Blue Christmas

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Hey everyone, Happy Wednesday!  I can hardly believe we are in the final few days before Christmas weekend!  I spent last night wrapping all of my gifts (which is about as last minute as I have ever done Christmas wrapping!) and listening to Christmas music.  The classics, such as ‘Blue Christmas’ always get me.

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Outfit Details – Coat: J.Crew | Jeans: J.Crew Factory | Booties: Banana Republic | Tote: Michael Kors |

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you all have a great week!

xo, C

Gingham Goodness

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Hey babes, welcome back!  In a sea of plaid flannels, this gingham popover from J.Crew really stuck out to me this fall.  The gorgeous green is such a nice change of pace from conventional fall colors (which you all know I love!) and the blouse has a nice different silhouette than the button up.  To keep my look anchored in the season, I paired it with these rust booties from Sole Society that I have been absolutely obsessed with ever since I got them!

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Outfit Details – Shirt: J.Crew | Jeans: Lucky Brand | Booties: Sole Society | Necklace: Elizabeth & James | Nails: OPI ‘Suzi The First Lady of Nails’

Do you have any plans for the weekend?  I’m heading out to Springfield with my parents and sister for family weekend at baby bro’s college, and then early celebratory festivities before my birthday on Monday (eep!)  Whatever your weekend brings you, I hope it’s filled with laughs and happiness!

xo, C

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Elephant Skirt

Why yes, I do own an elephant skirt.  And, yes again, it is a surprisingly easy piece to style.  I love elephants (anyone remember my Save More Elephants tee?) and J.Crew seems to share that love, always coming out with fun elephant filled pieces year after year.  (Check out one of my all time favorite charitable fashion campaigns Knot on my Planet to join me in supporting the Elephant Crisis Fund!)

Now back to this skirt.  Yes, the elephants are fun.  But the sophisticated color palette makes it easy to wear to work and show off your killer style as well.  A fitted black turtleneck proved to be the perfect balance to the bold skirt, keeping everything tied together (which was another great fashion campaign!) and anchored in the dark neutral.

Outfit Details – Turtleneck: J.Crew | Skirt: J.Crew | Booties: Coach (old, similar here, here and here)

Thanks so much for reading!  I hope you all have a great week!

xo, C

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Pretty in Pineapple

Hello everyone, welcome back!  Today’s skirt is an absolute dream.  Every time I walked past this pattern in the J.Crew window at the mall I started daydreaming about us doing everything together.  Working together, going to brunch together, taking long walks on the beach talking about our future…

But really.  This pattern and the colors are an absolute dream.  I love the pineapple pattern, but it’s not too obvious and predictable as yellow and green, so it gives off the vibe that you can wear and re-wear it as many times in as many ways as you could possibly dream!

Outfit Details – Chambray: American Eagle (old, similar here) | Skirt: J.Crew (also available in top, dress, and heels!) | Heels: Vince Camuto (old, similar here)

Floral Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed your short week and are ready for another weekend already (I know I am).

Along with the berry skirt from Wednesday’s post, I picked up this floral skirt from J.Crew a few weeks ago.  The print is vintage and yet refreshing at the same time, and to boot it is beyond comfortable – I wore it last night for my baby brother’s high school graduation and didn’t feel the pinch of having one too many gyros for lunch at all.  Oh, and did I mention it has pockets?  You’re welcome, ladies.

Outfit Details – Skirt: J.Crew | Tee: Banana Republic |

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend!

xo, C

Berry Exciting

In case you didn’t know, I love berries.  I love the month of June, I love picking berries, I love cooking with berries, anything you could possibly think of involving berries I am 100% down with.  To kick off berry season (which, by me, starts next week!) I’m sharing not only this adorable berry print from J.Crew, but also some of my favorite recipes for berry season!

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

This berry print is just to die for.  You all know I have an undying love for midi skirts, but if that’s not your jam (we’ll get to jam recipes later), it also comes in heels and a shirt.  I chose to keep it simple with classic navy accents, but it would look great paired with red or bold with stripes!

Outfit Details – Tee: Banana Republic | Skirt: J.Crew | Heels: Steve Madden (similar here)

My parents have been going to Tougas Family Farm since they moved to Massachusetts from New York City nearly 30 years ago.  In my mind there is simply no comparable place for fruit picking.  From strawberries in June to pumpkins in October, they have you covered.  Strawberry season kicks off the second week of June, so you can bet I’ll be there at least once per week until October!

My dad and I have a strong bond over fruit based desserts.  Most desserts, actually, but fruit based desserts are my favorite.  My two favorite recipes are from old Bon Appétit Magazines from 20 years ago that he still holds on to!  There are some real gems in there I found while leafing through to find these recipes so I’d definitely recommend a subscription to the magazine or digging through the archives from past years!

Strawberry shortcake is my favorite dessert of all time.  If I had to narrow it down more, I would say this chocolate one takes the cake (I know guys, I’m sorry.  The puns just keep getting sweeter.  Okay okay last one.)

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B and I went ahead and picked up some store bought strawberries so we could make it a little early – but I can’t even imagine how great it will taste with farm fresh berries!

My second favorite dessert is the Blueberry grunt. The recipe calls for frozen berries, but we have always used the fresh ones!

Blueberry Grunt

Central Massachusetts’ finest winery, Nashoba Valley Winery, has a blueberry merlot and a strawberry rhubarb to keep the berry party going!  It’s worth a drive out to Bolton for lunch (picnic or restaurant style), wine tasting, and the beautiful scenery!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Make sure to leave your thoughts about Berry Season in the comment section below!  Have a great day!

xo, C

In the Spring of Things

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Happy Hump Day everyone!  This week is absolutely crazy for me, but after such a warm and beautiful weekend it’s really hard to complain.  Michaela and I are flying down to Nashville on Sunday, so I have lots of work to get ahead on and the obvious errands and packing to take care of, and I was already starting to feel overwhelmed three days ago!  Luckily spring is the perfect season for easy dressing, and I just needed to toss on a pretty dress and my go-to jacket and we’re in business.

(If you guys have any recommendations for what we should see/do/eat/etc in Nashville we would LOVE to hear them!  Leave a comment here or send me an email at thesolcompass@gmail.com!)

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Outfit Details – Dress: J.Crew Factory (old, similar here, here, and here) | Jacket: Lucky Brand | Heels: Sam Edelman | Necklace: Elizabeth and James | Earrings: Banana Republic (old, similar here) | Bracelet: LC Lauren Conrad | Ring: Bauble Bar | Watch: Fossil | Lipstick: Urban Decay ‘Rush’ | Lipgloss: Nars ‘Belize’ | Nails: OPI Fiji Collection ‘Getting Nadi On My Honeymoon’ | Nails (toes): OPI Fiji Collection ‘Living On The Bula-Vard!’

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

xo, C

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Cobalt Cues

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Happy Hump Day loves!  Obviously I took these pictures before we had three snowstorms… Now if I tried to shoot at this location I’m pretty sure there would be nothing but snow and muddy snow behind me.  Even with the snow and the cold I am just so over wearing jeans, a sweater, and boots that I’ve been veering far away from the winter norms and dressing a tad seasonally inappropriately.  Spring and summer are definitely more my style seasons, since I will never get tired of wearing skirts and dresses the way I get tired of wearing jeans and boots.  So what’s a girl to do?  Throw on a pair of tights, of course.

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Outfit Details – Dress: J.Crew (old, similar here, here, here, and here) | Tights: J.Crew Factory | Heels: Adam Lippes for Target | Earrings: Treasure&Bond (sold out, similar here) | Lips: Nars ‘Cruising’Buxom Full-On Lip Polish ‘Brooke’

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

xo, C

Winter Sky Blue

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The color of this sweater is a perfect combination of a clear blue winter sky and freshly fallen snow.  So naturally I had to pair it with the darkest color imaginable.  I will probably never give up incorporating contrasting elements in my outfits.  I think the black helps the light blue pop much more than a traditional blue jean would; just as the snow pops effortlessly against the elements of nature.

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Outfit Details – Sweater: J.Crew Factory |  Jeans: GAP | Booties: Sam Edelman | Purse: Kate Spade New York | Ring: Bauble Bar Lipstick MAC ‘Finally Free’ | Lipgloss: MAC ‘Lust’ | Nail Polish: OPI ‘Into the Night’

2017

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Hey everyone, welcome back!  I hope you all had a great holiday season and that your year is off to an excellent start.  2016 was a great year for me.  I traveled to a few new and a few old places, ate lots of tacos, and continued to fall more in love with this great big beautiful world around me.  I’m so excited to write 2017 with even more love and tacos.

While I’m kicking off this year with an outfit post, I would love to hear what you guys want to see more of on the blog.  I have a few Disney posts to share with you about outfits and meals, plus I’m starting Whole30 on Sunday to reset after the gluttonous holiday season and vacation.  If you guys have any interest in following along as I do it (or if there’s anything else you want to see more of) let me know in the comments below!

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Outfit Details – Shirt: Express | Jeans: J.Crew Factory | Heels: Mossimo | Earrings: Treasure&Bond (sold out, similar here) | Ring: Bauble Bar| Lipstick: Urban Decay ‘Rush’ | Lipgloss: Buxom ‘Peyton’

Thanks for reading!

xo, C