This Weekend...

This weekend I…

…Went on a little dinner date with the boo to Wood, which had maybe one of the best champagne cocktails I've ever had (somehow not overly sweet!) and some freaking amazing spicy lobster pasta. Jeff and I realized we hadn't had a real date night in a while and it was fun to go out and get the chance to connect without work or wedding invitations in the way.
…Speaking of wedding invitations, finished putting all of ours together! We thought it wouldn't be that much work to do all of them ourselves rather than enlisting friends and family members for help. Umm, wrong! It took us three episodes of Unbreakable (finally finished the season, and OMG Jon Hamm!) and 10 Things I Hate About You as well as some wrestling (that one was not my choice ;) to get through them all.
…Went shopping for baby shower decorations and supplies for my sister's baby shower I'm throwing in a couple of weeks. Was I a little crazy to offer to throw a shower in the midst of the wedding countdown? Nahhhhhh...
…Stopped in to Taverna 750 for drinks (each martini comes with a separate "sidecar" on ice, aka, second drink!) and a freaking amazing peanut butter torte. Now I need to go back for dinner sometime!
…Went to church and Easter brunch with Jeff's parents, and then drove up to my grandma's house to meet up with my giant extended family for Easter dinner.

I hope you had a good one!

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

What to Wear to a "Casual" Wedding

Back in 2013 (was that already two years ago?!) I did a series on what to wear to different types of weddings, including what to wear to an outdoor wedding, a church wedding, a hotel wedding, and a beach wedding. I'm in that phase of my life where basically everyone I know is getting married, so I've seen it all. I thought I'd share another type of wedding to get dressed for - a casual dress code wedding. My brother had a casual wedding (I believe the invite actually specified "barn casual") and people wore everything from heels (not great in the grass!) to cargo shorts. My sister and I were groomsmen (grooms ladies?) and we wore pretty casual dresses with fun belts and flat sandals (and got a little too into the lawn games):

(photo by Brad Ryan Photography)

This spring I'm invited to another casual backyard wedding for one of my good friends, so I've been thinking about what to wear. I guess it really depends on if the weather cooperates, but I love the idea of wearing a pretty little linen dress and some fun sparkly flat sandals:

Necklace - Loft / Clutch - Sole Society / Sandals - Sole Society / Dress - Loft

For a casual wedding, I also love the idea of wearing a pretty skirt and blouse instead of a dress. Here are some of my top picks:

Have you ever been to a casual wedding? What would you wear?

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

LBD

Dress - ℅ WearAll / Heels (similar) - ShoeMint / Necklace (similar) - JCrew Factory / Bracelet (similar) - Loft / Bag - Darby Smart (I made it!) 

How many little black dresses do you own? Until recently, I had none! Well, that isn't really true, there is one in my closet, but it no longer fits and has a huge peplum (are peplums totally out?) so I feel like it doesn't really count.  I was super excited to get this number, not just to fill the hole in my wardrobe, but also because of the cute (and flattering!) bow detail on the front. The high neckline and bow feel classy, while the length and tight cut are more on the fun side, making it the perfect balance for a lot of events. Date nights and nights out, watch out, cause I'm ready for you! (*edit* I just looked through my closet. I have three LBD's. And a little black romper. This whole post is apparently a lie. Also, I should probably clean my closet)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, it's a little warmer in Chicago today, but I took these pictures over the weekend when it was about 24 degrees! I got some MAJOR side eye from some of my neighbors running around in a little dress and sandals ;) Don't worry though, I was only outside for a couple of minutes. When it's really cold out, blog pictures are more of a run out, snap a pic, and run back inside situation. As Jeff pointed out, I do really weird things for my little corner of the internet ;)

Two more ways to wear strappy heels:

 

Linking up with Style Sessions, Mix It Monday, #HowISpring, Friday Fab Favorites, Weekly Linkup, Spotlight Weekly Linkup, Style Me Weekly, Oh Hey Girl, Style Me Wednesday.

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

This Weekend...

This weekend I…

…Went out for wings and beers at one of the bars in our neighborhood, because it's March Madness and what else are we supposed to do ;) I picked 3 of the 4 final four teams correctly, so I've got my fingers crossed!
…Picked up my wedding invitations! Next steps, stamping and assembling ;)
…Went to a bridal shower for my college roommate, which involved a lot of presents and a super adorable mimosa bar.
...Actually went to Target and actually found the things I was looking for last week. And now there is a hot pink lamp in our bedroom. Shhh, don't tell Jeff, I don't think he's noticed yet...
…Celebrated my sister and mom's birthdays up at my parent's house, but after all of the cake I had this week I had to do a little abstaining. I'm trying to count calories again this spring (I always use LoseIt), and for some reason it's much harder this year than it has been in the past.
…Met some friends at Lagunitas Brewery down in Pilsen, which is always weirdly a haven for babies. Who brings their baby to a taproom? Now I know what I'll be up to on Sunday afternoons in a few years ;)

I hope you had a good one!

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

March Budget

So I basically hit my $300 budget right on the nose this month. I really thought I was going to go way, way over budget this month, but I ended up ordering a bunch of stuff I didn't like so I'm in the clear. Plus, I had a couple of gift cards from my birthday which definitely helped.

My favorite thing I got this month was this blue scalloped dress from Loft. My theory has always been to buy dresses when I find them, and assume I'll find an event to wear them to, versus shopping when I need something for an event, because inevitably I won't be able to find anything I like. This dress is absolutely perfect, from the cut to the color to the fun scalloped detailing. I can't wait to wear it to one of our ten (!) weddings this year, or maybe to a shower or even my rehearsal dinner.

I also was excited to find another pair of jeans. I wore this pair here, and while they're a straight cut they have the casual feel of a boyfriend jean. I discovered that there was a little wire sticking out of my favorite pair of riding boots that was basically shredding all of my jeans around the knees, so new denim was definitely in order.

I also clearly am on a spring kick - I picked up four dresses and a skirt even though it won't be warm enough to wear them for a couple more months here in Chicago. What can I say, I'm excited for this summer!

So anyway, here's the damage for March:

JCrew Factory Skirt - originally $69.50, on sale $44.50

Old Navy Dress - originally $34.94, on sale $24.38

Loft Jeans - originally $79.50, on sale $40.55, used giftcard $36.20
Loft Dress - originally $89.50, on sale $45.65, used giftcard $0
Forever 21 Maxi Dress - $32.90
Wristology Watch - originally $49, on sale $39, used giftcard $0
Sole Society Booties - $79.95
Sole Society Clutch - $44.95, used giftcard $0
JCrew Factory Sweater - originally $78, on sale $54.50
Forever 21 Dress - $27.90 EDIT - Returned for store credit

Total Spent: $300.33
Total Saved: $285.81

For April I'm probably looking for more dresses for all of my events, as well as a pair of white shorts (my favorites are basically dead) and more jeans.

How did your budget go for March?

Linking up with Fran.

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

Spring Neutrals

Sweater (similar) and Jeans - Old Navy / Booties - Sole Society / Necklace (similar) - JCrew Factory / Watch - Wristology

I wore this over the weekend, and accidentally matched with my friend. Seriously, we were basically identical, from our crystal necklaces to our suede booties. You know what they say, great minds think alike. Normally matching would be something that bothered me (especially when Jeff puts on the same thing as me after he saw me get dressed) but in this case it was so funny it was good.

Even though people wear white denim all year round now, not just from Memorial Day to Labor Day, I still don't tend to wear it in the fall or winter. You know, it's just not my style. As soon as the weather started to heat up I brought them back out into full rotation, and have worn them the past two weekends in a row. While I successfully made it through Saint Patrick's Day celebrations and a beer festival without any stain issues, last Saturday I somehow managed to drop my lipstick on them. I wasn't super freaked out because I've actually been looking for a new pair (for some reason I got a little excited and bought these smaller and longer than usual) but still tried get the stain out. While Tide to Go totally failed, two washes with Resolve Dual Action did the trick. This stuff is seriously amazing. I also once accidentally dyed this whole sweatshirt purple and somehow got it back to white. The trick is to check if the stain got out in the wash, and if it did not, to not throw it in the dryer - heat will set the stain.

Not to totally shift gears here, but tonight we're finally having our cake tasting for the wedding! This is the activity I was definitely most excited about. Instead of one big cake, we're going to do a bunch of little ones, so we get to pick quite a few different cakes and fillings. Cake for dinner, that's a thing, right?

Two more ways to wear white denim:

 

Linking up with Style Sessions, Mix It Monday, #HowISpring, Friday Fab Favorites, Life & Style Linkup, Spotlight Weekly Linkup, Random Wednesday, Style me Wednesday.

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

This Weekend...

This weekend I…

…Went to the Burger Bar in our neighborhood for a couple of beers and a whole lot of basketball. Did you fill out a bracket this year? I have two, and for some reason I made the same upset picks in both. Rookie mistake.
…Tried to stalk out this cute section Alissa found, but none of the items were in my Target yet. And of course, dropped a hundy stick anyway because, well, Target.
…Went to Chicago Beer Festival, a big festival featuring a bunch of local breweries in the beautiful Great Hall in Union Station. It was fun to try a lot of new beers I'd never had before (and discover some new favorites) as well as people watch - a huge limbo party broke out about halfway through. I'm definitely going again in the fall, only next time I'll wear my own pretzel necklace.
…Bought and wrapped a whole lot of presents - next weekend I'm going to a bridal shower and a birthday party for my mom and sister.
…Met up with some friends at Racine Plumbing for, you guessed it, more beer and basketball.

I hope you had a good one!

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!