Lately

Fleece Pullover

You're about to see all of the cozy things I've worn this week because it has been COLD! 

Down Robe

Cabbage Necklace

Loving this hand cream more than Aesop! SYDNEY15 for 15% off. Smells amazing. 

Earrings// Sweater// Lipgloss (loving this one in deluxe mauve)

Sweater

This week was...unexpected. This weekend, I came down with some sort of 24-hour stomach bug. I can't tell if it was food poisoning or the stomach flu, but either way, it was miserable. I felt 100% back to normal on Monday morning which I am so thankful for! We hosted Buddy this weekend (my parent's pup) and Henry and Buddy were adorable laying right up against me all night when I wasn't feeling well. SO sweet. I am so glad I got a photo of it. Dogs are the very best. 

Then, my grammie had to have emergency surgery. I won't go into any more details as they are not my details to share, but I was so worried. She is recovering well. If you pray, I would deeply appreciate it if you could say a prayer for strength and continued healing for my Grammie! We are going to visit her today! 

We were supposed to go to Kentucky this weekend for Keeneland, but we canceled the trip, given everything going on with my grammie. I am bummed, sure, but it was the right decision and we'll get back to Keeneland another time! Family is always the most important thing. 

Coat// Jeans (30% off with code SALETIME)// Flats

Wearing: I snagged this coat on major sale this summer and I took it to the tailor as it was too big. I finally got it back and I LOVE it. If you order in this year's plaid, size down, it runs big! Also, I've been wearing these wide leg black jeans nonstop because they are SO comfortable! 

Are you following me on the LikeToKnowIt app?! You can shop all of my outfits, favorite finds, and more in the app. I am constantly updating it with the latest! You can also access all of my posts, here, if you don't use LTK! You can also find me on ShopMy, another shopping platform! 

Sweater (code FALL15 might still work!)// Corduroys// Flats
Earrings

Wearing II: I love wearing color but I tend to lean toward more neutrals in the fall and winter. I loved this outfit that I wore this week because it's colorful but still feels very seasonal! 

Eating: I shared my escarole and beans soup recipe! Its SO good and could not be easier to make! 

Sale: 30% off J.Crew full price items with code SALETIME. They just dropped so many gorgeous new arrivals this week! 

Watching: My sister recommended 'Dark Matter' on Apple TV and we started it this week. We are only about 1.5 episodes in but like it so far. It's a bit confusing at first, but good... feels a little sci-fi/dystopian. 

Listening: Have you all heard of Max McNown? This song popped up on my Instagram, and I can't get enough of it! It makes me feel old saying this, but I feel like there is a whole new generation of bands out there right now that are doing our generation's Lumineers vibes... Noah Kahn is one of the most popular right now. I'm here for it because I feel like there was a lag of that folksy guitar music missing for years!

 

Pajamas (use code SYDNEY15)

Loving: This pajama brand is amazing. These are a stretchy jersey material but somehow so warm. I love the wider leg fit and the cardigan-style top! I'm wearing a medium, the same size I get in Lake! 

Wanting: This brown corduroy dress is calling my name and under $100! The sweetest pair of holiday hand towels! Love this fleece pullover and this sweater pullover... very apres chic! I'm already thinking ahead to the holidays if you can't tell and I'm ordering these bows for our tree! The most beautiful and timeless black dress. The color of these cords are gorgeous! The cutest under $40 silver shoes that are perfect for the holidays. How about these fun bow heels, too?! I foresee these ADORABLE plaid pajamas selling out. I am considering them for our matching holiday pajamas we do every year for my mom, sister, and me! The martini gal in me loves these earrings!

Amazon Rec: Ordering these boots and this cutting board! 

You can find more of my Amazon favorites, here on my Amazon page where I am constantly updating it with all of my finds and top picks from home, beauty, fashion, and more!

Body Wash

Smelling: I have been enjoying this body wash. It's in a huge bottle with a pump and is inexpensive. I used the gray bottle which smelled good, but I think this blue bottle that I recently got, smells better. It doesn't smell luxurious like Salt and Stone, but this is a fraction of the cost and smells good! This is unisex scent so my husband can use it, too. I still like to treat myself to the pricier stuff from time to time. 

Traveling: We have no travel plans in the near future but I'm starting to plan 2025. Where should we go?! We are thinking Portugal! 

Quoting: 'Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.'- Leo Buscaglia // See more of my favorites, here.

This content may contain affiliate links; when you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no cost to you). 

Halloween Costume Idea: Eloise At The Plaza

Blouse// Skirt with Suspenders (similar)// Shoes

Knee Socks// Skiperdee Turtle (similar)// Weenie, too

Similar Red Bow

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I would re-share this rawther fabulous Halloween costume idea I put together! You can see my fun little video here. 

I got all of the stuff for this costume from Amazon (I already had the pajamas), so it was quick and easy to get it all together. 

My mostly companion, Henry, claimed Skiperdee Turtle as his own, and he is now long gone! This is a cute little Weenie, too!

If you want to get an Eloise-something for yourself, I have this 'ultimate' book, which is all of the Eloise books in one big book that makes a great coffee table book! I always give this board book as a shower gift if someone is having a girl! 

For the skirt, you could just add ribbons over your shoulders to look like suspenders if you already have a black skirt at home! 

The red bow is just ribbon I tied onto a headband, but if you want an actual headband, this looks like it could be a good option! 

If you don't know of Eloise, it is a children's story written and illustrated by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight in the late 1950s. Eloise is a precocious 6-year-old girl living in the Plaza Hotel with her nanny, a turtle named Skiperdee, and a pug named Weenie. The stories follow all of Eloise's misadventures in the Plaza Hotel. 

The movie came out in the early 2000s, and I ate it all up! I love Eloise's wild and free spirit, the doses of pink in the illustrations, and the fabulous lifestyle of a mere 6-year-old! It's all fun and whimsical, and I always say she is my 'spirit animal.' As an adult, I think Eloise would eat Taco Bell off of Herend china, just like me.

Honestly, the outfit she wears is pretty darn easy to recreate. As a grown woman, I look quite silly in it, but I think that is half the fun of Halloween! I've never been into dressing up in anything scary or anything too out of my personality, so this just felt right! 

Pink Striped Pajamas (old), Similar here!

Holiday Beauty Sets I Am Loving

Lip Vinyl in Spiced Pink

Earrings// Cashmere Sweater

'Tis the season for holiday items and gift sets to start popping up. I fully realize and agree it is too soon for the holiday season. I'm soaking up every bit of fall this year, but time is creeping by, and it will be here before we know it. 

Brands do not wait, and so many have already started releasing holiday items. I won't lie; it's fun browsing, even now. The holidays make me happy and bring me joy so I figure why not! 

When it comes to beauty, though, the early bird really does get the worm, as many of the best gift sets sell out before we even get a chance to don our Halloween costumes... especially at Sephora (though we are not chatting Sephora today)! Quite frankly, it doesn't need to be the holiday season for me to snag a good beauty set. They are typically the best value, and I love that they give me a chance to try things I otherwise would not have! For example, my husband just ordered his favorite moisturizer for the same price that he typically pays, but it is a larger size and came with under-eye patches. I'm excited to try those under-eye patches, ha! He would have purchased it anyway, so getting the gift set version is nice. If you are ordering a beauty product from now through the holiday season, double-check to see if it comes in a gift set! 

I took it upon myself to order two gift sets to test out. My favorite way to utilize a holiday gift set is to break it up into individual gifts. It makes the gifting much more affordable! If you are in charge of anyone's stocking, this is a great way to get variety and quality for a great price. 

I love the Tarte lip plump in poppy. It is the lip color I wear most often. You can see me apply it, here. The formula blends a balm, gloss, and lipstick. It's the perfect amount of color for daily wear and feels great on my lips. So, I saw this lip set containing four of those lip products in different shades. They are regularly $26 per lip product. All 4 in the set come out to $45. But I saw my code, SUMMERWIND, worked on this product and brought the total to under $40. So, less than $10 per lip product! I ordered them immediately and loved trying them. The set has two lip plumps, lip oil, and lip vinyl. The colors you see on my lips in these photos are the colors included in the lip set! 

Lip Oil in Cool Mauve

Lip Plump in Rose Quartz Shimmer Glass

Lip Plump in Buffed Rose

4 Lip Products Gift Set under $40 with code SUMMERWIND

This is what the packaging looks like when you receive it. So you can split it into two sets or just 4 individual colors if you are giving them as a gift! It was my first time trying the lip vinyl and lip oil products. The lip oil feels great on the lips and is much more like a balm than the others. The lip vinyl is not as creamy as the others and feels more like lipstick with more opaque color! 

Eyeshadow, Lip Liner, and Lip Plump Gift Set under $40 with code SUMMERWIND

This is the other set I ordered. It's also $45 full price and my code works on this making it under $40. I have recently started to wear eyeshadow. As I get older, I feel like my face needs more color. I've never really worn eyeshadow but have been liking it lately! The top left color in the palette is the most beautiful shimmery gold shade. It's buildable so you can use it lightly all over your lid to brighten. The bottom right color is perfect for eyeliner. I mostly use powder and an angled brush to apply eyeliner vs. a pencil because I think it looks more natural. The other shades are all gorgeous. This palette contains colors you can use daily and colors to amp things up on the weekends. 

The lip color in this set is mixed berry. The color reminds me a bit of Dior lip glow 'berry'. The lip liner is so pretty and a great daily color. It glides nicely. I'm very pleased with this set and feel that it's a great value! 

Holiday Chest

Under $150 with my code SUMMERWIND

This blog post is not sponsored but I worked with Dermstore on Instagram to share their holiday chest. I thought I would share it here, too, because it's truly a crazy good value. This chest is filled with 21 products and 10 are full size. The Skinceuticals product alone is $110, just to give you an idea! This is another set that would make an amazing gift but also can be broken down into many individual gifts. The 11 mini size products are perfect for travel. You could give those in a little cosmetic case for the avid traveler in your life and it would be adorable!

My code SUMMERWIND *should* continue to be active through the end of the year, which is awesome. I've been using it time and again as it's often even better than prices when the Sephora sale is going on! The code changes periodically on the products and brands that it works on. I get no notice or details so you just have to check the code at checkout to see if it works on a product in your cart. The discount can vary by brand and product, too, but it works on SO many things. 

Recipe: Escarole and Bean Soup

One of my favorite Italian dishes is greens and beans. It's such a simple dish, but because of the beans, it's very satisfying. I also love escarole; you don't see many dishes with that ingredient! Escarole is a leafy green that looks similar to lettuce. The flavor is bitter, kind of like arugula (another fave of mine). Greens and beans are made with a broth, but only a little. This made me think this would be a delicious soup if there was more broth! So I started making a list of what I thought would be good in a 'greens and beans' soup. I mulled it over for a few days and finally got the ingredients. 

Since I made this up off the top of my head, I assumed I would have to make tweaks after my first try. However, this was one of the best things I've ever made, and I nailed it on the first try. My husband agreed it was insanely good. I could not recommend this more. So here is what you will need... 

Ingredients

1 can northern beans

1 can cannellini beans

4 cloves garlic

1 yellow onion

1 celery bunch

1 container of Chicken Stock

1lb Mild Italian ground sausage

1 large head of escarole

Parmesan cheese

Black Pepper

Garlic Salt

Red chili flakes

Yields 6 large portions

I cooked all of this in one pan, my Staub Dutch oven. It took me about an hour from start to finish. 20 minutes of that time was just the soup simmering, so I wasn't actually doing anything. The only time-consuming part is washing the escarole and chopping the veggies. I removed each leaf of escarole (I recommend organic), scrubbed it with my hands, rinsed it, and then laid it on a towel to dry. You could soak the escarole, but the head of escarole I found at Whole Foods was larger than my sink! Otherwise, this is quick and easy. This is such a hearty and brothy soup; I loved it SO much. The flavor had so much depth. This soup is also easily modifiable to suit your own dietary preferences/needs and is the perfect fall and winter dish. 

Directions

1. Finely chop one yellow onion, a few celery stalks, and four (ish) garlic cloves. 

2. Brown 1 lb of ground mild Italian sausage.

3. Once browned, add in onion, celery, and garlic on low-medium heat, add in a drizzle of olive oil (for flavor)

4. Once the onion and celery begin to look translucent, rinse both cans of beans and add to the pot. 

5. Immediately after adding the beans, add the entire container of chicken stock, keep on low heat, and let it simmer. I added a few parmesan rinds to the broth that I had sitting in my freezer. This adds a bit of flavor but is not necessary (you remove them once cooking is done). 

6. Slowly add in a full head of escarole. Escarole can be hard to find. I found mine at Whole Foods. Be sure to wash well beforehand. It wilts down quickly, so I added a bunch, let it wilt down, and added more.

7. Add a generous amount of cracked black pepper and chili flakes (if you like spice). The spice is SO good in this soup.

8. Add a pinch or two of garlic salt. The mild Italian sausage adds a good amount of flavor, so you really don't have to add a ton of seasonings. And this is coming from someone who loves well-seasoned food. 

9. Let this simmer for 20ish minutes to allow all the flavors to combine. 

10. Before serving, add a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese and let it melt into the broth. 

11. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan on top. It tastes delicious with crusty bread! 

We ate this over the course of a few days. It was so good that we didn't have any leftovers to freeze, but I think it would freeze well. I could not recommend this recipe more; it's one of the best things I've ever made!