Happy Thursday, friends! Usually I share this round-up on Friday, but I’m hopping on a flight back to Kansas first thing this morning and I know a bunch of you will be traveling too and figured you could use some reading material to get you through.I can’t believe I’m going to be back home for a full week! Tonight I’ve got a big dinner out in Kansas City with my best girls at one of my favorite local spots and then I’m spending a few nights at my best friend Whitney’s before I’m off to Topeka to see my Dad’s side of the family. After that I’m meeting my little sister and niece in Manhattan and we’re making the drive out to Colby (wayyyy out in Western Kansas, if you’re not familiar, which I don’t expect you to be as it’s a town of about 5,000 people) where I’ll be with my Mom’s side through the Christmas holiday. Looking forward to spending a day out in Golden before flying out of Denver on Wednesday night, too! It’s going to be an absolute whirlwind, but I’m rested, ready, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I noticed some things still look a little funky on my site after the fiasco I created last week. Long story short, I got click-happy on the backend and updated to the newest version of WordPress (which is apparently full of bugs) and basically broke my blog. That led to me spending several hours going back and forth with my host to restore the old version of my site. Everything looked fine after they loaded the old files until yesterday so I’m not exactly sure what’s up. I’m going to try not to worry about it too much until I’m back from my trip, but I’m hoping everything will be back to normal soon!

I shared this outfit on my Instagram stories and got a lot of questions about it and thought I’d post it here so it had a more permanent place to live. I’ve been wearing this $13 turtleneck with everything in my closet (love it tucked into my favorite black jeans!) and have been wearing it with a wool mini skirt (sold out in most sizes right now, but hopefully they do a restock!), opaque tights, and suede OTK boots any chance I can get (if you’re looking for a pair of boots that hit even higher up on the leg, the options are endless). Oh, and my monogrammed phone case is by TDE! They have a lot of great options in terms of design and color combos – I really want the striped version next! And it’s pretty durable, which is a must for me (you all know my track record with phones is far from perfect).Song of the week: Cul De Sac – Duncan Fellows. I saw them play on a whim earlier this year and love their funky style. Turn it up and listen as you browse this week’s links 🙂

AROUND THE WEB/WORLD:

• The best things to do in Chicago during the winter! Are you checking any of these off over the next week?!
• Clara’s advice in this video was so on point and, admittedly, something I really needed to hear.
• I don’t like to drink my sugar (much prefer to eat it in the form of Christmas cookies, to be honest). Loved these tips on how to keep it in check when ordering drinks this holiday season. 
• I mentioned that I’m going to a black tie event at the end of January and have been tasked ( 😉 ) with finding the perfect dress. I came across Nova Octo this week, which looks like an upscale Rent the Runway, and fell head over heels for this metallic gown.
• I got my new carry-on luggage in the mail and am already putting it to good use. Two gals reached out on Instagram asking if I could do a review on it, so I’m planning to put together a post highlighting my travel essentials for January!
• I was recently introduced to Positive Pretzels and I’m hooked. The honey flavored pretzels are just so good. Like eat a whole bag in one sitting good. And the sea salt are great dipped in hummus, too! They sell them in select Whole Foods around the Midwest now and I’m really happy to have a new snack to add to my arsenal that isn’t made with overly processed ingredients. 
• My down comforter is on major sale right now (side note: just got mine dry cleaned and it looks brand new).
• A little to me, from me. Something I’ve been very good at as of late. I ordered this PJ set yesterday! My Eberjey sleep shirt is the softest thing I own and I’ve been wanting to get the top and shorts for when I don’t want to wear long sleeves to bed. The pop of red against the pink is too good!
• I feel like Free People is one of those brands that’s either a really big hit or a really big miss for me (not because of quality, but more so the overall style of the brand). I’m loving this light pink sweater and pink pom hat from them (and am definitely sensing a color trend with the lighter hues).
• I think this dress would be perfect for New Years Eve!
• Pretty much everyone I know in Chicago owns a Canada Goose parka, but considering the price tag, I haven’t pulled the trigger just yet. If you have one, I’d love to hear what you think!

SHOP THE POST:

Are you headed anywhere for the holidays? Whatever you’re up to, I hope it’s the best. I’ll be sharing in real-time over on Instagram stories, so be sure to follow along there!