and roots for the home team.

Phew, TGIF. I'm so happy to be relaxing at home, watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics - can't wait for the swimming and gymnastics. I am the pretty much the farthest thing from an athlete, and these people amaze me with their strength and abilities. Hope you all have lovely weekends, and go USA!

P.S. these pictures have nothing to do with what I wrote above, it's just what I wore today.

jacket: BR top: Ann Taylor skirt: J.Crew shoes: Pour la Victoire 

bag: Longchamp sunglasses: Anthropologie earrings: J.Crew Factory

and has buyer's remorse.

My buyer's remorse is a little different than an average person's...I get highly upset when I pass on buying something adorable that I later decide I must have, and when I go back it's GONE. I know, what a nightmare.

I am still in love with my peplum dress from Zara, and I'm having my kind of buyer's remorse for not buying the skirt version they had a couple of months ago. I was sulking about my failure this morning, when it dawned on me that I could turn my dress into a skirt. It wasn't perfect - my leopard top was a little too long and bunched around my waist, but it worked pretty well and made me happy for the day, anyway. Hope you all had lovely days, as well!

dress: Zara top: J.Crew Factory necklace: BR shoes: Talbots

for some birthday celebrations.

After a two week blogging siesta, I'm back in action with a little birthday outfit. I scored this dress from F21 for $27 and I figured it was perfect for my 27th birthday. My stepmom gave me the J.Crew bracelet that was just the right match...fashion fate.

dress: Forever 21 necklace & earrings: J.Crew shoes: Pour La Victoire (20% off here)

and celebrates her love of animal print.

I own far too many articles of animal print clothing, so once every couple of months I make an effort to wear all of these pieces in one week. Keeps my life interesting. Here are some snapshots of my most recent effort...

dress & shoes: Kate Spade necklace: J.Crew

sadly, everything: J.Crew

shirt & pants: J.Crew shoes: Talbots sunglasses: Ray-Ban

my sister, me and our friend megan at the flea market.

top & necklace: J.Crew sunglasses: Stylemint

and they lived happily ever after.

We had such a fun time at our good friend's wedding on Saturday night - the kind of fun that lasted until 3am. Good thing was I wearing such a comfortable, breathable dress. I know it's not quite the maxi dress I said I was going to get (in this post), but I couldn't resist this adorable high-low number for only $100. Big congratulations to the newlyweds!

Two of my beautiful friends and me.

dress: BCBGeneration (similar here) shoes: Ann Taylor (similar here) earrings: H&M

in homage to Barbie.

This dress was a steal from H&M - less than $20. It's a great way to embrace the neon trend without breaking your budget. I wore it for the first time to a work event on Friday...which turned into a crazy amazing dance party. Call me maybe? Definitely.

I felt a little Malibu Barbie when I put on matching bright pink lipstick, then I remembered that "styling" my Barbies was my first foray in the fashion world. I also used to chew on the little plastic shoes, just to make my sister mad. Ha, good thing I grew out of that one- nobody would want to be friends with the girl who eats shoes.

Some of my lovely co-workers at Trunk Club.

dress: H&M shoes: Pour La Victoire belt: J.Crew

for a polka dot dream.

Whoa! It's been way too long. I didn't mean to take a break at all, the days just snuck up on me- those cozy-sock-wearing-tip-toeing-sneaky-guys. Anyway, today I wore a whole lot of polka dots. And it was awesome.

top: Madewell jeans: A.G. wedges: Banana Republic 

necklace: Kate Spade sunglasses: Rick Regole's (here)

on a scorcher.

It is definitely summer in Chicago; the unforgiving heat always makes me want to break out all of my brights. The loose tunic kept me cool and comfortable on top and these jeans get softer with every wear. But I have to admit, I grabbed this shirt this morning for a very specific reason. Every day this week, I'm going to wear something that I bought weeks/months ago and haven't yet worn...yup, I'm going to let you guys think there's only a handful of those things.

Hope you're all enjoying this balmy Monday night in air conditioning!

top: Gap (here) jeans: J.Crew (here) shoes: Banana Republic (here) 

bag: Kate Spade (sample sale) necklace: J.Crew (old)

to make a splash.

This Lilly dress traveled down to FL with me this weekend for my first destination wedding. On the way down, she was crisp and safely packed away in a garment bag. On the way home, she was semi-damp, wrinkled and stuffed in a plastic bag. Must have been that late night splash-fest...half of the guests chucked off their shoes and cannon balled into the pool, including the beautiful bride! Such a fun way to end such a fun wedding.

dress: Lilly Pulitzer (here) shoes, clutch & necklace: Kate Spade (all old) sunglasses: Stylemint

in her favorite dress.

I was so happy to free this dress from exile when I switched over my closet last weekend- it's one of my favorite silhouettes. I love it so much I even picked it for my bridesmaids- you're welcome, ladies.

dress: J.Crew (here) belt: J.Crew bag: Kate Spade shoes: Pour La Victoire (here)

for max-i potential (freaky friday).

Wedding season is quickly approaching, and my wardrobe is itching for some new dresses to wear. I've tried the whole borrow-a-dress-from-a-friend or re-wear-an-old-dress (gasp) thing, but it never works out for me. Being newly married myself and remembering how very special my wedding day was, I feel like every wedding deserves a fabulous new frock. It's my way of expressing to the bride how excited I am for her on the best day of her life (I'm aware that this is mildly ridiculous, it just sounds so reasonable in my head).

I want to try something new for a Chicago wedding we have in June. I've never gone maxi for nuptials, so I'm making this my next project. My budget is $200 and I've already been all over my favorite websites. There are so many gorgeous options...this is going to be harder than picking a groom.

Zara dress with appliques on collar (here)

Enza Costa open back maxi dress (here on shopbop)

Mango color block maxi dress (here on asos)

J.Crew Lucienne long one-shoulder dress (here)

covered in spots.

How many polka dots can a girl wear at one time? As many as she wants! I loved my overly polka dotted outfit- each piece is so comfortable, it felt like I was wearing pajamas. Come to think of it, my pattern on pattern is very reminiscent of a PJ set...whatever, that VS model looks pretty dang good in it.

blazer: American Eagle top: Zara (here - $20!!!) jeans: AG (here) wedges: Kate Spade

for some serious shade (instead of rent).

I read in Lucky a few months back that cat's eye frames were the cat's meow for Spring shades. Of course anything Lucky says is gold, so I've been shopping around for the perfect pair. My mom and sister deemed some from C Wonder too silly, and every other pair I've found has seemed too chintzy. These Dior stunners are definitely not too chintzy, but are a little out of my price range for an of-the-moment purchase.

Dior Cat's Eye Sunglasses (here)

to button herself up.

How do you go from work-day-chic to night-time-glamour? Must be one of life's great mysteries. I gave it my best effort with a buttoned-up look on top and a sassy lace skirt with heels on the bottom. I wish I had changed up my hair and added a lipstick to greater differentiate my day and night looks...now I see why grown-ups carry "make-up bags" in their purses- I have to get with the program.

jacket: BR sweater: J.Crew shirt: J.Crew (similar) skirt: Joe Fresh (visit them in NY!) 

necklace: Kate Spade shoes: Talbots bag: LV

on a grey day.

There's nothing like perpetual Spring showers to make you sick of your wrinkled, drab trench coat. I am so ready for a nice, hot summer...however, the rain could stick around for a bit longer if I wanted to go bankrupt and buy got to saunter around in this beauty.

Burberry Striped Jacquard Slim Trench Coat (here)

and continues her peplum affair.

This dress might be my best purchase of 2012- I love it more than a normal person should love an inanimate object. I feel like she deserves a name at this point... I shall call her Pepper.

dress: Zara necklace: J.Crew (here) shoes: J.Crew 

to make a statement.

I'm sure you've all figured out by now that this girl loves a statement necklace. Not just any love- that semi-hysterical, stalker-ish, incessant phone calls kind of obsession. I just can't seem to get enough! Right now I'm in the market for a yellow necklace and an oversized chain link necklace. Once again I wandered over into way-out-of-my-budget territory and fell in love with these two:

#1: who does chain link better than David Yurman? #2: Oscar de la Renta

in neon.

Another day, another bright skirt. This one, however, is pleated and much longer than this girl is used to. I scooped it up on sale at Anthropologie about a month ago and couldn't decide how I should wear it. I thought it was a good Freaky Friday feature, seeing as it's well outside of my comfort zone (I'm quite the slut and usually wear my skirts tres short).

blazer: American Eagle tank: F21 skirt: Anthropologie shoes: Calvin Klein

and breaks out the brights.

I stepped it up today with a bright pencil skirt, heels and my favorite flashy necklace. No fancy outfit is complete without my bump, polka dots and my Lou, though, of course. For some hilarious Lou-related humor, you HAVE to read this. Enjoy the giggles, loves.

skirt: J.Crew (here) top: Madewell necklace & shoes: Kate Spade bag: Louis Vuitton, obvi

in her dreams.

There no better way to spend a quiet Monday night than shopping online. While perusing my favorites sites, I frequently come across things that are just way above my means, but of course I fall in love with them anyway. In this new weekly feature I'm going to torture myself, pretend I have unlimited funds and feature what I would buy if my hard-earned dollars didn't have to be spent on silly things like rent and food.

This week I'm distracted by the impending wedding season- so many new dresses to buy! Here's what I'd wear to Florida nuptials:

dress: Herve Leger shoes: Brian Atwood earrings: Juicy Couture