dress up files - a chicago fashion blog: February 2012

Happy Birthday A!!

We celebrated A's third birthday a couple of weeks ago. For her first and second birthdays, I made all the decisions and wanted everything to look really cute. This year, I had to give up all control. A has grown into quite the sassy, very opinionated little girl. She wanted pink and purple balloons, a princess cake, and dancing and that's exactly what she got.

DIY centerpieces I made using this idea!

Table setting for the kids. I did a candy hearts theme since her birthday was a few days before Valentines and it lends itself well to the whole pink/purple color scheme A wanted.

I used Green Apple Paperie again for all the paper goods. The entire candy hearts package (all printables including napkin wrappers, water bottle wrappers, chocolate bar wrappers, cupcake toppers, favor tags, banner, etc) cost $10! I printed everything at home.

Favors for the kids. We had over 30 kids to make favors for. I don't know why I said we, hubby didn't know anything about the party except the date and time. Scratch that. He probably didn't even know the time! hehe

Someone got suckered into the princess upgrade. Okay fine, it was me.

We hired Laura from Dance to Evolve to lead songs and games. We did a combination of the American Idol party and the Royal Fairyland party. Laura did a great job despite the number of kids we had and the limited space (my in laws house). She came to our location, provided all the props, music, games and led activities for an hour. The whole thing cost $60, which I thought was a great price!

Here's A, trying out some of her presents. A Tangled dress and roller blades. Happy birthday! Can't believe my first baby is now a little lady!

Let's Be Real

Okay, let's be real here. I'm a stay at home mom with a toddler and an infant. So if you catch me on a random Thursday out to Costco with my kids, chances are...I will not be fashion blogger worthy. Here's a peek into my not-so-glamorous everyday uniform.

1. Wildfox Queen of Hearts Sweater, 2. Goyard tote, 3. Toms, 4. yoga pants

Aritzia sweater | Lululemon yoga pants (see similar) | Toms | Michael Kors watch

Here's the look in action yesterday. Excuse my popped leg. I was trying to show you my trusty Toms.

So let's be real. What's your everyday, go-to look?

Brighten Up!

Madewell top | Aritzia cardigan | J brand jeans | Pour la Victoire boots | Cambridge Satchel Company bag

I've been noticing recently that most of my everyday looks are pretty neutral and without a lot of color. So, I've been getting more use out of the Cambridge Satchel than I initially anticipated. It works with almost anything I'm wearing and instantly brightens up the look, as well as making it more current.

Neons are huge for spring! They even did a feature on neons on the Today Show this morning! Now, it's definitely become mainstream! If the neon is scaring you a bit though, definitely check out the other colors. The Cambridge Satchel comes in the full gamut of colors from brown to purple to metallic to white and at $155, it still is the most affordable it bag to date!

Oh and for those of you looking for boots, I absolutely love my Pour La Victoire boots (shown in the look above) I got from gilt last year. I wear them all the time (shown here, here, and here). I just saw that the black ones are on sale at bluefly with an additional 40% off so it's down to $137 from $410. It's the best price I've ever seen them for and I'm seriously contemplating buying them! What do you think? Do you ever buy something you love in more than one color?

Feature on Houzz.com

A friend from high school messaged me through facebook a couple of weeks ago and asked to showcase our place on houzz.com, where she's a staff writer. To be completely honest, I had never heard of the site but I was flattered anyway. I snapped a few quick pics and sent it over and then went to check out the site. I was blown away and immediately, embarrassed at the pics I sent over. I was sure I would hear back from her politely retracting her offer. Instead, she asked for more pictures!

In the end, she came up with a great idea book for houzz.com and we're honored to be featured. BTW...I'm totally obsessed with the site now and have spent many hours pinning things to my pinterest boards.

If you'd like to check out the article, click here!

Instagram Pics

centerpiece for A's 3rd birthday party

hubbie had a late meeting, both kids were down and i settled in for an evening of kim crawford, godiva and bad (but so good!) reality tv!

chubby wubby

cuddle buddies

sushi

hot cocoa mix valentines for A's preschool pals

Happy Valentines!!

Oh and I finally joined pinterest and I'm pretty hooked. Find me here.

Minty Green Denim

J.Crew sweater | Mackage jacket | Forever21 jeans | J.Crew shoes | Goyard bag

I was very pregnant when everyone was wearing bright red and blue denim last year and I watched on the sidelines with envy. This year, I'm loving all the pastel colored denim for spring and I can finally partake in the trend! Forever21 is the perfect destination for colored denim since you'll likely only get 1-2 seasons out of them. These had a great fit, great hue and even greater price at $15!

I paired the minty green jeans with a darker top and jacket to anchor the look and avoid looking like a 6 year old.

Did you get into the whole colored denim trend?

Black Tie Ball

I rented this dress from Rent the Runway for Hubby's ball this year. I didn't get the dress until 2 days before the ball and was so nervous it would be too long or too tight or not as cute as in the pictures. Luckily, it fit and was so pretty in person! I was a little uncomfortable wearing such a tight fitting dress, despite my hard working undergarments (it starts with an s and ends with an x...wink wink) especially since I haven't lost all my baby weight. Also, we were running late when we were leaving so I didn't get a chance to take these pics until we got back home 7 hours later so I apologize if my hair and makeup are looking a hot mess!

My mother-in-law insisted that both kids sleep over so we could enjoy our evening. It was the first time being away from D overnight and hubby and my first night out together since D was born.

We stayed until the very end of the ball, went to Mickey D's for a midnight snack (classy, I know) and finally got home close to 2 am. I was exhausted and ready to burst (nursing moms will know what I mean!!)

It was a fun evening and I was so proud of hubby who got recognized and won several prizes for his achievements in 2011. At the end of the day, who cares what I looked like, right? I was there to support the hubs and celebrate a great year together!