Happy Monday all! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. My only gripe is that the weekend is too short. I think we should start a national campaign to make Monday apart of the weekend. Who is with me?!!!

Okay I have to gush over Viola Davis. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t think she had a chance of winning best actress because of Meryl Streep. I was pleasantly surprised when she won. I’ve been a fan of Viola Davis’ work since her reoccurring role on “Law & Order: SVU” back in 2003. She has largely been relegated to supporting roles but she always brought her A game no matter the content. In 2008 she received her first Oscar nomination for “Doubt” only after appearing on the screen for EIGHT MINTUES. That’s how good she is. I hope the Academy recognizes this again and gives her long awaited due.

After reading Jessica Kane’s (fatshionchic.blogspot.com) post about stepping out of her comfort zone, it inspired me to do the same. I’ve always been convinced that soft, flowy dresses were not for me. I believed that those kind of dresses made me look bigger. So when I came upon this Ellen Tracy dress at Nordstom Rack, I was hesitant but the mix of purple, blue, red and black snake print made me chuck my apprehension aside (there are also flecks of green throughout the dress). The sheer poet sleeves are feminine and soft. The dress came with a fabric tie belt but I opted to wear my Eloquii Obi belt for more definition. I paired the dress with my red beaded Old Navy necklace and my Lela Rose for Payless peeptoe booties (I scored these for $19 during the Christmas holiday).

What inspires you to step out of your fashion comfort zone?

Dress: Ellen Tracy
Belt: Eloquii
Necklace: Old Navy
Shoes: Lela Rose for Payless