then and now {frocktober, day 26}

Cat Dress: LOFT (old)
Remixed here, here, and here

Gosh, I love this cat dress. It's definitely one of my go-to dresses for work. I've worn it a lot, though I've only featured it on the blog a few times. It's incredibly comfortable and can be worn as-is. That may not seem like a big deal, but it is. I have to confess, I have far too many dresses that don't function that easily. Strapless, spaghetti-strap, open-backed. Those are fun to remix and layer, but I only have a few fantastic dresses that need no tampering with - they're perfect and outfit ready on their own. This is one of them.

I posted a great before/after photo on my Instagram of me wearing this dress earlier in my pregnancy (18 weeks) and then wearing it again yesterday, at 30 (almost 31) weeks. I think I'll retire this dress now until post-pregnancy. Those cats are looking pretty stretched. ;)

Instagram: 18 weeks // 30 weeks

the cat dress {frocktober, day 27}

Cat Dress (remixed 1, 2, 3): LOFT, Skirt: gifted, Cardigan: J. Crew 

Just a simple Frocktober post on this lovely Tuesday.

I love this little cat dress more and more every time I wear it. This is the first time I've ever tucked it into a skirt, but since it's a shift dress it works really nicely.

My color tip for outfits like this is to utilize complementary colors. Normally I might wear a neutral cardigan with a fun patterned dress, but because I already paired the dress with a white skirt I went with the teal. Red and green are complimentary colors, so that makes pink and teal besties too, right? I think so.

weekenders {frocktober, day 17+18+19}

Outfit 1: Dress (remixed 1, 2 / similar 1, 2): Ruche, Jeans (similar): Target
Outfit 2: Dress (remixed 1, 2)/Necklace: Ruche
Outfit 3: Dress (remixed): LOFT, Top (similar): Target

Friday, Saturday and Sunday dresses!

This weekend was one of fellowship and gathering around the table. There's nothing I love more than warm-bellied, smiling faces of friends around a dinner table. It's something special, for sure. Maybe my affection for it has grown for me since reading Bread & Wine, but I definitely have always loved meeting for food with family and friends.

When we still lived in Virginia one of our favorite things to do was head a mile down the road to our friends house and cook dinner together. We'd put on some music, pour some iced tea or cider, and dance around the kitchen while stirring pots and pans or chopping vegetables. We'd joke around that we were heading towards commune life, and oddly, we were all okay with it.
Even now, thinking about those memories brings a very special kind of warmth and sorrow to my heart. I miss it! But it was something so personal and wonderful to share recipes and meals and to go back and forth between each other's houses every other day. It was a little capsule of time that will always be very special to all four of us. It was outside of reality, because we were still in that extended college phase of life and meeting with friends for dinner every night was completely wonderful and normal.

This weekend we were able to call back those days with some friends from high school. We went to their house, holding a bowl of salad and a bottle of wine and we stayed late into the night sharing memories and stories and eventually digging into warm ramekins of piping hot pizzookie and vanilla ice cream. That's the good stuff right there.

I sometimes have the tendency to want to stay home all of the time. I love pajama time and TV time and reading time, and luckily my husband loves the opposite of all of those things too (dress-up time, party time, people time). This weekend was a great balance of the two, because we slept in on Saturday and I caught up on Reign and we were able to spend mealtimes with various friends and family. I call that a win.

frocktober days

Frocktober is still in full swing over here!

I've been getting behind on posting my outfits every day, so I decided to do a combo post of days 13-16. 

We've been a very happy kind of busy over here!

As you know, last weekend we went to Richmond to see Needtobreathe in concert, and this weekend has been even more eventful!

We had fun double dates, some of our favorite friends moved back into town (completely surprising us at a coffee shop with the news), and we went on a weekend trip to the North Carolina State Fair!

I still have some catching up to do this coming week, but it has been a wonderful few days!

 Day 13: Dress (remixed): LOFT, Jacket/Earrings/Shoes: Gifted

I love animal prints of every kind, but this cat dress is definitely one of my favorites.
I tend to reach for it in the Fall, probably because of the deep color and easy layering possibilities. I also love that it has pockets!

Day 14: Dress (remixed): Zulily, Boots (shop!): Urbanog, Sweater: Target (remixed)

My birthday wishlist this year was very boot-heavy. I wanted a collection of colored booties so I could pretty much live in boots for the next 6 months. So far, so good!
I love these grey cowboy booties. I'm really excited to have this new neutral to reach for on boot days!
If you haven't visited Urbanog, I would highly recommend it. It's my go-to for booties, definitely. Occasionally I also find some great flats, and they definitely have a crazy selection of weird platform shoes that remind me of Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (anyone? anyone?) but go straight to the boot section and you won't be disappointed. They sometimes even have shoes and styles from my favorite boutiques, but at much better prices!

Day 15: Dress: LOFT, Necklace (shop!): Ruche

I've had a secret dislike for turtlenecks for many years -- trying to figure out how to fold the neck so it doesn't bunch awkwardly, or stand straight up like a strange giraffe costume, was always my struggle. But something changed in me last year.
Not sure when exactly it happened -- although it might have been this outfit post.
This is actually the only turtleneck I own, because it's the only one I have held on to over the years. It's such a subtle neck, and doesn't bunch awkwardly because it's perfectly ruffled - and is really soft and perfect for layering. I guess I had never really realized turtlenecks are so perfect for layering, but I definitely wore this every day in London and Paris!
I'll definitely be looking for more turtlenecks this winter!

 Day 16: Dress: Bought in London, Boots: Urbanog, Jeans: Forever21

I'm looking forward to the weather continually getting cooler so I can layer more!
Only 11 days left of Frocktober. This month has been speeding by, and I'm not quite ready for all the festivities to end. :)
Look for more Frocktober updates from the last few days, and hopefully I'll be back up-to-date by next weekend!