the most wonderful time of the year

It's such a cliche, but I just love the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The winter weather is just starting, all the good sales are going on, you get to buy presents for all your loved ones, and you get to decorate for the holidays! I love Christmas decorations, and basically insist that we keep our Christmas lights up on our house until mid February. Unfortunately because we are traveling still quite a bit until December, and because CR isn't even back to living at home until January, we are not getting a Christmas tree this year.

Luckily, I still got some of that Christmas tree excitement when we stopped by one of my favorite spots in Rochester, the Pittsford Dairy, this past weekend. They had all of their trees and decorations out, which gave me just that amount of holiday cheer I needed. For our adventures that day, I wore my new Lucky boots - they are a bit higher than normal to the knee boots, and are lined partially with this amazing faux fur that adds a bit of warmth. I thought they paired perfectly with my Woolrich coat. I've long admired the classic American style of the company, and since I've spent the last three years living and working in PA, I'm excited to finally own a piece of this US based company. Thanks to a great coupon code on Shoebuy, I got both for a steal! They currently have a 30% off sale (+ free shipping!) with code DECEMBER30 (some restrictions apply) that runs from now until 12/18/16 (11:59PM). 

Coat: Woolrich c/o Shoebuy [exact]

Sweater: Loft 

Pants: Express [exact]

Shoes: Lucky c/o Shoebuy [exact]

Scarf: Nordstrom [similar]

Thank you to ShoeBuy and ShopStyle for sponsoring this post!

catch ya later

This will hopefully be the last winter pictures of the year! Winter is always hard for blogging - I've always lived in places with true winters, so trying to get pictures in between snow storms, early darkness, and ugly backgrounds, it's always been tough. I think this year was the hardest winter yet though, as I've spent the majority of it in scrubs and/or in the hospital before 7. 

So needless to say, I'm so ready for more sunlight, pretty flowers, and not having to wear boots all the time (as much as I love them). I'm thinking about picking up a few pairs of colorful or patterned flats to add to the mix - something like these floral pointed toe flats that are cute but versatile. I'm just imagining them with skinny jeans and a flowy white blouse. Cute, right?

On a side note, today is Match Day (the day that 4th year medical students find out where they will be going for their residency)! I've been a wreck all day knowing that this is happening in 52 weeks. I'm just so nervous! To any of you 4th years out there - congrats!!! (and please pass along any tips you have!).

Sweater: Nordstrom [cute ruffled option]

Pants: Express [exact]

Scarf: Nordstrom [exact on sale!]

Purse: Michael Kors c/o Shopbop [similar]

Boots: Vince Camuto [exact]

ps. there's a ton of great sales going on right now for winter items. Below are a few coats/sweaters/boots that you can pick up for a steal. My personal favorite is the Cole Haan wrap jacket - it's so pretty!

one | two | three | four

five | six | seven | eight

third times a charm

I actually wore this outfit three times before I managed to get some pictures of it - the first time it started snowing right before I left for work, the second time the lighting in the pictures was way off, and by the third time I wore it, I was just not going to let some extra sunniness stop me. While not my favorite set of pictures ever, I did love the outfit enough to wear it three times within three weeks ;)

I'm on my third day of OB, and it just feels right being there - I love being on a rotation that I've done because I know my place in the care team, I know how I can be helpful (and when to stay out of the way!), and it really has been a great time to work on skills. If you follow along on snapchat (@fhasselhof), you probably heard about how CR and I have completely different schedules right now - he's working in the emergency department this month, and his hours have varied every day, but we basically haven't really seen each other since the rotation started. Good practice for the future, I suppose ;)

Coming up in the next few days will be another review post, mostly about work pants, which are the absolute worst thing to shop for. 

Blouse: Loft [similar]

Pants: Express [exact]

Boots: Vince Camuto [exact]

Scarf: Nordstrom [exact on sale!]

Watch: c/o Larsson & Jennings [exact]

Lipstick: Clinique [exact in fab pop - review here]

ps. now that it's warmer out (it was 70 today!), there are so many great winter items on major sale! Below are three pairs of boots that are 35-45% off the original price. My pair of boots is on sale too, although I could totally pick up that classic pair of Vince Camuto boots below - so pretty!

one | two | three

all staples, no flash

I'm in the process of writing a "what are my closet staples" post, and I realize now that that every single item in this outfit is in that category. From my second pair of ponte pants to cognac boots to a neutral oversized scarf, these are items I grab for over and over again. While they aren't always the most exciting items, they are the ones I'm most loyal to!

Blouse: Banana Republic [cute similar on sale]

Pants: Express [exact - review here]

Boots: Vince Camuto [exact]

Jacket: Old Navy [similar below]

Scarf: Nordstrom [exact]

Watch: Michael Kors [save | exact]

and because my Old Navy coat is older and no longer available, here are three options in three price ranges. I think my favorite is the spend version, which comes in three colors and is marked down!

save (<$25) | spend (<$100) | splurge (< $200)

ps. sorry for the lack of pictures where my head isn't chopped off or down - it was super windy this day, and my camera died within a minute of taking pictures! but with a lack of days to take pictures currently, I still wanted to share this set of pictures because I loved the outfit :)