Dressup Buttercup Blog Post ft. Yours Truly

Ahhh I’m so excited to share that I had an opportunity to connect with Dede Raad from DressupButtercup. If you follow her, you already know she’s the sweetest human and truly pours her heart into everything. I ordered her Detre denim jacket launch last October because I’ve been wearing the same denim jacket since 2005 when I started working at American Eagle. I think that speaks to just how much of a staple having a denim jacket is. They’re classics that you’ll wear for yearssssss. Great news for Dede and anyone searching for the best denim jacket, she is relaunching her denim collection TOMORROW! You can read more about her story below. I feel so freaking honored to be included in the jacket review!!!!

I still can’t even believe that she selected me as one of the girls to chat with to get feedback on the jacket. I had a google meet virtual chat with her a couple of weeks ago. She scheduled it for 15 mins, but we chatted for 35 and I did not want to end the call! We had so much fun chatting style, mom life, and EMILY’s wedding, haha! Our call was two days following Emily’s wedding weekend so it was fresh on our mind. Olivia even got to meet Dede AND Jet! It was so cute!!!

Below is the picture I submitted and links to shop my outfit. I copied this excerpt straight from Dede’s post that she published yesterday. If you’re interested in ordering the denim jacket, set your alarms for 11:11AM and read below to get all the deets!

Detre Everyday Denim Jacket: The Details

The everyday denim jacket is COMING BACK! So freaking excited to share this with y’all. I created this jacket with you in mind—I wanted to bring you a well-made jacket that fits well, feels great, and makes you feel amazing when you wear it. This line was named after the birth name my parents gave me, Detre! With my dad being an artist & my mom being a flight attendant, they wanted me to have a unique name to carve a unique path. Last year we dropped these everyday denim jackets and they sold so much quicker than we ever thought they would. With so many asking for a restock, we knew we had to bring it back. These are only available on shop.detre.com in XS-3XL and the drop is this Sunday, October 17th at 11:11am CST so mark your calendars & add it as a bookmark to head over when the time comes! 

Jacket Description

The Everyday Denim Jacket is a light wash denim jacket with a slight crop & oversized fit. I wanted to create a denim jacket that was flattering & makes you feel confident. The oversized fit gives you room for comfort but doesn’t take away shape & is a great addition to any wardrobe! I wanted the details to be perfect so we had buttons custom made with “Detre” on them & a gold tag that has our signature on it. The jacket has a raw hem for a casual look & with every wash becomes softer & offers a more lived in look & feel! 

Jacket Sizing

The jacket was curated to have a naturally oversized look so if you prefer the oversize fit, I would order your normal jacket size (for reference I normally am a small & I wear a small everyday denim jacket). If you prefer a more fitted look then order down a size. We loved the look of the 80s denim jacket with a balloon sleeve so we incorporated bit of that fit into ours. The jacket fits true to size, but depending on how oversized you want it to be, you can size up or down. We asked some of the girls who ordered the jacket to give a little review so you can see what the different sizes look like on different body types and hear how they fit and style them below! 

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Stumbling upon Larimer Square

At the end of August, we traveled to Denver, CO for one of my best friends wedding. I’ve been to Colorado a few times, but mostly for skiing or to visit my grandparents right outside of Denver. So, long story short, I’ve never spent time in Denver. We stayed at the Westin downtown – walking distance to 16th street mall, Rockies stadium, and Larimer Square. Our room actually overlooked Larimer Square with all of the string lights – it was beautiful!!

We landed in Denver at noon on Friday. I lucked out with direct flights both ways! The train commute from the airport to downtown is about 40 minutes. Then we walked to our hotel and grabbed lunch at Oskar Blues along the way. The welcome party was a rented cabana suite at the Rockies game. Nothing better than beer, stadium food nachos, and friends! Fun fact, I used to work HR for the concessions company at the MN Twins – not a fan of the game, but I do love it as a summer social activity 🙂

With that said, I may have been the most excited to wear these keds baseball shoes! I only get to bust them out if I’m at a game and this was the second time this summer I got to dust these bad boys off! I did size down a half size in the shoe (linked above!). Pet peeve is wearing another teams hat to the game if they’re not actually playing in the game!! Since I didn’t have a Rockies baseball cap, I wore this black Nike dry-fit one. The purple and black flannel was the perfect choice to still show support for the Rockies by wearing their colors! It actually gets chilly in Denver, which I wasn’t expecting so I was happy to have a layering piece once the sun went down. At first I was a little unsure how to tie the flannel around my waist while wearing shorts (can’t see the shorts in the back – am I even wearing pants?!). My tank top is an $8 Target find and comes in a toooon of colors.

Leaving the game, we decided to head back towards our hotel and find a place to grab a night cap. I remembered seeing the string lights from our room so we ventured out on 16th Street Mall and you can’t miss Larimer Square from there! It was so much fun!! There was a champagne bar, wine bar, ice cream shop, a few other bars – some even opened as vendors on the street, a record store… We snagged an ourdoor table at the champagne bar and ordered a glass of bubbly plus oysters – how fancy! Our preference was to sit outside, but actually I wished we would have requested an indoor table because the chandeliers were so glam! But I was definitely feeling underdressed! I made Max return the following night, after the rehearsal dinner so I could at least have one cute outfit pic at the Square 🙂

What a cute area! The 16th Street Mall actually reminded me a lot of Nicolette Mall when I lived in Minneapolis. I was feeling a little nostalgic.. This post wraps up summer travel and summer outfits! I’ll start posting more fall inspo next week. It’s October 1st so I’m thinking we’re even going to a pumpkin patch this weekend – can I get a FALLELUJAH?!

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Willamette Valley Wine

Two words: Pinot Noir. Ever since we went to Napa two years ago searching for Pinot Noir, we kept hearing Willamette Valley. The wine in Napa is amazing and it’s been one of my favorite trips so far. But when we had an opportunity to travel to Oregon for a friends wedding, we extended our trip to spend time in Willamette valley.

We first did a quick google search on the best Pinot Noir in Willamette Valley. One of the top three places was near our final destination on the coast. So we decided that would be the winery we’d visit and assumed we’d need to call and make a reservation. Then we shut the computer lid and never made a winery reservation, Lol!

We left Portland on a Sunday and drove about 30 mins to Willamette. Whichever route we took, had us driving through small suburbs and it was crazy at one point to think our ETA to vineyards was 10 mins and we’re passing a Chik-fil-A right now. Again, basing this off my trip to Napa.

We arrived in McMinnville and parked at Domaine Drouhin which is the winery we chose online. But, of course, on a Sunday during a pandemic, they were completely booked! We knewww we should have called and pre-arranged a tasting, but we didn’t. Oops. They were also booked up the following day, which we would have had an opportunity to pass through again on our way back to Portland for our red eye flight. So, okay, they’re booked, but there’s several wineries nearby so we just drove to a neighboring winery. Butttt they were booked all day Sunday, too!

So, omg, I start to panic (dramatic, I know). We were literally driving around and wineries had their numbers listed at the entrance. Finally, we found one that could get us in for a tasting if we could be there in 5 mins. Well lucky us, we will just drive down your entrance and be there in .5 seconds.

The winery was cute – it’s where the picture in front of wine barrels was taken but in the cluster of everything, I’m not even sure where we stopped! We ordered a charcuterie board with our wine and once we finished up, decided to keep heading to the coast. I called a few more wineries that looked pretty to make an appointment for Monday. We landed at Domaine Serene for Monday. It was suuuuper fancy. The views were a lot prettier on the terrace. The wine was delicious (but the pours were smallll ;)).

This dress is the perfect winery dress. The gingham print says picnic in the park. The rouching and ruffles are extremely flattering and the ties are adjustable. Be careful, the ties are a little difficult to keep even and look perfect. I paired with these white braided heels that are actually very comfortable. I do think the outfit was a little dressy for Oregon – it would be perfect in Napa. Oregon is more neutral tones. But I make an entrance. I’m so happy we were able to experience a very small part of Willamette.

Of course I wore this dress for both Sunday and Monday wine tastings 🙂 I originally saw this dress on Red Dress Boutique but it sold out before I could get my hands on it. I love the slimming rouching and ruffles of the dress. The ties on the shoulder make the dress adjustable, although, it’s harder to tie a pretty bow than you think, ha! I originally saw this dress on Red Dress Boutique but it was sold out before I could get my hands on it (linked on the LTK carousel above). I signed up for restock notifications but I found and purchased the exact dress from Avanti the label (Fourth or Fifth time I’ve mentioned this online boutique).

I’m so happy we had the opportunity to travel to Oregon and explore a small part of Willamette. I’d recommend to do your research and don’t forget to make a reservation to ensure you get into the wineries you want 🙂 xoxo

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West Coast but make it freezing

In early July, we flew for the first time since August 2019! We love to travel and fly several times a year. We still aren’t feeling 100% flying again but one of my husbands best friends was getting married in Portland so we made the journey. We wore our masks the entire time, which was tough because we had not one but TWO connecting flights in the way there. It was our first time to Portland and Oregon so we were excited for a new state to explore.

When I think of Oregon, I’m picturing earth tones so I packed a lot of browns and greens. Well, except for the coral dress I wore at the actual wedding haha. When I saw this sea foam dress online, I knew it would be perfect for the Oregon coast! The jersey material is relaxed and comfortable. I paired it with flat sandals to match the relaxed vibe of the fishing town. The material is extremely soft! How flattering is this one shoulder? I can see the color and style of this dress being a great transitional piece. I had wanted to purchase the XS but it wasn’t available. I ordered the small and it actually fit perfectly! I don’t think I would have been comfortable in a tighter fit. I purchased the dress full price, but it’s ON SALE for under $50. Check out my link above.

On the flight there, I actually told max “I forgot my swimsuit!” He then assured me the beach wouldn’t be a place to layout. But neither of us were ready for the freezing temperatures on the coast (Exhibit A – my face should be proof of how unexpectedly chilly it was, LOL)! We rented a car and drove from Portland to Yachtas (with a few stops in between) and watched the temp fall 20 Degrees. Lawwwwd!

Yachtas was recommended to us by the groom. He said it’s a quaint little fishing town with a brewery. We arrived in Yachtas an hour after the brewery closed, boooo. We really didn’t do our homework before this trip. The only thing we planned was our stay at the Overleaf Lodge. I absolutely loved our hotel! At check in, we got to choose from a selection of adult beverages! We stayed on the first floor and had a walkout patio with two adorandack chairs that overlooked the ocean. We were on a path to the downtown area but it was so windy and chilly outside that we took the first stop off the path we found. It was the next door hotel but it had a restaurant. We sat indoors by the window and ate terrific seafood. It was too cold to enjoy a bottle of wine on our hotel room patio, which was the intent. Instead we drank wine indoors with the window open so we could hear the waves breaking. Same same but different.

The next day we explored the walking path while we still had the warmth of the sun. Then we grabbed coffee/pastries from a local coffee shop and headed back to Portland with a stop in Willamette Valley. We had a whole day to explore because we were on a red eye back to Ohio. That part of the trip is next on What Kiki Wore 🙂

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