A little while back before we moved I warned you all that my style was about to take a change for the more comfortable. Here it is. In real life. I wore this Saturday morning to go workout at my Bar Method studio, run some errands with my husband.
This is pretty much what every day looks like. While I can't complain about the comfort level, I am a little sad when I walk past my pretty shoe collection and kind of even wish to wear jeans. It's quite an adjustment from teacher life.
What would you wear after 11 years of dressing up for work every day?
Hopefully soon I'll find a new school to teach in and I'll be back to my old pencil skirt wearing ways, Till then I'm embracing the lack of dress code and reveling in the comfort.
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!
This marks the last week of school without students. The best part is that I can wear all my super comfy clothes to school for these days with just teachers. The worst part is that I miss my students. They were such a great bunch so I'm actually going to miss them this summer. I think I'll get over it when I realize how great it is to not wake up at 5AM every day!
I wore this outfit to school yesterday after my short trip to NYC this past weekend. I picked up this short sleeve sweatshirt at one of my favorite stores in Soho, Aritzia! I saw a girl in the fitting room wearing it and knew I had to have it. Cozy chic perfection. I grabbed it for my friend Olivia too and she loved it so much she got it too! Even better, we both wound up wearing it yesterday in pretty much identical outfits! You know it's good when it's the first thing you grab to wear right after you bought it!
I paired it with my favorite high-waisted Lululemon leggings and my newest handbag that I also picked up in the Rebecca Minkoff studio in Soho. Can you tell we did some shopping? I have this same style bag in a light putty color but I've had my eye on the black one for so long now that when the salesman told me it was 15% off and I got a free clutch with purchase, I just had to cave. Besides, my husband told me to get myself something if I found something I liked. Twist my Arm...
I'm happy to be back and sleep in my own bed. We did a TON of walking and even two workouts while there! Not your average vacation, so some rest is needed.
I would just like to say how very sorry I am to everyone who had to see my dirty hair this weekend. Lucky for you I put a hat on to hide it from you for these pictures. Don't forget that this is post workout hair too! Consider yourself lucky!
I found these leggings in the Nordstrom active wear sale section online and all they had left were my size so that worked out really well! If you have not checked out the sale workout section on the Nordstrom site, I highly recommend it. See some of my faves below, all on sale of course!
A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend of the blog and she told me that one of the things she liked most about Hot Pink Style is how real it is. I really appreciated her saying this, because it's something that is very important to me when posting these outfits. All the outfits you see are worn to work and photographed after working all day. Even If I change shoes for pictures I let you know.
This was also a huge compliment to me, considering that the purpose of my side job from teaching - my company Jill of All Trades - is to help people live their real life easier and more fashionably!
I love being a role model of accessable style. I don't claim to be a fashion model or a perfect size or a perfect anything; I'm simply glad that my readers appreciate my candid approach to this blog as well as life.
With that, the one promise I will make to you my lovely readers is that every time I post a workout look, you better believe there was some working out being done! For everyone's sake I try to take pictures before the workout, but I assure you that it's all real. Usually I get dressed running out the door with dirty hair and toss on sunglasses hide my un-made-up eyes.
I have a confession. I'm the worst at putting my hair up. Not only do I think my ponytail making abilities are sub-par to most of my ten-year-old students, but I also almost always forget to bring a hair tie to all my workout classes. Just ask my instructors who always let me borrow one (thanks Jen and Julie!)
There is one style I'm pretty good at, This inverted french braid! Bonus, all I need to secure it is a few bobby pins which I can usually find at the bottom of any of my bags. Most people learn to french braid the regular way but somehow when I taught myself a few years back (when those little Jennifer Aniston inspired crown braids were the thing to do) my fingers could only figure out how to do it upside down. I've never been able to do a French braid any other way.
It turns out looking how you see below and stays pretty secure and out of my face when I work out! This braid is my favorite hair mistake I've ever made just please don't ask me to teach you how to do it because only my fingers and subconscious mind seem to know how to make it happen!
ATTENTION LADIES! If your workout wardrobe rivals your daytime one like mine, it's officially a good thing.
My husband shared this interesting little radio piece (listen to it here, it's less than 4 mins) that he heard talking about how activewear is now showing up more prominently on designers' runways. The most interesting takeaway was that activewear sales are up nine percent this year, yet overall apparel sales are only up one percent!
What does that mean for us normal folks, and my fellow fashion junkies? Break out the yoga clothes ladies. because now it's not only good for you to have just come from the gym, but also super fashionable to sport the "wellness" look too! I'm so happy my lifestyle is becoming more fashionable. I really hope this one lasts because this is one look I am totally behind!
This sweatshirt instantly brought me back to grade school when Olympic duds where the coolest! Was this trend at your school too? Get it quick because its selling out like mad! (btw it runs small. Mine is a M for reference)
Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on last weeks Workout Wednesday post. Since you guys are game, so am I! Here's installment number two!
Here is a workout look I wore to my Bar Method class. Wearing layers to workout in was an adjustment for me from my normal less-clothes-the-better hot yoga outfits. With Bar Method I barely sweat at all. This is one of the things I love about this class because my naturally curly hair doesn't get ruined and I can still go out in public after a workout without looking like a drowned rat!
Since joining Bar Method I've had to invest in alot more long sleeve layers to wear to classes. I tried on this great white half zip hoodie at Lululemon but thought I could probably find something pretty comparable at TJ Maxx or Marshalls since it was just plain white. If you don't know already those two places are great for workout clothes under $30!
As a rule of thumb at Lululemon, I will only splurge on a great colored piece or some super basic black leggings I'll wear forever . But for just a plain white hoodie, I couldn't justify the $98 price tag.
Sure enough this micro fleece lined half-zip hoodie was found at TJ Maxx for just $19 and looks pretty darn similar to the Lulu one don't you think?
