Valentine’s Day Outfits: how to dress for the holiday without looking like a greeting card

It’s SO easy to get overly cutesy for Valentine’s Day - February 14th seems to be taking the cheesiness torch from Christmas and turning it up a notch or 100. From stuff bears proclaiming limericks of love, to candy that literally makes your teeth fall out - it’s tough to navigate away from the super sweet side that the holiday brings. 

I do love the idea that the holiday is all about spreading love - but in a much more low-key way.  This extends to dressing festively for the fourteen of February - here are my ways to participate in this hallmark holiday understatedly, and not saccharinely sweet. 

Clothing: for any type of holiday, I tend to stick with my tried and true style, black/white/gray solids and timeless patterns. The most important thing to remember here is if you do experiment with a valentine’s day pattern, especially like this graphic heart sweater, keeping the color palate simple keeps it fresh. 

l to r: t-shirt | jumper | sweater

Accessories: if there’s one place to have a little fun on February 14th, or any holiday for that matter, it’s with accessories. From a scarf tied around a handbag, to an enamel pin decorating your favorite moto jacket, here is the one place where a little heart, or even a little red, is acceptable.

l to r: handbag | scarf | sunglasses

Jewelry: jewelry is another area where a tougher look is a safer look - rugged and grungy really helps to brings your ensemble down to earth. If you do go the rose gold route, make sure the hue is super pale and keep your jewelry uber minimal. 

l to r: ring | earrings (under $10!) | pin

Honorable mention: if there’s one person or group that can pull off a crazy valentine’s day print, it’s the guys. I’m loving this heart print button up, it would be perfectly styled with a black skinny tie, black pants, and moto jacket. 

The word on 2017: create

cre·ate

/krēˈāt/
verb

• bring (something) into existence.
• cause (something) to happen as a result of one's actions.
  • synonyms:    bring about, give rise to, lead to, result in, cause, breed, generate, engender, produce, make for, promote, foster, sow the seeds of, contribute to
• (of an actor) originate (a role) by playing a character for the first time.

Now that it’s February, it seems a bit late to be thinking about resolutions, or focus or even my outlook for the year. But to be honest, like everyone else, I’ve kind of been paralyzed and fascinated/horrified by what’s going on in the world.

Still, I knew I wanted to put some thought around goals for 2017 and every single time I’ve thought about it, I keep coming back to one single word. 

Create.

It’s a word I wear around my neck, a word that’s emblazed on one of my notebooks, and when I think about it, it’s a word that’s come to define my soul. 

When I think about the word create, it means more to me than creating content within this digital ecosystem of ours, it’s more than creating new things, or outfits, or food or whatever to put together, create to me means bringing out something (anything!) with a fresh perspective or for the very first time. Even the very definition of create talks about this, and what I love even more about the Merriam-Webster’s explanation is that creating is the result of one’s actions. 

• Create opportunities to try new things. Sure this is super open-ended, but I’m thinking that instead of saying no or using work as an excuse, it’s time to start saying yes. 
• Create new ways to fail. Yes, fail. I know I'm not going to be great at everything I try, but if I’ve learned anything about failure it’s that there’s always something new to learn from it.
• Create new ways to give back to my community and the world around me. Volunteering, mentoring, advocacy - I'm privileged to be where I am today and I'd like to give back.
• Create consistent conversations with those close to me. No more excuses for not seeing friends and old co-workers, it’s time to be proactive and schedule some “them” time to catch up.
• Create time to take care of myself. Back to that whole workaholic thing, I want to create new ways to stay mentally and physically healthy.
• Create new ways to stay informed. Like everyone, I’m guilty of staying in my own bubble when it comes to digesting news and social media. I’m now a proud subscriber of the New York Times and look forward to diversifying the publications and outlets I read to gain perspective this year. 
• Creating new ways to grow in my career. I love to work and I’m loving the new challenges that my current job entails.  This year I’d love to find more ways to grow my career, be it with new projects, new training, or even a new mentor or two. 
• Creating my own content to share and distribute to the world. Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t be writing this post if I wasn’t trying to hold myself accountable to this one!

So watch out 2017 - I've finally created my resolution for what I want to accomplish this year. Cheers to all the new fun to come!

Links Loved

image via the kitchn

Home

16 Masculine Candles for your Home. For the past year, my fragrance preferences have been leaning towards the masculine side and this is a great round-up of scents (and multiple price points) that I love.

Five Resolutions to Simplify your Tech Life. There are many great tech tips articles going around this type of year, but I love this one the best for it’s tips outside of your current device.

Forget Hygge - This is the Scandinavian Word You Should Live By. If hygge is the trendy-word-of-the-year, this one might be next. And this one has a way better translation (and message)

Work & Career

How to Stop Short Term Thinking at America’s Companies. This piece brilliantly explains handcuffs that budgets and dividends put on corporations, cutting into opportunities for real game-changing innovation. 

Working with Millennials can be a Challenge. You’ve probably seen this video all over your facebook feed, but in case you haven’t, take a look. 

Lifestyle

A Parisian take on the Draping trend. Oh yes, the 80s are back (regardless of what you feel about it). Here’s a way to modernize the 80s sculptural blush look that’s coming back in style in makeup.

Is the matte lip trend on it’s way out? I’m not sure how I feel about this one, while I love a dewy, lush make-up look, I also love my beloved liquid lipsticks.

The Best Masks to Pair with your Garbage TV Shows. I’m including this link because this was the best line I read on the internet this week “The TLC reality show 90 Day Fiancé is a show about love in the same way that an episode of Dateline is about love.”

Clinique’s Latest Chubby Sticks bring a new meaning to Outside the lines. This might be the most genius collab EVER.

Why Does Everyone tell me to take Fish Oil? Blame it on the New Year/New You trend, but an interesting take on vitamins if you’re looking to add them to your repertoire.

Sports

Cabbie Presents: Aaron Rodgers is traded to Canada. Even before No. 12’s amazing throw last weekend, he had another hilarious cameo on Cabbie’s show. Bonus for Olivia Munn paying home to it later! 

Get Game Ready with Kris Letang. I LOVE these behind-the-scenes videos with sports stars, and these looks into home really humanize them even more. This video with Kris Letang does just that. 

Local Love

20 Things to Look forward to in 2017 A great round-up of all of the openings, events, and other happenings we can look forward to in Columbus in 2017. 

It takes two: What gave Fox in the Snow Cafe it’s it? What exactly made Fox in the Snow the place to snap that instagram? 

CCAD Saturday Morning Art Classes. I’ve always secretly wanted to sign-up for one of these classes, I’m a huge fan of CCAD. Now open to adults, here’s a listing! 

January Playlist

image via Alicia Fashionista

Whereas most music playlists for the month of January are all about getting moving, I’ve found that what I’m loving to listen to this month is something I can SING. You know, that anthem you can put on when you’re cleaning the house, sitting in traffic, or just dancing around while no one’s watching. (P.S. - I’m totally that person you see rockin’ out at the stoplight).

Here’s a mix of new and old that I’m loving this month - everything from classic U2 to the best surprise of all - new music from Ed Sheeran!

Links Loved

image via

Happy October!

Amid the flurry of news that's coming out right now, there's one thing for certain:  journalists are KILLING it at the moment. Regardless of how you feel about the upcoming election, it's been awesome to see the revival of old-school reporting from this country's trusted news outlets. The political junkie in me can't get enough of all of the critiques and I'm interested to see how it picks up even more as we get closer to November 8th.

But my consumption of words hasn't just been limited to politics this last month, here's a collection of links worth reading that I've enjoyed.

FOOD

The Beers of Oktoberfest || There's no better season than Oktoberfest. Pat from Pat's Pints ranks Columbus' local brews from best-to-worst in this blind marzen/ festbier taste test. 

Tailgate food done right || If Oktoberfest ranks as the best season, tailgate season is a close second. There's no better tailgate porn that Waiting On Martha's Fall Guide. 

CAREER

Pocket this for later || Don't we all want to work for ourselves someday? I'm loving this advice from some of NYC's coolest CEOs; it's real, useful and super inspiring. 

Keep the best employees || This one really hit home for me with all of the points on the list ringing true. If you're not sure of your current gig, give this one a read. 

Ice Cream #GirlBoss || One of my favourite creative blogs interviews my favourite local entrepreneur. Here's Create Cultivate's interview with Jeni Britton Bauer. 

BEAUTY

The Fountain of Youth? || Could having acne mean you're likely to age slower? (PleaseBeTrue). This study almost sounds too good to be true. 

Metamorphosis || Pony Makeup has some of the most addicting makeup videos on Youtube. But it's her Kylie Jenner transformation that might take the cake - the finished look is a must-see.

FASHION

Black Parade || Yes, yes, yes. I found my head nodding multiple times during Meg's essay on why she wears so much black. (It's totally transformed my wardrobe too.)

Bland Carpet || Blame it on branding or blame it on a lack of risks. Similar to my Emmy's post, this article asks "How Did the Red Carpet Get So...Bad?"

EXTRAS

Know Yourself || Allie's blog is one of my top local faves and her openness about personality and goals in this post is so honest. A great reflection on knowing your strengths and weaknesses. 

Exit Interview || A presidential historian interviews an exiting second-term President. We're going to miss President Obama.