Striped Shirt {here, here and here} // Joe’s Jeans // Valentino Bag {similar here and here} // Slip on Loafers {affordable ones here, here, and here and the splurge-wrothy ones here}

Happy happy Monday {and last week of February – woot woot!}. Even though my birthday and Valentines Day fall in February, I usually think it’s the worst month of the year because it’s cold, and awful, and snowy and gloomy – but somehow this year we lucked out and it was ridiculously beautiful for a solid few weeks in Chicago. Obviously I’m not a fan of global warming – but this weather has been insane, I even wore a dress last week with bare legs! I may have taken photos to document it since I could barely believe it was real myself 😉

A few weeks ago I headed to Milwaukee to spend a few days with one of my best friends from high school before she moved out to the west coast to go live out her dreams of mountaineering and living somewhere without a real winter. Kate’s lived in Milwaukee for 10 years, and even though I’m just an hour and a half away, I’ve only come to visit her a handful of times {chalk it up to being crazy busy, but I definitely wished I would have visited her more!}. It was so nice to spend the afternoon with her exploring downtown Milwaukee, eating our faces off and drinking a few too many cocktails to celebrate finally getting together again.

There’s nothing more rewarding than spending some much needed time with your favorite ladies – and I’m hoping to make more trips in the near future to visit my girlfriends, even those who happen to live farther away. One of my best friends lives in NYC and I have yet to visit her {sorry Claire, you’re next!} and I also have a few friends in L.A. who I’m planning to see in just a few weekends. It’s the little things like time with your favorite gals that always give you a much needed boost of happy, and I’m trying to make more of an effort to get together with my friends far and wide before life gets even crazier 😉  While I was in Milwaukee I also had the chance to shoot with the oh-so talented Alex Good, an “Instagram friend” {those are real, right?} that I met through blogging a year or so ago. It was so fun to meet her in real life and take some photos now that she’s focusing on photography!

I picked out this casual look that I’ve been living in these days – even though I bought this shirt about 8 months ago and it sat in my closet for months with the tags on it. And now I’m not quite sure why it took me forever to try it on with a comfy pair of jeans, but it’s become my new go-to look for casual days at the office or even weekends out with friends. Plus, I love that this outfit looks good with these pretty and super comfy loafers I just snagged from Target {I’ve been coveting the Gucci ones, but let’s be real – $25 is better than $500}.  I hope you’re all looking forward to a fun week {and don’t have too bad a case of the Monday blues!}. I’m excited to kick off this week and head out a little early with a vacation day on Friday to celebrate Tom’s cousin’s wedding in LA! I’m looking forward to sunny skies and getting a little dressed up to celebrate love, which is always a win-win in my book! xx