Holiday Your Way: Casual Winter Looks Perfect for the Season!

Oh, the holidays! Such a festive time full of cheer, laughter, family gatherings and the celebration of love and togetherness. That is the good part of it, the part no one seems to talk much is the pressure to be perfect. The pressure to give the best gifts or to make our homes look Pinterest worth. The pressure to have the perfect Christmas Card with perfect kiddos wearing clean and pressed outfits and beautiful hair-dos.

The reality of it is, we are left breathless and running around like crazy people in a bad mood and feeling like failures because we couldn’t possibly re-create everything we set our minds to be or do. This year I’m happy to partner with Evereve to encourage you to Holiday Your Way. It can be from your favorite casual winter looks for the holidays, to serving carry out on Christmas! No one is here to judge!! Do your thing and carry on. Pick your battles, whatever means the most to you set it as a priority and chill!

Now, let’s stop and enjoy the hot chocolate and candy cane, shall we?!

SHOP THESE CASUAL WINTER LOOKS:

BB Dakota fuzzy sweater // Spanx velvet leggings //  Booties 

Shop the Post:

I wanted to put together some casual winter looks that are very low key yet festive for the holidays. I also value versatile pieces that can be worn over and over and over again. This BB Dakota Fuzzy sweater is dressy enough to wear for a holiday gathering, paired with the Spanx velvet leggings and booties. But can also be worn with jeans and sneakers and look super cute. The sweater is fitted and true to size. If you like more room go with a larger size. Same for the leggings, they are a bit snugger than the normal Spanx leggings.

I want to share a quick story about our Christmas tree fiasco, so you know you’re not alone!  It’s our tradition to put the Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, so the kids were naturally excited to do so. But it so happens I had surgery that week and couldn’t lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Brian, on the other hand, has been helping his dad who’s not doing so great and got his back messed up. Needless to say, kids were super disappointed and left us feeling like crappy parents.

By Tuesday, Brian felt better and brought the Xmas tree up from storage. Kids got excited, but I failed them once again saying I was not going to put the tree up with the house dirty (guys, I’m not a neat freak, but I do like the house clean. Messy but clean, can you relate?) So I got help to clean the house while the kids were at school and planned my whole day around the “surprise”.  Which was to have the house clean and ready to go when kids got home from school so we could work on the dang tree. Well, things got delayed with my work and I decided to “kill time” by taking everyone to the store (my kids have some kind of obsession with the grocery store. Go figure!) 2 hours later we left with all the Christmas shopping done. To me, it was a huge accomplishment but it was getting late and we hadn’t even started to put the tree together.

Fast forward the ride home, I got a hold of my client and had to work on something for a few minutes, which turned into an hour. Everyone was complaining that mommy was on her phone (my work hours are so chopped up guys. It’s very hard for the kids to understand that mommy works from her phone too!) and daddy was in an after-hours work call (that never happens but it did last night! Of course). Well, a few screaming matches later, Christmas music on and off, mad faces, and lots of huffing and puffing we found ourselves all ready to get the tree up. It was 8:30 pm on a school night…dinner hadn’t even started to come together. Finally, we managed to get it done.

Daddy cooked burgers and we had a “fun” dinner night. Star went up on the tree before 9:30 and we were in bed by 10 pm. This might sound like not a big deal but it was so stressful to fulfill everyone’s expectations and try to not to ruin the Christmas vibe. At dinner, we talked to the kids about how important it is to keep our cool when the plan doesn’t go as we expect. Also repeating this to myself as I write…

Back to casual winter outfits. I picked out a super versatile Free People tunic in taupe to wear with jeans and sherpa booties and found myself styling it with a Blanck NYC coated mini skirt and black booties too. That’s why I love simple pieces. They all work together and we can take our wardrobe so much further.

SHOP THESE CASUAL WINTER LOOKS:

Free People Tunic (comes in black and blue also) // Hudson high waist denim // Sorel Sherpa bootie

Shop the Look:

I love the fit of this chunky ribbed tunic. It features a cowl turtleneck and oversized fit. Runs a bit to the big side but it’s an oversized fit so keep that in mind 🙂 It’s a soft fabric and ribbed sleeve cuffs.

The Hudson Barbara High Rise Skinny jeans is crafted from slimming enhance stretch denim that sculpts and never loses its shape. Runs true to size and I love the high rise. How did we manage to wear low cut jeans for so long ladies?! UGH! It’s super stretchy and super soft denim. It doesn’t rub color off the first time you wear so you might want to wash it separately before wearing.

Can we talk about my FAVORITE booties this season so far?! I’m obsessed with these Sorel wedge heel super warm sherpa booties! How many adjectives can I fit here??? Hehehe. These booties are waterproof, made with durable D-rings, and a sturdy, razored-lug sole! Perfect for winter hiking (or coffee runs in my case!).

When I picked this Blank NYC coated skirt it was initially meant to be paired with a thermal tee, but then I put it together with the tunic and loved! Do you guys like this pairing?

SHOP THESE CASUAL WINTER LOOKS:

Free People Tunic // Blank NYC Coated Skirt // Booties (similar)

Shop the Post:

I love the leather-like coating that brings this classic A-line mini to the next level. It’s such an easy style to dress it up. Think a sequin top, white tee w a blazer or a lace blouse. Dress it down with a flannel shirt or slouchy sweaters!

See the skirt paired with the thermal and OTK boots HERE.

For the soccer moms or sneaker lovers, I wanted to put together a cute sporty look that is casual yet elevated!

SHOP THESE CASUAL WINTER LOOKS:

Sol Angeles Dream tee // 7 For All Mankind B(Air) High waist skinny black jeans // Blank NYC suede jacket (currently on sale!) // New Balance knit Sneaker // Echo lurex tweed beanie

As a real good dreamer myself, naturally I fell in love with this Dream Tee and thought this would be the perfect casual look to run errands in! Throw in my favorite suede jacket and a cute beanie and that takes the look to a dressier mode.

Finally, I could sit here and tell you so many instances that our imperfect family went through and made work. But the point is, EVERYONE of us has messes in our lives and in the end we do work to improve ourselves. It’s crucial to be ok with life’s bumps and even more important to climb them and enjoy the road. Take time to appreciate those moments. I remember the years when I had three kids under three (read more about that here) and how exhausting it was. But when I look back at our family videos I tell myself, boy I wish I wasn’t so focused on getting passed those years and managed to really enjoy them. So that’s a reminder that it is not too late to do so, for me and for you. Whatever phase you find yourself in embrace it and enjoy it!

And remember: YOUR DREAM DOESN’T HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE! Take a deep breath, get up and try again. Also, a positive attitude can really make your dreams come true…it does for me!

Now, tell me which of these casual winter looks is your favorite? Let me know in a comment below!!

Beijos,

-K