Things I Love Today

1. Paper Source Popsicles 

Ice Pop Garland Kit/ from 2014 Wall Art Calendar

2. Summer Prep Style

The Hazards of Good Breeding/Crabberrie Large Tote/Old Navy popover/ Vince and Owen in Wedding Crashers

3. Orange Is The New Black (It really is amazing!) 

Grantland

Intro to Decorating: Chinoiserie-Inspired Prints

Hopefully, we'll be moving into a new apartment by the end of the summer. We (and our pretty large amount of stuff) have kind of outgrown our apartment and are looking to move closer to where Dude works in Maryland. We're staying in D.C., just closer to the DC-Maryland border.

We moved into this apartment a couple of years ago, and while we've gotten it together, it's still pretty...eclectic. Dude and I want our next home to have a more coherent decorating scheme. I was looking at One King's Lane today for ideas and saw some chinoiserie vase and jar prints that I really liked.

left/right

left/right

Not a huge surprise, since this is our china:

Marchesa by Lenox (Macy's)

I'm going to be enlisting the advice of Dude and some of my girlfriends with more streamlined style to make sure our apartment doesn't become an overload of flowers with patterns just piled onto one another. Instead, I want some patterns that coordinate with each other mixed in with some solid colors.

I loved those prints, but wanted to find some less pricey options that fell into the same things. So far, I've found some great options.

Pagoda Jar Prints, available on Etsy: blue/orange/pink

Peony Prints: left/center/right

Vase and Flower Prints: left/center/right

Now that you've been left with lots of pictures of vases, jars, and peonies in your heads, I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday! 

Breezy But Together

When I was in my early twenties, primarily before I worked at a store that basically taught me how to dress, I had a penchant for dresses in the summer. The problem? They were not exactly appropriate for containing my large chest. "Not exactly appropriate" is the kindest way of saying that the girls were out, and not in a good way. 

Several years and some weight loss and consequent chest shrinkage later, I've started to pull outfits together that are still fun but a lot more appropriate. Dude and I have dinner plans with another couple soon, and we are also planning on going to the beach in North Carolina with my family later this month. So I came up with several options that fit the bill and are still pretty doable in the summer heat. And even more fun, in my opinion, I found some great bracelets to stack with this type of outfit.

 On Left Side: H&M Green Cotton Shirt / J. Brand Lilac Skinny Jeans  / Sperry Top-Sider Leopard and Orange 'Summerlin' Sandal        

On Right Side: Target (Mossimo) Blouse, True Religion Jeans (similar here)/ Sam & Libby for Target Kamila Sandal 

Kenneth Jay Lane Enamel Elephant Cuff/ Wendy Mink Potato Crystal Bead Bracelet/ Alexis Bittar Mod Gold Large Knot Bracelet 

Ettika Red Thread Bracelet/Ettika Lilac Thread Bracelet/David Yurman Blue Topaz Color Classics Bracelet/Mannin Fine Jewelry Monogram ID Cuff in Silver/Melinda Maria Bacall Bangle/Bounkit Thick Lapis Cuff

Hope everyone has a great Sunday, and happy stacking!!

Nautical Baubles

Hope everyone had a great Fourth!!

When I was stocking up on supplies for our friends' Fourth party, I couldn't resist the urge to pop into H&M. I got a couple of good basics and this ring, with which I am in love. It was $5.95 and it is just so comfortable to wear (and I love how it looks!!) I was looking for it online, but I couldn't find it. 

However, I did find some other awesomely nautical baubles from H&M! 

Knot Bracelet, $7.95; Starfish Ring, $4.95

I especially love these for vacations because they add a great touch but if they're lost, I would only mourn for so long because of the low price. Plus, the bracelet is oh-so-perfect for stacking!

I am also so excited to wear these suckers soon!! They are a Kenneth Jay Lane pair that I found on eBay...if Jackie O did costume jewelry, I'm beyond fine with it.  I'm thinking of pairing them with Jack Rogers, skinny jeans, and a blousy top for a date night with Dude. I want to inject a little, but not too much, Palm Beach Grandma into the look.

Wishing everyone a great weekend! 

(pretty happily) lost in transition

i am...

- still doing post-honeymoon laundry.

- looking forward to upcoming celebrations and picking out dresses that are way more structured than the ones i generally gravitated to in the past. i just have to be careful to not look like Mellie Grant (i have also been watching WAY too much Scandal.)

Nordstrom

- looking forward to browsing Charm and Chain for accessories...I loved the pieces in the recent Design Darling post about it and can't wait to check out the all the beautiful goodies on the site.

- so excited to use my clutch with my new initials from Social Monograms.

- even more excited to audit a class starting the first week of July! I am going to take SO. MANY. NOTES. (clearly i miss grad school quite a lot.) 

wishing everyone a fantastic, fun, and relaxing weekend! 

the most special of places

i went to Lake Tahoe almost every summer from the time i was six months old to when I was 14. after that, my summers got more busy...in high school there were my beloved nerd camps and summer classes, and in college there were internships. And then there was grad school and jobs and all manner of grown-up things. all of a sudden, thirteen years had gone by since i'd been there. i asked Dude if we could go there on our honeymoon because it is such an amazing place and i have so many good memories there. happily, he said yes and we had a terrific time. 

i am so, so grateful that we got to start off our marriage in Tahoe. looking forward to many sweet (pun intended, see above) years ahead.

happily home.

it has been a pretty whirlwind two weeks.

i got to marry this bro in a Florida wedding full of love and family and friends and happiness and crazy coral peonies.

then, we went to Lake Tahoe for our honeymoon. it was awesome and so relaxing and radically different from DC.

we finally arrived in DC this morning after a flight cancellation/rerouting "adventure." we are both exhausted and our apartment is full of packages and suitcases and it is pretty safe to say that we'll be devoting significant time to making it look a bit more sedate. on the plus side, there are tons of mini unicorn lollipops that returned home with us (leftovers from our wedding's candy bar.)

i am so excited to be back home and get back into the swing of things, see my friends, and enjoy the summer. (and hang out with my new best friend, my Paper Source Embossing Heat Tool.)

it sure is nice to be back.