On this day when you were born...

26 years ago, on this VERY day. I was born.

I love celebrating my birthday. (in case you hadn't noticed that... :o) )

I have no idea what is in store for tonight, but Solider Boy and Sister B have been communicating and have something up their sleeves. I just love surprises, so I'm excited to see what's going to happen...


ANYWHO. Today's Photo-A-Day prompt is : Something you wore. So here you go...my birthday outfit:

 I feel pretty! :o)

Anywho...I hope you all have a great day, I know I will....because it's my BIRTHDAY!!!! :o)

Day 9: Group OTI

I'll admit, the Group OTI prompt scared the living daylights out of me. I really wasn't sure what I was going to do or how I was going to interpret the outfit. Without further ado, here's what I wore:

So, neutrals with a pop of color. I tried to layer...but I don't own that many sweaters/cardigans and not one really flowed with the outfit. I chose to ignore that part of the outfit. :o) Pants and shirt: JC Penney's - sash: made by a friend to match my graduation dress. :o)

And now my plea for help, tomorrow challenge is to do something that scares you. I'm not sure what scares me when it comes to clothes (well, leggings scare me, but I'm not going to go out and buy some for the challenge when I REALLY don't like them.) I need to figure out what I'm scared of...maybe I'll have to go perusing the blogosphere......suggestions?

Day 8: Dress up a Coat

Well...here we are, Day 8 of the lovely 10 day challenge. I'll admit that it is going MUCH faster than the last challenge, although a part of me is going to miss it. I really enjoy someone else telling me how to dress. (Sometimes. Not all the time.)

Anywho, I didn't really feel like dressing up my every day coat - because most people really wouldn't get to see it and that thought made me sad. :( But then I had the brilliant idea to dress up my suit coat! I love, love, love my suit coat.

Before I dressed it up:

This suit coat was purchased by my mom, for me, a bazillion years ago from Walmart. (I think.) It was also long-sleeved. Well....I didn't ever really wear it - the sleeves were a little on the short side and I just didn't love it. THEN one day I got all crazy sauce, whacked off the sleeves and then hemmed them. NOW I LOVE this jacket and wear it way more often. It's fun. :o)

The whole she-bang outfit:

I added this AWESOME flower to the lapel of my jacket (safety pin to be able to clip this flower onto. :o) ) Pencil skirt from JC Penney, tights (see below) from Forever 21 and my favorite bright pink heels.

the details:

These are some awesome paisely/fishnet tights that I paired OVER a pair of bright pink tights. LOVE this look. I'm a huge fan.

Overall...I loved adding the flower to my jacket! It totally made the outfit pop just a little bit more than it normally does. WOO HOO!

Day 7: Winter Brights

If you know me in real life then you know that the challenge of wearing something brightly colored - even in the dead of winter- really isn't much of a challenge. I wear bright colors ALL THE TIME. (I'm a fan of bright colors. ;) )

ANYWAYS. In order to push myself a bit, I decided to try to wear a bright color in a way that I wouldn't normally. So...here ya go:

you can't tell, but the slacks are pin-striped (Kohl's), as is the shirt (Old Navy) and the t-shirt is from threadless and yes...I'm wearing matching green socks. :o)

I THINK I like this look, but I'm not sure yet. What I wish is that my button up shirt was a tad longer so that it hung out of my t-shirt more...but oh well. Can't win them all I suppose.

p.s. stay tuned for my tender mercy posts. I have a great one!!

Day 6: Decade or Region

Good Monday morning my dear friends.

I just want you to know that life is amazing. That's all.

Anyways, moving on. ;) Today's challenge was to use decades and/or region in our outfits today. I wondered how I was going to do it...but then I had this brilliant idea. I was going to use the 80s as my inspiration. (crazy, I know) But...I really think it worked. So...first, a picture to show you what I was trying to channel today:

I really liked the cut off/bright color look of this outfit - as well as the side ponytail.

So, without further ado, my outfit today:

this picture TOTALLY distorts the colors. :P BUT I'm wearing a darker pink cut off sweater (although it was made that way - I totally think it goes 80s-ish) (also, I have NO idea where I got it...) and a light pink downeast under it with skinny jeans (Target).

THEN I did my hair like so:

a cute side pony tail with a matching ribbon! :o) go me!

This was really fun to put together an outfit inspired by a decade...but that is still modern. I'm awesome. :o)

Day 5: pattern mixing

I have fallen in love with pattern mixing. I really enjoy the challenge of finding two patterns that I can wear together. As I type this, I can't help but think of a few other outfits that I could do....regardless this is what I went with:

I got this infinity scarf from my sister for Christmas and the shirt I got at Papaya ages ago. I loved this look. Like I said...I'm a fan of pattern mixing. :o)

p.s. I had the best weekend full of adventures and I'll give you a post about it someday when I get some time. This next week is going to be insane....but I will do my best to make time for it. Eventually. :o)

Day 4: Channeling

Today's challenge was to Channel Someone. Oh dear. I had the hardest time coming up with someone to channel. I kept thinking of what was in my closet and wondering HOW in the world I was going to channel some sort of famous character or person and make said outfit work.

Enter Soldier Boy. (he's the new boy remember?)

He and I were talking on the phone last night and I was trying to explain this challenge to him and then I asked him to give me someone to challenge. His answer? Brittany Spears. I know, right? You're all thinking, what the heck Alishka, really?!

Well.....here's the deal. I thought it could work. So today I'm channeling Brittany Spears a la her "Baby One More Time" video. Specifically:

So here's my outfit (again, 2 parts!)

As you can see I tried to channel the prep school girl kind of look. So I'm wearing jean-washed slacks (JC Penney's), a gray button up cargo shirt (Target) and one of my dad's ties that I  borrowed ages ago and never gave back.... (LOVE that tie.)

THEN I decided to do just a little more Brittany channeling:

I saw this hair-do on Pinterest the other day and new I wanted to try it. My hair is NOT quite long enough to take this braid as far over as I would like, but I still like it.

So there you have it. A channel success? Perhaps. I do like my hair today....

Day 3: Embrace a Trend

I'll admit that I struggled trying to put together my outfit for today's challenge. Who's to decide what is "in" right now anyways? Also - I always seem to be behind on the times when it comes to trends. Woefully behind.

Anywho, I went with three (sort of 4) trends in one outfit (call me crazy) and I think I like it. Most of it.

Here is my main outfit of a polka dotted shirt (roommate's), heathered-gray/black pencil skirt (JC Penney's) and my green tights (Forever 21). (I promise those tights are green AND that they look really cool with my outfit. It's just the lighting in my room/stupid iPod camera. :P)

then we have my hair:

a high, ballerina bun. Now here's the dealio as to why this isn't my favorite trend. I am a ballerina. I grew up dancing and had to have my hair in a bun, EVERY day. So...I don't normally want to put my hair up in a bun. However, I thought Id give it a go as a fashion statement and I actually think it worked out fairly well for me. I'm a fan.

So just to review here are the trends I decided to try out today: 1) polka-dots (LOVE. I'm a huge fan) 2) pattern mixing ( this is one that I made up. I feel like everywhere I turn there is HUGE amounts of pattern mixing. I realize this will be a challenge another day...and I'll do something cool that day. but bam. pattern mixing) 3) colored tights. (I LOVE colored tights. I'm just always SO nervous to wear them. But like I said earlier, I think they work with this outfit. and my purple or pink ones would probably look just as cool. something to remember) and 4) the ballerina bun.

Overall, today was a win. Go me! :o)

[ps don't miss the dating battle story below - an introduction/quick run down of all of our adventures in the past week. :o)]

Day 1

So...some of you might remember the 21-Day Fashion challenge that I participated in back in late August.

Well, the wonderful April is hosting a Winter Edition that is only 10-days long! I'm really excited about this because I have been getting bored of my closet, but I have a hard time doing something like this challenge on my own. (I know, I should be better and try to do it....but it's just HARD!)

So, today is Day 1: Layers.

So, I went with my white sheer blouse (Kohl's) from the last challenge (it was my mix-in item) with a white DownEast shirt underneath, my brown jean jacket (shopko? who knows, I got it in high school) with my skinny jeans (target) and my awesome brown boots (shoe carnival).  I really like this outfit. I hardly ever wear this jacket. It is a tad on the small side - I don't think I could button it up if I wanted to, and it's very, very stiff which makes it hard to wear.

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

p.s. I had a wonderful weekend and time spent with this new boy toy of mine...I'm working on his 'nym and then he'll probably get a Dating Battles post. ;) Have a lovely Monday!

Day 21 - FINAL DAY

I am going to miss posting pics of my outfits all the time! I have loved this challenge!! It has been so fun to step out of my comfort zone. :o) Today's challenge was to take everything we learned and put together an amazing outfit.

Today was my day to teach Relief Society so I wanted something comfortable, cute, and that an outfit that I felt confident in. I even woke up early enough to do REAL makeup. In other words, I actually wore base and stuff today. Go me. I got several compliments today on how pretty I looked and I felt good, so that's all that mattered.

So without further ado: my outfit

{skirt: JC Penney's as a gift, white DownEast, sweater: JC Penneys, belt: Target, Flower: made by me}

So, I went with a black pencil skirt (that i LOVE) and a gray sweater with a white undershirt for a mostly monochrome kind of look. I paired this with my sexy 5" (yeah...I was tall at church today. It's fun.) and felt awesome! I belted, tucked, monochromed, and accessorized. ha! It's amazing how much I've learned so much about putting together outfits and I'm excited to practice the things I've learned on a regular basis.

I have a VERY girly story for you about Surfer Boy that just might get expanded after the zoo trip that is happening with a group of peeps from my ward. :o) So look for that at the beginning of next week sometime. :o) HAPPY LABOR DAY!!

Day 20

So, this was outfit was for Saturday. I didn't wear it for very long (only in the evening for a bit) mostly because I was in workout clothes for a good chunk of the day. However, i did wear it and I was happy with it.

The challenge? to wear Sunday shoes on a not Sunday. I LOVE doing this. I love wearing heels with just about anything and I do it quite often. I also made this my third and final time of remixing my item. (see outfit 1 and outfit 2)

I love this belt and I paired it with my hot pink heels (which I LOVE.) I think next time I'd tuck in the shirt...but I'm not sure how I'd like it and I really didn't take time to check it out. :o)

Oh thank goodness...

I am so extraordinarily happy that it is Friday. Life has been crazy, but I've been able to live and let live and not complain too much. :o) I'm just excited that I get a 3-day weekend, a 3-day work week and then another 3-day weekend. Go me! ha ha ha.

It's day 19 of the 21 Day challenge dear friends. Today's challenge is to wear somethign on your head. Now, Kayla told us it could be absolutely anything - even a flower clip! However, I wear ribbons, flowers and headbands on a very regular basis, but I have two hats that I just don't wear that often. I decided to bust out one of the hats and push my comfort zone a little bit. I have a hat I love that my mom gave me for Christmas that I don't wear very often, at all, BUT my hair wasn't going to cooperate with that hat. So instead, I went with this:

{hat: Target}

cute, huh?! I paired it with this new top and jeans:

{sweater shirt: JC Penney, tank: DownEast jeans w/belt: JC Penney}

I couldn't get the colors to come out right on my iPod touch w/instagram...but the sweater shirt is a really pretty cider orange kind of color. And my new jeans? Love them. They are so comfy! and I love a good dark wash jean. :o)

It's Labor Day weekend y'all. Officially the end of summer, or something like that. It's starting to feel like fall a little bit around here. The weather has definitely been cooler in the mornings and evenings, and I love it.  Here are just a few things that I'm doing this weekend:

• Going to the gym and running tonight - meeting with my trainer tomorrow morning. I'll probably be dead by the end of it.

• Watching a movie with friends and then going to a dance party tonight. I think.

• Teaching choreography tomorrow morning.

• Cleaning the church building tomorrow morning.

• Watching my BYU Cougars. Oh how I am excited to see them on the field again. They make my heart happy.

• Helping my roommate sort out kitchen stuff. It will be fun times, I'm certain of it. :P

• Hopefully making some good headway on Sister B's wedding gift. I want to get it finished.

• Teach my Relief Society lesson. Here's hoping it goes well....

• Watching the CES Fireside. love.

• an adventure of some sort on Monday - maybe the zoo?

Should be a busy weekend. I'm rather excited. Have a great weekend y'all!!

Thursday Things!

• Friends - the workplace is CRAZY today. Seriously. The first of the month is always insane, but today....today is majorly insane. Just sayin' - not complaining. ;)

• It's Thursday. I love me some Thursday. I'm rather excited about Blue Tango tonight. It should be good times y'all. :o)

• I need to do laundry. I should work on that.

• Roommate A is moving out - anyone need somewhere to live in UT county and want to live with me?

• I'm an awesome roommate, I promise.

• Going to a movie night tomorrow night. Will cute boys be there? Possibly. Am I excited? hecks to the yes yo.

• I have awesome friends. The end.

• I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday. I'm a tad nervous about this.

• Went to the gym last night - ran and walked 2+ miles. It was awesome here's the results (including my warm up/cool down)

• I'm loving my pink running shoes. They make me feel awesome.

• Played volleyball last night. In my pink running shoes. See above statement. yup, it was the best game ever.

• Today is Day 18 of the 21 Day Challenge. It is so quickly coming to a close! I can't believe it! Today's challenge? Statement Jewelry! I was uber excited about this challenge. I had bought some earrings w/Sister B last week - hoping that I could pull them off, and then I found out that today's challenge was statement jewelery...yeah they totally fit that category so, without  further ado, my outfit:

{yes, i'm wearing giant feathers. LOVE them - JC Penney's}

{I also wore this necklace again. JC Penney's}

{the whole kit and kaboodle! pants: Target, shirt: JC Penney's/DownEast}

•  It is September First y'all! I LOVE the month of September. My littlest sister is turning 16 - and that's just insane!! Also, my half birthday is this month. woo hoo!

• I am ready for the change in season - I just hope that fall lasts a LONG time and that winter doesn't just go forever and forever like it seemed to do last year.

I think that's everything. Life is good. I am very very busy these days, but that's okay. I like busy. :o) Have a great Thursday y'all!!

oh the joys....

There are so many things I could complain about today, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to not complain and instead think happy thoughts while I share with you my outfit for today's 21 Day Challenge. It's Day 17 and the challenge was to take something from your repair pile, fix it and then wear it.

Problem: I don't have a repair pile. I have had one in the past...but the last item in said pile was my favorite black pencil skirt. It didn't last more than 5 days in that repair pile. That was a month ago. (I think I'm just lucky right now nothing needs fixing or anything.) So what's a girl to do when she can't really heed to the challenge set before? She emails the founder of said challenge! Kayla was fabulous and offered an alternative challenge: Break a fashion rule. Oh man. I was all excited to do this...and then I started googling fashion rules. There are so many variations on fashion rules and what's okay and what isn't. However - I decided to break the one fashion rule that makes me shiver whenever I think about breaking it - wearing black and brown together. Now, I've read a lot of things in the past 24 hours and there are many fashionistas out there that say this is okay. They're both neutrals, wear them together, be brave. And...well...I can't help but think that said fashionistas are a little CRAZY. I even bug my mom for wearing black and brown together - and she does it subtly with just a brown belt and a black skirt or something. She's going to roll her eyes and then say I TOLD YOU SO when she sees today's outfit...so without further ado: my fashion rule breaking outfit

{leopard print top: JC Penney's black shorts: Banana Republic}

So there you go - brown leopard print (I swear there is no black in that top...AT ALL) top with a black tank top and black shorts. I paired this with some brown accessories (watch, bracelets, flip flops) and off I went. I'm feeling....okay about it. Will I do this on a regular basis? Probably not. Am I worried what people think when I'm out and about today? A little bit. Will I still mock my mother for wearing brown and black together? Probably. ;) It's just the way I roll. Also - let's make note of this style of shirt - I have like 5 shirts in this style all in different colors, patterns, and slightly different necklines. I LOVE this style of shirt. I super cute in it and I KNOW it makes me look good. That's all. ;)

Have a great Wednesday y'all!!

Tender Mercy Tuesday - 36th Edition

My tender mercy comes from my run last night. I rolled my ankle (not badly) about half way through. There was some pain, but as I walked it out, I considered just calling it quits and going home. It was my first run outside in a long time and I was mad at myself for not being more careful being outside. However, as I was walking in a circle, I decided that the pain wasn't that bad and that I could move forward and finish my planned run.

So I did. My ankle is still a little sore this morning - but there's no major bruising and the swelling seems to be non-existent. I feel like this is a huge tender mercy. I'm trying so hard to get myself into good cardio shape and to just be healthy overall. I very easily could've blown my ankle injury out of proportion and allowed myself to give up, but I didn't. I am so glad that I had the strength and the confidence to run it out. When I finally got back to my car, it felt good knowing that I had finished what I had set out to do.

:o)

In other news, today is Day 16 of the 21 Day Challenge and the prompt for today is: Menswear.  I thought about this one a lot yesterday afternoon/evening. I own a "boyfriend" shirt that is super comfy, but it's half-ish sleeved and just not something I want to wear when it's going to be 90+ degrees today. Instead, I dug into my closet and pulled out a tie that I borrowed from Dad ages ago to wear to school one day, and never gave it back. I love this tie, but hadn't worn it in a long time so I figured it would work for today's prompt.

{shirt and pants: Target tie: my dad}

The pants are a brown plaid with a hint of teal to them and the shirt is an awesome steel gray. Pair that with the maroon skinny tie and I feel like this outfit is a winner! I didn't button up my shirt all the way, mostly because I wanted to have that relaxed feel, plus I hate feeling like I'm being choked. :o)

Good Morning!

Good morning everyone!!! Even though I am saddened at the thought of a 9-hour work day, at my desk, inside....I had such a GREAT weekend, that I'm happy. Also, I've decided that I'm going to work on one of my Day Zero goals this week: Don't complain about anything for a week. I'm a pretty optimistic person, but there are times when I complain about EVERYTHING! So...this week I'm going to consciously make an effort to not complain about work, my love life, or the weather. I think I can handle that. I am allowed to voice my complaints on how sore I am after working out. ;) But basically I want to not be a sour puss, or a pessimistic person this week. I think it will be a good exercise for me. :o)

In other news, I have a new crush at church. His 'nym: Surfer Boy. :o) We went to a concert in the park randomly Saturday evening and then back to his ADORABLE house (that he owns!) to watch a surfing movie. He also came over to game night last night. Some of you might be wondering about other men in my life. They've pretty much all fallen off the face of the earth - although BM2 might resurface and Grizzly Bear is....confusing. It's okay though! I'm having the time of my life and it's great fun. :o)

Today is Day 15 of the 21 Day Challenge. I am going to be sad to see this challenge end. It has been such great fun to use style prompts to get ready in the morning. It has definitely helped me to add variety and newness to my wardrobe. Today's challenge was to do something new with your hair. I LOVE experimenting with my hair. I was using Pinterest one day and I discovered this blog with lots of cute hair ideas. I couldn't watch her tutorial for the hair do I went with and I wasn't wanting to pay for it...so I just looked at the picture and did my best to recreate it. I like how it turned out. :o) A great way to hide very dirty hair that I didn't feel like washing this morning....shhhh...don't tell anyone.  The result!

{3 buns! I love it. A great summer hairdo!}

And for your viewing pleasure, the outfit I wore with this hair do:

{plaid shirt w/belt: JC Penny paired with a brown shirt from Walmart, shorts: thrifted and cut off by yours truly}

For cute, right?! :o) I am a huge fan of JC Penny's these days. It's one of my favorite places to shop - but not for dresses. I want a cute new dress, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. It might just have to wait until Christmas though. sigh. C'est la vie.

Well....that's all from me dear friends. I hope you have the best Monday in the world. and just as a reminder...there are only 5 days until BYU Football kicks off their first season as an independent! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!! Have a great day y'all!

Day 14

What a Sunday today has been! So busy! I do love it, but it is very tiring at the same time. My weekend pretty much seems to have disappeared, but I have had a blast. :o)

Anywho, today's outfit prompt was to copy someone. I've seen a lot of this one style and when I went shopping with Sister B I wanted to add this outfit to my wardrobe. So, I sort of cheated and bought most of my outfit today, but here's the deal - I have plans on many ways to wear the top/accessories that I went with and I'm okay with the fact that I bought this shirt and necklace yesterday and made it work.

So, I've seen a lot of people wearing things like the following:

{a shirt like the one here}

{a necklace like this}

I've always wanted to try it. So...when shopping with my sister i tried on things that reflected the images above and styled my outfit like so:

{top and necklace: JC Penny, skirt: roommate's from Gap}

So...I really LOVE this top. Also, I was never sure if I could pull off this style of necklace, but I took the risk...and I'm VERY happy with result.  I wore this shirt over a blue downeast top, but I could so wear it with jeans, paired with boots, oh so many ways! Also, it came with a belt, but I ditched it by the time I got home from church. I was just done with wearing a belt at that point. ;) I think it looks cute both ways! Go me!!

Day 13

Today's outfit for Day 13 went pretty well. I went with a black neutral base and a pink sweater accent. Very chic, me thinks. :o)

Day 12

I just love my days off. So far today I have: slept in, gone to the gym, and watched Project Runway. Which, if you didn't see, my sweet friend who was booted off in week 2 is back again! This made my heart SO SO SO happy. :o)

Also - the gym? It was hard. Day 2 always is, but I rocked it out and finished strong. Week 4 day 2 was the same workout as Day 1, so my results are basically the same.:

I'm pretty happy with myself!

As far as the 21 Day challenge goes, today's Day 12 challenge is to jazz up the jeans. I love jeans. I really do. I wear them all the time. :o) So...here's my outfit!

{shorts: thrifted and altered by moi shirt: JC Penny}

I'm pretty happy with the look. Chic, but casual. :o)

I hope all y'all are having the most marvelous Friday. The weekend is here (or almost here for some of you) and I hope you rock it hard core! Still on my agenda: a visit to the temple, get my car inspected for registration, get my car detailed for its birthday present, drop off a birthday card for Grizzly Bear and decide on what I want to do with my evening - because I have options!! :o)

Love all of you. Hugs!

It a new day, a new dawn....

and I'm feelin'.....good! Oh my. I just love Michael Buble. He makes my heart quiver with joy. He's the best. :o)

I am seriously feeling so good right now! Part of that is because I got my hair done last night and I just love it. I went a dark, chestnut brown with red highlights and new bangs and it just looks fantastic, if I do say so myself. Let's move on to some Thursday things shall we? I have plenty for ya!

• Not only do I have new hair, but on Saturday I am going shopping with Sister B to get a few new items of clothing. Life will be good with new elements to my wardrobe. :o)

• Speaking of wardrobe, I am LOVING the 21 Day Challenge! It has been SO fabulous for me and I'm discovering new ways to wear things that I already have in my closet. It is rocking my socks!

• Speaking of the 21 Day Challenge, today is Day 11 and the challenge was to wear a dress or skirt. Easy enough! I love wearing skirts, especially during the summer. Keeps me cool. :o) Today I not only wore a skirt, but I went with remixing my item from Day 1. So without further ado, my outfit:
  

  

  {skirt: my roommate's from Gap, shirt: Kohls/DownEast, belt: Papaya}

  
  

  I sort of love this...Tucking in this shirt does feel weird and I feel like it does funny things...sort of. Overall, I like it. I added a pop of color with my bright pink heels (which you can't see). I almost wore my pink belt that I have...but it just didn't flow right.

• I love pencil skirts (which is what I'm wearing today.) They make my heart happy.

• I don't work tomorrow. This makes me SUPER happy.

• I am teaching my company for the first time tonight and I'm rather excited. It will be fun times for sure.

• I've mentioned this a few times this week, but I just can't contain my excitement. I'm going dancing tonight!!! Oh yes! This just might be the highlight of my week!

• I'm in love with Instagram. It is so fun to play with.

• I went grocery shopping last night and then made taco meat. I froze some of it for future meals and then ate a taco salad. Yummy.

• Work is insane. It's driving me crazy.

• This week's running schedule is sort of crazy. I'm trying to decide what is going to work best. It's a little up in the air.

• However, going running means I get to wear my awesome new, bright pink running shoes and that just gets me all excited.

• I have tickets to a UVU Volleyball game tomorrow night. I want to go, but not by myself. I need to find a friend to go with me.

I think that's all for now. Pretty much, I am loving today - even if work is insane and driving me to be slightly cynical. :P Oh well...c'est la vie!