By 
The last weekly recap of 2022! I’m also sharing a photo from my 5th annual Elf on the Shelf photoshoot. For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, for the past five Christmases, I have dressed up as a makeshift elf and found a place in or around my parents’ house to sit. It all started in winter of 2018 when my mom pointed out that the red basketball shorts and green jacket I wore to bed looked very elf-like. An elf hat and some (rather annoying) jingling slippers later, a Christmas tradition was born. After the second year I started running out of shelves in the house that would hold my weight, so I’ve migrated to places outside!
Monday, December 26
The family and I spent the morning playing Euchre before my brother, sister-and-law, and I ventured out to the stores to make a few returns. As you can imagine on the day after Christmas, everywhere was packed. My sister-in-law got me cowgirl boots for our Secret Santa exchange. Unfortunately, they were too big, but I was so grateful to have her help me pick out a different pair at Boot Barn. I rarely ever feel overwhelmed shopping, but something about how the shoes in Boot Barn are arranged makes me feel really overwhelmed. I walked out with the cutest pair that I can’t wait to style on the blog!
As for today’s outfit, I thought this wintery combo was really cute. I wore the sweater, jeans, and boots together several times while I was in Nashville at the beginning of December, but today I threw on this cute Loft scarf for a little holiday vibe.
Beige Sweater: Nordstrom Rack, $18 ($0.35 per wear), last worn here | Cropped Flared Jeans: Express, $40 ($1.11 per wear), last worn here | Black Booties: Vivaia, gifted for collaboration, last worn here | Plaid Scarf: Loft, $40 ($2.67 per wear), last worn here
. . . . .
Tuesday, December 27
I never got dressed today… because that’s what you do in the time-warp that is the week between Christmas and New Year’s. My brother, sister-in-law, dad, and I played Settlers of Catan this morning, and then while everyone else ventured off for a drive, I stayed home to take a bath and read. So relaxing! My current apartment doesn’t have a bath, and I didn’t think I would miss that luxury so much.
Wednesday, December 28
I wore the same outfit as Monday, since I hadn’t really done anything or gone anywhere all week. We played Euchre in the morning one last time and then dropped my brother and sister-in-law off at the airport. It’s always so sad when the house is empty again after the holidays.
Thursday, December 29
My last day in Boise turned into an unexpectedly social one. I grabbed breakfast with a high school friend (Moon’s Café downtown has so many yummy GF options!), family friends came over to play Euchre in the afternoon, and then I met up with another high school friend in the evening to grab ice cream.
This is the third time this week I wore these jeans… I had already packed most of my other clothes, so I figured, why not? You’re not supposed to wash jeans after every wear anyway.
Grey Cropped Sweater: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Black Jacket: JCPenney, $62 ($1.05 per wear), last worn here | Cropped Flared Jeans: Express, $40 ($1.08 per wear), last worn here | Black Booties: Vivaia, gifted for collaboration, last worn here | Red Purse: Kate Spade, gift, last worn here
Friday, December 30
I flew Southwest to Boise, so it was a stressful week trying to decide if I should book a different fight back to Denver or cancel it altogether and drive. I am SO fortunate that my original fight ended up leaving, and on time too! It’s terrible how many people were stranded for the holidays.
Once back in Denver, my boyfriend took me home from the airport, and then I almost immediately met up with my friend to host her for the night. She had a long layover in Denver so we basically had a sleepover at my place! It was so much fun to catch up. As is the case with any good travel day outfit, I wore lots of layers on the plane to save space in my suitcase. Today was the maiden voyage of my cowgirl boots and I absolutely love them!!
Red Plaid Button-Down: JCPenney, $18 ($1.80 per wear), last worn here | Beige Sweater: Nordstrom Rack, $18 ($0.34 per wear), last worn here | Skinny Jeans: Express, $42 ($0.76 per wear), last worn here | Cowgirl Boots: Boot Barn, gift
Saturday, December 31
I took my friend to the airport in the morning and then played catch up around my apartment after two weeks away. My boyfriend and I spent the afternoon together before heading to a NYE party at a local hotel! I’ve never gone out for New Year’s (and therefore have never had an excuse to wear a sparkly dress), so I was beyond excited for this event. The party had an open bar, table games, live music, and one of those photobooths where you stand on a pedestal and the camera spins around you. It was such a blast. The only thing missing was singing “Auld Lang Syne” after counting down to 2023—I had been looking forward to it ever since I was abroad and realized Rabbie Burns, the national poet of Scotland, wrote the song.
In other news, I don’t know how people ever get a decent photo of their outfits at events like these! The lighting is always terrible (and the person behind the camera often drunk, lol). I wore this thrifted dark blue dress that I’ve featured a few times on the blog before. I also wore silver heels, a silver sparkly purse, and a blue eyeshadow look. I crimped my hair but was unsatisfied with it—I think an updo would have been the move. Either way, it was so fun to finally wear this dress out! You can check out the links below to see better pics of each of the items I wore.
Blue Sequin Velour Dress: Thrifted, $24 ($24 per wear), last worn here | Silver Heels: CL by Laundry via DSW, $40 ($2.11 per wear), last worn here | Silver Purse: Gift, $40 ($13.33 per wear), last worn here
Sunday, January 1
Unsurprisingly, we had a very lazy day, sleeping in late and then lounging in the apartment hot tub in the afternoon. It was so nice to relax in the evening and know we didn’t have work the next day!
Sweatshirt: American Eagle, $18 ($2.25 per wear) | Joggers: American Eagle, $16 ($3.20 per wear) | Blush Sneakers: Steve Madden via DSW, $60 ($0.50 per wear), last worn here
. . . . .
How was your New Year’s? Did you do anything fun to celebrate the start of 2023? So far, I’ve only accidentally written “2022” once so I’m feeling pretty good…
Miles of smiles,
Grace