TIPPY TUESDAYS #14 - How to Style Cardigans

I love wearing cardigans! I hope you get some ideas from this remixing! I belt it, i tuck it in to wear a skirt, I button it up with a scarf, i pair it with patterns and colors. Ah the bliss of colored cardi's!!

Hope you enjoyed the series! xo Nav

TIPPY TUESDAYS #13 - 3 Back to School Looks, 1 Vest

Since it is Back To School period after the Labor Day Long weekend, I had to take this opportunity to present 3 easy back to school looks using one vest. The vest, I had bought from Forever 21 a month and a half ago (Lucky for you, now its on for sale!) I find it to be very versatile. I create many casual and work related looks with it and using many ideas from fellow bloggers, the options to use these vest are unlimited!

Vest - Forever 21 - buy here

The 3 looks I created below -  You can be comfortable yet looking like you made an effort to looking put together. Hopefully you like it! :)

Jeans: Thrifted, Shoes: Steve Madden via Winners, Sweater and Vest: Forever 21

Skinnies: Costa Blanca, Shoes and Vest: Forever 21, Shirt: Old Navy

Jean skirt: Thrifted, Shoes: Steve Madden via Winners, Shirt: Old Navy, Vest: Forever 21

Now that I have put them all together here, I quite like each look. I can wear all of them to the office also for casual Fridays! Yipeeeee!! :)

Let me know your thoughts below :) Come back and tune in for next Tippy Tuesdays episode next week.

TIPPY TUESDAYS #12 - 1 Mustard Shirt, 5 Looks

When I bought this mustard shirt, I was so excited but I had only pictured two or three outfits. But man! the possibilities are endless, I love to wear it. When I need one of those "pick me up" days, I wear this shirt and it makes me look sharp and bright.

At first if you notice in the first collage, I only ever wore it for casual looks, but later I started venturing it into my work looks and I love it :) Well, hopefully you enjoyed this post and got some ideas on how to wear a mustard shirt

Do you find a mustard shirt/Cardigan versatile piece of clothing?

TIPPY TUESDAYS #11 - 1 Printed Cardigan, 4 Looks

Who hasn`t done Tippy tuesdays IN A WHILE...........ME! Bad Nav.

In my closet, patterned cardigan makes a very classic piece because they can be multi-used (Is that a word?). They can be used as a pop of color if you got neutral outfit for the day, they can be paired with many colors like I did with Mustard and Indigo, also can be used as the 'finishing piece' that ties everything together.

I got the one above from H&M and I spotted this beauty on the clearance rack. I got it and have shown it some love and will continue to get more use out of this beauty piece. Yes, I find my clothes beautiful.

Now you tell me: Do you like printed cardigans? How do you like to wear them?

TIPPY TUESDAYS #10 - Fake the look of beauty sleep

Happy Tuesdays folks!

I mean there are several benefits to sleeping proper hours but you know sometimes life comes between and we don't get good sleep - the following some simple tips will help you look put-together and look more revived. So here we go:

FASHION:

1. Put on a bright colored top/dress/jacket to put some life and energy to your face :) Its funny how all of us look nicer in different colors so try it out. 

2. If you are not really in the mood for colors, you can always put on a chunky color beaded necklace (The Bigger the better) on a black/white neutral top. If not necklace, put on earrings - like vibrant colors or the crystals studs - kinda like people put on nice jewellery when they are going out somwhere - it makes you feel special and It will make you look a little put together! :)

HAIR:

1. Also think about wearing your hair up in a bun/pony tail/messy bun - whichever way you like. It kind of forces people to notice your features and look up in the eye. Once your hair is up and done, its done! You know its tempted to let hair down and cover the face with bangs and such. But if you really pull the hair back you will feel more awake.
2. Try putting nice colorful flower pins or headbands in hair - it feels all girl-ish and put together in no effort really!

MAKEUP:

1. Concealer is so important. I think for most people its in their everyday routine. I use Maybelline Dream Mousse, try to put it all the way up to your lashes. Trust me, if you cover to the top area where the lashes kinda start- it will look nicer and I learned this trick from a magazine. Dont just cover where its dark, go to the very top! You will look polished if you do that. (Check out My Most Used Products post to check out what other products I use in my morning routine)
2. Use the lightest colored eye shadow all over the lid. Try to stay away from the dark/deeper shades. Use masacara and curl those lashes - makes your eyes look awake.
3. Try using white eye-liner on the lower waterline. If white is too much, try peachy shade or beige color - will cover up all the redness
4. This one is my favourite - put on blush on those cheeks - i love coral blush from ELF. I use it almost everyday. It contributes to the glow on your face. You can use the red, pink hues types, whatever you like :)
5. Lipgloss does wonders toogain, I am not trying to say don't get as much sleep or look these are the alternatives to sleep. Because I think sleep is really important but I know sometimes even when I do have great sleep, I don't look well-rested you know.  These were just some of the ways to perk yourself up and on your way to have a better day.

What is your tip for looking awake for days - when you haven't rested well but still look put together? 

What to wear with Boyfriend Jeans - TIPPY TUESDAYS # 9

It is Tuesday - hooray! You may ask Hooray for what?? For another Tippy Tuesdays episode!!

Today I show you some ways to wear our boyfriend's jeans! or Fiancee or husband jeans, you know what i mean. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd. even if you dont have any sig.fig. (significant figure) in your life, worry not you can still wear them!

I love all 3 looks, 1st look can be worn for "Casual Fridays" for work.
2nd look: Going out with friends on the weekend, hanging out on the patio at a resturant, out shopping.
3rd look:  is downright very relaxed look, on a coffee date, catching a movie with friends.

Which one is your favourite???

and I just wanted to link one of my first and the one that got huge response rate is this TIPPY TUESDAYS episode: http://navlandstyle.blogspot.com/2011/03/tippy-tuesdays.html

Tippy Tuesdays #8 - Classic Must-Haves

Hello everyone, First of all I have noticed some more people signing on the blog. Welcome on board! and thanks for following..really means alot to me! If you have any special requests or questions or to drop a line, you can always e-mail me at: sonia.garaha@gmail.com.

So, its Tuesday meaning its time for a tip. Today's tip I am talking about Classic pieces that every women/girl should have in their closet. I have watched and read countless articles about what are considered "classic Investment worth pieces". Remember these are the basic pieces, once you have these you can build on it. I have definitely been lacking in this department (I am weird, I am aware) because I have always been a fan of colors. But if you are like me, something from the down below list would help you out..So here is what I came up with:

1. Trench Coat

2. Black Blazer

3. Fitted White Blouse (with or without emblishments)

4. Basic Black Pant

5. Great quality bark-washed jeans (Boot-cut or skinny Jeans are most flattering on most body types)

6. White and black Tank Tops

7. Pencil Skirt (I have once in black, grey, red, blue-denim)

8. LBD - Little Black Dress

9. Wool Cashmere sweater

10. Warm-knitted wool cardigan/ ligt weight summer cardigan

So what are some of your classic pieces in your closet? You can mention some or all staples, I would love to read what other people consider Staples. Please do let me know in the comments below. I love to read them :) Thanks for stopping by and Have a great day!

Love, Nav

Tippy Tuesdays #7 - Ways to wear Coral outfits for Spring/Summer

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! I had a bit of trouble posting this post today (sorry for the overload).

Anywhoooooo, onto more exciting things.. I got inspired to do a post like this because one of my fav bloggers Lady M does these posts and I love them! So here we go: Since spring is just around the corner, I thought I could do this post about coral colors and they are everywhere this season..love love!

I think I could rock all 3 of them! lol LOOK at my overpowering confidence.

Which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for stoppping by. Hope you have an AMAZING day!  :)

Love, Nav

Lets Keep track of our Money (TIPPY TUESDAY #6)

Date	Item	Price	Need	Want (Shopping)	Gift
Jan 4th	Wal-Mart (Basic Necessities)	$17.19	$       5.00	$                 12.19
Jan 5th	H & M - jacket	$77.00		$                 77.00
Jan 4th	Superstore - Grocery	$58.00	$    58.00
Jan 6th	Bus Pass	$86.00	$     86.00
Jan 6th	Wal-Mart (Grocery)	$22.97
Jan 6th	Dollarama	$7.42		$                  7.42
Jan 7th	Car Gas	$44.00	$     44.00
Jan 23rd	Shopping	$82.00		$                 82.00
Jan 26th	N. Birthday Gift	$44.00			$     44.00
TOTAL		$438.58	$193.00	$            178.61	$  44.00
		100%	44%	41%	10%

Happy Wednesday everyone! It means Tippy Tuesday (a day late -sorry!) and Today I am sharing with you a tool I developed in Excel a while ago to keep track of my spending (a.k.a. Financial Tip).

If you have made it reading this far, great job! Because I know many people who hear budget and they run as far and as fast as possible.

At first I started just a simple tracking sheet - where and on what have I spent my money but over the years I have been wanting to tracking where does most of my money go. So I decided to track some %'s how much is need, want, gift for others. Like in the above chart, I know that through all my spending, I have spent 44% on need, 41% on want (ususally called shopping), and 10% on gift for others. I can see month to month where I tend to spent most and where I could possibly cut back.

Above is a real snapshot of how much money I had spent in Jan 2011 as a sample. If you know how to work with excel, it is really easy to make and go ahead with tracking your spending.

Caution: It was a little inconvenient at first trying to track everything on where I spent my money. Some days I did not want to do it. But then I felt like I had no control of my finances. Then doing this exercise might make you feel guilty on how much we consume. Thats why I put the sheet into percentages so we only target one category at one time. Sometimes, instead of keeping tabs everyday, I sit on the weekend and take out all my receipts and started tallying. or if you are a keener like me, what I do is input what I purchased as soon as I get home after my trips.  It has led me to make more mindful decisions about when and where I spent my money.

Let me give you how this tool has benefited me:

During my first year of school, I used to buy breakfast everyday (thats 7$ everyday - over a month that is $210 and over a year it is about $ 2500). Crazy right? and I didnt even realize or even feel guilty when purchasing breakfast because in my mind I had justified it as a need so it was ok to spend that money. Well guess what I started getting up half an hour early everyday to have breakfast and save $2500. I still do go out sometimes to grab breakfast still but as a treat, not necessity.

We all want to acheive many goals in our life and many of us have dreams such as saving for a down payment for my future house, family vacations, wedding, funds for a rainy day, saving money for some major projects in life - I have made many tools like this one, if you are interested, leave me a note below and I would love to share more tools like getting the most out of our income, acheiving financial goals with a financial plan.

As a side note, I am a fanatic when it comes to financial planning. I love to read, write about the tools I have learned over the years. But I am no expert! I am only sharing what I know, what I have learned and decided to pass it on my readers!

If you are interested e-mail me at: ngaraha@ualberta.ca and I can send you the template by e-mail. I hope you enjoyed this Tippy Tuesday episode. Please leave me comments below to give me feedback. I love to read comments, feedbcak and questions. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day! =)

Stay Tuned for a very special Financial Planning book review I will be doing soon!!!

How do you track your spending?

TIPPY TUESDAYS #5

Happy Tuesday!

How do you store your belts? Do you put them in a drawer and never look at them or use them because they are so tangled and bent?

AND

 Where do you store your bracelets? Would you like to learn how to store them or hang them where you can see them and coordinate with your outfits?
If you need answers to all the above questions......you have come to the right place. Let me give you a little background story!


I was pretty frustrated myself at the thought of organizing my belts and bracelets - 2 things i need on day to day basis and i always found them tangled. but no more of that because I found a way to organize that and I hope this will help you 2!


So I am going to share with you an effortless and cheap way to store your belts and your precious bracelets! (with pictures) 


All you need is:

• 1 wired hanger (open the top of it where it kinds closes - you need to rewire the top - refer to pic below:

• 1 solid hanger which can hold some weight - could be wooden or sturdy plastic ones
• All your belts
• All your bracelets
• Shower Curtain Hooks - 3 or 4

Let me show you first the bracelet organization first:

and this is how I store my bracelets in my little jewellery section - they stay in one place, untangled, and I can see all of them at once when getting ready in the morning.

Now onto the belts!

Get yourself this kind of show curtain hooks (with a little opening) - I got mine - a pack of 5-6 for $1 from Dollar Store

 Now take your belts buckles and insert them through that opening showed above - I put in about 4 belts per hook.

Then grab your hanger and insert the hook through the hanger now like in the picture 

Repeat this until all your belts are hooked onto the hanger. Mine hangs like this at the front of my closet. I dont have to bend them anymore (bending them in the past ans shoved into the drawer damaged many of my belts).



So was this easy to learn? I hope the instructions made sense. It was so easy and using stuff lying around the house with minimal purchases, made me feel good about this one =]

I hope I saved you some minutes getting ready in the morning. How do you store your belts and bracelets, earrings, scarves? Please do share! Sharing is caring!

Till next time,

Nav