Recapping 2015: April and May.

Another post filled with two months' reviews and recaps. Today I am covering April and May. With the start of Spring come changes, Spring-cleaning, fun fashion challenges, flu season, sick bugs and for our family personally, April an May last year were challenging, difficult months. Read on, below.

April was another great month fashion-wise and a very busy blogging month with a whooping 24 posts. But on a personal note, it was a difficult and heart-breaking month for me because Vivian got sick a lot and very often this month. I ended up quitting my job at the end of March so I could be close to Vivian while the doctors were figuring out why she would get sick so often and what was wrong with her. Thankfully I worked out my other job's schedule (for my teaching) almost always so I only missed a couple of days of work. My in-laws and my husband were all helpful and by Vivian's side when needed, too. 

Blog-wise I was such a busy bee. I have no idea how I managed 24 posts altogether and showed you guys 29 outfits, which means an outfit a day pretty much. In actuality I usually change clothes twice a day but not all outfits are photographed and even the ones photographed are not all blogged (due to time restraints and other reasons). In my 29 posts, I did four two-fer posts (1, 2, 3 - a Mom to Work Wear Post also features one of my Favorite Outfits this month, 4) and it was the month I started doing the Favorite 10 challenge started by Sarah. We were to chose 10 items (clothing, shoes and accessories) and wear at least one of those items each day for a month. Now, it was not a capsule challenge but it does make you remix your closet and love your accessories and clothes even more. So, since I started this challenge the second week of April and the temperatures at the time were starting to warm up I wore a lot of Pastels like Mint and Blush, with my other top/favorite 10 pieces. Here are a few of those outfits featuring some of those pieces (Watercolor Blazer, Floral Silk Scarf, Blush+Navy Pencil Skirt). I also did the Budget Babes Collaboration with RACHEL from Garay Treasures and MARIA from Not Fancy Just Life (who was pregnant at the time but hadn't yet shared the news on her blog). The idea of the Budget Babes was to wear a head-to-toe look for $75 or under, showing at least one of the current Spring trends. Here are the Budget Babe Posts from April: Spring Bags, Slip-on Loafers, Pastels (one of which made it below into my Top Looks). As if all these challenges were not enough, I followed some of the prompts from "Create 28 Lovely Spring Looks" a challenge by Carrie. 

With the start of Spring, my Nude Patent Leather Pumps came out of my closet and I accessorized with a few Statement Necklaces to jazz up my outfits and add a color pop, sometime. Like I said pastels like Mint and Blush were part of my April closet quite a bit. But you also saw me in White or Cream and in Khaki or Nude. And, just like in March, I continued wearing Marsala - the color of 2015 - quite a bit in April, too. You saw my Gray Cloche a couple of times, some Sparkly Sweaters, a few hats, a little leopard, a New Favorite Striped Dress and my Adorable Turquoise Loafers many times (they were the only shoes I chose as part of the Favorite 10 items for the April challenge). This Plaid Shirt was worn/shown 4 times in April, too. I guess you can count it as my 11th item that I remixed that month. I also co-hosted The Creative Closet where the theme that week was Pastels - perfect for Spring. Last but not least I reviewed a pair of Gorgeous Glasses from Firmoo. I flashed back to some Pretty Spring/Summer Dresses. And my sweet Vivian made it to the blog three times, like wearing this Red+Purple Outfit. Since there were a ton of outfits in April, I came up with a Top 7 looks rather than a top 5 (like I said, I posted 29 outfits). And as you will notice from my favorite outfits, short dresses+sheaths and my white skinny jeans made several appearances in April 2015, which are all perfect for Spring, I say. =)

My Most Favorite Post of April 2015.

This was one of the earliest posts from April and one where Vivian made an appearance. This ended up being my favorite because Vivian was so healthy and happy then and she is wearing one of my favorite dresses she has owned: this Dark Chambray/Denim Dress embroidered with flowers and a bear. That smile alone (picture above) makes it a favorite post. Also, in this post I showed you two ways to wear a Wool Feminine Cloche Hat. My Gray Cloche Hat features a beautiful bow on the side and it is made of a thick wool so it keeps you warm, especially if you have just washed your hair. Both outfits are just mom-on-the-go outfits featuring black skinny bottoms and sweaters with a layer or two. But they are both stylish, pretty colorful and put-together. Check out the post (linked above) for more.

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This head to toe Blush Look was the one I wore for the weekly Tuesday link-up I co-hosted "Creative Closet" where the theme that week was "Pastel Me". This Baby Pink/Blush Satin Silk + Lace Mini Dress is perfect for a date night and if worn with tights and black pumps, plus a blazer on top, can totally work for your office too, as long as the dress-code is not to strict. Like you probably don't want to wear this dress if you are a lawyer. But I accessorized the Blush with a Light Coral Necklace, a Silver Crystal Bracelet, a Hot Pink Watch and a Turquoise Wristlet Clutch. My husband loved how I looked and I did too.

Oh May, you were so grey! I didn't mean for that to rhyme but May was the worst month of 2015, hands down. As you can tell, it was also the month with the fewest amount of posts: 16 total. May is my birthday month, my husband's birthday month and last year was the third time I celebrated Mother's Day. But despite all that, it was a sad month where I shed many tears. It was such a bittersweet Mother's Day because I spent it all day in the hospital with a very ill Vivian. So yeah on a personal note May was such a sad, unhappy and worrisome month for me and my entire family. My beautiful Vivian was hospitalized for 11 days and 10 nights. I spent every single moment in the hospital with her. In Albania, the mother is usually allowed to stay with the sick child at the hospital, especially if they are too young. My Vivian was hooked to IVs and took a lot of medications while in the hospital, but she came out of it feeling a lot better and almost fully recovered. I wrote about this difficult journey on my blog too, which explained my absence from blogging, commenting, Pinterest and anything blog-related. 

But, style-wise for those 2 and a half weeks I did get dressed, I must say I put together some wonderful and feminine looks. Prior to Vivian getting sick, I had arranged two Special Birthday Posts for my 35th Birthday where several of you showed some Gorgeous Birthday Party Looks too wearing some very Pretty Dresses and both of those posts (1 and 2) tied for my favorite posts for May. Also, those outfits ended up being my favorites of the month. In May, I continued with the Budget Babes series on Fridays (picture above). Here are the outfits from the "Budget Babes" Collaboration, featuring Spring Trends: Black+White, Floral and Head to Toe White (also my most favorite outfit from this entire challenge, the last one we did too). This outfit almost made it in my top picks below but I wanted to mix it up a bit and show you at least one look featuring pants. I also had a few more looks featuring my favorite/top 10 items from April like with my Mint Sweater + Turquoise Loafers and Coral Statement Necklace. Color-wise, White was definitely the color of May. I actually wore 4 different (mostly) White Dresses and even faked a White Dress with my White Pencil Skirt. Floral was my favorite pattern of May 2015 and showed you a few Floral Skirts as you can see from some of my favorite outfits below. Also, both in April and May I carried a few fun purses and clutches some of which were bright-colored.

I still did a couple of remix posts like with my Navy Sweater and last May I experimented with Grunge, wore a pop of Neon, remixed Joggers and even tried Sneakers with Skirts or Dresses. In May, I also started doing the Currently posts where I give real-life current updates. Also in May, I co-hosted a link-up with Jill and Carrie. And, my favorite remixing post possibly of the entire year was the one I did with Julie (who unfortunately doesn't blog any longer) where we each remixed a Floral Pencil Skirt showing you a Casual Outfit, a Work Outfit and a Sunday Mother's Day Brunch Outfit. I loved all of Julie's Looks, too. And one of those Outfits made it into my Top picks from May, clearly. All in all, I showed you outfits. Look at my favorites, below.

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My Most Favorite Posts of May 2015.

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This was the First Birthday Look I showed on the blog on my birthday date on May 4th to be exact. Everything I had on is new: Dress, Pumps (which were my favorite), Clutch and Earrings. A Fit+Flare LWD was what my closet needed. This one has Turquoise and Shimmery Metallic Flowers Embroidered off the side. All it needed is some Statement Pumps and very simple accessorizing like I did here with that multi-colored Pave Bracelet, Coral Clutch and Coral Statement Earrings. This post is tied for my favorite of the month with the one below it, because it was part of my Blog Birthday Party where several of you participated and looked gorgeous so make sure you click these two links to see everyone's beautiful looks.

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This was my second Birthday Dress for my Blog Birthday Party and this is the actual Dress I wore on my actual birthday (My 4th 2015). I wore this Dress to work and later to a little date with my husband and yes the flowers were from him. Once again I wore a New Dress, New Shoes and New Earrings (gifted by my girlfriend earlier that morning, for my birthday). I love the mixed prints on this navy dress and the built-in gold belt. I love that this dress has long sleeves. The Royal Blue Python Pumps and Red Python Clutch were the perfect accessories for it. And you can see some pictures of my husband and I in this post, too.

These recaps are fun to write but they take so much time. Which outfits above are some of your favorites? Anyway, I will be back tomorrow and Friday with two brand-new outfits. Tomorrow is a special one because it will feature a brand-new darling accessory. Then on Saturday I will be recapping my Favorite Golden Globes Dresses and then on Sunday I will recap June and July of 2015. Stay tuned. =)

P.S. Linking up with Alice, Allison, Amanda, Brooke with Erica, Carrie with Jill, Claire, Denise, Elizabeth, Grace, Jacqueline, Jalynn, Katherine, Kristen, Lauren, 

Leeanne, Linda, Lindsey, Liz, Madeline, Monica, Nicole, Rebecca, Sarah, Sharon, Tara, The Stylish Housewife, Victoria and The Wardrobe Stylist.