Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. My weekend has included lots of friends, food, movies (SATC2), and pool time. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about it.

Guest Post at Under the Sheets~Shhh

photos by Raya Carlisle

Laura from Under the Sheets recently asked me to guest blog for her and I was beyond thrilled and completely honored! Her blog is full of gorgeous pictures, interesting stories, and uplifting concepts. I've fallen in love with her blog and I know you will too. Laura and her fiance are getting married this weekend, so best wishes to them on their amazing journey together! I'm excited for you to read my guest post on the story of how I met my husband at Under the Sheets~Shh. Come check it out! Here's a copy of the post:

I was 20 years old and a college junior on Spring break in Cabo San Lucas Mexico with all my girlfriends. A few of us split up for the day and some of my girlfriends met some guys from Colorado at the beach while I was spending the day walking around town. Well, one of my girlfriends was interested in one of these CO guys and we decided to meet up with them later that night for a drink. We walked into the restaurant and I was immediately drawn to one of them and chatted with him all evening. We had so much in common and I remember laughing until my stomach hurt from his infectious sense of humor. His smile lit up the room and we had so much fun together.

He called my hotel room the next day and wanted to hang out again. So for the rest of our trip, my friends and his friends continued to spend time together- on the beach, getting happy hour drinks, lunches at The Office, etc. Before leaving to return to Los Angeles, I said my goodbyes thinking I'd never see him again. I mean, he lived in Colorado and was 26 (what I thought was too old for me at the time). He did ask for my home phone number before leaving and when I returned home he called all the time! I really liked him but I didn't understand what he wanted to come of this. Soon after, he came to visit LA to interview for a job and we had our first real date. It was perfect, but I got the distinct feeling that he was interested in getting married and having kids soon (although I realize I was way off on that) and I officially decided he was too old for me and we lost touch for a while. I moved to San Francisco after graduating and he moved to Los Angeles to take the job for which he had been interviewing. I thought of him fondly from time to time, but never expected to see him again.

More time passed and I eventually moved back to LA. Five years after our initial meeting on Spring break, I ran into him at a happy hour in Venice Beach! We were both single at the time and things just progressed smoothly from there. Now we've been together for 5 years and married for 2 and things couldn't be more wonderful. Sometimes we still cannot believe that we met on Spring Break in Cabo and 10 years later we're happily married.

Fabsugar Look of the Day

I was beyond excited to find that Fabsugar featured me on two different days over the past week as their "Look of the Day"! Here are the links:
http://www.fabsugar.com/Street-Style-8551198
http://www.fabsugar.com/Street-Style-8487832

The original outfit posts are here and here. Fabsugar and Popsugar are two of my daily reads, so you can imagine how happy I was to see myself on their website!

Baby Shower Attire

BCBG colorblock dress, Charles David shoes, Lauren Merkin clutch, Michael Kors watch

These were my wedding shoes and clutch. I still love them both and wear them often.

The shower was honoring Bree (in the blue), but Dana is also pregnant. Our husbands are all friends from Medical school.

It seems like everyone around me is having babies right now. It's so exciting to see all the pregnant bellies and hear the stories about how they're feeling, what's changing, what names they're considering, etc. And it's also fun to attend the baby showers! Baby shower attire can be tricky though. I usually try to avoid black (depending on the dress) and I gravitate toward dresses that seem "sweet" (instead of something slinky or form-fitted). I love this BCBG color block dress because it's comfortable (it has pockets, which I love!) and colorful and perfect for any bridal or baby shower. Bree and her husband are having a girl and she's due in about a month. We're so excited for them! What do you usually wear to baby showers?

Buy This, Not That

Forever 21
Juicy Couture

As we all know, florals are huge this season. I love all the bright floral prints on dresses, skirts, tops, and rompers. My new favorite floral piece is the huge Juicy flower ring shown above. So how could I resist when I found a ring that looked so similar at Forever 21 for only $6.80! I'm sold! What floral items are you craving?

Jessica's Birthday

This bowl of taffy was a little too close to us. Let's just say we had quite a few.

The mussels were fabulous!

Jessica opening her Gift Certificate to Dry Bar. We've been dying to check it out! We're making a girl date to go, so I'll post about it soon. Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere just posted about it on Friday.

Whitney, Jessica, and I (also seen here) celebrated Jess' birthday over the weekend with a fabulous dinner at Blue Plate Oysterette in Santa Monica. This place opened last fall (by the same owner as Blue Plate on Montana) and is one of my new favorites. The food is outstanding, the nautical decor is adorable, and the service is incredible (not only was our server attentive, the owner came by about 4 times to see how we were doing and they gave us free dessert for Jess' birthday). It's a popular place and they don't take reservations, so there's usually about a 20 minute wait. We had a glass of wine around the corner at Bar Pintxo while we waited (also mentioned here). The night was filled with a lot of laughs, great conversation, and amazing food (make sure to get the mussels if you go). Happy Birthday, Jess!

A Day at The Office

Alice + Olivia Marshall Combo Shirt Dress $440
Franco Sarto Napoli Pumps $89
House of Harlow 1960 Long Key Station Necklace $98
Tom Ford Raquel Sunglasses $395
Kate Spade Kahina May Ring $145
Badgley Mischka Corinda Shine Leather Hobo $365

I constantly struggle to find work clothes that are cute and professional. Since I take yoga most mornings and get dressed at the gym, I find that the easiest work outfits for me to pack are dresses. I just came across this Alice + Olivia dress and I'd love to make it mine. My goal for the summer is to find at least 3 fabulous new work dresses, because we all know how much more fun it is to go to work when we love what we're wearing. What do you usually wear to work?

Getting Organized

1. Dollhouse Chairs Jewelry Stand $68
2. Birdcage Wall Jewelry Holder $28
3. Forest Jewelry Stand $38
4. Sculpted Jewelry Tree $59.95
5. Mini Coat Rack Jewelry Stand $28
6. Double Tier with Bird Jewelry Stand $28
7. Perched birds Jewelry Stand $11.80
8. Umbra Partridge Clear Jewelry Tree $19.99

Over the years, as my collection of jewelry and accessories increases, I find myself having more difficulties organizing my baubles. I have multiple mini trinket holders and a few bigger jewelry boxes, but I feel like I'm continually outgrowing my last "organizer". What's a girl to do? I found some interesting jewelry holders recently that seem to function as an organizer as well as a cute bedroom fixture. I'm hoping if I get a few of these I can stay on top of things for a bit. How do you organize your jewelry?

Watching the Clock

Before last summer, I had very little interest in wearing/owning a watch. I had my cell phone to tell me the time, so what could a watch do for me? Oh, how I was wrong. Last summer Gabe bought me one of the gold Michael Kors watches for my birthday and I've been in love ever since. I find myself constantly eyeing a new watch, in a new color or shape, and wanting to bring it home with me. As I've mentioned here and here, I adore all the Michael Kors watches and would love to start a collection. The three trends that interest me most right now are watches in gold, bright colors, and the return of the digital watch! There are so many options at so many different price points, I feel like I can absolutely justify owning more than one. What watches are you eyeing right now?

1. Michael Kors 'Jet Set' Chronograph Watch in Rose Gold $250
2. MICHAEL Michael Kors Stainless Steel Chronograph Watch $225
3. Swatch 'Fancy Me' Watch $150
4. Vestal Electra Gold-Tone Leather Cuff Watch $59

5. Marc by Marc Jacobs "Pelly" Watch $175
6. DKNY Turquoise Translucent Watch with White Dial $85
7. MICHAEL Michael Kors Blue Chronograph Watch $195
8. Nixon 'The Time Teller' Watch $60

9. Timex Plastic Watch $50
10. Diesel Digital Watch $120
11. Jelly Baby-G Watch $79
12. Casio Men's Digital Bracelet Watch $14.37

Kauai

The view from our hotel room
Lunch at Brenneke's after swimming in the ocean
Every girl loves a pina colada once in a while. Extra whipped cream, please!

Gabe with his kindle and coffee

Dinner at Red Salt

Julie Brown dress, banana republic earrings, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Gorjana ring

Watching the sunset over Poipu Beach

Mai Tai Hour (those aren't both mine)

"Hula Girl for the gentleman"

Aqua dress (Bloomingdale's), Franco Sarto wedges, Michael Kors watch, Ray-Ban sunglasses

As I mentioned here and here, Gabe and I spent our two year anniversary in Kauai last week and we couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate! We stayed on the South side of the island at Poipu Beach and the weather was perfect, 80 degrees and sunny every day. We spent most of our time relaxing on the beach or by the pool, swimming in the ocean, reading magazines and books in the sunshine, taking long walks, drinking tropical cocktails, eating delicious food, and enjoying the fact that we had an entire week to spend together! It was one of the best vacations I've ever had and we enjoyed every minute of it.

For the Love of Coupons

photo credit

photo credit

I've always loved finding a bargain and feeling like I got a great deal. But deals, in my opinion, shouldn't end with grocery store items and great clothes. I love finding coupons for restaurants and feeling like the splurge of eating decadent dinners out doesn't set us back as much as it normally would. In the past, I'd buy the Entertainment book and maybe use three coupons out of the hundreds offered and then forget about the book entirely. But now I use sites like Restaurants.com, Blackboard Eats, and Groupon to find savings on hundreds of amazing restaurants in my neighborhood. Who could beat that? The restaurants.com site offers specials on their coupons every few weeks where you can get a $25 gift card for just $2 (a $50 gift card for $4, etc.)! I buy them when they're at that price and they're valid for a year. Some of our local favorites have been featured on both sites and Gabe and I love leaving dinner, knowing we only spent 50% of the standard price!

On a side note, I'm back from vacation and working on uploading pictures, details, etc. Thank you for all the comments and support while I was gone, I appreciate it so much! I'm in the process of reading everybody's comments and catching up with all the wonderful posts that I've missed. Stay tuned for photos and stories from our Kauai trip, it was fabulous! And now back to the real world...