Kendra Scott

OOTD: Transitions

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Dress | Shoes | Necklace | Earrings | Bracelet 1 | Bracelet 2 | Work Bag

The calendar says it’s fall, but as usual, Indiana weather has its own ideas. We’ve gone from 80s to barely 60 within a few days, and we’re supposed to hit the 80s again all in the same week. As much as I’m itching to get out my plaids, flannels, and wools for fall, it’s just not practical, so I’m making it work with transitional pieces and accessories for now until the weather catches up.

I’m ecstatic that Old Navy brought back my favorite swing dress from last year – so much so that I’m debating what color(s?) I’ll be getting it next. This dress is perfect year-round; just throw on some tights once it gets cold, and you’re good to go. As a heads up, I had to size down from my normal last year, so you may have to do the same.

I finally got in on the lace-up flats trend, and my favorite part about these is that it isn’t hard to find them for less than $20 thanks to Target’s sales. (Ahem, like right now.)

This is definitely an outfit I’ve worn more than once over the past month, swapping out the flats for booties (like these or these, depending on the occasion) and rotating my ever-present Kendra Scott necklace and earring favorites. I know that as the temperature keeps falling, I’ll be reaching for this dress – and whichever color I get next – to pair with a cardigan, tights, and over-the-knee boots. It really is the best!

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How I Spent My Summer

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White Pants | Shoes | Purse | Earrings | Bracelet 1 | Bracelet 2 | Lipstick

Good news, guys, I’m still around! My Labor Day weekend has kicked off with a trip to the Minute Clinic to find out my husband has a sinus infection and bronchitis, so I thought it might be a good time to explain my absence while he hopefully sleeps those antibiotics into his system. You may notice a bit of a change of scenery there in the background there, as we’ve started redoing our bedroom this summer! I’m obsessed with the changes so far, but that’s a post for another day.

I said awhile back that I needed to press pause, and at the time, it was because I was just too overwhelmed with work, training for the half-marathon, and just general life stuff. Although my training ended, work didn’t start to slow down until very recently. I was so exhausted by late nights (the kind where your husband asks if he was dreaming or were you actually on the phone with your coworker at 1 a.m. – yikes), deadlines, and everything else we had going on this summer, that the idea of getting back on my computer and blogging was just too much. I missed it and still took lots of pics though; my phone is basically an “I should blog about this” graveyard.

I’m excited to say that things have finally slowed down enough that I think I’m finally able to make my return. I’m ready to share outfits, recipes, and all of the other stuff I’m excited about again. To make up for a complete lack of posting all summer, and in honor of the time-honored tradition of starting the school year by sharing all of the details of your summer break. I figured why not finally share some of my photos, so get ready to scroll!

Run 317 Circle

My cousin and I ran a 5k through downtown Indy less than 2 weeks after the Mini Marathon. The Run 317 series goes through Indianapolis neighborhoods, supports local charities, and comes with two beers at the end from Thr3eWiseMen! This one started and ended on Monument Circle – so fun!

Indy 500

We went to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. It was an awesome day with our friends and family. It was also HOT, so this one is me in all of my sweaty, unfiltered glory.

Colin-Liza Wedding

We celebrated the wedding of one of our oldest friends (Colin, my chili-adoring bestie)…and thought we were still young enough to close down the bars in Bloomington like college kids (we’re not). If you’re ever in B-town, check out The Big Cheeze! True love is your husband surprising you with a grilled cheese at 2 a.m.

Happy Camper

We spent a weekend in Chicago catching up with old friends and celebrating one of my best friend’s baby shower. The picture is a little blurry, but the look of pure joy on my face is because the Happy Camper is a bar with tire swings. Beers with friends from high school, pizza, and tire swings made it basically the best thing ever.

Run 317 Mass Ave

We did another Run 317 in the Mass Ave area of downtown Indy, and this time my sister joined us for her first ever 5k! It was the kind of ridiculously hot and humid day where you sweat just standing still, so they had to turn it into a non-timed “fun run,” which was just fine for us. We have one more Run 317 left in October, so hopefully my sister will be joining us again!

My very favorite weekend of the year every year is Dave Matthews Band weekend with my husband, brother-in-law, and our friends. Dave plays two shows in Indy, and each night is a totally different show and setlist, so we go both nights. Our first night was up-close and personal in the pit so you can really see the band, and then the second night is on the lawn and dancing barefoot on our blanket (although that part is more just me…). It was SO HOT – are you noticing a theme here for this summer in Indianapolis?

Alyssa Wedding

August kicked off with my cousin’s wedding and an after-party at our house that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. I have a lot of cousins, and I LOVE hanging out with all of them. It was so much fun, and will definitely be a night we remember for a long time.

First Anniversary

Speaking of weddings, we celebrated our first anniversary on August 15th! I cannot believe it’s been a year already, time truly does fly when you’re having fun. I honestly planned to do so many wedding-related posts about how I got ready for our big days (we had two weddings: one on 8/15 at a church with just our family, and one that was a great big party with our family and friends on 8/21), but we’ve already been over my lack of posts. Now that we’re getting ready to ramp up planning my sister’s wedding, I fully plan to share my tips, tricks, lessons, and memories from ours as we go, so stay tuned!

Speaking of our anniversary, Kendra Scott just happened to open a store in Indianapolis the weekend before. My sweet husband knew I’ve been lusting after this necklace forever, so he played detective to find out when exactly they’d be opening, and he even figured out that if we went on opening day, I’d get this (perfectly Colts blue) bracelet for free! Isn’t he the best? Did you know that if you go to Kendra Scott during your birthday month and show your ID, you get 50% off of a piece of jewelry? August just happens to be his birthday month, so it was even more of a bargain. You can guess where I’ll be heading in October!

So that was our summer in a nutshell. Can you believe it’s already September? I love summer, and it’s my favorite season, even when it gets ridiculously hot. I have to say though, I’m ready for the calm that comes with fall. Fall means calmer schedules, bonfire and chili nights with our friends, football Sundays (and the snacks that go with them!), and so many other great things. I love my sundresses, but I also love the fashion that comes with the cooler temperatures.

Thanks for bearing with me while I took some time to re-group, and I promise to be a much better blogger in the weeks and months to come.

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M.I.A…

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At this point, it’s no secret that I’ve not only failed at posting more, I’ve gone longer than I have without a post since I started this blogging adventure. I’m still alive and have not abandoned my little corner of the internet, I promise! 

I’m not here to make excuses. I don’t think there’s any glory in being sooo busy all of the time, and “I don’t have time” is one of my least favorite statements ever. But sometimes there’s so much happening at one time, you have to choose to press pause on some things to focus on others. It’s not because you want to, but for the sake of maintaining sanity, it’s gotta happen. 

There are only so many hours in one day, and right now, mine are pretty much dominated by some things that are outside of my control. In the remaining hours I can eke out, I’m squeezing in my final weeks of training runs (16 days to go!) and pretty much just thanking my lucky stars for an amazing husband who’s keeping me going. 

In the meantime, I’m focusing on the little things that get me through the day. I put on this Lilly Pulitzer for Target dress for work yesterday because I couldn’t think of a better cure for being sleep-deprived than a bright yellow dress with flamingos on it. (You know, other than that giant cup of coffee I’m holding. There have been a lot of those too.)   

Does the flower crown Snapchat filter make anyone else feel like they at least look like a serene goddess who has their life totally under control? The warm weather and pretty Lilly Pulitzer patterns don’t hurt either. (And check out that sweet running tanline…time for sunscreen and dreams of evening it back out poolside.) Like I said, it’s the little things that get you through. 

I promise, I’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programming as soon as I possibly can. Until then, deep breaths, happy thoughts, and lots of room for grace.
  

OOTDs: Easter (Weekend) Lillies

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Dress | Clutch

Some weeks are just crazy and busy, but this week was just plain challenging for all sorts of reasons. Needless to say, we were ready for the weekend. It’s no secret I’ve been ready for spring weather and spring clothes, but there’s no better time than Easter to rock all Lilly Pulitzer, all weekend.

On Saturday, we went to a couples wedding shower for an old friend and his awesome fiancee. I knew I wanted to wear this tunic dress I snagged during the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale back in January – it felt like I’d ordered it forever ago and I’ve just been waiting for it to get warm enough. The day started out pretty chilly (it was a rough run that morning), so instead of the sandals I hoped for, I stuck with with booties. Note to self: I really need some closed-toe espadrilles for these in-between days…and just in general. Fun tassel earrings and my monogrammed clutch were all I needed to complete my party outfit.

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The shower was super fun and eventually transitioned from your pretty typical wedding shower to just hanging out with some of our oldest friends. My friend, Amanda, and I have been besties since the first day of first grade when we got lost together before the school day even started (true story). She, Colin (the groom-to-be), and I all went to elementary school together, and then my husband joined the group in middle school. Colin’s house was where we’d all hang out, and Amanda made my husband and I admit we liked each other during a 7th grade field trip, so to say we all go wayyyy back is an understatement. It’s also why we’re apparently incapable of getting through a normal photo together without laughing hysterically (though I’m sure the margaritas didn’t help much either)…this was the best of the bunch. The boys’ antics haven’t changed much since middle school either!

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Dress (similar) | Cardigan | Shoes | Earrings

The only downside of the Lilly After Party Sale is that you end up waiting so long to get to wear your new treats if you don’t go anywhere warm during the winter. I’ve been waiting since the August sale to wear this Bentley v-neck dress,  and it was totally worth the wait as the perfect Easter dress. (It’s no longer available, but this one is pretty similar.) My heels are favorites from J.Crew Factory – they’re amazingly comfortable and go with literally everything. And yes, my Kendra Scotts again, because they also go with everything and I have no self-control. We were staring directly into the sun for this series of pics, which is why we’re all squinting and the boys were being ridiculous.

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This year, my mom put together an Easter egg hunt for us to do after mass, but it was no ordinary free-for-all egg hunt. Each of our (color-coded by person) eggs was filled with pieces of a poem we had to unscramble. Once the poem was unscrambled, you had to solve your riddle to figure out where your Easter basket was hidden. You can see our intense concentration as we all tried to solve ours (I figured out mine first!), and the whole thing was pretty funny.

Hope you had a gorgeous and happy Easter weekend!

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OOTD 2.24.2016

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It seems that despite my best efforts to be done with winter clothes, Indiana is not yet done with winter. Womp womp. 

Today was a return to temps in the 30s and snow tonight (remember when it was 72 degrees just four days ago?), but fear not, we’re supposed to be in the 50s by Saturday and 60s by Sunday. This is Indiana, after all. Transitioning weather calls for transitional outfits, and although I posted a version of this one here, part of what I love about it is you can change the outfit up just by changing the scarf. 

Today was a black-and-white plaid blanket scarf from Old Navy last year, but it can just as easily be swapped for a lighter and brighter scarf when the days get warmer. Draping the scarf lengthwise around your neck and belting it gives a bit of a polished, faux vest look, while secretly keeping you warm and cozy at your desk all day. A basic black long-sleeved top  (like I said, I may have a slight obsession with black tops), my favorite Minnie pants from J.Crew, and some black pumps provide a sleek base for the outfit. Topped with my faithful Kendra Scott earrings, monogram necklace, and this pop of bright pink lip color I can’t get enough of, and I was ready for the day. 

Here’s hoping this is the last of the winter things for awhile! 

  

OOTD 2.18.2016: OTK Boots & The Office

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We’ve officially reached the point in February when I am so over winter and winter clothes, I can’t stand it. When the temperatures first dropped in the fall, I was excited to pull out the wools, tweeds, darker colors, and tights. Now? Over it. Soooo over it!

Today wasn’t nearly as warm as tomorrow is supposed to be (62 degrees! A heatwave for Indiana in February!), but I decided to ditch the tights and go for bright colors, despite the temps in the 40s. That’s where my beloved OTK boots came in.

The key to OTK boots at the office ensuring you’re not showing much – if any – skin. OTK boots can pack a whole lot of va-va-voom, which is the opposite of what you want for your standard 9-to-5 office environment. I never wear mine to work without opaque black tights and/or as much coverage as possible to tone them down, usually in the form of a knee-grazing skirt. Since I was boycotting my tights today, coverage was extra important.

My fit and flare dress is a few years old from Old Navy, but a good fit and flare is always a comfy classic. This one also comes to my knees, so only a centimeter or so of skin would show when I was walking, meeting the coverage requirement. Not satisfied with the bright dress alone, I had to add in my Lilly Pulitzer Murfee scarf (a birthday gift from a sweet friend a few years ago), and my hot pink Kendra Scott earrings. I topped it all off with some bright lipstick. For being described as a balm, the color of this bareMinerals “Lip-Oil Balm” sticks around all day.

Bring on spring!

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OOTD 2.11.2016

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Do you ever have those weeks when it seems like everything is on fire? That was this week. Lots of long and crazy days, and Wednesday was an especially late night of work. Going to sleep on nights I’ve worked late is near impossible for me – it’s like my brain just can’t turn off and still needs hours to wind down again. While it gives me some solo quiet time to catch up on the day’s social media I missed, it’s not so great for waking up the next day at my normal time. On day’s like that, I like to have some easy outfits I don’t have to think about, so I can just throw them on and go.

Black and camel is one of those color combos that never fails to feel classic and polished, with minimal effort required. These wool skimmer pants are actually from last year, but I can always count on J. Crew Factory to keep the classics in stock. There’s no camel left, but it looks like the ones they do have left are marked down to half price (love the crimson or black). Add on a black top – I have so many variations of black tops, my husband thinks I’m crazy when I come home with another one – my favorite Kendra Scott earrings, black heels, red lips, and you’re out the door!

I was exhausted, and it was another crazy, long day, but I felt put together enough that I still looked ready for the invite from one of my girlfriends for a much needed impromptu sushi and beer break after work.

How do you make late nights and long days better?

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Devour Downtown!

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The past couple weeks were Devour Downtown in Indianapolis, which is always a fun way to try a prix fixe menu at some of the city’s best restaurants for a fraction of the price. Though my husband and I have taken advantage of the semi-annual event before, he’s not always the most adventurous eater, and a night out with girls was a great way for me to test the waters of a restaurant to see how he’d like it. On Saturday, I found two winners that I cannot wait to go back to!

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A girls night out is always a great time to pull out the fun things from your closet. My tunic is on clearance at J.Crew Factory for a crazy $9.99, and I wear it alllll the time. I took advantage of the night on the town to test drive the “leather” leggings I was finally brave enough to buy, and I have to say, I’m a fan. My cape/vest/coat hybrid was a steal at $22, and you can also find an even cheaper version of it here. I liked that it was an extra layer without being too hot, so I didn’t have to worry about taking it off and trying to keep track of it. After being so in love with my black OTK boots, I decided to buy another pair in brown (they only seem to be available in black now), and I’m loving the versatility of having two pairs without breaking the bank. I finished everything off with one of my favorite necklaces and monogrammed earrings.

We started the evening at Bluebeard for cocktails and appetizers while we waited for our dinner reservation at Marrow. I’d heard amazing things about Bluebeard, but hadn’t had a chance to go there yet and now I’m totally hooked. They make their ginger beer and sodas in-house, and every cocktail we had (because let’s face it, when you’re with ladies, you get to sample everyone’s) was perfect. The meat and cheese assortment we had was also incredible; I could’ve gorged myself on charcuterie and never made it to dinner. One of my favorite parts was that they give you your check in an old book – how cute is that?! Kaitlin’s came in Little Women, and I had to snap a pic and pretend it was mine since Little Women is my all-time favorite.

Our dinner reservation was at Marrow, and it’s definitely a place I can’t wait to go back to! Naturally we started with cocktails, so I got the Royale with Duck (no actual duck in the cocktail – yes, I had to ask), and Alex and Liz got their House Old Fashioned, which is actually made with “bone marrow-washed” rye.

We didn’t all stick with the Devour Downtown menu, but there was plenty of food to go around! I started with shrimp and mussels in a Thai peanut sauce (so good), and I didn’t get a picture of the Paneer with Shells, but it was this delicious version of shells and cheese (my favorite comfort food on earth) that I’ll definitely be back to have again. We each got different entrees, and every single thing was that level of amazing where everyone stops talking and is just focused on eating. I had the Thai-style Fried Catfish (surprisingly light and refreshing), Kaitlin got the Tandoori Fried Chicken (also incredible), and Alex got the Spare Ribs (perfectly sticky/spicy/sweet), but the star of the show that I can’t wait to go back for more of was Liz’s Pork and Noodles. The combination of the noodles, pork, and that runny egg was beyond amazing. Our Devour Downtown menu came with a dessert, and all of us got the Chocolate Miso Creme Caramel, which magically tasted like a s’more and was the best way to end the meal.

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Of course, we couldn’t resist playing with Kaitlin’s Polaroid all evening, and the fun part is that everyone gets to take home a real picture! So fun!

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OOTD 1.21.2016

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A bit delayed, but I meant when I said I could not wait to wear these new Kendra Scott beauties – I wore them the very next day! I kept it basic with black pants, a black long-sleeve, and a black and white blanket scarf so that the pink really popped. Cold days in January need more hot pink.

My black pants are a J.Crew winter favorite I’ve had for a few years. Mine are a wool dress pant, although the link is a new version in a cotton twill, but either way they’re a great slim-fitting dress pant for the office. You can’t go wrong with basic long-sleeve tees that can be dressed up, dressed down, and worn a million different ways. Old Navy is a favorite for picking them up in a rainbow of colors for super cheap. Blanket scarves are by far one of my favorite “trends” that’s lasted a couple years now. They instantly make you feel pulled together, while keeping you cozy whether it’s just starting to get cold or when it’s well into winter’s freezing days. What are your winter fashion go-tos?

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OOTD 1.20.2016

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Wednesday in January calls for some fuchsia gingham, don’t you think? We woke up to a winter wonderland (and all sorts of traffic), so I figured a little bight pink couldn’t hurt. My top is an old one from C.Wonder (sigh, still sad they aren’t around anymore), but I’m a big believer that gingham is always in style. I’m also a big believer in cardigans, as evidenced by the drawer I have with a full rainbow of them. I worked at Ann Taylor Loft right after graduating from college, which both fed my addiction and gave me a solid collection to build on that’s still going strong. My skirt is a winter go-to wool mini from J.Crew Factory – this one is a little darker, but pretty close and on solid markdown. Add on a sparkly necklace (an oldy-but-a-goody from BaubleBar) and earrings, cable knit tights, and my beloved over-the-knee boots, and I was good to go.

Despite the crazy weather, I thought it’d be a good idea to curl my day-two hair, but it seems my hair had other ideas, so into a ponytail it went. My hair is super straight and baby fine, so figuring out just the right way to curl it has been a battle I’ve been fighting for most of my life. When we had to have a full head of curls for show choir in high school, it required sleeping in hot rollers the night before to get the curls to last through prelims, and even then, a touchup was required before finals at night. A battle, I tell you. I’ve found I have great luck when I use my tapered curling wand, but when I want bigger curls, my standard 1.5 inch barreled curling iron just doesn’t seem to hold the curls. I’ve eyed a few 1-inch wands, but can’t bring myself to bite the bullet on price. I know I will, it’s just a matter of figuring out which one is really worth it. Do you have any favorites?

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I’m SO excited that these beauties showed up in the mail today (with a little help from my Mom – thanks, Mom!), so it looks like I’ll be finding a way to work in some hot pink tomorrow too…and maybe even the day after that…

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