Celine Me Alone

They say wear your heart on your sleeve but now everyone is literally wearing their feelings on their shirt. Conversational fashion statements are hotter than ever ranging from affirmation and uplifting quotes to racey and edgy phrases. As our design team is prepping for 2014, it seems that this trend is only going to become more explosive. I found this awesome "play on words T" through an account I found on Instagram. Unfortunately, I don't want to share the specific account because they took FOREVER to ship me my order and I don't want to lead you guys into that frustration but here are some other fun options I found: here, here , here, and here. Since I was wearing a basic T (which isn't really like me) I decided to be obnoxious and wear my yellow denim jeans and my pink and orange suede heels from zara - similar on sale here. The cherry on top was my neon necklace from Zara - here is a similar neon option that I love from Bauble Bar

Dewey Beach Recap

If you follow me on Instagram you would've seen that my 8-Girl Wolfpack (including Currently Coveting) took our annual trip and this time it was to Dewey Beach. For kids that grew up in NOVA, it's our Jersey Shore. So from 4 different states, we packed up our cars and were beach bound early Friday AM. Never a dull moment and full of laughs, we danced for hours every night to AMAZING cover bands who played the BEST of the 90s - I'm talking the best of the TRL Countdown- Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Spice Girls and the list goes on. We beached, brunched, twerked, and I even got in a couple of beach workouts. I hope you all enjoyed your first official weekend of summer too! Xo

Flower Child

A little late to the party with Coachella bringing out the Halo Craze but I've had a couple of them for a while now and finally mustered up the courage to finally sport one. I went to brunch with a girlfriend in Hells Kitchen and we stopped by this adorable flower mart so I could fully embrace my inner flower child. Then I decided to really become one with nature and climb around a tree - the looks I got were as if I was from Mars but it was nothing I couldn't laugh off.

I actually found the halo through Instagram - I've found so many great new shopping sites through Instagram and GlamGirlyGirl is one of them. The shirt is Sugar Lips, the cross-body is Rebecca Minkoff, and the flower printed denim shorts are from Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor has the absolute best denim prices and I recently fell in love with the brand Tinsel when I was there. The sunglasses were a giveaway from the BCBG press event and I love how they are tinted blue. Here they are in purple. After this outfit, I have decided that Coachella is on my bucket list for next year :)
 

 

 
 




 

Instagram Fitness Craze

Fitness has always been a part of my life but as many of you know, I only started getting results in the past year when I started training with Meriah. Since I've made the commitment to living healthier, I have started following a ton of accounts of fitness pros, bikini models, health experts etc for workout plans and healthy recipes. But of course, along the way I have had a ton of "holy shit moments" where I've felt discouraged about my own journey and progressed because I'm looking at people who have already reached their goals and who do this for a living. One of the fitties that I follow is this awesome NPC Bikini Competitor, Rachel Del Vescovo. Her blog that captures her life, her fitness progress and competition prep is called Pretty and Pumped. A little background on Rachel - she was born with arthritis and her pain was so intense that she had to be home-schooled until she eventually got both of her hips replaced and look at her now! Obviously she has a different appreciate now for being able to work out when the littlest things were such a struggle before but it's a really inspirational story about overcoming adversity and not letting yourself be your own excuse.

Last week she posted about the Instagram Fitness Craze and how she felt the same way prior to being competition ready and it just made me have so much respect for her. In her post she talks about how prior to competing she would stalk fitness models on insta and start to obsess with wanting to be like them (just like every other girl) and the effects that it can have on a girl's head. I really wanted to share this post with the rest of you because it is refreshing and 100% real. Check out Rachel's post here and the rest of her blog for more amazing fitness and health tips

 

 

   

All About The Skort

True to fashion, a trend from the past has circulated back to present day- the skort! Does everyone remember loving these in the 80's and 90's? Well now they are popping up on almost every fashion blog and email blast as a major Summer trend. I found this one months ago during the end of the year 60% off sale at Big Drop NYC I must have premeditated psychic fashion abilities because now I am seeing them everyone - one of my favorite ones being at Zara.

I wore this outfit for a Girls Night/Birthday dinner this past weekend and I will definitely look to add more skorts to my closet.

Deats: The skort is Jennifer Hope. The shoes are from ShoeMint. The tank is a simple Sugar Lips One-Fits-All tank that I own in every color. The bag is Prada. The statement necklace is a custom made design by Jennifer Hoodenpyle.

 

 

 

Collection 18 Gives Back Carnival Fundraiser Benefiting CancerCare

For all of you New Yorkers out there, I wanted to share with you an event that my company is throwing tomorrow night and the proceeds go towards CancerCare. The event is Carnival themed and being held at Hudson Station Bar and Grill from 6:30pm - 9:30pm. Open bar, food, carnival games, and raffle giveaways will all be taking place for an amazing cause!

Click this link for more details and where you can purchase your beer and wine open bar ticket ahead of time for $50, if you pay at the door the night of it will be more expensive. Hope to see you there!

Some of the Raffle Prizes!

Laredo putting together the Step and Repeat

ABC's

I love looking at fashion spreads, campaigns, and blogs and seeing the way someone wears something in a way I would have never thought to. When you look at a brand and see the attitude and lifestyle that they portray, it is only natural to mimic them and wear it in the same way. Something as simple as reversing a dress so the zipper in the front can totally change up a look and bring a little more interest.

The last time I went to LA, the Generation girls were sweet enough to gift me the pictured affirmation (letter) denim cropped jacket. I absolutely loved it and wanted to wear it to work but when I first saw it I figured it would only be able to work for a casual Friday outfit or a relaxed weekend outfit, instead of what I have to wear on a typical work day. But I decided to force it and wear it with a high waisted black pencil skirt and Brian Atwood metallic python heels (similar) - Both of which don't exactly scream Generation girl but it ended up looking cute and a great bonus that I could wear Generation during market appointments when I was showing their accessory lines to customers.

 

 

 

Meal Prep Mondays

Let's face it- we would all be better off if there were 36 hours in the day and most of us have a long list of things that we WISH we could get done and in a perfect world they would but instead they get put on the back burner. One of these for me is cooking and making meals everyday. In a perfect world I would wake up at 4:30am with no troubles, go to the gym, make a big breakfast, and then make and pack a healthy lunch for the day. Guess what my reality is? It's a good day if I snooze my alarm in the morning for LESS than an hour and I make it to work by 9:15 which is still LATE! I'm always on the go but getting started has always been the hardest part for me. I would love to pay someone else to go through the pain of waking up in the morning for me.

You get the point - I don't have time to cook three meals every single day which resulted in me not eating healthy enough or large enough lunches so in the last few months I have started doing Sunday or Monday Night Meal Prepping. I have seen and felt such a difference and it really doesn't take more than an hour and you're set for lunches for the whole week. I normally pick three meals and cook two portions of each which covers all of my lunches plus one dinner. My go-to's have been ground white turkey with spinach, ostrich burgers with spinach, scallops with spinach, salmon with spinach, and stirfry. If a girl who had only turned on her oven three times in the past 4 years can manage this, anyone can. Try it for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. My protein intake has probably quadrupled due to it.

 

Find the Right Version of a Trend/Style for Your Body...

Although I am the biggest preacher of "Dress for your body" and "Dress to your Strengths" I also can appreciate girls who take some chances outside of their comfort zone. I have always been more than aware of my body weaknesses but like most girls take it to the extreme of thinking certain clothing items or styles are completely off limits for me. But I've learned to be patient and you can still find the right version for yourself and your body. My jumpsuit post is a prime example... To this day I can't find another jumpsuit that is flattering but the one that I did find, is great for ME. I never ever tuck in shirts (like below) because my upper thighs are a weakness for me but a solution and exception I have found for me is to wear high-waisted bottoms. The point of this post I guess is when you're having that "girl moment" where you are getting discouraged, to just find what version of a trend/style that works for you - eventually you'll find the perfect match.

In this OOTD I found an awesome white leather embroidered skirt and army blouse from Zara. The booties were a 60% off steal from Herve Leger - one of my post proud purchases to date, the clutch is Tory Burch, the earrings are from a street vendor and the Sunnies are BCBG.

 

 

Polo Playin

To piggyback off of yesterday's post, I wanted to share what I wore to the BCBG Press Event on Tuesday. I think I wore this outfit because I was upset I wasn't attending a polo match this past weekend in the Hamptons so maybe I subconsciously channeled what I could've worn. I think that this outfit makes me look more like an actual polo player than a spectator but that's just a technicality.

So I wasn't exactly reinventing the wheel with sporting white on white - It's a classic summer look that always looks sharp and in my opinion MUST be worn with gold jewelry and a tan, but I put my own spin on it with this amazing BCBG Motor Jacket

The best part of this jacket is that it is canvas but the tobacco brown parts are leather. To be honest when I first walked past this jacket, I thought it was ugly on the hanger but 9 times out of 10 if I go back to those items they end up being some of my favorites! This case was no exception.

The Shirt I wore was $9.99 and the pants were $29. I am a HUGE advocate of mixing price points, not to mention it's the only way I can afford to stretch my dollar on some fun pieces like this jacket

As fate should have it, this necklace from BaubleBar arrived in my mailbox the day before the press event - It was meant to be! My FAVORITE blogger Courtney Kerr designed a collection for BaubleBar and the first day it was launched I bagged two items because she is one of my accessory idols and this necklace was one of my purchases. 

I topped off this outfit with patent peep toe chocolate stilettos by Brian Atwood - if you held a gun to my head and made me pick a favorite shoe designer I would probably have to say Brian Atwood - I've rarely met a pair I wouldn't wear.

Preview Press Event

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend the Press Event for BCBG Max Azria, BCBGeneration, and Herve Leger through my work. The purpose of the event was to preview the Holiday/Pre Spring 2014 Collections to the press and bloggers so they can start putting together styling picks for upcoming issues and editorials. Since I work on the accessories side of things, it was amazing to see how all the different categories match back to Ready-to-Wear and how all the categories come together to be cohesive and walk down the same runway. It's also a great moment when you get to watch people react positively to your product. Each of the lines look absolutely PHENOMENAL and I think my eyes became the size of saucers as I kept walking through the showroom because I loved each item more than the last. I'll just look at it as a head start on my shopping wishlist :) Here are some highlights