Padres Visit

This post isn't about baseball :)  Mamma Kay & Dad came to visit for a week!  My Dad had a week long work conference at The Firm, Mamma Kay tagged along.

It's always so great to have family visit!  Especially when you only get to see them a handful of times each year.

Here were the highlights:

They brought the rest of our wedding presents!!!  Yay!!  How fun!!  It felt so much fun pulling them out of the car, just as much fun as opening them the first time :)  Although now our jenga tower of presents we don't have room for has doubled....  Get me in a bigger place James!!!  (I'm working on this)

How precious are these monogramed pillows?

This was a highlight for James...  his fav wedding present - the longhorns - made the trip!  This was a present from my great uncle who is a real life rancher.  When he heard James wanted a pair of longhorns he thought to himself, "I haven't seen one of my longhorns in a few years, maybe I should go find her."  He found her in the field - skeleton style- and plucked the head off for James.  TRUE STORY!  The only better part of this story was he brought the thing into our wedding reception to give to James :)  The longhorn has been named "Bubba" and until we have room for him (see above) he lives on our balcony.  Yes, several neighbors have inquired.  I am the whiskey-tango neighbor.

James & Bubba at our wedding reception

Mamma Kay & I ventured to South City to visit the Women's Closet Exchange!!  They are designer resale & currently have a reality show on the Style channel.  Mamma Kay was sweet enough to buy me a fun dress (BCBG), linen blazer (boutique label) & work/play dress (Rebecca Taylor)!  My in-person experience was different than the show, but I feel in a good way.  The show leads you to believe they ONLY take high designer pieces.  My experience was 25-30% of the merchandise was high fashion & the majority was expensive labels like J.Crew, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Coach, etc.  I will be going back more often because although snatching a great designer resale item (*cough*LVpurse*cough*) would be très fabuleux, it's much more likely I will buy a variety of higher-end pieces.

We ate some delicious French food!  It was dessert or I'm sure Dad would have objected.  (Don't get him started on French jokes...)  If you are in Creve Coeur make sure to stop by the pâtisserie La Bonne Bouchée.   Everything is so pretty you don't want to eat it!  (yeah right)  I had some lovely macarons, every time I go I make sure to try a new flavor.  My new flavor this trip was apricot!

Mamma Kay & me

Last but not least, my parents don't feel good about a visit without helping, they put up backsplash in our kitchen!!!!  I am so in love with the final product :)  It's black.  Surprise, right?

Work in progress

Finished Product

Work Trip (?)

I got back from Philly & had a wonderful time!  It was a work trip- not like you'll be able to tell from the photos :)  I do feel spoiled that I supervise such a fun place!  And we got engaged here so it is always sweet to visit :) 

 I was NOT getting sick from the airport this time!

 Wait... am I flying to Philly or Dallas?

 Satellite radio makes all the difference!! 

 Gorgeous spring day at Philadelphia Premium Outlets

 My dream house! 

 Boo!!!  Panera with only unsweet tea?!?!?

 Best restaurant ever!  Legal Sea Foods - I always hoard my per diem so I can indulge!

 King of Prussia Mall - shopping heaven! 

 Duck Soup Cafe - cute mom & pop cafe

 Salad Works - I am obsessed with this place!

Flight home with my Nook & my bright dress I'd never be able to get away with in the office! :)

We Lost a Great Lady

Rest In Peace Lilly Pulitzer

There is a great article about her Biography & Obituary on Vogue UK.  And the Lilly story is also told on the blog Lilly Pulitzer: Our Story.

In addition to gorgeous clothing I really admired the Lilly story.  I am most impressed by women entrepreneurs who take something feminine they love & turn it into a great business.  More so than women who just succeed in a man's world.  That's why there are so many "how to succeed in business" books for women.  I think you're wired for the aggressive business world of typical corporate America, you force yourself to be someone else during the work day, or you recognize the value in what you love and create something amazing with it.  Something those men at the top would not even think of.  I hope to become like Martha Stewart who made a successful career out of baking cookies!  Or Julia Childs who re-taught us how to cook & appreciate real French foods!  Or Lilly who started a juice stand & realized she needed bright prints to hide the juice stains!


Thank you for bringing such beauty & happiness in all your designs!

Photo taken 4/7/13

To Block or Not to Block?

I read a guest blog post by a childhood friend of mine that has been haunting me...

"The Truth About Your Relationship Status" by Andrea Lucado (her blog here)

It is a great post geared toward being content with your worth to the Lord regardless of relationship status.

Overall good read... check it out.

The part that got me was when she challenged us to block or hide the girl on our news feed who causes us to feel jealous or insecure.  Wow.  That's been rolling around in my brain for the last few days.  Crazy because the exact person popped in my head as I was reading it.   We went to college together and had a lot of classes together, although she was in the popular/rich girl sorority.  And every picture on Facebook has way too much makeup, expertly applied, perfect hair.  Basically I would have to live in Sephora & have the entire staff touch up my makeup through the day to come close.  Every item of clothing is designer, this season, how many LV purses does she own? More than my student loans? And she has a gorgeous house... Pictures of drinks at all the it places to be.  Really? It's exhausting me to see all the pictures.

Why do we let people like that taunt us? Feel insecure? Or angry at the have-nots?

Maybe all of Facebook is fake.  That would be nice because it's so annoying.  And addicting.

So..... to block her or not to block her????

(Sorry to any of you if my pics of food on dates or flowers James buys me affect you negatively.)

The Library

Not a college bar.  I am a nerd.  I love libraries!

The one by my house isn't pretty, it's kinda old, with weird lighting.  But I love the idea that I can walk to millions of books! :)  I'm pretty sure this isn't new or exciting, but with online catalogs & reservations I can browse for books when I'm bored at work & they will hold it for me at the front desk :)  That's service!  There are two designated "call to pickup" parking spots out front for the super lazy who can't even walk IN to the library to get their books.

AND the library has DVDs and all sorts of fun other material.  Like every Jillian Michaels DVD!

Where have I been????  How did I forget about the library???

Well thanks to Ms. Ashley I renewed my love with the library & got a fancy new card that fits on my keyring (like the CVS reward cards).

They even have an app where you can read ebooks for free.  Too bad my craigslist nook isn't new enough for apps...


Here were the results of my first few library trips!   For some reason I was drawn to blog/books...

1)  Young House Love by Sherry & John Petersik
This book was very fun & has great ideas.  I love how well it is organized by giving you approximate time & price to complete the projects.  The ideas are super creative!  I am glad I rented this book from the library instead of buying it because some of the projects weren't my style & most of the projects are from their experience of fixing up an older home.  I am not in that situation now, how many projects can I do in my tiny condo???  I found the projects around creating centerpieces or setting tables the most applicable.  If I ever do buy an older home that needs some fixing up this blog/book would be perfect!


2)  Cupcakes and Cashmere by Emily Schuman
This book would be a perfect present for a young lady graduating high school or college.  It was very cute and covered a wide variety of topics.  I found the subject material a little basic (hence the first statement).  For example one of the posts was how to pop a champagne cork.  Really?  I don't know if I'm friends with anyone who doesn't already know this.  Or how to set a basic table.  Really?  I'm pretty sure Mamma Kay had me doing that since I was 6.  The pictures were great & she has a very so-Cal style.  Maybe I'll buy this book for JJ.  The one idea I am planning on using was throwing an Oscar themed party, she had a recipe for fun star sugar cookies that were red & gold!


3) How to Look Expensive by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig
Or "why I spend money on the internet" :)  I really liked this book!  (<-- exclamation point!) She has a wonderful way of making the book relevant.  First she explains four "styles" Park Avenue Pretty (à la Jessica Chastain), Hollywood Boho (à la Rachel Bilson), Glam Globe-Trotter (à la Gisele) & Modern Movie Star (à la Reese Witherspoon).   Each chapter she makes suggestions of what hair, makeup, clothes, etc. based on your style.  The second awesome part of the book is for each chapter she interviews a celebrity expert & asks them how to get the best bang for your buck.  Yep, even the wax lady.  Each chapter ends with her/celebrity info on what looks expensive & what looks cheap.  I felt she was glamorous & still was in the ball park of the line between reasonable/expensive.  Don't you hate those magazines that are all "steals!" $300 skirt!  Yeah right.  Moving on ~ this book I may actually buy.  I don't know if I was blown-away by crazy new information, however this was one awesome encyclopedia to keep handy.  James would love it if I would stop hoarding old editions of InStyle....


Anyways I'm glad I liked these books so much ~ I forgot to return them & had to pay an $11 fine!! Oops :)  I wonder if that's tax-deductible...

Valentine's Day

So basically I am in LOVE with Valentines' Day!  I always have been.  And no m'am I was not one of those girls who always had a boyfriend on V-Day.  Quite the opposite.  I think I was single most of them.  I know the people who like to wear black & label it as "Hallmark Capitalism" ~ boycotting a happy holiday seems very emotionally stable...  I just feel that a day dedicated to telling everyone in your life you care about them is awesome.  To me Val Day isn't about romantic love ~ it's about all love.

Put your phone down, stop the tweeting, tell people you love them today.

I love you ~  to my dear family & wonderful friends.  You bring joy to my life, and I love you.

I also love STEAK so I was wonderfully pleased by James' choice of restaurant Ruth's Chris!!!!

And now to the dress decision!

Drum roll please.....................................

I picked the Kate V Dress by Nicole Miller!!! 

Inspired by one of my favorite fashionistas, the one and only Kate Middleton!

Photo Credit:  Kate Middleton Style

Ruth's Chris had a photographer to document the evening.  

I was tempted to write a letter to Ruth's Chris management.  Maybe include a little education in the form of a syllogism:

Major Premise:  Valentine's Day dates are made to please women.

Minor Premise:  Women hate looking larger than they are on film.

Conclusion:  Fish eye lenses are the worst possible choice for Valentines Day.

James contributed some beautiful flowers & I contributed some yummy dessert!  

Hope you had a fabulous day full of love! 

Rent the Runway

Thanks to Birchbox December I received a $50 gift card to Rent the Runway.  I decided to use it for Valentine's Day!  I made it very clear to James (basically since December) that his only responsibility on V-Day was to take me to a restaurant nice enough to wear my RTR dress.  

Like Mamma Kay says, if you don't tell men exactly what you want you're not likely to get it ;)

The whole process is very easy to use & very user-friendly.   On their website you select your event date, size & start browsing dresses available.   If it's your first time renting a designer they give you a complimentary second size!  And your second dress is $25.   You can also rent accessories, purses & buy Spanx!  You can rent for 4 or 8 days, included is a postage paid envelop to return them.  They also send you a reminder email when it's time to mail it back :)

I ordered two dresses, they came on time & I was VERY impressed with the overall presentation!

 You get to keep the garment bag!  How fun :) 

Included were a couple of freebies, from Olay & some Hollywood Fashion tape!

Left Dress:                                                                                                                              Right Dress:

Kate Lace V Dress by Nicole Miller                             Sapphire Sophisticate Dress by Christian Siriano

Which one to choose??????   Stay tuned for my Val-Day post!!!! 

Duchess Envy

Today in church Darren asked us to contemplate some questions... one being "What do you daydream about?"  Besides asking James when I can be a stay at home wife, I usually daydream about being a princess.  Not the Disney kind, the Kate Middleton kind!!  I'm not usually the type to follow celebrity gossip or read those flashy magazines (no judgement), but I am in love/envy with the Duchess.  Mainly because she is able to find beautiful clothes with sleeves....  Still a mystery to me & I live in a climate where I need them!!  I am ardently happy she is bringing back classy style, our generation's Audrey.

While perusing one of my favorite blogs What Kate Wore I saw a link to Australian Vogue's article Kate's Best Looks of 2012...  Enjoy!

Here are some of my favorites :)

I guess the downside of being a Princess is being photographed everywhere... Ooopsy!  To my knowledge nobody documents my Lame Outfits!

One of the reasons that I love/envy Kate is she reminds me of when I was little & watching the Princess Di Biography special with my mother & hearing her tell stories about the Wedding. Mamma Kay- by the way- looks a LOT like Diana.  (Remember in the '90s when we thought William was the hot prince??)  I think when Lady Di passed away my love of royals went with her.  Until now :)

Santa Baby

Here are the gifts topping my Christmas wish list!!!  Especially after James surprised me with a fab jewelry box I need to fill it up! :)

1.  Tall Wellington Boot by Hunter in Aubergine

2.  Crystal Stud Big Pink Earrings from Etsy

3.  Personalized Stationery from Etsy

4.  Monogrammed Necklace from Etsy

5.  Louis Vuitton Cosmetic Pouch in Damier Azur

So my love of Etsy dominated my Christmas list this year.  I doubt I'll see any of these lovelies as James asked me a few weeks ago very confused, "So... are any of your presents actually in a store?"   My bet's on the wellies :)  I wonder how James is adjusting to married life, I took him to a *store* (Nordstrom) to see them in person & when the sales associate explained he just had to get the sock liners his face was priceless :)

Hello Lover!

Today was a day I've been waiting for.  Waiting is not the right word.  Yearning maybe more accurate :)  The second I found out about the Target + Neiman Marcus collaboration I was thrilled!!!  Little girl on Christmas morning thrilled!!  I kept following, checking & re-checking both of their websites, Facebook, social media, etc.  This was the perfect opportunity for me to buy some fun designer items without killing the budget.  After my recent marriage to a man who is great at sticking to a budget, gone are my days of falling in love with something at Neiman's and eating oatmeal until the next paycheck :) AND... the debut is Dec 1st, two days before my Birthday!  Clearly this is fate! :)

I was so excited that I woke up at 2:45 am and -yes again- stalked the social media sites.  Neiman's was selling out of items fast... and I was getting worried.  I am not the type to wake up early on a Saturday or talk much the first hour I'm awake, so James had no idea what to make of my early arise at 7 am (on my own, no alarm!) and uber excitement.  I strategically drove to the Target further out in the 'burbs (hoping that less soccer moms would be beating down the doors) and it proved to be an excellent strategy!  There was no line out the door, no drama... except me & the security guard there to watch shoppers of the collection.  I had a few quick minutes to walk around & look at everything in person before a group of about 20 ladies came.  I grabbed the three items I most wanted and left at 8:08 am before it got too busy.  I picked up some Starbucks for James & I (today also happens to be our 3-monthaversary) to celebrate.  All the while chatting with my bestie in Texas as she was in her Target.   :)   I wish we lived closer so we could lunch with our matching Tory lunch box & thermos!!!

Here are the pieces I adopted into my family:

Tory Burch Beverage Container & Lunch Box
The beverage container packaging calls it a "flask" I told James I'm going to use it to carry wine wherever I go! hehe  Found at Neiman Marcus or at Target.

Tracy Reese Set of 4 Dessert Plates
These are even more gorgeous in person & the box comes with proper foam & padding for great storage.  It has already found it's home on my new buffet table.  Now time to get desserting!  Who wants to come over? Found at Neiman Marcus or at Target.


Shop the entire collection at Target or at Neiman Marcus !  What are your favs?