Dear Ashley Ella Design, thank you for these adorably awesome (and free) prints.

Dear girls who date douche bags, listen to this song on repeat.  It’s called Everybody Knows {Your Boyfriend is a Douchebag}.  Just be sure not to fall for the guy singing the ridiculously catchy song … he’s clearly a douchebag.

Dear readers, I am SO excited to announce that I am in my first ever ad unit thanks to Stylecaster and Lord & Taylor … talking my very favorite thing: shopping (Summer’s hottest trends, to be exact!)  And yes, that IS my face in an advertisement.  Oh my gawd.

Dear DIY aficionados, anyone brave enough (slash, talented enough) to recreate this neon tassel necklace put together by the genius, Grace, along with jewelry designers Holst & Lee?  (And if so, I have a birthday coming up … in September.) 

Dear shortbread blueberry bars, you’re speaking my baking language.

Dear Coach Legacy collection, is it just me or do you just keep getting better and better?  This Coach Legacy Leather Mini Willis bag would make the perfect travel companion for my upcoming adventure.

Dear weekend, take your time.  I still have loads of packing to do, plus a graduation party to go to. (And Monday morning we get the keys to our new place!)

And last but not least, dear everyone, I’m nominated for “Biggest Girl Crush” in The Indie Chicks 2013 Badass Blogger Awards!  (Happy dance!)  VOTE for me?

Get the origins of these sweet little love notes, here.

I’ve re-introduced the color red into my life, and I can’t get enough.  It started with this MinkPink maxi dress (first spotted on Kelli Murray), and now I want more. Red is such a striking color, and really works in every season. Next up on my shopping list: this red ASOS Drop-Waist Shift Dress, this tassel tribal necklace, the Madewell Odette Dress in red, and these red Wildfox Polarized Sunglasses ( … so cool).

[Read more →]

I am admittedly terrified of white pants.  I have hips and shorter legs, and I’ve always steered clear of the white pants section.  But Old Navy lured me in with all of their pretty white denim ads, and those skinny boyfriend cut jeans, I knew I had to have them.  So I went for it:  white denim.  And you know what?  I kind of love them.  I’ll admit I still darkened the look up. Shocker.  I added stripes because I’m in love with stripes on all things, everywhere.  And heels seemed necessary for my short frame.  The piles of vintage necklaces and stacks of Old Navy rings, well that was the fun part.

If you haven’t tried the skinny boyfriend cut at Old Navy yet, do yourself a favor and snatch up at least two pairs during the sale.  They fit so well – with just the right amount of bagginess that I want from a boyfriend pair of pants.  The pair I chose also had subtle distressing which toughened up the crisp all-white look.  Everyone swears by the Rockstar cut at Old Navy, but I am now a solid Boyfriend cut devotee.

Get the Look:  Old Navy Skinny Boyfriend Jeans in Distressed White // ASOS Elbow Patch Cardigan In Stripe // One Teaspoon Tunic // Alexander Wang Rocco // Madewell Frankie Pump in Gold Glitter // Old Navy Rings // Vintage Necklaces

[Read more →]

In the next two-and-a-half weeks I have to move into a new apartment, get all of my work done and lined up for the two weeks I’ll be out of town after that, and then as a reward, I fly to Europe.  I’m totally in a panic.  Nothing is ready.  My health has hit a bump in the road.  Our house is only half (okay that’s a stretch, I’ll give myself one-third) in boxes.  The goal is to have movers show up at our doorstep next Monday, but I am nowhere near ready for that.  The movers may be at our doorstep, my hair in a messy ponytail, pillows scattered across the floor, boxes still needing heavy duty tape, no one to watch the dog, and forgive me, but likely the ugliest pair of sweatpants I own (i.e., the ones I vow to never pack, to wear only on moving day, to throw out immediately upon move-in at new place, only to throw them in a bin for their reemergence at our next move in day), a.k.a., my worst nightmare.  And boy do we have plenty of moving to do.  Not that I’m complaining; I dove in headfirst to the married life of an MD/PhD’s spouse (and he really is the best); from what I hear, we still have years of hospital hopping (and city hopping to go with that).  And I planned the big apartment move just before our European Adventure – which was sort of unavoidable with hubs starting rotations two days after we get back from said vacation.  I’m a masochist.  What can I say?

But you know what — my organized-meets-disorganized chaos … it kind of works for me.  Actually, it really works for me.  I organize and plan and make lists, and then as the weeks and days to the events near, I run around like a crazy person, forgetting to put on mascara or match my pants to my top.  But in the end, it all sort of falls into place.  Obviously not without some hiccups, but life’s hiccups are what make us better, stronger, and a whole lot funnier.  And I am sometimes a mess.  And sometimes I don’t brush my hair.  So far, so good.

How do you keep it all together?  Especially when your “to do” list is miles long and all of your “planning” is not very helpful at all?