Valentine’s Day is one of those days of the year that come with SUPER high expectations. Like New Years - people expecting you to stay up until midnight (I’ll just go ahead and admit that I BARELY lasted until 11:30), wear your most sparkly dress and have the most champagne-filled instagram of all.

Valentine’s Day can have a similar vibe. Who is going to have the prettiest peonies? Who’s going to make the grandest plans of all? Did you make heart shape pancakes for breakfast? Because cereal isn’t gonna cut it today, guys. And while I’m sharing some SUPER fun Valentine’s Day ideas next week, I’ll be the first to admit it can all be a bit much.

Over the next few days, I’m forgoing the typical heart-scattered, red and pink filled posts for more subdued, romantic looks. Because let’s be real - take a look at my Instagram. Hearts, stars and horseshoes? Hardly. To be honest, I had no idea how neutral my fashion has been lately until I noticed that BASICALLY every outfit I’ve worn over the past few months have been black and white (with splashes of blush and maroon thrown in for good measure.)

When planning my Valentine’s Day looks, I had to swing by one of my favorite local shops, South Moon Under at Mosaic District. They carry my favorite romantic brands like Free People, Gorjana and ban.do! I love that they’re always thinking ahead, so I was able to pick up this cute outfit that’s great for layering in the winter, but could be worn alone once the weather warms up! (Like it did this past weekend - BLESS.)

This flowy Free People blouse I picked up from SMU has the perfect flirt factor without ONLY being for Valentine’s Day.

I paired it with the most versatile faux suede skirt (that I’ve worn apprx. 10 times since I bought it last weekend) and my color block Maison Martin Margiela boots. To take the look up a notch, I added a bold, orangy-red lip from Makeup Meltdown and my favorite blush cross-body bag from Estiletta. I imagine I’d wear this to a wine bar near our house before a late dinner (like the Europeans do!) We watched A Good Year last night and so of course, I’m all like, ‘let’s rent a villa in France and drink all the wine!’ Because why not! ;)

Wearing Free People top, suede skirt, Gorjana bracelet and leather belt via South Moon Under c/o, Maison Martin Margiela boots (similar), VASKA bag via Estiletta c/o, Free People necklace c/o and Makeup Meltdown lipstick in "Siren" c/o.

I’m so so sooo excited to share a really fun project with you over the next month - I’m collaborating with the ultra-cool local knitwear company, Denada, to bring you some super cozy looks for Fall! You may have spotted Denada on my blog back in winter when I first got to see her products in person at the Stylecable pop up. The knits are made of alpaca wool and literally the softest, coziest, most wonderful material ever. Not to mention, they’re local to DC! Virginia, founder and CEO, is one of the most incredible people I’ve met and is bringing #girlboss to a whole ‘nother level.

She challenged me to create 5 looks with some of her pieces and I can’t even tell you how much fun we had. Minus the pretending it was fall in the heat of summer. Two words: BOOB. SWEAT. Things got crazy. But the photos were totally worth it. Stay tuned for the rest of July for more happy fall feels and cooler weather inspo!

Here’s my first look. I shot this a couple weeks ago while we were in the Shenandoah Valley celebrating the fourth with Shawn’s fam. We took a little rendezvous to my alma mater in Harrisonburg to hit up my fave local eats dive, The Little Grill. After chowing down on some major biscuit and gravy goodness, we drove over to Black Sheep Coffee to try their nitro coffee. Because one coffee a day is never enough, ya feel? Nitro coffee is brewed like a beer, but it’s actually coffee. No alcohol. It was such a fun and tasty prop for the shoot.

This hand knitted scarf goes with everything. You wouldn’t think that, given it’s bright color, but it truly does. It really makes this outfit. Come Fall, I’ll be throwing it over all my t-shirts to add some texture and interest. It runs about $88, but this week, you have a chance to win $100 to Denada! Just follow them on Instagram and Facebook for your chance to win!