Closet Overhaul

Tank-Target, Cardigan-JCrew, Vest-JCrew, Jeans-7for all mankind, Belt-Limited, Earrings-Target,
Necklaces-Target, Bracelets-Gift, F21, Ring-BCBG, Purse-Fendi, Shoes-BCBG

Saturday was spent with a new client. We went through her closet, cleaned out all her old stuff and put together about 20+ outfits with what was left. I took pictures for her to reference when pulling together outfits and then made her a list of the items she should be on the lookout for. I love going through other's closets and showing them the possibilities they have. It's like giving them a whole new wardrobe. Next up we'll be shopping for the items on the list and she's going to be looking amazing!

On my way home from her house, I stopped at an out of the way Target and found the two necklaces I'm wearing on clearance. They were a steal to begin with, but then layer in my discount and the additional 5% off for using a Target card and it was almost like they paid me to get them!! Looks like I need to venture outside the city limits once in a while to get my hands on the stuff that doesn't sell in suburbia.  

Cheap Sailor

Blouse-JCrew, Sweater-JCrew, Jeans-Vintage Levi's, Shoes-Seychelles, Purse-Arza, Necklace-Local, Earrings-F21

 I've gushed in the past of my adoration for JCrew, it's a sickness for me. Have I mentioned I keep every month's catalog in a file? I leaf through them frequently for inspiration. Their styling is spot on with a cool mix of prep and trend. I've been a fan of them since I was in High School, and that was a LONG time ago friends! The other night I became giddy when I walked into my local JCrew and found all clearance items were an additional 30% off- that's like getting it for free. I found this sweater for a whopping $13.99 (original price was $110!). It's got a great pea coat look to it and I see a lot of wear in the near future.

Monthly Night Out

Cami-Target, Tank-F21, Sweater-Target, Jeans-Paige, Shoes-Seychelles, Purse-Hayden Harnett, Necklace/Earrings-The Limited,  Bracelets-Gift/Local, Watch-Coach

This is the title a few co-worker/friends of mine gave to our monthly get together that we started a year or so ago. Once a month we all commit to going out to dinner and drinks. It started a few years back when I took them out to recognize the great job they had done on a project. We had so much fun that night, we've been doing it ever since. Tonight we hit up Amazing Thailand for dinner. It was great. Not being able to have carbs, I opted for the chicken satay and it was delish. Then we headed over to Cafeteria for drinks and dessert. I had to forgo the dessert, but the red velvet cake looked divine as did the chocolate malt. Maybe a Saturday splurge day! It was a fun night with the gang. Looking forward to the next one.

Bright

Tank-Target, Blouse-Target, Vest-JCrew, Skirt-JCrew, Shoes-Seychelles, Belt-The Limited,
Necklace-Juicy Couture, Watch-Coach, Bracelets-Gifted and local, Earrings-The Limited

With Spring in the air, temps warming up, and daylight lasting longer, it was high time I broke out some color and spiced things up at work. This is my toned down version of color blocking. I originally wanted to wear a bright orange sweater on top, but thought it might a bit bold for my co-workers. Thus, I opted for a light orange gingham blouse. This is by far my favorite spring outfit to date. I can't wait to break out more color. Long live spring!

Scenes from the weekend

Chocolate, Lemon and Raspberry French Macaroons from Patrick's French Bakery

Ukrainian Eggs

As I mentioned earlier, I'm doing a body re-define workshop this month. Sunday to Saturday is protein, veggies and Beans/Lentils - no white carbs (I can eat all the beans and lentils I want though). By the time Saturday comes around, I'm plotting my takedown of all things sugar (basically I should be committed to carbaholics/sugarholics by Saturday night) This weekend was no exception. We started the day off right at the Original Pancake House. I'd never been, so it was quite the experience. Let's just say I walked away so stuffed you could have rolled me outta there. It was delish. I had an egg soufflé omelet with blueberry pancakes and Ramesh had the corned beef hash and a cherry crepe. From there we hit up Patrick's French Bakery to pick up French Macaroons (My Fave!), truffles and a French baguette. After working and playing in the yard with the dogs, I made my way through plenty a chocolate covered sea salt caramel (heaven) and finished the night off with left over Pizza (I froze it so it would last) from last week's adventure at Mozza Mia (Prosciutto, Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza no less). My binge was complete at around 9:30 pm, I could take no more. Sunday rounded out the weekend with a trip to the Ukrainian Egg Event and then the Mall of America (we're crazy like that!) Here's a few shots from the weekend:

T-shirt- H&M, Vest- Gap, Jeans-J Brand, Trench-Burberry, Shoes-Dolce Vita, Necklace-Vintage, Necklace-F21, Necklace-Tiffany&Co

 

Shirt-JCrew, Sweater-Banana Republic, Vest-Gap, Khakis-Jcrew, Shoes-Sperry, Hat-Target, Sunnies-Target, Watch-Coach

Palm Springs {Outfit to Card}

It was my girlfriend's birthday last week and I'm a bit late in making her card. I was inspired by this spread in Lucky's Feb Issue. When we were in college, we used to drive to Palm Springs on the weekends when the weather wasn't so great in LA. I love the style there - mid-century modern, mod, retro, old school glamour, you name it! I've been visiting PS since I was 5 years old (you could say it was my 2nd home), and I can honestly say it never got old going there. I haven't been in a few years now, and I'm itching to get back. *sigh*

But enough reminiscing, and on to the card. Have you seen the outfit to room posts out there like this one, where you take a room's decor and turn it into an outfit. I tried to do something similar for my card. I used the outfit above as inspiration. I love the hot pink jumpsuit with blue print (tough to see in the photo) and then the pop of green in the handbag. I've already bought two jumpsuits to wear this spring/summer, but this one is simply Divine!  

I found some left over buckles from my wedding invites and thought this would make a nice belt look. I stamped the background and drew the hat.

This is my pop of green inside - It was too much on the outside, but perfect inside

Materials:
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Guidelines too, Polka Dot Basics 2, Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Cerulean (Colorbox), Orchid (Colorbox)
Ribbon: Michaels
Rhinestone Buckle: found online (can't recall the place)
Punches: Fancy Square 1.75" and 1.5" (McGill)

Beauty Routine

Hi All! It's been a few days since I've been on the blog. Work got a bit crazy last week and I just didn't have the time to post. But, I'm back and thought I'd kick off the week with some of my beauty must haves. I love all these items and use them regularly.  What are some of your favorite beauty products? I'm always on the hunt for new stuff.

1. Jo Malone Vintage Gardenia Cologne 3.4 oz $105 - Nordstrom.com
2. Chloe Rosebud 1.7oz Eau de Parfum Spray $85 - Sephora.com
3. Jergens® natural glow Firming Daily Moisturizer - Target (I've got pale skin and this one looks the most natural and allows me to go out without tights and not blind people)
4. Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Anti-aging Eye Cream Line and Dark Circle Minimizing brush $20 - Amazon.Com (can't say enough about this, it works beautifully)
5. Fructis Style Full control Anti-humidity hairspray- Target
6. Living Proof Straight Making No Frizz Styling Cream $36- Sephora.Com (with curly hair like mine, this makes blow drying straight MUCH easier
7. Essie Nail Polish, Big Spender $7- Target
8. Evian Mineral Water Spray $10 - Sephora.com (I love this to "set" my make-up when I'm done)
9. Arcona Skin Care - Basic 5 - Arcona.com (been using for years and honestly makes my skin look amazing)
10. Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System $149- Sephora.com (feels and looks like a mini facial everytime)
11. Sonia Kashuk Eye Makeup Remover $10- Target (hands down the best eye makeup remover I've found, not greasy and takes everything off)

Themed Drunch {Sunday Funday}

Sunday was the 5th Themed Drunch party held by a few of our friends. What is themed drunch you say? It's endless food and mimosa brunch with a costume theme tied to it. My friends organize these a few times a year. They pick the date, send out the randomly generated costume theme (we're supposed to keep it a secret) and then we show up at the bar for brunch dressed in our creation. It's called drunch because with endless mimosas,you tend to over indulge as your glass is never empty- aka drunch. This time the theme was cartoons. Past themes have included seasons (don't just think spring, summer, fall - you've got to get creative like say football season), school, heritage and careers. This was my first time in attendance, and let me tell you - these people get creative! I went as Daphne from Scooby Doo. I recycled this costume from about 10 years ago when a bunch of my friends and I went as the Scooby Doo Gang for Halloween. My mom made the dress...pretty snazzy huh? (i'm just impressed it still fits!). I even toted around a Mystery Machine as my purse.

Here are a few of the other cartoons in attendance:

Fred (from Scooby Doo) and Dilbert

Daphne, Fred, Dilbert, Jem, Mo (Bartender from Simpsons) and you can barely see Spongebob in the back

Spongebob - not the easiest to navigate in

Jem, Rugrat, Daphne and Spongebob

Others in attendance included Miss Piggy, Peppermint Patty, Linus, Woody, two Carebears and a second Spongebob (or should I say SpongeBetty!)

Black and White part 2 {Birthday Card}

Last week I posted about this birthday party where the theme was black and white. Well, you know I can't got to a birthday party without making a birthday card. To stick with the theme, I made it in black and white as well:

Materials:
Paper:True Black (Papertrey Ink) Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Modern Basics, Simple Sentiments, Cupcake Collection (all Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Cupcake Cupcake Collection (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento) Frost White (Colorbox)
Ribbon: Michaels
Glitter: Ultra Fine Prisma (Palette)

Tick Tock

Blouse-Gap, Skirt-Anthropologie, Boots-Nine West, Lion Necklace-Local, Chains-Jewelscapes, Watch-Coach, Bangle-Forever21, Bangle-Gift from my Girlfriend (I've been wearing it non-stop!- thanks Elena) Earrings-Forever21

Happy Friday! Do you all have big plans for the weekend? We're going to dinner with friends tonight. Should be fun times.


This week Ramesh and I started a body re-define workshop our trainer is hosting for next 30 days. Basically during the week we don't eat carbs - we focus on protein, vegetables and legumes/beans. After the first two days of sugar cravings, it got MUCH easier. In fact, I'm rather enjoying it and feel really good. What got me thru those first few days was knowing the sweet victory I'll enjoy on Saturday. We get one free day a week to eat anything we want... and yep, you guessed it...we picked Saturdays. I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this day! I think we are going to start the day with a big gooey donut. We've been writing down what we want to splurge on for that day all week. I'm afraid we might make ourselves sick. BTW-you can have 2 glasses of red wine a day. How sweet is that? I'll keep you posted on our progress. We're only on week 1. Have a fantastic weekend!

!