Working Women Wednesday

Hey guys, I realized I haven’t left you with any wear to work inspo in awhile. Here’s a little somethin for the working women in my world.

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I had a completely different shoot location planned for this look. My local fire department ruined it. Our local fire station has a beautiful red chair/bench in the front of the building, perfect for this look right?! Right! Of course the day we decide to shoot this look there’s a big stupid fire engine in front of my chair. I stalked this fire house weekly to see how often they pull out the fire engine and ambulance housed inside; that is to say for washing and maintenance. Obviously there’s no way I could tell when an emergency would occur.

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We’re Wearing White After Labor Day!!!

Summer is fading away but I still wanted to share this look with you all. I hesitated sharing this look for a micro second. I almost gave credence to the style rule about not wearing white after labor. I mean is that a thing anymore. The growing consensus is NO! We don’t follow the rules around here anyway, right?!

Most people have no idea where this foolishness came from. Some say it came out of a cultural necessity to mark the change of the seasons with a change in our style of dress. The day after Labor Day than became the benchmark. The idea was that we were going back to business. It’s time to put the linen dresses and leisure suits of summer away. No need for shorts and sun dresses; school’s back in session and it’s back to the basics. Back to neutrals, grays, blacks, and browns. It’s time to Fall back, pun intended. Essentially ditching your white duds meant re-entry into normalcy.

Doing our best Destiny’s Child Say My Name Video Impression
Hey Laila!!!
En Blanc

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SUMMER AINT OVER JUST YET! Part Three-The Vessel

Summer ain’t over but it’s definitely winding down. Is it me or is it already getting darker earlier?! I’m not ready for the dreariness that is the fall and winter months. I love me some sunshine! I definitely live in the wrong part of the world. New mission try and figure out how I can get closer to the equator. With the Amazon burning we all but doomed; just kidding… a little. You guys didn’t come here for all that, let’s get into this look already, am I right?!

As we make the transition to Fall I thought I’d give you a little bit of that confused California Girl with a trench coat with shorts vibe. Am I hot or am I cold?! I don’t know, I’m so confused…lol I kid, I kid. This is the conversation I imagine people have with themselves when they pair the two. In actuality we’re just in between seasons trying to make it werk right?! I’m gonna go with that.

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Summer Ain’t Over Just Yet-Part Two

Hey guys welcome to the second installment of my Summer Ain’t Over Just Yet series. This post features my twin sister, Alex! Fun fact the day of this shoot she just finished working 18 of the last 24 hours. Does she sleep, occasionally we take extended naps. Team No Sleep forever!!! If you know you know. But seriously when OT (overtime) calls you gotta answer sometimes. To be clear she wasn’t scheduled to work when we initially discussed  shooting. I wouldn’t be so inconsiderate of her time to ask her to come shoot with me after such a long work day… Wait who am I kidding I just might ask, I mean she can always say no right?! Picture that happening… Anything for IVN!!!

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Sister Love ♥️♥️♥️

And that’s exactly the spirit she had, anything for the movement! She made a B-line for the bridge instead of going home and getting some much deserved rest. To add to the drama, we both had to change on the bridge, check my Insta-stories for that footage. I had to get out of my Ankara gown and she had to change out of her comfy work clothes and tragic sneakers she refuses to upgrade. She’s frugal and rightly so as a single woman on her own; I respect that. However she refuses to spend anything over her budgeted $70 for sneakers, LIKE EVER. Tragic right?!?!

She’s always has my back!!!
Who else is going to throw my train into the air on Monday afternoon but Alex
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SUMMER AINT OVER JUST YET! Part One

I know the seasons are changing in the fashion world but there’s still a little bit of summer left no matter what they say. So I decided to bring a little more heat to Summer’19 in this stunning Ankara print gown. Fun fact this frock is actually two separate pieces designed to melt beautifully into one garment. I plan to style the top with pants and some more stuff; look out for the looks in my Insta-stories.

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This beautiful frock was designed by, fashionista, blogger, world traveler, designer, all round baad girl Sarleamah. I first saw this dress on Sarleamah on her IG page (follow her she’s everything) and I fell in love; I had to have it. For some, it’s a major fashion faux pas to wear a piece worn by another, especially someone as well known as Sarleamah. Guess who could care less about “the rules”, this girl. I’m a rebel, a fashion gangsta. I wear what I want and I wanted this dress! Seriously can you blame me?! Can I just say how well designed this garment is, the fabric is high quality cotton. The construction is that of a true talent and thee C O L O R… is everything!!! It’s even more stunning in person, so rich and vibrant, it’s breath-taking.

Welcome to Brooklyn!

Sarleamah didn’t hesitate when I reached out about this dress. She graciously jumped on my design request. She was professional, responsive, and prompt in all our communications. Admirable qualities in a designer. The dress didn’t take more then 2 weeks to construct, right on time for the shoot.

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SALE! SALE! SALE! THE NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE!

If you haven’t heard or been under a rock you should know the Nordstrom’s anniversary sale has begun!! Well at least for credit cardholders and certain over-achieving Nordy club members (Nordstrom’s loyalty program); guilty and guilty we get early access.  I didn’t want the card I promise, they practically forced it on me, scouts honor, wait I was never a scout, minor details folks, MINOR DETAILS…lol Seriously, for the rest of the planet it starts July 19th!! Mark your calendars folks!!!

I think we can all agree there’s nothing like a good sale but Nordstrom’s annual anniversary sale, is the sale of ALL sales!!!

While most department store sales offer discounts on stuff you aren’t all that excited about; Nordstrom doesn’t. They have the deals on the most coveted brands, discounts anywhere from 40-50%, sometimes more. For a fashionista who’s balling on a budget like myself, you don’t want to miss this sale!!

So without further ado, here are a few things I’ve had my eye on. Some pieces I’ll probably never purchase but they’ve caught my eye just the same. Full disclosure I’ve already ordered two coats for the Fall because I just couldn’t help myself. It was an amazing deal and I had Nordy bucks (free money). Honestly I have my eye on a ton of pieces, this sale is so overwhelming, so many yummy items to choose from. This literally is just the tip of the iceberg.

I’d like to give you guys more but the way my team is set up: technology: me, editing: me and recently added Alex, creative direction: me, content: me; we can only do so much. If me and the rest of my “team” have a few extra hours to kill from now until the end of the sale (sale ends August 4th) I may do another round. But I can’t make any promises; stay tuned either way.

MELLO YELLOW

Linked in order of appearance: one, two, three, four.

PRETTY IN PINK

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IT’S VERY NECESSARY- YEAR ONE

I can hardly believe it’s been an ENTIRE year since we first launched It’s Very Necessary (IVN)! What a ride it has been?! The mission is the same to save as many people as possible from unfortunate fashion choices; whether it be for work or play…lol I want to inspire women and men to be the best version of themselves, fashionably. I sincerely hope I’ve done that to some degree. And if not you guys let me know and mama will work on it ;-).

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Dance like no one’s looking, even if they are. I’m doing my happy dance. Year one down, many more to come!

My very first post featured the lovely Laila Beale (my youngest daughter). What a shoot that was, the heat, the outfit changes, the bribery (yes I had to bribe her with new toys just to get her to cooperate). It was all worth it. Our first post was quite the hit. Look how far we’ve come. No bribery was involved for this shoot, she’s a professional now.

Now…
Then…
This adventure also started out as a necessary (pun intended) distraction from my work; now it’s my new baby. I say baby because friends and family often ask if we want another child, specifically a boy. Since children, boy or girl,  don’t come out potty trained and talking, Ricardo and I decided we’ll pass. Our two girls keep us plenty busy.

It’s always a fight with Sanaa
Three the hard way
The Dynamic Duo
IVN really has become our new baby. This “child” requires a considerable amount of time, money, blood, sweat, and tears. Maybe not blood but everything else for sure. IVN has given me an opportunity to share my love for fashion with so many people. I’m honored and humbled to share my baby with my IVN family.

We put the “I” in IVN
It’s a family affair
We’ve had some highs and lows but more highs than anything. I’ve had to teach myself so much about the blogger and influencer world, I still have so much to learn. I remain undaunted and I am eager for the next chapter. But to celebrate this first chapter we had to do an anniversary shoot. I couldn’t have imagined doing the anniversary shoot without my dream team. I’ve begged, cajoled, bribed, guilted, and demanded my family’s cooperation and participation in bringing IVN to life. In all seriousness they’ve been instrumental in IVN’s success. Without them this just doesn’t work; my family is everything.

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The Crew- IVN’s heart and soul- Ricardo, Sanaa, Laila, Andrea.

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SUMMER FUN

We decided to kick off the summer with a fun trip to a sunflower maze. My family likes to visit corn mazes during the Fall, a sunflower maze just makes sense for the Summer. Sunflower mazes are a great, low cost, family friendly outing. It would even make for a great first date if you’re the outdoorsy type. You can get “lost” in the maze, bird watch, butterfly chase, and/or play the damsel in distress (ladies we’ve all done it once or twice in our lives) should an unruly bumble bee decides to get too close.

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#MAKEMYSIZE #MAKEOURSIZE

I’m very excited about this post, for several reasons. First, I get to feature one of my very best friend’s in the whole wide world, Amanda Wright. Amanda has been my BFF for over 18 years and counting. She is a brilliant accountant, loving wife, doting mother, and a loyal friend. She has been one of my biggest cheerleaders since we met at Temple University. She’s supported the blog and the brand from day one. She’s also the queen of coordination. She love’s to style her whole family in the cutest ensembles no matter how much her husband protest and he’s been known to protest…lol Second I’m doing my part to shade light on a very important topic; size inclusion in fashion.

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Amanda and I have a passion for fashion, but we noticed something very unsettling in the fashion world (ready to wear and luxury) a long time ago, designer/brands don’t make cute clothes in EVERY size….

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