a belated joyeux noël

I got this sweater from ASOS in my normal size, an 8, and it was ENORMOUS. Not in a "Ooh! I'm losing weight and need to size down" way, but in a "did they accidentally send me the wrong size??" way. I traded it in for a 4 and it's STILL too big. If it wasn't out of stock now I would - bewilderingly - trade this in for a 2. I even tried putting it in the drier and it's still huge. But I love the design and (as I've already said a few times recently) I just love saying Joyeux Noël, so this is a must-keep for me!

I feel like the cut-off for wearing Christmas stuff is 11:59PM on Christmas Day but I can't help myself - I need to stretch it all the way until the new year! I wonder if people who get mad about holidays starting too early also get mad about people ending them too late? Hmm.

sweater - asos | skirt - c/o modcloth

boots - amazon | hat - forever 21 (old)

bells and whistles

This outfit was inspired by this brooch, which just screams "kitschy vintage charm" to me! My friend Jessica posted an outfit photo on twitter last week and said an old family friend used to say "I think it's okay to be tacky around Christmas, don't you?" One could argue that I dress tacky all year long, but I just love that everyone gets on the kitschy bandwagon this time of year. At work everyone is wearing silly Christmas hats and reindeer ears, and people come into the store wearing fun sweaters and festive brooches. The shared enthusiasm for all things chintzy, cute, and kitsch just warms my heart completely.

skirt - lazy oaf | shirt - vintage

shoes - bait footwear | cardigan - forever 21

bell brooch - c/o kinks and quirks

christmas lights

How cute is this sweater?! I wore this when I went over my grandmom's to decorate her tree. She doesn't really like to do it herself, so several years ago she started "bribing" me and my brother with a dinner out in exchange for doing the tree. She constantly refers to it as a bribe even though me and Kyle look forward to this new tradition every year now, and would happily do it even if food wasn't involved, lol. My mom and dad aren't allowed to see her tree until Christmas Day, not even photos! We always try to do something a little bit different each year so that it's a fun surprise when they finally see it on Christmas. I don't think my parents read my blog (if you are -- stop reading right now!!) so I think it's okay if I tell you that this year we put the garland on in diagonal instead of horizontal rows and it looks so pretty! We did tinsel garland first and then put rows of red beaded garland in between and it's just gorgeous! :)

ps. My shop is closing for the holidays tomorrow night, so now is your last chance to buy something before I close up until January :)

sweater - modcloth | skirt - old | shoes - bait footwear

bells are ringing

A hot debate is currently raging in my mind as to whether or not I will wear this pretty dark green lace bell-sleeved dress on Christmas or go the cozy route and stay in pajamas all day. It's a tough call since I always want to look picture-perfect and it's so rare that I have a real opportunity to play dress up (other than "I can do what I want and today I'm wearing a cocktail dress to shop for groceries!" lol!) but I also feel a real tug to play it comfy and sit on the floor in pjs sipping hot cocoa.

Either way, I did wear this dress this weekend (like I said, you don't need a real reason to play dress-up!) and I felt so festive and fancy! Oh, and it's 40% off today only over at Modcloth if you spend $100 or more. I have been pretty good at curbing my spending lately but I have my eye on this sweatshirt, this dress, this dress, this dress, and this dress. It's so hard to resist when the dresses are already super on sale and the 40% off brings them down to about $20 each! I feel like it's actually responsible of me to buy them when they're discounted so much, right? ;)

dress - c/o modcloth | cat belt - modcloth | shoes - amazon