Free help picking a date-night outfit

Gonna get a little personal today on the blog! But first, my outfit details. Because I know that's what everyone will ask about!!

A couple weeks ago I walked into Macy's and met with a stylist there named Amanda, through the Macy's My Stylist service, who was SO great to work with. When she asked me what I was shopping for and if it was anything special I told her, “actually yes! I'm going on a date with my husband.”

Yep. The same guy who sees me in my ugliest sweats and a top knot and watches me hang out in my bath robe most days until noon (the downside of your spouse also working from home, he knows alllllll your secrets ha!).

Because even though sometimes I forget this, really the MOST important dates we'll ever go on are not the ones we go on when we're “dating” our spouses but the ones we go on AFTER we marry them.

And Macy's offers their MyStylist service TOTALLY FREE. No strings attached, and zero pressure. I promise! I've used this service more than once and every time I'm impressed by how well they know the inventory on the floor, how helpful they are and how low pressure everything is. If you find someone you really love too, you can go back again and again! They can even let you know when your favorite brands stock new items in-store or when something you love is re-stocked. Pretty awesome right?

Amanda helped me pick out this SUPER adorable cream top, and I tried on about a dozen pair of jeans before deciding on this camo pair (comfort score: 10+), and my favorite part of this outfit was my button-up embellished jacket – a MAJOR trend we've seen over the past year. I had a really hard time deciding between the gray and the tan so for the record, they're both incredibly cute.

My stylist didn't just stop at the clothes, she even helped me pick out the perfect bag and shoes to pull the outfit together. I tried on a few of their newest booties but fell totally in love with these Frye booties. They're the perfect amount of rustic cowgirl mixed with the classic style of Fryes that I know will last forever and ever. Seriously my mom wore Fryes in high school. That was just a minute ago 😉 so you know they really are a brand that's been around forever and will stick around for a long time.

Dating my husband isn't always easy NOT because I don't love going on dates (I seriously do!!!) but because sometimes it feels like SO MUCH EFFORT to get the babysitter lined up, get all ready, go out to dinner and a movie (or some other activity) and when it's all said and done it's expensive! And a lot of extra work to put together (and let's be honest, that's usually ME making the effort). But I learned a lot about prioritizing my marriage when we moved to California.

Back when we lived in Utah, it was too easy for us to both just go about our days and get super involved in work (Neil) and taking care of the baby (me) and blogging (me) and our families (both of us) and church responsibilities (both of us) and running errands on the weekend (both of us) and taking care of our house and yard and the dog and trying to work out and the list goes on and on and on, PLUS we had all our friends from growing up, friends from college, friends from after college, friends from work, friends from church, friends from ALL walks of growing up in Utah your whole life.

And then when we moved from Utah to California, we realized pretty fast that we'd been yanked from our comfort zones and transplanted into the world of “just the two of us.” It was totally an adjustment.

We both agree though that moving away from everything and anything familiar to us has been one of the BEST things we've done for our marriage. Maybe that's not the answer for everyone, but it's made us into two best friends.

So I still get excited to go out with Neil. Not because I need to win him over anymore, but because I want to.

Embellished button-up jacket
Cream blouse
Camo jeans
Brown cross-body bag
Brown Frye booties
MAC Liptensity in postmodern and life's blood
Photos by Arielle Levy

Thanks Macy's and ShopStyle for sponsoring this post and helping me look my best for a date with the guy who I'm still in love with!