Style Diary — Cozy Holiday Look & A Few Thoughts on Thankfulness

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Happy Thanksgiving friends!  I hope yours is off to a good start!  I have so many things to be thankful for this year, and while I know I really should be focused on being thankful and celebrating the little blessings in each and every day, I often fall short and forget.  But thankfulness is life-changing.  I read a book on thankfulness by Ann Voskamp a few years back (1,000 Gifts).  Reading it and listing out a few things I was thankful for each day changed my life and perspective.  One of my favorite quotes from the author is is, "The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest light to all the world."  I hope to focus more and more on beautiful, true, and good things in each day, and be thankful for them, no matter how small. Because I truly believe it does make a difference.  I'm still thankful though that we have a day set aside each year to all celebrate together and be reminded of how important it is.  I'd like to share a few things I'm thankful for right now:

  1. God and His Goodness.  He has been so good and faithful to Ross and I this year.  There have been many challenges, good times and hard times, and He has undeniably been with us through them all.  In the spring we had no idea where we would be, as R was applying to PHD programs all over the country, yet we had our heart sets on one in particular.  We were devastated when he didn't get in and ended up having to go to one of the schools we least wanted to be at.  It meant moving further from our family, friends, church, my job, and Philly, yet not far enough to start all over, and it meant I couldn't pursue a doctorate in piano, since there are no schools offering the program I wanted nearby.  Continuing to trust God's goodness and plan was hard, and we definitely failed some days.  But God has blessed us immensely since moving here and made it very clear that He wants us here, at least for now.  From finding such a great apartment for a good price, to directing us to an amazing church that has already impacted us greatly, to bringing wonderful friends into our lives and more, He has shown us once again how His plan is always better than ours.  And I'm so thankful we got to see that so clearly through moving here.  You don't always get to see; sometimes you just have to trust.

  2. Ross.  I don't thank him enough or give him enough credit.  He has been such a rock for me during all of the ups and down of life, even since we started dating.  I'm so thankful to have such a sweet, hard-working, and servant-hearted husband.  One that accepts and loves me for who I am, yet challenges and encourages me to always grow and be better.  And one that, no matter how hurt, upset, or mad we may be at each other, always wants to talk, work through things, and forgive.  Marriage can be messy and hard.   But when you have a spouse who loves God, loves you, and is willing to work at it, it can truly be a blessing and joy.

  3. Blogging.  I think one of the biggest blessings of us ending up where we did this year is my blog.  If we had gone to any of the number of schools we were praying R would get into, I would never had started this blog.  I would have been spending all of my time and energy into trying to get into a doctoral program for collaborative piano or performance.  I was even taking lessons and starting to pick out and prepare repertoire for auditions.  And while I love music, enjoy accompanying and playing, and mostly like teaching, I was going to pursue it further, more because it's the field I ended up in and what I had training in that it being something I actually was passionate about doing.  I don't feel like I get to be creative or use some of my greatest gifts while teaching full-time.  This blog has been an amazingly fun creative outlet for me.  And while I easily invest 30-40 hours a week in it, it is so rewarding and I love it!  I don't know if it will ever be a full time job, or if I'll stay in music, but for now it's something I'm so thankful to be able to do.  I think the part I'm most thankful for is the friendships I've made through it.  I've met so. many. amazing women who have been incredibly kind, helpful, and supportive.  A few are even close enough to hang out with!  I was feeling lonely after we moved, and God used blogging to fill my life with friends.  So if you're one of my blogging friends from Insta, a friend or family member from my non-blogging life who has supported me in this, or just a reader stopping by, I'm thankful for you!

I'd love to hear what you guys are thankful for too!  I genuinely enjoy getting to know you all, and can't think of a better way to celebrate Thanksgiving on my blog, than sharing more thankfulness!

The outfit I'm sharing today is one that I picked out to wear during the holidays!  While I will get dressed up for parties, services, and events, both R and my families are fairly casual when celebrating in our homes or when out to eat.  And while I love looking festive for Christmas, I also love versatile pieces even more.  Consequently, I wanted to pick out pieces to wear during the holidays that would work for many occasions and that I could wear well past Christmas into Winter.  This turtleneck is a soft and cozy one from Ann Taylor, and is perfect to wear for so many occasions!  From work, to Thanksgiving dinner, to coffee with a friend, it can easily be dressed up or down.  And it will definitely keep me warm as the weather gets colder!   This lovely blush necklace added the perfect bit of sparkle to dress it up!  I love neutrals, and blush is such a beautiful one that goes with so many other colors and can be worn year round.  I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it, especially over chunky sweaters, where daintier necklaces tend to get lost!

These velvet pumps ended up being such a great buy, and not just for how low I got their cost per wear!  Their burgundy color and velvet material have made them such a perfect statement shoe for fall and winter, and makes them especially perfect for the holidays!  Velvet has been trending hard this fall, and it looks like that won't be changing as we transition into winter! Plus, it's long been a favorite fabric for the holidays, as it's so lovely and rich.  And burgundy is such a great color to wear when you want to be a bit festive, but don't want to go all out and look like a fire hydrant.  No offense to those who do, if that's your jam, then rock it!  But I'm definitely a neutrals girl, and love sticking to that while looking festive.  I also love this cute little burgundy crossbody, especially since it's on sale for under $100!

If you made it to the end of this post, then thank you and kudos to you!  I know it was a long one!  Stay tuned though, because in just a few hours I'm going be sharing some of the biggest and best sales to be shopping this weekend!   I'll also be sharing some of my favorites from them, including all of the pieces I mentioned today!

xx,

Laurelle

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Burgundy Croc Crossbody

Burgundy Velvet Pumps

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Cozy Turtleneck & Sparkly Statement Necklace

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Sparkly Blush Statement Necklace

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Cozy Turtleneck, Sparkly Statement Necklace, and Velvet Pumps

Cream Turtleneck :: Ann Taylor

Jeans :: Kut by the Kloth (from Nordstrom)

Burgundy Crossbody :: Zac Posen (from Saks Off 5th)

Burgundy Velvet Pumps :: Sam Edelman

Statement Necklace :: Ann Taylor

Earrings :: Swarovski (from Macy's)

Coat :: Michael Kors (from Nordstrom)

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Style Diary — A Soft Turtleneck, a Fuzzy Beanie & a Giveaway