The Perfect Fall Dress

Dress (available in five colors!) - Lush / Jacket - J. Crew Factory / Bag - Tory Burch / Sneakers - Reebok / Earrings - J. Crew / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Watch - Wristology

I'm baaaaaaaack!!! We flew back to Chicago from our long weekend out in Boulder at approximately one in the morning on Tuesday. As I'm writing this (Tuesday night) I'm freaking exhausted from the weekend and then from catching up on a million emails this morning, so we're going to keep this short and sweet.

Downtown Boulder is the cutest. There's a little downtown strip called Pearl Street that's filled with cute little shops and bars and restaurants, which is where these pictures were taken. We spent almost the whole weekend surrounded by my extended family, but snuck away Sunday afternoon to do some exploring downtown on our own. It turns out happy hour starts at 2pm on Sundays, so I was a very happy camper :) 

You may recognize this dress because I wore it here for work - turns out it works great for a casual outfit too! Best fall dress ever. 

Dress (available in five colors!) - Lush / Jacket - J. Crew Factory / Bag - Tory Burch / Sneakers - Reebok / Earrings - J. Crew / Necklace - Stella & Dot / Watch - Wristology

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Friday Finds

Happy Friday!! It's an especially happy Friday for me because we're flying out to Boulder this morning for my cousin's wedding! I have never been to Boulder, and have only been to Colorado once in high school, so I'm super excited to get there and explore. Although I seem to have injured my knee, so most of my exploring will have to be along stretches of flat terrain as opposed to in the mountains. If you have any suggestions of things to do in Boulder, throw them my way! We're booked for Friday night and obviously for Saturday, but have all day Sunday and most of Monday to do some exploring.

I was going to preschedule some content for you but couldn't quite get around to it, so expect some radio silence here on Monday and Tuesday. Follow me on Instagram (@kristinadoes) to see what we get up to!

Anyway, here are my finds for the week:

one / two / three / four / five

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How to Wear Over the Knee Boots for Fall

Dress - LOFT / Boots - Kaitlyn Pan / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Urban Outfitters / Earrings - c/o Charming Charlie

I stayed away from the OTK boot trend for a while, but not because I didn't like the look - because every pair I tried on was too short for me! Except for, you know, that $700 pair that I was never ever ever going to buy. This pair (that I found on Amazon of all places!) completely met my OTK boot needs!! They're long enough, they stay up, and the material isn't actually suede so I don't have to worry about ruining them. Win win win.

Now that the weather has cooled down (well, at least a little - I think I saw 85 in the forecast for Chicago this weekend!) I'm so excited to give these another run. I bought them in the dead of winter, and then once spring came I had a very short window where tall black boots felt appropriate. But for fall? Tall black boots are perfect! I love wearing them over jeans or leggings or faux leather leggings, but my favorite way to wear them is with bare legs and a short dress. I look for dresses that are at least an inch shorter than where the boots end so it doesn't look like your whole leg is covered up. 

The best part about wearing over the knee boots with dresses is that they let you wear your short dresses in much cooler weather than normal. I was out and about in this outfit all day and night last weekend, and despite the chilly 62 degrees on the thermometer I was comfortable all day. I kept telling Jeff it was because I had on some sweet boot pants haha.

This particular dress is making me dream of owning some gray over the knee boots too. How many pairs of OTK boots is it appropriate for one person to own? Asking for a friend ;)

Dress - LOFT / Boots - Kaitlyn Pan / Bag - Tory Burch / Sunglasses - Urban Outfitters / Earrings - c/o Charming Charlie

Linking up with Style Sessions, Trend Spin Linkup.

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10 Best Floral Dresses for Fall

Is anyone else all about the fall floral dresses right now? They're so perfectly '90s without being over the top. Like tattoo chokers. Don't wear tattoo chokers.

All of these pretty little dresses are perfect for this weird in-between time where it's too warm to dive headfirst into sweater season, but you still want to look season-appropriate. And these darker floral patterns are really cute on their own, but will also work when you need to layer in some tights and cardigans.

In my head, I was wearing pretty floral dresses like these for all of the '90s, but in reality I know that I owned a lot of matching jersey shorts/shirts combos (or shirts/skorts!) in various giant striped patterns. I also had matching colored socks to go with said outfits in a variety of on-trend colors like lemon and lime green. What can I say, I was one stylish seven year old.

one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten

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Autumn Leaves

Dress (comes in seven colors!) - Lush / Cardigan (super similar) - Old Navy / Flats - BP / Watch - Wristology / Bag - Tory Burch / Earrings - BaubleBar

Okay, okay, okay. I saw orange trees this weekend. Chicago, I guess you've spoken. It's fall now. I mean, not officially for 10 more days, but I'm calling it. Last week I started pulling out all of my fall colors, and I'm not looking back.

I snagged this dress on a whim thanks to the 100+ people who were wearing it on Instagram, and you guys, it definitely lives up to the hype. On me it's a little short for the office (I mean, yes, I did still wear it to the office ;) but really, it's the perfect style for every occasion, and so comfortable!! Plus, you know, it comes in the perfect fall color. A few years ago we would have been calling this oxblood, but I think we're safe to go back to just burgundy now. The women working at Ann Taylor would back me up, because I walked in wearing it and literally three sales people turned around and shouted about how I was wearing burgundy. Seriously, they were so excited that I was taken aback. Like, literally I took a step backwards. It wasn't as scary though as when I walked back outside of the store and there were a hundred men on the streets of Chicago chanting about the University of Georgia. Apparently they had a game or something. Sports, you know.

In completely unrelated news, I was completely glued to the television on Sunday and Monday watching hurricane coverage - anyone else? I actually am weirdly obsessed with the weather and used to watch The Weather Channel so much that my family revolted. I actually thought about becoming a weatherperson in college, but settled for taking a severe and hazardous weather course instead (oh, and a news production class too) once I realized that studying the weather is a lot different than watching Jim Cantore on television. That being said, I'm so glad that the storm wasn't nearly as bad as the doomsday predictions that were coming out - I hope everyone stayed safe out there!

Dress (comes in seven colors!) - Lush / Cardigan (super similar) - Old Navy / Flats - BP / Watch - Wristology / Bag - Tory Burch / Earrings - BaubleBar

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

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Bloglovin!

This Weekend...

This weekend I...

...went to a Cubs game with Jeff! Our seats were freaking amazing, definitely the best I've ever had, and while the Cubbies didn't pull out a win it was still fun to be so close to Kris Bryant ;) And, you know, I'm always pro any activity that involves a beer and a hot dog.
...had one of those Saturdays that started with Jeff and I deciding to get drinks at brunch, and ended fourteen hours later at karaoke. I guess that's what happens when you decide to go for the mimosa ;) We ended up going to Germanfest in Lincoln Square for giant steins and sausages (I hate brats, but it turns out I love thuringian) and then to Barbecue & Bourbon fest in Roscoe Village. Really, if you've ever visited this blog before then you know that eating and drinking are my favorite activities, so it was basically the Saturday of my dreams.
...drove up to my hometown to welcome back two friends from the Peace Corps. You guys, the last time I saw them was at my wedding. You know that you have friends for life though when you can jump back in after 2+ years and nothing has changed.
...went over to dinner at my parents' house for some family time, and it got me so excited for our family wedding in Boulder this coming weekend!! We fly out on Friday morning and I seriously cannot wait. What do you think, this dress or this one for a casual, outdoor wedding?

I hope you had a good one!!

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Friday Finds

one / two / three / four (currently 50% off!) / five

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Bloglovin!