Fitting Room Finds

I had brought up earlier this year about starting this 'Fitting Room Finds' and where you all would like me to shop! I had two votes for Nordstrom... and that was my intention - to start at Nordstrom like I was asked.

Oddly enough, there was no Nordstrom in Bentonville, Ark. And the closest Nordstrom to me is on Michigan Avenue which would be fun if I had lots of hours to jot down there. But I was limited to about an hour and a half on this trip, so I went to one of my favorites... and that was close.

The Loft.

Why do I like The Loft? I like it for many reasons as well as have issues with it. My issues are that some things look old to me. And there are plenty of stores that produce enough 'old' clothing that I don't need it at this store, too. But my likes outweighs the dislikes for sure.

I love the quality. I love the color. I love how there are simple pieces and fun pieces. I love that the sizes range and for the most part, I think they run on the large side, so you can size down which is fun to do!

So I started my Fitting Room Finds at The Loft and literally walked back with about 25 different things to try on for you. But decided tot only show you things that I felt good about this readership liking.

Without further adieu...

1.) Chambray Top   2.) Modern Skinny Jeans  3.) Button Wrap Skirt

This top was one of those that really would go with anything! You can't beat chambray, people, so don't even try! :)

The skinny jeans were super soft, super comfortable and KEY - super stretchy! The color I have on is green. 

The wrap skirt was also extremely comfortable and I felt it was a great fall addition for a work wardrobe. 

1.) Plaid Smocked Blouse   2.) Frayed Cuff Straight Leg Jeans   

This top caught my eye as soon as I walked in the store! It's very versatile -- day-to-night, fall-to-winter, work-to-drinks, skirt-to-jeans... I LOVE sleeves with smocked cuffs because it seems to make my wrists really skinny which somehow makes everything else seem skinnier. 

These jeans I also loved! The frayed cuff was actually really cute and I think that it's a trend that isn't silly to purchase! I also wore the top with the wrap skirt from above and again, just another cute outfit option! 

1.) Bonfire Sweater    2.) Striped Cutout Sweater    3.) Blouson Sleeve Sweater

My go-to outfits for the fall and winter are jeans (or leggings - I'm one of 'those' people) and a sweater. And these three sweaters are perfect with the frayed cuff jeans I had on. The Bonfire Sweater is my favorite because it has some color, it wasn't itchy and it hit in the right spot on my torso! 

The Striped Cutout Sweater was uber-comfy, but on me, probably made me look wider than I need to be. But still... big fan! 

The Blouson Sleeve Sweater was perfect, came in a few different colors and would look so great dressed up as well! 

1.) Smocked Cold Shoulder Top    2.) Diamond Button Wrap Skirt

Cold shoulder tops are everywhere right now... if you don't know have one in your closet by now, I don't know how you got away from them! I will say that for the most part, these tops really do look good on everyone and are ageless. My six year old has one and my mom has one. This particular one that I tried on was more of a sweater material and again, had the smocked cuffs that I love. It was very comfy and will march right on through winter for you. I tried it with the frayed cuff jeans as well as this adorable wrap skirt! 

Prints can be scary sometimes, which is why my wardrobe is so blasé. Prints can sometimes make you look heavier, but I really felt like this one did the opposite. In fact, I should wear this skirt every day because I felt like it made me look smaller! BONUS POINTS! 

As you all know if you are frequent Loft shoppers, they have new items coming in all the time so if I walked in today, I would literally try on at least 15 new items. But I felt that what I picked out to show you all are classic pieces that you can make lots of different outfits with items from your own closet. But splurge on yourself a little bit, grab a few new pieces for fall that make you feel good about yourself and will allow your to diversify your wardrobe. 

Happy shopping! 

XXOO,

Allyson

Friday Favorites

I'll just leave this little diddy right here for you... Happy Friday!

I came across this contraption on Instagram one day and immediately sent it to all of my family members because all of us need one! They call it the OnTray Snap On Shopping Cart Snack, Toy, Coupon Holder. I don't care what you want to call it, I want it for my Tess for snacks so she can sit in the cart and be joyful!

As every one year old shopping with their mother should be! ;)

Ladies, The Loft is having a 40% off everything in stock this week. I posted a picture of a new pair of sunglasses I picked up (this picture doesn't do them justice). But I tried on quite a few pairs and loved them all! In the end, the classic style won me over. As usual (I think I have about 10 pairs of glasses with this print).

I loved these as well!

I thought these would be great summer sunglasses - for days by the pool ... I hope I find a good pool again (insert many, many tears for the leaving of our neighborhood pool/gossip session)!

Lots of fun options and at a really good deal right now!

I have raved about these sandals in a Friday Favorite before and that was when it was warm out. Well... it's beginning to warm up again and I've already been slipping back in to my Birkenstock Madrid Sandals and still love, love, love them!

So I hopped on Amazon to see if they had any new colors for this year and holy cow, do they ever.

I'm not much of a neon shoe color gal, but if you are, there are five neon colors plus white, navy, black (which is what I own), red and now olive!

I love olive.

And so now I will have to purchase the olive. For $30.

Birkenstock's for $30.

Get them and thank me later! ;)

 I've been on the hunt for new luggage for my kids. We are travelers and when they were little, I got Sloane and Reece each a SkipHop roller suitcase. Sloane's was a monkey (because she loved Curious George) and Reece's was a dog.

My Sloane has definitely outgrown her monkey bag (as well as her infatuation for George - so sad) and Reece has as well, but will NEVER admit it nor let me probably ever buy him a new piece of luggage because he wants his "doggy bag" packed. :)

So I want to find bigger luggage for them, but not HUGE luggage - we don't need it to be bigger than mama's - ya hear me?! :)

I was traveling past the luggage section at Target and spotted this cute bag for $40! It's from the designlovefest collection, which had a couple of different things I thought were cute. But this bag specifically would suit her well -- shoes can go on the bottom, upper portion can have clothes. And with these handy packing cubes, I can separate her clothes and all is well!

I ran in to Old Navy the other day, specifically to go and look for leggings for Sloane. And other kid items.

I left with kid items. As well as a few things for myself (ugh).

I came away with this Relaxed Off-the-Shoulder top and a pair of black Rockstar Skinny Jeans.

I don't really love Old Navy jeans. Because I'm super picky on the color, the style and the look. And they just don't do it for me.

But I have owned a pair of these black Rockstar Skinny Jeans before and I LOVE them! They are super comfortable, stretchy and are mid-rise so you can't see my underwear every time I bend down, which once-upon-a-time used to be cool.

Gross, now that I think about it.

Anyway, I'm excited to pair the above top with my new black Rockstar Skinny Jeans and some cute sandals when the weather warms up for it (70 degrees today, 41 on Saturday - welcome to the land of weather changing every 10 minutes)!

Girls, I got this color in and only had ordered two. For some absurd reason. And I'm so mad at myself because I kept one for myself (my bad) and so I only had one to sell! And this color is legit! It's so pretty and not at all what I thought it would look like. It's definitely been my every-day color since I got it.

And until my next new favorite comes in.... :)

I'll stock up on more next time so I can spread the love!

And one last thing in regards to LipSense.

Last week, I shared a photo of Melissa and her new super simple makeup routine with SeneGence products (who owns LipSense).

It's just four things she uses to be ready for her day and after she posted this photo, I #facepalmed and went and bought it all! :)

I had a few people message me and were interested in what she used and the cost and I wanted to pass it on in case you were wondering the same thing.

👉🏻 Snow Shadowsense (currently out of stock, but hopefully not for long): $22
          -- she used this under eyes to give her the brighter look and hide her dark circles
👉🏻 Silk Pore Minimizer & Wrinkle Reducer (in stock): $60
👉🏻 Color Correcting Tinted Moisturizer (comes in light and medium and medium is in stock): $45
👉🏻 Natural Concealer (this also comes in green -- to hide redness -- and white): $25

Then she applied mascara and pretty Aussie Rose LipSense! That's it. Like... my jealousy for how easy this was and how she looks is over the moon! :) 

If you are interested in any of these items, let me know! I've ordered two other sets for people and am just waiting on a few of those out of stock items to come back in stock so I can snag them for myself and others! 


That's it friends! Please have a wonderful weekend and enjoy some down time!

XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

Another Friday is here and another week we have survived! Pat yourselves on the back! :)

I'm trying to switch up the style on this week's Friday Favorites - we will see how you like it!

1) Because I'm obviously obsessed with booties (and cannot for the life of me find the exact pair that I must have)... I have found YET another pair to show you! This is the Sole Society 'Ines' Chelsea Boot and it's available at Nordstrom. There are three color options: black, cognac and taupe and they are under $100. Yet another reason I need to get to a Nordstrom ASAP!


2) This is me. Showing off my french braid I did on myself (all the thanks to Emily Cramer for years of staring at her beautiful french braids). Wearing my new Buffalo Check Shirt Jacket that I got on clearance sale at JCrew Factory (boom). And introducing my new favorite lipstick that I didn't want to like!

Welcome to the world of LipSense, friends! It's for real. And it's almost for real that I am considering selling it. They have TONS of colors - a color for everyone - and this stuff does not come off. I repeat. It. Does. Not. Come. Off. I have had this for four days now and for four days, I've stuffed my face with food and it never comes off!

I bought mine from a cousin of mine who just recently started selling it. And is adorable. And can wear ALL the shades and look awesome.

When you buy your first lipstick, I recommend getting the gloss -- you put on your lipcolor, let it dry for a second, then put on the gloss and that's it! Carry the gloss with you if you want to apply throughout the day, but I've worn mine without reapplying the gloss and have been fine! But once you buy the gloss, you don't have to buy it again and just can have fun buying lip colors (for reference, my color is Honey Rose -- I'm excited to get a brighter berry color next time)!

If you have questions, comment below. If I don't know the answer, I can find out for you and I can also direct you to Melissa if you want to try!


3) I can't tell you how I started following this person on Instagram. BUT I am. And as I was scrolling through the other day, I stopped to see what she was holding and what it said.

The bottle reads "Kids Immunity". She says she rolls it on the wrists of her kids before they go to school and it has truly helped to keep her kids from getting sick during "sick season".  Now, I'm not naive enough to believe that just by doing this, no one will get sick. But I'm OK with trying!

The little roller bottle consists of frankincense, lemon and tea tree for immune support, respiratory support and cleansing.

I'm 100 percent NOT an oil expert so I know there are much better brands out there. I just don't want to spend a fortune on them! I did find a pack of eight oils on Amazon that I think would help us through for only $17.


4) Tess and I made a stop at The Loft yesterday before picking Reece up from school. They were having a HUGE sale - 40 percent off everything in the store and an additional 60 percent off clearance items. I made my way around the store and found some cute things, but wanted to point out this Plaid Tab Sleeve Peplum Blouse to you all. It would be cute on so many body types! It's a little baggy, which its meant to be so I would order true to size. It's $54.50 but 40 percent off!


5) And last but not least, I saw this quote on Facebook the other day and made sure to snap a picture of it. Sloane has been having a little harder time in kindergarten - she takes a little longer to process some things, which is fine! We just want to make sure we are able to help her however we can. But I saw this quote and it made me think of her. And Matt and I. And how we kind of look at each other and wonder what have we done to our kids! In the end... I'm just thrilled that they are kind. :)


Everyone have a great weekend! We are hoping the weather allows us to get to KC to meet our nephew/cousin!

XXOO,
Allyson

Friday Favorites

So... we're down to nine days until Christmas. And for the first time in a long time, I'm done Christmas shopping.

As in everyone on MY list is shopped for.

My husband? A different story. But I can't do it all, honey... so best of luck (can you feel my empathy?)! :)

We begin our Christmas adventures this next week so blogging for me will be a little sporadic. I'll be thrilled if I get one post up before New Years! Here's hoping!

So ... not sure if you all have heard of her before, but The Pioneer Woman lives less than an hour from my hometown! Ofcourse this means that I feel like we were destined to be friends.

We haven't met yet, but I know it will happen!

Maybe if I can get to her new store/restaurant in Pawhuska, The Mercantile, the legendary faux meeting will happen and our budding friendship will spark!

Anyway... a set of polka dot bowls had popped up on my Facebook feed from her store, but ofcourse are sold out, so I perused and found these Batter Bowl Measuring Cups. That I love and I know would get good use out of at our house and possibly yours!

You get a set of four mixing cups in four bright colors... for $16. Not only is she suppose to be my BFF, but she has good quality and good prices at her store!

See you soon, Ree!

Ladies, the Loft is having a 50% sale on sweaters, outerwear and cold weather accessories. When I pulled up the e-mail from them earlier this week, I literally started adding everything to my cart. I since then got realistic and narrowed it down, but this is definitely in the cart!

This blazer is perfection and the color is so pretty and the perfect pop during the dreary winter months. It's also a great fall-weather blazer so I feel like you'll get great use out of this! Plus with the no-collar shirt underneath, I just want the entire look.

It's available in sizes 0-16 and will run you around $60! THIS is a forever closet piece!

Last week, one of my sorority sisters tagged me in a post by Charlie Hustle about their new K-State shirts and I was so thankful she did because they immediately went on my Christmas list (better late than never, right?).

Charlie Hustle also got me with this amazing video ... nothing is truer than this!

Let's see ... I'm not afraid to tell you to shop at stores from your teenage days and I'm going to keep doing it.

This time, we're talking American Eagle. But ... this time, it's vintage-style collegiate t-shirts that are too cool to pass up!

Sadly, my team is not associated with this because K-State doesn't like to have fun when it comes to allowing others to use their logo/brand. Which is why you never see super fun K-State shirts unless you see above (thanks Charlie Hustle!).

Anywho, there are lots of colleges on here and the shirts are super cute! Check out the site if you're in the hunt! They sell both men and women.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? I love so many movies and every year, I'm sad that I don't seem to make it through even two movies other than Elf and The Santa Claus (two classics at our house).

I love, love, love White Christmas, Home Alone, Polar Express, It's a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Family Stone... but my all-time favorite Christmas movie is not one you can find on DVD. Because it was a TV special back in 1987!

The Muppets - A Muppet Family Christmas is one that I hold dear to my heart. I love the Muppets! What makes them even better as an adult is because their humor is soooo meant for adults. Thank you Jim Henson! 

Luckily for me when I was younger, my mom had recorded it on VHS so every year I got to watch it. She had recorded over some Dudley Moore movie so every once in awhile, you'd see this guy pop in and out.

Anyway, I found 'The Muppets - A Muppet Family Christmas' on YouTube for your viewing pleasure! Pull your kiddos up and enjoy!




And if I don't talk to you before Christmas ...

Have the most merriest of Christmases friends and thanks so much for following along these past few months!


XXOO,
Allyson

PS. HUGE Two Dots sale this weekend only before we wrap it up for the year -- 50% off the entire store Dec. 16-18! Shop away!