Rainy Day Fun

TOP: Target (Out of stock, similar here) / / JEANS: American Eagle / / RAINBOOTS: Hunter / / RAINCOAT: Columbia / / PURSE: Kate Spade / / EARRINGS: Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s / / Andrew- UT POLO: Tennessee Volunteers / / RAINCOAT: The North Face / / JEANS: American Eagle / / SHOES: Sperry

I went to visit Andrew for the weekend in Knoxville and it was raining all day on Friday but we still wanted to be outside. So we put on our raincoats and I wore my Hunter rainboots….and we forgot an umbrella of course haha! I love these rainboots and I’m so glad I splurged on them. I ordered them from the Hunter website and they don’t charge tax and the shipping is free. I couldn’t decide between the grey or red but I’m really glad I got the red because it makes them more of a statement piece. The top I’m wearing always gets so many compliments too. It just fits so well and Target has plenty of pieces like this where it’s loose, lightweight top with subtle details. And oh my I can’t forget to talk about the jeans I’m wearing! I recently got them from American Eagle and they’re perfect because they’re SO comfortable! They’re actually jeggings but look exactly like jeans. The only difference is that they are so much softer and more stretchy. They fit my little legs unlike a lot of other jeans.

Andrew and I had so much fun just walking around UT and seeing all of the different buildings. The university is pretty old so they have some of the most beautiful, old buildings mixed with some new ones too. Then, we went to Jason’s Deli and got the salad bar. I had really been craving this because I love all of their toppings and you have an unlimited amount. The best part of Jason’s Deli has to be the delicious soft-serve ice-cream! I could eat it everyday and it’s free with your meal! Thanks for reading and hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

Stripes and a Pop of Color

TOP: Old Navy / / SHORTS: Delia’s / / SUNGLASSES: Calvin Klein / / V-RING: American Eagle / / EARRINGS: LC Lauren Conrad / /

I am in love with this top because it’s just so comfy and flattering (and I snagged it during Old Navy’s 40% off sale)! I got the black and white striped one but they also have it with pink stripes and in a solid color. I always feel like I need to add some color to black and white especially when it’s stripes so I wore these shorts and polished my nails red for a pop of color. Sandals, flats, or even ankle boots would look great with an outfit like this.

I am so excited for this weekend because all of the fall things like corn mazes, pumpkin patches, petting zoo, and haunted houses are opening! I cannot wait to go to a corn maze and bring some glow sticks with us to do it at night. I’m loving all the pumpkins everywhere and can’t wait for the leaves to start changing. I’m going to try to get Andrew to go to a corn maze and find a bonfire to roast some marshmallows. Love me some s’mores! Hope everyone has a great weekend and finds something fun to do! It’s almost Friday!

xoxo

Transitioning to Fall

Erika- MINT CARDIGAN: Kohl’s / / BLACK TOP: Forever 21 / / JEANS: American Eagle / / Jessica- CARDIGAN: Target / / TOP: Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s / / JEANS: American Eagle

It’s the time of the year where it’s chilly in the morning so I want to wear jeans and a sweater but then I’m pulling off that sweater and super hot by the afternoon. It’s really hard to dress for this time of the year. The key is LAYERS. Lots of layers. If I don’t wear short sleeves or quarter length sleeves then I’m probably wearing a tank top with a sweater. I wear the sweater in the morning and then take it off once it starts warming up. It’s also easy to wear some skinny jeans and then roll up the bottom of them two times to turn them into capris or cropped jeans. It’s also still pretty hot out that I’m in my sandals everyday. All of this helps to balance out my outfit when it’s that weird in-between summer and fall weather. Hope this helps you with the transition!

This is my little sister, Jessica, in the pictures above. We’re literally best friends. Our last name starts with a C so that’s where the C on the barn comes into play in case you were wondering haha. Barns and rustic looks are really big right now and I’m in love with this one at my aunt and uncles house. They’re also the perfect backdrop for your fall pictures! Thanks for reading and hope you’re all having a great Tuesday!

City View

DRESS: American Eagle (Similar here) / / NAIL POLISH: Sally Hansen gel in red eye / / Andrew- POLO: Volunteer Traditions / / SHORTS: American Eagle

Over the summer, Andrew lived in Nashville in a condo that had the best view from the balcony! It was just so pretty and peaceful (at least from the 26th floor haha). We could see everything from there since it was right in the middle of downtown Nashville. It was so fun with him living there, because we could just walk to everything from his condo. A few streets down was the CMA Festival (we went to see Jana Kramer!) over the summer and it’s also where everything in Nashville takes place. I love country music and have always lived about 40 minutes away from Nashville but have never really gotten to just walk around downtown as much as I have this past summer. There’s so much to do and see. They have live music in just about every place on Broadway. I would loveee to go to the Grand Ole Opry and still can’t believe I haven’t been yet. It’s weird that so many famous people visit downtown Nashville and I see instagram pictures with them there all the time but I have yet to see one of them in person. Oh well, it’s still fun to just sight-see there :) Thanks for reading and below is a picture I took from Jana Kramer’s CMA concert!

LC Lauren Conrad Runway Collection Favorites

White chiffon maxi dress / / Navy floral skirt / / Pink ruffle dress / / Pleated maxi dress / / Fox print swing dress / / Tulle strapless gown

I am in love with Lauren Conrad’s new runway collection for Kohl’s!!! All of her designs are just so feminine and pretty! They’re not too expensive either for such great quality! I put some of my favorites which are all such pretty dresses/skirts. My favorite is of course the  gorgeous tulle gown at the end. I think it looks even more amazing on Lauren. I would so wear it as a prom dress and I wish I had an excuse to wear it somewhere now. New York Fashion Week is so exciting getting to see all of the new collections! I follow a few fashion bloggers on snapchat who went to NYFW and I love seeing all the new collections from designers like Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, and more! Hope you found something you like! Love you all!

xoxo

Orange and White

DRESS: Francesca’s / / ORANGE NECKLACE: Francesca’s / / ORANGE & GOLD BANGLES: Old Navy (only in store) / / ORANGE & GOLD EARRINGS: Old Navy (only in store) / / COWGIRL BOOTS: Boot Country / / Andrew- UT POLO: Tennessee Athletics / / SHORTS: American Eagle / / LEATHER FLIP-FLOPS: American Eagle

In honor of UT’s first home football game this fall, I thought I would post what I wore to the game when I got to go a few years back. UT’s colors are obviously orange and white so it was easy for me to find a white dress and then add some orange accessories. It can get really hard to find your school’s exact color in a dress sometimes (especially if their colors are really unique), so my advice for that would be to go shopping in stores like boutiques that are close to the campus. They purposely stock-up on dresses and shirts that are the school’s color. I think the best thing to wear to a college football game is definitely a dress unless you go more towards winter when it’s colder out. Dresses are so comfortable to me while also looking like you tried to dress up some. Oh and they are cool which is especially important here in the south haha! If you are able to find a solid colored dress in your school’s color then it becomes a super easy outfit to put together. I would make sure your dress isn’t too fancy and has a more cotton like material. You also want it to be comfortable! Once you’ve found a dress you like, all you have to do is add a necklace or bracelet in the other school color and then pair it with some cowgirl boots or sandals! I don’t recommend heels since they just aren’t practical with all of those bleachers and stairs.

Another simple tip is to polish your nails in your school’s color. I just did orange nails and it gives you another pop of a color that you may not have had much of in your outfit before. You could also try a less dramatic version of this with your makeup. Like for me, I could have done a peachy lip color or blush to play up the orange some. It would be super easy if your school color was red to just add some red lipstick. I probably would steer clear of this though if your color was something like blue or green since those aren’t really natural makeup colors.

For men, it’s really simple. A polo shirt in your school’s color which can usually be bought at your school’s gift shop or online store and a pair of khaki shorts is perfect for the game. Don’t forget some sunglasses and have fun!!!

xoxo

White Ruffles

TOP: JCPenney / / SHORTS: American Eagle / / SHOES: Similar here / / NAIL POLISH: OPI DS Classic

It is still SO hot here in Tennessee so I’m forced to wear shorts even though I’m so ready for Fall clothes! To transition the tiniest bit, I put on this three-quarters length top which is white making it still cool enough for the 90 degree weather here. I love wearing this top even in the winter though because it’s just such a fun piece when there’s so many dark, heavy clothes. It brings in something light yet still warm enough for the winter, so I will get plenty of use out of this top. I also don’t believe the whole thing about not wearing white after Labor Day. I think if you like it then you can do whatever you want, you shouldn’t have to follow rules in fashion!

Makeup- FOUNDATION: Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream / / POWDER: Makeup Forever Duo Mat Powder Foundation / / BRONZER: Rimmel Natural Bronzer

I also wanted to add what makeup I’m wearing in this post. Makeup is something I get really excited about. I absolutely love getting new makeup and trying it out. One of my favorites is definitely the Rimmel bronzer because it’s SO cheap (seriously like $4) and the shade Sun Bronze doesn’t have sparkles. No sparkles is really important in a bronzer for me since I use bronzer everyday and want it to look natural. There’s nothing more unnatural than seeing sparkles all over someone’s face. Anyway thanks for reading!

xoxo

Shopping for Decorations

DRESS: Old, romper version here // SHOES: Similar here // EARRINGS: LC Lauren Conrad // PHONE CASE: Etsy // BAG: Seen here // NAIL POLISH: Sally Hansen Gel in birthday suit

This is what a typical Friday or Saturday night looks like for me haha! I think it’s just so fun to go to either Hobby Lobby, Marshall’s or TJMaxx, or any other place with cute decorations/furniture! I love looking at all of the decorations for my future house or for my room right now. I’m starting to collect a few things that I know will still be in style a few years from now. They have all of their Fall decorations with pumpkins, warm colors, scarecrows, and leaves that make me so very excited for Fall!!! I got two different sized pumpkins with gold sequins and two little scarecrows. Chalkboards are also really big right now and Hobby Lobby has a ton. I love the framed chalkboard quote above. They have several more of these in different colors/quotes too. I think the little white table above is really adorable too. The pattern on it is really popular right now and so is the distressed look. That makes me think of the show Fixer Upper. If you haven’t watched that show you definitely should check it out. Joanna is the best at decorating, and her and her husband, Chip, are hilarious! She distresses everything and made me fall in love with the look. I hope this has inspired you to do some home shopping, thanks for reading!

xoxo

Knoxville, Tennessee

TOP: Gap (similar) // SHOES: Lauren Ralph Lauren via TJMaxx // BAG: Kate Spade (last seen here) // NAIL POLISH: Sally Hansen in red eye // EARRINGS: LC Lauren Conrad

So I just bought this top from Gap recently but can’t find it anywhere online! Some of you might still be able to find it on sale at your Gap, I just couldn’t find a link for it. I love it because it’s so soft and comfortable but has a ruffle in the back to make it a little more than a plain tee; that’s why I linked a top above that had a zipper on the back so that it wasn’t just another plain tee. I’ve been getting a lot of pieces like this recently since they go with just about everything! Loose tees like this or this look great with skinny jeans (or jeggings for me)!

Last weekend I went to visit Andrew in Knoxville where he goes to school. It’s about three hours away so it’s a bit of a drive, but it’s definitely worth it! On Friday night we went to a cute, little Mexican restaurant that we don’t have home. I was really craving a quesadilla haha! Saturday was spent shopping of course since they have a huge outdoor mall that is so pretty and a dream for me! My last day there, we went to this park along the Tennessee river. The view was amazing and it had so many pretty bridges in the background. I think Andrew was more interested in the bridges since he’s  future civil engineer haha. When we were leaving the park we saw some houses by the river that we had to check out. Looking at houses is one of my favorite things to do now, especially the ones that are being built that you can go inside to explore. I now know the exact layout I want when I get house. The weather was just perfect too which made me really excited for fall! Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!!! Love you all!

xoxo

I ♥ U

I had to share these pictures with you because I thought they were just so adorable and might inspire you to make giant letters and take pictures with them too haha! Anyway the one in the picture with dark brown hair is my sister, Jessica, along with her friend Jessica. It’s funny how you end up being really good friends with someone who has the same name as you sometimes! I used to have a best friend name Erica! So Jessica wanted to take these pictures to give to her boyfriend as a present and I think it is just the cutest idea! She just cut the letters out of poster board and used and then just threw them away afterwards since they weren’t expensive.

Well I’m starting my second week of my last year of college (yayyyy!) and I’m already stressing out about everything. I’m student teaching in a kindergarten class which I’m kind of excited about yet really nervous at the same time! I was supposed to do third grade but got moved to kindergarten which I was actually really happy about. I feel like five year olds are much less intimidating than 8 year olds since I don’t really know what I’m doing yet. If anyone has any advice then I’d love to hear from you! So I’ve mostly been focusing all my time and attention on school since Andrew is at school three hours away. It’s hard doing the long distance thing but I just have to remember that this is our last year doing it! I hope everyone’s week is going well!

xoxo