dsw favorites & special event!

When Megan from Chasing Davies got in touch with me about an event at DSW next weekend in St. Peters, IL, I'll admit that I was unsure.  I haven't ever shopped there, and I have my doubts about discount superstores sometimes - I'm not a person who likes to have to dig.  Even thrifting isn't really my thing!  So you can imagine my surprise when I was able to find about a million pairs of shoes I wanted for my whole family when I checked out their website.  

Megan is hosting a back-to-school event & shoe drive at the DSW in St. Peters (near St. Louis) next Saturday, August 16th from 10am - noon.  There are so many fun reasons to attend with your littles: the first 50 attendees get a gift card, and there will also be giveaways, crafts, story time, and a dress-up photo booth all to celebrate the addition of their kids dept!  They even have baby sizes, and even though Claire is no where near close to walking, I have a bit of an obsession with putting shoes on her. Her collection will no doubt be expanding next weekend, especially with their prices being so awesome!  

You can learn more and RSVP here!  

*this post is in partnership with dsw, but all featured items were selected by me, and all opinions are my own.  thank you for supporting the organizations & companies that make this blog possible.  

snapshots & selfies

Although I wish we had perfect weather and ample time every day, I don't always have time for outfit shoots with Darrell.  Sometimes the best I do is a selfie, and rather than post one every day on Instagram (and annoy everyone who follows me to no end) I thought I'd start doing little round up posts of all the outfits I only had to time to snap pics of in my bedroom mirror.  Here are a few outfits I wore and loved these past few weeks: 

wearing: green trench - old target, pink dress - old navy, wedges - vince camuto, necklace - sold out jcrew factory

sweater - sold out pink blush maternity, flats - old nine west, jeans - j brand, necklace - old j crew factory

clutch - marley lilly, chain link bracelet - jcrew factory, other bracelets - old coach & banana republic

cardigan - INC, tank - target, wedges - target, jeans - gap

dress - francesca's, sandals - old zara

popover - gap, jeans - j brand, wedges - sam edelman

bracelet - old anthropologie, crystal bracelet - jane.com

maternity style/03 - party dressing

We had our little Christmas party this weekend, and although I've already talked about it quite a bit, I did want to share my outfit.  It serendipitously showed up on our doorstep the day of the party, and fit perfectly.  When does that EVER happen!?  

I haven't worn much body-conscious clothing since I've been pregnant, so it was definitely a big "whoa" from everyone when I came out in this Saturday night!  Darrell sees me every day, and even he was surprised by how much the bump stood out.  Truth be told, there is this super awkward stage during pregnancy where you kind of just look like you ate a big meal, so body-con is maybe not the best silhouette, but lately my bump has shown a lot more.  In the past couple weeks I've finally started wearing some of my more fitted maternity purchases.  I LOVED the color of this dress when I saw it, and my mom bought it for me (half off!) from Zulily, but it's still available on Nordstrom!  

wearing: dress-olian maternity, shoes-sam edelman, bracelet-forever 21

*photo credits to my friend joanna bayer, and jess leitch

maternity style/01

wearing: top - pink blush maternity, j. crew leggings, sam edelman louie boot - aka the most comfortable booties ever

When I started shopping for maternity clothes I have to admit, I was seriously bummed out by one thing: the clothes are, in general, extremely matronly.  Dresses mostly hit below the knee (at least on me, I'm 5'3), low necklines are hard to find, and a lot of tops are drapey and oversized.  When I'm already feeling bigger than usual, the last thing I want is to look schlubby in clothes that I'm swimming in (except maybe during a weekend Netflix marathon).  This struck me as a really odd phenomenon, because a lot of women who are pregnant are in their late twenties, so I'd assume most still want to look cute and even - dare I say - sexy while they're pregnant.  

So I was pretty thrilled when I found out about Pink Blush Maternity.  They have an amazing selection of cute tops - all plenty long enough to pair with leggings (my current favorite thing to wear) and all totally affordable.  Most of their items are under $30.  This top is the first thing I picked up from them, but it certainly won't be the last.  I'm eyeing a few dresses right now - particularly this body & bump conscious lace option that would be perfect for a holiday party.  

note: their clothes run small!  if you are normally a medium, get a large, etc.  their size chart is accurate, which is the only thing that guided me to go a size up, so definitely check it out.  

*all opinions and ideas in this post are my own - i was not compensated or even asked by pink blush to promote their line, i just really like it!