oh and one more thing [coffee beans & bobby pins]

hold on to your keyboards [or iPads, smartphones, etc.] everyone, i'm guest posting over at coffee beans & bobby pins while the gorgeous amy gets married!

so go check out my little post and take a look around her blog, it's pretty awesome!

monday musings [2012 rewind]

let's see. in 2012 i...

stepped up my yoga game:

saw beau react to his first snow:

finished planning a wedding:

got married [!!!]:

went on a fabulous honeymoon:

celebrated beau turning 1:

turned 27:

started a blog [you know this one's your faaaavorite!]:

found out my other "little sister" was pregnant [!!!]:

jumped into house hunting:

celebrated my first married thanksgiving:

and christmas:

...and all in all, had the best time ever.

while i'm sad to see 2012 go, i'm excited for a new year!

what were your best moments of 2012?

friday favs [let's work it out]

let's face it. you ate way too much in december [i know i did] and now you're thinking about your new year's resolutions. which i'll venture to guess involve some type of workout plan [amiright?]. 

whether you're going to hit the gym machines, attend a cardio class, or jump on the yoga [or pilates] bandwagon to try to sun-salutate your extra holiday "presents" away [like i'll be doing], why not look stylish doing it? 

[athlete workout tank, under armour pants,  tech gear yoga pants, adidas sports bra, nike sports bra, gaiam premium yoga mat]

so listen up all you holiday cookies i ate, let's work it out, ok?

thursday threads [what jason wore]

ready for this? hubby was looking extra adorable on sunday in his sweater, jeans, and work boots that i just had to take some pics for the blog.

here he is in all his sweatered glory!

 [old navy sweater - similar, old navy jeans, work boots (from god-knows-where)]

and this is my favorite...

[see why i married him? meant for each other. hams the both of us]

to all my blogging ladies, what does your guy like to wear?

oh and one more thing [after-christmas sales]

and now time to rake in the goodies at the after-christmas sales! here are some of my favorites:

nordstrom - up to 50% on women's winter clearance [and the men's half-yearly sale too!]

kate spade - extra 25% off bags, jewels, shoes, and more [code 25SALE]

last call by neiman marcus - 30%-60% off entire purchase, plus free shipping on orders over $75 [code LCDEC75]

cusp - up to 60% off original prices in-stores and online

macy's - extra 10%-15% off select clothes, accessories, etc. [code JOY]

anthropologie - hundreds of markdowns at their semi-annual sale

loft - up to 50% off [excluding new arrivals] and free shipping on orders over $125 [code SAVE50]

piperlime - lime-tag sale up to 50% off 

old navy - up to 50% off online sale and up to 75% off in-stores sale

stylemint - up to 50% off select styles [must be a member]

zara - winter sale ['nuff said]

tory burch - extra 25% off select sale items online and in-stores [code JUSTFORME]

happy shopping!

wear it wednesday [otk]

woohoo! december 26th! you know what that means? [that's right, you guessed it] let the after-christmas sales begin! as i research some sweet deals for you lovelies, i want to share an outfit i wore over the weekend [to go shopping at the zara sale. that's right, zara sale] that i absolutely loved.

is there really anything better than a great over-the-knee boot? [i mean yeah, there are, but it's the little things!]

 [target tie-waist coat, h&m striped 3/4 sleeve tee (in stores), james perse tee, joe's legging jeans, loeffler randall otk boots - in black here]

 [they're also great for those that have a lil' extra sumthin' sumthin' in the calf area. like yours truly] 

  [see this zipper? makes them super easy to take off when trying on clothes, so optimal for shopping]

  [also, don't i look like a stylish pirate? i almost wore my red a. mcqueen skull scarf, but decided against a total pirate look. arrrrgh, matey]

so there you have it. otk all the way, every day. [a-ok! ...and i'll stop now]

how do you feel about otk boots?

oh and one more thing [lulu scarves giveaway winner!]

don't forget to check here for the lulu scarves giveaway winner! 

if you've won, send me an email to natalie@thesecondbestblog.com 

with your address and your TWO lulu scarves picks!

tuesday threads [merry christmas to all]

this'll be a short & sweet one [but with lots of pictures]. 

merry merry merry christmas to all from little ole me here at the second best [and beau too!] 

i hope you got everything you wanted under your trees.

i hope you're spending this day with your families [whether in comfy pajamas or fancy duds].

and i hope you're the merriest and joyfulest [which according to spell-check isn't a word, but it is today] on this christmas day.

now for a gratuitous pic of me & hubby in our christmas comfies and beau in all his wrinkly glory.

[on me: nordstrom rack sweater, target scarf, j.crew skinny sweatpants, h&m socks. on hubby: old as heck nike pants, nondescript white tee, my gap hat (which i forced him to wear). on beau: a look of pure torture]

if you think beau just sat there like that, you're [very] wrong. to prove it to you, here are some outtakes:

["give me the hat, mom"]

["now give me the treat"]

["thanks, now all my dog friends will laugh at me"]

["is this over yet?"]

[giving beau a little pep talk on how to behave during pictures]

["this is my good side"]

[and my personal favorite, the camera was NOT set on delay. it was set on take-the-picture-upon-pressing-button. with flash. is terrified a good look for me?]

merry christmas, you guys!

monday musings [travel like a pro]

i don't know about you, but i feel like i do a lot of road-trip-type travelling. especially around the holidays. which [obviously] means lots of hours in the car. so as we were on our way back home [a 5 hour drive] i was musing that i should share my ideal winter travel outfit with you [i say winter because in the summer the answer is "as little as possible"].

on this christmas eve day, if you're in the car driving long distances, let's hope you're as comfy as this:

 [the north face coat, old navy sweater, james perse tee - similar,  tart leggings - similar, target scarf (in stores) & hat, h&m otk socks, tory burch boots (super old amazing sale score), rebecca minkoff mini mac, forever 21 sunglasses (old)]

[i love love love these boots]

a few quick points on why this outfit is the best for winter road trips [in my estimation anyways]:

• there are no pants involved [because who travels in pants?]
• the sweater and tee are super soft and comfy [big thanks to sam of samipsaloquitur for the sweater suggestion!] for impromptu passenger seat naps
• toasty warm feet and boots that can handle those annoying [but necessary] rest stop detours
• scarf that acts like a blanket
• hat that covers travel hair [because seriously, whose hair looks cute when road tripping for hours? not mine]
• you don't look like a [complete] bum

so i hope you're warm at home on this christmas eve day, but if you're not, you're ready to travel like a [comfy, stylish] pro!

p.s. make sure to check back in tomorrow for the winner of the lulu scarves giveaway!

friday favs [so many sequins]

if you're reading this, then so far, no end of the world [sorry, doomsdayers]. but the day's still young, right? 

actually, if we're going to get technical here, what the mayans were predicting was more the ending of an old cycle [their 5,000 year calendar] and the beginning of a new one. i was actually paying attention to the tour guide on our honeymoon [probably because i was minorly concerned that i'd only get to be married for 7 months when the end of the world hit and i still had a lot of things to accomplish. and shop for] when we were in the old mayan ruin of tulum. 

so as the date approaches, with the promises of a new beginning [or a doomsday end if you insist], i thought what better way to usher in a big change than in sequins? [and what better than striped sequins a la #3 below?]:

[matthew williamson sequin cocktail dress, french connection sequin dress, day birger et mikkelsen sequin cocktail dress, all saints sequin party dress, matthew williamson long sleeve sequin dress]

it is, after all, why so many people look like disco balls on new years eve. [a practice i fully support, by the way]. 

hope everyone has a happy [un-doomsdayish]  friday!

p.s. don't forget to enter the lulu scarves giveaway!

oh and one more thing [dash(board cam)ing to work]

oh look, it's dashboard cam! capturing my "holy moly is it cold out today" look. and i decide to wear a dress. buuuut then overcompensate with this giant, warm target scarf. [which has a matching hat... that i didn't wear. so i don't look 7 today for work]:

[target scarf (though not as cool as lulu scarves, have you entered the giveaway?). also raved about by one of my fav blogs, the daybook]

thursday threads [h&m does real leather]

when i was getting dressed to go house hunting on sunday [incidentally, we only go house hunting on the dreariest days possible.], i wanted to continue my camo pants obsession [as seen here, here, and here]  and showcase my awesome new h&m [real] leather heels [you done good h&m] so this little number came together!

oddly enough, when i got in hubby's car and took a look in the backseat, he had literally the same color sweater and his camo hunting pants just laying there. if that's what he'd worn that day [although full-on hunting camo pants would have been weird] we could have been twins! [it would have totally made his day. or at least mine!]

 [h&m sweater (in stores), zara camo pants, h&m leather heels (in select stores), rebecca minkoff mini mac - straps removed]

[sweet shoe shot]

while we weren't twins [and yes, those shoes may have been swapped for chucks later], we had a lovely day house hunting. but no luck finding our place yet. [hey, house, where you hiding? we're nice people, we don't bite. not even beau.]

p.s. don't forget to enter the lulu scarves giveaway!