March 2015 archive

Goldilocks and the Chambray Shirt Dress

I’ve tried on more than my fair share of chambray shirt dresses, but none of them fit quite right or were the right shade of blue to convince me to purchase. I did recently buy a great looking one from Madewell (link here), but the day after was when the weather turned warmer in Minnesota and I just don’t see myself wearing a flannel-lined dress into the spring, no matter how comfortable. This version is just right. The length is good, I like the dark shade of blue, and the belt hits at the right spot. Paired with a vest it’s perfect for days like these – when you want to be out on the lake but need to wait out the chill in the air and the ice on the water just a bit longer.

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Banana Republic shirt dress | J Crew vest (sold out, similar here and here) | Tory Burch shoes | Kate Spade necklaces | Little Minnow scarf | J Crew earrings | Madewell bracelet | Michael Kors watch | Chloe handbag

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Taylor’s Room at Grandma’s House

So the title of the post is a little off, as it’s both my parents’ house of course; but when talking about design, it’s Grandma’s house. My kids always want to visit “Yamma and Bapa,” and not just for the endless goodies – but they love staying in their rooms. In past posts I’ve been talking about transitioning Ella’s nursery to big girl room, and my mom did the same at their house (I’m actually still just talking about it, whereas Ella’s room at my mom’s house is completely finished). But as grandparents know, you don’t do something for one grandchild and not the other, so Taylor’s room got a refresh as well. There’s so much to talk about in this room, it could be a week’s worth of posts – from the sports banner to the wagon doubling as book storage and display, to any number of quilts and wall hangings with fabrics designed by my mom, to the framed artwork from the little man himself  – there are a hundred things to wow a kid (and any adult, for that matter!). But the showstopper in the room is the wall display of shutters. She had collected these over the years and decided this room redo was the perfect time to do something creative with them. She had them painted using Doodle Zoo as the color inspiration (one of her fabric lines, shown in the wall hanging below, and available here) and had them hung across the full length of one wall. The shutters are different widths and heights, but that’s part of what makes them so fun and interesting. Two rows of firing strips were attached to the wall and then the shutters were mounted to the strips. According to my mom, it’s one of her favorite things she has incorporated into a room design, and it’s easy to see why!

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Fun & Flirty

Fun and flirty – now those are two words that I rarely, if ever, use to describe my outfit. More common combinations are things like “conservative and workplace appropriate,” “machine washable and kid friendly” or  “comfy and cozy” (the last combination applicable to everything I wear after 8:00 p.m., 95% of the time). But for some reason this dress kept catching my eye when I would walk by it, despite its basic gray and white color scheme.  I think it’s because it reminded me of a tennis outfit, with the pleats that naturally formed in the skirt, coupled with the sweatshirt material on top.
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Theory dress | Ann Taylor top (old, similar here) | Tory Burch handbag (similar here) | Banana Republic shoes (love this bootie version, here) | Madewell necklace and bracelets (here and here) | Pono cuff | Michael Kors watch | J Crew earrings (similar here)
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