Shop my Midi Obsession

It's no surprise that midi skirts are so on trend right now. They make girls of every height feel ladylike and feminine and also make your waist look teeny tiny! What's not to love about that? I surely don't know.

I found these 8 that I think are stunners. Check out this section here from ASOS too for tons of options!

Happy shopping!

Hot Pink Valentine

It's not hard for me to put together an Valentine's Day outfit. I own enough pink clothing to clothe a sorority house!

I grabbed all my favorite pink and red items and threw them all together. Turns out this isn't far from something I would wear on any other day! In fact, my husband didn't even realize it was my Valentine outfit for this post till I told him. Clearly not one to shy away from color.

Have a day filled with love and lots of hot pink!

Coat: J. Crew

Pants: Forever 21

Boots: Hunter Boots (love these super-light, packable, roll-up-and-go Hunters I got for Christmas!)
Tee: Gap (sold out online but found for $7 in the clearance section Tuesday night!)
Necklace: eBay
Lips: Nars "Yu"
Purse: Kate Spade "Gold Coast Ginnie"

Workout Wednesday

You know I love color, and I really think one of the best and easiest places to play with color is in your workout wear. I live by a no-rules motto when it comes to how I put together my workout attire. In fact sometimes the more colors/patterns I can squeeze into one outfit, the better. 

This is a fine example with this green and gray combo. The tank is striped, the pants are two-tone and then you have these crazy blue socks. They may look a little loud but I don't mind because they actually serve a purpose. They are the newest color of the official Bar Method grippy socks that they sell in the studio. Basically I only ever buy their expensive socks when I have forgotten my own. I'm not gonna lie, they are way more comfy and helpful in preventing my feet from sliding and heels from aching on the bar with their tiny cushion backs. So I'll gladly display them as a little "feet treat".

Tank: Lululemon Power Y tank

Leggings: Ellie

Socks: Bar Method

Zip Pullover: Nike (love this retro one)

Shoes: Nike "Victoria" (would like to upgrade to these)

Sunglasses: Nordstrom

Jill of All Trades: Necklace Storage Solutions!

If you have been following my blog for a while now, you have probably seen my necklace wall. 

A friend of mine recently did an apartment clean-out, and that inspired me to do a jewlery clean-out. If you can believe it, below was what was left over.

Now don't worry, pretty much every necklace you see here was max $14, and most well under that. (thanks, Forever 21!) I believe you don't have to spend a ton on jewlery to have great pieces. 

So as you can see, this peg board (that you can pick up at your local Home Depot) can be cut in-store to any custom shape and arranged to your liking. You can also find different styles of hooks that will work better for different pieces. I like the long-armed ones for bracelets (bottom left) and the multi-hooked, narrow-spaced hook (bottom center) for daintier necklaces. All of these were found at the South Loop Home Depot a few years back. Another clever idea is to buy some good old spray paint and spray the board to the color of your choice. My walls are already busy enough, and another color may have been too much, so I kept it white.

I used to store my necklaces inside a cabinet and never remembered to wear them. Now that they are out in the open, they're pretty hard to forget about. And the best part is, since they are all tucked behind our bedroom door they are almost in a room of their own. When the door is open you don't even know what is back there (see bottom picture). Oh, did you also notice I'm hiding a sea of shoes back there too? Pretty convinent corner, huh?

If you are having jewlery overload storage problems I highly reccomend a trip over to the hardware store to get one of these peg boards. It's a cheap, easy, organized and pretty way to make the most of your jewlery collection. And if you want me to come right over and make this happen in your house, email Jill of All Trades Chicago. I can even supply the necklaces too!

Madewell Must-Have

Last week I went to the Madewell Spring Preview event. It was hosted by the adorable Liz, who blogs over at Sequins and Stripes, who was just the sweetest ever!

While shopping the racks, I always tend to gravitate towards the sale items. I tried a few on and they just weren't doing anything for me. To my surprise, a very well-placed table of leggings jeans were right outside my dressing-room door, where I spied these almost-to-dark-to-be-considered-jeans pair of legging jeans. 

I thought to myself that they were just un-jeanlike enough that I could get away with wearing them on days other than just casual Fridays. They were just too good and too incredibly soft to pass up. Of course they had to be full price, but with the event discount I got them for 20% off.

If you are in the market for some super-comfy legging jeans that actually have a high enough waistband that you can squat down with confidence, you should get over to Madewell and try these on!

Legging jean: Madewell

Chambray shirt: Nordstrom (similar here)

Scarf: J. Crew

Necklace: TopShop (sale rack for $8!)

Hat: Forever 21 (similar)

Shoes: Vince Camuto "Vive"