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Bastille Days!

Summer in Milwaukee is always pretty epic. The weather is agreeable enough to everyone in Wisconsin congregating outdoors, for any social gathering you can dream up. By the way, we’re pretty creative here, and we dream up a lot of random excuses, err… events. If you haven’t experienced it (yet), you obviously can’t confirm or deny. But every once in awhile, you might catch yourself yearning for a French experience. Look no further than Milwaukee, because it’s home to French Festival: Bastille Days. It happens to be North America’s largest French-themed celebration. Who’d have known!? Milwaukee knows how to celebrate any heritage all summer long.

With French culture being synonymous with cool; it draws quite a crowd over the 4-day festival. The first night kicks off with a Storm the Bastille run, sponsored by Associated Bank. We grew up going to Bastille Days and Storming the Bastille was always the night we attended. Either we ran the race, or we volunteered to give the runners water, etc. It was a big deal as a child, getting to be out late on a Summer night. The throngs of people excited for the excuse to run the streets of downtown Milwaukee were exhilarating to be around. Never has a 5k run/walk gone by so quickly. It gives you a chance to see Milwaukee from a different perspective than your car window. Come join us this year in Storming the Bastille. The run is at 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 11th, we’d love to see you there!

Once the run/walk is over, it’s all fun and games from there. Cathedral Square is transformed into stall after stall of food vendors and various goodies. There are options for everyone. One of the delights in attending festivals and marketplaces is discovering a cool item you never knew you needed. Plus, you know we’re drawn to local small businesses. Every time we’ve attended, we’ve been able to meet a new to us vendor. Can’t wait to see what goodies Bastille Day will unearth for us this year.

The smells alone will lure you to stalls to discover the French/Cajun cuisines. We’ve seen so many local high-quality restaurants with booths of better than a typical festival treat. Of course, they’d be remiss if they didn’t have crepes. My personal favorite, however, is the beignets. You can satisfy your sweet tooth with one of those! Then you can wash it down with one of their wine tastings. Bastille Days offers them Friday, July 12th at 8:30 p.m. for the perfect weekend kick-off. Otherwise, they have two options on Saturday, July 13th at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. If wine isn’t your jam, maybe you’d be drawn more to the champagne tasting on Sunday, July 14th at 1 p.m.? If you pick up your ticket in advance online, it’s only $30, otherwise $40 at the event. That’s a steal for 8 tastings and a light appetizer pairing!

Perhaps you’re experiencing withdrawals now that Summerfest has ended. Fear not! Bastille Days has four stages with live music, to ease you back into your Summerfest-less existence. There’s a wide array of performers, to cover the diverse crowds. With that in mind, you can bring the whole family. If you want to come with your children, they have the annual Kids Day Celebration on Saturday, July 14th. There’s a French-themed breakfast, ballet lessons, and soccer drills to keep your kids enjoying their time at Bastille Days.

I could wax poetic about Bastille Days all day long. Instead, I’ll just tell you this. Go check it out, you won’t regret it! It’s a smaller festival, but it has so much flair and character. Plus, where else are you going to find a mini replica of the Eiffel Tower? The other thing we’re super excited about this year is the Love Locks Sculpture! It’s being unveiled on July 11th, and it’s interactive! You can purchase a lock at the Bastille Days merchandise booth, write a message or loved one’s initials on it, and lock it onto the sculpture, dropping the key into a locked box to signify your love will last forever. All proceeds from these love lock sales will be donated to Habitat for Humanity too! Lastly, come join us for the Associated Bank Storm the Bastille 5k Run/Walk. Enter to win a free registration on our Instagram/Facebook post. Otherwise, you can register using this link! Online registration closes June 25 but you can register in-person over the next few weeks and the day of the run too. https://events.easttown.com/products/storm-the-bastille-registration

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Red, White & You

We’re going to keep this mainly informational for y’all. Think of it as a fourth of July roundup, if you will. We know we are a few weeks out but obviously wanted to give you enough time to order and obtain these fun patriotic pieces.

Our family started building our red, white, and blue collections a few years ago for the Fourth of July. We have all quickly grown our collection of tanks, t-shirts, shorts, headbands, etc. So now we are just here to help you through the Holiday as well.

Taylor Wolfe Shop

We, unfortunately, can’t make a widget here but you’ve seen us share her pieces in the past for Christmas, St. Patricks Day and some other fun general T-Shirts. Neither of us could pass up her USA and Americana Sweatshirt when they dropped. They are soft, they are (keyword) long, and we just can’t stop wearing them!

Gap, Inc.

Lake Effect Co.

Lake day Tee, God Bless the Midwest Tee, Home of the Wave Crew, Lake Day Blue Long Sleeve, Lake Day Crew, Lake Effect Flag Shirt, Ladies Land of the Free tank, and so many more! We chose a few of our favorites specifically for this holiday but don’t forget to browse the rest of the site as well. And you can use our code THEREALTALL15 for 15% off of your purchase!

Express

American Eagle

Amazon

Shop your Fourth of July picks here. And we cannot recommend the eagle shown below ENOUGH. We have had so many fun and funny times riding this around the lake and down the river, and its huge!

Accessories

Hopefully, by, now you are feeling as patriotic as we are. If you come up with any fun outfits we would love if you tag us to see what you did too!

And as a fun bonus, I thought we would share a favorite fourth of July (alcoholic) popsicle recipe below:

You can use the same sleeves we do to make these-they sell them here.

Popsicle Recipe

Popsicle Recipe #2

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Spring Jacket Roundup

Today’s post will be pretty straight to the point. Last summer we did a romper roundup for y’all, and everyone seemed to love it! If you want to look back on it, click here. It just deposits stuff in one post so it’s easier to digest and give inspiration for different types. This time around, we’re giving you all the spring jackets we’ve got on repeat. The weather is inching us towards summer, supposedly. Darn it, we’re going to dress the part. So let’s get to the jackets!

Jean Jacket

Why not start with the obvious. Everyone loves a good jean jacket, and we’ve got so many different options in style right. You can rock an over-sized look, a distressed look, or even wear a combo like Caitlin’s sweatshirt/jean jacket. There are also a bunch of different color options, we’re digging the grey, black, and white options aside from any of the classic blues.

Utility Jacket

Who doesn’t love a canvas jacket. They are sturdy but lightweight, and the cuts on them allow you to cinch in the waist for a more structured look. The green is obviously our favorite, you know that by now, and the utility trend is big for spring! Or another option is the classic khaki color, which also pairs with practically every color.

Rain Jacket

Yo, it’s been raining on us nonstop. This may not be the sexiest or most fun coat to buy, but you better believe you’re going to use it in the spring. Why not spice it up with some punchy colors like this tall option from asos? You could also just blend into the background like this camo option, but your call! They’re totally reasonably priced, and I don’t travel without one now. They pack up really nice and tiny.

Leather/Faux Leather Jacket

Leather is one of those fabrics that will see you through the entire year. The best part of course, is that it’s never out of style. We’ve built up our collection over the years of having several great options to layer. Once you get a black moto or classic silhouette, you can extend to the trendier items. The most recently grab was this grey moto option, which is an easy neutral and perfect for Spring/Summer. Caitlin has gotten a ton of use out of her cream colored option as well!

Moto Jackets

Sometimes a leather jacket can be a bit too heavy for the weather as they aren’t the most breathable fabric. It’s nice to have other lightweight jackets in the same cuts to reach for as an alternate. Caitlin has her neutral faux suede moto jacket, and I have a twill like fabric from Gap. They’ll keep the chill out but still look just as put together.

Bombers

We can’t leave out our bomber jackets. They are made for the tomboys in us. The styling is easy and will take you from the gym to out for drinks flawlessly. Bombers have seen us through a lot of travel, and we won’t stop wearing these for years to come. In particular, I’m eyeing up the pink option at Gap right now, because tall sizing! Caitlin gets so much use out of her Burgundy bomber, it might as well be a neutral.

Army/Camo Jackets

It wouldn’t feel right to leave off without mentioning our army jackets. As they are vintage/thrift store finds and unisex sizing, they typically fit our tall bodies well. The over-sized bulky sizing makes it super easy to layer and you can go casual and grungy or throw a simple tighter look underneath.

We rapid fire threw these jackets on over our favorite mainline bodysuits we found at Nordstrom Rack. If you see a bodysuit you like at your local Rack, and the brand is Elodie, we’ve had incredible luck with the torso length working well. Hope this inspires you to round out your Spring Jacket collection, I know we sometimes struggle to have our closet work cohesively! Sound off below which Spring Jacket you’re looking for!


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No Luck Necessary for St. Patrick’s

Pretty sure they only have these holidays so often, is so that we’re distracted by the fact that winter is still showing it’s ugly mug around these parts. Add in some cute decorations and some themed drinks and consider us fully attentive to said holiday. Bring it on St. Patrick’s Day!

Every year Caitlin has gone to our Milwaukee area Shamrock Shuffle. I used to attend it with her, it just doesn’t hold the same appeal to me as it once did! We haven’t made it down to our sister city (Chicago) for their St. Patrick’s festivities, but we’ve heard they’re legendary. They leave no detail to chance, including dying the river green! We can’t wait to hear about our brothers weekend in Chicago after the festivities!

They always hold the Shamrock Shuffle much earlier than the real holiday (Maybe to help monetize two “holiday” weekends?) so that still leaves us both open for the holiday itself. Caitlin has mentioned that she may use her Pub Pass with some friends to hit up a few local breweries. If you haven’t heard of the Pub Pass yet and like craft beer, you should check out their website to see if they are in your city. It’s a great price and lets you try out new places, Caitlin loves it!

Even though I don’t get as excited as most for this holiday, I do love a good Reuben. Maybe Tim and I will try to find one around the city or make them ourselves. Or if we are lucky, maybe my mom will want to get together and make them together, yum!

It makes a lot of sense then, that our go-to shop for St. Patrick’s day is run out of Chicago. The Taylor Wolfe Shop isn’t new to this blog. You might remember we featured her on small business Saturday in our holiday guides. We picked up a super cute Stay Merry Sweatshirt that is perfect for the holiday season. I only wish we had discovered her sooner, because she has a great selection of married/engaged t-shirts that would have been perfect for all the festivities.

When Caitlin saw the fresh drop for St. Patrick’s Day, she was instantly inspired to buy some decorations at the dollar store and have a fun time being festive! I’ll hop on my budget soapbox for a second. Any time we create little vignettes for parties or just for some pictures etc, we always check the dollar store first. Most cities have some variation you can check out. We all know that the chance of reusing most party supplies is slim to none. Balloons because they deflate over time, streamers because they’re a pain in the butt to try to re roll without ruining. You get the picture. Don’t go to Target or wherever and get ripped off. Hopping back off now.

Every time we see an incredible set that someone designed the knee jerk reaction is usually a little of jealousy. Like, why can’t we have something incredible like that? Instead of sitting and pouting about it, we take it and fit it into our lives. That means on a budget first and foremost, and hopefully y’all are taking that into consideration when looking at pictures or scrolling through Instagram.

Suffice to say, when we put on the t-shirt and sweatshirt, we were instantly in a better mood, and ready to have some fun! We did a drop or two of green food coloring in our beers and instantly felt festive! We had been talking to Hailey of Get it Got it Go in regards doing a collaboration and we figured what better time than over all things green and fun?

Peep all the fun pics below and tell us if you make any festive plans for St. Patrick’s Day!

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Valentine’s Day Round Two

Another one! Said in my best DJ Khalid voice… but yes, we are bring you another Valentine’s Day look. Let’s call this one the official tall looks. Mainly because most of the pieces are actually “talls.” Whereas the last round of looks were mainly just tall friendly mainline finds. Check out the last post here, if you missed it!

Valentines Day will be here within the week. I know everyone is counting down the days like we are. Ok, I’ll stop with the snark for now. Lets just call Valentine’s Day what it is. It’s an excuse to dress up really cute, and maybe a bit more dressy than we all do typically. We look for these excuses high and low! I’m forever bemoaning the fact that my life isn’t more glamorous. But I’m speaking it into existence now!

With that being said, y’all know I’m all about some red. People have complimented me on it enough that I feel confident in reaching for it regularly. Especially as a lip color. Nothing will brighten up your look easier than a perfect toned red. If you aren’t sure, go play around at the beauty counters and test them out! Just this last weekend I stopped into Riley Rose for the first time and did a little too well finding some new lip shades. Thankfully they were only $4!

What better time of the year to brighten up your wardrobe with some red than Valentine’s Day? I grabbed this John Zack tall jumpsuit via Asos and was super glad I did. I don’t know about y’all, but when a new retailer gets added to Asos Tall line options, I’m always a little hesitant to believe that they truly get what being tall means. I’ve been burned before, and I’m looking at you Missguided “Tall.” So I felt like I was taking a shot in the dark on this jumpsuit, and thankfully I was rewarded!

Remember me saying in the last Valentine’s Day post that Caitlin found her sandals for a steal at Nordstrom Rack? Well Chicago Rack’s always have the hook up, because I found these gorgeous black strappy sandals at the same time. I have a variation of this pair in nude, and when I saw black, I didn’t hesitate. When you find well-fitting sandal heels for cheap, you just have to grab them! Especially for wedding season, these will take me far!

Y’all might think there isn’t a limit on how many skirts we can own, but in fact there is one. We both really liked this red midi skirt, but held back on purchasing because we’ve prioritized other colors and fits. But that all changed when Caitlin found this River Island (via Asos) lip print cami. We realize that the colors couldn’t possibly match better, and she snapped up both. Talk about a ridiculously cute Valentine’s Day look. It’s whimsical, it’s a little sassy, it’s practically perfect in every way (thanks Mary Poppins).

When we try to explain to y’all that we really do wear our clothes repeatedly, you might not fully understand or believe us. It’s always easier to illustrate the point! That’s what you’ll see over and over with this pair of heels from Amazon! We just talked about them last week, but they’re an amazing find and very reasonable. Caitlin has continued to wear them in so many different contexts. That’s what we love to find in our items.

Tell us below, which Valentines Day look is more your vibe? Today’s post or the last post, or maybe neither if you’re staying in and cozy!

Outfit Details

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