This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...Somehow tricked Jeff into going to see Beauty and the Beast with me! He had been super into March Madness, but I got him to agree to go see a children's film with me in the middle of the games. Now that's what I call a win. I personally loved it, it was everything my five year old's heart could have hoped for. We went to see it at The Davis in Lincoln Square which just reopened a couple of months ago. The theater is now connected to a bar/restaurant, so we got to bring tacos, french fries, and a couple of adult beverages with us into the movies - not bad! Of course, I'm still a popcorn enthusiast at heart ;)
...Went out to return one thing, and ended up out shopping for a whole morning. Whoops. I only brought home one adorable gingham striped tee for myself and the rest were gifts so I don't feel that terrible about it. I also popped into the new Amazon Books on Southport, and I may just have a new favorite store. Of course it was their grand opening so they were handing out little rice krispie treats and smoothies, which may have biased me a bit!
...Drove out to the burbs for a little meet & greet with my cousin's new baby! They adopted so they didn't have the chance to have a baby shower, so we got to skip smelling candy in diapers and go straight to tickling a new little baby. You guys, he is so freaking cute. They dressed him up in some little baby suspenders which is basically the cutest thing you can do to a baby (besides the photo they have of him wearing Harry Caray glasses of course ;) I'm definitely excited to have another little baby in the family!
...Celebrated my sister and mom's birthdays with a dinner at my parents' house and about eighteen pounds of linguine and clams. We really know how to do dinner ;)
...Had a quiet day at home on Sunday pounding out work before our big trip, cooking a few healthy meals to make up for all of the pasta, and finishing up reading It Ends With Us. It's definitely more of a beach read, but it really had me hooked by the end - mostly because I wanted to make sure all of the characters were okay!

I hope you had a good one!

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Friday Finds

Happy Friday!! Sorry for the radio silence this week, it was a crazy one at work and I just wasn't able to get my act together. The struggle is real, people.

I've been online shopping up a storm trying to find some last-minute items for our trip to Asia (we leave in less than a week!!!) so there's a LOT on my wishlist right now - here are my finds for the week:

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This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...spent Friday doing Habitat for Humanity! I'd never done it before but it's something I had always wanted to do, so I was really excited about it. It was so cold on Friday (we're talking windchills in the teens) so I was pretty worried about it. They ended up needing eight people to do finishing touches inside one of the houses, and I was one of eight girls who basically sprinted into that house ;) I mostly painted all day, but I did get a chance to use some power tools too. I'm definitely hoping to volunteer with Habitat again, but hopefully on a nicer day.
...Ended up at the dive bar across the street from our place not once but twice over the weekend, because we like to keep things classy. If we keep this up we might have a Cheers situation on our hands!
...Got this adorable tie-waist dress in the mail, and you guys, it might be my favorite dress this summer. So soft and comfortable, but still so flattering - win win! It also comes in a bunch of patterns here.
...Celebrated St. Patrick's Day a week early on Saturday because Chicago decided that was the day to dye the river green (Pssst, if you've never seen it, they dye the Chicago River green every year and it gets SO green - very cool if you're ever in town!) so Saturday was the day the entire city celebrated. We didn't actually make it down to the river, but spent the day at a party and then at a bar that had a live Irish band.
...Had Jeff's family over for dinner and decided to grill even though it was freezing out, because we're crazy people. Anything for that perfectly crispy salmon, amiright?

This week is full of all day/all night work events for me, which means A) I'm going to miss the finale of The Bachelor (don't spoil it for me!!), and B) Unless I seriously managed to get my booty into gear after I finished writing this post yesterday, there may be a few gaps in my posting schedule this week. Be sure to hit me up on Instagram because I'll definitely be there - follow @kristinadoes!!

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Friday Finds

Happy Friday!! This week was a struggle for me, so I'm definitely happy to see Friday. Today I'm actually spending the day volunteering with my coworkers for Habitat for Humanity! It's something that I've always wanted to do so I was pretty excited, that is, until I saw that the high for today is thirty degrees!! I'm bundling up in basically every warm piece I could find that I didn't mind getting dirty, so wish me luck!

Anyway, can you tell I have vacation on the brain by this weeks finds? We finally finished booking all of our hotels (plus one boat!) for our trip to Asia in TWO WEEKS so now it's all fun stuff from here. Oh, and also, it's really weird that we waited until two weeks out to book one of our hotels, we're normally the crazy people who book months and months in advance. We've just been so crazy busy lately that I feel really behind on this trip - hoping to do some more research this weekend!

one / two / three / four / five

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InstaLately

It's been a hot second (read: years) since I shared an Instagram roundup, but I've been sharing a lot of content there recently (follow me @kristinadoes!) that's different from this space. And, you know, I didn't want to leave you hanging ;)

A few of my favorite things - stripes, bows, scallops, and tassels. 

Sweater - LOFT / Flats - Banana Republic / Blanket - Kate Spade

Tee - LOFT / Necklace - BaubleBar

Casual for a day of running errands. I still haven't fully broken in these loafers but they're so cute I'm willing to keep trying ;) 

Hat - Vineyard Vines / Flats - Michael Kors

Tee - LOFT / Lip Gloss - NARS (color: Bound) / Watch - c/o JORD / Earrings - BaubleBar

Casual Sunday look for brunch with the hubs! 

Tee - J. Crew Factory / Watch - Wristology / Lip - Nars Pencil (in Rikugien) & Gloss (in Bound)

Had to buy the ranunculus, so pretty!! 

Flats - Banana Republic / Rug - Pottery Barn

My current favorite lip combo.

Nars Pencil & Gloss

Stripes for Casual Friday + happy hour. 

Sweater - LOFT / Jeans - Gap / Bag - Sole Society / Booties - TOMS / Lip - Nars Pencil (in Rikugien) & Gloss (in Bound)

It's looking like a lot of blue and white for spring! 

J. Crew Factory and Vineyard Vines blouses

Flats - Banana Republic / Blanket - Kate Spade 

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Ruffles, Blush, and Spring Diets

Blouse and Flats - Banana Republic / Denim - J. Crew / Bag - Sole Society / Necklace and Bracelet - BaubleBar

Oh hey there, happy Tuesday! I've been so into everything girly lately - you know, the holy trifecta of blush, ruffles, and sparkle. This top was basically a no-brainer when I saw it in stores, the ruffles are so cute and the structured fit is super flattering. I immediately wanted to pair it with all of the girly things in my closet, only to realize I didn't feel quite me. I have never been one to go completely lady-like with my style, so finding some balance was important. Adding in my new favorite pair of distressed denim was the perfect answer - it toughens up all of the sweetness just enough to make everything feel much more my style, plus makes it casual enough for a day of running errands in Chicago.

Not to completely change gears or anything, but I mentioned yesterday that Jeff and I are counting calories this month (well, really until we leave on our trip to Asia and then probably again once we get back), and I always get a lot of questions about calorie counting so I thought I'd go into a little more detail.

For me, spring is weirdly always the time I have the best luck losing weight (and fall is always the hardest!) I like to liken my body to that of an animal that hibernates - in the spring I'm done hibernating so my body is ready to shed some extra pounds no matter what I'm doing. Even when I wasn't dieting or exercising, I always would naturally lose a few pounds in March without trying (ahem, and usually gain those pounds back every fall). So now, I see every spring as a time to press a little reset button on healthy habits and try to get my body back into fighting shape by summer.

I've tried restrictive diets before but they never work for me, I'm just not very good at completely eliminating things from my diet. Sometimes a girl's just got to have a cookie, if you know what I'm saying. My doctor actually suggested that calorie counting might be the answer for me several years ago, and it turns out she was right! I use an app called LoseIt to track everything that I eat and my exercise every day. The app makes it super easy to track everything, and lets me plan ahead to make sure that the meals I'm planning will fit into my allotted calories for the day.

The app not only tracks everything I eat, but also tells me how many calories I'm allowed to eat. It calculates that by my height, starting weight, how many pounds I'd like to lose, and how fast I'd like to use them. Right now I'm eating about 1,300 calories a day, but the more I exercise the more I get to eat! I try to have days that are slightly higher and days that are slightly lower as well as have a cheat day on Saturdays. My personal trainer said that varying your daily calorie count is better for losing weight because a sustained low calorie diet could make your body think it's starving, which would stall any weight loss.

The tricky thing about counting calories is figuring out how many calories your meals are. It's a lot of guesswork, and you have to be okay with ambiguity. I always figure, as long as I'm close that's good enough! The other tricky thing is making sure that you put in everything you eat or drink, even if it's a single piece of candy. My co-worker says that whenever she uses a calorie tracker she'll skip putting things in and then laugh about how she's "tricking" the app - but really, just because the app doesn't know you had that latte doesn't mean your body won't know!

Calorie counting definitely isn't for everyone, but for me it works! The times I've really focused and followed the app correctly, I've been able to lose anywhere from ten to fifteen pounds over a two month period without changing my exercise plan. So the proof is in all of the pudding that I'm not allowed to eat ;) If you have any more questions about how it works, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. I'm happy to share more about the process!

Blouse and Flats - Banana Republic / Denim - J. Crew / Bag - Sole Society / Necklace and Bracelet - BaubleBar

Linking up with Living in Color, Confident Twosday, Trend Spin Linkup.

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This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...spent most of the weekend out in the 'burbs volunteering with Destination Imagination, a creative problem solving competition for kids in elementary school - college. I work with the improv part of the competition, so I spent all day Saturday watching kids pretending to be overworked professors going to the beach with their bed-wetting kids and donut-loving police officers taking super villains to court. I've volunteered for years and used to compete before that, so DI day is like a big reunion for me - we had so much fun!
...celebrated my birthday with my family, which meant cake, presents, singing - you know, all the good stuff ;) My mom gave me this blush tasseled bag and I'm obsessed, so get ready to see it allllll spring long!
...did a lot of meal prep for some healthy, veggie-filled dinners this week. Jeff and I are both counting calories this month (I like using LoseIt for easy tracking) and I'm trying to be better this time around about putting most of my calories into vegetables instead of trying to eat as little as possible so I can have more cookies and wine. SkinnyTaste's cookbooks have been my go-to's as of late, this spicy salmon has been a favorite for a few years now but the Fast & Slow cookbook has a ton of easy veggie meals we've been loving.
...literally spent hours browsing for more simple lightweight tops to add to my closet for our trip, I'm thinking this bow-back chambray tee might make it's way into my shopping cart!

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