Loft Try-On Session: Summer Prints

Hello internets people! I am back with another try-on session at Loft Town Center here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana! On a more personal level, I have been sick for the past few days without going into alot of details just know baby/kids germs are WORSE than adults lol! Just know my kids will pay when they are older. On the plus side I’m sure I’ve lost a good amount of weight while being sick this past week. & I’m going to take all the multivitamins & green smoothies to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

So I headed over to Loft just to get some sun action & adult interaction — to my surprise I walked into a sale! Loft is having 50% off dresses & skirts and if it’s hot where you are like in Louisiana. A dress or skirt is all you should be wearing this Summer. I’ll link the items at the bottom of the pictures.

Outfit #1: Okay out of the entire try-on this is hands down my favorite outfit. A cheetah shirt and khaki shorts the different outfits you can pair with both are ENDLESS. *adds to wardrobe capsule

Cheetah Shirt | Khaki Shorts | Amazon wedges

Dress it up: By now you should know my love for blazers. You can easily dress this look up with a white blazer if you are heading out for a GNO or special summer event.

White Blazer |

Workwear: Again this cheetah shirt can pair with endless options for bottoms. This is a perfect look for the office with a black or white blazer

Cheetah Shirt | White Pants

Another great add to your wardrobe capsule this summer — a black tank top. Here I paired the black tank top + black/white skirt

Black Tank Top | B&W Skirt

With the same black tank top but adding a floral skirt for a day at the office or a Saturday date night.

Black Tank Top | Floral Skirt

Now to the dresses that are currently 50% off! I love love love this floral print and yellow is such a great color for my skintone.

Yellow Floral Dress

Ending this try-on haul with a linen dress that is great for the office or if you are a teacher this dress is a great length for school.

Linen Dress

Loft Try-On Session: Spring Collection

I’m back with another try-on session! This time we’re focusing on the Loft Spring Collection clothes. To be completely honest, I feel like a few of my selections were NOT on mark lol! I was really having a rough week/weekend but nevertheless I persisted of course. For the Spring, I’m really loving the burnt orange color and linen fabrics it just hits so right on my skintone!

My sizing at Loft really varies from the style & cut of the clothing I’m not exactly a petite size but I’m also not a plus size. It’s weird but I love the high quality of clothing. You can watch my video of the try-on haul here!

 Striped Tie Waist JumpsuitStriped Tie Waist Jumpsuit with White Blazer

White Top Floral Maxi Skirt

Jean Wrap ShirtSatin Drawstring PantsBurnt Orange Balloon Sleeve BlouseTie Waist Wide Leg Pants                             

Floral Wrap Dress

Black Wrap Skort Romper

Little Black Dress: Wardrobe Capsule

Continuing from the initial Wardrobe Capsule post — Today we’re chatting about a basic yet necessary & versatile piece in your closet.

#LBD

Little Black Dress. A black dress is great for any event — I can’t think of an event that a black dress wouldn’t be perfect for. Work, Happy Hour, Wedding, Funeral, Parties. When selecting a black dress for me the most important thing is the quality of material.

This dress selection is more on the A-line side with ruffles on the bottom and on the sleeves. There’s a zipper along the backside with a tie around the waist. I love the tie mainly because of how it hugs the waistline.

Photo by @goldentimetayBlack Dress H& M Purse Earrings

Now for curvy women like myself — this dress doesn’t really give you the best figure so in that case I love to add blazers to neutral color clothing. Then of course adding black heels to keep the look very minimal. These style of earrings are really trendy right now. They remind me of the earrings I would find in my mom’s jewelry box. These are from Target but I recently found this brand called “Humans before handles” that I’m really eyeing to buy. I just cannot decide which pair is calling my name.

Top 5 Apps for Social Media for Photo/Video

Last week I created a short video and asked you guys in a poll if you were interested in a blog about my Top 5 Apps for Social Media.

So here goes:

1. Canva: The real OG. I started using Canva so many years ago as an quick alternative for Photoshop (of course not for creating logos). My biggest issue with this app is that it is great for creating graphics but not so great for creating transparent graphics. I use the free version but I have purchased Canva for Work in the past. It’s great for saving your brand colors, logos & stock images/illustrations. I use Canva not just for graphics but also creating presentations for my speaking engagements. The only downside is that you need to be connected to WiFi in order to present.

2. Over: The holy grail. Many of you that messaged me asked what app was I using & very surprised when I said “Over”. I would definitely say this is what you make it. If you have a vision or inspiration this app would be great for displaying that. You can see in the video below how easy it is to use your creativity eye. I tested the paid version last week & OMG the things this app can do is comparable to Adobe Photoshop. You can crop & also using the Mask Tool to create a collage with many different photos and/or text.

3. StoryLuxe: This app is great for creating collages for your IG/FB story. I currently use the free version but with the paid version you get access to all of the templates and you can customize a bit more.

4. Unfold: This is an okay app for the film templates but if you want more templates you have to pay for each individual pack separately (that $1.99 adds up quickly)

5. Inshot & Mojo: Both are video apps. With Mojo you can insert images and make videos with text. The free version is limited to only a few templates but the paid version seems to be okay if you are using this app very often. Inshot: omg I fell in love with this app once I started playing around with it. This app can be used for creating videos with music in your IG story. You can add transitions & text as well (all these features are available with the free version). I currently just use the stock music for videos but you can upload your music files to the app. It would be great if you could also add music directly from Apple Music.

Loft Try-On Session

Happy Easter weekend! Holidays are always a great time to reflect and spend time with family & friends! I know we’re all busy with work schedules & events that’s why I LOVE the option of ordering online & picking up your order at the nearest Loft location.

Loft 40% off - Code: “FRIENDS”

Here’s a few of my favorites.

The jumpsuits at Loft are probably my favorite pieces in their collections. I’ve never been a jumpsuit girl until recently! I’m 5’2 for reference.

Black & White Polka Dot Jumpsuit

PERFECT date night outfit. I wore this a few Fridays ago & my husband was stunned at how “dressed up” I was lol! (#momlife) The top is so soft & the skirt can really pair with different color tops to transition from work to happy hour.

Blush Pink Strappy Cami | Satin Patterned Skirt

This dress is definitely Spring Vibes! It runs a little big so I would size for this type of dress.

Flowy Flower Dress

A Chervon dress would NOT be my first choice of dresses but the quality of this dress is AMAZING. Chervon Dress

Yep! Another jumpsuit!! This black flower jumpsuit hits in all of the right places especially so flattering to the top for those of you with larger tops like me.

Flower Jumpsuit

I LOVE wrap dress but for some reason I could not get this dress to fit properly. There’s also a button on the top of majority of Loft wrap dresses which is GREAT for nursing moms!

Yellow Ruffle Flower Dress

Stay tuned for more try-on sessions!

How-To Create A Wardrobe Capsule

Photo by @goldentimetay

A few weeks ago I came across this article about a “wardrobe capsule” which got my brain spinning on what that means exactly and how can I start my own. A wardrobe capsule is a collection of a few essential items that never go out of fashion and can be mixed with different seasonal pieces.

When I started my first job in highschool, I would spend my checks on random pieces of clothing that I would eventually get a rip in or no longer “in trend”. This habit lasted all throughout college – shopping at Forever21, Charlotte Russe, 5-7-9 (lol! Only a few will remember that). But again those clothes would never last throughout the year. I would find myself back at the mall trying to find clothing last minute for an event.

As a wife & mom, my clothing has to transitional easily from day to night without breaking the bank. So the idea of a wardrobe capsule is PERFECT for where I am currently in life. Once I began my professional career at IBM that’s when I really began to invest in my clothing for the sake of not having to replace the items every 3 months. One of my favorite stores to shop at for QUALITY pieces is Loft. Okay I know what you’re thinking and especially if you are a millennial. “Isn’t Loft for like…grandmas?”

Girl, I thought the same thing but when I look at the options for affordable and QUALITY clothing the options are either Target or Loft. So this is the beginning of my Wardrobe Capsule series, every so often I create a blog post on what pieces are important for your wardrobe capsule. Here’s what we’re focusing on: 1. Blazer 2. Neutral Heels 3. Pant/Slacks 4. Jeans 5. Graphic Tee

Those 5 pieces are a great starting point for your wardrobe capsule. My favorite work slacks are the Loft Straight Leg Paints in Marisa Fit, I love this fit SO MUCH mainly because I’m short lol! So the straight leg fit hits right at my ankles which elongates my legs. These pants can be worn with a matching black blazer or you can also throw a color blazer into the mix depending on the season.

Now it’s Friday which is usually causal Fridays in most offices so you’ll probably choose a pair of jeans to wear. To be honest, I never invested in a pair of jeans before this whole wardrobe capsule idea, “who spend $40 on a pair of jeans?!” – yeah now I’m seeing the difference between spending $12 for jeans at Forever21 vs spending $40 on QUALITY jeans that fit like butter on your body! GIRL ITS LIFE CHANGING.

My favorite pair of jeans are currently the Curvy Soft Slim Pocket Skinny Crop Jeans – as a mom I gravitate to any pair of high waist jeans but I’ve been trying new things and this fit is PERFECT. I’m short so again these jeans hit right at my ankle and hugs my curves in the right places.

I believe this wardrobe capsule is really a mindset change for me, personally. I am no longer wasting money on clothing items that are temporary but rather items that are quality and interchangeable.

Stay tuned for more pieces in my wardrobe capsule!

How to Create Custom Mailchimp Templates

’ve been using Mailchimp for a minute but like most, it was foreign to me because it didn’t seem user friendly. Welp I was wrong and my perception has changed.

Mailchimp is GREAT if you insert your vision for your email marketing campaign but also this is an email that most people are reading from their cellphone so it’s important to remember. Make Mailchimp work for you and the end result will be amazing.

So let’s get right to it

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8. Once you’re logged into Mailchimp, choose “Templates” and create a new template. There are 2 tabs, “Content” for dragging and dropping content blocks to your template then there’s “Design” for changing backgrounds/font/style.

2. Let’s change the “preheader" design or above the fold. I changed the hex code color to fit my brand colors and keep the template cohesive. Then I add URLs for readers to navigate back to my website without having to search for it. For example, I added links to Home, Resources, Services, & Contact page.

Preheader Design example

3. Here I simply dragged & dropped the text box to the template & included my IG account which is a hyperlink that directs the reader to my Instagram page. I also added a button so that readers can click and go directly to the free resources page of my website. This is button is more so for aesthetics and visual appeal. You can choose for the button to be more or less round/square.

4. This area is my favorite on the entire template. I created the “On The Blog” graphic using Adobe Photoshop but you can use Canva just make sure that the background is transferrable or the same color as your template background. This area is simply a divider before the heading and the body and the email template.

5. I dragged and dropped a text box to give brief context about the blog posts that I added to the email. Then I added 2 blog posts photos to the “image group” box. I create my blog post covers in Canva so that I can also share on Pinterest. The entire vibe I’m going for this email template is 'minimal’.

6. Like I stated above. You can change the background of the entire email template or just certain sections. Below is an example of how I changed the background of only the email’s body. It really depends on what vision you have for your template.

And TA-DA! Here’s the finish result! Share with all your business friends, creative friends or anyone that is interested in learning how to create a template for their email marketing!