Life Lately

Happy Monday! Not that that really deserves an exclamation point, but I am excited to get back on track this week after being super jetlagged and then out sick. I hope you're ready for a little photo overload - I'm sharing some snaps from our wedding, the honeymoon, and what's been going on since.

First - the wedding! I tried not to share too many details ahead of time both to keep things a surprise for our guests and to avoid stalkers so I'm excited to share them now. The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of my favorite places in Chicago, so I was super excited to get married at Cafe Brauer at the zoo - basically a dream venue.

Pre-wedding - we got ready at The Renaissance on the river

With all of our parents

We got married under the structure my dad built for my brother's wedding

First dance!

Dancing with my daddy

And more first dance

The Monday following our wedding we headed to Italy! Since it was our honeymoon and we wanted to do some relaxing, we started the trip with five nights in Positano, and then split the rest of our time between Rome and Florence. It was perfect - we got to lay on a beach for a few days but still had plenty of time for sight-seeing (neither of us had been to Italy before).

We somehow wound up with THREE selfie sticks (best invention ever, especially for traveling!) so get ready for a lot of those ;)

Positano: 

Tank (similar) and Skirt - Ann Taylor / Sandals - Michael Kors / Bag - Coach Factory / Necklace - Amrita Singh / Bracelet - BaubleBar

Dress (similar) - Target / Sandals and Bracelet - Michael Kors / Bag - Coach Factory / Necklace - Amrita Singh

A kayak tour through Positano Sea Kayak

Rome: 

Florence:

A day trip to Tuscany

Getting what was voted 2x to be the best gelato in the world in San Gimignano

And, if you aren't too overloaded...

While we were gone my sister had a baby! Mae Ellen (or MIGHTY MAE) was born on July 2nd, and I was so excited to meet her when I got back. This is the first grandchild on either side of our family so she is going to be spoiled to death.

And then we also had a little bet to settle up. You may remember Jeff and I are in a couple's fantasy football league and the girls somehow pulled off a win for 2014. Sure, the football season may have ended in January, but half the group got engaged or married since then, and we all had a million other obligations so we just got around to the celebration/humiliation this weekend with a little MANi-pedi time. The guys were dragging their feed a little (their faces when we walked in the salon were priceless - not only were they in girl zone, but there were THREE bachelorette parties) but they all ended up loving (or at least tolerating) their little bit of pampering. Oh, and they had to pay for mani pedis for all of the girls too ;)

So that's it, we're all caught up! I'd say life is about to go back to normal, but we have back to back weddings the next three weekends, so not quite ;) I hope you had a good weekend! 

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Hot Pink & The Sea

Dress (similar) - Old Navy / Necklace - Amrita Singh / Belt (similar) - Gap / Sandals - Sole Society / Bracelet - Michael Kors

I still owe you a little recap of our honeymoon, but I came down with a nasty bug this week (at least I didn't get sick during our trip!) and have been home sick from work the past couple of days, so a little outfit post is the best I can do. Hopefully next week things will be back to normal and I can share a few more pictures from Italy!

This outfit is from our first dinner in Positano, which is seriously one of the most beautiful and picturesque places I've ever been. We took these pictures on the balcony of our hotel, which had not just one or two little chairs, but three separate seating areas. I wanted to line up all of the chairs, a la Knocked Up.

Something about being near the beach always makes me want to wear all of the brightest colors together at once, hence the hot pink/turquoise/gold combo. It seems a little bright here in Chicago, but at the beach it's just right ;)

Have a great weekend!

Two more ways to wear a turquoise statement necklace:

 

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GIF Photo Booth

Oh hello, I'm back! No more pre-scheduled posts! Our wedding was absolutely perfect and the honeymoon was amazing and everything I hoped it would be and while we were gone Jeff and I became an aunt and uncle!! My brain is still a little sloshy though (thanks jet lag!) so I'll have to save a recap for a later date. Instead, today I'm going to share one of my favorite parts of our wedding - the GIF booth!

Lots of weddings have photo booths these days and we knew we definitely wanted one but wanted something with a little twist - enter SmileBooth. They offer regular photo booths and GIF booths, and obvs we had to go with the GIFs. I downloaded all of the pictures and GIFs from the wedding last night and just about died laughing, they are so freaking hilarious. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Bridesmaid Presents

Oh hey there! I figured I would be a little too tired to get a post out today (we just flew back to Chicago last night!) so here's a little previously scheduled goodness for your enjoyment.

I'm not sure I ever consciously thought about what I wanted to get as gifts for all of my bridesmaids, I had a lot of ideas and basically decided to go with all of them.

I started with these cute tote bags from The Knot that I personalized with everyone's first initial. A hint - if you're looking to buy something from The Knot they are almost always having a sale so never pay full price! I stared at these for a while, finally placed an order, and then two days later the price dropped even further. I emailed asking for a price adjustment and they gave it to me even though they're personalized, dropping my cost to way less than half each! I also got these personalized robes on sale from The Knot. The girls got pink robes, and I got a white one for myself with pink writing.

I was on a bit of a personalization kick (could you tell?) and decided to also make these personalized hangers with each of the girls' names to make our getting ready dress pictures a little cuter. I looked for plain hangers all over the place and ended up with these light stained ones from The Container Store. I also bought a gold paint pen to write the names - I ruined a couple hangers while practicing but eventually got all of the names on the hangers in pretty script and ended up with a couple nice new "mistake" hangers in my closet.

I think my favorite thing I got were these necklaces from Stella & Dot. I wanted to get something personalized but since I went a little overboard I decided to keep the necklaces a little more subtle. I love that these don't look like initial necklaces on first glance because of the pattern, but once you realize what they are you can definitely see them. The necklaces were a little more on the expensive side so once again I waited until they were having a Dot Dollars promotion, bought half of the necklaces, and then used the Dot Dollars to get the rest of them for free. There are two boxes because I bought the charms and the chains separately. I also got a necklace for me. I was going to try to wait to wear it until after I gifted out the necklaces to the girls, but then I got antsy. It's even made an appearance on KDTI (whoops!).

To round out the bags, I added a few bridesmaid essentials - water, a little snack bar, and these adorable individual cans of champagne. 

I handed these out before the rehearsal dinner and they were a huge hit. The robes & hangers (ahem, & lots of champagne) ended up in our pictures so you are sure to see more of them as I share some of our wedding photos. 

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The Ultimate Day to Night - Office to Bachelorette

Oh hallooooooo, Jeff and I are still living la dolce vita in Italy, so here is another previously scheduled post. I promise we'll be back soon!

So last month, I ended up having to go straight from work to a bachelorette party. I could have changed in the bathroom at work, but it seemed kind of awkward to then have to wander through the office in a tiny outfit and heels. So instead I took a different route:

Layers! I added a maxi skirt and scarf (and then a jacket because it ended up being kind of chilly) and suddenly I could wear this pretty, low-cut romper to work and no one was the wiser. Of course, the hair and makeup may have been a bit of a giveaway ;) This is different than a lot of day to night outfits in that you couldn't see most of my outfit at the beginning, but it was just as easy of a switch as when you change out a pair of shoes or switch handbags. I obviously wouldn't always recommend layering (a layered romper in particular, it adds a fun layer to the whole romper/bathroom issue), but in this case it was the perfect solution. 

Oh, and can we talk about this romper? Normally stretchy waist rompers don't work on me, nor do wrap fronts (which are supposed to be great for bigger busts, but in my case usually end up showing way too much skin) but this one somehow just works. It's great for dressy occasions, but as you can see also works dressed down with a denim jacket (just wear flat sandals instead of heels). 

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Additional Navy & Stripes Required

Oh hey there! Jeff and I are still traipsing through Italy and still consuming copious amounts of vino, so here's another previously scheduled post.

Blazer - JCrew / Tee - JCrew Factory / Denim - Old Navy / Heels - Michael Kors / Watch - Wristology / Earrings (similar) - BaubleBar / Glasses - c/o Firmoo

I don't know what's happened to me lately, but I want to wear navy and stripes, basically all of the time. These pictures are actually from a while ago (when it was a little chillier) but it got to the point where all I was posting were navy and striped outfits (ahem, ahem)so I thought I'd sit on these for a while. When paired with a blazer a striped tee can feel really nautical and dressed up enough for work, but with white shorts it's perfectly dressed down for the weekend.

Oh, and can we talk about these heels for a second? They may be the comfiest pair I've ever owned. Like, so comfy that I'm considering wearing them to a tradeshow when I get back. Seriously, go try them on. They've been on sale at Nordstrom every time I've looked at them for the past two months, so perhaps they're on sale RIGHT NOW. Past Me can't be sure of that though. Don't trust Past Me.

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