I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We have kind of been celebrating all week long with different Kirk family members, but technically, it’s just the beginning of Christmas! Like I mentioned in my post about our traditions, we’ve felt convicted this year to truly separate the Advent and Christmas seasons. I think we’ll put this into practice much better next year when we can be intentional about it from the beginning (I’ll make a note to blog about it too!), but regardless, we are excited to enjoy the true Christmas season over the next two weeks.

That said, my mind is definitely also on New Year’s Eve…a holiday that gets a bad rap sometimes. We’ve done the big hotel parties and we’ve done cozy nights at home watching the ball drop on TV and enjoy both, so this year, we’re planning a happy medium: a fancy dinner out with an early reservation that will have us home and in pajamas by 9:30! I never pass up an excuse to get dressed up, and this year, I found a gorgeous blush velvet dress that I think will be perfect for New Year’s Eve. I paired it with a sweater blazer (polished, but warm), an elegant watch (for counting down to midnight), and sparkly heels (for obvious reasons)!

Thanks so much to Amy Rae Photography, who snapped these fun photos at The Glass Box in downtown Raleigh. That view stole my city girl heart!

Blush velvet dress, black sweater blazer (old; similar here and here), pearl tassel necklace (old; similar here and here), sparkly gold heels (similar here and here), blush watch (c/o), black crossbody bag (old; similar here and here), silver nail polish, pink lip gloss

How will you be ringing in 2018? When I polled people on Instagram to see if they’d prefer a dressy or casual NYE outfit here on the blog, the votes were almost split 50/50, so I’m especially curious to hear what your plans are! :)

P.S. Quick note on sizing if you love this dress as much as I do! Loft tends to run on the large side. The swing style of this dress is supposed to be boxy, but if you prefer a more fitted look, consider sizing down. For reference, I’m a size 4 and am wearing a small.