Amanda Hawkins

I'm not a journalist but I play one on TV.

That One Time I Wore a Different Blazer Each Day of the Week

Back in February — when it was fitting to wear heavier clothes in the chilly weather — I decided to wear a different blazer each day of the week. I actually own several more blazers than the ones posted below, but rarely utilize them in my work and street style. I find it much easier to throw on a top, black jeans and loafers than to actually think about creating fun outfits.

This week allowed me to play with my clothes in different ways and by the end of the week I felt inspired to ditch my normal work uniform and opt for playing with my clothes in fun and different ways.

Monday called for a successful pairing of different patterns and plain skinny jeans.

Floral blazer, blue and white striped top and denim jeans.

Floral blazer (Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s) blue and white striped top (Gap) and denim jeans (Levi’s Made & Crafted).

 

On Tuesday I realized that nothing beats a crisp white top, bright-colored blazer and a statement necklace to pull it all together.

Teal blazer, white top, denim jeans, pink loafers and a multi-colored drop necklace.

Teal blazer (Piperlime), white blouse (Nordstrom), denim jeans (Levi’s Made & Crafted), pink loafers (Gap) and a multi-colored drop necklace (gift).

 

On Wednesday I felt simple-chic in a classic white Oxford, hunter green skinnies and my new red glasses.

Black fitted blazer with a white button-up Oxford, green jeans and pink loafers.

Black fitted blazer (Urban Outfitters), white button-up Oxford (Gap), green jeans (Uniqlo) and pink loafers (Gap).

 

To get me through the end of the week, on Thursday I opted for my favorite cat blouse (yes, I own more than one cat shirt) and a bright pink blazer.

Pink cropped blazer with a cat-printed top and black jeans.

Pink cropped blazer (H&M), cat print blouse (American Apparel) and black jeans (Uniqlo).

 

And on Friday I kept it comfortable in a cotton over-sized blazer, worn-in black jeans and classic white Converse.

Cotton boyfriend blazer in charcoal gray with a black tank, black jeans and white Converse high-top shoes.

Gray cotton blazer (Express), black tank (Target), black jeans (Uniqlo), white high-tops (Converse) and longitude/latitude necklace (Etsy).

 

And I’m pretty sure I haven’t worn a blazer to work since March. What should my next office fashion challenge be?

Nail Time!

Nail post time! Or better known in my head as “I’m really impressed with my ability to paint my own nails that I have to show off my perfectly sculpted cuticles and impeccable paint jobs” post time!

Once upon a time I cut off all of my hair and no longer felt feminine. I loved the cut but I was missing that sense of prettiness. I vowed to find my femininity again! I searched low… I searched high… I needed a solution. My answer was a commitment to always have my nails painted and have kept up with this habit since late 2010.

Over the past few years I’ve perfected the quick paint with minimal destruction, usually painting my nails during Sunday night programming. However, nail painting has turned into an every-three-days activity, a sort of paint-at-my-desk-when-I’m-waiting-for-our-CMS-to-load kind of thing. My coworkers can attest to this as they frequently smell nail polish remover and lacquer in our cubicle.

Read the rest of this entry »

“The love feelings are there.”

Hey ya’ll (yes, it’s back to “ya’ll”) and welcome to this week’s installment of The Bachelor recap! I intentionally waited until today (riiiiight) to update because I updated this blog last Thursday and if I have to wait a week+ to watch then you have to wait a week+ to read! Boom, I have the power!

This week… Beliz! 6 incredible women! Jumping off helicopters! Courtney and Ben make out time! Dramaz~* with the other ladies and Courtney! All that and more tonight… on The Bachelor.

BB (Bachelor Ben, duh) introduces us to Beliz and the (name drop!) Coco Beach Resort all while wearing a man tank top –- the best kind of tank top if you ask me. What should we call this? A mank top? A disgusting shirt that should never be worn by the male species ever again? Herp derp?

#supladies

Read the rest of this entry »

“Well, first, how are you?”

Hi lady lovers and sorry I am so late with this week’s recap of The Bachelor! It was my birthday this past weekend and work has been stressful and then last night I was going to watch Monday’s episode at home but my cable wasn’t working and then my Flash plug-in wasn’t working on my computer… stop. No excuses. I’m late. If I were on this show I don’t think Ben would give me a rose. *tear*

Now, I haven’t even started this week’s episode yet and I’m already guessing that Ben will say that Panama City “is the perfect place to fall in love!” I’ll try to note it each time he does. That reminds me, did you all see “Shit Girls Say on The Bachelor?” It really opens your eyes to how repetitive they all sound. It’s all, “we have a connection” this and “I really feel a connection” that and sobs and heavy sighs and tears. It makes me just plain giddy just to watch this episode now! *THREE SPOONS OF SARCASM, PLEASE*

Now that it’s down to nine ladies, tonight we have Ben thinking he could really spend the rest of his life with some of these women! And waterfalls! Courtney stalking Jamie (who?) and drama with Casey! Did someone die? Why is she leaving the show? All that and more tonight… on The Bachelor.

Read the rest of this entry »

“You’ve done every thing you want to do?” (Really?)

Dramatic sigh. Let’s get on with it then. Welcome back lady-man-rose lovers to yet another installation of The Bachelor season 16 recap. Has it already been a week since the last post? Well, no, because I was a few days behind, but it seems as though this season is winding down rather quickly. With only a handful of episodes left and 11 ladies remaining, Ben F’s future wife will be chosen before you know it and I can vow to never watch another episode of this show again. The finale is the only thing I look forward to these days. Looks like the “Side-Eye of Shame” Award goes to me tonight.

Tonight in Vieques Puerto Rico: dramatic music! More Courtney drama! NUDITY! Actual, PG-13 blurred out naked parts and some tongue! I couldn’t be more excited for some action. And naturally few more “Oh my gosh, this is so beautiful!” and “This is an amazing place to fall in love!” Where isn’t a good place to fall in love, Ben?

After the ladies settle into their swanky new digs, Chris is here! What irrelevant speech is he going to give today? Oh, that’s right! The same one he gives each week: There will be two one-on-one dates and a group date this week and, finally, nobody will be left behind! This means Elyse will actually get some screen time and maybe Casey S. will utter more than two words. Maybe.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Every color of the rainbow!”

What’s up lady lovers? (That’s better than “hey ya’ll,” right?) and welcome to week FOUR of The Bachelor! I’m going to be honest here, I’m surprised I’ve kept up with this weekly recap. Not only do I have concentration issues but I find this program either incredibly awkward, incredibly boring or incredibly redundant with little to no in-between. Sometimes I wish I could just watch the show and not write about it, but then I realized, I would never watch this show! Oh well, I suffer for ya’ll! (Ah, there it is.)

This week Ben F. is taking the gals to Park City, Utah. No back story here! Just sweeping landscapes, mountain ranges and the screams of 13 ladies ringing from a cabin-like resort. Oh, and plenty of trees that prompted this little gem from Ben: ”The colors are every color of the rainbow!” Sometimes I just can’t.

After a bit more sob from Ben (I want the girls to experience the outdoors, memories of my father and grandfather in the wilderness, blah blah blah) Chris greets the ladies with some scary advice! Without rewinding to copy it word-for-word, if you get a one-on-one with Ben DON’T talk about the weather. Thanks, Chris, I think most of these ladies are functioning human beings and realize that the weather is a taboo topic on a date. Why is there a host on this show again?

Read the rest of this entry »

“Talk to me, Goose!”

Hey ya’ll (why do I keep introducing each blog with that?) and welcome to the recap of episode three of The Bachelor and the first blog post where I am actually on time! Get used to it because (hopefully) now each post will be updated as soon as the episode is over! I actually had a much easier time writing this post while watching it on my TV versus the computer, but now we don’t get any fun photos :( Oh well!

Last week was just a glimpse into Ben’s childhood in Sonoma and now it’s onward into manhood as the ladies venture to Ben’s current residence in San Fransisco. The gals are already getting into the bubbly in the limo so, like most episodes, we can except at least one drunken cry fest! Yippee!

Julia, Ben’s sister who kind of reminds me of Khloe Kardashian, also lives in San Fran. While quickly catching up over iced-tea, Ben says, “the girls are… (pause with a look of pure panic) incredible.” Subtle, Ben, subtle. What could have passed as a brief pause of elation for the fact that you have 16 women throwing themselves at you, I know what you really wanted to say. “Some of these girls are… straight up crazy!” Then he mouths “help me” as he tries to avoid the producer’s gaze. Ah, if only.

Read the rest of this entry »

Digging Deeper: Courtney’s Modeling Career

This week I would like to take a closer look into the modeling career of The Bachelor season 16′s resident bitch, Courtney. Now, most girls on reality television shows who claim they have “modeling careers” have really only appeared in local catalogs, ie: any contestant on America’s Next Top Model, but it appears that Courtney might actually have had a legitimate career prior to her appearance on The Bachelor.

After a quick Google search I discovered that, full name, Courtney Robertson not only has a fully functioning website (sorry Jenna) with photos and agent listings, but she has appeared on the cover of Fitness magazine and in commercials and several print advertising campaigns. It’s hard to tell how old Courtney is in most of these photographs (she is currently 28-years-old) but it totally looks like she was/is an actual working model. According to her site, Courtney has modeled for the likes of IZOD, Clarisonic, Scottsdale (yes, the city in Arizona) and has even impersonated Audrey Hepburn for a photo shoot.

Read the rest of this entry »

“I’m not, like, a girl.”

Hi ya’ll and welcome to next installment of The Bachelor recap, episode two! Last week’s review was over 3,000 words, yikes! I promise it will be much, much shorter this time around. Tonight the remaining 18 women travel to Ben F.’s hometown of Sonoma, CA for drama! Tears! And, oh Jesus, lots of making out! (That is going to be so comfortable to watch.) But the most important thing of tonight’s episode is…

#helpme

Scotch the Jack Russell Terrier! Kudos to Ben F. for having such a sweet pup. Fortunately, Scotch will be making quite a few appearances in this episode, which is yay! for me. It was such a nice departure from all of the other dogs. #woof

Read the rest of this entry »

Digging Deeper: Jenna’s Blog

Hi everyone and welcome to a segment I like to call Digging Deeper. On today’s episode we will be analyzing Jenna the Blogger’s blog, appropriately titled “The Over Analyst.” During her brief introduction on The Bachelor, Jenna is portrayed as the hip freelance journalist from New York City who spends her days sipping wine and over analyzing, how chic! Throughout episode one JB spends her time wine-crying about a self-created conflict with Mammoth Monica and accuses Ben F. of being “too calm” while everyone else was nervous. Classy! However, in the end, Jenna is presented with the final rose at the ~*Rose Ceremony*~ and she will live to see another episode. But don’t you want to know so much more about our favorite wino, JB? I know I do!

In proper investigative journalist form, I did a quick search on LinkedIn and hey! what do you know? I found JB’s profile, image to the left. (Side note: I’m very proud of myself for nicknaming her “JB” after “Jenna the Blogger” and then discovering her real initials are, in fact, JB!) And take a look at that! She studied at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. What a small, small world. With a connection in Ohio, maybe we are more alike than I thought?

Read the rest of this entry »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.