Thursday, June 27, 2013

Little Sister's Wedding and our Undergarments

This past weekend my little sister got herself hitched. She wore a lovely little strapless number that she had shortened, made her own veil and looked like a vision of vintage loveliness! We had such a fantastic time celebrating her marriage even though we had to move the wedding indoors (sort of) due to heavy rain there for awhile. We did manage to get some fabulous pictures after the rain had subsided as well as ride around in some gold carts like crazy kids do.


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Prim and Propah Picks

There are times when I just want to shout it from the rooftops about the things I love. I don't like to tell you guys about products unless they really are something I would recommend to you. I am being 100% honest with you that I have received some products for free but really didn't like them. You know what I do? I apologize to my contact and say you know what? It wasn't my favorite; I've decided not to write about it. So now that I have told you that, I can also tell you honestly that there are products I have received that I genuinely do love. Since I hadn't experienced them before, I thought it was worth sharing for you guys to possibly experience them as well. When I decide to share, I will call them Prim and Propah picks. :-)



Monday, June 24, 2013

Vera Wang's Be Jeweled [Sponsored Video]

Designer Vera Wang has launched her new fragrance, Be Jeweled which if you ask me, is the perfect complement to a girls’ night out. The perfume has notes of pomegranate and champagne (celebrate!) and closes with a musk scent. Once you see the glamorous little jeweled bottle, it seems like the kind of scent you’d purchase as a gift for that young, sassy woman who wants to smell sweet and have a good time.

Opening with pomegranate, red currant, and champagne notes, the perfume's heart is composed of a passion fruit extract with pink honeysuckle and peony. The drydown is musky, with added pink sugar crystals and a rich Australian sandalwood. (source) That sounds like it’s right up my alley. I love anything fruity and girly… and am most certainly not married to any one scent 100% of the time. I know plenty of women who wear one fragrance for special occasions, other scents for every day wear. You make the rules, so I think we owe it to ourselves to at least check out Vera Wang’s new fragrance.






Vera Wang’s Be Jeweled is available exclusively at Kohl’s stores.





*This is a sponsored post though all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Rue La La Blunders, People Lose their Minds

So a couple of weeks ago, Rue La La was like, hey you guys, we are having a birthday party and with the celebration there will be some awesome items available for $5! All you have to do is share their post and log your email address, something I didn't mind doing... I am a Rue La La member already afterall! So you can fast forward a little bit of time, being an invite only sale, people were waiting for the date and time that it went live. At some point that I cannot remember, I saw a post with the date, June 17th, 2013. Like any normal person, I set myself a reminder because I didn't want to miss it. Hey, it's luxury goods for $5!

So yesterday was the blessed day. I got my reminder (I had actually forgotten) so I logged onto Facebook to see if they announced when the sale was starting. RLL posted something about getting an email at some surprise time during the day to announce when the boutique would open. If you scrolled through some of the posts on their Facebook page throughout the day, you could see that people were frustrated already because they didn't know when the boutique would open. I actually posted something on the wall, which garnered some feedback, mostly in support but also some naysayers as well:


Monday, June 17, 2013

Fierce, Funky Florals

Everything is all about floral lately.... well, at least to me, I am definitely drawn to the floral clothing, backs, headwear, you name it. I also like that not every floral print is a romantic one. Some are harder and edgier, which Mama can definitely appreciate. It's a way of being feminine but also showing you aren't always a prissy, though I saw a spider today that proves that I am sometimes a prissy.

Jordana Brewster in a Sportmax Dress, Olivia Munn in Max Mara, Emmy Rossum in Oscar de la Renta

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Fabric Dyeing, My New Frontier

I think you guys might remember me mentioning to you that I was taking a Fabric Dyeing workshop at Mass Art this past weekend. Three days of dipping and rinsing and drying and adoring... If you follow me on Instagram, you were sure to have seen my updates on things I was doing and playing around with. I hope the impression you got from those pictures and this post is that fabric dyeing is my new frontier. I found the whole experience to not just be a learning one but also to be a splendidly fun one, if not a little tiring haha.



Monday, June 10, 2013

Obsession Alert: Fragments.com

I have been really into jewelry lately. I mean, you know I love clothes and shoes... but I have been swapping out my go to pearl studs for some more flashy baubles. Even if I am not leaving the house, it's nice to catch myself in the bathroom mirror with something sparkly looking back at me. In any event, I am getting to a point here. I was recently introduced to Fragments.com, which if you are not aware, is a website geared toward highlighting accessory designers, and selling their jewelry. Janet Goldman founded the company in the early 80's when she saw a void in the accessory market, so obvi she filled it, opening a retail location in NYC. Now us online shoppers can get their fill as well, with their ever lovely, easily navigated website.


Friday, June 7, 2013

Your Friday Bon Mot


Work From Home Style, Keeping it Real


A couple of months ago, my company moved me out of the corporate office that I was working in on the daily and to my home "office". Office is in quotations because we sort of had an office area that quickly became a real life office when I moved to home. One of my co workers who also works from home gave me some advice. She said, "Amanda, make sure you get up and get ready just like you were going to work. Keep a routine." I totally agreed with what she was saying and started off with a bang. I was flying out of bed, showering, getting "real" clothes on and working at the desk all day. Fast forward to a couple of weeks later and the "real" clothes turned into comfy sweats and t-shirts. I justified this by saying "hey Amanda, no one is going to see what you're wearing, why not be comfortable?" Makes enough sense, right? Well, it doesn't take long before you start to feel schlubby. The man would come home from work and while he would never say anything, I imagined him thinking what a schlub I was. Then I went to the Blog Better Boston Style Summit and was really excited to put makeup on, do my hair and wear cute clothes. When I mentioned this to a couple of gals and we chatted about it, I was inspired to make it my part time job to look cute and also comfortable for my full time job... and I asked other bloggers to give me their take on the same! Check out how I keep it real, while working from home, after the jump.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Fun Spring Outfit Alert

So because I cannot shop very much (due to furnishing home costs), obviously I am on heightened alert to cute things that I want to buy! ARGH! But being that we are first time home buyers, I can take one for the team and my closet can too! Buuuuuuuuuuuut that being said, I did see an absolutely adorable dress on Ruche last night and just couldn't help myself! I know that I have a couple of places to wear it in the near future and I sort of ran it by the man before I did it? I've got weddings and showers. This dress can be dressed up or dressed down. Plus, people on Twitter told me that I am not too old to wear it... I thought it looked little young, alright? Anyhoo, here is what I think I will be matching it up with, for a wedding in a couple weeks.

Candy Land Lace Shift Dress from Ruche, $42, Thyme by Seychelles Wedges from Piperlime, $90, Pearl Jewel Bauble Earrings from ASOS $30, Banana Republic Michelle Clutch, $79.50, Zara Double Breasted Waist Coat, $90

What do you think of the dress? Did I make the right decision?

Monday, June 3, 2013

Take a Class, Keep Learning, Do It Yourself, Cultivate Your Creativity

I was inspired to write this post based on a trip to Lowe's today. Their receipts read "Never Stop Improving"... so that is the message that I want to keep spreading (even though all we bought was Draino and a sink stopper). I have recently been pretty busy. I am in between classes at Mass Art (I start my Summer session in July) and while some would say "take the break", I feel like I need to keep pushing myself to keep learning and really hone my skills in the things that interest me while I have motivation, the means and the time. Last weekend, the man and I hit up the Crompton Collective, an artistan and antique mall in somewhat nearby Worcester, MA. While we were there, the amount of shabby chic furniture that I wanted to take home was more than I could handle, as in I had to Instagram multiple items that I deemed crushworthy. While I loved lots of furniture, there is really no way for us to transport it (we both have small-ish cars) and I started bumming that I couldn't buy anything. The man was the one who noticed the sign that had a list of classes that Crompton hosted right there on site. One such class was a Creative Painting Techniques class, using milk paint. That man, he wanted me to take a class instead of buying things, bless his heart haha... but he was totally on the mark suggesting it.