Madison and Berkeley Showroom

Since today is #tbt, I guess it's only fitting that I drop this post from the first week of summer break when I was in NYC. What an utterly amazing trip. Peggy and I were rocking all of our New York connections and having a blast. We were so grateful that on our first day there we were able to meet up with blogger buddy Maria, who was on her way out that afternoon, have lunch together at Fred's to have lobster sandwiches. Yep, that actually happened! After that we were off to meet Annette at the Madison and Berkeley/ Ten-Sixty Sherman showroom in Times Square (check out this view!) and get a inside look at what's to come this summer and fall. I have to say that this black tank below with "eat your lettuce and be sad" on it is my personal favorite. We even left with a few goodies of our own (you may have been admiring one of them here.)

Later that night we went out for Greek food and had a full-on Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl sighting! Peggy was even sly enough to unknowingly-to-me snap this pic of him!

If that wasn't enough the very next day we got to take a tour of the Lucky Magazine offices thanks to the Lucky staffers that I met during the Best Dressed Teacher in Chicago Contest I was a finalist in. We got to see EVERYTHING! We were even just feet from Eva Chen right outside her office door! She was busy of course but we did get a peek inside since the door was wide open. I was even brave enough to send her an Instagram message later that day and she responded with such sweet words thanking me for doing the most important job in the world, teaching! Her words, not mine. I nearly fainted! 

Such an amazing trip. Have fun perusing my snaps from the Madison and Berkeley showroom and of course, shopping what I wore there! Hope your #tbt is as memorable as mine!

Annette, our adorable tour guide through the showroom!

And of course there were outfit pictures on the library steps in Bryant Park.

 Loft skirt // Zara top (from last year) // La Mer watch // Vintage bracelet and necklace // Sole Society Tilda sandals // Target jacket (super similar on clearance) // ASOS bag

Aqua & Navy

Technically, these are winter crop pants because they are wool. That means I better wear them before there is snow on the ground and it's too cold for even a bit of ankle or calf to peek out. They are actually left over from the J. Crew sale of last year when I scored these and the orange ones for $18.  I only got around to wearing them now. Better late than never.

Necklace: Forever 21

Top: Joe Fresh (in NYC) shop online here at JC Penny

Pants: J. Crew (other colors on sale right now here)

Heels: Sole Society

Black and White to the Theater

You may remember this dress from a few weeks ago when I wore it here to work with a white long-sleeve tee underneath it. 

And you may be surprised that I'm wearing the same dress within such a short timeframe -- to me it's like a year -- but I just love it so much.

Like the top in yesterday's post, this too had to go in to the tailor to have the shoulders taken in a bit, which softened up the look. It was a too squared off and boxy, but now it's perfect thanks to Frank's Alterations in South Loop!

I can't wait to get creative with this dress when the snow starts falling and add fun layers under and over it!

Dress: Calvin Klein via the Fashion Outlets of Chicago store

Shoes: Zara

Purse: Target

Bracelet: Forever 21

Coat: Macys

Cheery Yellow

I know it's cold out, and I certainly was not wearing this outfit yesterday. But I still have a few outfit shots left from those fleeting days that were somewhere between summer and fall. Did you blink and miss them as well?

So in protest of this winter-preview weather we are having, here is some cheery yellow for your Wednesday. 

By the way, did anyone else pick up/try on this Zara top and find it ran ridiculously big? This is a small and I still had to take it into the tailor to get it taken in. I know it was supposed to run on the boxier side, but I just couldn't wear it like that. But I also couldn't pass up a hard-to-find interesting yellow top. I guess it was worth a trip to the tailor in the end.

Top: Zara (from the summer)

Jeans: Theory via the Fashion Outlets of Chicago store (similar)

Bag: Phillip Lim for Target

Blazer: Uniqlo

Necklace: Nordstrom

Shoes: J. Crew

Watch: Michael Kors

Oxblood Maxi

Another great Forever 21 find. This oxblood maxi dress was but $16! 

It was perfect for one of those pre-school-day meeting days when I had to get up at a disgustingly early hour and was not awake enough to come up with a clever outfit. One-piece dress, add some sparkles and that hot pink lip I love so much and there you have it, an easy early morning outfit!

P.S.: Tomorrow is my birthday, and my husband and I will be on an anniversary/birthday trip out to Utah (keep up with me on Instagram) where he will be running a half marathon! I will be taking the day off of blogging with the excuse of traveling, as well as taking a moment of recognition of just how old I really am! Sadness.

 

 Dress: Forever 21

Shoes: Piperlime

Watch: Michael Kors

Purse: Coach "Willis" (same) (similar for less)

Necklace: J. Crew

Lips: Smash Box "Fuchsia Flash"

Banded Totem Shift Dress

I love this dress the moment I saw it. It practically screamed my name. Bright bold colors, a fun print and a structured shape that's perfect for work. All that made this dress too hard to pass up. 

What I did not love was the price. Starting out at $178.00 it was just too pricey for a work dress. I had the feeling that the masses might get turned off by all that color and maybe this one would make it to the sale section soon. Sure enough it did but I still waited it out for a second sale cut. I found one left in My favorite Anthropologie in Philly (there is a couch in the elevator! It's like a tiny floating living room) and snatched it up!

This dress pulled double duty when I wore it after work to the Women Empowerment Open house in Pilsen. These ladies threw quite a party in their new location. But like the bad blogger that I am, I didn't take any pictures there! Don't worry though, you can check them out here!

Dress: Anthropologie

Shoes: J. Crew Factory

Bracelet: Banana Republic Outlet

Earrings: Francescas (similar stunners here!)

Sweat Pants To Work

This is what happens when I try not to dress up for work. It turns into fancy pajamas, or at least that's what it feels like to me.

This sweater is so cozy and in my personal opinion, looks way more expensive than a Forever 21 find. One piece of advice though, DO NOT WASH IT! I tossed it in the washer and it came out half the original size. It may be salvageable with some 2-person stretching efforts thought. Who knew anything from Forever 21 would have to be dry cleaned?! Not me!

Sweater: Forever 21

Sweatpants: Forever 21 (old) (similar on sale)

Earrings and Necklace: Forever 21

Flats: JC Penny

Watch: Charming Charlie

Bag: Phillip Lim for Target

Black and White: Color Block and Dots

As I talked about last week on this post (check it out for my B&W picks), the black-and-white trend is where it's at right now! 

Of course it just wouldn't be my style to wear this trend in an easy way. I added some interest to it by mixing my polka-dot blouse with this color-blocked skirt. 

Add in a hot pink lip and there you have a fun take on the black-and-white trend.

Blouse: (old) H&M

Necklace, Skirt and Bracelet: (Old) Forever 21

Pumps: Cole Haan (my most comfy pump on crazy sale here)

Lips: Smash Box "Fuchsia Flash"

Kelly Green, Windowpane and Wine

When I got this top, I thought it was simply going to be an easy no-brainer top to pair with jeans. Then I kept seeing it on blogs and Instagram styled with black pants or jeans so I knew when I wore it, I had to do something unexpected.

In true Jill form, I came up with this color combination of kelly green, navy windowpane print and wine-colored pumps, that dare I say, works! I was actually really happy with the way all these Fall colors played off each other. I guess the lesson here is when in doubt, just go for the unexpected!

Jeans: Zara

Blouse: Zara

Necklace: eBay

Bag: Phillip Lim for Target

Watch: Michael Kors

Shoes: Nine West via T. J. Maxx (yes, you can shop T. J. Maxx online!!)