a christmas carol

{me, bro in law, sister, hubby, sister, dad, mom}

in lieu of traditional christmas gifts, this year, my parents gifted a night out at the theatre to see 'a christmas carol' at the goodman theatre. we lived in chicago when i was a kid, and went to the same production (at the old goodman location) every year. it was always such fun when i was little. we would wear our christmas dresses, and hang around after the production to see if we could "meet" any of the actors. so my parents thought it would be fun to re-instate the tradition. we saw it together last year, and again this year. it's so fun to see the changes in the cast, and the subtle changes in the style of the play. tiny tim gets me every year, and i enjoy celebrating the christmas season with this tradition.

more outfit posts to come. i'm going to finish the 30for30 this week regardless of if i get all of the outfits posted. we're headed to colorado on friday ...

xoxo,
pilar

30 for 30: take fifteen!

{dress & belt - target | white button down & tights - gap | black flats - michael kors | necklace - vintage}

i planned it out as i drifted to sleep last night.  do you plan your outfits like that? sometimes i dream about creating outfits only to wake up to discover that they are all in my "dirty" pile. boo. this time it worked out. this is my first time trying the collared shirt under a dress look, and i think it came out alright. it felt too formal until i added the belt for a little something different to break it up. 

what worked: i enjoyed wearing this outfit. it was comfortable and dressy. i felt a bit formal for a normal day of work, but i could rock this outfit again when i need to dress up for a work meeting ... 

what didn't work: next time, i need to wear this outfit with heels!

xoxo,

pilar

30 for 30: take fourteen!

{tank - target | blazer & skirt - banana republic | tights - gap | belt - calvin klein | boots - hand me down from sister | necklace - lia sophia}

confession: i had to mix out an item to incorporate this skirt. does it count if i never wore the item?! confession: i'm really glad that i did because i forgot how much i love this skirt.

i don't have much to say today. do you have days like that? i've been sitting here with this post open for at least fifteen minutes and i all can think about is to comment on how cold i was while i took these photos today. LAME. 

so, here's my outfit from today. i tried something new, what i've labeled as "the fancy belt". i even watched this tutorial! overall, i loved how this outfit felt today. what worked: the tights and blazer kept me cool but comfortable. what didn't work: these boots aren't waterproof, so my feet get really wet when i walk through the snow. boo.

xoxo,

pilar

ps. the last photo is me dancing my way back indoors. haha.

30 for 30 double take: twelve & thirteen!

{top, jeans - gap | cardigan - target | scarf - gift from russia via my sister | flats - michael kors}

{my most favorite ornament!}

i'm horribly behind on my posts for the 30for30 challenge. honestly, i haven't worn anything other than my 30 items, i've just had difficulty remembering to take photos! so i'll be doubling up on my posts to show what i've been wearing when i haven't had the camera around.

confession: i've worn this outfit more than once. well, at least some version of this outfit. the weekend i visited michigan, i wore the very same outfit mixing it up with a purple tank and a different scarf. so here's a photo of me from today, wearing that outfit. i've got to do something to catch up. so i'll leave it to you: which one do you like better? i love the russian scarf, so i'm going to go with that outfit. either way, this cardigan is the most comfortable cardigan i own right now, and it's not so warm that i'm sweating indoors with the heat, nor am i freezing when i'm outside (with a coat, of course).

here is an eerily similar outfit that i wore a few weekends ago during my road trip to and from michigan. disclaimer: these photos are rather schizophrenic. indoor lighting is not my friend.

 {top, jeans - gap | cardigan - target |  necklace - family hand me down | earrings - gift from hubby | flats - michael kors}

 {our chicago ornament}

according to my handy dandy google countdown calendar, there are only 18 days until christmas! i love the countdown calendar. so much in fact, that i'm always counting down to something. past countdowns have included: graduations, vacations, 5k, 8k, birthdays, well, you get the idea. i've become a little obsessed with countdowns.

currently i have two countdowns: christmas (duh!) and a family vacation to colorado for the holidays! we leave in 10 days! my sister-in-law jen, her hubby, and her adorable dog live in colorado, and we're headed there for week to visit & celebrate the holidays! i'm. so. excited. i do love chicago, but i'm ready to take a break to breathe for a few days, and spend some quality time with family! 

xoxo,

pilar

30 for 30: take eleven!

{dress & cardigan - target | scarf - H&M | gloves - UO | tights - gap | boots - hand me down from sis}

so all of a sudden winter has appeared in chicago! on the first day of december, we had our first snow. pretty perfect, actually. you can even see a few snowflakes that were stuck on my scarf. so no surprise to you, i still am loving this dress. this time i enjoyed using some bright accents to offset the dark: the purple scarf & these bright teal gloves. these are my most favorite gloves! they're such a bright spot in what is generally a grey, dark season of winter in the midwest. i included the blurry photo because i love the way that the scarf & glove colors really stand out.

please pardon my "cold face". i was literally freezing as i was trying to capture these shots in the natural light. i could barely feel my face. thus, "cold face" happens when i don't really have any sense of what sort of face i'm making. 

i genuinely enjoyed my outfit today. i'm running out of steam a bit on this challenge. i believe i can live off of the 30 items. my difficulty is that i want to keep wearing the same thing over and over again because i know that it already works. are you fellow 30for30s feeling that way at all?

xoxo,

pilar