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Archives for August 2014

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August Favorites

Warby Parker Glasses – I’ve become completely attached to my Warby Parker glasses in August. After not having a pair of glases for so long, it has been so nice to throw on these striped sassafrass frames and head out for a quick brunch or to run some errands. It’s incredible not having to wear my contacts everday if I don’t want to!

Essie ‘Bikini So Teeny’ polish – Summer is almost at an end so I’ve been using the month of August to show off all my favorite summer polishes! I can’t get over my summer love of Essie’s ‘Bikini So Teeny’. It’s such a gorgeous shade of blue that reminds me of cool waters and long summer holidays.


Holly Street Darla Wallet – I have been loving this wallet in August. It’s so cute and tiny that it’s forced me to focus on the items that I actually really need to have in my wallet and not carry around a gigantic wallet full of non-necessities. The stripe detailing on the inside and adorable bow on the outside make it quintessentially Kate Spade.

Women’s Health Magazine – I got this as a bonus in one of my birchboxes and I am so glad that I sent in the little card to get my free subscription. It’s different from most of the magazines I currently subscribe to where their focus is mostly on beauty and fashion. Women’s health is all about, you guessed it, the health of women! It’s a great source of helpful exercise tips, tasty recipes, plus it still has healthy beauty & fashion tips too. It definitely makes a great addition to my monthly stack of magazines.
Origins Checks and Balances – I’ve been having a bit of fun testing out new face washes lately and one of my favorites has been the Origins Checks and Balances frothy face wash. I love how incredibly frothy the wash actually gets, creating this thick foamy layer of cleanser all around your skin. It makes your skin feel squeaky clean afterwards. I also think this wash would work amazingly with a clarisonic. I can’t wait to get a new one and test out my theory.

Sole Society Flats – If you follow my Instagram page, you know I’ve practically been living in Sole Society flats for weeks now. They have such cute styles and are so versatile, you can pair them with almost anything. They are also pretty darn comfy for long outside excursions. I did several hours of intense shopping in mine yesterday and no blisters. I can’t wait to see the shoe options they showcase for Fall! Girly needs a new pair of over-the-knee boots.
What were some of your favorites during August? Share them with me in the comments below!
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Welcome Back Kate Spade

It’s always sad to see your favorite stores boarded up for a remodel, but always very exciting to see their fresh new look when it reopens. Thursday night, I went to the reopening of the Kate Spade store in San Francisco. Let me just say, Kate knows how to throw a good party! There were tasty refreshments, delicious bites and a great preview of their new Fall collection. I picked up a few must have items and enjoyed mingling with other Kate Spade lovers like myself!
It was quite the crowded event. There were so many Kate Spade fans, it was a tad hard to move around, but we all found space to check out pieces we loved. The event had waiters passing out Perrier, Lorina Lemonade, cute little Cokes and glasses of champagne. Although I do love my champagne, I couldn’t pass up the cute glass Coke with a striped red straw! I really love the stores new look. There are a ton of bright colors, a healthy dose of pattern mixing and inspiring mottos placed all around the store. I found the cutest red party dress that I immediately fell in love with. It would be such a perfect ensemble for any holiday party. Definitely going on my wish list! All I have to say is Welcome Back Kate! You were sorely missed. 
I definitely needed one of these little wallets, but how to choose between a bright hue and a bow! 
How gorgeous are these shoes?
Who can say no to a tasty macaron offered to you by a cute waiter?
Kate knows how to color match!
 It would make the perfect holiday party dress!
They had a raffle to win this super cute polka dot purse!
Even a fun little GIF maker in the back!
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Weekend Wear

dress // shoes // bag // cuff // earrings
Labor Day Weekend is all about serious relaxation and celebrating the last big weekend of Summer. School is starting again and Fall is rolling in. Soon it will be time to put away the wedges and sundresses and pull out the tights and boots so this is a great weekend to pull out your favorite sundress and go out in style! I plan to relish every last second of Summer and will be twirling around this weekend in my favorite sundress and shades. Keep on the lookout for all my favorite Outfit of The Days on my instagram page! 
Any special plans for this lovely 3 day weekend? Don’t forget to share them with me before you go! Hope it’s splendiferous for you!

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Warby Parker Review

I have been severely lacking a proper pair of glasses for months now. I broke my favorite pair a while back, literally snapped in half, and after a failed attempt to repair them, harry potter tape style, I relented to throwing them in the trash bin. I was so disappointed that I had broken my favorite pair that I didn’t even bother to replace them. I chose to instead wear my contacts for as long as I possibly could during the day. That was not a good plan. It led to some very dry, very tired eyes and a whole lot of squinting when I didn’t have them in. 
After some serious nudging from my boyfriend, I decided to test out Warby Parker, a glasses company that sells most of their product online and lets you do a home try on to choose your frames. The online part certainly scared me, but the premise was very simple. I got to choose out 5 pairs of frames from their online shop and they would send all 5 to me for a 5 day home test run. No charge, no stresses, if I didn’t like any of the frames, I could simply send them back, no harm done. I loved being able to test out all 5 frames for so many days. I constantly found myself running to the mirror in the morning checking out the different pairs to decide which worked best. I finally narrowed it down to two favorites, the Finch in Violet Magnolia & the Sims in Striped Sassafrass. I wish I could’ve bought them both I loved the frames so much, but alas I could choose only one to buy. I finally decided on the Sims since they would work best for working in my office and I wanted the Finch for hanging at home and for out and about. They arrived and I couldn’t have been happier with my purchase! Warby Parker does such a good job helping you make the decision that you’re actually excited to get your pair of glasses and show them off. 

These are the other glasses I tested out. I so want to get the Finch next time. They were so cute! 

Neat thing! For every pair of glasses bought, Warby Parker donates a pair of glasses to someone in need, cool right? Have you tried our Warby Parker? Was your experience as good as mine? Let me know in the comments below!

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My Pamper Night Essentials

I tend to carry fair amounts of stress and anxiety in my life so I find that it is extremely important for me to take the time to properly relax and take sufficient ‘me’ time. One of the best ways I have found to do that is by having frequent Pamper Nights. For those who have never had a Pamper Evening, it’s quite simple and quite enjoyable. It’s a night where you decide to take the ‘me’ time that you need to do a little beauty & skincare regime that you normally rush through during the other days. It usually starts with a warm bath, some calming tunes and a delightful array of beauty, haircare & skincare products! I do Pamper Nights quite a lot so I thought I’d share some of the essential ingredients that make my Pamper Evenings such a smashing success. 
1. Lush Bath Bomb – Bath bombs, bubble bars, bubble bath, bath salts, whatever your preference, this is a must have for any good Pamper Evening. It scents your bath to get you into a relaxed mood and can leave the water a gorgeous hue. My current favorite bath bomb at the moment is the Phoenix Rising bath bomb from Lush USA. The bath bomb is meant to be a tribute to a phoenix that is rising from the ashes. Its a beautiful royal purple, dusted in gold, with a cinnamon stick at the top. It sinks to the bottom of your bath and slowly rises up, like a phoenix rising from the ashes and gives your bath the delicious scent of spicy apple and cinnamon! This will definitely be a staple in my Fall Pamper Evening essentials. 
2. Scented Candle – A scented candle is a must have for any of my Pamper Night. I tend to save all my sweet smelling, desserty candles for my Pamper Evenings. It makes me feel like I’m enjoying a decadent dessert on top of everything else! The candle that I currently have in my bathroom for every Pamper Evening is the Bath & Body Works 3 wick candle in Raspberry Peach Macaroon. Unfortunately, they no longer sell that one in the stores, but the Banana Nutmeg Bread pudding is another deliciously decadent scented candle that would make for a splendid Pamper Evening. 
3. Lounge Socks – After I’ve washed, dried & moisturized, I love to slip my feet into soft shea-infused lounge socks. It’s a bit of extra pampering for my toes and it keeps them warm and soft, saving them from the dirty floors of my apartment! I picked up this pair at Bath & Body Works and I am completely in love with the little owls that look up at me every time I look down at my feet. They are so cute!
4. Face Mask – A face mask is an absolute necessity for any Pamper Evening. Your face deals with so much stress and environmental pollution throughout the day. It is very important that you take the time to cleanse and reinvigorate your skin. My favorite face mask at the moment for all of my Pamper Evenings is the Origins Clear Improvements active charcoal mask to clear pores. My skin tends to get very congested as the week rolls on and this mask does a smashing job of clarifying my skin and drawing out all the impurities. 
5. Manicure – Although I am truly terrible at it, I like to try and attempt to give myself a manicure during my Pamper Evenings. It’s such a boost for me to go through the day and look down at my nails to see them all prim, proper, bright & beautiful. My favorite polish at the moment is Take it Outside from Essie’s new Fall 2014 collection. It’s a gorgeous taupe with just a hint of pink. A perfect polish for the start of Fall!
6. Hair Mask – I have quite long and thick hair. It takes some serious damage with blow-drying and styling, but thankfully never leaves me, so I like to give it a lot of love during my Pamper Nights with a deep conditioning treatment. My favorite deep conditioning treatment right now is the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque. It works like a magical, magical charm and leaves your hair with this amazing nutty scent! It definitely gives my hair that necessary bit of bounce and shine. 
As a little note, tunes are also an essential part of any of my Pamper Evenings. I love having soft, beautiful melodic music playing as I breathe deep and relax in my tub full of bubbles. One of my favorite songs that is on all of my Pamper Night playlists is Brooke Waggoner’s ‘Fresh Pair of Eyes‘. Ever since I heard it on Pretty Little Liars, I listen to it all the time when I need to take a beat and calm my mind. It’s such a beautiful melody. 
Have any Pamper Night essentials of your own? Share them with me in the comments below! 

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Goodnight Macaroon Clothing Haul

I am always on the look out for great new additions to my ever expanding closet and I think I found just the store to help me with that. Goodnight Macaroon is known as an online store for women with exquisite taste. Well, who can argue with that? They have amazing pieces for affordable prices. These are pieces that have been worn by the likes of Olivia Palermo, Miranda Kerr and even Taylor Swift. (well, if it’s good enough for them…) As I glanced through page after page of their site, I started slowly building up a cart of likes and loves that I had to whittle down later to a reasonable number. I picked up three great new pieces to add to my wardrobe and was so pleased with the pieces I ordered that I have already added a ton more to grab in my next round of shopping.
The first piece that I picked up was the Mixed Stripe Pleated Skater Skirt. It’s a great length for work and I love the combination of thick and thin alternating stripes in such bright patriotic colors. In this shot, I combined it with United Color of Benetton Navy Blazer, a flutter sleeve button down and Sole Society’s SAM pointed toe flats in black.
Another piece that I picked up was the Crew Neckline Charcoal Grey Sweater Flared Dress. Although it’s a tad to hot to wear the Sweater dress just yet, the adorable grey sweater and white skirt can be worn as separates. It’s like two different outfits in one! I paired the white skirt from the dress with a Saint James striped tee, a Forever 21 tan trench coat and Ellemenno dark brown booties. Trying to get in all of my wearing of white before Labor Day!

The last, and perhaps my favorite, piece from my Goodnight Macaroon haul was the Shoulder Cut Out Drawstring Jersey Dress. This dress is ridiculously comfortable and is super cute to dress up or down. It is the perfect outfit for end of Summer days. It also comes in blue, which I think I may also need to have for my comfy dress collection. In this shot, I paired it with Ray Ban Wayfarers and my favorite Sole Society Natalia Mini Bag, which is so versatile, it can be paired with almost anything!

As for quality and price, Goodnight Macaroon has both. I was pleasantly surprised by the great quality of the pieces I bought and each of them was such a good deal. Goodnight Macaroon will definitely be one of my new favorites when it comes to online shopping.

Have you checked out Goodnight Macaroon before? Know of any other great stores that I should check out? Let me know in the comments below!

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Weekend in Review

The theme of this weekend was definitely patience. I’m so used to having everything (brunch, coffee, laundry, dry cleaning) done so quickly that waiting more than five minutes for anything seems like an impossible feat. Sad, I know, but this city seems to move pretty fast. This weekend, my boyfriend and I hit a block party in San Francisco. Our main objective was to catch the pasta making demo by Thomas McNaughton, owner & chef of the amazing italian restaurant Flour + Water. He also owns two other restaurants in the area. We got there around 3:30 pm, but the demo didn’t start until 4:30 pm so we wandered around the block party for thirty minutes, but then quickly jetted to get seats in the small demo tent. The chef taught us some great techniques for making the best pasta dough and showed how to make two different kinds of filled pastas, cappelletti and agnolotti. 
The pasta making demo was to promote their new flour + water cookbook that is coming out in late September!
Chef McNaughton, himself, teaching some of the skills he teaches in his beginner pasta-making classes.
Fresh Pasta beats dry pasta every single time. Look at these beauties.

After the demo, we headed over the Pizzeria Delfina, a neapolitan pizza restaurant near Tartine. Here is where the patience comes into play. This spot is quite popular, especially in the late afternoon so it took us about an hour to get a table. The only place to stand and hang out is right outside the restaurant, basically taking up the entire sidewalk. Thankfully, I had my lovely boyfriend to entertain me, but boy was I glad when we finally got to sit!

We ordered a much deserved bottle of delicious red wine. It paired beautifully with our starters and pizza!
We ordered some mozzarella, roasted carrots and a delicious broccoli raab pizza.
Everyone who knows me knows that I cannot pass up dessert so we ordered two! We ordered the Belweather Farm Ricotta Cannoli with pistachios and the Baba Rum with Raspberry Coulis. I loved the Baba Rum, which was a sponge pastry that had been dipped in rum liquor, filled with a delicious vanilla bean cream and served with a raspberry sauce! The food was totally worth the long wait!
Sunday, we went to a new brunch spot for us called Central Kitchen, coincidentally another of Thomas McNaughton’s restaurants! This was another instance where patience came into play as it took us over an hour to be seated at a table and then another forty minutes until we were served our food. Patiently waiting when you are super hungry is never an easy task. Thankfully, the food did arrive at some point and it was quite tasty.

I ordered the fried chicken eggs benedict, my boyfriend ordered the baked eggs and we shared an heirloom tomato salad. My Fried Eggs benedict was soooo tasty! I could barely bear to share any with my boyfriend, but I did and we decided that I had definitely ordered the better dish. I spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the warm weather and celebrating my sister’s birthday! It was a weekend filled with warm summer sun, a ton of good food and a whole lot of patience! It was a good time out to remind me to appreciate the quick things in life and to remember that sometimes, a good thing takes time.

Did you guys get up to anything fun this weekend? Let me know in the comments!

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Eyeshadows for Fall

Like most things, I like to switch up my eyeshadows when Summer turns to Fall so I’ve picked out my six favorite palettes, duos & trios for Fall 2014. They’re full of Fall colors like copper tones, bronzes, deep burgundy, taupes and burnt oranges.

Stila Eyes Are the Window Shadow Palette in Spirit. These palettes were inspired by the spiritual notion that true beauty is revealed from within. Each of the four palettes represents a different aspect of inner beauty. Most of my favorite hues in the Stila palettes were in the Spirit palette. The copper and taupe tones remind me of a beautiful Fall day full of falling leaves and cold weather. The beautiful shimmers and bright pigmented shades make this a perfect shadow palette for Fall.

Dior 5-Color Eyeshadow in Trafalgar. I have always loved Dior eyeshadows, however expensive they may be. I saw this palette and I just couldn’t get over how pretty the burgundy center shade was and how well the ballet pink shimmer and cream shimmer blended together. A great shadow palette for any Fall makeup collection. It will definitely be on my wish list for Fall!

Estèe Lauder Pure Color Intense Eyeshadow Trio in Sterling Plums. These shadows certainly live up to their names for being pure color intense. These shadows range from soft shimmers to high metal shines and give beautifully pigmented color and blend effortlessly. These trios also boat long staying power, whether or not you are wearing eyeshadow base, which I adore. I hate when your eyeshadows move around during the day. A great must have for Fall!

Sephora Collection Colorful 5 Eye Shadow Palette in Pale to Rich Taupe. For the savvy shopper, the Sephora Collection is a great way to change up your look without breaking your bank! These palettes provide a beautiful collection of colors. I especially like the Pale to Rich Taupe collection, which has some great shadows for Fall. The shimmery light to dark taupes work together seamlessly and are great for mixing and matching for every event.

Too Faced Neutral Eye Shadow Collection. I have raved about this palette for months now and I still see myself using it through the next couple months. These shades provide a great neutral look that can be blended up for day or night. It even comes with an awesome glamour guide to provide step by step ways to create beautiful looks with both the shimmery and matte shades.

Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Isolde. My last favorite for Fall is one the Nars Duo eyeshadows. I especially love the duo Isolde, which has both a frosted ginger and shimmering copper shade. I think it’s a great color change for the Fall season. It makes me think of changing leaves and Pumpkin Spice lattes. I really like that these duos can be applied both sheerly or built up for a dramatic effect. They also can double as eyeliners when applied wet! The color combination alone makes this a great duo for Fall!

Know of any other great eyeshadows for Fall? Share them with me in the comments below!

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Beauty DNA Unboxing – August 2014

BeautyDNA is a monthly haircare, skincare and body care subscription service that sends you a curated full size product every month for $25. The curated item is chosen by a computer algorithm that has been based on a very in-depth beauty profile filled out by you! I have been using the service since March and it has become one of my very favorite subscriptions! I always seem to get a great product and the value of each box way exceeds the $25 price tag. To read more about the subscription box, check out my first post on the service!
The product I received in this month’s BeautyDNA box was the Avéne RétrinAL cream. According to the Avéne website, RétrinAL is a clinically proven skin rejuvenation cream that visibly reduces the signs of aging with little to no irritation. While I have no major wrinkles just yet, I know it’s never too early to start taking better of care of your skin to prevent future wrinkles. 

I’ve only tried one other product for the Avène line, the Cleanance lotion, which is an oil-free moisturizer that absorbs oil and provides long lasting mattification. This has become my go-to morning moisturizer so I’m really excited to get to try out another product from the Avène line. I was only disappointed in the scent, it smells like a cream or serum, but I guess I can’t be too choosy when it comes to repairing night treatments. They can’t all smell like roses, like their moisturizer!

Have you ever tried Avène or BeautyDNA? Have a favorite beauty subscription of your own? Share them with me in the comments below!

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Tips for Drinking More Water

Water is a big part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to keep your body hydrated, it’s great for your skin and gives your metabolism a big boost. There seem to be little to no negatives to drinking more water. The problem is that I can never seem to get my daily 8 glasses. We are told to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and for a lot of us that can seem like an insane amount of water! Who has the time to drink that many cups everyday? Thankfully, I have found a few ways to make that requirement easier to handle.

Drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning. Before skincare and makeup, I run to my Soma and fill up a big glass. Drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning helps wake up my metabolism and it wakes me up too! It’s also a great jump start of getting in your 8 glasses daily. You haven’t even brushed your teeth and you already have one glass down, only 7 to go!

Don’t like tap water, try a Bobble water bottle. I’m not a huge fan of tap water, but I also know how bad plastic water bottles are for the environment. I was at a loss for how to fix this dilemma when I discovered Bobble water bottles. Bobble water bottles are reusable bottles that actually filter the water as you drink it! Each filter equates to about 300 single use water bottles, crazy right? One of my favorite parts of the Bobble is how cute they are! They come in a ton of different colors so you can match your Bobble to your personal style. I opted for a Burgundy Bobble and it has helped me drink a ton more water while I am out and about.

Checking off cups on a list. I love my to-do lists and crossing things off of it, so I started doing something similar for drinking water. Everytime I got up and out of my desk to go grab a glass of water, I’d make a little tally mark in my daily agenda book. It gives me a little sense of accomplishment to make a new mark each time. It also helps keep me on track about how many I’ve had so I know how many I have to go!

Setting a daily alarm. There’s an app for everything nowadays, even apps remind you to drink water! Waterlogged is an iPhone app that helps remind you to keep on drinking! You can set up alarm reminders and chart how much water you’ve been drinking each day. It is a perfect app for all the tech savvy water drinkers out there!

Drinking Flavored or Bubbly water. Personally, I can get kinda bored drinking water. It’s just never been terribly exciting for me so I tend to switch up the types of water I drink. I love sparkling, ‘bubbly’ water as I call it, and I always keep a bottle in the fridge. I also really like flavored waters, especially Metromint. Metromint is a mint infused water that comes in a variety of flavors like lemonmint and cherrymint. It’s the perfect thing for running around town or for in between meetings. It tastes great and gives your breath a minty fresh kick!

Drinking Fruit Infused water. Fruit infused water has been my favorite go to drink this summer. Bottles like the Flavourit and the Citrus Zinger are perfect ways to get your daily intake of water in a fun new way! I love combining flavors like strawberry and basil or mint and pineapple. Fruity water is a great way to get your daily 8 glasses.

Have any water-drinking tips of your own? Share them with me in the comments below! 

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