Sorry about the unexpected vacay. Between deadlines, the end of school, and traveling to Illinois, I literally found myself with no time to hop on the computer. Fortunately, this trip to Illinois is all about relaxation and reconnecting with family and friends.After spending a fun, easy weekend with Kevin’s parents in his small hometown near Rockford, Kevin and I were lucky enough to head into Chicago yesterday, without Lola and Eva, for a couple of days of shopping, dining, and catching up with friends. Yippee!! Yesterday, I actually had the rare luxury of a few blissful hours of solo shopping in the city while Kevin attended a Cubs game with a friend. Not only did I have the time to look at clothes, I was even able to try things on. My life might never be the same… This urban retreat has inspired a week’s worth of blogs – so don’t miss my ramblings this week. I promise they will be packed with style.: )
Kevin and I started our trip within a trip by enjoying a leisurely lunch at Whiskey’s in the lobby of our hotel, and then parted ways for the afternoon. I headed down Oak Street, stopping in at several of my favorite old haunts along the way. On my list: a bathing suit and coverup, some makeup, a new perfume, casual summer clothes, colorful accessories, and maybe some Tory Burch wedges. : ) After stopping in at Calypso and Kate Spade (more on these later), my first truly productive stop was at the Juicy Couture boutique. Juicy Couture is like a guilty pleasure for me. While I cringe at the dated velour sweatsuits and teenybopper appeal, part of me loves it’s playful, girly accessories (reminiscent of a casual Betsey Johnson, another guilty pleasure) and feminine approach to casual wear. Season after season, they consistently come out with wearable dresses and high-quality, retro-inspired bathing suits. It was the bathing suits that lured me in to the store this time, but alas, the boutique had a limited selection of swimwear. I did manage to spend way more time (and money) than I had planned to, but emerged with some adorable, casual pieces, including:
Jersey Dresses in Gray and Navy: I bought two different colors of this same dress, and I expect to wear it constantly come fall. The super-soft jersey makes it perfect for a cool Florida day, and I love the ruffles.
Chevron mitered strapless dress: The way the chevron stripes are positioned on this dress make it super-flattering, and I love that it can be worn casually over a bathing suit or with heels out to dinner. And it fit beautifully.
Striped Tank Dress: I’ve been wanting one of these, and this style is classic and perfect for summer. I plan to wear it with flat silver sandals and a red cuff bracelet. Just as soon as I buy the red cuff bracelet.
Navy/White Chevron Striped Top: I love the relaxed ease of this top, and the style is very current. So are the stripes, which, although trendy, have always been an obsession of mine.
And everything I bought was on sale. Woo hoo! I so rarely try on clothes anymore, and buy most of my stuff online, so it’s really eye-opening to size up outfits in the dressing room and really be critical about what looks good on me and what doesn’t. I passed on three items that I loved on the hanger.
1. Long sleeved denim snap-front dress: This appeared to be the perfect, easy cool-weather dress, until I put it on. The details and slouchy shape just swallowed me up.
2. Yellow linen romper with scalloped hem: I am not above dressing, ahem, a little younger than my age, but when I put this romper on, I felt like Lola. Not only was it so screamingly youthful that even someone with my capacity for denial couldn’t pull it off, it wasn’t flattering enough to make me want to try.
3. Floral chiffon wrap dress: This looked so fresh and pretty on the hanger, but had too much going on to flatter my frame.
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