Summer Sweater

Free People Sweater Clare V Clutch Katey McFarlan Katey McFarlan Gucci Sunglasses Valentino Flats

Sweater: Free People, Here, Here | Jeans: Shopbop | Shoes: Valentino, Want These! | Bag: Clare V. | Sunglasses: Gucci | Lipstick: Perla | Bracelet: Sold Out, Similar | Tank: Similar | Necklace: Moon & Lola [c/o], Moon & Lola [c/o]

Photography by: Angie Garcia


One key item on my seasonal shopping list each summer is a summer sweater. It seems a bit odd to need such a piece when I live in Texas where it’s insanely hot and humid. However, I’m a cold-natured person and like to keep an open-weave sweater on hand to throw over my shoulders in a restaurant or while I’m at home working. Yesterday it was so warm outside and we went to Taco Diner for dinner and it was frigid! I was literally covering Maxi in the cloth napkins it was so cold. I didn’t even have a blanket in the diaper bag because we had all been sweating all day running around. I looked at Paul when he got his napkin and I gave him the look of, “Don’t even think about using your napkin, your child needs that!” All of that to say, a light summer sweater can be a must when indoors!

I also love to throw these little sweaters on while at home over leggings and a tank. I feel pulled together enough that if I need to run to the grocery store I can, but it feels like comfortable pajamas when I’m on the couch working! When I found this Free People cardigan  I knew this would be my summer sweater. I picked it up in green which is selling out quickly, but I seriously love all the other shades. The sapphire is gorgeous!

My sister graduates next weekend and family and friends are starting to come in town for all the celebrations! My best friend, Daniela, is in town as well so we get to spend the rest of the week with her while my sister finishes up her finals. Daniela is a traveling nurse and is headed to her next location, San Francisco! If any of you all live there let me know!! She needs friends! 😉 But I seriously admire her love of nursing and patients. She just goes wherever there is a need and uproots her life to adapt to any place that needs her. I love hearing all about her favorite cities she has been to. So far Boston has been her favorite, but I promised her last night I’d get her some girlfriends in San Francisco-haha! So I hope some of you all live there!

Now speaking of girlfriends and moving onto girl talk…. oh you guessed it, we are segueing into The Bachelor. Ben and Lauren…it’s like I saw it coming but then Ben confused me with all of his social media postings. Spill your thoughts below because I’m just too bummed to even share mine. I get it, people. I get it. I’ve proudly [or not so proudly] watched every single season of The Bachelor. 10% of contestants are actors. 20% of contestants are there to quit their current jobs after because of newfound fame. 10% of contestants are just there to travel. 50% don’t even know why they are there and were either nominated, pitched to by a producer and just thought, “Eh…why not!” But deep down, I believe 10% are there because they think they genuinely might meet someone. Think Sean Lowe, Emily Maynard, etc. Ben fit that category. So naturally, I’m way too invested into reading any article I can find about this breakup online. It’s a sign I should really just be taking that energy to write thank you notes from Maxi’s Baby Dedication, and yet here I am talking to you all about it….. #LoveMeThroughIt

So spill your thoughts below and if you are a San Fran girl let me know! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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23 Comments

  1. Love, love, love the shade of green you chose, and how you paired it with an all-white outfit. Super chic!

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  2. Kelly K wrote:

    SUCH a gorgeous shade of green! Love how you styled it!

    Rosy Outlook

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  3. Kate LaRosa wrote:

    Ben and Lauren whyyyyyyy!? I have watched every season too… my poor husband lol! He totally gets the boot on Monday nights (#sorrynotsorry mama needs a night off). I felt like they were doomed watching Ben and Lauren Happily Ever After? but I was in total denial about it. I think maybe the reality of what just happened after Ben’s season ended hit Lauren super hard and she just couldn’t get past it. So sad 🙁

    xx, Kate

    Published 18 May 17Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      I was in total denial too! Watching the show was so awkward I couldn’t even get through an entire episode without pausing it! But I told myself, “Oh it’s just poor staging by the producers. Now I’m not so sure! 🙁

      Published 18 May 17Reply
  4. Hilary Griggs wrote:

    When I watched The Bachelor with Ben and Lauren I liked them as a couple and it made sense. But then when I saw their TV show on abc family they just didn’t make sense together. She was so self absorbed and really rude and Ben was so goofy, fun, caring, and trying to be smart about the relationship. It could be editing but it really did not paint Lauren in the best light. And every other word out of her mouth was “babe”, so to me that was her tryin way to hard and not letting the relationship be natural. But I will give it to her, I love her style.

    Ok rant over, hahaha. Sorry it’s so long.

    Love the outfit and the blog. I’ve been reading it everyday for about 3 years!

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  5. Caitlin wrote:

    Love that shade of green and how you styled it with an all white look! Also, I’m in total denial over Ben and Lauren…so many couples fail but every season I’m like I hope this couple makes it! Guess I’m just a sucker for love!
    xo Caitlin
    http://caitlincarol.com

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  6. Allie wrote:

    OMG, BEN AND LAUREN!!!! Ok I think we all kind of saw it coming, I don’t know if you watched their Happily Ever After show but it was painful to watch, they just did not seem in love .. you could just tell from the way they interacted, talked, and even looked at each other. I was rooting for them too 🙁 So sad that I think the last couple to stay together was Catherine and Sean Lowe?? Ok, sorry I’m a total Bachelor fanatic haha!

    ALSO! I am so obsessed with this sweater but it’s a little pricey for me so hoping to find it on sale soon! I think this is the prettiest color in a sweater I have ever seen!

    Allie
    http://www.champagne-tuesdays.com

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  7. Nina wrote:

    Loving that free people sweater! I had a bit of a suspicion that B&L wouldn’t work out because of how I saw them interact on their show together but I thought maybe it was the way the producers portrayed it. I so wanted Ben to have his happily ever after! I felt like he deserved it more than most people on the shows!

    Xo, Nina
    Law of Fashion Blog

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  8. Jenna C. wrote:

    I was a HUGE Ben and Lauren fan!!!!! I couldn’t wait to watch their reality show! But…o….m….g…..I could not even get through the second episode. That was so brutal to watch. So fake and forced and boring. After the Bachelor I ended up not really liking Lauren, which is weird because I LOVED her on the show. It pains me to say this, but I actually think he deserves better. And can we talk about her face work lately ???? She had changed. In more ways than one! ????

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  9. Natalie wrote:

    I am soooo sad about Ben and Lauren! I loved Ben, and totally agree, I thought he was really there to find love. She would post all these pics with her friends traveling and I thought it was over. But then he would make a sappy post and throw me off! Now I’m all about JoJo and Jordan. They are super cute, always together; and better not break my heart like Ben and Lauren.

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  10. Irina wrote:

    You look so adorable! And I am loving that Clare V bag, I just hate holding furry things in my hands (unless they’re animals) so I cannot do a hair clutch haha.

    I was kind of shocked about Ben and Lauren! I know that 9 out of 10 couples don’t work out but it seemed they were both genuine and in it for the long haul. I didn’t watch their show but people were saying they were both super bland and they saw the breakup coming. Let’s just hope Shawn and Kaitlyn make it through!

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  11. I’m a San Francisco gal! Happy to give your friend recommendations on restaurants, nails salons, etc! I also have a friend who is a nurse here so I wonder if they’re at the same hospital! They can be nurse besties 🙂

    xo
    Blair

    Published 18 May 17Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Thank you! Thank you!! Would you like me to e-mail you or what is easiest?

      Published 19 May 17Reply
  12. Melanie Grant wrote:

    I live in San Francisco! Happy to make a new friend and show her the ropes 🙂

    Published 18 May 17Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Yay! You’re the sweetest! Do you mind if I e-mail you?!

      Published 19 May 17Reply
  13. We were just talking about this! I just really want to know who broke it off because I need to know who’s side I’m on… just kidding (sort of) but really… I liked Ben. I think you are right in saying he was there to truly find someone. Did I think he was the best bachelor? No. But he was a genuine guy. Lauren seemed to be a genuine girl too on the bachelor… minus the whole episode where one of the contestants confronted Lauren about being different around Ben and different around the girls. Something like that always raises a red flag for me. I won’t even touch on the happily ever after show because… train wreck.

    Published 18 May 17Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Girl, I’m a googling maniac right now! I’m being the EXACT type of person I can’t stand. Their breakup is none of my business! Who am I to judge?! And yet here I am snooping their social media platforms, guessing who broke it off and eating up every E News article that gets published about it. haha. I agree, too! I never drank the Lauren punch that season until all my friends were like, “OMG I LOVE LAUREN.” Then I was like, “Oh! I think I must like Lauren too?!” But things just always seemed off. Then I couldn’t even get through two episodes of their spinoff show. I felt bad judging that so I blamed producing. It just was all a bit odd! xo

      Published 19 May 17Reply
  14. Mallory Fritz wrote:

    So I watched Ben and Lauren host this special on Freeform channel about Disney Dream weddings two weeks ago. …It made me sad because I thought to myself, they look so awkward together right now, they seemed so disconnected…then a week later, they break up! So Sad!

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  15. I am in love with that sweater! Green is my favorite color and I love how you wore it with all white. I think I need to buy it! Sad to say that I’m not completely surprised by them breaking up. I am an avid bachelor watcher and there was something off to me in the end before he made his choice and I thought he should have chose JoJo instead. I didn’t watch their show together but would read about things in my magazines. It seems like they had some issues. I agree Katey on your breakdown on who is there for the right reasons. Obviously there have been some that worked out very well so far so that’s what I guess keeps me watching plus I like seeing all the dresses! Ha!

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  16. Melanie Grant wrote:

    Ahh Ben and Lauren broke my heart. My poor boyfriend doesn’t hear the end of it! ????

    Also I’m an SF gal born and raised, and more than happy to 1. make a new friend ALWAYS and 2. show them around this amazing city!

    xoxo,
    melanie

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  17. Kessley wrote:

    YES! A summer sweater is a must, especially in the south! It will be hotter then the gates of hell outside and the AC will be cranked down to BELOW freezing! Seriously thought I was the only one who had one of these! Love this color & post!!!

    XO

    Published 18 May 17Reply
  18. I love the green, but I have all the heart eyes for the sapphire. So pretty! I think I need it (haha).

    Ohhh, Ben & Lauren. Happily Ever After was SO awkward. I don’t want to come across as a #meangirl, but I don’t think she was ever as invested as he was. He actually seems like a genuine, good guy (like Sean Lowe). I kind of feel like she wanted the fame and he just wanted to escape and be normal. I don’t know… :/

    Published 19 May 17Reply
  19. brittany wrote:

    you are wearing that color SOOOO well!! gorgeous, lady!! and i am eating up the ben and lauren commentary here!!!! gosh. i’m never *surprised* when these things don’t last, but because ben seems so genuine… i kinda have been shocked this time!!! and i wasn’t huge on lauren, either, as the show aired… until everyone magically just was team lauren. so i hung in there, but something to me has always seemed like she isn’t ready to be a mature, settled bride! i shouldn’t judge, BUT since they put it out there, i can’t help but ponder! and their show after. haha. oh gosh. RIP ben and lauren!!

    Published 20 May 17Reply