Dress: Nordstrom (also comes in black) // Shoes: Steve Madden // Bag: Old Navy

I think we can all agree that suede is amongst the softest fabrics to wear. While suede has made its way into my closet in the past years, it was typically in the form of shoes or purses…until now. When I set eyes on this faux suede dress I had to have it. The fabric that once made for the perfect accent as an accessory is becoming my favorite focal point of a look. While this is faux suede, it certainly does not look or feel cheap. I love the fit and the mock neck. Pair it with a cardigan over top or a fitted long sleeve shirt underneath for some extra warmth. I love pairing different fabrics so I went with leather booties, and a leather jacket would also work well if you need to add a layer! This dress is perfect for your next girls night out, date night, or even Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Friday, friends! I know I mentioned that I may finally visit some wedding venues last weekend BUT that never happened, I’m the worst at wedding planning. I promise as soon as I press ‘Publish’ on this post I am going to call a few venues that we hope to visit on Sunday. Hope you have some fun weekend plans!

I have to admit that this post wasn’t exactly planned but when I started to casually browse the Nordstrom Fall Clearance Sale today I thought I’d be doing you all a disservice if I didn’t share all the good deals!  I’ve picked through hundreds of pages of sales items so that you don’t have to.  Oh, and all my picks are under $100 so your wallet won’t completely despise me.  I was so happy to see that a few of my purchases (see this post) from the Anniversary Sale are discounted again and this time I can actually speak to how well they wear.  This coat was my favorite purchase from the Anniversary Sale and it’s currently over $70 off.  I have the camel color which is the perfect neutral but it does also come in gray and black. If you’re looking for a classic coat that won’t go out of style anytime soon then I highly recommend it!  Another favorite are these jeans which I’ve already worn a ton of times and they have not lost their shape, a win in my book. Also, if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you may know that I am a huge fan of Zella leggings.  There are always a few included in the Nordstrom sales and I make sure to take advantage of that.  They are honestly my favorite leggings of all time.  I have a black pair for everyday wear and two pairs for working out.  I am loving this pair that is part of the sale.  Without further ado/ramblings you can shop all my favorite finds in the collage below.  Simply click the images to shop!

Jeans: Old Navy // Top: Shop the Mint c/o // Booties: Similar // Bag: Old Navy

Happy (casual) Friday!  By the time the weekend rolls around I am more than ready to slip into jeans & a tee.  This tunic (I’m wearing it tucked) from Shop the Mint has ‘weekend’ written ALL over it.  A good baseball tee will never truly go out style and if it does I’ll work wonders to bring it back.  This one is the best for lounging and the length works well for leggings which is always a win in my book.  I mean, the only thing more comfortable than an oversized baseball tee is an oversized baseball tee AND leggings, obvs.  It comes in TONS of colors and is 50% off.  You can shop all the tunics right here, and you’ll live comfortably (and happily) ever after.

I am so excited for a relaxing weekend!  We may even visit some wedding venues.  Yup, it’s been over 2 months since we got engaged and I’ve done nada.  Honestly I’ve never wanted a big wedding, mostly because I can’t bear the thought of being the center of attention, so wedding planning has not been top priority.  My attention is really focused on how to elope without upsetting our families, haha kidding…kinda.

Dress: Target // Scarf: Similar ; Similar// Boots: Saks Off 5th // Bag: Old Navy

I am SO excited for boot season.  Ankle booties, mid-calf booties, riding boots, rain boots, snow boots, OTK boots…I’ll take a few of each, please.  While I still love all of my boots from last season I can’t help but to add a few new pairs to the collection.  I recently purchased these ankle booties, they are such a steal and the perfect neutral color.  In addition to my never ending collection of booties I had to add a pair of OTK boots into the mix.  While black boots would probably be the most practical as far as matching with most of my wardrobe, I couldn’t resist this gray shade.  You may recall me talking about another pair of OTK boots in this post.  I was so happy to find those boots but when I requested an exchange for the black pair they were already sold out in my size!  Luckily I found these just a couple months later and they are almost identical minus the strong brown hues mixed in with the gray.  They are quite the bargain at 60% off.  Considering the drop in temps this week you’ll definitely see me styling these with jeans verrrrrry soon.

Anybody else itching for the weekend?  Last weekend flew by for me.  My sister, brother in law, niece and nephew came for a visit.  My sister and brother in law had a wedding in the area Saturday night so I was left babysitting my niece and nephew, while also dog sitting Jeremy’s family dog…oh and my little fur baby was in the mix as well.  To top it off Jeremy was at a bachelor party all weekend.  My Saturday night was a blur of barking dogs, ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ on Youtube, and the Disney pandora station.  Needless to say I am craving some down time this coming weekend.  Happy Friday-eve, lovelies!

Dress: Nordstrom // Jacket: J. Crew Factory (50% off!) // Slip-ons: H&M // Bag: Kate Spade Outlet; Similar

Fall for me is all about layering.  I tend to still wear some of my favorite summer items and simply add a few layers for warmth.  I’m all about getting the most bang for my buck so if I can wear my clothes year round thats a big win in my book.  All my favorite tank tops can be layered under long cardigans and I still have some dresses that work well in the cooler temps.  This dress was a favorite of mine over the Summer and sadly this olive color, which is perfect for Fall, is sold out but it’s still available in black which is obviously works well year round!  If you’re swooning over olive hues this Fall this dress is a great option.  It was a bit warmer when I took these photos so a simple jean jacket (this one is the very best!) and slip-on sneakers did the trick but as the temperatures drop even lower I’ll be swapping the sneakers for booties and adding a scarf into the mix.

Dress: Topshop // Shoes: DSW // Bag: Similar

This isn’t my first little black dress themed post and it certainly won’t be my last.  I am pretty sure my closet will never have enough of them but my most recent find is one of my favorites to date.  This slip dress is so simple making it easy to dress up, as shown below, or down- think tennis shoes and a jean jacket.  I am all for versatility and this has me covered, literally (well, somewhat). I have been purchasing a lot of great pieces from Topshop (via Nordstrom) lately and have not been disappointed.  I’ll be wearing this tank under all my cardigans this Fall, and this is another keeper that I’ve received several compliments on.  I will say that as a European brand I find most of the items to run a bit small.  My hips don’t lie but the size on the tags of this dress do, or so I tell myself. I also have to mention this new beauty of a bag.  I am such a sucker for the Kate Spade Outlet sales.  Every so often the entire store is 40% off and then…an extra 20% off!  When a bag is over $200 off you buy it and don’t look back, unless you see another one that you want.

 Shop The Post:

A month ago we ventured out on our first trip to Italy.  If you follow along on Instagram you may have seen some snippets from our adventure but today’s post is a full recap of our entire trip! I have yet to write a post like this so if I leave anything out/you have any questions leave a comment and I’ll be sure to respond.

The most common response I received from friends, family and coworkers when I told them about our trip was “You planned it yourselves?” While it does get a tad exhausting to map out travel plans, especially to several cities, I love doing the research it definitely gets me even more excited for the trip. We first figured out which cities were on our list to visit and then how many days we would need in each city. We chose Rome, the region of Tuscany and lastly Venice. We also planned to take day trips to Pisa and Florence while we were staying in Tuscany. Yay for crossing more cities off our list!  I’ll break this post down by each city/town that was stayed in, what hotel we stayed in and what activities we did on each leg of the trip.

ROME

The Colosseum

St. Peter’s Basilica

Dress: Loft // Sandals: Urban Outfitters // Bag: Old Navy

We started our trip in Rome as we found it was the cheapest airport to fly into.  It was actually even cheaper to fly into Milan but since that wasn’t a top destination on our list we nixed that option.  We landed at about 12:30pm on a Thursday afternoon and stayed in Rome until Saturday.  This gave us just barely two days to explore the city and check out the major historical sites.  It was busy but very doable.  We actually took a red-eye flight from NY and neither of us slept much so after getting checked into the hotel and committing to resisting a nap, our first stop was iced coffee.  That was the first and last iced coffee in Italy.  It was a bit of a struggle to find good coffee in Italy as they seem to serve it sweetened and I do not drink any sugar in my coffee….in case anyone was wondering about my coffee struggles.

Where We Stayed:

Boutique Hotel Roma

Our hotel was walkable from the train station (about 1 mile) and there were lots of restaurants within walking distance.  We did have to take the train to Vatican City but we were able to walk from the hotel to the Colosseum and to the Trevi Fountain.  The room itself was pretty small, but I did read that small rooms are quite common in Rome.  Breakfast was included and they did in fact have American style coffee…score!  Our only complaint/concern about the hotel was the owners request to have the keys dropped at the front desk every time we left the room.  It was a bit strange to us to have to leave our room key with the front desk.  We were told that it was safer with them in case we lose it while we are out exploring.  Fortunately we voiced our concerns about this policy and were allowed to travel around with the key.

What We Did:

Being that we had limited time in Rome I made a list of each place we needed to visit and attempted to plan it all out once we arrived.  The hotel gave us a map and some tips on how to get to each attraction.  We visited the following:

• Trevi Fountain- It was very crowded but a must see.  We didn’t spend much time there because of the amount of people but had it been less crowded I would have opted to grab some gelato and sit around the fountain for a bit.
• Colosseum- You must buy tickets to enter but you don’t necessarily need to purchase them in advance.  We visited the Colosseum around 4 o’clock the day we arrived in Rome.  We waited in line for 20-30 minutes in order to buy tickets and enter.  It was definitely a site to see and we didn’t need more than an hour to explore.
• St. Peter’s Basilica/Vatican City- If you are visiting Vatican City I highly recommend going to St. Peter’s first.  On the way out you can buy tickets for the Vatican Museum which will save you from waiting in line.  I was quite confused while researching prior to our trip but we found that no tickets are required to get into Vatican City and St. Peter’s yet you will need a ticket for the Vatican museum.  We paid a little more in order to purchase tickets for a certain time slot.  When we arrived at the museum we were SO glad we decided to do that as the line (which was all outside) was pretty long and it was in the 80’s that day.
• Vatican Museum/Sistine’s Chapel (the Chapel is within the museum)-  Many people were on guided tours or using audio tours but we were totally fine exploring at our own pace.

**For both St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum you must wear appropriate attire.  This means covering your knees and shoulders.  There is a chance of being turned away.  I opted for a midi dress and a light scarf which I wrapped around my shoulders.

I should note that we were able to accomplish all this within the two days because we did not take any guided tours.  There are guided tours of many of these historical sites yet they are often long and may require advanced booking.  We both prefer to tour the sites at our own pace, but that’s just our personal preference.  If you enjoy guided tours I suggest researching options before your trip.

Our Favorite Restaurant:

My most memorable meal in Rome was at Sofia.  I honestly can’t remember the name of my dish but if I could rename it I’d call it ‘pure deliciousness.’

TUSCANY

Antinori Winery (Dress: H&M & also comes in black)

Sunflower Fields in Cerbaia

Castellina in Chianti

a quick stop in Livorno with this model

The Duomo

View from Piazalle Michelangelo

 strolling through Florence

A smidgen of the leaning tower of Pisa

Tuscany is a very large region and I struggled when researching the best place to stay.  There are so many small towns and some larger cities.  We were slightly limited because we booked our trip so last minute, it was kind of a blessing because had we had endless options I may have taken weeks to decide on a place to stay.  We ended up in Castellina in Chianti.  I promise I based my decision off of more than just my love for Chianti.  This small town is about 40 minutes from Florence and 90 minutes from Pisa.  While researching Tuscany I quickly learned that we would be doing a fair amount of driving regardless of the town we chose to stay in, mostly because we wanted to explore more than just the one town itself.

Where We Stayed:

Hotel Colle Etrusco Salivolpi for 3 nights and Borgo Di Pietrafitta Relais for 1 night.  The two hotels were roughly 7 minutes apart but I couldn’t resist staying at Borgo Di Petrafitta Relais for the one night because it had an amazing infinity pool overlooking the countryside.  They did not have full availability for the entire time we were in the area which is why I chose the first hotel for a few nights.  This actually worked out well as we found that Hotel Colle Etrusco Salivolpi had better customer service.  We stayed in a one bedroom apartment at Borgo Di Petriafitta and I would definitely recommend it if you’re visiting the area and looking to have some meals within your room.  It would also work well for families as there was plenty of space within the apartment as well as a game room and grill for barbequing on the property.

What We Did:

We had three full days in Tuscany and decided to make the very best of it.  We arrived on a Saturday and chose to enjoy some wine at the hotel before driving into town (also walkable) for dinner.

• Pisa- On Sunday we drove out to Pisa for a day of exploring.  We actually found the town to be a bit underwhelming but the Leaning Tower of Pisa was on our list of things to see.  After visiting the tower we took a quick drive out to the coast in Livorno where we walked around the Terrazza Mascagni, a checkerboard print stone terrace, on the waterfront.
• Florence– On Monday we headed into Florence to see the Duomo and explore the city.  We didn’t take the opportunity to climb the Duomo because it was extremely hot that day and I have read that it is a bit of a narrow stairway.  We opted to take in a view of the city from Piazzale  Michelangelo.  That night we ate one of our favorite meals before heading back to Chianti. Details on that below!
• Winery Tour and Tasting- What’s a trip to Tuscany without a winery tour?  We toured the Antinori Winery, one of the largest producers of wine in Italy.  It was definitely the most modern place we visited in Tuscany.  The establishment is hidden on top of a hill and was 100x larger than we expected.  This is a huge production and we were able to take an hour tour of the facility.  We did book this about 2 days in advance on their website .  There is a restaurant located on the rooftop of the winery but unfortunately we did not have time to stay for a bite to eat.
• sunflower field- This was not planned but I can’t leave it out as it was definitely a highlight of the trip for this sunflower lover!  I had hoped we would see some of the infamous sunflower fields but knew it may not happen as sunflower season had passed and we had driven by several fields of dead sunflowers (may they RIP).  On our drive to Pisa we stopped for breakfast and I grabbed a gelato.  Driving through the Italian countryside with my gelato in hand I was literally telling myself ‘life could not get any better right now’ and BOOM there they were, an endless field of my favorite flowers.  Jeremy knew to immediately pull over so I could frolic amongst the beauty.  The pictures really speak for themselves, this was one of my favorite parts of our trip.

Favorite Restaurants:

Our two favorite meals were at La Taverna di San Guiseppe in Siena and La Giostra in Florence.  Both require reservations.  We saw many parties get turned away from La Giostra if they didn’t have reservations.

VENICE

Gondola after gondola after gondola

Pizza at Rizzo

After dropping our rental car off in Florence we hopped on the train for a two hour ride to Venice.  After lots of sightseeing in Rome and driving throughout Tuscany we were excited to have some downtime in Venice.  We had no plans other than to walk the mazes streets and explore the city…one pizzeria at a time.

Where We Stayed:

Our last two nights in Italy were spent at the Duodo Palace Hotel and it ended up being my favorite hotel of our trip.  I am quite picky about hotel rooms as I get a little weirded out thinking about how many people sleep in those beds and use those same sheets.  Currently cringing just thinking about it.  Either way, this hotel felt SO clean and we were pleasantly surprised to have landed the only room in the hotel with a balcony overlooking a canal.

What We Did:

• Gondola Ride- This was a must.  I knew it was a bit overpriced at 80 Euro for a half hour but I could not leave Venice without a gondola ride.  It was definitely a tad overrated and our gondolier was on his phone while rowing us around #rude, but it was still a fun memory!  The gondolas are way fancier than I had expected, fur seats and shiny red interior, so lavish.
• Ate food. YUP, we really did just walk around enjoying the last two days of our trip.  It was the perfect ending and we were definitely exhausted by this point.

Favorite Restaurants:

Dal Moro’s – delicious pasta to go and the staff were so friendly!

Rizzo- I cannot find the a website or trip advisor link for the life of me but the pizza here was SO good.

& that’s a wrap! If you are planning a trip and have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out.  I’ll happily live vicariously through your travels…while helping you plan!