Yay October!

It's OCTOBER! I think this is my favorite month by far. Still decent weather but the chill of fall is in the air. All pumpkin everything actually applies. I've already made cookies and a crock pot meal. Loki even has a new Halloween bandanna! I need to get working on my costume for this year. Nick already figured out his costume and we are not doing a couple costume this year. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

These pants have served me well in the past year or so. They are a little bold but also kind of a neutral at the same time. My go-to outfit lately has been printed jeans, graphic tee, jean jacket, and flats. I just added a pair of camo jeans to the rotation and I'm pretty excited about them. Camo is everywhere this fall. It made an appearance this spring/summer and it's not going anywhere soon. Go out an buy something camo NOW! I have a feeling it's about to turn into leopard print. And you know how I feel about leopard print...

My bun is slightly out of control

Tee: Forever 21 Men's (SO comfy) 

Jeans: Express (similar here) 

Jacket: H&M 

Flats: Zara (wanting these)

Watch: Michael Kors

Grunge and Teddy Eyes

I'm back in the alley! It wasn't haunted this time either but it was empty! Usually there are a ton of people chilling or walking through this alley but this afternoon it was all mine. This outfit is a little grunge. Muted floral and combat boots. This is also my first time wearing tights to work this season. Tights are definitely made for 9-5. When I get home it's like race to get them off. Like I'm going to explode if my tights are not off in the first 40 seconds of walking in the door. They sure look cute though!

So these pictures are from yesterday. Yesterday was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. I'll start from the beginning. So Mon-Wed our dog walker Bill comes around lunch time to walk Loki. Thursdays I go home over lunch and walk him and Friday Nick works from home and walks him. Loki gets to chill in the main parts of the house and the cats are confined to the bedroom. Well I left the door open to the bedroom. And I get a text from Bill saying the door was left open and there was a bunch of paper shreds everywhere and things looked askew. Loki has a vendetta against Kleenex boxes when we leave so I assumed that was the paper everywhere but then I couldn't let it go that something else had happened. Did he eat Nick's Ugg slippers? Did he chew up the bedding? Are the cats still alive?! I couldn't take the suspense so I decided to run home really quick. I got home and Loki already looked guilty. When I opened the bedroom door I saw the paper was indeed Kleenex. A slipper was on the other side of the room but there was no damage done. The bedding was messed up but nothing chewed. And then I saw him. My beloved teddy bear, Teddy. His eyes. Completely chewed off. I was devastated! So now you are thinking. Teddy bear? A 26 year old married woman and a teddy bear? Yes. I still sleep with Teddy. Every night. He has been my main man since the day of my birth and I'm not letting go anytime soon. Anyone who knows me well knows about Teddy and knows how deep our bond really is. So I get a little emotional and call my mom. No answer. Call my brother. He answers. I break down. 

Katie: "(Sniffle sniffle)Loki ate off Teddy's eyeballs!!!"

Kyle: "(Stifles laugh)OH NO! What happened?!" 

Can you imagine your adult sister calling you to cry about her Teddy bear's eyeballs?! How ridiculous! Kyle handled it so well. Shortly after I got off the phone with him I got a text from him with a link to teddy bear replacement eyes. "Teddy's getting LASIK!" What a good brother. I felt so silly when I finally calmed down. Needless to say, yesterday was just a little rough. Loki got a firm talking but I can't stay mad at that fluff ball for long. I do have a feeling he wont be touching Teddy anytime soon though.

"The alley is all mine" twirl

Also! Meet the woman behind the iphone, Nuhamin! Isn't she the cutest?! She is pretty darn fashionable herself. I am totally buying the shoes she is wearing in this. They RULE. Love you Nunu!

Dress: Forever 21(similar here)
Cardigan: LOFT (wanting this) 
Tights: American Apparel 
Boots: Madden Girl

Circle in the City

So about those allergies...turns out it's actually a bad cold. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like death. I went into work thinking maybe I would get better later but then my ears started to hurt and my throat started to swell. At that point I thought if these are allergies I am not going to be able to have a normal human life! Went to the clinic and it turns out I'm just suffering from the common cold. SO glad it's not allergies but this cold still blows. Literally.

So today's post is short and sweet. I'm still under the weather and It's very surprising I was able to look remotely presentable today. So this circle thing is a new addition to the median in the middle of State Street. I have seen kids skateboarding on it and people just sitting in it. I googled and I still don't know what it is or what it's doing there but it's pretty cool right? So since this thing is in the middle of State Street, I was in the middle of State Street. And if you know anything about that intersection at 5:30 there are quite a few people standing around. Looking at me. Posing. In front of a giant pink circle. Slightly awkward but, hey why not? Maybe I'll come back with my skateboard for my next photo shoot! Since I totally own one and know how to use one...

Dress: Loft (love this for fall) 
Jacket: H&M 
Booties: American Eagle (loving these) 
Watch: Michael Kors

Allergies and Alleys

So I went on and on about how amazing fall is yesterday but there is actually one major downside. Allergies. How cow, they pretty much knocked me on my pleather clad bum today. I've never really had them before this season and I just want them gone. Any suggestions or meds that work? I may or may not scratch my eyeballs out before winter. Ugh.

On a lighter, not congested note...look at this alley! Doesn't it rule? This might be my new favorite picture taking place. It's called Couch Place Alley named after a couple of brothers that owned an adjacent hotel in the mid 1800's. Apparently, there was a huge fire that destroyed the neighboring Iroquois Theater in 1903. This fire killed 600 people and there are suspicions the alley is now haunted. I definitely did not get a creepy feeling while I was there and now I'm even more excited to go back! 

Fashion blog turned Chicago history lesson, sorry! Back to the real subject. I just got these shoes and I'm in love. They might give me blisters now but that's nothing a couple of band-aids and my high pain tolerance can't deal with! Also, pleather and denim is one of the best combos. Bonus points for leopard print and stripes!

Shirt: H&M 

Skirt: H&M 

Jacket: H&M 

Shoes: Forever 21 

Purse: Aldo (Similar here) 

Necklace: Presence (Similar here)

Watch: Michael Kors

Suddenly...FALL

It's fall! I absolutely love this weather. Lots of people have been calling it "hoodie weather." Well I don't really wear hoodies. Unless I'm rocking my Iowa State hoodie that I have had since 7th grade. But if that's the case I'm sitting on my couch watching Netflix and this said hoodie probably has Cheeto dust on it. I know, super classy. I like to call this wear "layer weather." Boy do I love me some layers. Jackets, blazer, and sweaters OH MY! 

So it's Monday. Which means I woke up late and probably should have washed my hair but I didn't. And I did not plan my outfit the night before. Luckily with this weather I could do a casual go-to fall outfit. Jeans, sweatshirt, booties. Done. I actually always forget I have these booties. Probably cause my closet is what Nick likes to call a "disaster area." Somehow my shoes just never make it to the shoe rack...It's a problem. The first step is admitting right??

LAYERS

Sweatshirt: Old Navy 

Jeans: JCrew (similar here) 

Booties: BC Footwear (on sale!!)

Jacket: Forever 21 (obsessed with this)

Glasses: Warby Parker 

Watch: Michael Kors

Back to School

Summer vacation is over. And boy was it a busy summer. So many weekend road trips, brunching, dog parking, and vacays to Europe(so it was one vacay, but it was AWESOME). So now it's back to school! Or back to blogging in my case...

I have always loved fall. I just had a conversation with Nick about how it has always been my "new beginnings" season. Fresh starts and new perspectives. I'm back to blogging, I renewed my gym membership, and I'm looking for another hobby. Any suggestions? 

See, one not go great thing about this fall is that hubby is starting to travel for work Monday-Thursday every. single. week. for. the. next. six. months. I've googled "recipes for one" and "easy hobbies." Needless to say, I'm a little sad about it. But I shall go on! Maybe I'll come out of this with a killer recipe for chili or ten poorly knitted scarves? The possibilities are endless!

I also named this post because of my outfit. Don't I look a little nerdy? A cool nerd, but a nerd nonetheless. I got my glasses and my tote bag and my ready for school! Or work. Because I am an adult. Kind of.

Photo Cred: Nuhamin

Dress: Kohl's (similar here) 

Shoes: Zara (similar here)

Bag: Francesca's (not online)

Necklace: JCrew Factory 

Watch: Michael Kors 

Glasses: Warby Parker (I also found out I have poor vision this summer-yay)

Hot Neon

Hi Friends! Is anyone else kinda dying in this Midwest heat wave? Holy smokes! Literally. I can't even step outside for a second with out "glistening." You know who I feel the worst for? Dogs. Poor Loki is stuck with this giant fur coat and I get to wear breezy neon dresses. Not fair. Here is a picture of my furball. LOOK AT THAT FACE!

"Mom, why is it so darn hot outside?!"

So this outfit might be one of my favorite summer outfits. It has all my essentials. Black, leopard, and pink. Done, done, and done. This dress was so inexpensive and it fits like a dream. Oh, and it also has pockets. So now that I made you all want to rush out and get a dream dress of your own...I got it last year. Sorry! But, I am almost positive H&M has a version of it this year. Why wouldn't they? It's nearly perfect!

Kissy faces are still cool right??

Dress: H&M-Similar here

Belt: H&M-Similar here

Sandals: Urban Outfitters 

Necklace: Presence-Similar here 

Watch: Michael Kors 

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Photo Cred: Nuhamin

Blue Skies

Could the sky be any bluer?! Gotta love a gorgeous Chicago day! The blue sky is even making the Chicago River not look disgusting. Amazing! This outfit was from yesterday. I initially bought this crochet dress for a 70's theme party. I wore it with my black fringe booties and a black floppy hat. It ruled. I love how versatile clothing is now a days. With a few modern updates I can take this 70's inspired dress right to this beautiful day in 2013. Pretty awesome. Also, I have to try to make myself NOT wear my jean jacket. It goes with EVERYTHING. I used to be partial to my tan cardigan but now it's like cardigan?? What cardigan? Where's my jean jacket??

Nick and I are taking off for Iowa after work tonight. I'm so excited to get there. Not so much excited about the drive. Pandora will push us through like it always does. Until we get to that dead spot on I-80. In the middle of no where. Where people don't have cell phones. I'm going to try to take a couple outfit pictures while camping and maybe even blog around the campfire! I'm not gonna lie. I'm a pretty fashionable camper. Enjoy your weekend friends!

Also, I have to make myself not wear these sandals!

Photo Credit: Nuhamin

Dress: H&M (Similar here)

Jacket:H&M 

Sandals: Urban Outfitters

Necklace: Presence (Similar here) 

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

New Post, New Look

More outfit pictures at the end!

And I'm back! Did you miss me? I most definitely missed you! What do you think of my new look? And yes, my bangs have FINALLY grown out but I mean my blog! My brother worked some magic again and tweaked things a little bit. This feels more me. And I absolutely love it. He is a genius.   

So I took a little breather from blogging. It gets a little exhausting trying to look completely put together all the time and I'll just admit I was in a little bit of a fashion funk. I think I'm starting to hone in on what exactly I want "my look" to be. I've always been WAY across the board with my clothes. I am girly one day, and wearing leather and studs the next, and then I'll be completely preppy! This isn't a bad thing at all but recently I have come to find myself wanting to have just this one uniquely Katie style. Essentially, it's a style that combines all of my favorite elements from every sort of look. 

A sad but true fact is I'm not a fan of wearing much color. I always gravitate towards blacks and neutrals. Always have and always will. We can thank Grandma Judy for that. My mom is wonderful with color. She looks radiant in coral. And her blue eyes POP when she wears that perfect shade of blue. She totally owns it. And I LOVE the way she styles herself. For myself, I just love the chic simplicity of black and white. I will fall in love with a piece of clothing that is colorful and there it will hang in my closet just wanting to be worn. Don't get me wrong. I love me some color. I love how different colors make you feel and how they compliment each other. I'm a big fan of pops of color. You know, to compliment all the black and white I'm wearing. Also, when you wear simple colors all of your clothes go together! It's like Garanimals! You can mix and match everything and have so many outfits. Do you people remember Garanimals or am I way off base with that reference? Whatever, go to the link. You will understand.

So there is a fairly lengthy explanation of what's going on in my head about fashion. I'm trying to go quality over quantity. Simple, chic, Katie. 

New things in my life:

-My dog is better than yours. Seriously. He's the best dog in the word.
-My brother and my friend Megan came to visit me in Chicago within two weeks of each other. It was the absolute best.

-Camping trip in Iowa with my parents is coming up next weekend. Can't wait to get my camp on. 

-Next month, Nick and I will be married for a year. Say what?!

-To celebrate a year of marriage we are taking a European vacation in August! Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. I am BEYOND excited.

Photo Credit: Chrissy Bruzek

Top: LOFT (Similar here)
Skirt: Target 
Cardigan: Forever 21 
Shoes: Zara (love these)
Bag: Zara 
Necklace: Forever 21 (Similar here)
Watch: Michael Kors 
Sunglasses: LOFT ( Similar here)

Bonjour

Hey there! Hope everyone had as lovely of a weekend as I did! We spent so much time outside enjoying the weather. Biking, walking Loki, eating on patios. It was just wonderful. Dare I say it? It might be spring? I'm sure I just jinxed it there will be a snow front coming tomorrow. You just never know in the old Midwest.

I actually had a chance to do laundry this weekend. It's amazing. All of your clothes clean and just ready for you to make outfits! This sweater was inspired by Blair at Atlantic-Pacific. Not even inspired,  it's the exact same sweater. I clicked on her blog and two seconds later I had the sweater in my shopping cart on Asos. I just knew it had to mine. It's one of those pieces that is pretty much seasonless. In other words, you're gonna see a lot of it!

Photo Cred: Nuhamin

Sweater: Asos 

Jeans: Lord & Taylor- Similar here

Jacket: Forever21- Similar here 

Shoes: Zara- Love these 

Necklaces- Forever21 here Presence- Similar here 

Sunglasses: LOFT- Similar here 

Purse: Zara 

Lipstick: Maybelline in Fuchsia Flash

Finally!

Guys, I just want you to know I am sitting on my DECK while writing this post. It is beautiful outdoors! FINALLY! I got home and Loki and I went on a little run and now I'm enjoying a cider(of the hard variety) and the wonderful weather Chicago decided to give us today. So very happy.

This weekend Nick and I took a trip up to Door County, Wisconsin. It was just perfect. We kept say to ourselves something has to go wrong! This is just too extremely perfect! And not a thing did! The magic of the Wisconsin Peninsula. We spent most of our time outdoors. Golfing, biking, eating. And it was so relaxing. This will definitely become an annual trip.

In honor of this wonderful weather I decided to bust out my toes! I just purchased these wedges and I love them! More so, I love the fact that I actually got to wear them. Standing outdoors in a cardigan I was actually a little warm but since I work in an office that has no climate control what so ever it is necessary. Tomorrow is supposed it's a supposed to be 80. Is that you summer???

Tank: Jcrew Factory- Similar here 

Jeans: Forever 21 

Cardigan: LOFT-Similar here 

Wedges: MIA(via Amazon) 

Necklace: Forever 21- Similar here 

Watch: Michael Kors 

Purse: Zara 

Sunglasses: LOFT- Similar here

Tribal Neon

Hi Friends! What? Are you surprised to see me? Two blog posts in a row? Who does she think she is?? Well one, I decided I need to get out of my fashion funk. I think my sunshine Monday helped me out yesterday. And two, I went shopping yesterday after work and I couldn't just not post new clothes! So the story is I ordered a swimming suit from American Eagle. I got it and it was adorable but just not fitting right. So yesterday I took it back and AE was having a buy one get one 50% off the WHOLE store sale. How could I pass that up?! So needless to say I'll be rocking a lot of American Eagle this week...

I jumped on board the neon boat today. And I am loving this top! So much so that I bought three of them yesterday. What? BOGO! This is the only one that is actually a color. The other two are gray and white. I know, boring. But they will go with all my other gray and white stuff! This skirt was actually the first thing noticed when I walked in the store. So many good things happening here. Pleats, tribal, neon. Obsessed. Cannot wait to wear this outfit without tights and a cardi and with sandals and sunglasses when it's 85 degrees out. I'm picturing a fro-yo in hand too. Oh summer, HURRY UP!

Someone decided to put this here....

Photo Credit: Chrissy Bruzek

Top: American Eagle 

Skirt: American Eagle 

Cardi: Target- Similar here 

Tights: American Apparel 

Boots: Express- Similar here 

Necklace: Forever 21- Similar here 

Watch: Michael Kors

Excuses and Sunshine

OH, HI!!! I'm alive! Once again, I apologize for my absence. I just have not been in the mood to look adorable lately. And I am blaming the weather again. It has been anything but adorable. It's been positively awful. Floods! Yes, Chicago had floods. Granted I really wasn't effected by the actual floods but my outfits and hair did suffer. So sorry. You just don't get to see that. But alas! I am back. And I bring you a sunny day with an outdoor photo shoot! It's 62 degrees today! HEAT WAVE. It's going to be like 42 degrees tomorrow. But shhhhhh don't tell my happy demeanor that. 

Since the weather was cooperating I wanted to be extra springy! Floral and a white blazer totally does the trick. I'm pretty sure at least 4 people have said  "You look so springy today!" So, mission accomplished. Let's talk about these shoes. I got them in 2011. I bought them immediately because they reminded me of these Valentino numbers. Let's be real. I do not have an extra $900 laying around. Ever. I love these because they seem to be timeless and trendy all at the same time. That does not happen very often! 

Btw, it is super windy when you stand on a bridge in between giant buildings so excuse my crazy hair. Just focus on the glorious sun shining down on me. 

Photo Credit: Chrissy Bruzek

Oh look! A candid!

"What is this wind?!"

Top: LOFT 

Jeans: LOFT 

Blazer: H&M 

Shoes: Boutique 9- Similar here 

Necklace: Forever 21- Similar here 

Watch: Michael Kors 

Sunglasses: LOFT- Similar here