Archives for June 2015

I spent my Sunday afternoon at a beautiful rooftop in downtown San Francisco at a party for the StyleIt app. Style It is a personal styling assistant app. that can help you coordinate your day-to-day outfits, basically imagine the dream closet from Clueless. They had a bunch of bloggers on the rooftop of the Cova hotel to test out their new app. and to spread the word.

I spent the afternoon with my sister as my plus one to the event.  We always have a ton of fun together and she’s always the best about helping to mingle with new bloggers. We decided to mix and match our outfits, going with our own red, white and blue theme for the upcoming holiday. I went red while she went blue!

We were SUPER hungry after the event so we figured out a way to bypass the Pride parade traffic (it was crazy!) and grabbed some delicious Italian at one of our favorite restaurants in North Beach. Seriously, if you’re planning a trip to SF, you need to hit Original Joe’s for some tasty homemade pastas. 

 

So I know I can have this obsession with everything red, white and blue so my 4th of July outfit ideas  might be slightly biased in theme, but how can I not get behind a dress that is literally all fireworks. These are pieces that you would definitely see me wearing all summer long, 4th of July or not. So, if you’re heading out for a barbecue with friends, a boat ride with neighbors, or out with your family to dinner or a party, you’ll be full equipped to celebrate America’s Independence Day.

Barbecue with Friends – Top // Shorts // Flats

On the Boat – Sweater // Shorts // Converse

Out to Dinner – Dress // Heels

The Summer season is the season for entertaining. The warm, sunny weather definitely has me wanting to bring a bottle of wine, some cheese and crackers and sit outside hanging out with friends. My love of Summer entertaining has me on the hunt for some fun pieces for outdoor entertaining. I’ve been checking out Pinterest to find pieces that are super stylish and unique and I ran across a whole bunch of really amazing DIY serving trays that are simple to recreate. I just felt that I had to share. They make an awesome weekend project. 

    Chalkboard Serving Platter (via Wit & Whistle) – The perfect tray for serving a large array of snacks for a party. I love the idea of being able to write a little label next to each snack to let guests know what they are. I mean for all the odd snacks and appetizers, it’s definitely good to know what you’re eating before you dive in.  Plus, the little chalkboard labels just give it some style. 

DIY Gold Striped Tray (via The Every Girl) – If I ever want to go a bit fancier, I’d definitely start with this gold striped tray. All you need is an ikea tray and some fun gold, shiny tape and you’re in business. 

DIY Marble Tray (via Pennies for a Fortune) – I am totally enamored with this marble tray. As fas as elegant makeup trays go, this one totally takes the cake. 

DIY Wooden Tray (via A Beautiful Mess) – I love that this DIY takes a cutting board to a whole new level by adding a couple of drawer pulls. So simple, it can be done in just a few minutes!

DIY Watermelon Tray (via  Oh So Beautiful Paper) – This tray is absolutely perfect for any Summer party. I love seeing the fruit trend everywhere during the warmer months; pineapples, watermelons and lemons, oh my! I so want to create a bunch of these and paint them each a different Summer fruit. 

Sunday was National Wear Your Lilly Day, which I took as the perfect excuse to pull out and flaunt my Lilly for Target Shift Dress Upstream. Falling on both Father’s Day and the first official day of Summer, I couldn’t think of a better excuse to wear a bright and colorful print with little fishes swimming all over it. I paired the dress with a much beloved pair of grey Sole Society flats and mini bag, an eyelet cardigan from Forever 21 and my trusty Rayban wayfarers. Ladies, it’s definitely time to pull out your Lilly’s!

I love the fuchsia pink detailing on the zipper and the little gold pineapple zipper pull.

The bright blue swimming print always puts a smile on my face. 

What’s amazing about Lilly dresses is that they never go out of style. Big bold colors and bright prints are timeless from year to year. That’s how I know you will find me wearing this dress years down the line. It’s so nice to have a dress that I won’t have to donate next season. I’ve never been so excited to repeat an outfit.

It’s officially Summer and I’m already booking up all my weekends with fun little getaways. All weekend trips that involve hanging anywhere near a pool will also have to involve one of these cute inflatables below. If only I could spend the entire day floating on a pink flamingo. I am practically a fish when it comes to how much I love being in the water and floating on the back of regal swan would just make it that much better. Check out some of my inflatable favorite below!

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For those of you lucky enough to live close to your dad on Father’s Day, then I hope you had a blast hanging out with him. I know my sister and I did. My schedule have been so crazy lately that I’ve barely had enough time to talk to my dad, let alone actually see him so it was a lot of fun to be able to have that time to catch up. We had a late lunch of slow cooked ribs, baked gourmet mac and cheese and asparagus. My sister and her boyfriend made all the main course, but I had the super important job of picking out the cheese for our appetizers (seriously, I believe cheese can make or break an party 😉 ). I went with Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam and Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog. All super tasty!

Bubbles! We did a fun cheers to Father’s Day with a glass of champagne. It went really well with our cheese and cracker appetizers. 

Our get togethers usually involve a fair bit of silliness. Wouldn’t be us if it wasn’t!

It all looked so good. I definitely had to restrain myself from eating everything in site.

Seriously delicious!

Along with my obsession with nautical items, I have always been obsessed with all things oyster decor. Besides the fact that oysters have always been a favorite of mine, the shell itself is reminiscent of hot summer days spent by the sea. I’ve always loved seeing the decor in beachside homes (even bought Coastal Living magazine for inspiration). I’m definitely going to find a few beach house themed pieces to add to my apartment. 

Shuck It Oyster print from Smarty Pants studio

Oyster Mirror from Southern Living

Oyster Print Pillow from Design Darling

I am loving this Katie Kime Oyster and Lemon print pillow from Design Darling! With 100% down insert, it’s a great addition to any living room couch or bedroom. 

Oyster Lamp from Sue at Home

I love having my own DIY projects to work on. Working on one and finishing it gives me that little sense of accomplishment that I really enjoy. It sparks my inner creativity and it gives me something to work on using my own two hands which is always fun so this Oyster lamp project would be an awesome project to work on. 

DIY Gold Oyster Shells from Design Sponge

These gold painted oyster shells are so beautiful. I love that you can use them as either a trinket dish or a little salt cellar in the kitchen. It’s definitely an inexpensive and super cute way to create your own trinket dish.

I really enjoying cooking. I have so much fun pouring over cookbooks to find the perfect recipe to try. I especially become super obsessed with cooking during the Summer. Maybe it’s the heat, but I find myself wanting to pull out a new favorite cookbook almost everyday and get down to it. For all things in the realm of tasty tacos, I always go to my favorite Tacolicious cookbook. Tacolicious is actually one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco and I have always wanted to know the secret behind their tastiness. I was so excited when they came out with a Tacolicious cookbook. All things taco tasty! I’m also super obsessed with Lousisana cooking. Delicious seafood and an array of Cajun spices is definitely not something I can say no to so I love to pop open my Cooking up a Storm and Down South cookbooks. For delicious desserts, I have been turning to southern favorites, The Southern Cake Book and The Southern Pie Book. Seriously, so delicious!

Tacolicious // The Southern Cake Book // The Southern Pie Book // Cooking up a Storm // Flour + Water // Down South

Lately, I’ve been forgoing my usual red lipsticks and berry shades for something a bit lighter and longer wearing. It’s easier for me to not have to worry about smudging or reapplication when it’s going to be a long and warm day at my office. So lately, I’ve been playing with a ton of lip stains to find my favorite shades and scents. During Summer, I love to go a bit lighter on all my makeup to give myself a more natural look that will stay put throughout the day and finding the perfect lip stain is definitely a big part of that! Check out some of my favorites below.

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The theme of this month’s Birchbox is Adventure. Having plenty of adventures in the first month of Summer is definitely a goal of mine so I’m glad Birchbox is making sure I’m prepped beauty-wise. I’m really excited to try the items in my box and considering they’re all travel size, they will be perfect to throw in my travel bag. Let me tell you what I got in this month’s Birchbox. 

Coola SPF 50 Sport Mango Sunscreen

Real Chemistry Luminous 3 minute peel

TOCCA Eau de Parfum Bianca

W3LL PEOPLE The Expressionist Mascara

Emi Jay Solid Hair Tie

Marcelle Mini Waterproof Eyeliner in Electric Blue

With all the awesome sample choice picks this month, I had a really hard time choosing which one to go for, but with all the sunshine and warm weather coming, I knew I should grab something with SPF. I settled on grabbing the Coola SPF sport mango sunscreen. I love Coola’s products and currently own a bunch of them including their continuous spray sunscreen and their mattifying primer. Not only are their products packed with all kinds of SPF, but they have great summer scents like pina colada, fresh mango and citrus mimosa. This little bottle will be perfect to throw in my purse for a sunny day spent outside, plus with a screen like Fresh Mango, I’m going to smell awesome. 

The other product I was super excited to try out was the mini W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist Mascara.  I’ve gotten a million and one mini mascaras over the past few months, but I really like the brush on this one. It does a great job of separating your lashes, giving each of them a bit of color. I also love that it’s all natural formula which is a nice alternative to try.