaway for a matted pen and pastel drawing of a fashion workroom! It's a really cute piece of art for any fashion lover.

Now for some inspiration:

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: whatiwore.tumblr.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Izell on Pinterest

Source: annemcramer.com via Krysta on Pinterest

Source: facehunter.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: musingsinfemininity.tumblr.com via Crystalin on Pinterest

Source: myedit.blogspot.com via Sybil on Pinterest

wear*it Wednesday: Welcome!

Welcome to the new home of wear*it Wednesday!  I inherited this fun weekly event from Rachel, who inherited it from Renee.  Keeping it in the R name family!

If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see wear*it Wednesday turn into, please let me know! Renee and Rachel both did a great job with it, and I hope to help it continue to evolve with your feedback and participation.

Tomorrow's theme is How to Carry a Clutch Purse, so be sure to send your pictures to freetobestacialee@yahoo.com to be featured on free to be stacia lee.

I pulled a picture of an outfit from a few weeks ago when my friends and I were in Chicago, attempting to see Jason Segel.

Maxi Dress as a Skirt and Boots: Target; Sweater: gift; Fur Vest: Macy's (gift); Leggings: American Apparel; Clutch: Fred Boutique 

Not wanting to miss out on the action, the other day Bridget was carrying my makeup bag at arm's length around the living room. It was quite cute and appropriate for this week's theme.

Purple

Cardigan and Sunglasses: Target; Tank Top: Old Navy; Cords: NY&Co; Scarf: scarf swap; Watch: Michael Kors; Boots: Marc Jacobs via E-Collectique; Wellie Warmers: L.L.Bean (gift)

It was so gorgeous out yesterday, I couldn't not go outside for a little bit. So I bundled Bridget up and put the shade down on the stroller so that she wasn't exposed to the wind or sun, and we took the dog for a walk. Needless to say, Dela was delighted.

I tend to gravitate toward purple clothing even though I wouldn't call it my favorite color, which meant I had a lot of purple options for the monochromatic theme today for the ABCs of Style. Since it was pretty wet out from snow melting, I was also glad I was wearing rain boots for wear*it Wednesday.

M is for Monochromatic