This past weekend, Eye4Style and I packed up and left NYC for Chicago. Our trip had one focus - to hang out with one of my best friends from college - and of course there was the requisite drinking, eating and shopping. The flight from Laguardia was super quick, which made the hour and a half cab rides to and from the airport feel excruciatingly long. Note to self: next time, take the train.

We stayed at The James Chicago which felt like it was in the center of everything (to be fair, my friend Michael did such a great job of planing our itinerary). We drank at Pops for Champagne (where he is the mayor on Foursquare natch), had mind-blowing pizza at La Madia, brunched at Bistronomic, and binged on fantastic cupcakes from More. I've been to Chicago many times, but i was genuinely surprised at how fashionable the city has become. Guess Second City Style was onto something!

Outfit details:

Top: Old Navy (no longer available)

Skirt: Evans (similar available here)

Jacket: Torrid (no longer available)

Flats: Nine West (no longer available)

Bag: Rebecca Minkoff MAC (other colors available here)

Necklace: Forever 21 (no longer available)

Lipstick: NARS Pure Matte in Carthage

Photo by Dina Fierro

Back when Eye4Style and I worked together, she (in her loving way) chastised me for wearing far too much black. Since that day, I will always hear her voice in the back of my head as I get ready for the day. STOP BUYING BLACK, SARAH! I've made a committed attempt to diversify my wardrobe, almost to the point where I now own too many colors and not enough neutrals. What can I say? It's hard to find the balance.

The point is, this spring I have an over-abundance of color and I'm not afraid to wear it. I love matching up shades that feel like they don't normally go together to make the work day a little more interesting.

Neon hoops: Forever 21 (not available online, super similar here)

Sheer top: Lane Bryant (no longer available)

Cobalt jeans: Lane Bryant

Neon satchel: Kate Spade Bond Street Satchel in Flo Coral c/o Neiman Marcus

Colorful pumps: J. Renee (a Nordstrom Rack find)

Rose gold watch: Michael Michael Kors

Photos by Tara Shashaty

There's so much to love about spring, including how fresh all of your spring/summer clothes feel when you pull them out of your closet for the first time. We finally had the perfect spring day in NYC, with "abundant sunshine" (my favorite weather forecast) and a gentle breeze. While this look is best worn in early spring or in fall, I typically don't wear it without leggings/tights because I've yet to find the best shoes/legwear combination to wear it during any other time of year.

Browns have always been a particularly difficult category of color for me to wear, but I feel most comfortable when I mix darker browns with camels. Let's just call camel my gateway brown.

Pony sweater: Torrid

Skirt: IGIGI (similar available here)

Necklace: Avon (similar available here and here)

Handbag: Marni at H&M

Scarf: Marni at H&M

Bracelet: Rebecca Minkoff c/o TRESemme

Watch: La Mer c/o TRESemme

Pumps: Jessica Simpson

Photos by Tara Shashaty

Last week NYC felt the first real signs of spring. We had two days over 60 degrees and seasonal confusion was pouring onto the streets like an office building during a fire drill. Needless to say, I joined the masses and pulled out a dress I'd been itching to wear, but I just couldn't allow myself to be without leggings quite yet. Speaking of this dress, I'm absolutely obsessed with it. It has an almost caped back and thanks to the way it's cut, I feel comfortable showing my arms (even though I'm not really showing anything at all). I can see this dress transitioning seamlessly into summer with nude slingbacks.

Speaking of this dress, I discovered it through HSN's Digital Dress Shop. The Dress Shop allows customers to discover dresses by designer, size, color, silhouette or through customized results delivered via the style quiz. While the dresses selected for me via the style quiz results were lovely, I had to see what all of the options available in my size were. After clicking through pages and pages of dresses, I discovered this DKNYC dress and instantly fell in love.

Dress: DKNYC c/o HSN

Sunnies: Tom Ford Nikita

Necklace: Marni at H&M (lookbook here)

Bracelet: Marni at H&M (lookbook here)

Handbag: DKNY (style no longer available, similar available here and here)

Leggings: Teggings by Re/dress

Shoes: Franco Sarto

Polish: Revelon Colorstay #260 Bold Sangria

Photos by Tarah Shashaty

Intimates retailer Bare Necessities has long supported and advocated for the plus size community, so the launch of the new boutique Bare Plus doesn't come as a surprise.

Bare Plus will offer more than 1,000 styles from 81 designer brands, including my personal favorite Elomi. The boutique will feature over 500 bra styles in sizes 38A to 56J, including everyday bras, lingerie and sports bras.

Jay Dunn, the CMO of Bare Necessities said the following regarding the launch: "The launch of BarePlus reinforces our commitment to serving the woman with curves," "The launch marks the beginning of our effort to build the best shopping experience for curvy women. Over the next several months, you’ll see more features, photography representative of our customer, and exciting new products from the world’s best brands that you won’t find anywhere else."

For the latest information and sale information, connect with BarePlus on Facebook.

Sometimes when it gets rainy and a chilly in NYC, the only answer is to dress in all black and face the day head on. Bring out the studs, put some rock in your headphones and don't let the gloomy skies take away your spunk. The key to wearing all black is in the details - the texture, the accents and the fabrics.

Sunnies: Tom Ford Nikita

Faux leather jacket: Torrid (style no longer available, similar available here)

Studded dress: Calvin Klein (available in ideeli's Calvin Klein special sizes sale today)

Leggings: Teggings by Re/dress

Flats: Naughty by Nine West

Handbag: Rebecca Minkoff Moring After Clutch (style no longer available, similar available here and here)

Wrap bracelet: Gold Nugget Wrap Bracelet by BaubleBar

Lion doorknocker earrings: Kenneth Jay Lane via ideeli (style no longer available, similar available here and here)

Photos by Alia Rajput

Oh colored pants. They're so fun in theory, but when it's 7am and you're actually trying to get dressed for work, let's just say they present a bit of a style challenge. Sure you can wear white or black tops, but when it comes to adding color on top of color, sometimes you can second guess yourself. There's a fine line between bold and wacky when mixing colors, but I always say go to the extreme - you can always dial it back. Obviously in the photo above I didn't follow my own advice, but it's a work in progress. Let's just call it my style mission for spring.

Sunglasses: DKNY (no longer available, similar available here)

Cicada earrings: Topshop (no longer available)

Top: Old Navy (no longer available, similar available here and here)

Pink jeans: Lane Bryant

Handbag: Kate Spade Bond Street Satchel in Flo Coral c/o Neiman Marcus

Oxfords: Fitzwell (no longer available, similar available here)

Photos by Tarah Shashaty

The weekends in NYC are the best kind of unpredictable. You never know where you'll end up, who you'll see or what the weather will be like. Let's face it - everything about New York is unpredictable and that's exactly why we love it. This past Saturday I popped over to SoHo for brunch with one of my friends at Rubirosa (get the vodka pie - you won't regret it). We ate, we drank, we giggled, we bonded. I wish every Saturday could be like that!

When I was editing the photos, I realized that in my eagerness to embrace spring, I went a bit trend overboard. In my defense, however, I've been rocking these two tone oxfords for over a year. I was beyond thrilled to see a similar pair on the runway at Tibi for fall 2012. It's a great feeling when your own fashion instincts are confirmed. Between the nautical stripes, neon accents and the oxfords this could have been trend overload, but the look was broken up by the fur vest and black ankle length pants.

Sunnies: Tom Ford Nikita (no longer available, similar available here and here)

Necklace: Adia Kibur via ideeli, also available via Bauble Bar

Striped tee: Old Navy (no longer available, similar available here)

Fur vest: Michael Michael Kors c/o Lucky Magazine and Lord & Taylor (no longer available, similar available here)

Watch: c/o DKNY (no longer available, similar available here)

Black ankle pants: Lane Bryant

Handbag: Chanel

Oxfords: Fitzwell (no longer available, similar available here)

Lipstick: NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Mexican Rose

Photos by Eliot