weekend reading: 05.31.14

1 // 2 // 3

This weekend why don't you :: bust out the denim shorts!
Still on the search for cutoffs? Check out these cute options from Levi's! I can't get enough of my 501 denim shorts!

{what you might have missed on Here&Now}

{1.}  $250 LOFT giftcard giveaway! 

{2.} Closet staples: the denim jacket. 

{3.} Summer trend - palazzo pants + 20% off code to my new favorite online boutique. 

{4.} Getting my Summer shoe fix with Shoe Carnival.  

{5.} Must have for Summer: denim cut-offs! 

{6.} Kicking off some honeymoon style posts.

{posts I'm loving around the internets}

{1.} We lost a good one this week - RIP Maya Angelou. 

{2.}  Yay or Nay - is this skort still in for Summer?

{3.} Somethings aren't learned in a classroom. 

{4.} Bird's the word… loving this literal animal print.

{5.} Using Pinterest to refine your personal style. 

{6.} My amazing photographer is now sharing her gifts with Nashvillians looking to take their photos to the next level. Any local bloggers - this is for you! 

watermelon watermelon

{ What I Wore to the beach: top ℅ MiH jeans // shorts ℅ Levi's // old black wedges (my current favorites) // J.Crew Panama hat // Victoria's Secret crochet swimsuit (as seen on Insta) // sunglasses ℅ Ozeal Glasses }

When you are on your honeymoon it is always a good idea to dress up, take your bottle of room service champagne & watch the sunset. And yes, in island life, this is "dressed up".

I hope you have a "dress up for no reason" kind of Friday!

Apologizes upfront for living in this combination for the rest of the Summer!

Still looking for your Summer shorts? These Levi's 501 shorts are made of the softest denim & come perfectly broken in. Shop all the cute options here.

Save vs. Splurge: Denim Jacket

When I started this blog it was as a graduate student trying to figure out how to turn my pennies into a stylish closet. Now that I have a real person job (7th grade teacher), I am looking forward to sharing how I take the clothes I purchased during the student years & transitioning them to a more professional lifestyle. One of the items I know will stay with me for many years is my jean jacket.

I have both saved & splurged on a denim jacket. In high school I purchased a Gap jean jacket from eBay for super cheap (pretty sure that baby should now be considered vintage!) & just recently picked up a designer denim jacket from Paige.

Regardless of how much you spend, a jean jacket should definitely be a part of your wardrobe, I especially love wearing mine with skirts & dresses during the warmer months (we've talked about how kicking Southern air conditioners can be!)

Gap Denim jacket: bachelorette party // polka dots // mixed prints // stripes

also worn here: 1 // 2 // 3 

Paige Denim Jacket: red pencil skirt // black pencil skirt // yellow pencil skirt // yellow midi skirt

Is a jean jacket part of your Summer wardrobe? Did you save or did you splurge?

Still looking for the perfect denim jacket for you? Shop these picks at all price points:

P.S. My friend over at The Modern Austen is celebrating her 2 year blogiversary! Join the party & enter to win our $250 LOFT gift card giveaway below! (If you already follow me on Facebook & Twitter you have 2 easy entries… I'm towards the bottom of the Rafflecopter widget)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is in collaboration with the Credit Card Insider "Splurge vs. Save" series - it is always in style to save & live within your means!

palazzo pants party

{ What I Wore to a beach BBQ: Lulu's top (similar) // palazzo pants ℅ White Plum // J.Crew hat }

I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. Tyler & I enjoyed doing nothing - lazy mornings making  "breakfast" long after the noon hour, doing some house projects & sharing stories about the members of our families who have served for our American freedom.

When we returned from the honeymoon, I sort of just jumped back into blogging. But actually kind of A LOT has happened since the beginning of the month (how is it already almost the end!?)

During the month of May: We got married, honeymooned in Antigua, visited NYC, LA, Seattle & Portland. I also graduated with my Masters from Vanderbilt University & start my teacher training program today!

I usually like blogging in a bit more "real time", but over the next few weeks I will be backtracking - talking about wedding planning, honeymoon packing, & sharing some new ideas for the blog as I transition from graduate student to middle school teacher. So hang in there with me!

But first off, one of my favorite honeymoon outfits! These palazzo pants from White Plum were clutch in my packing strategy for the two week honeymoon/vacation. Not only are they FABULOUS, but also light weight, easy to wear, wrinkle free & took up a tiny footprint in my suitcase.

Anyone remember those gaucho style pants that were so popular in high school (might have just dated myself!)? Well these palazzo pants are their grown up, sexy sisters! And the husband says they look good on too! 

Have you rocked palazzo pants yet? Be sure to check out all the cute styles available on White Plum now!

And White Plum is hooking everyone up with affordable Summer style. Enter HEREANDNOW20 at checkout for 20% off your entire purchase (valid until 6/14)! 

P.S. Great giveaway running on the blog now! Enter to win a personal styling session from Shell B Cheri (2 chance to win - an in person session for Nashville area residents & a digital format for everyone else)

#unboxed

If I look as happy as a kid in a candy store, it's because I AM! Only better, a girl in a shoe store… my favorite place! Sure I like bags & pretty dresses, but for me, it is all about the shoes. As I recently mentioned, these 6 types of shoes are what I'm looking to carry me through Spring/Summer, & I found them all at Shoe Carnival. For less than you could imagine!

all photos | Zipporah Photography

Wanting to try out the Birkenstock trend - Shoe Carnival's got 'em!

I think I need a shopping cart to carry all my finds!

My must haves for Summer? Black wedges. Lace up sandals. And Nude heels. Check, check, & CHECK!

(Cute polka dot sneakers are a close runner up too!)

Get Summer ready with great brands found at Shoe Carnival, including Asics, Crocs, New Balance, & Fila.

Yup, these will go with everything!

I love that shopping at Shoe Carnival really is a fun experience & brings back the feeling of going back to school shoe shopping like I did with my sister all growing up. From spinning the deal wheel, to shopping their awesome sales, you never know what amazing things you will find!

You know its shoe love when you want to wear your new find out of the store. These black wedges from Sketchers are not only cute, but super lightweight & easy to wear. They will be accompanying me to the lake, back yard parties & whatever else my Summer takes me!

Local ladies, be sure to check out the new Shoe Carnival stores in our area:

Oak Park Town Center

5756 Highway 153 

Hixon, TN 37343

Phone: 423-875-5311

Greenwood Square Shopping Center

2945 Scottsville Road

Bowling Green, KY 42101 

Phone: 270-782-0603

Everyone else, look up a store near you & follow along with me on Instagram as I share what other goodies I unboxed at Shoe Carnival!

And if you find your Summer shoes at Shoe Carnival, be sure to share on Instagram/Twitter & tag them #Unboxed!

#Equipped for Summer

Sum-sum-summa time! I have already been loving my Levi 501 shorts with layers for Spring, but it is now officially cut-off short season, let the layers be shed! (Happy Freaking Long Weekend!)

While the first day of Summer is a few weeks away, the Nashville weather says otherwise. This weekend I am hoping to cross some items off my Summer bucket list - pool side BBQ, farmer's market shopping & maybe getting adventurous & canoeing the Harpeth River. Regardless of the plans, my Levi's will be right there with me!

Get #equipped for Summer epicness with perfectly distressed shorts. Shop the Levi's 501 cutoffs & be sure to share what is on your Summer bucket list in the comments!

#Equipped for ______. 

Festivals (Bonnaroo!!). Biking. Pool side lounging. Al fresco dining. Being a tourist in your own town.

I've already been dreaming of Summer - road trips, hanging outside with friends, pools, flips flips & shorts! Check out how I will #Equipped for the Summer on the Pinterest board I created:

Follow Jessica S's board #Equipped for Summer on Pinterest.

This post is sponsored by Levi's but my love of my #Levis501 shorts is all my own. 

weekend reading: 05.24.14

1 // 2 // 3

This weekend why don't you :: just unplug & enjoy the great outdoors!

{what you might have missed on Here&Now}

{1.} A styling session/closet consultation giveaway.

{2.} Looking for a last minute Memorial Day outfit? 

{3.} Your Summer shoe shopping guide.

{4.} Dip into Summer with a new swimsuit.

{5.} My favorite Nashville style. 

{6.} Summer denim under $75.

{posts I'm loving around the internets}

{1.} Looking for a blogger with chic maternity style? 

{2.} How to add leather to your wardrobe (even in Summer).

{3.} A fun & easy sewing project for the long weekend. 

{4.} Banana Republic x Marimekko collection launched (I've got my eye on this).

{5.} A fun contest with DAAM!

I am more & more embracing a lifestyle of minimalism. Having what I need & nothing more. That means re-evaluating some of my belongings to ensure that I have 1 product that suits my needs instead of 4-5 with overlapping utility. The part of my closet currently causing me the most consternation? My bag/tote collection. 1 bag for my computer, one for my camera, another for when I go to work & 1 more for running errands.

So when DAAME contacted me about their line of amazing products, I knew I had found the thing that I didn't even know existed, a bag for 9-5 & then some! Tote bag nirvana! DAAME wows with their tech-inspired products for busy women on the go!  Plus, DAAME donates 5% of their proceeds to education for girls in need. 

Need reason to love them more? DAAME is offering you $15 off your next bag when you sign up for the DAAME newsletter (easy peasy). For each person that signs up for the newsletter, I'm entered to win one of their new 13" laptop bags, & because I don't want to hoard all the bag bliss to myself, if I win, I will be giving my bag away! So the more people who sign up, the bigger chance I will win, which means one of YOU will win. Literally, a win win. So sign up & then share the good news to your friends! 

Good luck to everyone who enters! Winner announced May 28th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Your Memorial Day Weekend sale guide}

ASOS - 25% off Summer styles!
Bauble Bar - 30% off full price items
Gap - 40% off regular price styles! Code EVENT.

Gigi New York - free shipping + free personalization + gift with purchase

J.Crew - up to 30% off site wide 
J.Crew Factory - 50% off everything!

Jojo Loves You - earring bling sale
Leona (fabulous Nashville boutique) - 35% off printed items, code PRINTPARTY
Nordstrom - Half Yearly Sale! Save up to 40% Stock up on higher end basics like leather wallets, jackets & amazing striped tees
Old Navy - up to 50% off everything (see my post about the sale here)
ShoeDazzle - additional 25% off sale styles + extra $5 off clearance items
Urban Outfitters - 25% off all dresses (regular priced items + sale)

giveaway: style sessions

Hello! My name is Shell B Cheri & I'm so excited to be guesting on Here&Now blog today! I'm a personal stylist who loves to work with what's already in YOUR closet. Ever since making the transition from hobby to actual business, I've had a fun time convincing people that it can be refreshing to invite a new perspective into the closet, even an insanely stylish woman like Jess herself. I've had the pleasure of working with Jessica before, and those 5 looks are outfits I created from the style session I had with her last year. 
 

I've just moved to Nashville to pursue styling full-time but before I left my previous city of DC, I created and styled a very fun project called #styledbyshellbcheri. The concept: I invited all of my favorite DC style bloggers to pick one trouble item from their closet. I styled the entire outfit around the trouble item using their existing wardrobe. 

The best part was gathering all 14 (FOURTEEN!) for a group photo shoot. Since then I've been blogging about each individual style session, but I thought it would be fun to share a few of the looks with you today that haven't made their way to my blog just yet! All photos credited to über-talented photographer Ashley In DC.

Kristin @ Be Loud Be You picked this plaid yellow coat as her trouble item. I'm a sucker for mixing prints so I paired it with this blue vintage Lanvin dress she scored at a thrift store for $5. (Can we all agree that is perhaps the best thrifted find in the history of thrifting?)

Natalie @ The Fashionably Broke picked overalls. I dressed them up with her green blouse & white wedges. She even wore them to an event after the photo shoot!

Elle @ Elle Choi selected this rose-gold sequined BCBG miniskirt. She bought it to wear for a night of dancing on her birthday but 2 years later it was still sitting in her closet with the tags attached. It's a beautiful skirt but I wanted her to actually be able to wear it during the daytime. Chambray, motorcycle boots & a beanie took the outfit from glam to casual.

Rachel @ My Fair Vanity chose a gorgeous creme colored blazer a friend gifted to her. I loved the idea of taking something so structured and mixing it with something more distressed. When I asked her to put the jeans on, I had no idea that I'd picked her father's Levis from the 70s.

A group shot of all the bloggers who participated! To read more about #styledbyshellbcheri this is a good place to start! And for all you fellow Instagram addicts, theres's quite a bit of content under the hashtag. 

Now that I've shown you a little of my work Jess & I are super excited to give away 2 style sessions! One is open only to Nashville/Middle TN area residents for an in-person 90 minute session with me in your closet. The second style session is open to all and we'll be doing it digitally via Skype & email. When I'm done working with you, I promise you'll see your clothing with new eyes! Thanks for reading about my styling adventures! xoxo.

Follow Shelby online: Blog // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Bloglovin' 

Local Readers enter this Rafflecopter widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 
Everyone else, enter this one:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Memorial Day Style with Old Navy

Whether your Memorial Day activities call for the water, your backyard, or an outdoor concert, Old Navy will have you celebrating in style with swim cover ups, festive stars & stripes, and pretty + feminine pieces to boot!

Be dressed to grill this weekend - pick up any of these looks from Old Navy for your Memorial Day BBQ weekend!

1. Let's grill out in the back yard: have fun as the hostess with the mostess in a striped jersey skirt or tiny polka dot printed shorts.

2. Let's play at the pool: a striped tank + cut off shorts are never wrong!

3. Let's have a board game competition: striped tees are staples year-around, so make sure to stock up now!

4. Let's go to the park: keep it cool in a dress - get playful with stripes or punchy with a bright red number.

5. Let's party on a boat: use a flag printed scarf as a sarong & store your necessities in this cute natural jute tote!

6. Let's go to the ballpark: ball caps save hair from humidity & try the current trend by adding a denim skirt with your sneakers & knotted top!

7. Let's go to the concert: kick this classic Summer outfit up a notch with a star printed chambray shirt .

8. Let's go to the beach: this striped rash guard could not be cuter!

This Memorial Day I hope to be gathering around the grill! I plan the menu, the boyfriend hubby makes it happen! This summer I hope we can perfect our grilled salmon recipe, & add to our grilled veggie recipe repertoire. I'm dying to get my hands on some grilled corn (5 ways to test out!), veggie kabobs, quinoa "burger" patties, & eggplant stackers. I also want to try out some other less traditional things on the grill this Summer too, like citrus, & desserts (grilled peaches!). And don't forget the corn & avocado salad on the side, & orange creamsicles for a cool finish!

Shopping at Old Navy is extra fun right now because this Memorial Day weekend Old Navy will be giving away a Weber Grill in every single Old Navy store throughout the country (winner selected on 5/24). Stop into your store to shop the Old Navy Memorial Day Sale from 5/23 – 5/26 to enjoy everything up to 50% off! Including these One Day Wonders in stores this weekend:

-          Saturday (5/24) 50% off all swim

-          Sunday (5/25) $15 women’s dresses, $10 girls dresses

-          Monday (5/26) $8 beach shorts

Keep up with Old Navy online: shop // Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest // YouTube

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Old Navy Memorial Day. The opinions and text are all mine.

take a dip

 I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Figleaves.com. I received a product sample to facilitate my review & a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

{ What I Wore to the pool: J.Crew sunhat (now 25% off) // cover up ℅ Kohls, from the new Peter Som collaboration // wedges ℅ Shoe Carnival, loving these comfortable all occasion shoes from Sketchers! // swim suit ℅ Figleaves.com // sunglasses ℅ Ozeal glasses }

all photos | Zipporah Photography

Back from the honeymoon, but still finding every excuse to continue my island lifestyle!

I love this swimsuit from Figleaves.com - not only are the contrasting ties on this suit so fun, their entire online selection is completely swoon worthy!

Figleaves.com offers 200+ designers of lingerie, swimwear, apparel, sleepwear & more – from popular designers such as Vix & Aguaclara, to private labels and exclusive items from brands like Midnight Grace, Just Peachy, & the eponymous Figleaves label.

I love that the swimwear is offered in bra sized swim separates to ensure a perfect fit for all body types - because we aren't all a straight off the rack sizes! I often found that I need a different size on top than I need on bottom, & with Figleaves, this is all possible!

Cup sizes range from AA-GG, & styles vary from classic one-piece swimsuits, to fashion forward bikinis, to chic tankinis – meaning that Figleaves.com truly has something for every body.

With Summer right around the corner, I know I will be putting this swimsuit to good use! And feel good while doing so!

Be sure to check out their entire selection of swimsuits available this season! Today Figleaves is hooking you up for Summer too! Take 10% off all full priced items with promo code LOVE2014 at checkout (runs until June 15th).

Find Figleaves online: Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest