A Walk in the Park + My Favorite J.Crew Winter Coat

Coat, Jeans, and Hat - J.Crew / Scarf - J.Crew Factory / Sweater - Gibson / Boots - L.L.Bean / Sunglasses - Amazon

What are your Saturdays looking like these days? I knew as a parent our slow Saturday mornings would turn into days at the park, but it's been weird having the playgrounds closed! We're still trying to figure out what we can bring to the park to make things a little more fun (wind socks? beach frisbees?) but this weekend Mia was very into the leaves and pointing at doggies so that was enough :) 

After having some beautiful weather, things took a turn this week in Chicago so we had to really bundle up. I normally am a puffer coat girl, all the way. Wool coats are fine down to about 40 degrees, and then I usually put them away in favor of my big puffy warm winter coat. But the J.Crew Lodge Coat is a total game-changer. I also have the J.Crew Chateau Parka and have tried a few of their other coats like the Cocoon Coat and the Lady Day Coat, and none of them come anywhere close to how warm the Lodge Coat is. 

There are a couple of reasons it's so much warmer. One is the knit cuffs and double collar. These completely seal the edges of the coat, so no Chicago winter winds can blow in. The cuffs are so big and warm that I don't always need gloves with it. This coat also has an amazing lining. The interior is quilted instead of just a lining under the wool, and it is so warm and cozy. And then the third difference is the fit. Most of J.Crew's wool coats are a swingy fit through the body, which is flattering but can be breezy. The Lodge Coat is cut a little closer to the body, which also adds to the warmth factor. 

As far as sizing goes, I took my usual size in a tall for the Lodge Coat and the Cocoon Coat. For the Chateau Parka, you can stick with your normal size or go down a size, and for the Lady Day Coat I suggest going up 1-2 sizes, definitely 2 sizes if you're curvy on top. 

And now, here's a bunch of photos of Mia playing in leaves, which she realized are very fun for throwing ;) 

Coat, Jeans, and Hat - J.Crew / Scarf - J.Crew Factory / Sweater - Gibson / Boots - L.L.Bean / Sunglasses - Amazon

Mia's Coat / Mia's Hat / Mia's Boots (highly recommend these!! I went up 2 sizes for Mia so they'll fit a little longer, and the velcro on back means they still stay on her ankles.)

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Casual Everyday

Sweater - Abercrombie / Jacket and Booties - J.Crew / Jeans - Madewell

Has your daily style gotten a lot more casual since the pandemic hit? I spent the spring and summer fairly dressed up because I love a good house dress or skirt. You look dressed up but really it's basically like wearing nothing. But now that it's chilly out and I have to get dressed first thing every morning to get Mia up and out the door for preschool, I've been leaning way in on comfy, easy pieces. 

Enter, this sweater. It's amazingly soft, it's long enough to wear with leggings, and it's thin so it's really easy to layer. Three major wins for me! Plus, I mean, it's striped, so what's not to love? 

I usually toss this on with leggings and a denim jacket for preschool dropoff, but this outfit is from last weekend when we drove out to visit Jeff's mom for the day to get her a little Mia time. (Sidebar: we've relaxed a little from our initial pandemic state of not seeing anyone to only seeing our small circle of family, which honestly makes so much of a difference for me mentally. Hope you are being careful!!) I added my favorite quilted field jacket that I've had for a few years now and still love. It's surprisingly warm (like, fall in Chicago warm, not winter in Chicago warm) and has really big pockets which are great for holding all of my Mia things on walks. It also comes in tall sizes which is a major plus for me. 

Sweater - Abercrombie / Jacket and Booties - J.Crew / Jeans - Madewell

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The Best Leopard Mules

Jacket - J.Crew / Sweater (currently on sale!) - Madewell / Leggings - Zella / Shoes (also available here and here) - Sam Edelman / Bag (similar here and here) - Coach Factory / Sunglasses - Amazon

We haven't been shooting a lot of outfit photos lately, mainly because getting outside with the camera in daylight is hard enough when the sun starts setting earlier in the fall. Add a baby + not getting dressed very often + living in a fourth floor walk-up, and no, no we aren't taking many outfit photos. But I made special plans to get Jeff out with the camera with me over the weekend so I could bring you these shoes. Also known as the best shoes ever, my new favorites, what I will be wearing into the ground until it snows.

You may remember that I've been on the hunt for a good pair of fall shoes basically since July. I keep ordering mules and loafers and booties and returning them. I have very picky feet, and I can usually tell just from touching the heel whether or not I'll be able to wear a pair of shoes or not.

Well this pair? Straight out of the box I knew they were the real deal - so freaking comfortable. I immediately put them on and went to get Mia from daycare, which is over a mile round trip and usually requires sneakers. Not one blister, no pinched toes, no ache in my arches, and no slipping out (often a problem with mules)! I should have known off the bat they'd be good, Sam Edelman makes some of my favorite shoes.

In case the leopard isn't your thing, they do also come in black, brown, white, and snakeskin.

Jacket - J.Crew / Sweater (currently on sale!) - Madewell / Leggings - Zella / Shoes (also available here and here) - Sam Edelman / Bag (similar here and here) - Coach Factory / Sunglasses - Amazon

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That's So '90s

Sweater Tee - LOFT / Skirt (similar here and here) - BP / Booties (similar here and here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar here and here) - Coach Factory / Barrette - Forever 21

'90s style has been back for a couple of years now, at least with the youths ;) But this summer is when I really saw it hit the average adult consumer and not just tweens wearing tattoo chokers and Kylie Jenner in slip dresses. The '90s are back, and so are mock necks and socks with your boots and ditsy florals.

None of these pieces are distinctly '90s in and of themselves. I mean, it's just a short sleeve sweater, a mini skirt, booties, and a barrette. But wearing them all together, I felt like I could be strutting my stuff through the mall with Cher and Dionne. Or, you know near them while they talk about how I'm a tragic wannabe ;)

This brown color was around last fall, but is everywhere this year. I 100% jumped on the bandwagon - give me all of the brown! It's such an easy fall neutral and looks so good paired with black. Yes, you can wear brown with black! The only time you don't want to mix brown and black (or navy and black for that matter) is when the colors are really close to each other. Then it looks like you meant to match but didn't quite. When the brown or navy has enough contrast from the black that they look like distinctly different colors, you're good to go.

And yes, this barrette. I resisted the barrette trend for a while, and definitely said I would never ever wear them. And then I found myself inside of Forever 21 with an old store credit and suddenly found myself with a bunch of hair accessories in my hands. I guess I'm in on barrettes! If you're going to go in on a trend like this, definitely pick the cheapo stuff so when barrettes go back out of style in a year, you don't feel bad about getting rid of your four dollar pair.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find myself a slap bracelet and some Bonnie Bell Lipsmackers and put on an episode of Saved By the Bell. Peace out!

Sweater Tee - LOFT / Skirt (similar here and here) - BP / Booties (similar here and here) - Steve Madden / Bag (similar here and here) - Coach Factory / Barrette - Forever 21

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Fall Cardi Party

Cardigan - Target / Dress (similar) - Old Navy / Flats - Sam Edelman / Bag - Madewell / Earrings - LOFT / Watch - Wristology

I was in Target a couple weeks ago sans baby and therefore doing all the browsing (as one does) and happened upon this cardigan.

(Sidebar: is this really the way I'm writing? Currently have Schitt's Creek on the TV and Moira is definitely affecting my writing patterns haha.)

Anyway, I snagged a super similar cardigan while I was pregnant, and loved the fall version so I obviously had to get it. Plus it looks a heck of a lot like that Madewell cardigan that was so popular during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, but at $30 instead of a cool hundred it fit much better into my budget.

It dropped down to like 68 degrees in Chicago so I decided it was definitely time for fall and broke out the new cardi. Of course it was also sunny and humid so then I immediately had to loose the cardigan. And then the baby started pulling on my ears so I had to loose the earrings. And then we had to walk a couple miles so I swapped my flats for sneakers.

So really I wore this for about 20 minutes and then I was suddenly in a completely different outfit. But hey, someday I plan to wear this all day.

A girl can dream, right?

Cardigan - Target / Dress (similar) - Old Navy / Flats - Sam Edelman / Bag - Madewell / Earrings - LOFT / Watch - Wristology

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