Sweet as Pie

I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Weesha and Christina, who are incredibly sweet themselves, for giving me the Sweet Blog Award!!!!!!

The Rules:
Give this award to 10 Sweet Bloggers.
Make a post about the award including the picture and mention the person who gave it to you.
Put the award on your blog.
Let your nominated 10 know you've awarded them by leaving a comment.

Now I would like to pass this award on to these amazingly sweet bloggers (and I know some of you have already recieved this, but you're just so sweet you deserve two...or three!):

BBM

Iza

Jennifer

Dawnah

Stephanie

Carly

Linda

Jill

Gazel

Monique

Love to all of you sweeties! :)

♥Case

**EDIT: I just happened to see that the beautiful Jill and I both gave each other this award. Now that is some blog lovin' right there. :)

I Will Never Turn Down A Good Margarita...

Today I said goodbye to my very first class. I made it through my first year of teaching alive...and actually quite happy. It was a long road, but I am excited for the future. I certainly will miss my kids, though!

To celebrate the last day of school, a bar near downtown was hosting a special night out for teachers, so several of my co-workers and I felt that some very large margaritas were necessary. It was a pretty laid-back, outdoor patio, so here's what I wore:

I love this skirt...it makes my hips go POW! Like, not kidding- the skirt makes my waist look tiny and my hips look gigantic, so it is really not the most "flattering" on me, but I really don't care. I love the colors and the pattern. The belt is also one that is slightly too big on me but only clasps in one place, so I let it droop a little and I think it looks cute kind of slouchy!

Top: NY&Co, $12.99 (two summers ago)

Skirt: H&M, $9.95

Leggings: Target, $5.99

Belt: Came attached to another top from F21

Necklace: gifted

Sunnies: Avenue, $5.99 (before coupon)

Bag: Coach, $129

Flip-Flops: Old Navy, $2.50 ( I really need to cool it with the flip-flops...)

Wow! Outfit Total (minus the bag) was less than $40!

As you can see, I was very excited for both summer break AND the margaritas...which looked like this by the way:

In case you were wondering, yes, those are pitchers with straws in them. :)

♥Case

Want-It Wednesday & OOTD

This Week's Want is pretty simple...but it's actually something that I don't own at the moment. Last Thursday, the BFF and I went to see Sex and the City 2, and aside from being in total awe of every single beautiful dress in the movie, one thing that really stood out to me was the nail polish that Kim Cattrall's character, Samantha, wore throughout the movie. In a few of the scenes, she wore a gorgeous metallic gold color that would normally make me think of the holiday season, but paired with all the other bright colors in the movie, not to mention her perfectly bronzed skin, it seemed like the perfect summertime color.

Alright, so this isn't the best picture but it was all I can find. If you've seen the movie I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. So, here's the question for you...what is thee PERFECT gold nail polish? I want it! ;)

And today's outfit (and I apologize in advance for the craptastic photos, my camera is at school in advance so I can be sure to capture those last-day memories):

Dress: Lane Bryant, $19.99 (2 summers ago)

Shrug: NY&Co, $21.95 (after coupon)

Necklace: Daisy Fuentes, Kohl's, $14.99 (on sale last spring)

Shoes: Old Navy, $24.99 (this past fall)

I LOVE the top on this dress, so I wanted to make sure I got a close-up of it for you to see. The neckline is so cute, and I love the cut. Oh! and as you can probably see, I have been getting a ton of use out of these flats! I wore them in the winter with black tights and now I can wear them as regular peep-toes. So versatile!

Hello new followers! I am so excited to have so many GORGEOUS ladies following & reading my blog! I love reading your comments and opinions! Thank you so much! :)

Tomorrow is the last day of school!!!! And as a teacher, I am just as excited for summer break as the students!

♥Case

Review: mark. Tops & Skirt

As you probably read in my last post, I went ahead and ordered the mark. 2-pack of tops and reversible skirt from want-it Wednesday. To my delight, they arrived today (already! woah!) and I instantly decided that I needed to throw them on and test them out to see what I thought.

Just FYI as you read this, I ordered both the tops and the skirt in a size XXL. mark. runs by junior sizing, so this is the equivalent of a junior size 17. I typically wear anywhere from a 16-18 in pants (closer to 18) and anywhere from 14-18 (usually an XL) in tops.

Seeing Double Tops:
OK...I want to love these tops...as in both of them. I do love the blue and white stripey one. It fits me perfectly. The black, though, feels completely different and is a little too clingy for me. Both shirts say they are made of 95% cotton and 5% spandex, but the black one feels a lot more spandex-y and the stripey one feels a lot more cotton-y...if that makes any sense. It is just very strange to me because it is supposed to be the same top, just in a different color...but it is very clear upon even touching them that the black one feels more like spandex. I prefer the stripey one because it fits me a little bit looser. I just wish the black one fit the same way. I will still wear the black one though, I just know it won't be as comfortable as it could be.

Flip Over Skirt:
I really, really like the skirt so far...I love that you can just flip it to create something totally different...so it's really like getting two skirts for $28...not bad at all. It is incredibly lightweight so it is perfect for summer. It fits me pretty perfectly, too. I had plenty of room in it and felt very comfortable. The one thing I found kind of strange about it was that the printed side most definitely has a tag attached to it...and you NEED a seam ripper to get it off without ruining the skirt. And, well, I don't own a seam ripper. I guess I should invest in one of those anyway...but still.

Here are some photos that I snapped as I tried them on quickly (I couldn't decide if I liked the skirt high or low on my waist so I took pics of both):

Doesn't that print look gorgeous in the sunlight? :)

Notice how this top looks slightly looser than the previous one? Hmmm...

Both outfits:

So, for a total of $36.40 for both outfits (I paid mark. representative price because I happen to be one, non-rep price would be $56), I'd say these outfits are pretty successful. Hooray!

What do you think of them, seeing them on a real person?

I don't really actively sell mark. at all anymore because I am always so crazy busy with my job but if you like these outfits you can stop by my eBoutique site: www.mymarkstore.com/caseysmith or go to http://www.meetmark.com/. I believe this stuff will go on sale to the public around mid-June.

This week was absolutely insane at school. We had some fun activity going on literally every day and I am exhausted from spending so much time out in the hot hot sun! I hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend! I know I am going to use the extra day off to catch up on some rest and blog reading! Enjoy your long weekend!

♥Case

Want-It Wednesday: I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it!

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU to my lovely followers/readers...you are all wonderful and I appreciate you reading SO MUCH!!!!!! :)

Second...that's right! It's Want-It Wednesday! Here's what I want...(and am going to be buying with my paycheck on Friday...cha-ching!):

mark. (a brand of Avon) has quite a few very cute & trendy clothing items that tend to get overlooked because people don't typically think of them as a clothing brand. These "Seeing Double" tops, however, which come as a pack of 2 for $28, should not be overlooked! They are so cute and pretty much ideal for spring/summer. I love the length of the sleeves on these as well!

Along with the launch of this 2-pack of tops, mark. is bringing out the big guns when it comes to their versatility/customizability(is this a word? lol) , which is one of the main concepts of the brand. The "Flip Over" reversible skirt is one that I definitely want to try to see if it really could become a wardrobe staple...classic black skirt that can literally create an entire new outfit with a fun geometric print in a quick bathroom trip? Um, yes please.

I am slightly nervous about a reversible skirt, seeing as I've never even seen one before, let alone tried one out. I will be doing a review of these items once I receive them, to see if they are really as great as they are seeming at first glance...and I will let you know if it really is as amazing as it looks!

♥Case

The Key to My Heart

Hello friends! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was spent with the BFF and some other friends. Saturday night we hit a few bars and today we went out for lunch and some shopping. While we were shopping, we decided to pop into the Tiffany store and gawk at all of the beauties we knew we could not afford. So it's really no surprise that I'm going to tell you I fell IN LOVE with this:
The Tiffany key. SOOOO beautiful and exactly what I've been looking for (Oh, I forgot to mention I've been looking for a key necklace.) In the store, this pendant also had a miniature gold one on the chain with it. I really didn't want to leave it. If I had the means, you can bet this baby would be around my neck in no time. But alas, I will have to look from afar...le sigh.

On a happier note, the weather here in Ohio was beautiful today...about 85 degrees and sunny all day. Here's what I wore for lunch & shopping:

Tunic: Pure Energy, Target, $24.99
Tank: Old Navy, years ago
Leggings: F21, $5.80
Flippie Floppies: Old Navy, $2.5
Sunnies: Ray-Ban, prescription a few years ago

I love this tunic for multiple reasons: 1.) it's super lightweight and was perfect for a hot day like today, 2.) it's floral, and 3.) the length is perfect to throw on leggings and go! Yet another win for Pure Energy.

Monday is coming too soon...can't the weekend last just a little longer???

♥Case

Lorikeets!

Alright. I'm not looking very fashionable (at. all.) in this photo, but I just HAD to post it. Today we had our Kindergarten field trip to the zoo. It was certainly chaotic, but we had a blast and got to interact with some cool animals! The kids had so much fun, it really made me feel blessed to be a teacher. Not to mention I had fun too!

Seeing this picture of myself reminded me that the best accessory you can wear is a smile!! ;)

♥Case