sugar, spice, and everything nice

i am head over heels, obsessed with this jacket (also worn in this post from the hamptons a few weeks ago). i originally saw it on julia engel of gal meets glam forever ago and have been crushing on it ever since. because it is max mara, it took me a while before i knew if i could fully commit. after a few months, i sort of forgot about it until my big trip to europe with my mom this past summer. i stumbled upon the jacket again online, and this time it was on sale! now one thing about shopping in europe, there is the most magical thing called vat (value added tax), meaning you get 12% back at the airport when you leave!! i knew this trip to europe was my big chance to track down this jacket once and for all. not to get all finance-y on you but i figured out which of the three countries we were visiting this jacket would be the cheapest - and that was going to be in italy.

basically the moment my mom and i landed in venice, we headed strait to the max mara store - dodging tacky tourists and their selfie sticks because we had a mission to accomplish! to keep this story more on the short(ish) side, they had the jacket in my size and after the vat, the jacket came out to about 260 us dollars. it will forever be one of my favorite jackets so be prepared to see it all the time.

i love pairing this jacket with a simple lbd and edgy accessories - okay well edgy for me - to give a little pop. i've been wearing this dress on repeat as well. not only because i can wear it to work but because it feels like i'm wearing a sweatshirt! this gives me the winning combo of cute and comfy!

coat: max mara (similar ones here and here)
dress: theory
shoes: valentino
necklace: jqvancouver
ring: henri bendel
bag: celine
sunglasses: karen walker

lydia hudgens photography
p.s. i also think lydia thinks i'm weird because i plan out the titles for the posts with the outfits themselves haha

have a great weekend everyone!