A Spring Look with a Little Extra Sparkle

Head to Toe: Turtleneck and culottes, Marshall's // Wedges, Chinese Laundry // Ring, Chloe + Isabel c/o Sparkle With April // Scarf, Lilysilk // Clutch, Ora Delphine.

Lately, I have been Pinteresting up a storm and have been loving the scarf-and-ponytail trend, so it became my founding inspiration for this outfit. While we aren't quite out of winter's grip just yet, I'm refusing to pile on the bulk. This light turtleneck was the perfect pair for my cute culottes, as well as a nice clean background to show off this Chloe + Isabel necklace, which I am giving away on my Instagram this week. I'm currently partnering with April Toney of Sparkle With April to gift this Mizuhiki Bar Necklace necklace to one lucky follower—head there to enter! What's your jewelry staple?

Photos by the hubs

Fem-powered T-Shirts from Feel Great Goods

Head to Toe (above): T-Shirt, Feel Great Goods // Jeggings, Marshall's // Jacket, Thrifted // Sunnies, Calvin Klein // Basket Bag, J.McLaughlin // Sneakers, Puma (below): T-Shirt, Feel Great Goods // Joggers, Marshall's // Necklace, Alex Woo

Now that I work from home and don’t go into an office every day, my uniform most days is a bit more casual, i.e. leggings and a T-shirt. I’m loving these graphic tees from Feel Great Goods—a small business located in New Jersey. They have a whole ton of options, most with motivational sayings or powerful figures (like my Notorious RBG shirt above). They’re great quality and easy to toss in the wash inside out. The “Nevertheless, she persisted” tee below is the fitted design, so it runs a little smaller. I’m wearing a size small in both. The non-fitted options are more your typical unisex T-shirt, so it depends on your style. The fitted designs are a softer, stretchy cotton with a clingy silhouette. Interested in trying one out? The brand has a sale going right now for 30% off with the code, SAVE30.

And in case you were following along with my last post, I decided I’m going to keep wearing barrettes whether they make me look prepubescent or not. But, perhaps I should upgrade from these purple ones I’m wearing below, which I grabbed in a rainbow pack from Dollar Tree. #fashun

This post is sponsored by Feel Great Goods, but all opinions are my own.

Snow Matter: A Sunny Look on a Wintry Day

Head to Toe: Top and jeggings, Marshall's // Jacket, Alice + Olivia (thrifted) // Slides, Taryn Rose (similar) // Bag, Brahmin // Necklace, Lulu DK

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Er, to all that snow on the ground. Spring is here this Wednesday and I'm sticking to it. I went with another bright yellow look for my shoot with Mindy, and we took some photos on the Fairfield Green and in my natural habitat—the bookstore magazine section.

Since I'm currently in the state of growing out bangs, I have been really loving the return of the 1990s barrette trend. (I nabbed these from CVS for a few bucks.) What's your take on it? I was second guessing my style choice this morning when the receptionist at my dentist's office mistook me for an actual teenager—imagine her surprise when I said I was on my husband's insurance. Now, this is not new for me. I know I have a baby face, and I always get carded and mistaken for a college student, but a 16-year-old is a whole different story, and I blame the hair clips. I am almost 30 people! I can rent a car; I have a favorite brand of dish sponge! Tell it to me straight: Is it the barrettes or am I just trapped in a child's body?

Photos by Mindy Briar

Chasing Trains in a Yellow Anthropologie Jumpsuit

Head to Toe: Jumpsuit, Anthropologie // Jacket, Thrifted // Hat, Target // Booties, J. Shoes // Bag, Vintage

When I first started freelancing, I was quite excited about how much more time I would have to devote to the blog...Well, oops...Winter has been long and grueling, but the promise of spring is giving me a much-needed dose of hope and inspiration.

And then, I stumbled upon a little bit of good fortune. Mindy Briar is a Connecticut-based photographer who shoots weddings and influencers in New England. She is super talented, so I was literally beside myself when I learned I was the winner of a giveaway on her Instagram for a blogger photo shoot! I immediately knew I would wear this mustard jumpsuit, which I scored on sale for $50 at Anthropologie just before this past fall season. In this jumpsuit, I feel like the artsy writer/blogger that I imagine myself as—not the person crouching over a laptop in stretched-out leggings with a three-day-old mustard stain, which is usually the reality of things. Talk about dressing for the job you want.

In the end, I am absolutely floored by how these photos came out. (Thank you, Mindy!!) And in turn, I'm feeling inspired to really put some energy into the blog. I've been polling some friends about potential content, and I think it may be time to return to my roots: good ol' outfit photos. What do you think? Comment with any posts you'd like to see!

Photos by Mindy Briar Photography

Recapping My 2019 So Far

Hey fashionistas! Here we are, officially March and almost a quarter into 2019. How did that happen? And here I am, with my last post on this blog talking about 2018! It has been a whirlwind start to the year, so I figured I’d return from my blogging break by filling you into what I’ve been up to since I last posted. Spoiler: there are some pretty big developments.

I started my own business...

By far the biggest news, I quit my job at the end of 2018 to start my own business as a freelance writer and marketer. This is something I’ve talked about, envisioned and wished for over the past several years. I’ve already landed quite a few bylines including two stories that have gone to print in Connecticut Magazine (here and here) and several others in the works. I also took on a massive content marking project where I created about 150,000 words of copy over the past two months (that’s longer than A Tale of Two Cities). Now that I’m on my feet, I’m excited to sink my teeth into some new projects—can’t wait to see what is to come!

Then celebrated my birthday with a beluga whale

In January, I turned 29. Yep, one more year in my 20s people! Sean and I spent the weekend in Mystic, Connecticut, where we ate a lot of good food and spent a rainy Sunday at the aquarium. This whale was nice enough to pose for a photo.

Photo by Emily Savage

Went to the Connecticut Blogger Babes holiday party

CT Blogger babes hosted a belated holiday event, and it was a great opportunity to network and check out the local blogger scene. It’s always a little intimidating to walk into a room of unfamiliar faces and put yourself out there, but it’s so worth it. I had a great afternoon and even made some new blogger friends who live in my city!

Spent the day at New York Fashion Week

At past magazine jobs, one of my most-anticipated events was fashion week, but after day one or two, it quickly became a drag. The secret about fashion week is that it's a lot of waiting and standing in lines for a few minutes of excitement. That said, I really wanted to go for at least a day and see the scene. As it turned out, I got to schedule three amazing shows and even see a friend in between. I started my morning at Rebecca Minkoff, then headed to Claudia Li (pictured) and Hakan Akkaya. It was a pretty fun day, and it felt great to be there on my own terms.

...and ate lots of Valentine's Day cake

We had a pretty low key February overall, but did take a few moments to celebrate hearts day. Sean got me a life-sized bear (pretty much), and my mom made us a delicious cake, so I felt pretty spoiled. In a blink, February was over and I'm excited to hit the ground running in March. See you there!