Oh hey Friday, it's nice to see you again!! We're currently getting snowed in here in Chicago (stay warm out there friends!) and I clearly have warmer weather on the brain. I actually ordered that cute little embroidered dress earlier this week, I'll let you know how it is in person.
Tonight, despite the weather, we're headed to an Olympics opening ceremony party, and I couldn't be more excited to wear my Shaun White costume again. Stay tuned on Instastories ;)
Sweater (similar here and here) and Tank - Abercrombie / Jeans (super similar pair, I think the only difference is 1" in the rise) - Madewell / Boots - L.L.Bean / Belt - Halogen / Bag (similar here, here, and here) - Sole Society / Coat - One Madison / Earmuffs (similar here and here) - LOFT / Scarf (similar here and here) - Forever 21
You guys.
You gals? Do we prefer "you gals"?
My sweater is from Abercrombie. Yes, you read that right.
They've been low-key on my radar for a while, but when I decided I had to have that pullover, I decided to add a few more things to my cart for that sweet, sweet free shipping. Abercrombie has kind of amazing prices for great pieces, which is funny because I remember thinking it was so expensive back when I was in high school. Of course, the splurgiest items in my closet in those days were my $40 American Eagle jeans, so, you know, those were different times.
I wore this over the weekend to a friend's Super Bowl party (yes, the one where I brought a salad - cue the eye rolls) and it was nice to be cozy and comfortable, but still cute. As a bustier gal I don't really get to do the bralette thing, but I love that my tank gives the look of a bralette with my sweater. Other things I loved about Super Bowl Sunday? I won a square!! As I'm always telling Jeff, that's shoe money right there ;)
Oh and before I go, my friends were making fun of me for my earmuffs over the weekend, but you guys, these things are amazing!! They are incredibly warm, and they let me go out in the winter with a ponytail or curls and not worry about them getting crushed. My mom bought me and my sister pairs for Christmas (and Santa happened to bring a pair for her too ;) so we spent Christmas bopping around in our matching gigantic earmuffs.
Sweater (similar here and here) and Tank - Abercrombie / Jeans (super similar pair, I think the only difference is 1" in the rise) - Madewell / Boots - L.L.Bean / Belt - Halogen / Bag (similar here, here, and here) - Sole Society / Coat - One Madison / Earmuffs (similar here and here) - LOFT / Scarf (similar here and here) - Forever 21
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I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but L.L.Bean has slowly become one of those stores I'm constantly shopping at - if you can tell from my Friday Finds, there's nearly always something catching my eye!
I love the preppy but not overly preppy vibe, their fun takes on classics, the cute leather details, and the nautical vibes. I'm also crazy about whoever is picking out their color palettes right now - items like this sweater are so fun! I also love this windbreaker I got last fall - it comes in red and navy now, and I'm holding myself back from buying another!
L.L.Bean also has some really great lookalike pieces for lower prices, like these shearling slippers that are almost identical to UGG's but for $70 instead of $120, or this sweater (I have a similar one that I love!) that's the same quality as a Patagonia but for $80 instead of $100. Plus L.L.Bean actually has sales!
Also, I mean obviously, there are the boots. The Bean boots. I bought a pair of shearling-lined boots this fall, and it was probably my best purchase ever. I'm pretty sure I wore them every day during that super cold spell at the end of December (and several times a week since then too), and they kept my feet warm even in our crazy cold weather. If you're going to go for it, you have to get the shearling insoles too. They are the most amazing things ever, it's like walking on a cloud.
Other potential titles for this post: Bows before Hoes, You Had Me At A Bow, Sunday is for the Bows.
Oh dear. I'm not a pun person.
I am, however, a bow person. Over the weekend, my friend asked how many I was wearing and I said how many I thought there were, and then she pointed out two more. And then I went home and put on my OTK boots, effectively adding two more to the outfit.
Of course, this outfit only has one bow. Just one I swear! I snagged this hair bow when ordering something else from J.Crew as a ride-along for the free shipping, and I love it so much I don't know how I got by without it. It's fun to dress up a simple pony like I'm wearing it here, but I've also been adding it cheerleader style to my messy bun when I've been working from home, and it gives me an amazing amount of joy. I can't even turn a cartwheel, but this is making all of my cheerleader dreams come true.
I also was pretty psyched to come up with this outfit combo, because I'm pretty sure I haven't worn this silky button down since we moved into our condo, oh, just two years ago. Usually getting dressed for me involves standing in my closet and going over all of the options, but this combination just came to me. Usually the outfits I dream up outside of the closet don't actually work, but this combo? A+
I also have to point out a couple new jewelry additions - both Christmas presents. The first is this sweet Paris charm necklace my grandma and aunt gave me for Christmas! It is definitely a splurge but it is so cute. Just a note if you're larger chested, this length necklace only works if you're wearing something with a high neckline, otherwise it gets lost. The second new piece of jewelry is this cute link bracelet Jeff gave me - it's actually a charm bracelet specifically for traveling! I just have the little airplane charm it came with, but I'm excited to get some more charms to remember our trips by. I saw that Carly has hers completely filled and it looks so cool!
Okay, that's enough rambles for now - enjoy your Tuesday!
...had a quiet Friday night in and WORKED. I know, I know. Who am I even?! Jeff sat next to me and played video games. We're the real, all-American couple ;)
...drove out to Indiana to go wedding dress shopping with one of my best friends!! Don't worry, we were much more helpful than we appeared on Instastories and she ended up saying yes to the dress, and then we celebrated with many mimosas. Next step: bachelorette party planning!
...wandered down on Southport Corridor looking for dinner after realizing it was eight pm and the only food we had in the house was enough for one sloppy joe from last week's wrestling party, and ended up getting a table at Crosby's Kitchen. Ummmm, excellent idea. I ended up ordering a salad to make up for the not one, but TWO times I stopped in drive-thrus earlier in the day (I mean, I can't even remember the last time I had fast food!!) and it was one of those salads that you could write epic poems about or go to war for. Don't worry, I also ordered a side of fries, I'm not a monster.
...went to a friend's house for a Super Bowl party, and after being told not to bring dip, ended up making a salad. Maybe I am a monster! It was this salad though and full of delicious things and I even made homemade croutons for it, so really, I mean, am I a terrible human being? Ugh yes, yes I am. Don't worry, I still got to eat lots and lots of dip.
I hope you had a good one!
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Happy Friday!! I can't believe the weekend is here again, it was a crazy week for me so time just flew by. Work was crazy for the first half of the week and then full of celebrating after that because our fiscal year ended on Wednesday. We had a big party at Bounce Sporting Club, which had really good food, and, despite it's name, is not a ping pong bar - but, there was a giant Connect Four. There were a lot of coworkers I never see anymore and some former coworkers, and it was so fun getting to catch up with everyone. Plus I got my hands on a couple of moscow mules ;)
I'm really excited about this weekend though, because one of my besties is getting married and we're going wedding dress shopping!! Cue lots of champagne and hopefully no tears. I actually was commanded not to cry, but, I mean, come on. I'm probably crying. My little girl is all grown up!
Onto the finds for this week. I'm honestly holding myself back from that striped sweatshirt, because, well, I currently have so many sweatshirts that they no longer fit in their drawer and are now overtaking the towel section of my closet. Oy. I may need to schedule a closet cleanout for this weekend too. Which may just give me enough space for the striped sweatshirt ;) I also am seriously debating those earrings because LOFT is currently having a sale. I mean, LOFT is always having a sale, but that's what I'm telling myself.
Coat (on sale for over half off!!) and Sweater - J. Crew / Scarf (similar) - Hinge / Jeans - Gap / Booties (other colors available here and here) - TOMS / Earrings (similar) - LOFT (a gift!) / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Bag - Tory Burch
So first, I wanted to apologize for continuously sharing this scarf, because it's old and unavailable. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! The thing is, I share things I really wear on this blog, and I really wear this scarf all the time.
That being said, I've done a little research, and have found some other adorable striped blanket scarf options for you that I hope will make all of your scarf dreams come true. This one and this one are probably the best but aren't available through my widget! Here are the rest:
Okay, and then next up, this sweater. I told you in my budget post yesterday that it was so good, and seriously, it is so good. The length is long enough to wear with leggings but not too long (because oversized sweaters that are too long can look awkward!). The fabric is insanely soft, it's more of a thin fleece than anything else. And I love the wrap detail. There's lots of wrap sweaters out there right now, but I feel like a lot of them hug the body awkwardly and aren't very flattering. Not this one! I swear, I put it on and thought I had dropped ten pounds. It somehow hugs and skims at the same time.
Oh, and I'm actually wearing this sweater backwards here. Whaaaaat?! Yes, that's right, it's reversible. I wore it as a deep v (sans tank - oh dang weekend Kristina!) here, but would definitely turn it around to have a higher neckline in front and lower back for work. I actually have a history of reversing tops that weren't meant to be reversed, so I'm really loving that this top works both ways.
And yes, it was weekend Kristina who took this look for a spin. We went out on Saturday morning to celebrate a friend's birthday at Brickhouse, and wound up at an all-you-can-drink brunch where they didn't kick us out after two hours. Seriously, we were there for over four, and they dropped off a full bottle of champagne for us right before the brunch hours ended. It was a bit of a dangerous Saturday, made worse by the fact that our waitress dropped off a round of birthday fireball shots for us at noon, topped with mini cupcakes! I mean, I don't actually know the last time I took a shot, let alone at noon. I couldn't say no to a shot that came with a cupcake though, of course, so it was a bit of an interesting day ;) I managed to not spill on my sweater though nor did I post anything too embarrassing to Instastories, so we're calling it a win.
Coat (on sale for over half off!!) and Sweater - J. Crew / Scarf (similar) - Hinge / Jeans - Gap / Booties (other colors available here and here) - TOMS / Earrings (similar) - LOFT (a gift!) / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Bag - Tory Burch
