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Olive The Paperbag Trend

Happy Monday everyone! We are heading into an extremely rainy week here. We are hoping for a true April showers bringing (early!!) May flowers type of year. With a few smatterings of snow, some rain, a thunderstorm and some sunshine all last week my brain is just confused. I went from a floral wrap skirt and open toes sandals on Monday, numb feet at volleyball on Tuesday to a sweater and long pants on Wednesday.

It’s hard when we see all other bloggers flaunting their warm Spring Wear, sandals, and sunshine while we are over here getting questioned on “is that snow on the ground still?” Needless to say we feel behind in the fashion world per usual, because we simply just can’t wear those items yet or we will freeze! Luckily for me, I am heading to Austin next weekend and it looks like I will get to soak in some solid sunshine. Let me tell you how excited I am to welcome some pigment back into this skin.

Since it has been so up and down, my work wear has kind of been all over the place. And to be honest I don’t care. My brain is ready for floral, skirts, and brightness so I just wear what I want. I actually read on another blog this week; something along the lines of “I don’t really have a set style.” I just wear what I like and want I want and that’s my style. This spoke to me on a deep level. I sometimes think of myself as a tomboy still. I am totally happy wearing sweats, camo, gym clothes, and going without a shower for more days than I’ll mention while camping or up north. But on the other hand I love throwing on a girl dress and doing my hair and makeup. That also make me feel like a million bucks. So all in all I just wear what I like. Lately that has been whatever I can wear within the boundaries of our weather.

I bought these paper bag waist pants much earlier in the season and have just been waiting to wear them. You better believe I grabbed them as quick as I could when the thermometer hit 65. This trend is one of my favorites, especially for the office. I get sick of wearing the same old work pants, and pencil skirts. When culottes and paper bag pants popped up they had my attention immediately. They flatter my body type, which you won’t catch me saying all too often.

I actually debated buying three different versions of these pants but as I work through my budget and self control, I decided to start with one. Don’t worry, I am going to link every single pair I love below. Maybe you don’t have the same budget boundaries and can enjoy them all for me! It’s probably completely shocking that I picked the ones with olive in them. I actually ordered a shirt from Express to go with them. It was much more cropped than expected and not work appropriate. It ended up staying in my closet for other outfits and ordered a different longer version elsewhere that is perfect.

I like to go simple and tight on the top with paper bag waists to let the pants do their thing and shine like they are meant to. This shirt was even a little looser than I would have liked which made it roll funny in some of the pictures but such is life. If you are in need of a solid tall or regular size crew neck tee these have you covered in a plethora of colors.

My mom got me these shoes when she was at the Nordstrom Rack in Arizona last month. Spoiler alert, I LOVE THEM. I am not a big heels person because I value my comfort too much. Recently thanks to these heels, I have realized I am just only cut out for a lower block heel. So when she came home with these, it couldn’t have been better. She knows me too well! I have a feeling they will be on the heavy rotation this summer since they match everything.

Last but not least my new purse! Y’all I have had this beauty in my (Jenilee’s) Amazon cart for months. I have probably sent it to her at least a dozen times. For some reason I just kept prioritizing other items. That and the reviews kept telling me it smelt bad – which I disagree with in case you were wondering. My mom called a week after my birthday and told me she had one more gift. I bet you can guess what it was! That’s how it goes in this family. Little birdies help convey messages and things pop up that we never even thought to put on our list.

I was pumped! I am sure you have seen this purse flood your Instagram feed because bloggers everywhere are carrying it. Typically I am not one to follow the leader, but I couldn’t help how drawn to this purse I was. Friendly reminder that we do have an Amazon shop live now that you can see here. It has some of our favorite shoes (up to size 13), purses, home goodies, books and much more.

And as always if you have questions, recommendations, requests we want to hear them!

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The Pink Pant Remix

My travel bug is temporarily satiated. Who am I kidding. If I got an invite to go somewhere next weekend, I’d be gone in a flash. New Orleans was the best time, we really made the most of the trip. I can’t wait to share the little guide I’m putting together of our time there. We ended up having fantastic weather, except one night of rain. It didn’t make it any easier to accept the snow back in Wisconsin though.

We’ll try not to be too salty about the lack of spring weather yet. It just makes us more interesting when all of our pictures still have snow on the ground… right?! That’s what we’ll stick with thinking. It’s just going to make us look so hardcore when we’re wearing lightweight clothing and standing in an inch of snow.

So when we’re not being crazy by dressing in inappropriate weight clothing, just to keep up with the southern states who are already sweating in cutoffs, you can find me dressing in at least light-colored clothing instead. Pastels are an obvious choice for Spring. It’s pretty much ubiquitously associated, not sure if the origins are Easter related or just the fact that we’re supposedly in the sprouting season. I won’t bore you with bad feelings about weather again.

These pink pants are a surprising favorite of mine. When I bought them, I felt pretty risky. Before that pair the furthest I had ventured was a pair of green cargo pants. Or at least it felt that way. They are aptly named, the tailored forever trouser. Indeed, they have a great cut to them. I particularly enjoy the high waist, and the slim fit but skimming leg.

Being that I bought them last April, I was able to wear them last Spring and wore them well into the Fall as well. I can’t remember if I brought them out in the dead of Winter, but probably not because they aren’t a particularly weighty pair of pants. They first showed up on the blog here, and I knew I had to bring them back for a different season. We’re trying to practice what we preach y’all.

That means, if something shows up on the blog, it should show up again eventually. Now obviously, some dresses are bought and worn sporadically at best for specific events. But items like work pants, or random tops, you better believe we’ll be wearing them regularly. Maybe too regularly. As the old adage goes; if no one saw you wear it, it didn’t count. Aka can be worn multiple days in a row. TMI?? Perhaps, but you’re more than likely guilty of it once or twice as well!

This sweater is actually a repeat as well. We showcased a couple of different colors on us and our Mom last, here. For being so inexpensive, I’ve gotten great wear out of it. It is the perfect color to tie in with many different looks. Y’all know I love some tonal dressing, and that inspired the look today. I feel both comfortable and stylish. With picking a more outrageous pant, I made sure the cut of the pant was timeless. I added my new nude slingback flats I got from my Mom as a gift and a thick necklace to finish the look.

Public Service Announcement, for any of our tall girls looking for tall work trousers/pants. Look no further. Asos has plenty of great options and the length has worked really well for me. I also last wore these green tie waist pants from Asos here. I haven’t showcased any of my black full length pairs, but we did show you a ton of culottes last Summer as well. Plus, if you have or download the Asos app, there is a 20% full priced items code! You can stock up on any items you’ve been eyeing.

Asos Sale Link!

20% off Full Price when you shop through the ASOS App! Code: APP2019. Valid 4/12-4/14 8am GMT.

Outfit Details and Asos Pants Linked

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We’re With The Band

We are in quite a whirlwind over here these days. Maybe it’s just Jenilee but it feels like both of us to me. As you may have seen here and here she was recently in New York City for a weekend, then she popped up to grace us with her presence for 4 days and hit the road again for a (Belated) 30th Birthday with in NOLA with our brother. I am so glad she is back today, I missed my workout partner! Stay tuned for a new travel guide on their trip soon. She has been giving me quite the travel bug. Thankfully it is my turn Easter weekend!

Meanwhile I have been in town for almost a month straight; which is phenomenal to me. I found myself deep in the throes of spring cleaning last weekend. I cleaned out the wrapping paper chest, scoured the bathrooms/kitchen, cleaned out my closet, dressers, our puzzle/candle cabinet, and even the basement. It was a lot of work over the weekend but I am feeling extremely refreshed and ready for spring. Speaking of which; the sunshine came out to play yesterday, and we were finally able to open our windows for the first time since September. It was amazing to finally get some fresh air into our house. It already looks like some of our plants are doing better as the weather warms up! Do any of y’all get crazy into Spring cleaning like me?

I have Marie Kondo in the back of my mind lately but I am honestly just not sure if her lifestyle if cut out for me (ha!). I have been very consistent about getting rid of items, but I just don’t think a minimalist life is for me. Take into consideration I haven’t watched her show or read her books. I just have a basic concept of what she coaches people to do. But if I am being honest, I like having the same Patagonia Quarter Snap in 6 colors, and I wear them! That’s just one example, but I think too many pieces of clothing bring me joy.

Anywho let’s dive into our love affair with band tees. So for me it all started while I was shopping with my mom at H&M in West Palm Beach a few years back. I saw an oversized Ramones shirt for $10 and felt extremely compelled to purchase it, and then wear it every single opportunity possible. It’s been worn to concerts, camping, lounging around, to bars etc. I got a shockingly large number of compliments (and still do) which kind of spiraled me into owning #allthebandtees. Stay tuned for an outfit featuring this Ramones shirt soon, but for today we are going to stick to the Rolling Stones.

Is it just me or do you feel like the Rolling Stones have shirts everywhere? H&M, American Eagle, Target, Amazon, etc. All of a sudden it’s like they are mass producing the iconic tongue and lip design everywhere. Do they just keep making them and think everyone out here is like “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” from the 50 shirts on the market? Sorry couldn’t help myself there.

American Eagle got me when they had a big sale. I lit up the Rolling Stone shirts and was inspired to do an entire post dedicated to them. So here we are. I took the first one and tried a new look for me and paired this rainbow one with a skirt and some booties and let me tell you I was feeling it. You can also see a another outfit combo featuring this skirt here.

Jenilee paired this yellow Rolling Stones one with some faux leather jeans, some sling backs, and her favorite Ray-Bans. This would be the perfect look for literally any concert, a night out or just a Saturday you want to feel like a bad a$$ lady! Anytime you add leather leggings I just feel like the outfit is set up for success.  You can also see how I previously styled this tee for a Florence and The Machine Concert here.

Since the first two looks are a little dressier, I went a bit more casual for my second look. I popped on both of our favorite jeans, a classic black bomber, my slip on sneakers and this subtle Rolling Stones Tee. The best part is that this one is washed out and designed to look faded. I initially thought it was red/blue online. Surprise, it is actually orange and blue which is still totally fine by me.

Lastly Jenilee paired the last one, with some distressed white denim, and Nike’s. The tshirt happens to be a mens medium TALL (AE Hack: shop the men’s graphics for tall sizes!). You’ll see a ton of our new go to hat, which you can also see styled here. We have both been loving how a simple hat can transform any outfit!

I feel like all of the outfits above would be killer street style looks that could take you from day, to night, concert, to dinner. Hopefully you dig these types of looks as much as we do. We have a lot more where that came from with band tees. Do you own any? We would love more style inspiration if you have other suggestions?  Hope you are all having an amazing week!

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New York Spring Guide Day #2

Hoping y’all appreciated Day 1 of my New York Spring Guide. If you missed it, you can click here to catch up. Otherwise I also wrote a guide when we went in the Fall if you’re interested in even more information. You can find that here. I forgot to mention, we walked off our dinner through Times Square on Friday night. It’s always fun to see the crazy crowds and all the bright lights!

After we got a great night of sleep, we were raring to get out and explore on Saturday morning. First things first, we had to grab another bagel and lox, because New York! We stopped at Bagels and Schmear, which is a small shop but dang were those sandwiches good. We took them to-go, because seating was limited. Luckily the day was beautiful and we ended up walking a block or two down to Madison Square Park and sitting on a park bench. Madison Square Park also is abutted by the Flatiron building, which is a iconic historical building. It’s named for its unique triangular shape and has been standing since 1902.

Once breakfast was consumed and all the excess cream cheese cleaned off our faces, we continued west to the Highline. We were there a little to early in the season to really catch anything in bloom, but it’s worth a stroll. You can go the full distance, which is almost 1.5 miles, or you can exit whenever you’re done. The Highline is a converted freight train line, and although we avoided it our first few visits (because we’re from Wisconsin and we figured how cool could this path be), I’ve come to appreciate it. It does get crowded with tourists like the Brooklyn Bridge, so people might stop in front of you abruptly for pictures, so stay alert.

We were trying to find the Hudson Yard new sculpture and somehow couldn’t find it or just missed it. If you’re heading there, it looks pretty incredible and you have to reserve your ticket two weeks in advance to climb up it, you can check it out here.

We kept walking down 7th street and wandered through Greenwich Village, through Soho, and Tribeca, to finally get to the World Trade Center area. We walked through and stopped at the memorials, but we didn’t feel like we had enough time to devote to going inside the Museum. I’ve heard nothing but people saying it’s worth taking the time, so another trip I will definitely prioritize it.

After all that walking we were pretty hungry. We took the subway back up to our hotel and decided we’d eat a late lunch because our show was at 8 p.m. with a dinner reservation after. Sarge’s Deli was the winner, and their prices weren’t cheap, but keep in mind you’re easily able to split a sandwich. They are HUGE. Tim and I had the Reuben (but with pastrami) and matzo ball soup. Both were delicious and filling. Plus they bring out a bowl of pickles and coleslaw for the table. That was a delightful touch.

From there we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up for a little bit. I tried wearing my Mom’s Vans that are slip-ons and did it without insole inserts the first day. That was a mistake! My feet were definitely hurting the whole trip, so I can’t stress enough – pick the right shoes to bring!

We had a little cocktail hour on the rooftop again with beers we grabbed from Duane Reade down the street. It was so lovely! Then we all changed and freshened up for our Broadway show, which was Waitress. I thought the show was entertaining, didn’t really love the whole “affair” storyline, but definitely a fun show.

Originally we had made a reservation for 10:15 or maybe 10:30, once the show started we realized we miscalculated on timing and canceled it and updated to 10:45. Luckily we ate at Trattoria Trecolori which unbeknownst to us (when we made the reservation) was next door to the theater! I was a little concerned that it was just highly rated from tourists and being in a heavily trafficked area, but everything we ate there was great and the service was nice as well!

We hoofed it back to our hotel in time to still pass out from the food coma!

Sunday we woke up and packed up our bags to checkout. Most hotels allow you to check your bags for the day, and we always like to take advantage and fly out later to make the most of the day. In our search for good brunch, we came across The Smith, which has several locations in NYC. We had made a reservation for one location and ended up realizing we were closer to the other location. Because we got there at 9:30 we had no problem walking in and getting a table. By 10 a.m. the place was full. For good reason, it was worth the hype! We shared a plate of pancakes with the table, and I got their breakfast pot pie. Everything I tasted on our groups plates was tasty as well.

When we were done with brunch we went outside and discovered the weather had changed. We stuck with our plans to head to Central Park, and got up to the Bethesda Fountain/Terrace before the rain hit. Others had the same idea of camping out under the terrace area, and finally we got sick of waiting and headed back towards 5th Avenue. Y’all knew I had to do some more shopping. We occupied the next few hours popping in and out of shops.

Hunger overtook us, so we stopped into the New York Public Library (because you know me and books), and then continued back to our hotel to grab some pizza from a place called Slice that was a block from us. We had to try some random pizza by the slice, because every other time I’ve visited, I’ve always gone to sit-down restaurants. From there we went back to the hotel and grabbed our bags and headed to the airport.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we covered A LOT of ground for three days time. Let me know in the comments below, if you have any questions or think I missed anything.

Saturday I ended up wearing a bodysuit I got from H&M. As soon as I saw the Queen logo on it, I had to have it. I paired it with my favorite pair of button front jeans from Gap and topped it with a mainline bomber from Asos. I was definitely warm enough for the day! Again I wore Vans on my feet and like noted above, this time with insoles in them! Saturday night I wore a dressier long sleeve bodysuit and my coated jeans I last wore here, with pointed toe flats to our show.

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New York Spring Guide Day #1

New York and I have been in a relationship now for several years. I’d say we’re past the initial awkward dates where you’re not sure if you like each other yet. We’ve definitely moved into that next phase, where you’ve become comfortable and you’d like to see each other as much as possible. As I’m on a budget, that’s typically at best once a year. It’s been enough to hold me over, but not be overkill. I know a lot of others who’ve been to New York get me completely on my feelings, and I’m happy to share the city with whoever!

It was the first time I visited in the spring, and it was also the first time I visited without my Mom. Taking Tim (my husband) for the first time was so fun. I felt like I had a good enough handle on the city to get us around for the most part, aside from walking in the wrong direction initially after surfacing from the subway. We contemplated taking the subway in when we arrived, but ultimately stuck with Uber because we didn’t want to deal with the extra time it would take. Our ride in ended up being only like 20 minutes, probably because rush hour had passed.

We stayed at the Wyndham Midtown 45, and I loved it. We had to use up points before they expired, so we ended up doing a two bedroom/two bathroom that had a kitchenette as well. It was beautiful! We loved that we had space so each couple could have their own bathroom for getting ready. It was also in a nice central spot, without being with all the other tourists in Time Square. We were able to check in right away, which was clutch. From there we set out to do the most important thing, namely grabbing a bagel and lox.

Ess-A-Bagel is right down the street from the hotel, and as we approached we realized we’d have to contend with a line. We did some checking around on Yelp and decided to stay put. We ended up having delicious everything bagel sandwiches with lox. I didn’t get their signature because I didn’t want the tomatoes, capers, and onions. My husband did and he really enjoyed it. After we ate our fill, we headed out to do some serious walking.

Whenever we’re visiting New York we know we’ll be doing a least 7+ miles a day. There is no better way (in my opinion) to enjoy the city, than strolling the streets and exploring the different Burroughs. We walked through Chinatown and Little Italy and popped in and out of shops. We made our way down to SoHo area, mainly to do some shopping. If you’re headed that way, Spring Street and Broadway is a good cross street full of stores to branch out from. Once we were done there, we stopped at Nordstrom Rack hoping to find a bigger selection than at home. I was tempted by some navy kitten-heeled slingbacks, but they could wait!

We got back to our hotel to wait for Dave, who had to fly separate because he had to work Friday. Luckily our hotel had a wine/cheese happy hour and we held off our appetites easily with a rooftop view. Once he arrived, he settled in and we set out for dinner. One thing I’ve experienced is several places are similar names right next door to each other. So we showed up to the Thai place for dinner and they didn’t have our reservation. After we had gotten seated and ordered, they realized it was for next door. It was still tasty, but odd that they are split into two spots.

We were pretty tired from an early morning flight, so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest because we knew we’d hit it hard the next day. Stay tuned for what we did Saturday, and tell me about your New York Trips in the comments below!

The outfit I wore is a great travel uniform. Whenever I travel I make sure I have layers on. I had a white tank from Walmart (super long and cheap!), with a tall chambray button up shirt, and my Gap black jeans that I recently found. Paired it with my Mom’s Vans slip-on shoes and I was super comfortable on the plane and walking around all day. I topped it with my leather jacket from Long Tall Sally that I’ve had for many years. It’s totally worth the investment because it never goes out of style!

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