Fashion Friday: A Vintage-Inspired Spring

Happy Friday blog friends! It's still not warm enough for spring clothes, but I think we're getting close! Today I am obsessing over all the pretty clothes (and accessories) out this spring that have a vintage feel. I thought I'd share some of my faves with you!

Kate Spade Park Avenue Pearl Cuff

Fifth Avenue Effie Blouse

Blooming Lace Cardigan (from Anthropologie)

Dauphine Blouse (from Anthropologie)

Talbots Tweed Sheath in Sweet Pea

Talbots V-Neck Sheath in Rose Dore

These don't really seem vintage-inspired, but they are just too fabulous not to share!

Kate Spade Fiona Flats

What are you favorite items out for spring?

Remedy for a Dreary Day: Running and Lilly

Thank you all for your advice and support regarding my last post!

I ran with nike plus again today. I just can’t get over how much fun it is! After looking at my run online I realized I am not so great at keeping a steady pace. Any tips/advice? My run (here) practically looks like a mountain range with all its ups and downs. After running I was ravenous so I think my theory about it increasing my appetite might actually turn out to be true. I definitely don’t want to lose any weight though so I supplemented the calories I burnt with a chocolate boost. I honestly think these might be for elderly people who need nutrition but don’t have much of an appetite, but I try to keep them on hand anyways because they’re a great way to add extra nutrients and calories to my day.



We have been having pretty dreary weather here lately so I took a much needed mood brightening trip to the Pink Palm (our Lilly Pulitzer via store) today! The tailor met me there so I could have him take in my Pandamonium skirt, the Del Mar dress, and a pair of Palm Beach crop flare pants (having the ‘flare’ removed). I can’t wait until he’s finished with them! So after I finished with the tailor one of the women who works there (also named Emily) pulled out this darling white denim skirt from the minnies section. She said she saw it and thought it might actually fit me. Quite embarrassing to admit, but it really looked like it might so I tried it on (and it did)! Don’t worry - I am not planning on making shopping in the kids section a regular activity...



I love the detail on the back pockets.



One of my favorite parts...it’s a skort! There are little knit shorts underneath (which I kind of think is a fabulous addition to a white skirt).



One more recent preppy purchase to share. I purchased this fabulous Molly B toile skirt on ebay and it arrived yesterday! Pink and green toile with a grosgrain ribbon...can it get much better?



I love Molly B, but I have such a difficult time finding it! We have one store in town that carries it, but they don't have very much. Does anyone know of anywhere online that carries Molly B?

On My Mind

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! I’m feeling a little overwhelmed today and I think sharing some of the things on my mind might help. Quickly before I go into that - my purchases from the A. Tierney sample sale arrived last week! So exciting...I especially love my giant pink monogrammed tote!



I’m feeling very pressured by my parents to get my CPA. I have an accounting degree and I only need to take 2 more classes (6 credits) to have the qualifications to sit for the CPA exam. I could have taken them before I graduated, but I just didn’t want to be away from Nicholas any longer. I love accounting (cool...I know) so it’s not that I wouldn’t like to be a CPA, but I’m just not sure I care enough about it to go through all the stress. I kind of feel like I could really throw myself into a career as a CPA and love it...if I didn’t want to have a family in the future. That’s not to say that many people don’t successfully do both, but I’m just not sure I am one of them.

I just started running and I’m shocked that I’m actually kind of loving it! Running with my ipod pretty much terrifies me (I don’t like not being able to hear what’s going on around me), so I bought the nike plus sportband to track my runs instead. I’ve only used it twice, but it’s so much fun! I am definitely a newbie runner so if anyone has any running advice I would really love to hear it!


I’m a little nervous about sharing this last issue, but I really think getting it off my chest will help! I struggle with my weight. I’m underweight and I hate it. I feel like I can’t talk about my weight issues because I’m afraid people will think I’m being insincere or vain. No matter what I do I cannot seem to get my weight above 98. I often feel like I’m being judged because of my weight (although it’s very likely that I’m just overly sensitive about it because it bothers me). I worry that I’ll have health problems because I don’t weigh enough. I constantly go back and forth between trying really hard to gain weight and then sort of giving up because I’m frustrated at not seeing any results. I’m actually kind of hoping that running will increase my appetite and help me gain weight.

On a much less important note, it's incredibly irritating because I love to shop and nothing fits me. I have to get everything I buy taken in - which is great on one hand because all my clothes are made to fit my body, but not so great on the other because I like nice clothes and tailoring for everything I buy just makes each item that much more expensive. A few stores (Ann Taylor, LOFT, J Crew, and Banana Republic) do carry some clothes in 00 petite (which I don’t have to get tailored), but the selection is really limited and I usually have to buy them online - which means I have to pay for shipping.

Thanks for bearing with me while I got all of that out! Advice/opinions are definitely welcome!

Organizing Obsessed and Shoe Love

Yesterday, while I was perusing marthastewart.com, I found this fabulous website: ZipList! It's free and helps you organize/manage your grocery lists. I am obsessed! You can 'clip' recipes from all over the internet to your recipe box and then use them to build grocery lists. You can even add different stores where you shop and specify which items on your list should be purchased at which store. There are so many more cool features...perfect for an organizing obsessed girl like me!

I also stumbled upon some fabulous sandals on the Nordstrom site - under the Caged Shoes link on the homepage. No chance of it being warm enough here to wear them anytime soon...but I love them anyways! Here are some of my faves:

Stuart Weitzman 'Clip' Sandal

Tory Burch Ankle Tie Leather Sandal

Sam Edelman 'Quintessa' Caged Sandal

I also LOVE the Hamptons Navajo Hi Wedge from Jack Rogers!

(picture from jackrogersusa.com)

Does anyone else use ziplist or know of any other great websites out there? What do y'all think of caged sandals?

Gilt + Ruelala = A Shopping Frenzy

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! The husband surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of orchids (my fave) yesterday morning and we spent the evening in. I don't really care for eating out on Valentines Day (set menus and overly crowded restaurants are not my scene) and getting my hubby away from the library was great!

We had some more snow today, which totally put me in the mood for online shopping. Not really sure why...except maybe it's because I went on a bit of an online shopping spree while I was snowed in! Between my recent addiction to ebay (I think I love hunting for things), the Trina Turk sale on gilt, and today's Lilly Pulitzer sale on ruelala I've been doing way too much shopping! I bought two pairs of super cute sandals on ebay that arrived over the weekend. (I realize buying sandals while you're snowed in sounds slightly insane, but I just can't wait for spring!)

Steven Salario Navajo sandals

Eliza B sandals

I've been in love with the Trina Turk Varnish dress since I first saw it and I was so excited to find it in my size on gilt!


I got the Colleen dress (Daquiri Pink Between the Lines) today on ruelala! I adore this pattern (I'm pretty sure it's the one I used to make by blog header).


Our local Lilly Pulitzer Via store, The Pink Palm, was having a fabulous 25% off sale this past weekend (including spring)! I bought the Del Mar dress (Aquamarine Seeing Things). I'm so in love with the Lilly Originals!


Did anyone else buy anything at the gilt Trina Turk sale or the ruelala Lilly Pulitzer sale?

Friday Fashion Fun

Yesterday I was finally able to leave my home for the first time in a week! Although, having a 2 day work week really hasn't put me in the mood to do much at the office (despite my overflowing inbox)! I've been taking quite a few online shopping breaks and even though there is still tons of snow on the ground and apparently a little more coming our way on Monday I am so excited for spring shopping! Here are some of my fave things out right now.

Brooklyn Heights - Amelia Small Satchel (Kate Spade)

Royal Poinciana Skirt (Anthropologie)

Kellie Too (Kate Spade)

Four Petal Cardi (Anthropologie)

I also love these dresses from the Trina Turk spring lookbooks!

Sunshine Award!

Today is day 6 of the stuck at home in Virginia marathon. Outside it's still grey, snowy, and windy, but inside things are looking much brighter! Thanks to Calling Rhonda for passing along the Sunshine Award to me!


"The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world."

Here are the rules:
1. Post the logo on blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link the nominees' blogs so others can get to know them.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.

I'm passing this lovely award on to:
Adventures of Anonymous Prep
Black Labs and Lilly
DC GOP Girl
Life of a Busy Wife
Pink Preppy Lilly Lover
Seersucker Scrapper
Shopaholic in Alabama
Summer is a Verb
The Preppy Pitbull
Tropical Happiness
Vancity Voicebox
Village Palm

Hope everyone has a bright day (even if you're stuck in snowy weather)!

Still Snowing and A Couple Nerdy Confessions

Ok friends, I'm starting to really go stir crazy being stuck at home with all this snow! Today was the 5th day in a row of being trapped at home and it's now snowing again! I'm seriously starting to wonder if the sky comes in a color besides grey...

I have two nerdy obsessions that have been keeping me occupied: Bewitched and the Sims 3!



I always loved when Bewitched came on Nick at Nite (does that still exist?) when I was younger and when I saw season 1 on DVD several years ago I had to purchase it! I now own all eight seasons of Bewitched and for whatever reason I just never get sick of watching it. This might make me sound like a prude, but I love that it's so wholesome! I just adore how the characters are always proper, appropriate, and everyone seems so conservative. (Appropriate for the 1960s I mean...there are tons of hilariously not PC comments like when people see something they think is a hallucination they always say something about having too much alcohol or needing a tranquilizer pill...)

I also think the characters' clothing is fabulous. I love seeing men in suits, ties, and hats I wish women still wore gloves! There were so many more options for accessorizing!

I am addicted to the Sims 3 (even worse confession...I also have the expansion pack)! I honestly think my favorite part of the Sims is creating fun outfits and decorating their houses! I have the attention span of a kindergarten child (no offense to kindergateners) and I love that there are so many different things to do in the game. Especially with the expansion pack...you can take them on vacations. Who doesn't love a good vacation?





I also really have fun picking out their names! I love names and even though I do not want children anytime soon I am always on the lookout for beautiful names. I adore lovely, old names. Here are my faves:

Boys:
Lucien
Edward
Harrison
Mason
Henry

Girls:
Charlotte
Evelyn
Rosalie
Elizabeth
Lily

Does anyone else like Bewitched or the Sims? What are you favorite names?

Snowed in Weekend and Great Coupon Code

Like everyone else in Virginia, DC, and Maryland we had a very snowy weekend here! I'm home from work for another snow day today! It's definitely not snowing anymore, but the roads are still being cleared. Since this is my fourth consecutive day stuck at home I've had A LOT of time to get things done at home (AKA I'm starting to go a little stir crazy)!

On Friday I decided to do a little crafting and made this cute little catnip toy for the Poe Cat. (The idea came from marthastewart.com) The Poe Cat loves him some catnip!







I also made this fun ribbon wreath for our front door. I wanted to do pink and green, but for the husband's sake I left out the pink.



I went outside to take a few snowy pictures on Saturday! It was a quick break from all the online shopping I was doing. I ordered some great stationery from Expressionery. They're having a 30% off site-wide sale. Even better, I got it 40% off instead by using coupon code MSLFEB from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living! I just love personalized stationery and you can't beat 40% off! I definitely recommend stopping by their site!

The trees looked so pretty!

Yesterday was the husband's birthday so I made him a cake. Nicholas loves chocolate so I used the recipe on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. I highly recommend this recipe...it's the only one I ever use for chocolate cakes and frosting! Since I couldn't get out to the store I had to make do with what we had in the pantry. I didn't have enough cocoa to make chocolate frosting, but we had some key lime juice in the fridge so I decided on chocolate cake with key lime frosting. (Hubs and I love Godiva's key lime truffles so I figured a cake with the same flavor combo would work out well). It turned out great! Definitely not my best decorating job though! Oh well, it still tasted yummy!

A Lacy Obsession and More Snow!

I am in love with lace! I have a serious obsession with anything vintage or vintage-inspired and lace is definitely one of my faves. It's just so beautiful! Usually I save lacy inspired clothes and accessories for the winter (which BTW I am in denial that we're still in the middle of), but I love that there are so many lace details in the Lilly Pulitzer spring collection! I know I've already posted about spring, but here are just a couple of my lacy faves.

(I don't really wear halters, but this top is just so pretty!)

How beautiful are these Vera Wang wedding invitations?!


(picture from William Arthur)

My valentine cards are lacy inspired this year too! I used a Martha Stewart lace edge punch for these.







On a completely different topic...look what's headed for Virginia this weekend!


We're under a winter storm warning from 6am tomorrow until 10pm on Saturday. They're calling for snow accumulations of 16 to 24 inches! I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of cleaning/organizing and some DIY crafting this weekend while we're snowed in! Anyone have any fun snow-free activities planned for this weekend?

Haircut Opinions Please!

I'm having a hair dilemma and I'm in need of opinions! Right now my hair is long (I needed it long for the wedding), but I'm getting really bored with it. I always think I want long hair so I can do fun things like curling it, but I can't remember the last time I did anything with my hair besides wear it down and straight! I also kind of think long hair might not necessarily be the best look for me. The husband is no help at all. When I ask him his opinion he just says he likes it both ways! (Which is nice I suppose, but I actually want his opinion).

I'm not really a fan of posting unflattering pictures of myself, but this is what I'm afraid of my hair looking like again if I don't cut it. It's not horrible, but definitely not fabulous either!



Here's a picture of my hair the last time I cut it. I'm considering cutting it like this again, but I just can't make up my mind! One problem with this length is that I can't remember if it was long enough to pull it all back.



I can't decide if I want to go that short again. If I don't go that short, I'm thinking more like my sorority sister's hair on the left of this picture. Sometimes I think this length is difficult to style because all it wants to do is flip off my shoulders.



Opinions or hair advice please! I am so indecisive. I have a hair appointment on Friday so I've got to decide before then! It's looking like quite a snowy week here in Virginia so hopefully we won't be snowed in by then!