Dressed for Time | Spring and Summer Style Tips from a Chicago blogger

Walt Disney Concert Hall OOTN

May 11, 2015

While trying to decide what we wanted to do for Cinco de Mayo, it flashed in my head that we’d already purchased tickets for Brahms with Bronfman at the Walt Disney Concert Hall! I wanted to keep the evening somewhat festive for Cinco, and found the most amazing restaurant, Pez Cantina, right down the street. They had tons of specials for the occasion, great service, and incredible food. Mark was kind enough to grab a few shots of my outfit and our surroundings throughout the evening. Such a good night 😀

Dress – Erin Fetherston – Rent the Runway
Crocodile bag – vintage
Initial bracelet – LA find
Sunnies – Amazon
Sandals – Matisse

We were pretty obsessed with the food at Pez Cantina. We took advantage of their special menu, ordering the ceviche tostada, beer-battered fish tacos, chorizo queso fundito with made-in-house corn tortillas, shrimp and avocado taquitos and al pastor tacos.

Inside and outside the gorgeous Frank Gehry-designed building. We walked around the seemingly endless walkways and staircases and found some gorgeous views of the city.
Perfect night! 😀

Olive Jacket and Leopard Booties

May 11, 2015

So I’ve had these Toms Chukka booties since 2 Scarlet Threads sales back, and they’ve yet to make it on my feet until today. I scoured Pinterest for a bit this morning, in search of outfit inspiration and actually came pretty dang close to the image I liked the most. My issue with them, I think, is that they’re so specific! I believe they’re made of jute, and have an espadrille-like heel, so they’re definitely geared toward summer pairings, but they require socks which makes my feet get all warm, and something about the print seems to clash easily with a lot of things. I think they work well with the outfit I came up with, but they rubbed against my heels all day (the end result I’m sure will be a blister), so I will inevitably be putting them back in the pile for Scarlet Threads for them to go to a new home in July. I’m sure someone out there can make them work!
For the rest of the look, I wanted to keep it texturally interesting, with the help of this gathered t-shirt from Elizabeth & Clarke. From previous posts, you probably already are aware that I’m a bit obsessed with this olive jacket, so that was a no-brainer. I added some antiqued gold bangles and a tassel necklace from Elizabeth Stone and I was all set to go to lunch and do a little light shopping with the boyfriend.. I’ll spill the beans.. We stopped in to Nordstrom and I picked up my very first Rebecca Minkoff bag.. Two of them, in fact! They were deeply discounted and I had a $20 off Nordstrom note, AND it’s triple points weekend. Triple score!
Side note, I totally didn’t notice until editing these that when my pup came over to see what I was doing he dropped a piece of his toy near me. Oops! I love my dogs 😀

Olive jacket – JCP
Gathered t-shirt – Elizabeth & Clarke
Boyfriend Capris – Old Navy
Leopard booties – TOMS
Tassel necklace – Elizabeth Stone Jewelry
Bangles – Nectar
Ring – Forever 21
Glasses – Warby Parker

Convertible Dress and Metallic Accents

May 11, 2015

I literally threw this look together in 3 minutes when the boyfriend said we needed to leave very soon to go errand-running… I’d just taken the dress out of it’s package, fresh from J.Crew Factory’s clearance section, and was messing around with it as a skirt, dress, etc. It was a bit chilly, so I reached for this denim jacket, and quickly finished the look off with some metallic accessories. Grab and go! 😀

Denim jacket – Gap
Convertible dress – J.Crew Factory
Gold sandals – Tommy Hilfiger
Necklace – LA find
Silver & gold clutch – J.Crew Factory
Navy sunglasses – Free People

April Beauty Buys

May 11, 2015

This last month has definitely seen a wide variety of beauty buys.. I picked up some necessities like my all-time fave shaving cream and citrusy hand soap to some pick-me up items like cheery floral-print bobby pins and a roll-on perfume that makes me nostalgic for days spent beachside.
I’ll start with a new subscription box that I’ve started receiving, from the French-inspired brand, Jouer. It’s called Le Matchbox, and it’s full of skincare and cosmetics, delivered quarterly. It’s $45 for the ongoing membership, or $65 for a one-time box. I’ll be doing a full review once I’ve had a chance to use the products a bit more.
There was a note inside offering their apologies for being out of their trademark box, so they included this great makeup bag for the inconvenience! I love good customer service..

The details.. a gorgeous mini blush/bronzing brush, Daily Repair Treatment Oil (a $48 value!), Crème Eyeshadow Crayon in Abstract, a shimmery charcoal, Hydrating Lipstick in Whitney, travel eyelash curler, a sample of their gorrrgeous smelling Perfume Oil, Mineral Powder Blush. Overall, this box was a great value. I am already in love with the perfume oil and the lipstick. The blush is gorgeous, but is not glued to the pan, and the eyelash curler is VERY tricky to get undone, like I feel like I’m going to snap my fingers inside of it! I will be doing a full review soon 🙂

Next up, some summer essentials…
from Planet Beauty, Redken Extreme Anti-Snap.. This stuff was recommended to me by a friend, who shared that it was the best product on the market for repairing split ends.
From Amazon, Sun Bum’s SPF 30, Cool Down after sun lotion.. I love these products not only for their effectiveness, but for their incredible beachy yet luxe scent.
Lilly Pulitzer for Target bobby pins.. Literally the ONLY thing I got from this collaboration. I had my sights set on much more, but like so many others, got shafted with the online ordering at 1 am and didn’t want to ruin a Sunday morning with my honey by standing in line at 7 am. They’re super cute, so I’m not mad at it. From what I did see, the quality of the dresses was very subpar. I saw a caftan with the design completely off-center and some of the items with stitching coming undone. Meh.
EOS Shave Balm.. My absolute favorite shave cream. I will NEVER go back to foaming shave gel, this cream is the SH!T.
J.R. Watkins Grapefruit hand soap. Maybe it’s because I love sugary, citrusy scents in summer, maybe it’s because I enjoy saying Pamplemousse. Either way, I adore this stuff.

From Sephora –
Maison by Martin Margiela Replica Roll-on.. As soon as I smelled this beach-driven scent, I was taken back to some childhood memory I couldn’t quite place. It must be a good one, because I can’t stop sniffing my wrist whenever I wear this.
Anastasia Brow Wiz in Caramel.. An old standby and staple in my makeup bag.
Sephora Tinted Self-Tanning Body Mist.. I was going to try this today after my shower but noticed there were not instructions on the can! Not that spray tanning is rocket science, but it’s nice to see should I rub it in, how far away to spray from, how long before dressing, etc., so I’ll definitely have to look that up and report back.
I grabbed a couple skincare samples, along with a vial of Tory Burch’s fragrance, which I’d been waiting to try since it’s release.

Ok, so its not beauty-related, but I wanted to include these stationery items I’ve just gotten from Rifle Paper (Botanical Card Set/Hello Darling Stationery Set). They were purchased through one of the Lucky Breaks deal at 50% off, and I feel like this is just the start of my grown-up paper goods arsenal. The cards can be send to friends or colleagues for thank-yous, and the correspondence cards will come in use for a casual note that still makes a great impression.

Thanks for reading,
Kristin
😀