Friday Finds

Just two more sleeps until Christmas!! Tonight we're taking it easy at home, then tomorrow we're trying to see both sides of my family and spending the night at my parents' house, and then we're driving to Jeff's parents' house on Christmas and spending the night out there. I'm excited and exhausted just thinking about it ;)

Here are my finds this week:

one / two / three / four / five

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What to Wear this NYE

similar dress / similar heels

Okay you guys, so I know that this weekend is Christmas, but that means that NYE is just a week away! I don't know about you, but every year New Year's Eve sneaks up on me while I'm busy wrapping presents and baking cookies and then I realize I have nothing to wear.

Jeff and I were planning on keeping things casual this year, that is, until we ended up agreeing to a trip to Vegas - cue the glitz and glam!! I love a good excuse to dress up since Chicago is so casual, so I'll definitely be pulling out all the stops. I'm planning on pulling out all of my oldies out of my closet, like this pretty sequined number I wore last NYE.

If I had more money in my budget for December and hadn't already gone a hundred dollars over (whoops!) I would maybe be shopping for something new - here are a few of my favorites!

So tell me, do you have big plans for New Year's Eve? What are you going to wear?

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Last Minute Gift Ideas

Have you been procrastinating on your gift buying this year? Every year I find most of my gifts pretty fast, but then stall on the last few and end up in a panic trying to get everything on time. This year I really struggled with Jeff, I finally ordered it and his gift is juuuuuust supposed to make it on time.

Luckily, if you aren't finished shopping yet and don't want to brave the mall, some stores offer free two-day shipping, like Nordstrom, Amazon (if you have Prime that is!), and Zappos. So really, tomorrow is your last day to order if you want to get delivery by Christmas Eve - better jump on it! Here are a few of my last-minute gift ideas:

Bracelet / Card holder / Initial mug / Tech gloves / Patagonia sweater / Clinique sampler kit / Bose speaker / Stuffed rabbit / Candle / Fresh Sugar lip set / Clutch / Slippers / Water bottle

If you're looking for more gift ideas, here are stocking stuffers, gifts for the hostess, gifts for the mixologist, gifts for the couch potato, and gifts for him.

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Little Plaid Dress

Dress - Vineyard Vines (no longer available, I also love this pretty gingham dress, this little red dress, and this houndstooth dress that you could wear after the holidays) / Cardigan - Old Navy / Booties - TOMS / Bag (super similar for less than $30!) - J. Crew Factory / Watch - Wristology 

Omg you guys. This dress. It was way over my usual budget for a single clothing item, but I saw it and couldn't get it out of my brain, so I decided it was meant to be. Unfortunately it somehow already went out of stock (I just ordered it last weekend!) but I linked up a bunch of other fun holiday dresses in case you're looking for something last minute to wear. Since Christmas is somehow THIS WEEK (what?!??) I plan on wearing this dress basically nonstop for the next couple of days, including to my father-in-law's Christmas party on Wednesday and on Christmas Eve. 

I'm so excited for the next couple of weeks. We also have a party with my neighborhood friends from home which is hilarious every year on Thursday, a couple of nights spent out in the suburbs with my family and then Jeff's, meeting TWO of my cousin's new spouses, and a whole lot of time visiting our extended families. 

I wasn't planning on taking a lot of time off for the holidays this year, but my boss ended up offering me some extra vacation days for working a huge event earlier this year. Combined with floating holidays and the days our office is closed, I somehow managed to end up with time off from this Thursday all the way through until the new year! I think I managed to trick Jeff into taking some days off too, so I'm planning a bunch of day dates for us, including brunch at Cindy's, a trip to Millennium Park to see the big tree, and a visit to the Science and Industry Museum. 

We also ended up planning a last minute trip with Jeff's dad and his girlfriend to Vegas for New Year's! I'm so excited!! Right now we have tickets to a fancy party for NYE, and I'm planning on sneaking away for a little spa time and shopping while Jeff and his dad hit the craps table. Two of my good friends from home are going to be there at the same time so we're also planning on meeting up with them. I seriously can't wait!!

Oh, and don't worry Mom, I wore a cardigan ;) 

Dress - Vineyard Vines (no longer available, I also love this pretty gingham dress, this little red dress, and this houndstooth dress that you could wear after the holidays) / Cardigan - Old Navy / Booties - TOMS / Bag (super similar for less than $30!) - J. Crew Factory / Watch - Wristology 

Linking up with Style Me Wednesday, Trend Spin Linkup, Style Sessions, Confident Twosday.

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This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...Went to my company's holiday party, which was huge and crazy. It was black tie down at the Field Museum, so a couple of my coworkers and I decided to go all out - how often do you get to dress up for a fancy party?! We went and got our makeup done (which you may have seen on Snapchat - follow @kristinadoes), and I wore this gorgeous gown I rented from Rent the Runway. It was snowing like crazy and the Uber prices were so high (like, $85 high) so we decided to drive at the last second, so we didn't go too crazy, but we did get in a little dancing to Sixteen Candles, our favorite cover band in Chicago.
...Drove out to the burbs for a friend's wedding on Saturday, and she got herself the perfect snowy winter wedding! I ended up re-wearing this exact look from last year, which is still one of my favorite dresses in my closet. A ton of our friends were invited and we had an amazing night tearing it up on the dance floor, and then a not so amazing morning recovering hahaha ;)

I hope you had a good one! We have a crazy week ahead filled with parties and family time, and I can't wait. Can you believe Christmas is less than a week away?!

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Friday Finds

Happy Friday! We've got a particularly crazy weekend ahead. Tonight is my company holiday party, which is black tie! I haven't been to anything black tie ever, you know, besides the prom. I ordered this dress and this incredibly similar dress as a backup from Rent the Runway, so one shoulder or the other is going to be partying tonight. Then tomorrow we're heading out for a friend's wedding. Don't you worry, my dancing shoes are polished and ready. Well, not actually polished, because they're suede, and that would be very bad for them.

I've been staring at this plaid dress for days and days trying to talk myself out of wanting it. It was on sale though and there was only one left in my size, so it ended up in my cart while I was putting this post together. Whoops. I did discover that I'm almost $600 under on my clothing budget for the year though, so I don't feel too bad about it. I have big plans for this little dress, with its debut at a holiday party on Wednesday and then again for Christmas Eve - fingers crossed it fits!

one / two / three / four / five

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Snow Day!

Coat - 1 Madison / Hat - Kyi Kyi / Scarf - Sole Society / Sweater (similar) - Old Navy / Tee and Necklace (similar) - J. Crew Factory / Denim - Madewell / Boots - Sorel

Brrrrrrrrrr...

I'm basically burrowing myself under all of the faux fur in our condo and not coming out again until spring. Oh, and outfit photos? Yeah, not sure how I'm going to be accomplishing those this winter if this weather keeps up!

We took these photos last weekend when I convinced Jeff to leave our house and go for a little walk in the snow. I thought we'd find some untouched, pristine snow in the park near our house, but forgot that of course a hundred dogs had already torn through it. It was still beautiful, and the temperatures still bearable, so we chased each other around through the snow for a bit before coming home to hide on the couch for the rest of the weekend.

To make it through cold weather, I have a few staples in my closet. The first are these Joan of Arctic boots. They're a bit clunky so I don't pull them out until I need to, but the huge size, faux fur and rubber soles are perfect when its cold and snowy. I often wear two pairs of socks with other boots in the winter to keep my toes warm, but that's unnecessary with these!

Another staple for me is a big blanket scarf. This one is technically a wrap, but works really well as a scarf too. It wasn't so cold over the weekend, but when it is (um, you know, like today) I love being able to wrap a big blanket scarf all around my face to stay extra warm.

Another essential in Chicago is a big puffer coat. They may not be the cutest, but there's no way you're making it through a Chicago winter in just a wool coat. I'm still dreaming of owning a Canada Goose some day, but until then this puffer will do. When buying a puffer I look for details that make it a little more fashionable, like fur trim and some definition around the waist that helps me not look like a giant marshmallow.

So tell me, is it cold where you live? How are you getting through the winter?

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Previously on KDTI - Honeycomb sweater + snow:

 

Linking up with What I Wore to Work.

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