There’s Always Time for Polka Dots

It’s been a busy week, folks. This biz-casual look is from Tuesday, when I worked a full day at my internship, then went to dinner with the in-laws, then did some very important shopping at H&M. OK, so some of the busy-ness I bring on myself. Like this blog post, for example. I could probably save myself a little time by skipping a post once in a while, but blogging is just so fun I consider it my sanity-saver even if it does mean I have to stay up a little later to finish other more important things.

And it would just be so tragic if I didn’t share this cute little polka-dotted outfit with you. Right? Just think about how enriched your life is now that I’ve taken time out of my busy schedule to show you what I wore. You’re welcome. You can thank me by donating to my favorite charity, the Sarah’s Law School Loan Repayment Fund. Or you can just leave me a nice comment.

similar Top // similar Shoes (on sale) // Bag // similar Scarf* // Watch* // Lips “Punch Drunk”

*Scarf provided courtesy of House of Gemmes; watch provided courtesy of Dainty Wrist Jewelry.

The Once a Year Dress

The last time I wore this dress was in early 2013. I love it, but there are only so many opportunities to wear it. I feel like it only really works for the office – it’s way too sleek  looking to be casual, but too covered up for a date night or wedding or something like that. The other problem is that I can’t wear tights with it – they show through the white panel in the front. So it can’t be too cold. But it also can’t be too hot because it’s long-sleeved.

In other words: it’s a once a year dress. In 2013, I did a statement necklace, and this year I did statement earrings. What should I do in 2015? Let’s start planning now…

similar Dress // another similar Dress (short sleeve) // Earrings (on sale) // Shoes (on sale) // similar Coat // similar Bag // Lips “Punch Drunk”

Think Pink

Here’s my work look of the week! As usual, I went for one statement: hot pink pumps. Normally I’m not one for matching, but going all black and pink seemed like a good way to look slightly more mainstream while still rocking some Barbie-like shoes.

Check out the remix below to see how else I’ve worn the dress, blazer, and shoes.

similar Shoes (on sale) // similar Dress (on sale) // another similar Dress // similar Blazer (on sale) // similar Necklace

Mellow Yellow

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I’m so glad I have an internship this semester because it means I get to show you some office-appropriate outfits! Oh, and also because I get to learn stuff. Obviously.

Law school has really spoiled me style-wise because I can pretty much wear whatever I want to class. But just because I can’t wear leather leggings or cute baseball caps to work doesn’t mean I’m not going to have a little fun. I’m a big fan of finding traditional “business casual” pieces that have something unique about them – like a button-up shirt with an embellished collar, a cardigan in cheery lemon yellow, a pencil skirt with a faux leather waist band, and low-heeled pumps with a thick ankle strap.

(I kept my promise from yesterday to go back to talking about clothes! By the way, the stories you guys shared with me were AMAZING. I was cracking up. I totally win for the funniest readers.)

Skirt (on sale) // similar Cardigan // similar Shirt (on sale) // Bracelet // Shoes (on sale) // Nails “Oui” // Lips (mine is a custom color from Bite Lip Lab, but try Cin Cin)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

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There are lots of ways I approach putting together an outfit, and sometimes I just pick a chunk of the rainbow – in this case the yellow, green, blue chunk. It’s one of the best chunks, I’d say. Well, red and orange are pretty great too. And you can’t argue with blue, indigo, and violet. Basically, rainbows are the biz-nass. You can’t go wrong.

I’m trying to get in the habit of putting together a little collage at the end of my posts showing how I’ve remixed what I’m wearing. After all, in real life, people don’t buy things to just wear them one time. Still, you can always find new ways to wear things so you don’t feel like you’re repeating. So…Scroll down to see how else I’ve worn these pieces!

Shirt (on sale) // similar Skirt (on sale) // Sunglasses (on sale) // Necklace* // similar Shoes (on sale) // similar Bag (on sale)

It’s the Remix…

*Necklace gifted by Max & Chloe.

Holy Ship!

This post is sponsored by H&M

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Once upon a time, I didn’t live 5 minutes from an H&M. It was this magical place  I only got to go when I visited a big city, and I had to buy a zillion things because they didn’t ship within the U.S. and who knows when I would go again. Not the greatest plan, but it’s all I had. Now that I live in Indianapolis, I can shop at H&M whenever I want without making impulse buys, which is a much better situation. Still, now I have city girl guilt (a term I just made up) when I sport my H&M duds on the blog or out of town because I know not everyone has access to them.

Too bad they don’t ship in the U.S.

Wait, what’s that you say, Sarah? They DO ship in the U.S.?! Since when?

SINCE RIGHT NOW?! TODAY?!

YES. Stop having an imaginary conversation with me. It’s true. As of today, August 1st, all y’all Amurricans can order online at www.HM.com/us.

Even more exciting (for me mostly) is that I get to help make this announcement as the official State Style Blogger Ambassador for Indiana. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Basically, H&M picked bloggers from each of the 50 states to help put the word out about the online shop AND about a the “50 States of Fashion” promotional contest, where you have a chance to win H&M gift cards and even a trip to NYC!

So here goes:

To enter the 50 States of Fashion contest, just Instagram a pic of yourself wearing something(s) from H&M and tag it with #HMShopOnline[XX]. The [XX] is where you put your state abbreviation. So for example, when I Instagram one of the photos above, I will use the hashtag #HMShopOnlineIN. If you live in New York, you’ll use #HMShopOnlineNY. You get the idea. I’d also love for you to tag me (@sarahsreallife) in your caption so I can check out all your entries and vote for them, but that’s optional of course!

All the photo entries will populate on H&M’s 50 States of Fashion website, where people can vote for their favorites over the course of 3 weeks. You can find all the nitty gritty details here.

Or if Instagram contests aren’t your thing, you can just shop. No hashtags required.

Have fun!

similar Dress (on sale) // Jacket* // similar Shoes* // similar Bracelet // similar Bag (on sale) // Sunglasses // Lips “Romantic”

*Jacket and shoes courtesy of H&M.

Shift

One summer during high school, I did a dance program at North Carolina Governor’s School. At our very first performance, we did this piece where we all posed in a clump in the middle of the stage. The lights came up, there was no music, and we just stood in stillness for 3 minutes. Then the lights went down, and during the blackout we stayed in our same poses but took one big step to the left. The lights came back up and we stood there some more. And that was the end.

It was actually pretty fun to perform because you could feel the tension in the audience. They weren’t sure if there was a technical difficulty with the music or what. When the lights went down the first time they all cheered (keep in mind these are all high school kids), and when the lights came back on you could hear confused whispers. (Wait…Did they move? I swear there’s something different…)

Why am I telling you this story? Mainly because the name of the dance was “Shift,” and I thought of it when I was wearing this shift dress the other day. But also because I started off the day wearing black suede shoes, then changed into these brown sandals when I went home for lunch because it was starting to rain. So the shoe change was like my subtle step to the left during a blackout. I wonder if anyone at my office noticed that my shoes in the afternoon were not the same as my shoes in the morning. (Hmm…Was she wearing those all day? I swear there’s something different…)

similar Dress ($20) // similar Scarf (on sale) // similar Shoes // Sunglasses (on sale)

Speaking of shifting, see how I’ve changed up the look of this dress over the seasons:

It’s a Mystery…

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I’ve worn this dress two times (flashback here), and both times I’ve tied a shirt over it and worn it as a skirt. But I swear it’s a dress. They say when a woman gets dressed she should leave something to the imagination. In this case I guess I’m just trying to make you imagine the top of this dress. What does it look like? Maybe you’ll never know. I’m very secretive and mysterious. Except for the part where I take pictures of myself every day and put them on the internet.

similar Dress // Sunglasses (on sale under $20!)// Shoes (on sale) // similar Bag (on sale) // similar Necklace // similar Bracelet 

But All the Other Kids Are Doing It…

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I was always under the impression that chambray didn’t fit in the “business casual” category (and by “always,” I mean for the past year or so that chambray has been cool again). But I’ve seen two other people in my office this summer wear chambray, and that’s all I need to convince me I’m allowed to do it too.

Similarly, if I’m in the mood for a snack and then I see a commercial for snack food, I take that as a sign that it’s OK for me to have a snack.

But just because I see all my friends doing something doesn’t mean I’m going to do it too. Like if all my friends decided to do one of those juice cleanses, I would continue eating regular food (snacks! yay!) because I don’t hate myself. Or if they all jumped off a cliff, I wouldn’t do it because – again – I don’t hate myself. Or if they all started listening to that “Cruise” country remix song 24/7…then I would get all new friends because that is literally the most horrible song I have ever heard.

similar Shirt (on sale) // similar Skirt // similar Bag // similar Shoes // Sunglasses // similar Necklace // Lipstick “Plushest Punch”

Fruit Suit Riot (Riot!)

When I decide to take a picture of Kristin taking my picture (see the Instagram here)…

When I want to wear something really quirky – like, say, a t-shirt with fruit on it – to work, I just try to make the rest of the outfit match and tie it down with your usual boring work staples. The other option is just to wait until the weekend to wear a fruity t-shirt, but clearly I’m not capable of postponing my fruitiness.

Shirt, and there’s a Dress! // similar Cardigan (under $25) // similar Bag // Rose Gold Bracelet // similar Spike Bracelet // Lipstick “Romantic”