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We Stay Elevated

Happy Friday tall fam! We hope you had a fabulous week of being the tall gorgeous creatures you are! It must be a special week, we’re hitting the blog four times! We made it to Friday, and that means manicures and some wine with our girl, Hailey from Get it Got it Go! Usually you don’t hit it off with strangers from the internet, but we had a good feeling about this fellow tall lady. We finally put a face to her Instagram handle at a Dry Bar event (post coming soon!). It led to us meeting up at Colectivo (a local coffee chain) and chatting for over two hours. Needless to say, we were going to see each other again!

The feeling of connecting with other creative people is so gratifying. I’m constantly astounded by their talent and eye for capturing beautiful images or the ideas that pop into their heads. Starting our blog has been such a gift to us, and a perfect outlet for creativity. It’s a freeing sensation, especially when both of us have worked in finance for a relatively long time and haven’t ‘had the chance to exercise our creative muscles.

The first year of us blogging was a lot of getting the kinks out. Both with the actual blog, and more importantly with ourselves. It’s super weird to put yourself on display and move your body in a somewhat flattering pose, while still maintaining a semi normal facial expression. We’re so impressed with everyone pulling it off. Keep on chasing your dreams!

One clear positive of pursuing tall fashion finds, is connecting with retailers you might not have found otherwise. Especially some small businesses that are just kicking off and making a name for themselves. It’s a win for us, to connect and collaborate with them. One of these small businesses catering to us tall women, is Elevated Closet!

One reason alone you should check them out, is the struggle for tall maternity clothing. They originally started to fill the gap for us, because we all know regular sized shirts only stretch so much before there’s a baby in the belly! They have some great maternity options so we can dress cute and comfortably during pregnancies!

Beyond maternity, they have branched into regular sized clothing as well. They have some beautiful jersey basics that will go the distance in your closet. This wine colored dress is ultra classy and under $18 (!!!), and every girl needs this basic grey cardigan in her closet to pair with anything and everything!

They were kind enough to send us this black t-shirt to try out. We’re so glad they did! As always, when we’re trying a new retailer, we like to see if it works for both 6’4 and 5’11. As you can see, this is a clear winner. There will be no tugging down to stay covered with this top! We loved how comfortable the fabric was, it will be such an easy top to grab especially in the spring. In fact we’re already trying to figure out how to share custody of it, haha.

I think the easiest answer is to just buy another color and trade off. It comes in this yummy neutral color as well! The ruffle sleeve hits low enough on the arm to cover most of your upper arm, which we love. Plus the tie detail at the waist is the cutest detail and the waist hits in the correct spot for tall women.

Caitlin paired it with one of her favorite pair of jeans from Gap. These are one of the first items you ever saw us post on the blog and since then they have still been on a heavy rotation-that is how much she loves them! Lucky for you, they still sell them! Last time we were at Nordstrom Rack, I found these snakeskin loafers (Enzo Angiolini) and knew they were perfect for her. Of course she fell in love with them too and they are living happily ever after. If you prefer a little wider of a toe box, these loafers are for you!

I mixed it up and brought out the white denim to really pop against the black. I’ve been on the hunt for new white denim, as mine aren’t the best fit and the quality isn’t great. These are older from Asos, and they’ve lasted me for like 4 years. That white after Labor Day rule doesn’t apply to me, but in Wisconsin you’ve got to respect the weather. It’s easier said than done to wear white jeans when there’s dirty snow and yuckiness everywhere you look. I know our Midwest sisters feel our pain on this.

Lastly, I’ve been on the hunt for good hair accessories because I couldn’t be more thrilled they’re back in style. I found this scarf my first time perusing Riley Rose in our local mall. It’s so perfect for those second/third hair days. It classes up the look so much. I can’t forget to mention these new flats from Long Tall Sally. Oh my gosh y’all, I’m in love. Take your basic black flat and make it a little edgy, still very ladylike, and unique and you have these beauties. They will be worn all the time, and if you’re not in the market for black, they have two other colors!

One last thing we have to mention. We found this light ring, and it blew our minds with how vastly it improved our indoor pictures. WOW, total game changer. Hope y’all agree! Have a great weekend.

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Everything is Just Peachy

There was something so good and right about this week! It was definitely related to the fact that we had off work Monday. We were able to use it productively for the blog! I’m sure we’re not alone in feeling like sometimes life stuff falls behind at the expense of going to work and letting ourselves get busy with other stuff. It only took one day of being at home and getting some blog stuff done, to make us feel on top of the world. Time really is the most expensive commodity in today’s world.

With that being said, I still haven’t cracked open my copy of The Art of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I bought it a couple of months ago as a Kindle deal. I had long been feeling I could benefit from some deep purging. Although we seem far from Spring, I have the urge to spring clean! I won’t question it, I just need to take advantage of it and clean house.

Confession: I flipped out when I thought Kondo said to get rid of all of your books. Talk about a quote taken out of context. That’s all that headlines are about now. Finding the most outrageous piece of information, and twisting it out of proportion in order to make a click bait headline. The true statement was more along the lines of only keeping books that you love. That aligns perfectly with what she’s trying to teach. I like to keep books in my library because I like being able to lend them to friends and family!

Have any of you tried the Marie Kondo method yet? I don’t know how many actual “tall” items we’d cleaning out. We did recently receive a DM or two asking if we sold our items anywhere like Poshmark or the Tall Women’s Facebook buy/sell/trades group. If we had enough to make it worth the shipping, is that something any of you would be interested in us doing? Let us know in the comments!

Onto this dreamy dress. It had been chilling in my saved items on and off for probably way too long, but the original price point wasn’t quite doing it for me. When winter rolled around, I’m pretty sure it expired out of my saved items by then and I had resigned myself to not having it. It’s enough of a standout dress, that I knew I would get a ton of wear out of it.

The stars aligned for me and this dress. The price dropped, and we were vacation dress shopping. How perfect is this for a beachy night under the stars, or even a day wandering around a quaint marketplace, with our new favorite straw hat? It’s got some drama with the deep neckline, but it’s still girly and playful with the polka dot print. Plus anytime I can find a good midi dress so I can feel covered, is a win!

I wore it with my favorite nude sandals to keep it casual and comfortable. Also, if you’ve ever been interested in buying a plunging neckline dress but wondered what the heck kind of bra you’d wear underneath it, I’m wearing this one. Super easy to throw on and not worry about your bra showing.

In case you missed it, I have the link to the dress above. There is also a taupe version of the same dress here, also on ridiculously good sale. I’ve linked several pairs of sandals below that all go up to size 13, if anyone is in the market! Also, anyone in the market for new flats with an ankle strap, I tried these on in Nordstrom Rack and they fit really well!

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Fresh Blooms

Well, all of you might be sick of these vacation posts by now… but honestly we need these. We are both reliving our Cancun vacation to help us through the constant stream of snowstorms and frigid temps. You might be sick of our weekly weather reports by now. It’s tough not to comment on it, when you’re yearning for Spring.

Anywho, if you read any of our other vacation posts yet, you could probably guess that this dress came along with the massive sale haul we each got before we left. I instantly fell in love with the delicate, feminine, floral print of this dress. I also just loved how they had it styled on the model with a thicker cardigan. That makes it so much more versatile for us in Wisconsin.

I had borrowed a dress in this style from my mom last summer. She snagged it at Nordstrom Rack and I loved it! This is the first one I now own in this style, and I do have to say – they aren’t the best choice if you are a little bustier. It can cause a little gaping on the upper buttons which personally drives me insane. You might want to size up if that applies to you.

I was also pretty bummed that I only wore this the one night in Mexico and one of the straps snapped when I laid down on our hotel bed. Luckily I am semi-handy with a sewing machine so it’s not a huge deal for me to patch it up. Nonetheless, it’s always disappointing when the quality isn’t there (which luckily hasn’t happened too often with ASOS items).

I snagged these shoes when Jenilee, our mom and I were in Chicago for her birthday surprise at Nordstrom Rack (our go-to). They couldn’t have matched any better, always a happy coincidence. I am not always a super matchy person, but I love when something just subtly matches perfectly; especially shoes!

Side Bar: Jenilee has almost fully convinced me that I need these fun floral heels in my life. I have the nude version and they are the perfect fit for me, as well as the perfect height. I have a wedding to attend in May and I might be trying to base my dress choice off of if I can tie these in. Whether you are looking for a basic heel or a fun color like she likes for me; these are a great price point and they have two day shipping!

Good news! If you are getting sick of these vacation outfit posts, we are nearing the end. Although I am not sick of them, I am SO excited for all of our upcoming content. As Jenilee and I  rounded out our first year in the blog world, I think we both felt a little blah at the end of the year. However, as we passed the New Year, we have had some amazing traction. We have been enjoying creating content, spending time together, taking our time and reaching out to new brands.

Obviously we have kept companies like ASOS, Gap, Express and a few others on our heavy rotation. Beyond the obvious options, we have both decided that it is important to try what else is out there. We want to give you honest reviews and help you find more variety. I hope you are as excited as I am, because the next few weeks are going to be FUN. All of the companies we are choosing to feature are because we genuinely back them. Whether its based on their mission, fit, price point or something else. We will never, ever, ever post products we do not believe in, don’t stand up to our quality requirements or that we just simply don’t like.

Another thing we are hoping to share more of in the weeks to come are try ons. Woof. Even saying that one makes my stomach flip. I am not a camera ready person and hate the thought of having to freestyle speak. It is just not appealing to me. But that is the one thing people are constantly asking for more of; so we are going to work on it. Obviously this post took a weird turn at the end because we went from a floral dress into my excitement for our blog. Point being, that me saying all of this out loud, will also help hold me accountable. So be on the lookout for some fun new companies, more videos of us (eeeek), and a whole lot of fun!

Check out the details on my look below as well as some of my other favorite dresses in this style. Bonus for you is that most of them are on sale right now!

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Express-ing Myself with Swimsuits

Today is not the Monday-est Monday to ever Monday, mainly because we don’t have to work today. Thank you to all of our Presidents for that perk! We hoped to take advantage and get our hair done today, as we like to schedule our appointments together. Unfortunately we waited a little too long to schedule. It’s probably for the best, because this winter is really taking  a toll on drying my scalp out. So maybe by the time we go in, it will be much improved!

Plus we just got hit with another heavy blast of snow. I’m so grateful to be tucked in at home, instead of trekking it into work. If any of y’all are on the roads today, stay safe! We ended up venturing out for some sushi last night, and the roads were so bad. The sushi was all worth it though, especially all you can eat for $25. Any of my sushi lovers out there, know that is unbeatable!

The upside to this snow, is taking advantage of the winter weather activities. Caitlin was able to get up north and do some snowmobiling with our parents. The trails have been much improved over the last couple of years! In fact, the men in our family are all headed back up next weekend to do a snowmobiling weekend. Caitlin and I are hanging out and working on blog projects.

Is there anything you’re looking for more on from us, as we continue to plot and plan for the future? We have several new to the blog retailers we’ll be sharing in the near future, because we feel you on not being sure about trying new brands, so we’re doing it for you!

We asked and y’all answered in regards to swimsuits on Instagram! Ever since Victoria’s Secret took away their swimwear, we’ve been stumbling around trying to fill the void. Asos has filled in the gap here and there for us, because they have EVERYTHING. Another go-to for me a bit more than Caitlin, has been Express. Peep Caitlin’s last swimsuit from Asos here, if you missed it on Friday.

Obviously we can’t really roll with the one pieces at Express, but we’re still holding out hope they will come to their senses and actually cover us tall women, since they’re supposedly size inclusive. Nothing is worse than seeing in big bold font, “WE’RE SIZE INCLUSIVE,” and tall women are still excluded.

But, they do have short sleeve blouses that have good length in the body. Let’s just catch up with the long sleeves and jackets and we’ll be super thrilled over here. Plus; as I said above,  I can roll with their swimsuits. You last saw me in my version of khaki green swimwear last summer, in this post. That is also still available in many colors on their site.

I think the quality is there, and the price can’t be beat. There is usually some sort of coupon code or sale happening. Y’all should NOT be spending full price on a swimsuit at Express. $30 for me is right on the money, especially when we like a heavy rotation of different options for the summer. My Ray Bans were an easy match with this swimsuit, because they’re bright blue, they’re lightweight and sporty for running around on the beach!

We’ll leave you with this gem, because this is an indication of how windy it was on the beach. It had us laughing so hard, and we just rolled with it! Hope your week is off to a solid start, go slay the day!

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New Neutrals

As you scroll past the highlight picture and see something olive combined with the title of this post, I am sure you are already thinking blah, blah, blah, here we go with the olive green again. But seriously, I can’t help how passionate I am about this color. I think it is 100% safe to say that this color is now absolutely considered a neutral. That’s right. Olive is sitting pretty with black, white, cream, gray, and as you know, we are here for it.

I definitely have a bias, and I think we all know that. I think it is the most flattering color on anyone. It could be because I think it looks killer with denim, as well as cream, or even black without being too flashy. I can’t exactly pinpoint when my love affair with this color began, but it definitely got out of hand very quickly. This isn’t stated lightly. I think I am slowly transitioning everything in my life to this color. My winter jacket was the first update,  followed by my phone case, nail polish, so many shirts, and even work pants.

So it was inevitable that I ended up with an olive green swimsuit, right? I definitely ordered this one half expecting it not to work out. They had the regular suit listed, but also listed a bustier option available that sold out pretty quickly. Jenilee warned that it may be a bit too flashy, but I had to try it and it was shockingly perfect. I LOVE that there is no clasp so when you are laying on a lawn chair you don’t feel the tie or clasp digging in. I have also noticed that I am slowly converting to only swimsuit tops that aren’t halter. If you are a little bit bustier you may feel my pain, literally. I have been in pain after wearing a halter suit all day.

The other win with this suit is that the bottom is a perfect rise. I can’t handle the low rise, hip hugger, cheeky trend so anything that has full coverage is okay by me. We all love to play beach games and be active, so a comfortable suit that stays put is a must. I don’t typically plan out “swimsuit” outfits but I love the color of this denim, olive, and the straw hat together. I think if I had to create a palette to stick to forever, this just may be it. These shorts are from Gap last year, but I will link some comparable options this year!

If you want to read about why we were both loving this hat, you can read about it in this post and this post. All the people with big noggins rejoice!  You have also seen these sunnies pop up a few times already and they will keep on keepin’ on as we roll into Spring (if we’re lucky), and Summer. They are the New Wayfarer and I love the fit! You have also seen this necklace featured many times including in our Midwest Gift Guide here. The company is a Chicago local, Vo Yourself and I love the horn trend. Unfortunately I think my skin might be starting to react to this one but it’s too cute!

Before Jenilee and I started packing for this trip, I got a sudden urge to buy a new beach bag because mine isn’t cute enough. As I was thinking of the aesthetic of our Instagram pictures I knew that my dirty, dingy thirty-one bag wouldn’t be super appealing. However, I just couldn’t get past how much I love the utility bag. I can put all of my sunscreen, lip balm, sunglasses, etc around the outside for easy access and organization is unbeatable. With that being said-at some point I will likely try to upgrade to a cleaner bag.

My question for you is: Where do you buy cute, reasonable, organizer friendly beach bags? Or did I already figure it out and I should just stick to my guns?


Enjoy the reality of most of our pictures with this one

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