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.*
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.*
This shirt hasn't appeared on the blog often but it's one I don't think I will ever get rid of. The print is super fun and the can be worn a lot of ways. I do always wear the same tank top underneath but I can wear it with jeans, shorts, skirts, etc. I think the last time it appeared on the blog was way back in 2018 when I wore it to Animal Kingdom in Disney World. Funnily enough, the first time it was on the blog (in 2014) I wore it with the same necklace!
Everyone kept thinking I was my sister's dog Teddy when I was walking around the house in these. Christian even thought we had a dog in OUR house when I walked downstairs, ha ha. I do feel weird walking around stores when I'm jingling so I do avoid wearing them to the grocery store but I still love these sandals, especially because the name of the sandal is my middle name (and my late Grandmother's too!)
Animal Print Top: Studio 1 c/o ThredUp
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Bag: Madewell Medium Slim Saddle Bag in Croc c/o Shopbop (smaller size)
Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Faye' embellished sandal (Net-a-Porter Sale)
Sunglasses: Gucci Aviators
Necklace: Geoclassics
I wore this outfit to the Roger Williams Zoo last month but it was too people-y to take pictures without feeling dumb so I re-wore it the next weekend to take some! I figured I would go with the animal theme since we were going to the zoo so I picked my fun safari print tee by Madewell and paired it with custom Nike's made from leopard print pony-hair. I know, it was weird to make sneakers in a material I couldn't actually use for hiking or working out - but I don't generally do those activities so why not go wild! I've had these for seven years now, wowza!
Tee: Madewell Safari Print Linen
Sweater: Banana Republic Italian Cashmere-Blend Boyfriend Cardigan c/o Westfield Trumbull
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Sneakers: Nike by You custom Air Max 90 Premium c/o (previously called Nike iD)
Bag c/o Orox Leather Co Merces Petite (not photographed, whoops!)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
If you missed my Instagram posts from the zoo you can see them below!
