My 23rd Birthday

Hey guys!

I celebrated my 23rd birthday this past weekend and it was so much fun! I'm feeling very grateful for all of my incredible family and friends that made it so special.

I wanted to recap the weekend and tell you all about what I did, how to shop my looks, and how I managed to make my birthday last for four days lol.

I take my birthday seriously. I'm not the kind of person who is ever going to say, "Oh it's okay, let's not do anything for my birthday this year." I admit, I'm a little crazy. The good kind of crazy.

So my actual birthday was Thursday, July 19th and I woke up to pancakes shaped like the number "23." My great uncle has lived with us since I was born and he's an amazing cook. He has a tradition of making me pancakes in the shape of my age every year on my birthday. Even now, at 90 years old, he's still doing it!

After breakfast, my mom and I went shopping at The Short Hills Mall in Short Hills, New Jersey. We mostly shopped for my sisters' baby shower which is coming up in two weeks, but I ended up getting a polkadot blazer from Topshop and a suede dress from AQUA at Bloomingdale's.

We stopped to get fro-yo at Bloomingdale's and I had a weird moment where I thought I saw Justin Beiber going up the escalator. Spoiler Alert: it wasn't him. Justin Bieber was in California at the time. Yes, I checked.

Once we got home, there were flowers waiting for me. My boyfriend sent me beautiful blue hydrangeas (hydrangeas are my favorite flower) and my parents sent me an arrangement of pink roses and white hydrangeas !

Then, I went to dinner with my grandma, my sister, Alex, my brother-in-law, Mark, and my parents. We went to an Italian restaurant called Positano Restaurant in Brooklyn.

I finally got to open my gifts and my parents truly went above and beyond. They got me the Hermes crossbody that I'm sure you've been seeing in a lot of my Instagram pictures and an orange and green silk Hermes twilly to go with it. Obsessed isn't even the word. She's beautiful and I can't believes she's mine !

My sister and brother-in-law gave me tickets to see Mean Girls on Broadway which I've been dying to see! I'm so excited for that.

My look for my birthday dinner was a silk printed Zara dress and Fendi shoes. Shop my heels in red here. Unfortunately I can't find the Zara dress online but I purchased it in stores only about two weeks ago.

On Saturday, July 21st, I celebrated with my best friends (plus my boyfriend lol.) We went out to brunch at Violet's Cellar which is a really cute underground restaurant.

I'll be honest, I hated my outfit. We all have those days when we don't like the way we look and that was mine. Everything I put on, I ripped off seconds later. So, I settled on this look but definitely didn't feel 100% confident. So, if you think I always like what I'm wearing, think again. We all go through it.

I wore an oversized polka dot blazer from Topshop that you can shop here. Underneath I wore a black slip dress from ASOS, paired with tan mules by Chinese Laundry. Shop my slip dress here. Shop similar shoes here.

On Saturday night, I went to one of my favorite restaurants, The River Cafe. It's in DUMBO, Brooklyn (Down Under The Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass). The River Cafe is right on the Hudson River and the view from the restaurant is stunning.

My parents took my boyfriend, my grandma, Alex, Mark, and I. We had such a fun night and I loved spending time with my family and boyfriend who was visiting for the weekend.

I wore my favorite look of the weekend- a full Alice + Olivia ensemble. Are you surprised?

I wore an Alice + Olivia embellished crop top, Alice + Olivia white flared pants, beige lucite heels from Lulu's, and a Louis Vuitton clutch. Oh and my new favorite lipstick by Guerlain that I can't stop wearing. Shop my shirt here. Shop my pants here and here. Shop my shoes here. Shop my lipstick here.

My boyfriend also gave me his present which was an Hermes leather wrap bracelet that I've been wanting forever! I've barely taken it off since he gave it to me.

On Sunday (the last day of my birthday celebrations, I promise) I went to Taylor Swift's Reputation concert with Alex and one of her best friends, Andi. The concert was unreal. Alex and I have gone to almost every one of Taylor's tours together so we had to keep the tradition alive! We've been to Speak Now, Red, 1989, and now Reputation. The concert was amazing and incorporated everything from fireworks to huge blow up snakes. It rained on and off throughout the event but we didn't let it ruin the show for us! I put on my poncho, Free People of course lol, and danced around like it was 85 and sunny.

It was the perfect ending to my 23rd birthday and I'm feeling so blessed. I wore a red jumpsuit from Target's kids section (no shame in my game), my Gucci belt bag, Vans sneakers, and a denim ruffle jacket from Mandee. Shop my sneakers here. Shop my belt bag here.

Lastly, thank you to all of you for your sweet birthday messages. I appreciated every one of them! Also, if you've made it through this extremely long blog post, THANK YOU! You deserve a medal.

If you aren't already, follow me on Instagram @insidecarolinecloset.

XO,

Caroline