Happy New Year!

Hope all you Minis have a great New Year! I have a few sequined dresses to choose from, so this is where I'm starting — not to mention that sassy drinkwear to match!

Happy Holidays from Mini Penny Blog!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday! It's a white Xmas here in Chicago and I'm excited to spend the coming days with my closest friends. How fantastic are these wrapping papers? I think that making gifts pretty is just as fun as picking out the gifts themselves!

Tiger by the Tail

I scored this amazing two-piece tiger dress at a thrift store a couple weeks ago and I think it's by far the best second hand clothing piece I've ever found! Doesn't it give you total Gucci tiger vibes? I'm so obsessed!

The Best Sweater

It's less than one week until Xmas! I picked up this cozy grey knit sweater at H&M last week on a whim and I'm obsessed with it. Easily the comfiest sweater in my wardrobe this season!

You've Got Nail 78 // November Scratch Box

It's taken me a while to get around to posting these — I skipped October's Scratch box (they're beautiful blue florals, but I'm planning on saving them for the spring!) and went straight into the November plaid wraps. I adore these and they were so perfect for the Thanksgiving season and leading into December holidays!

Bold Holiday with Sephora inside JCPenney + Win the New Urban Decay Distortion Palette

Hello Minis! I'm so excited to partner with Urban Decay and Sephora inside JCPenney to bring you a chance to win your very own Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette! It's one of the most fun palettes that I have and love using these colors to mix and match different looks. Click through to see what I used to make this look and find out how you can win!

A Pink Xmas

If I didn't have a mini pink tree or a sequin blazer for the holidays, did they ever really happen? ;)

Orange Again

I'm not an orange person. However, I absolutely love this layered burnt orange maxi dress. We had some unseasonably warm weather last week and it was the perfect opportunity to show some last-minute skin before we sink into winter.

Thirty-One

Today is my 31st birthday and I couldn't be more grateful and humbled by all of the wonderful people around me. Thank you for making life wonderful. I'm excited for the next year and what it brings!

Cyber Monday Sale // Shop My Closet, Microblading, and Portrait Commissions

Hello! I hope you all had a great holiday! As part of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, I'm running sales on my microblading services ($100 OFF), shop my closet site (30% OFF), and portrait commissions (SPECIAL LOW RATES). Click through for the details. Have a great weekend and thank you for supporting small business!

Over-Under

Two more days until Thanksgiving! What are y'all planning for the holiday? My mom comes up from Ohio and makes a big dinner, and then we go shopping for Black Friday. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays — the food, the family, everything! And it's extra special because it's always right before my birthday, so we get to kill two birds with one stone on celebrating.

Rose Gold

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Salon Glow Chicago for a rose gold Keratin Keracolor treatment! I'm so in love with this color and how it makes my hair feel. Thank you so much to the ladies at the salon for being amazing! Click through for an up close photo and for outfit details.

Black (And Pink!) Friday with Macy's

One of my favorite post-Thanksgiving traditions is, of course, shopping with my mom! She always drives up to Chicago for the holiday, makes a big meal, and then we work off all those extra calories by collecting savings 😜. And one of my most successful hauls always comes from Macy's! I have gravitated so heavily to dusty and bright pinks this season and I can't get enough. I love how many styles are available in these tones and have definitely started approaching pink as a neutral. Click through for all of my favorite pink picks for the holidays from Macy's — and find their special Black Friday Preview code so that you can get an extra 20% off from the comfort of shopping at home before the rush!

Friendsgiving with Virgin Hotels

Earlier this week I had the delight of celebrating Friendsgiving with my closest gal-pals from Lost Girls Vintage and friends! We were lucky enough to attend a wonderful dinner with Virgin Hotels and Commons Club. It gave me the chance to finally wear this yellow velvet dress that I've been loving and it was the kick off to our holiday season! (Pardon the blurry iPhone photo — I somehow managed to not get a great photo of my outfit that night, but this image still holds a pretty special place in my heart since I look tough as heck. Hah!)

Twinkle Toes

The holidays feel like they're coming so fast. Every year I get excited about adding glitter and fur to my wardrobe and 2017 isn't any different.

Star-Crossed Lovers

Happy Friday, Minis! It's officially faux fur and plush weather! It's so hard for me not to wear all of my furry fuzzy goods all at once. I love layering this pink teddy jacket with a sleek coat for a quick coffee run. And, of course, my new favorite plush purse that I stumbled upon at Target (seriously, it's so good!).

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope you all had fun with your costumes this year.. This is my 1920s Showgirl costume for the Soho House Chicago The Musical-themed party. It was great fun and I always have such a killer time DIYing my way to something this fabulous. Cheers!

Lost Girls Vintage + Humboldt House

I'm so excited for my friends at Lost Girls Vintage! Last weekend, their pop-up opened up at Humboldt House and I had the privilege of creating their signs for them. Lost Girls Vintage x Humboldt House go beautifully together and I highly recommend checking out these spaces to anyone who happens to be visiting Chicago over the next few months! Click through for more photos and details.

The Heart Maxi

Sometimes Tuesdays are just as easy as throwing on a cute maxi and heading out the door.

Golden Crystal Skull + Makeup Revolution Giveaway

I love Halloween! I normally go the costume route, but today I'm partnering with Makeup Revolution to bring you a makeup look and giveaway. Doing my makeup like this is far out of my comfort zone, so bear with me. Makeup Revolution has a lot of amazing Halloween and spooky-specific products this season that I am in love with. Click through to see a short video of how I made this look and enter to win a set of liquid highlight and baking powder from Makeup Revolution!

She Wore Blue Velvet

I'm getting back to my roots today. Mini Penny Blog first started as a blog that revolved around my thrift finds. I was looking through some old posts the other night and got the urge to go thrifting. I hit up my local Village Discount and found this velvet Versace blazer. I nearly fainted. I miss the days of constant thrift store visits — Ohio used to be such a wonderful place for me to do it, and Chicago seems to be so picked over. I am shocked whenever I find something as amazing as this (and for under $5... what?!).

Switching to The DivaCup

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PeriodConfidence #TryTheDivaCup #CollectiveBias

Happy Monday! Today I'm partnering with DivaCup to chat with you about making the switch away from tampons! I made the jump a few years ago after my own period-related comfort concerns and I'm so happy that I did. I recommend this menstrual care option to my closest friends and today I'm answering your questions. Click through for more info and to share your own experience!

Boys Want To Be Her

I have been going. through. it. I feel like years of disappointing relationships has hardened me (and made me much more private), but somehow this week got to me. The person I have been dating for the past six months dumped me and I can't help but feel all sorts of ugly shortcomings. Ya know? Real life stuff. Not happy-go-lucky, my-life-is-perfectly-curated Instagram stuff. I spent a couple days in bed. I ugly cried while scrolling through puppy adoption pages. All of it. I thought about taking time off from Mini Penny but I can't bring myself to do it. I love it here, and even just getting out of the house yesterday to shoot these photos made me feel a lot better. I suppose, like everyone else, a big thing for me in trying times is comfort. A good friend of mine has a beautiful clothing line called Wulfka — everything is designed and made in Chicago — and the new fall collection is full of soft and cozy pieces. I have been living in this Goodall Cropped Sweater. The sleeves are extra long, the fabric is extra soft, and I feel like I can be comfortable while also looking my best. Bonus points: supporting friends, local business, and women. The collection is called Boys Want to Be Her and is an homage to the designer's (Kate!) personal heroes.

Sheer Bodysuits

I love the sexy appliquéd and mesh bodysuits that were popular over the summer. Even better, they can be transitioned straight into fall with layers or a variety of fun skirts and pants. Looking to add one or more to your wardrobe? Well, luckily, there are many varieties available on Amazon! Check out some of my favorites.

DIY Lettered Sweaters

I adore this little short sleeved custom sweatshirt that I made using this heather grey top (c/o Ban.do) and their flocked iron-on letters. This is my polite way of asking people if I can pet their puppies without actually interrupting their walks. What would your custom shirt say?

Beauty by Measurable Difference

Today I'm excited to share a few looks using products from Measurable Difference! And as a bonus for my readers, you can find a 25% off + free shipping code at the end of this blog post. I'm a huge fan of matte lipsticks and the three colors I picked up are beautiful for fall. Click through for all of the details and links to my favorite products!

For the Love of October

It's October, which means layers! I'm so excited for fall — I love this season. I'm finally able to open up my coat closet and wear all of my favorite leather, denim, and bomber jackets.  I've been wanting to add a cape to my collection for quite some time, and this Amazon version is perfect and lightweight.

Facetory July Box

I've been so behind on my Facetory boxes! July's box was pretty great and I can't wait to spoil myself by getting caught up on August and September quickly. Click through for the details on each of the masks I received in my box and links to where you can pick them up for yourself!

You've Got Nail 77 // Scratch September Box

Another month, another Scratch box! This month had some great southwestern-print transparent wraps and gold studs (my favorite kind of studs!). Click through for the details and for what I used on each of these sets — they're so fun and are a great into to fall!

Bell Sleeves

Is this heat wave over yet? No... seriously.

Mondays and Messy Desks

I'm obsessed with all this plant-related and love all of the cactus additions to my desk as of late! Big thanks to Ankit for sending me this cactus charging bank, cactus tumbler, and adorable fake little cactus to make my Monday desk feel as cute as ever. They go perfectly with my cactus notebook, minimal planner, and Gelly Roll pens. What's your desk look like?