Mad Hatter

While I was home over Thanksgiving I decided to embrace the true Fall Foliage color palette and try out this Rust Colored Wool Panama from Free People. Although I sell hats as part of my job and I love them, I hesitate and chicken out wearing them ALL THE TIME! Given that this is the most hypocritical thing, I have decided that I am going to start wearing them more. For the rest of the outfit, I had to rep my BCBGeneration "Girly Girl" Cold Weather Loop in Rosewood. The knit is super cozy and I own it in two colors. My jeans are AG which is my go-to brand for denim. I never buy them at regular retail thanks to flashsale sites but I do think they are totally worth the retail price. My leather jacket is BB Dakota. I think Forest Green is my favorite color of the season (for the moment). The best accessory of this whole outfit however, has to be my sister's puppy Milo :)

Healthy Apple Chips

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday I knew it was inevitable that I was going to be eating a lot so I decided I would try a healthy snack recipe to try to counterbalance the chocolate Pecan Pie that I was downing (Thanks Mom). I eat a lot of almonds and cashews and although they are a great source of protein for you, they are not great in the mass load quantities that I eat them in. I think it's the crunchiness that I like the most so given that I decided I would try out these apple chips. Here is what you need: Apples, Coconut Oil Spray, Cinnamon, and Splenda

- Preheat the oven to 250. Then start by thinly slicing an apple to paper thin slices (if they are too thick they will take longer to cook). 

- Then spray down the cooking sheet with coconut oil spray.

- Lay the apple slices on the sheet and sprinkle one packet of splenda over the apples and then sprinkle cinnamon as well

- Set your timer for one hour and let the apple slices bake

- After an hour, flip the apples to the other side and sprinkle additional cinnamon and let them bake for another hour

- After the second hour check to make sure that the chips are crunchy enough, if not let them bake for longer

-ENJOY :) 

 

 

Sister Sister

I could probably stretch my LA trip out into about 5 posts but I figured I would recap you with the cliff notes version... or at least try

As I mentioned in my last post, the purpose of my trip was to attend BCBG and BCBGeneration Brand Summit meetings to discuss 2014 planning and also reiterate the different brand DNA's. Thursday we flew out and quickly went to Pour Vous - this awesome bar in downtown LA which turned out to be the perfect venue for the Generation Summit. Joyce Azria, creative director of BCBGeneration, chose the location because she wanted us to be in a setting where she thought the #GenGirl (her target customer) would hang out on a typical night in LA. This really beat the routine Thursday "work vibe." Joyce's energy and passion for the brand is truly uplifting and it was a great way to kick off the trip.

 Here is a preview of the Sp 14 line for Generation

Friday we woke up and went to the BCBG Corporate office to attend the BCBG Max Azria Summit. With 2014 being the 25th anniversary of the brand, it was amazing to hear more of the history and get a better understanding of it's incredible growth over time.

 

Here is a Preview of some BCBG looks for Spring 2014

After the summit, I went back to meet my sister and we decided to cross something off our bucket list and hike Runyon Canyon. The weather was amazing and although it was a lot steeper than we expected, the views and sister-time made it totally worth it. Tip for future hikers: Don't try to hike after Bloody Mary's.

 

Following the hike we did some retailing. One of the fun parts of my job is getting into as many stores as possible to shop the competition and offer my clients the best feedback, advice, and opportunities to improve their business.

 It was amazing getting into a Generation store and seeing the all of the product we work on merchandised in the store. This Cold Weather Gifting table looks flawless!

Had a BCBG Moment!

Friday night we went to dinner at Riva Bella on Sunset Blvd. The food was amazing!
Saturday we woke up and continued retailing and then headed to Santa Monica to go to the Pier. I looked homeless but Natalie looked absolutely adorable! 

 

Her panama hat is Collection18 - the company I work for :) , sweater is BCBG, bag is Rebecca Minkoff, Jeans are BLANK, sandals are Dolce Vita, and her necklace is from South Moon Under
 

 So much for the cliff notes version :) At least I managed it in one post.

Back At It...

So to state the obvious, I have taken a vacation from blogging the past few weeks. To be honest I have been so busy with work in addition to other obstacles and didn't want to force my blog posts. I felt that if I kept blogging, that I would just be going through the motions and eventually something that I looked at as a hobby would inevitably become a chore or job. So... I decided to take a break and now here I am :) Thanks to anyone who sent me a message saying they missed my posts, it really made me smile.

Per usual, I feel as if I have been living out of a suitcase and constantly traveling, but I can't complain too much because I love being on the go. As some of you may know, I go out to LA for work frequently - but a typical trip consists of 10 hours of flying, ten hours of meetings, and taking the redeye back only to make it to work in glasses with limited make-up. However, this last week I was able to stay Thursday and Friday and decided to mix business with pleasure and fly my sister out as an early Xmas gift to spend the weekend.

Needless to say, my next few posts will be about various things from my trip. Below is an outfit that I wore for my second day of meetings with BCBG. The pants are from SouthMoonUnder - I have learned to love this style of pant. They are the closest thing to sweats or pajama pants that are appropriate for work! The jacket is from GAP, yes the GAP. I was shocked myself but I love the electric pink and now that I am looking online it comes in a ton of other great colors and patterns. My earrings are AUDEN - I have a slight obsession with this line and the designer. I love how his pieces are simple but edgy. I completed the look with my go-to Pour La Victoire pumps which I actually had to buy a second pair of because I had worn out my first. Go figure haha

Sportswear with a Twist

I think the best and worst fashion moments happen when you try something a little unexpected and pair things that you wouldn't initially put together. Sometimes it comes out amazing and of course you run the risk of it being tragic - but either way it's show stopping and out of the ordinary. With sportswear being big, I love putting a girly spin on it. For this outfit I paired a Zara "Jersey" Sweatshirt (other option from ASOS) with a Zara mini skort (which I think every girl in America owns) with an amazing Juicy Couture Bling Statement Necklace, Bcbg Pocahontas Booties, and Tom Ford sunnies. Yay or nay?

Plank Challenge

So I hope I'm not the only one who fell off the workout regiment a little and is struggling to find the motivation to get back after it. I loved the squat challenge and I felt like it was a commitment that I kept up with so I decided to start that challenge again but to also do it hand-in-hand with this Plank Challenge shown below for core strength. What are you guys doing to push yourself to get back into the swing of things?! I need suggestions!

Summer Send-Off

Summer is coming to a close and although I am super excited for Fashion Week and a change in wardrobe, I know it will only be a matter of a couple of months before I am wishing for summer back. With these last few weeks, I'm trying to wear the things that you can't just add black tights to and wear during Fall/Winter but the clothes that read true summer. I wore this bright floral romper the other night for a date and let's just say I liked my romper more hah (Oops). Is everyone getting in their last weekend of white pants? Or are you like me and continue to wear them as long as the weather allows it?

Details: Romper Tobi, Shoes Jeffrey Campbell, Sunnies Miu Miu - Similar, Bag Prada

 

 

 

 

Denim Bib Tuxedo Top

I've been MIA and a little off the map because I've been traveling so much and this past week I went to Vegas to attend the MAGIC Tradeshow with the BCBGeneration team. As per Creative Director Joyce Azria's request, we were supposed to wear Denim, White, and Black - preferably leather. She gifted all of us that attended this adorable Denim Bib Tuxedo Top from the BCBGeneration line. Here's how I styled it  and topped it off with my custom GLAM affirmation bracelet that I made at the show. Check out their site for this top in other patterns as well.

Details: Top BCBGeneration - Shorts BB Dakota - Shoes Zara (similar)-
Clutch Rebecca Minkoff Similar

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Peplum

I have fought the peplum trend because for a girl who has a shape and hips, I don't always think this is always the most flattering trend. It sounds silly but it has to be the perfect peplum. It has to still show my waist or else it just makes me look bigger than I am. When I saw this dress on NastyGal, I had to take a chance because I was obsessed with the print and knew it would be perfect for my Palm Beach trip that was on the horizon. Sure enough, it was the perfect peplum. Now that I look at the pictures, it's probably because it's so small and the print is so prominent that you can barely see it, but in person, it's much more visible. I paired the dress with Brian Atwood heels (I have an unhealthy obsession with his shoes) and a Tory Burch Clutch (similar here).

 

My sister and I at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach

The Higher the Heels...

The higher the heels, the closer to God. <<< words I live by


This outfit is total proof that mixing price points normally ends in the outfit looking at the level of the higher price point. Personally, I justify investing more money in shoes (specifically heels) since you can wear them with multiple outfits. I might use this theory to the point of abuse, but it's worked for me thus far. The dress was purchased a while ago on Lulus.om for around $50 and the shoes... were not haha. The heels are Jeffrey Campbell and I have neglected them in my closet for over a year (I know it's really terrible). This post really doesn't need to be long because these shoes speak for themselves :)

Here's another yellow dress option from Lulu's 

  

Here is another Jeffrey Campbell Green heel option

 

 

The Breakers in Palm Beach

With all the traveling I've been doing lately, my posts are a little out of order with order of events. Here's a flashback to my family vacation on Palm Beach Florida. Since I was a little girl, my family has been lucky enough to frequent The Breakers in Palm Beach and it has become one of my favorite hotels that I have ever stayed at. Palm Beach has become the scene for the Hamptons regulars' during the non summer seasons. It's really peaceful to go there during the summer because it's pretty dead and you can really unwind and relax. Synonymous for Lily Pulitzer, preppy clothing, and fancy cars- the people-watching scene never disappoints. The last night my family was in PB, we went to The Breakers for dinner; who revamped their main dining room to be an Asian fusion/50's inspired restaurant. The waitresses all wore 50s black dresses with their hair in romantic bouffant buns. Most of the dinner tables were surrounded by couches instead of chairs- giving it a swanky lounge feel. Although the decor and ambiance were both amazing, unfortunately the service was not up to par with the way it had been in my past visits. Even though we were disappointed, we will definitely go back and hopefully have better service. We obviously weren't too deterred since we returned the next day to do some shopping :)

This is the view as you are driving up to The Breakers 

 Here is the gorgeous lobby of The Breakers

Here is the main restaurant inside of The Breakers

 

  I couldn't resist taking a picture inside this Lilly Pulitzer store that is on The Breakers property - how cute! The colors are prints force a smile on anyone's face

 No caption necessary :)