:: recent wears :: 

white jeans have continued be a stable with the ever changing temperatures.

and moscow mules have been flowing big time. 

j.crew tissue tee // articles of society jeans (order down a size) // rocksbox necklace // old levi’s jacket similar here

I got this black maxi with our trip to Italy in mind.  I wanted something long enough to cover my knees for when we are in churches and such (since I’ve been told no shoulders or knees!) and I think it will be easy to change up with different belts, scarves, blah blah blah.  it has a high waist and the blousy top part,  but it does a good job of defining the waist still without a belt. 

{ hi – lo maxi dress }  comes in 9 colors + under $70 ! 

both of these looks have the latest necklace from my rocksbox package and I love it so much.  I’ve kept this box for so long because I kept wearing the necklace every weekend! 

you can still use code tayloroshayxoxo for your first month free! 

….. and I’ve been wearing that nordstrom rack dress so often, that the last three times I’ve run into the neighbors I’ve had it on and it’s become mortifying because I think they think I don’t bathe or change my clothes.  whoops.  best $30 ever spent.

{sold out in my print, but love this print of theirs too}

getting me through the monday workday : the bachelorette tonight with only a few episodes left!  get ready for some more obnoxious shawn scenes saying “that other guy” sweating profusely.  

I am not ready for Monday and a new workweek, but I am ready for a few nights of good sleep! 

My sister was in town for the 4th of July weekend and it was gorgeous and warm here in Chicago. 

Lots of food and lots of outdoor time with friends. 

Some pictures of the weekend below : 

We had brunch at one of our favorite spots, Summer House 

 {vineyard vines dress} 

afterwards we went shopping and walked our way back towards our place;  we finally stopped at a bar we’d never been to with the cutest beer garden (Will’s on Racine)

we had lots of food and snacks for our friends rooftop for the 4th of July. 

I gave a patriotic twist to my seven layer dip with a flag on top. if you ask me, it was the cutest thing ever 🙂 

my new cocktail obsession is the blood orange san pellegrino with some club soda (I don’t want to do it with club soda but made the mistake of reading the insane amount of sugar in one can of these damn things.  they taste SO good though)

I chose a very festive red white and blue romper for the occasion, and my favorite jean jacket for when it inevitably got chilly 

{eight sixty romper}

I just realllllly wish they would start making like snap-closure-crotches or something so you don’t have to get nude every time you have to use the restroom.  I have the bladder of a 5 year old and it gets REAL old stripping down and freaking out that the door isn’t locked every time.  

we could see the fireworks from every neighborhood and part of the city from their rooftop.  it was amazing.  hours of never-ending fireworks and food. 

Such a fun weekend with my sister, but I am exhausted! 

 I declare that next weekend I do absolutely nothing and read a book and sip tea. 

The Luckiest Girl Alive is crawling to the top of the list for what I want to read next.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!! 

   

card from one of my girlfriends that cracks me up! 

I feel like I watched so much HGTV and Food Network this weekend.  Not complaining – I live for that stuff.   (mental note: I reallllly need to finally order our new coffee table and rug for the living room…..)

I saw the pilot for a show called Sweet House Alabama on HGTV and this needs to become a show.  it was incredible; even kip liked it! set your DVR because they did such a gorgeous makeover.

the couple on the show has a blog you can check out, perfectly imperfect, until the show (hopefully!) gets picked up for a full season.

it reminds me of Fixer Upper, another great southern home renovation show, but I feel like I liked this one even more. 

:: weekend wears ::   

our “summer weather” has been all over the place the last week….. super cold and windy,  raining like crazy,  warm and lovely, humid and muggy….. FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY CHICAGO. LOCK IT UP. 

I’ve been living in this silk Joie top since I scored it at Nordstrom Rack a few months ago. 

I bought the leather jacket after I got my paycheck from my first job after college – best money ever spent – its LIKE BUTTAH. 

it’s depressing to dress for cold weather in JUNE,

 so white jeans and my green cargo jacket have been the perfect transition pieces. 

{white jeans}      {espadrilles}      {similar green jacket}      {bucket bag}

for the white jeans, order a size down (and feel great about yourself because you just dropped a pant size girl!!!) they run large

and my beloved bucket bag is 30% off again!! 

{bucket bag}

the navy sleeveless top was a great find from Marshalls. 

 It’s Michael Kors and you can’t tell in the pic, but the bottom half is sheer.  

 ps, you can shop TJ Max online now – whaaaaat!!! 

The espadrille flats were a Memorial Day Weekend sale spree purchase and they are super comfy and cute.

{cap toe espadrilles} on super sale! 

Kip was like “what the hell are on your feet???” which means “YAY ME! I stepped out of my usual TB sandals or ballet flats into something trendy and adorable!”

he hates trendy and fashionable in any way…… so when he thinks something is ugly I know I am ON. POINT.  well not really, but it makes him making fun of my outfits easier 🙂 

I hope you all had a wonderful memorial day weekend!! 

image

we had an engagement party friday night in Bucktown and Kip and I went to Takito Kitchen beforehand for some Mexican & we loved it.  It was laid back and delicious with cute decor (and a great patio but it wasn’t warm enough that night).  We don’t have any good Mexican restaurants near us so it definitely hit the spot. 

plus the cocktails come in cute glasses like this. so precious. 

I started streaming Grace & Frankie on Netlfix and it was cute and funny. 

 Easy viewing. Jane Fonda never ceases to amaze me. 

The entire season can be watched in seven hours or something crazy like that, so I’m sure I’ll finish the whole thing at some point 🙂 

The youngest of Kip’s brothers graduated High School and is off to South Carolina in the fall!! 

I had a lady date on Sunday with brunch and Pitch Perfect 2.  We agreed that we liked it and laughed a lot, but that it wasn’t as good as the first one and that waiting until it comes out on DVD wouldn’t be a bad thing. 

afterwards I went to Whole Foods to pick up dinner and made the mistake of buying these cookies.  

ummmm crack. rolled in heroin. mixed with crack. dipped in ecstasy. sprinkled with whatever other drugs are addictive.  too far? oh well.  

my friend had a BBQ on Monday for Memorial Day and went all. out.  The food was all so pretty and so delicious and pinterest perfection.

 it was a feast martha stewart would have been very impressed by! 

it was the weekend of re-wearing clothing.  I figure if it’s different groups of people and I wear a different belt and accessories it totally doesn’t count, right?  and then my husband thinks I’m only re-wearing clothes and not shopping online with all the killer sales, right?

blue scalloped dress  //  blue + white printed dress

plus, the printed blue dress is so comfortable I would wear it all day every day.  I should probably stop wearing it every weekend though because now I officially have no occasion where the group of people have not seen it. 

it was a gorgeous weekend here in Chicago!

one of my best friends from college that lives in NYC was in town for the weekend with her boyfriend and we also had a wedding on Saturday.

It was definitely a party filled weekend (read: I look and feel awful today) sooooooo detox big time this week.

Before bed last night I had a cup of green tea with lemon though so I’m thinking that took care of the 3 days of eating and drinking… that cancels it all out right? RIGHT.

For the wedding, I wore a recent purchase, this green silk maxi dress and loved it.

 The belt is an old one from another BCBG dress.  It is currently on sale for 50% off and is a STEAL.

I am tempted to get it in the other two colors…. no joke.

The seating chart was something I’d never seen before that I thought was really cute:

champagne with your name and seat.  so cute. 

HOKAY thats all I have for today because I’ve been busy chugging water, popping ibuprofen, and cursing myself.


and tonight the undoubtedly worst season that of course I’ll still watch of The Bachelorette begins …… and DWTS Finale night I think!!