Battery Recharge

Top - F21, Skirt - H&M, Watch - Michael Kors, Shoes - F21

Super happy Friday to everyone! I don't know about you, but this past week felt super long to me. I just got back from a business trip to Baltimore and a quick little vacay to D.C., so I am definitely going to need this weekend to recuperate and recharge my batteries. With Boyfriend away in Vegas for a bachelor party this weekend, I've got a good three days to do it. Oh, and by recuperate and recharge my batteries, I mean drink copious amounts of Prosecco and fruit juice (my drink of choice), curl up on the couch with my pup and my giant Fall InStyle issue, catch up on my DVR, work on filling three separate soap favor orders, and have the girls over for a good old fashioned slumber party, complete with yummy snacks, DIY home spa treatments, and cheesy 1980s teeny bopper movies. Yep, that's how I juice up when I'm feeling low-energy, baby. How are you planning on spending your long weekend?

By the way, I can't tell you how much I love this skirt. The bow detail on the front is just too cute for words, and you know how I can't turn down a nice orange/coral hue. See how I styled it HERE and HERE. I decided to go a little different with this look, since I'm not usually one for coordinating colors. I much prefer pairing contrasting or complementary colors, but rarely do I go "matchy-matchy." It might be residual PTSD from my middle school days where I matched my hair scrunchies to the colors in my top and then matched those colors to the three pairs of socks I was wearing. *Shudder* But I decided to fight through my issues and go coordinating here, and I love the result. I feel so girly and summery. Although you're lucky I didn't have any coral socks lying around.

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!

On the Cutting Wedge

Top - ?, Skirt - F21 (old), Shoes - JustFab, Sunglasses - FrockCandy, Watch - MK 

If you're not new to this blog, then you know that I have a serious thing for wearing heels. Being a whopping 5-foot-one-inches will do that to you. Necessity is the mother of heel wearing. Wait, that's not how the saying goes... Anyway, lately I have to admit that I've been feeling the pain of wearing heels all the time in more ways than I used to. I used to be able to rock sky-high heels all day and all night without skipping a beat, but nowadays, even a night on the town in stilettos will have me popping a couple Advil before I fall asleep. Is this what getting old feels like? Because I don't like it. *Hangs head in shame.* That's why I am so thankful for wedges like these. They are fun and sexy and yet much more comfortable to walk in than stilettos. Who says I have to go back to being a Shorty McShort? Thanks to wedges, I can be tall. Well...normal sized. Well...er, how about not short?

Time for Tea - Part II

DIY Centerpiece

So I have to apologize in advance for the fact that this blog post is like an explosion of tea party photos. But I promised you DIY details and tea party ideas, so here it is! I just love how the party turned out, even though a lot of the decor ideas revealed themselves at the last minute. The bride had decided from the beginning that she wanted a garden tea party bridal shower, but as we neared the date of the shower, I had the idea of adding a few Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter elements to jazz up the decorations. It began with the teacup centerpieces (above). I got the idea from this pin. A friend bought a bunch of vintage books from a local thift shop for next to nothing and then antiqued their edges with sandpaper. We added a few stacked vintage teacups and a bright gerbera daisy, and voila! Instant tea party centerpiece.





Color, color, color, is the key to a tea party dessert table. We used pretty cake stands and fun colored candies and cookies, as well as pretty glass apothecary jars, to set the tea party theme. Any space we had leftover, we filled with vintage teapots, sugar bowls, and teacups filled with flowers.

Another cute way to play up the Alice in Wonderland theme in an easy way is to make small chalkboards for the iconic "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" signs. In doing this project, I got to use chalkboard paint for the first time and I must say, it's a LIFE CHANGER. I LOVE chalkboard paint! It's so fun and easy and useful. I'm in the process of trying to turn everything into a chalkboard. Like literally, everything.



I bought these wooden placards for a few dollars at Michaels.

I wanted to go for a vintage mirror look, so I painted the edges in two shades of gold.

I waited for them to dry, bought some pastel chalk and made little signs for the food and drink tables (below).

Cupcakes and sweets are an easy way to please your guests' eyes as well as their tummies.

I'm sure Alice would have rather had some mimosas instead of tea, so we added a mimosa bar that was a huge hit.

We put vintage teapots and teacups everywhere, filled with gerbera daisies that we snipped to fit, to decorate the party.

For the party favors, I wanted to create a favor that was useful, cost-efficient, and pretty enough to serve as a decoration for the party. I ended up choosing to go with DIY vintage teacup candles, using these instructions, except I bought soy wax from a candlemaking store instead of melting down old candles. I scented them with pink grapefruit scented oil, wrapped them in cellophane and added personal favor tags with "Light Me" on one side and the bride's name and the date on the other side. The guests loved them, and they served as great decorations for the tables.

My last project for setting the tea party mood came in the form of fascinators that I made for myself and the bride. I must admit that I had absolutely no idea how they were going to turn out, and I really had no idea what I was doing when I made them. But didn't they turn out cute? I gathered colored mesh in the middle and tied it with a ribbon (making it look sort of like a bow). Then I cut one end of it so that the mesh near the back of the fascinator would be smaller than the front. I then cut circles out of colored felt and attached the mesh by slicing two slits in the felt and pulling the ribbon through and tying it. Then with a glue gun, I attached adornments that I bought at a local trim store (i.e. feathers, pearls, bows). Despite the fact that I really wasn't sure how they would turn out, I was thrilled with the results. They really were the perfect finishing touch to the party, and it was super fun pretending I was a hoity toity British teapartyer for a day. You hear that, Katie Middleton? I'm ready for my party invitation...

The happy bride. Bride's dress from ModCloth.

Fascinatoring was so much fun.

Time for Tea - Part I

Dress - Marshalls, Heels - JustFab, Bracelet - Gifted, Pearls - H&M, Fascinator - DIY

Over the weekend, I had the privilege of helping to throw one of my lovely friends a garden tea party bridal shower in anticipation of her special day. Because a garden tea party has all the elements that I love (i.e. girlyness, femininity, a vintage feel, giant hats, and of course, tea), I couldn't have been more excited to dive into the event's preparations, including my outfit. I'll have another post later this week showing the details of the party and the fun DIY projects that went into planning it, but for today, I wanted to focus on my tea party outfit.

I stressed over what to wear because I wanted to help set the right mood for the party. I wanted to dress up appropriately for a tea party, but I didn't want to look too much like I was wearing a costume. At the end of the day, it was the accessories that decided my outfit for me. I knew I wanted sweet Mary Janes, strings of pearls, and a bright fascinator (I also wanted white gloves, but they made me look like Minnie Mouse), so it just seemed to necessitate that I keep the dress simple, elegant, and feminine. I can't believe what a versatile piece this little green dress has been for me. See how I styled it differently HERE and HERE.

The fascinator I made myself after several failed attempts to find one I liked. I just bought a bunch of colored nylon netting, some pretty feathers from a local craft shop, cut a piece of felt into a circle, and went to work putting it all together with a glue gun and some ribbon. I'm thrilled with how it turned out (even though Boyfriend said I looked ridiculous), and it really ended up completing my tea party look. I am now advocating that fascinators become the next trend in the U.S. I want to start rocking one of these every day. Come on, ladies, who's with me?

Stay tuned for details on the fascinator I made for the bride-to-be, as well as more pics and DIY tutorials for some of the fun details I put together for the event.

Jumping In

Top - Target, Shorts - GAP, Watch - Michael Kors, Bracelets - Various

Up until now, I have been hesitantly dabbling my toe in the water of the bright neon trend, adding a splash of neon here, a pop of neon there. But when I saw this bright neon tank top with the unexpected gray colorblock panel in the back, I knew it was finally time to jump in the water and get my hair wet. So here I am, finally rocking an actual tennis ball neon top, which looks so summery and fun paired with a set of white shorts. I see a lot of possibilities with this top, and I love how it's simple cut and lack of details will make it totally versatile even into the fall months.

I rocked this puppy to a concert in the park, and the Boyfriend loved how easy it was to pick me out of a crowd. Looking like a bright neon sign will do that for you. So for the single ladies out there, note to self, a neon top will make it hard for Mr. Right to miss you. Of course, it will also make it hard for Mr. Wrong to miss you, but I like to focus on the positives.

Happy Hump Day!

Summer Valentine

Tank - F21, Skirt - F21 (old), Shoes - JustFab, Watch - Michael Kors, Bracelets - Various

First off, I have to apologize for my unexpected absence from the blog. Last week was a huge week at work, and I found myself stuck into the office until close to midnight some nights, so by the time I came home, I barely had enough energy to get ready for bed, let alone do a blog post. I could have done one, but it probably would have went something like. "This. Is. What. I. Wore." I know. I saved you from some scintillating stuff. But I'm BACK this week, full of energy and overdue posts. Hope you missed me!

This is one of those outfits that I totally felt adorbs in (red and pink colorblocking, like Hansel, is SO hot right now!), until the Boyfriend gives me one of his very helpful critiques, "Um, you look like a Valentine." WHAT?! Well, OK. So pink and red is kind of valentiney, but so what? Valentines are cute and feminine and pretty and symbolize love. I can deal with being compared to that. Although...the next time I rock this outfit, I might try a darker shade of pink so I don't look so much like Cupid's assistant. What do you guys think? Here are some more pink and red combos to compare HERE, HERE, and HERE.