Sweater Weather

It was nice and cool this morning so I broke out my first sweater of the season! It's a recent buy from LOFT and I adore it. It has three different textures and the back is a little longer which is a nice touch.

I paired it with slim pants and a long necklace. Just wanted to keep it simple today.

 sweater- LOFT  |  pants- banana republic  |  necklace- reginia pierallini, ?   |   shoes- nine west  |   bag- tory burch  |  watch- michael kors  |  bracelet- groopdealz.com, ?  |  earrings- babublebar

love these pearl 360 degree stud earrings!

Are y'all interested in me posting fitness updates again? Let me know in the comments. I went to bootcamp again tonight and it was rough (100 pushups too many). I know all of the hard work will pay off again as I get some muscle mass back onto my body, but I am sore, y'all. Have a great night!

Stripes On Monday

Happy Monday! I'm blogging a little later into the night because I took a bootcamp class tonight. I had purchased a two-month membership at The Bar Method (on Gilt City!) a few months ago and I was going pretty consistently on weekends (and absolutely love the classes), but the studio unfortunatley didn't have any class times during the work week that were early enough in the morning or late enough at night for me.

It's hard to find studios that consistently have 5 or 5:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. classes (so I can go before work and still have time to come home and get ready or go after Harper is asleep for the night) but I found a gym that has a ton of classes and it's close to my home (Bar Method was at least a 20 minute drive)--- plus, it has early morning and late night classes every week and regular gym equipment if I wanted to work out on my own.

It has been really difficult for me to motivate myself to work out again. I know it's good for me and gives me energy and makes me strong, but I always find an excuse to "start next week." Even tonight, I almost didn't go, but I forced myself to get in my car and I'm glad I did. It was a 30-minute class, but even that was tough for me. 

My goal is to go three days per week and work up to four or five. There is a spin class I'd love to take on weekends and I'll do bootcamp during the week. 

Anyway, I'm ready to put on some muscle and reclaim that energy I miss so much. Plus, going to early morning classes will force me to go to sleep earlier, which I haven't been good at for the past year. So, that's a little fitness update�wish me luck! (I'll need it)

Today I wore my new J.Crew endless shirt (30% off with code WEEKENDPLANS) to work with my Banana Republic Sloan pants. I absolutely love the fit of this shirt and how long it is. It does wrinkle a lot (as you can see, I was sitting at my desk most of the day), but I love the side slit, the navy lining at the buttons and its rounded edges. I highly recommend it! I also wore it with my navy blazer from Aritzia, but I took it off to drive because it was so humid out (that may explain the hair, too!)

shirt- j.crew (size 4)  |  pants- banana republic  |  shoes- nine west  |  necklace- dolceave, ? 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

An Outfit + Recent Purchases...

Happy Thursday! Thank you for being patient with me these past two weeks. Work has been absolutely crazy and I finally feel like I'm getting to catch-up a bit this week. Our new fiscal year has just begun and I'm starting to work on some new service lines which I'm really excited about! 

First things first---a quick, simple outfit I wore this week:

shirt- LOFT (50% off right now!)  |  pants- banana republic  |  shoes- banana republic  |  sweater- armani exchange (old, borrowed from my mom)  |  necklace- banana republic (long necklace options- 1 | 2 | 3| )  |  bracelet- j.crew  |  watch- michael kors

I picked up a few items from LOFT recently and then of course my co-worker told me everything on the entire site is 50% off today so I was compelled to order a beautiful textured sweater and sparkly earrings. I don't own many sweaters, so this will be nice for when it stops being 80 or 90 degrees everyday.

colorblock textural tunic sweater  |  jeweled cluster stud earrings

I also had a few items arrive from Old Navy that I got on sale last week. I haven't tried them on yet but will post pics when I do! Everything is 20% off right now.

gingham dress  |  chambray dress  |  boyfriend cardigan

Yes, I am oficially "that mom" that bought a dress to match my daughter's. Instagram made me do it!

Lastly, I ordered this J.Crew endless shirt during their 25% off sale but it has yet to arrive�

Hope y'all have fun plans for the weekend! See you in my next post!

Recent Purchases For Mama + Toddler

It's been a little while since I've shared some new purchases and these all seemed to arrive around the same time so I decided to do a little round-up.

First, I'll share today's outfit, which includes one of my purchases- a softened chambray top from LOFT. They have a 40% off sale going on right now so I snagged some stuff this week and the shipping was crazy-fast!

shirt- LOFT |  necklace- kendra scott  |  pants- banana republic (on sale!) |  shoes- nine west

A note on this shirt--- I ordered the small tall and love the way it fits! It's just the right length and it's a nice slim fit through the body. To be honest, prior to the last couple of months, I can't remember the last time I shopped at LOFT, but they are killin' it this season. Plus, they're offering more styles online in tall so that's been a motivator for me to check out their offerings. I do find LOFT runs very short for tops, so for taller gals or ones with long torsos, the tall options online are a huge reason to check out what's available.

I also purchased this fantastic leopard-print dress with 3/4 sleeves. It looks so great on and is incredibly comfortable. It took me a few tries to get the right size on this one. I initially ordered a medium tall and it fit like a large. So I ordered a small and extra small tall and kept the small tall. Size down on this one if you're between sizes. I also love the second leopard print dress below!

leopard dress (antique gold)  |  leopard dress (black)

I also liked these two dresses but didn't order them because they don't come in tall---wish they did or they'd be in my cart!

plaid dress  |  gray dress

The white shirt on the left is fantastic- I got it in a small tall and it's a nice slim fit and easy to tuck into a pencil skirt. I also love that it's collarless. You can see it in a recent post, here. The leopard shirt is a nice option if you'd rather add a print on top only and I just love the black and white checked shirt---It's perfect for fall layering.

collarless shirt  |  leopard shirt  |  check shirt

Next up, I got a gray mixed-media shirt and the chambray I showed in today's outfit. I also love the crisp white shirt shown here---what a lovely neckline. I got the mixed media top in size medium.

mixed media top  |  white popover  |  softened chambray

I also purchased this pretty necklace with pink and crystal stones. I just couldn't resist how pretty it looked against the new tops!

|  crystal necklace  |  

Let me know what you think of my picks! I think they're really simple pieces and will blend seamlessly with the rest of my wardrobe.

I made an online order at Zara recently for Harper. I haven't been loving a lot of pieces in Baby Gap's toddler collection for the past couple of months (I got a few items here and there) and I'm tired of the dusty pink color they're carrying right now. I picked up:

 these adorable knit leggings with buttons:

Mickey and Minnie shirt 

(anything with a print will show less stains from all of Harper's daycare fun!)

Jeans that aren't really jeans 

because they're stretchy and can accommodate plenty of baby roll goodness!

 Road Trip! top

 mint green top

I hope you like my picks! Happy weekend shopping :)

Navy + Royal

Blue is one of my most loved colors. It looks good on everyone and best of all, various shades of blue from deep navy to the lightest blue all look great mixed and matched together.

This cobalt blue dress continues to be a favorite in my closet. I wore it yesterday and paired it with a navy blazer and added a pop of yellow with my Kendra Scott Rayne necklace.

dress- banana republic (old) (similar, similar, similar)  |  blazer- artizia  |  shoes- nine west  | necklace- kendra scott  |  sunglasses- gucci

Have a great week!

Half A Sleeve

I absolutely love half-sleeve tops. This one is a recent purchase from Banana Republic and it's so easy to wear and is a great transition piece between our searing hot summers and our (less) searing hot falls.

A simple cream and black outfit is always classic and today I added a faux calf-hair leopard print heel for a little interest in an otherwise basic outfit.

 top- banana republic (nla but check out these similar options-I love them!  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6)  |  skirt- j.crew  |  heels- nordstrom  |  necklace- ? tiny tags  |  watch- michael kors

What are your favorite transition pieces if you live in a warmer climate?

Recent Purchases...

Happy Friday! Today I'm sharing some items that came in the mail recently from Zara and Banana Republic.

I got some adorable tops and a skirt for Harper from Zara's baby line. I love that the prices for some of their more basic pieces are really affordable. The shoes and dresses are on the pricier side, so I wait until those go on sale.

hello marled sweatshirt  |  tutu skirt

 How cute is the little bunny on this top? It's a sweet touch.

striped top (under $10!)

For myself, I picked out this beautiful lace dress. I plan to wear it for our family photos we have coming up. I ordered a medium. It's shorter than I'd like it, but it's not for work so it's perfectly fine.

lace dress

Lastly, I ordered this Banana Republic soft-wash oxford shirt online in a small tall. I had purchased it in a medium regular in-store, but I wanted a slimmer fit and longer length. It is absolutely PERFECT and I need to buy it in white now too (sadly the white is sold out in that size). It's so soft. I will show photos of it on soon!

soft-wash oxford shirt

Have a wonderful weekend!

Labor Day Deals + What I Bought

I was so excited to check out the newly re-opened Zara at the Galleria mall today, but I didn't end up buying anything for myself (more on that later).

I headed there around noon today when Harper went down for her nap and I visited the few stores I wanted to check out. While I love being able to try on clothes before I buy them, I don't really love shopping in malls anymore. These days, I'm doing most of my shopping online and dealing with the returns if items aren't what I expected or don't fit. 

I spent two hours checking out some stores and I came away with some fantastic items from Banana Republic which I'll share first. My entire purchase in-store was 40% off and you can get 40% off through tonight at midnight using code BRLABOR online.

Jacquard Elbow-Sleeve Top

This is one I'm still unsure about. On the right I'm wearing a size small and on the left a medium. I ended up getting the medium. I like the sleeve length and texture of this top. Let me know what you all think!

Next up is this must-have long sleeve tee. Oh my goodness it's so soft and stretchy. Highly recommend. I got a size small.

Mini-Stripe Long-Sleeve Tee

I also picked up a blue soft-wash oxford shirt. I got a medium as I liked the length, but I see they have it online in a size small tall, so I may order that to see if I like the fit better. You can see I layered it here with the striped tee from above.

Soft-Wash Oxford Shirt

I loved the print on this large checked plaid shirt. Black and white is classic. I want to layer this under a thin black sweater. I can't find this one online, but I LOVE this one that is very similar. This is also a medium.

I also picked up this charcoal-gray chambray-style shirt. I thought it would be good for layering and on its own for cooler weekends. This is a medium. Unfortunately I can't find it online.

This dress  is one I tried on but didn't buy. It was on sale too. Cute, but I passed.

Space-Dye Faux-Wrapped Dress

I also went to LOFT and had the chance to try on one of the dresses from Lou & Grey that I shared in my post on Saturday. It's perfect! Great for casual summer days and will be great for our upcoming beach trip. I ended up getting the medium. The small fit too but I worried about it shrinking with how short it already is. Plus, I liked that it made it a little looser.

LOU & GREY SPACEDYE BLOUSON TANK DRESS

Now, before I get to the bad, let's start with the good. Zara expanded their Galleria store to include a kids and baby store upstairs and I couldn't be happier. I had seen the baby collection when I was in Toronto and was hoping we would get a kids/baby store too. I picked up a couple of things for Harper and I'm sure I will be getting many more there as time goes on because they have so many cute items.

Now to the not-so-good. I have always been a huge Zara fan, but their current offerings are not for me. I used to get a ton of clothes there and the last time I shopped there (in Toronto) I saw a ton of cute items, so I know this is just a fluke but I didn't like one item I tried on (everything felt shapeless). The fitting room lighting was also terrible, as you are about to witness...

Not good folks, not good. Maybe next time!

Before I go, here are two cute dresses I got for Harper at Baby Gap:

Checkered flannel dress

 Mix-media stripe dress

And lastly, I was running low on my beloved peony blush and picked up another. Thank you Bobbi Brown for making the greatest blush color in all of the land.

Hope your Labor Day was amazing!