thoughts and whatnots 4.30.17

white denim selfies:  one  |  two  |  three

blog love:

• Though I know I could never pull off her gorgeous looks, I love McKenna's sweet, boho style. She's especially nailing it in this pale pink beaded maxi dress. swoon. 
• Now that little bit's going to be a big sister (a fact that she's so not excited about) I love all of Cait's suggestions for books for older siblings. 
• Rachelle is rocking the boho-chic in her pretty eyelet top and ruffled stripe tier skirt...extra props for posting it while sick. 

on teal and polka dots:

• on the blog: master bedroom inspiration and a look at my April clothing finds. 
• on pinterest: Is it weird that I desperately want to make this delicious-looking candied maple bacon? 
• coming up on the blog: I finally managed to get some outfit photos, so at least one outfit post next week, the latest edition of Monday Musings and what I'm up to Currently. 

favorite sales:

• Extra 25% off sale items at Anthropologie (no code required)
• Love the pretty flutter sleeves on this knit short-sleeve top. 
• Not sure how well they'd work in real life, but I love the idea of these navy dotted oxford flats. 
• For the home section, how fun is this dotted silver flatware? 
• 40% off regular priced items at Banana Republic (no code required)
• My picks are this sweet and lady-like white geo lace dress, 
• this cream and navy stripe twill midi skirt and 
• this machine washable flutter sleeve, blush ruched yoke top.

• 40% off sale items (50% off final sale) at J. Crew with code BIGSALE
• These ivory berry print pumps are very berry sweet (sorry, couldn't help myself...)
• Love the fun, gingham tuxedo detailing on this striped sleeveless top. 
• On final sale, I'm obsessed with the eyelet trim collar on this periwinkle blue button down. 

whatnots:

• what I'm watching: I finally got to watch La La Land. Since, I hadn't read anything about it beforehand, I was little surprised by the ending. Definitely bittersweet. 
• what I'm crushing on: All the mermaid things for little bit's upcoming mermaid birthday party! I just ordered this bubble machine (for her) and this gorgeous mint sequin tablecloth (let's be honest, for me;)). 
• what I'm looking forward to: While the small one's birthday isn't until the end of next month, I'm really enjoying all the planning and preparing for the upcoming party. This is the first year we're inviting her friends in edition to family, so a room full of 2- and 3-year-olds should make for a lively party.

april budget

• GAP white v-neck maternity tee: $22.95, on sale for $16.06 + 40% off = $9.64
• GAP pink v-neck maternity tee: $22.95, on sale for $16.06 + 40% off = $9.64
• Loft utility blouse: $49.50, on sale for $35
• Lucky Brand boyfriend cardigan: $76.50, on sale for $69.99 + 40% off = $41.99
• Liam's Loft navy short sleeve maxi dress via jane.com: $42, on sale for $23.99
• Liam's Loft pink short sleeve maxi dress via jane.com: $42, on sale for $23.99
• J. Crew maternity pixie pants: $128, on sale for $59.99 + 40% off =  $35.99

April budget: $180.24

second quarter budget: $600 - $180.24 in April = $419.76 remaining

It's the beginning of a new quarterly budget and I'm happy to say (for at least this month) I'm under budget...which let's be honest doesn't happen all that often. :) In keeping within the theme of last month's budget finds, this month has lots of pink, navy and creams...which I didn't even realize I'd done again until I put this post together. 

I added a few more maternity-friendly items to my closet this month, including two maternity v-neck ruched tees, two oversized maxi dresses (see how I wore the pink one here) and a second pair of maternity pixie pants. For reference, the tees are an XL, the dresses a L and the pixie pants a 16. The dresses might just be my favorite items this month. They aren't maternity, but have so much extra room that there's plenty of room to grow, or if you're not pregnant just to be loose and comfortable. 

Also included in this month's budget is this cream utility blouse that I actually bought in March but forgot to include in last month's budget and a boyfriend cardigan to replace my beloved light tan cardigan I accidentally shrank in the wash. I'm still mourning that cardi. For reference both the shirt and cardigan are XLs.

I apologize for not having many photos of my purchases this month. I haven't been taking many outfit photos lately, mainly because my photographer (husband) has been under the weather and quite honestly a lot of days I just haven't felt like messing with it. That's what pregnancy, a high dose of humidity, and higher than normal temps will do to you. I'm going to do my best to get some more outfit posts out there, because I feel like I've been slacking!

I already have two items that will be on next month's budget - which arrived yesterday, I promptly wore today, but didn't include since I didn't want to completely redo this post - a pair of white maternity jeans - so comfy - and a maternity pintuck stripe popover. (See a sneak peak of them both here.) Looking ahead, I unfortunately am going to have buy a maternity swimsuit, which I lucked out and didn't need my last pregnancy since I was pregnant in the fall/winter/spring last go around. Suggestions on where to find a reasonably priced decent looking suit? Am I the only one that despises swimsuit shopping? 

//  Sharing on Budgeting Bloggers.  //

master bedroom inspiration

As I mentioned in Friday's home tour post, the master bedroom has been our low priority room of the house. Now that we've moved into our new home, I definitely want to give this room more love and attention so it can become a space we will truly enjoy.

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, below are two pictures I managed to get of the space before we loaded the room full of furniture. As you can see, with the exception of the ceiling, it's beige, upon beige - which might just be my least favorite color. My favorite part of the room are the the french doors that lead to a screened-in balcony.



The major challenges are to eliminate the beige, replace the carpet (which are old and stink thanks to the previous tenants who smoked off the balcony and quite possibly in the room as well - yuck) and as much as I love the windows, I have a sensitively to light, so pretty curtains that don't distract too much from the architecture of the doors and windows.

The ceiling is probably the most unusual part of the room with the medium wood paneling. I'm torn on the ceiling. It looks really cool, but we really want to replace the carpet with a darker hardwood, and I'm afraid the floors and ceiling will clash. Plus there's a bit of a rustic wood cabin look going on and we live in a Victorian-style home so it almost seems like a design mismatch. I'm intrigued by whitewashed wooden ceilings on Pinterest...so pretty... but don't want to potentially ruin our ceiling either. Thoughts?

Since I like to visualize how I want the room to look, so I thought it would be fun to do a master bedroom inspiration board. I'm thinking lots of gray, white and dark woods with pops of teal and silver accents.

master bedroom inspiration:

sources:

bed: Joss & Main 

quilt: Through the Country Door

rug: Alexander Home

circle burst mirror: Crate & Barrel

dresser: Pottery Barn

mirrored jewelry armoire: Pier 1

nightstand: Winsome Wood

curtains: PBteen

lamp: Pier 1

teal and silver sequin pillow: Etsy

silver velvet pillow: Pier 1

pom pom pillow: Though the Country Door

alarm clock: Newgate

candle: Anthropologie

wall color: Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

floors: Home Decorators Collection

Part of the inspiration was to work with the pieces that we already have - such as nearly identical bedding from Anthropologie, an antique dresser that looks very similar to the Pottery Barn version, similar lamps, the mirrored jewelry armoire, and similar nightstands scored from Target years ago. Mainly because it's expensive to start completely from scratch, but also because I still love all these items and want to continue using them in our new home.

I think the fun pom pom curtains would be a relatively simple DIY, especially since the PBteen version are $81 a panel on sale, but you can get similar white pocket curtains at JCPenny for $20 a panel and gray pom pom trim in bulk from retailers like Walmart.com and Etsy. For the room we have three windows and the french doors, so I'm thinking eight panels total which would be $645 from PBteen - and there's no freaking way I'm spending that much on curtains - or $160 for the JCPenny curtains + three 20 yard rolls of pom pom fringe for $90 = $250 for the DIY version.

The first steps are paint and flooring...I'll be sure to post progress photos along the way. But first we have to paint the first floor before the kiddo's birthday party since daddy filled-in all the nail holes and now all the walls are covered in white spots. And there were A LOT of nail holes. I'm not sure what exactly was hung on the walls, but there was a lot of it. We have beige walls with leprosy spots. :/

monday musings: week 16

Welcome to Monday Musings. Each Monday I share a different "get to know me" style Q&A. I invite you to join in the comments so I can get to know you as well!

Q: Scary movies or happy endings?



A: Happy endings. Always. I tend to prefer romcoms and Disney movies, since I'm pretty much a big sap. Some of my favorites are: When Harry Met Sally, Love Actually, Sleepless in Seattle, Tangled, Sabrina, The Princess Bride, The Wedding Singer, The Holiday, Definitely, Maybe and - this is cheating a bit because it's a mini-series - the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. They aren't the most intellectual movies, but I still love them.

I hate scary movies (as much as my husband loves them), but, hey, those suckers give me nightmares. I know I'm a wuss, so I agree to be tortured once a year at Halloween when my husband picks out one scary movie - but not too scary! - to watch. Oh, the things we do for love...:)

What about you? Happy endings or scary movies? Let me know in the comments below.

thoughts and whatnots 4.23.17

gray stripe cardigan: one  |  two  |  three

blog love:

• After a few bumps and heartbreak, my sister and brother-in-law adopted sweet baby Thatcher one month ago. You can read about their journey here. 
• I always love reading about how people started their blogs as well as how they've evolved. I've been reading Merrick's blog for years now, so I especially enjoyed her story on how she started blogging. 
• Kendi seriously has the best maternity style! #goals

on teal and polka dots:

• on the blog: A look at the bedrooms in our old home and dressing the first trimester bump. 
• on pinterest: My new bathroom wall color obsession. 
• coming up: My April budget finds.

favorite sales:

• 40% off clearance at J. Crew Factory with code EXTRA40
• My picks are this polished cream chevron pattern pencil skirt, 
• this perfectly summery blue stripe pleated ponte dress, and
• these cute watermelon pink 5" chino shorts. 
• 40% off at Loft with code GETHAPPY
• Love the white floral fringe details on this white baby doll tee. 
• What could be more cheerful than a bright yellow sunflower lace shift dress. So cute...
• This deep pink striped eyelet skirt would be perfect for work with a pretty dressy top and heels or dressed down for the weekend with a white tee and sandals. 
• 25% of clearance at Talbots (no code required)
• Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh OBSESSED with this navy cascading polka dot sheath dress. 
• This yellow and white stripe 3/4 sleeve knit blazer is everything. Serious case of the wants. (Though the black and white stripe option is almost equally as fabulous...)
• Love how this cream shadow dot silk popover can be dressed up with a pencil skirt or dressed down with jeans or a pair of shorts. 

whatnots:

• what I'm watching: I've been falling asleep too early most nights to watch anything, but I am anxiously awaiting for LaLa Land to come out on Bluray Tuesday since I missed getting to see it in the theater...
• what I'm crushing on: A had a couple of a different diaper bags with Aubrey, but I wasn't really happy with them, so I'm interested in getting a bag from Lily Jade for the coming baby (my favorite being the Madeline in camel and jade). I've heard really good things about their diaper bags, but they come with a hefty price point for a bag you're not going to use forever. Have any of you used Lily Jade and what's your take on them? Are they worth the money? 
• what I'm looking forward to: Getting my hair done this coming Saturday. it's been driving me bonkers lately since my bangs are in that awkward grow out stage. 

home tour: bedrooms

Today's home tour includes my daughter's and the master's bedrooms. *Spoiler alert* the kiddo's room is my favorite. Though we sold our home two weeks ago, I thought it would still be fun to continue giving a glimpse of the place we called home for the last eight years, especially since our new home won't be show ready anytime in the near future. :)

photo by: Chrstina Shults Photography

Our daughter's room was definitely a labor of love. My husband and I had so much fun putting this room together from the silver dot decals, the the hand painted curtains and the DIY artwork.


My favorite piece of the room are the picture rails, which perfectly displayed the kiddo's storybooks. I was sad to leave them behind when we moved, but I guess that just means we need to make a trip to Ikea in the near future (or order some more).


I had a hard time deciding on a mobile until I stumbled across this cute tin balloon one from Amazon. I just love all the bright, fun colors.

Another DIY was this print I designed in InDesign and put in a frame from Ikea. I managed to find the original design in my files, if you want to download and print it!

photo by: Chrstina Shults Photography

shop the room:
wall color: Gentle Rain by Behr  |  crib: Target (exact in walnut)  |  glider: Babies R Us (similar)  |  rug: Target (exact)  |  pink dotted chair: Target (cute alternative)  |  book shelves: Ikea (exact)  |  nightstand: Target (exact)  |  lamp: HomeGoods (very similar)  |  curtains: Ikea/paint DIY (exact unpainted)  |  giraffe painting: an Erin original :) (similar)  |  balloon mobile: Amazon (exact) |  aqua chevron throw: Target (exact)  |  chevron pillow: Hobby Lobby (similar)  |  stuffed Winne the Pooh: TJMaxx  (very similar) |  Aubrey bunting: gift from my sister  |  silver wall dots: Urban Walls (exact)

Now that you've seen the best of the rooms, let's move on the master bedroom.

photo by: Chrstina Shults Photography

Sadly, our bedroom was one of the those rooms that didn't see a lot of love, and always managed to be last on our to-do list. Confession: We didn't even manage to paint over the builder's grade cream walls until we decided to sell. Shameful. After we fixed the room up, we really appreciated having a soothing, relaxing space, so we've promised ourselves we will give our new master bedroom the same care and attention as the rest of the house!

As I'm looking through these photos, there's a few odds and ends that should have been tucked away from photos (stray water bottle I'm looking at you) but oh, well, it's not perfect, but trust me it's a major improvement over how it looked originally. 

In an attempt to corral the mess, I packed up all my books for storage and bought these baskets as a way to hide clutter. These are from Marshalls, but here's a cute Target alternative.


One of my favorite pieces in the room is this fabulously girly mirrored jewelry chest from Pier 1. A fun gold accent bowl, silver jewelry case and gold glittery candle finished off my very girly corner of the room. :)

photo by: Chrstina Shults Photography

shop the room:
wall color: Gentle Rain by Behr  |  large bookcase: Target (exact)  |  narrow bookcase: Target (exact)  |   storage bench: Ikea  |  nightstands: Target (nice alternative)  |  mirrored jewelry chest: Pier1 (exact)  |  lamps: Pier 1 (similar)  |  curtains: Marshalls (similar)  |  comforter: Anthropologie (very similar)  |  gray throw: Target (exact)  |  sheets: Target (very similar)  |  wicker baskets: Marshalls (cute alternative)

For more home tours, check out the curb appeal and living room posts.

rockin the mumu

Ya'll - my pregnant self is seriously in love with dress. My husband calls is a mumu - with a tinge of disgust in his voice - but I call it fabulously comfortable. I picked up this dress, as well as her sister in navy, while on sale through Jane.com, but you can buy the dress for full-price here. You can't really tell in these pictures, but the dress has full short-sleeves which are going to make it perfect for the Florida summer without a cardigan or jacket. It runs super large, mine's a L which fits sizes 12-16 and I'm a solid 16 and there still plenty of room for the growing belly.

So the husband may hate it, but sometimes you got to rock the mumu anyway whether the boys like it or not. :) 'Cause, seriously, I've been wearing it and the navy version pretty much non-stop since they arrived in the mail last week - though that might have something to do with still needing to unpack my clothes - still if these dresses pop up on sale again, the burgundy and nile blue colors may have to become mine...one color for every day or the week? Kidding, sort of...

dress: Liam's Loft via Jane.com (exact in 10 colors)  |  cardigan: J. Crew (similar)  |  sandals: Loft (very similar)  |  clutch: Stella & Dot (exact)  |  necklace: Kendra Scott (same style in other colors)  |  earrings: Fossil (similar)  |  watch: Fossil (similar)  |  bracelet: Kendra Scott (similar)

Some other (non-boutique) cute pink maxi dress options:

// Sharing on Fabulous Friday. //

dressing the bump: the first trimester

original posts: one  |  two  |  three  |  four

five  |  six  |  seven  |  eight

With this being my second pregnancy, I've learned a bit more about what works and what doesn't for my body shape while pregnant, as well as what's comfortable. I wanted to wait until after 12-weeks to tell my co-workers as well as make things social media official, so during the first trimester I tried to camouflage the bump a bit with lots of loose shirts and dresses topped with cardigans. I started to show a lot earlier this pregnancy than I did in my first pregnancy - thanks lose tummy muscles all ready to be re-stretched - which made dressing a bit more challenging. :)

So, while every body is different, I thought it would be fun to share what worked for me during my first trimester:

loose tops/tees:

Oh man, loose fit/baby dolls tops have been such a life saver for me. Not only are they comfortable, they do an excellent job of hiding a little bit of pooch. I love these types of tops even when I'm not pregnant. My favorite is probably this lace yoke top from Target from both an affordability and style standpoint.

kimonos/cardigans/blazers:

One of my favorite things about cardigans and kimonos are how they help elongate your figure and help hide any extra lumps and bumps - perfect for the first trimester, or when rocking a food baby - which is pretty much every non-pregnant day for me. :) Blazers operate the same way and add a nice polished look for the office. I love how they make an outfit feel more put together, plus they've been perfect for the recent over-air conditioned office days. 

flowing dresses/maxis:

Oh, man, if I could live in jersey maxi dresses I would. They're super forgiving, and dresses with an elastic waistline do a nice job of accentuating the smaller part of the waist - especially when paired with a cardi. Shift/A-line dresses give that extra bit of needed room while still looking polished. I recently picked up two oversized jersey maxi dresses while on sale at Jane.com (but you can buy them full price here) and I've been practically living in them.

cute flats/sandals:

I gravitate toward flats and sandals even when I'm not pregnant, but I love them even more the further along in pregnancy. Thankfully, warm weather is the perfect excuse to wear all the fun sandals! Flats and peep toes are probably better for work, but I live on the beach in Florida, and we wear sandals to work all year long if we can get away with it. :)

a few other purchases:

As my pants became increasingly tight, I used my BeBand from Target and invested in a pair of navy maternity J. Crew pixie pants on eBay. Quite a few of the reviews say that they don't want to stay up in the earlier trimesters - which I also experienced - but I threw the BeBand on top and it worked like a charm. Comfortable, cute pants that stay up. :)

I know a lot of people shy away from buying maternity clothes, but for me it's worth it to be comfortable. For my second trimester, I just purchased the maternity pixie pants in black and bought the two oversized maxi dresses. I practically lived in GAP's Pure Body v-neck tees and just purchased a fresh white one to add to the black and navy ones I saved from last time around. I plan on doing a second trimester dressing the bump post in late July, so I'll let you know then what all went into my maternity closet! 

monday musings: week 15

Welcome to Monday Musings. Each Monday I share a different "get to know me" style Q&A. I invite you to join in the comments so I can get to know you as well!

Q: Name a frivolous purchase you've made recently, and what compelled you to buy it.



A: Our new home is lovely, but it definitely needs a little TLC. The outside desperately needs a new coat of paint, and the previous tenants were smokers who swore they only smoked outside, but the inside still has a lingering smell of smoke and wet dog, so we want to rip out the upstairs carpet (which is well-worn and stained anyway) and paint to help eliminate the odor. That being said, the logical first thing to buy would have been a gallon or 10 of paint, but instead I bought a mirror. A gorgeous, girly completely impractical mirror.

I've been lusting after it for over a year, but it didn't fit the style of our old home. I love having a mirror near the front door as a kind of last look for misplaced hair or lipstick, but the mirror from the old house is modern and doesn't fit the styling of our semi-Victorian style home. Pregnancy has kind of limited me on what kind of DIY help I can provide (like no painting) but I can wield the debit card, so I made the purchase last week while Pier 1 offered 20% and free shipping with no surcharges. The mirror is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I can't wait to hang it. My one small stride to making the house feel like our home. :) I envision it going into a small nook near the front door and like the idea of adding a small entryway table as a pretty catchall for keys. Maybe something like this simple console table that comes in a variety of hues...white, teal, espresso...how can a girl decide?

How about you? What impractical purchase have you made lately? Let me know in the comments below.

easter surprise

There's recently been a lot of changes in the Chaffin household including a big one I've been keeping a secret...we're pregnant! We're so excited to announce a newest member to the Chaffin family coming mid-October.

So for the past several months, you've been seeing pictures of two people not just one, how fun is that? Since I'm going to be just barely 35 when the baby is born, we opted to do a genetic blood test at 12 weeks, which tests for genetic abnormalities and the gender...I'm happy to report we're expecting a healthy baby boy!



I'm safely out of the first trimester and feeling pretty good, though still a bit tired - which I think is to be excepted with the big move we just made. :) Baby boy Chaffin's room is already picked out in the new house and I've been busy pinning nursery ideas.



So Happy Easter, from all four of us!

currently

Since I took a break from blogging last week to sell our home, buy a new one and move, I'm a wee bit behind on April Currently. But I didn't want to miss the party entirely, so, without further ado, here's my home edition of what I'm up to currently:



accomplishing: moving. Last week was insane. We finished packing up our house, sold it, bought our new home and unloaded not one, but two moving trucks. Though to be fair, the driveway in our old home was short, so we couldn't get a large truck, so that makes two trucks not so ridiculous, right? I'm beyond grateful for my parents helping up with the move. I don't think we could have done it without them!

feeling: a little overwhelmed as we settled into our new home. We love it, but it's 15+ years old and has more than a few repair jobs. Completely livable as is, but I can't wait to make our mark on the place. The most obnoxious fix: every single towel bar in the house came out of the wall when we tried to hang our towels. I think I'm kind of impressed that the renters managed to jimmy them back in the wall so we couldn't tell! Oh, well, an excuse to buy so new ones. Maybe something in a fancy bronze?

needing: to pick some paint colors. Our new house is currently a sea of beige - with every room the exact same shade of khaki - with an added bonus of matching beige carpet upstairs. I'm currently obsessed with Sherwin Williams rhinestone and palladian blue. The house also desperately needs an exterior coat of paint, and I'm leaning toward keeping it green, but a greenish teal might also be awesome.

practicing: going up and down stairs with the toddler. Our old home was a single level, so Little Bit had to go up and down the new stairs about a billion times this weekend before the novelty wore off. :) Whew, I'm tired just remembering it.

pinning: all the home decor ideas. I'm especially enamored with the idea of painting our interior doors black. What do you think? Ya or nay or dark doors?

coral blazer

One of the pluses of packing up my closet was rediscovering this coral blazer. It's an item I love, but find a bit challenging to wear in Florida. The bright hue is perfect for spring/summer, but it's rare to find a day cool enough to justify wearing it. But the weather recently cooperated with the perfect spring day, so this blazer came out to play.

Almost this entire outfit consists of "older" pieces, which served as a nice reminder to shop my own closet before rushing out to buy something new. Which worked perfectly while packing up. Not so much now that everything is in boxes and bins. The logical step would be to unpack everything into my closet, but we're debating if we want to rip out the current metal wire shelves and reorganize. And if you're going to go through all that hassle, maybe it's better to put in something better than wire racks... Decisions, decisions. Guess in the meantime I'll keep rummaging through boxes. :)

blazer: GAP (similar) last worn here  |  shirt: JCPenny (similar)  |  jeans: Loft (similar)  |  shoes: J. Crew Factory (exact)  |  necklace: Kendra Scott (exact)  |  earrings: Kendra Scott (same style)  |  ring: Kendra Scott (similar)  |  watch: Fossil (similar)

I've be so unhappy with Photobucket lately. I've been having all kinds of issues with photos appearing correctly on my blog and more than a year's worth of photos just vanished one day. Super frustrating. So, I've decided to give flickr a whirl. Everything's showing up on my end, so please let me know if photos aren't showing up for you!

 

//  Sharing on What I Wore.  //

monday musings: week 13 & 14

Welcome to Monday Musings. Each Monday I share a different "get to know me" style Q&A. I invite you to join in so I can get to know you as well! Since I took a hiatus from blogging last week to sell our home and move into our new one, it's a catch up week with two questions instead of one. :)

source

Q1: What's your favorite Easter tradition?

A1: My favorite childhood tradition is dying Easter eggs. Since little bit's still a bit young to dye eggs, this year, I'm looking forward to hiding Easter eggs all over the house for her to find. Now that she's almost 3, I think this year she's really going to have fun with it!

source

Q2: What's your favorite dessert?

A1: I have a serious sweet tooth, but if I have to pick just one...cheesecake. My fav is plain (though I'll eat just about any delicious kind). My great grandmother used to make the absolute best cheesecake with cherries on top. Even though I'm not much of a baker, I'm sad the recipe was lost after she passed. Her generation just did everything by memory.

It's your turn! What's your favorite Easter tradition and favorite dessert? Let me know in the comments below.

week in review: 4.2.17

little black maxi dress:  one  |  two  |  three

blog love:

• Always love checking out the Budgeting Bloggers monthly finds. You can see my March budget scores here. 
• Oh my goodness, so jealous of Anne's adventures in Malta. Her pictures are stunning!
• Obsessed with Taylor's gorgeous red, floral maxi dress. 

on teal and polka dots:

• on the blog: The latest installment of "Then and Now" featuring a black maxi dress. 
• on instagram: If you're only going to post once this week, better make it a decent outfit. :)
• on pinterest: Kitchen #goals. 
• coming up on the blog: Since we're going to be busy finishing packing and closing on both our current home and new home next week, I'm going to take a week off from blogging. I hope everyone understands while we work through our upcoming week of crazy!

favorite sales:

• 40% off at Banana Republic (no code required)
• How fun is this cream with navy stripes twill midi skirt? 
• Stripes + pleated ruffles = the perfect button down shirt. 
• This flounce wrap dress would be perfect for the office or for a night out. 
• Extra 50% off clearance at J. Crew Factory with code ALLMINE
• My picks are this adorable mixed stripe long-sleeve tee, 
• this pretty purple sheath dress (with pockets!) and
• these snow leopard print calf hair pumps. 
• 40% off at Old Navy (no code required)
• This navy floral flutter sleeve shirt dress looks so pretty and springy. Another great work or weekend find. 
• Just slightly obsessed with these mint faux-leather moccasins. 
• Love the gold yellow hue and lace cutouts on this swing top. 

whatnots:

• what I'm watching: Still watching reruns of The Office. 
• what I'm crushing on: I know it's "technically" for teenagers, but I love the Emily and Merrit line at PBteen. I certainly wouldn't mind having these linen pom pom blackout curtains, gold knit throw, and pineapple table lamp in my life! 
• what I'm looking forward to: Being finished with moving. I keep telling my husband "Never again. You're going to have to cart my dead body out of this house." :)