From Your Heart Dress

Dress: Free People "From Your Heart Dress (on sale here and here) // Shoes: Hush Puppies  Cyra booties c/o // Bag: Rebecca Minkoff

Today is the day that it all starts to feel real. The packers are coming and I'm probably going to freak out! I'm the kind of person who needs everything to be in order and in it's place to even be able to go to sleep at night. If I get home from a vacation, I have to unpack immediately. It's not a healthy habit and is super stress inducing. 

So when the packers start to splay my earthly possessions all over the house, it's not going to sit well.  Don't forget that I haven't moved in 15 years, by the way. I told Andrew that I'm going to need to leave at some point just to take a break and get away from it. 

We also have a game plan on the other end when I'm stressed about being in an empty new home and not having my things to put away. That plan is: GO TO THE SPA!! You see, once I'm in, I'll stay all day in my robe and drink cucumber water till the cows come home! I think the best place for me to chill out is in a place called the "relaxation room."

Ok, wish my hyper-organized, nutty self some luck on not having a panic attack in the next week before we reach our new home in the beautiful state you see in the pictures above!

Black Overalls

Overalls: Target // Hat: Anthropologie // Shoes: Converse // Purse: Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mab c/o Shopbop // Lips: Melted in "Jelly Doughnut" (new favorite!!)

One of my biggest excitements in life right now is the prospect of wearing casual clothes for months at a time now that I won't have a job to go to. Teaching has limited my wearing of jeans and definitely my wearing ripped overalls. I freaking love them though and am pretty convinced they look better than some of the work outfits I pull together some days. 

 In my opinion winter is the worst weather to even try to look cute in. You have to wear tights to even think about a skirt or a dress and just generally a million layers, which leave you feeling all stiff-armed and immobile. Not fun! I don't know about you, but I pretty much just want to live in a blanket from December through February. I'm not sad to be missing Chicago's most obscene months once we move.

Now, life finally has no dress code! My lounge wear collection is anticipated to expand as that's what I intend to be doing for most of the winter in SLC. J/k I'll be wearing it in the house while I get our place ready and livable. But why not wear some great Uniqlo sweat pants and flowy Free People sweat shirts in the process, right? I'll also be living in my Lululemon gear too because it's way more socially appropriate for a Whole Foods run than my fleece snowman adult onsie pjs. Yep, I own that.

So as much as I love a good pencil skirt, I hope you don't mind the casual direction this blog is about to take. If leggings, boots, blanket scarves and cape coats, all set to a mountainous backdrop are your jam, stay tuned. I've got you covered!

Thanks to Samantha for the pictures!

Another Day, Another Hustle

Quilted Dress (40% off and feels like a sweatshirt!!)  // Shoes // Purse: Kate Spade (old but shop more options below) // Necklace: Forever 21 (old but here's something similar on mega sale) // Sunglasses: Prada (similar)

It's pretty hard to follow up on my last blog post. I have no great bombs to drop at the current moment so hopefully you guys will settle for a fun wall, a cool dress that happens to be on sale for 40% off, and a few of my worries.

This wall say "another day, another hustle. It really struck a chord with me with our upcoming move. I cannot tell you how many times a day I say the word hustle to my students. It's even funnier when I heard them say it to each other to help their table mates get on task. 

After my 10+ years of teaching in inner city Chicago public schools, I will welcome the break as much as I will miss the babes I teach. I truly love what I do, an pour my heart into it which leaves me exhausted, emotionally drained, and with a heavy heart. It's impossible to fix all the problems in my students lives, but I take it very seriously to provide them with a place where they can feel safe and loved in my class daily. A place that pushes them to be better human beings. That is something that is hard to leave, and even harder to take away mid year. I'm working on my guilt.

This wall also reminded me how every day of my life has been a hustle for more years than I can remember. Even before college I worked through high school. During college I took a full course load and worked 5 jobs! Yes, 5! I've never been good at relaxing, stopping, or taking a break. I tend to create fullness and activity whenever a break presents itself.

 This adjustment will be interesting. With this move I know my life will slow down, and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to that but also a little nervous. I do not have a new teaching job lined up and don't plan to get one probably till next school year (or if I get really bored). I will be working on building our home, discovering new workouts, making new friends (if you know someone cool I should meet out there, tag them on my Instagram or in the comments below),  and just plain exploring!

I'm mostly just excited to see where this opportunity takes me. I will finally have some time to work on my blog and work more with my Jill of all Trades clients, and hopefully some fun new SLC clients!

Thanks to Samantha for the Photos and company!

Shop the post here!

Big News!!!

Leggings: Lululemon Outlet (similar) // Shoes: New Balance via J. Crew // Hoodie: Free People (similar here, here, and here) // Hat: Zara (similar here)

Ok. Big news. We are leaving Chicago! 

Andrew and I are moving to Salt Lake City at the end of this month!!

It all started a few years ago when we went out there for a half marathon Andrew ran in Moab, Utah. We stayed in Salt Lake City before driving the three-ish hours to Moab, and I was shocked at how much I liked the city. It was nothing like what I was expecting. It was so clean, modern, and had great shopping. Anyone who knows me knows this is a very important factor. 

We went out again a few months ago and began looking at the city through a different lens. We started to think about how our lives and interests could translate to SLC. We immediately began googling our favorite things like yoga studios, Bar Method, and Cuban and Greek restaurants, and found so many great options. Through the help of some of my favorite Utah bloggers, I was able to find some really incredible places that we both really liked to eat, hang out, and visit. Not to mention a bunch of things to do. Andrew and I both love being active, so the hiking appealed to us, not to mention the beautiful scenery!

A few weeks ago, we went back out for the same half marathon Andrew did on our first trip there. This time, we began looking at places to live and investigating neighborhoods. We are happy to say that we found something really great that we are super exited about. More on that to come.

I hope all my Chicago people, as well as my awesome readers from all over, will follow along as we embark on this exciting new chapter of our lives. While this move may be filled with the sadness of leaving my amazing friends, family, and my school and students behind, we couldn't be more excited to try something new on our own terms. 

It's freeing to know that we can make whatever we out of our lives from this point on. Not many people are lucky enough to have an opportunity like this, so we are seizing it while we have the chance. 

And there you have it. Here we come, Utah. We are ready for you!

Athleta Dress

Dress: Athleta (on sale) // Shoes: New Balance // Sunglasses c/o Endless Eyewer Zac Posen "Tennille" (use code HOTPINKSTYLE to get a free month)

This Athleta dress proved to be a super comfortable option for our 3 hour drive up into the Mountains for Andrew's recent half marathon in Moab. On the way we made the super-healthy (not) choice to try out these spectacular waffles at Waffle Love! If you are ever in the Salt Lake City area, seriously, these are not to be missed. We took our first bite and just kind of looked at each other, like, how is it even possible for something to be so freaking delicious? Yes. THAT good.

Later I found just how powerful the moisture wicking abilities of this sporty dress where when I realized the gooey carmel from the waffle dripped all down my dress. I tried to wash it off but the water just beaded up and rolled off the dress! It needed a solid soak-down to get it clean. But even with that it dried super quick. 

Lesson learned? Waffle eating isn't a sporting event, so don't wear performance gear while eating it, unless you want to come out the other end a sticky mess!