Christian and I don't usually go crazy for Valentine's Day, especially on the actual day. Normally I just make one of our favorite dinners and a fun dessert and then we might go out for a fancier than normal dinner on the weekend. Since Valentine's Day was on Saturday this year we went out for a lunch date in Mystic.
Before we get to the activities of the day, let's talk about my outfit! I decided to pile on some of my favorite jewelry from Aurate. They have everything from dainty diamond necklaces and gold rings to pearls, gemstones and more! There's something in every price range and style. My favorites are their earrings. 90% of the time I'm wearing a pair of Aurate earrings, I wear them in the shower, to sleep, everything!
For those of you that are new to Aurate, here's a quick intro. Their mission is to offer sustainable, ethical handmade jewelry at affordable prices. They use recycled gold, ethically-sourced diamonds, and sustainably harvested pearls. The pieces are handmade by artisans, not a machine churning out hundreds a day. I've been a fan since 2018 so I have amassed quite the collection and gifted pieces to family members as well!
It's still very cold around here so my coat was the major part of my outfit, ha ha. I wore my Burberry coat since it is bright red, perfect for Valentine's Day (and Christmas.) Normally I'll wear some form of red as part of my outfit to be festive but this year I just wore a comfy sweater, jeans and loafers since my coat took care of the red. I got these shoes for Christmas and haven't really had a chance to wear them because of all the snow and slush.
On our day date we headed to Mystic, one of the cutest towns in Connecticut. We decided to try a new restaurant this time and headed to The Port of Call. But before lunch we took a stroll around Old Mistick Village, there are so many cute shops we love to stop in - especially the olive oil & honey store, Sticky Situations. We made it out without spending any money in that store but we did walk away with donuts from Deviant Donuts.
Sweater: Rachel Zoe (Marshalls)
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (Madison Avenue Couture)
Shoes: Sam Edelman Kyana Loafer in Plum Wine Suede (DSW)
Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique
Jewelry c/o Aurate: Crossover Ring, Pearl & Gold Bar Stud Earring, Pearl Stud Earring, Simple Pearl Bracelet, Medium Paperclip Chain Bracelet, Toi et Moi Gemstone Mini Heirloom Ring with Citrine & Amethyst, and Pearl Lariat Necklace (no longer available)
Shop the outfit:
A look at the rest of our day:
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival.*
For our second Thanksgiving I was able to dress up a little bit more since we'd be at my Aunt's house with no dogs to jump on me, ha ha. I had wanted to wear this outfit back in October for my birthday trip to Woodstock but figured it would be impractical for walking around and saved it for Thanksgiving!
For holidays - or any day really - I always love to break out my Aurate jewelry! They've got everything from beautiful gold rings and gemstone jewelry to diamonds! For this look I stacked a couple of my station necklaces and wore my pearl studs. If you're still on the hunt for the perfect gift for a loved one I highly suggest checking on their offerings! There's something for every budget and I am always complimented on my pieces. I grabbed my sister a cute pair of pearl drop earrings!
This is my first time wearing these booties since I got them fixed at the cobbler! When I bought them over 10 years ago they had some wrinkles in the insole so I got them "cheap" and thought I could get past the annoyance. But I found the more I wore them the wrinkles were too big to ignore. So they sat mostly unworn until I finally brought them to the cobbler this year! They aren't perfectly smooth now, but much better than before! Excited to wear them more often again!
Also broke out my vintage leather skirt. I found a very similar skirt that you can buy, it might actually be exact. When I bought this skirt in 2013 (for $10 at Coco's on the Green!) it was actually midi length but I had my Mom shorten it because it overwhelmed me. The skirt I found looks much l like my original and could be shortened to get the same effect!
I expected it to be a little chilly on our drive home so I grabbed my Burberry coat too! This and my Prada bag are two of Christian's favorite pieces I own. He likes to say he talked me into buying them, ha ha. I almost didn't buy the coat because I didn't need one, but I did really want it. So the fact that he really liked it pushed me to splurge. So he did make me feel less bad about my decisions ;)
Sweater: Marc by Marc Jacobs cropped sweater (The RealReal)
Leather Skirt: Sienna Studio (Coco's on the Green)
Lace-Up Suede Booties: Gianvito Rossi 'Finlay' lace-up boot (Marshalls)
Bag: Purple Prada Cahier in Viola (Rebag via Vestiaire Collective)
Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique
Earrings c/o Aurate Pearl Studs (rose gold)
Necklaces c/o Aurate Organic Pearl Station Necklace & Endless Gemstone Station Necklace in Rose Quartz
Shop the look:
Only sharing this a month after my birthday, no big deal, ha ha. Christian and I took our annual trip to Vermont for my birthday. Instead of camping in the car like we usually do, we stayed at Jackson Gore Village in Ludlow, VT to try out a new area. We always make a stop in Woodstock because it is so pretty and this year was no different. I'll share our itinerary for the day after the outfit photos!
Originally we were going to go to the other side of southern VT to explore but one of my favorite bakers, Gesine Bullock Prado, had a new book coming out and was doing a talk and signing in Woodstock so we just had to go. ;) Her book, My Harvest Kitchen, is a mix of gardening and recipes. Christian is the gardener in our household so he was very excited to hear some of her tips and tricks on the subject! After the chat we had her sign our book and thanked her - while also telling her one day we'll take one of her baking classes!
Now let's rewind to the beginning of the day. We left the house around 6am and parked around the Woodstock Green right at 8:55am. There were tons of parking spots when we arrived but just 10 minutes later it was full up, crazy! After taking obligatory photos in front of the covered bridge (with no crowds and no cars, thankfully!) we headed to Mont Vert Cage to have breakfast because we've always wanted to stop there and never did.
Unfortunately, we were very underwhelmed. The process of having to wait in line to order food and then find a table and wait for the food was not the most enjoyable. People were also holding tables for family that were still in line so that made it hard for people who already ordered to find a table. The food was also overpriced for what it was. Neither of us were really satisfied with our meals, so this will be a skip from us from now on, unless there is absolutely no line.
After that we window-shopped through the local spots and then took more touristy photos with the mums in front of the Woodstock Inn. One day we'll stay here, but it is very expensive and always booked up. Then we headed to the library to wait for Gesine's chat. That ended around 2 so we did some more walking around town and visited Faulkner Park to try and get some animal photos with Christian's new lens, but they were shy.
Before we left we stopped at Woodstock Scoops for an amazingly delicious Maple Creemee. SO GOOD. They use local dairy and Vermont maple syrup. Once we finished our ice cream we drove over to Plymouth Cheese on the way to our hotel. Christian picked up some of their Vermont Cheddar and I grabbed some "jamples" of jam.
We checked into the hotel at 5 and headed right back out again for dinner at On the Rails. I was a little scared to try Vermont pizza but we actually really enjoyed it! The onion rings were also delicious. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a mini birthday cake to end the evening!
I wore this to help Christian with a Christmas photoshoot for my brother and sister-in-law. We went to our favorite park and I roped Christian into taking some outfit photos for me too. We took some at the park and also the local historical society. He had his camera and was in photo mode, so why not?
It was a very chilly day but this Burberry sweater coat is always so comfy and warm! I just needed to block the wind from my face a bit. It's been a while since it appeared on the blog but it still gets plenty of wear in the Winter.
Cardigan Coat: Burberry Brit (Net-a-Porter)
Sweater: Everlane The Fall Seed Stitch Raglan
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Shoes: Splendid Harvest Mules in Tiger/Cheetah Print (eBay)
Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (Madison Avenue Couture)
Ombre Hat: Disney World
One of my main problems with wearing flats is finding socks that don't show. The "no show" socks I currently have always cause more trouble than they're worth, they slip off my foot or parts of them still show on some of my fancier shoes. Do you ever wish you had truly invisible socks for your flats too? I was recently introduced to Flat Socks which do just that! They are like insoles for your shoes but in sock material and they're washer/dryer safe. This keeps the inside of your shoes clean and you also have sock-like protection. Their website says it all: no slip, no stink, no show and no sacrifices!
I bought a few pairs to try out, even one made of faux fur when I want to wear flats in Winter. Flat Socks come in two sizes small and large. I bought the small and was able to cut them, using their handy trim guide, to my shoe size. If your insoles come out you can also remove those and use them as a guide to get a perfect match for any pair. Et voilà ! Invisible socks for any pair of shoes!
Depending on your shoes you may have to do a bit of extra fine tuning to get the invisible socks to fit in snuggly. I had to really finesse the cuts because the shoes are fairly skinny up front. So the socks I cut for them will probably be mostly for that exact pair. I cut another pair that fit into both my Chanel ballet flats and Joie animal print loafers. So depending on your shoes you can use a single pair of flat socks for multiple flats.
Initially, I was worried about not having something over my toes but it didn't bother me that the invisible sock was only on the bottom of my foot. This is also handy if your shoes are slightly too tight when you're wearing regular socks, as some of mine are. (Hey, if a pair of shoes is on sale I can deal with a tiny bit of discomfort.) I haven't tried them with heels yet, but I imagine it will be just as nice!
Here are a couple photos showing the difference between normal "no show" socks and Flat Socks. (The back photo is both no-show socks) I despise no-show socks that only have a little bit on the toe because they never stay on and always flop back and forth. So these are the only type of no-show I own, and they obviously don't work for shoes like this or ballet flats. That's where flat socks invisible socks come in!
Sweater: Abercrombie & Fitch
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Animal Print Loafer: Burberry Prorsum (Net-a-Porter)
Bag: Purple Prada Cahier in Viola (Rebag via Vestiaire Collective)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Emma' (Marshalls)
Jewelry c/o Aurate
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival.*
