The third piece of clothing I am going to talk about today is a piece that some women just skip right over when building their wardrobes from scratch.  I know that I don't have too much variety of this one piece, but I am working on trying to find the right style for my body type. 

I have a love/hate relationship with skirts.  I love my maxi skirts!  I love pencil skirts, but fear I am too short for them.  I do not like super-short skirts as the backs of my thighs have seen better days and I really don't want to torture anyone else with that.  I also have a thing for leopard print and polka dot print skirts, so you have been warned before you go and check out the Pinterest board. 

I will be the first to admit that I do not actively seek out different types of skirts to wear other than maxi skirts.  It's a comfort thing.  I like how I can style maxi's and they work well with my body.  The great thing about today's wardrobe staple is that it isn't the kind of skirts you have in your closet, it's the color and the print.

Here's what you should have in your closet in the way of skirts: 

• 1 neutral colored skirt
• 1 solid colored skirt in another neutral or a secondary color
• 1-2 printed skirts 

That's not too hard is it?  

Find what types of skirts work best for you and then make sure you have the color and prints covered and you will be good to go in the skirt department of your wardrobe! 

Neutral Colored Skirt

Much like pants and tops, you need to have a neutral colored skirt (or two) in your wardrobe.  Remember that neutral colors are black, white, grey, and tan respectively.  Length is up to you, but I always say to make sure you are comfortable in what you are wearing.  Here's a fun way to style a black skirt: 

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Solid Colored Skirt in Neutral OR Secondary Color

The choice you make here really depends on what your life is like.  Work all day in a business setting?  You may want to grab another neutral colored skirt.  If your work place is open to color, then find a skirt in your fave color and rock it.  Don't work but run around with the kiddos all day?  Get what you want! 

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Patterned Skirts

There are so many patterns out right now to choose from that you are bound to find something you love and that looks good on you.  Go with what speaks to you.  I love polka dots, but they have to be small to medium sized dots.  I am not fond of the ginormous ones.  They do nothing for me.  I also like small floral prints, leopard print (duh), and skinny diagonal stripes like the skirt I bought here.

source And that is the skinny on skirts!  Start small at first and then build up to those bolder prints and colors.  As you have seen here today (and as you will see on the Pinterest board) there are many ways to style skirts. They are a great piece to have in your wardrobe and they come in an array of colors and prints, so you can't really go wrong with them.  Check out some of the other styles on our Pinterest board below and tell me your thoughts on skirts in the comments!

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For those of you that are new, the third Tuesday of every month is a post dedicated to talking about books.  I link up with several other like-minded bloggers and we all geek out over each others posts for a few days and then we all go back to our regularly scheduled blogging programs.  

If you are a reader and a blogger, you should totally join us! 

Anyway, on to this months questions: 

MAY

1.  What are you currently reading?  Tell us about it?

I am about halfway through The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult.  I started the book last month when I was too exhausted to even hold my head up, but I have made progress!  It's been a really good book so far and it will be the first book to knock off my list for the summer reading challenge 

2.  Do you judge a book by its cover? What cover elements make you not want to pick up a book?

I am turned off by half-naked men and/or women on the front of a book.  This is why I don't read most romance novels.

3.  Do you participate in any other book-ish link ups? Tell us about them so we can join next time.

Literary Junkies is the only one I participate in, but I am excited to find more to link up with!

4.  Have you ever watched a movie that was better than the book version?  Explain yourself. 

This has never happened to me.  Every book that I have read that has a movie attached to it has always been better than the movie.  Here's why:  Usually, the movie leaves out things that I think are important to the story or they change something crucial and I am left feeling betrayed.  Dramatic?  Maybe.  

5.  Summer is here! Do you read more often during any particular season?

I actually read more in the Spring and Summer than I do any other time.  This is actually strange to me because I tend to hibernate in the Fall and Winter and you would think that I read more.  I don't.  I don't know how to even explain that. 

6.  What is the worst book you have read this year?  Why?

I am going to get clobbered for this.....The Book Thief.  I just couldn't get into it!  I tried really hard for about three weeks, reading a little every day, and I finally decided that I couldn't read the book.  I think the way it is written has a lot to do with it.  

That's it for this months Literary Junkies!

Psst!  Have you entered my giveaway yet? 

I have to tell you all about my latest make up find!  I was over browsing around on e.l.f one night and came across their mineral infused face primer while searching for something that would help my face appear more polished when wearing make up.  I read some of the reviews and decided to give it a try for the whopping six bucks that it would cost me. 

I got it pretty quickly (along with some other things I had ordered from e.l.f) and I was so excited to get the stuff, I decided to show you all.  Some of you may have seen this on IG a few weeks back.

This was a good mail day. :)

I was really excited to try it out and when I did, I was amazed at the results!  This stuff makes my face look like it did in my twenties!  (For those of you that remember, that is just a little over ten years ago.) I got so excited I told my best friend and she bought some and she loves it too!

You want to see what this primer can do?

This is before primer...
(Yea, see....face needs a little help...)

And....AFTER!

The results are staggering, right?  I think what I am most impressed with is that it hides all my redness!  I purchased the tone adjusting green when I ordered and it did exactly what it said it was going to do.  I love it!  For six bucks, you can't beat it!

It goes on like SILK!  You feel like you are massaging SILK into your FACE! It doesn't leave a weird residue and it works well with my foundation and powder, so no clumpy face here, just a smooth and flawless finish.

This primer from e.l.f comes in four shades:

• Clear: Basic prep
• Tone Adjusting Green: Minimizes redness and combats blotchy skin
• Brightening Lavender: Good for uneven skin tones and to brighten dull or yellow tones
• Radiant Glow: Helps to cover dark spots and uneven skin tones

Like I said, I got the green and it completely removes all the redness from my face. Before I started using the primer, when I would finish my make up, you could still see the redness under my foundation.  It drove me crazy.  I would see these girls walking around with porcelain doll faces and I would silently scream, "How do they DO that!?"

And now I feel like I have been let in on the biggest beauty secret in the world: face primer.

Did I mention you can also buy this at Target? ;) Yes. Go.  Go to the make up aisle at Target and pick you up a six dollar bottle of pure genius.

Or...If you are feeling lucky...

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN 2 BOTTLES OF YOUR CHOICE OF PRIMER!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This giveaway will close at 12 AM CST Friday, May 23, 2014.  Winner will be notified before 11:59 PM CST Friday, May 23, 2014.  

**All opinions expressed in this post are my own.  I was NOT compensated for this post by e.l.f or Target.  I simply just loved the product and wanted to tell you all about it.  Then, I felt generous and decided to gift two bottles to one of my dear readers. :) 

**Giveaway ONLY for US residents, 18 years of age and up. 

Here I am-finally getting around to writing this next wardrobe staples post on pants.  A couple of weeks ago we talked about tops and, I must say, you all responded to it much better than I had anticipated, so, thank you!  Keep sharing and spreading the word!  It's working, ya'll!

So, anyway...pants.  Despite the summer-like temps here lately in the Midwest, I am still going to talk about them because they are a necessity.  I know-you are probably like, "How hard is it to buy pants?  You just get them."  Oh no, my loves.  You do not just go get a pair of pants....you get a wardrobe staple.

Let me break this down for you: 

Pants

• Jeans in a medium to dark wash
• One pair of neutral colored pants (black, tan, grey, etc.)
• Either another pair of neutral colored pants OR a pair of pants in a secondary color

Jeans

Gotta have at least a pair of jeans in your wardrobe.  I prefer dark jeans simply because I think they make me look thinner and more seems to go with them color wise.  There are a plethora (ha-see what I did there?) of ways to wear dark jeans, but my fave way to style them is like this: 

This will take you to the pin.

Neutral Colored Pants

I like to refer to these as "interview pants."  Back in the day, I had about five or six pairs of these.  In black.  Different styles, mind you, but all the same color.  Try to break it up a bit.  If you already have black, pick you up a grey pair or a tan pair.  It doesn't hurt.  You would be surprised what you can do with grey and tan pants. 

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Pair of Neutral or Secondary Colored Pants

This is where you can get a little expressive with yourself if you would like.  Try on some colored bottoms.  I love the maroon, teal, and plum skinny jeans I see all the time.  However, I am not running to try on skinny jeans, so, I opt for leggings.  Comfy, stylish, and cute?  I'm in!

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I took the time to load up our Pinterest board with some style ideas for you to get the creative juices flowing like I did the last time.  You will see that at the end of the post.

I also wanted to take a moment to kind of apologize for my hiatus last week.  The weather was so great last week that I felt compelled to enjoy the sunshine.  I spent most of the time playing with L, reading, and working on the yard.  It was great!  Did I miss blogging?  Yes, but, I needed the break.  It was nice to recharge, but hopefully now I will be back to my regularly scheduled blogging program.






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Today I am linking up with Ashley over at A Cute Angle  for the Go Green Accessories Swap that I participated in.  The idea was to swap green accessories with our randomly selected swap partner in hopes to spread the word about mental health awareness.

Ashley just so happened to get my name!  She emailed me about what kind of green accessories I liked, but she managed to surprise me with one of my gifts.

Are you ready to see?

Ashley got me a beautiful green scarf, pretty green nail polish, and to my surprise, MINT DARK CHOCOLATE M&Ms.  I LOOOOVE mint dark chocolate M&Ms.  I didn't even tell the girl!  It's like she knew!  I already ate the M&Ms and the scarf is waiting patiently to be worn as is the nail polish.  

This swap was my first one.  I had heard about them before, but never had the guts to try one.  I'm glad I tried this one.  It gets the word out about mental health awareness which is something I am passionate about and I got to try something new.  I look forward to doing more swaps, so if you are a blogger and wanna do one, let me know!  I would be more than happy to collaborate or participate in another. 

That's all for me today.  I know you guys haven't heard from me much this week, but I actually found myself enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having.  We've been outside a lot and it has been pretty good for my frame of mind. Sometimes, you just need some sunshine. 

Have a great weekend all and I will see you back here next week while I catch up on all the posts that I had intended to write, but did not.  Oops.  #bloggerprobs