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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Lavender & White

Buongiorno! I wanted to show off my Italian skills, but really I still only know how to say, "La donna legge il giornale" which is super helpful for our trip. Jeff and I are still honeymooning it up in Italy and hopefully stuffing our faces with all of the pasta and gelato. Here's another previously scheduled post.

Sweater (similar) and Skirt (similar) - Loft / Sandals (similar) - Sole Society / Necklace and Bracelet (similar) - Stella & Dot

I have no idea why, but I had the hardest time styling this skirt. Like, last summer I'm pretty sure I wore it once. It's just a white skirt. In my brain I can think of 100 ways to wear it (or really, at least 4) but then in reality they never quite work out. Until I decided to pair it with this pretty lavender sweater for work. And then when I got to work I topped it with a giant fleece because the inside of my office is the same temperature as the inside of a glacier. I was trying to do blazers for work layers, but that is so not working out.

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Two more ways to wear a lavender sweater:

 

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June Budget

Every month I post about my clothing budget. My budget per month is $300, which to some may seem like a lot and to others a little, but feels just right for me. You can read my thoughts on my 2014 budget here. 

Oh, and yeah, we're still honeymooning in Italy so this post is on autopilot thanks to past me. 

So remember last month when I said June was going to either be a really low or really high spending month? Turns out really high. And most of that was done before it was actually June (my last budget post went up on 5/29). I think I got excited that a) there was a little wiggle room since I was so far under budget last month and b) I felt like I could justify some things for our trip to Italy, like comfy sandals I could walk around in, a pretty swimsuit for the Amalfi Coast, and a fancy skirt because, well, who doesn't want a fancy white skirt for their honeymoon? I also grabbed these pink pumps for our rehearsal dinner after buying and returning at least 10 pairs of heels that weren't quite right (it was weirdly easier to buy shoes for the wedding itself!) and a couple of casual tops.

Here's the damage for June:

Ann Taylor Skirt - originally $129, on sale $81.27
Michael Kors Sandals (similar shown - mine just have studs down the center) - originally $125, on sale $79.97
Robin Piccone Swimsuit - originally $138, on sale $82.80
Jessica Simpson Pumps - $88.95
Frenchi Tank - originally $28, on sale $15.90
Ann Taylor Tank - originally $59.50, on sale $37.49
Halogen Tank - originally $25, on sale $14.90

Total Spent: $401.28
Total Saved: $192.17


Since we're halfway through the year now (!!!), here's a recap of what I've spent so far in 2015:
January: $309.38
February: $256.22
March: $300.33
April: $228.74
May: $196.20
June: $401.28

Total Spent: $1,692.15
Average Per Month: $282.03

So even though I went a little over for this month, I can rest easy knowing I'm still under budget overall for the year.

How did your budgeting go for June?

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