My Birthday Month Has Begun!

I love to celebrate and what is the mother of all celebration? The day I was born!

One of my favorite things to do for friends and family is to make them feel special. I love celebrating engagements, showers, and birthdays. The planning and creativity it takes to put on a good celebrations is a natural high for this type A gal. My birthday is just an excuse to shop, eat, and gather my favorite people around me. 

Starting off the celebration if you follow me on instagram, twitter, or Facebook you might have noticed my new profile photo. This year's birthday is a milestone for me and I wanted to re vamp my career image as well as capture the years I've lived with new headshots. Thanks to Maus Photography for the stunning images.

I may have started the month off with a little online shopping madness. I just couldn't help it. Keep an eye out on my youtube channel for all the details of these pretty presents I treated myself to. 

My sister and nephew are in town and we started off by having some lovely hot pot and ice-cream macarons. 

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? What activities should I do this month? 

Don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel for all the hauls, makeup, and fashion videos coming up as well as a HUGE announcement to be made next week!!! I'm squealing with excitement. 

Follow me on instagram & twitter for up to the minute updates on my month long celebration. 

One of my favorite youtube beauty gurus Missglamorazzi or Ingrid started this tag and what better way to start off spring then mentioning my favs for the upcoming months ahead!

What My Momma Taught Me

In honor of Mothers Day… a day late, here are some things my mamma taught me about fashion.

1.    You can never have enough shoes, especially if you got them on sale.

My mom is always buying shoes off the sale racks; she has small feet and always lucks out on the cutes flats.

Best memory is when we were in NYC and she was waiting at a Starbucks. While I walked around and came back, she had gone next door to buy a pair of clogs she saw on sale. This was on top of the leopard ballet flats she just bought a few days ago.

2.    Comfort is key.

No matter what, if you’re uncomfortable it’s not fashionable.  Plus you should wear your close, not the other way around.

3.    Less is more.

My mom rarely shoes off too much skin, she always looks cool and classy in any occasion. You won’t catch her with too much cleavage or her undies hanging out.

4.    Stick with what works.

Don’t follow trends unless it works on you. It’s always important to know what you like and what looks good on you and stick to it no matter what the fashion world is hot on this minute.

5.    Don’t be afraid of patterns

My mom is so brave with certain colors and patterns, but always manages to tame it down with a solid and look fashionable and fun.

Dating and Shoes

“Momma always says there's an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they're going. Where they've been.” – Forest Gump

That Forest was a real smart man. I like to live my life a little by this quote. There’s a lot of truth to it. You might say that I’m judging a book by its cover, but honestly, most of us do So why not put our best “shoe” forward?

You really can tell a lot by someone’s shoes. My brother for example, is the last person to have any interest in fashion or style; but his shoes are always clean, neat, conservative, provide a function, and well cared for. His shoes fit him and whatever situation he’s in, weather it be work, play, or casual weekend. His shoes show a well rounded, responsible, grown man who has fun, can relax, but also knows what is appropriate in any given situation.

Looking back on some ex boyfriends, I realize I could have avoided a lot of heartache if I had just looked at their shoes. While I normally do notice people’s shoes, I don’t actually judge them and decide weather I’ll have a relationship with them, but it’s interesting to look back on it and see that you really can tell a lot about a guy by his shoes. For example, I believe every man should have at least 3 pairs of shoes. A dress shoe, a casual shoe, and a sneaker for working out. When a man only has one pair of shoes that he wears for everything, he doesn’t take too much stock in the other parts of his life. If the man doesn’t have a pair of shoes to be serious in, then he is a baby boy, who will never grow up and doesn’t invest much thought in his career. If the man has only dress shoes, then he doesn’t take the time to take care of his body or play.

It’s not just the shoes he wears, but how has he taken care of those shoes? Does he clean them? Does he replace them when they should be replaced? If he cannot even afford to replace a pair of shoes...RUN AWAY NOW! Are they all scuffed up and full of missing pieces? How long has he had them and do they look like they smell? How a man treats his shoes is probably how he treats many things in his life.

As women, we naturally take more pride in our shoes. Even women who hate shopping will have a thing for shoes. Men notice that. I can’t tell you how many times a straight man will compliment me on my shoes. For some reason men like women’s shoes and take notice to what you’re wearing. We definitely have more options and can show off a little more with our footwear. So next time your out on a first date, put your best foot forward by dressing them up to show your inner self and check out what the guy is wearing on his feet, because it could show you a lot about what your future with him will be like.

And just in case you were wondering, my man has 15 pairs of shoes, all well taken care of and for many occasions. My favorite on him are either his brown cowboy boots, or his no lace John Varvatos dress shoes. 

Journey for a White Dress

Two weekends ago, I tried on my wedding dress for the second time. When the seamstress called me to let me know that my dress was ready for my first fitting after alterations, I became incredibly nervous. For some reason, I had forgotten about the dress. This is probably because I was scared and had buried it in the back of my mind.  Let me start from the beginning of the hunt for my wedding dress.

After I became engaged, my sister made an appointment for me at a very nice, clean, and quite bridal boutique. I was welcomed with coffee, fresh baked cookies, and chandeliers. They even had a pedestal for me to stand on and view myself in each of the dresses. My sister is all things wedding. She loves weddings… and when I say love I mean LOOOOOVE! She took charge and pulled dresses and told the nice saleslady what to put me in. I figured the best part of the whole wedding planning process would be to try on all these dresses since I am all about fashion, well I was wrong.  I had no idea what I wanted in terms of a dress. So many options, so many designers, I was actually overwhelmed when it came to clothes! I knew my wedding was going to be a garden, vintagey theme and I thought I knew what type of dress I wanted. I tried on tons of dresses. The ones I thought I would like, I hated. The ones I thought I’d hate I kind of loved. I’m usually great at this but I was feeling overwhelmed.

Some of my many choices

Everything looked so pretty and special on. I was torn. I fell in love with 3 dresses by the time I left, but wasn’t willing to commit to any of them. I knew that once I bought my dress that was it. No returns. No going back. That is the only dress I get. For the first time in my life I didn’t know what I wanted in fashion. I had a headache. I was tired. I didn’t want to try on anything else.  I was bummed that my expectations of having this incredible time trying on beautiful gowns and knowing exactly what I wanted weren’t met.

My sister on the other hand didn’t want to give up. She wanted to take me to a sample sale. Really? I’m tired! We get to the sample sale and it’s the total opposite of what I just experienced. It was chaos, madness, brides gone crazy with racks and racks of bridal gowns in no particular order. Seeing the fear and annoyance in my eyes, my sister takes charge again, she starts pulling dresses.  I have no idea how she can even tell what would look good when everything is all enclosed in plastic garment bags and hanging all ugly and squished together. I tell her she can pull 3 dresses and I’ll wait in the corner to try them on. She brings me the 3 options and strategically puts me in the first dress. She dresses me better than the professionals at the store do. I’m shocked. She even made a space for me to step into the dress without having me step on the dress. She clamps me in because they are all sample sizes. I step out and look in the mirror. I’m staring at myself, not sure what I’m seeing. But it’s dirty. It’s got snags, it’s missing beads, and the corset is torn. It’s a size 12 dress and I’m a size 2. I hear my sister ask me if I like it in a little bit of a panicked voice. Long silence…. I absolutely love it. Despite everything…it’s perfect. It’s the one…AND my mom loves it! She never loves anything.

Then we find out it’s the last one. We can’t order this from the designer anymore because it’s been discontinued. So if I want this dress, I have to take it “as is”. My sister inspects the dress, trying to see what can be done with it. Meanwhile I see a gaggle of brides eyeing me in the dress, wanting to have me take it off so they can try it on themselves. I’m angry, I don’t want anyone to touch this dress. I refuse to take it off. We come to the conclusion that if I love the dress, we can spend the money to really have it cleaned up and fixed professionally. Can you even take it down 10 sizes? We were told it was possible. It’s also ridiculously discounted and way below the budget we had planned for my wedding dress. Okay we buy it. I’m REALLY NERVOUS. My mom says we can sell it and get me another dress.  But I love this one. What if it doesn’t work out?

So after lots of research and some refusals to work on my dress, we find a wonderful lady who says it’s no problem and that she could “make it like new.” This is where I panic again. I’m suppose to just trust this woman to take my dress, send it off to the cleaners in NYC, take it from a 12 to a 2, and fix everything?! Yes. So I did and I left scared. I made myself sick with worry.  Months went by and I forgot about my dress. Then came the phone call…my dress is ready for the first fitting. My sister is across the country and my mom can’t make it. My Matron of Honor has a gig and can’t come either. Thank God one of my bridesmaids could make it. It was also fitting that I was with her for her wedding gown purchase and we’ve known each other since kindergarten. She is supportive, helps me get dressed, and takes pictures, I’m not alone. I put the dress on, it’s beautiful and actually frames my body perfectly now. Well almost, we still have a few inches to take in. The dress is actually ivory and clean, not the dingy yellow it once was! The corset is perfect! I’m not scared anymore. I’m happy! It’s beautiful, it’s everything I wanted, and it’s mine.

I’m not sure why it was so hard for me to commit to one dress or why I had such anxiety over it, but in the end everything worked out. I knew the right dress when I had it on. It’s kind of like all things in my life, my gut instincts usually are right and I never end up regretting them. Being impulsive is good if you listen to your gut and heart.  You just kind of know when it’s right. It’s like when you find the right guy to marry, you just know. 

Holiday Frenzy

As the holidays quickly approach us and we are driven into a frenzy of shopping, work, colds, and extreme weather conditions, we may loose site of what really matters and what the season really is all about. For me it’s family and friends. Though I cannot be surrounded with my close friends as much as I’d like to this year with the mass amount of last minute work, events, and chores, I do think of them often. I’m not even sure how I’ll deliver everyone’s Christmas presents on time this year. It seems the older I get the more spread out and hectic everyone’s lives become. Some of this makes me sad, but as I realize I’m engaged now and have responsibilities of my own that take away from being able to attend every holiday party and shop till to my hearts desire and eating fast food or God forbid even skip a meal to keep on shopping, I’m accepting that It’s okay to grow up a bit and have to say no. I still love everyone dearly and wouldn’t be the person I am with out them in my life (even though it’s been at a distance lately). I have amazing friends and family who support me and encourage me to keep going.

            It’s been such a crazy past week that I’m even behind on my weekly blog, that I promised myself I would commit to doing, but after freaking out and feeling guilty and like an utter failure, I relaxed, realized I’ll set aside some time today and take a few minutes before I start making dinner and write for myself.  

         

Since this is a blog about fashion and shopping and life, I'm dedicating it to gift giving. Now if you find that you hate shopping for gifts, or that you just hate shopping, or if your addicted to it like myself, I’m dedicating this blog to a list of my favorite on line shops. No more parking, waiting, driving, and germs from other shoppers! You can literally do everything on line these days and it has really saved my life this year for gift giving.

           

 Now of course you all know about amazon and ebay, but I’ve recently discovered  piperlime and I am in love! They have free shipping AND RETURN SHIPPING! That’s enough reason to shop here, but my favorite is that they have guest editors and Rachel Bilson (my fashion icon of the present) has her favorite picks of everything and you can click and buy, so easy! Best part is they always have sales and discount offers on some of my favorite designers. They even have gift cards!

            My other favorite go to designer on line shop would have to be bluefly This is for the higher end taste buds, but sometimes you can find some really great deals.

Remember if the gift is from the heart, the reciever will definatly appriciate it. I love to give gifts, I enjoy the process of looking for something that the special someone might really like and enjoy. I picture them using the gift in their lives. It makes me happy when I get to watch them open it. So try to enjoy this process that comes around only once a year and think of it as a way to honor those you care about. Don’t stress too much. Even if you can’t get anything too crazy or money is tight right now, I know I love it when I get baked goods. Be creative, knit a scarf, make some healthy new cookie recipies and wrap them up all pretty. It really is the thought that counts.

            Please feel free to ask me questions if you’re stuck on what to get someone this season! I love shopping and I would love to help you out!

Mad Men Dress Up

I love my jeans and t-shirts. Come summer I live in my shorts and tanks with flip-flops. But has comfort and casual crossed a line? I can’t help wondering if we as women and men have lost something, by choosing comfortable and casual. Recently I got engaged. My fiancé loves Mad Men and anything vintage. So as an ode to him we had a Mad Men type engagement party and our engagement photos were also in the realm of that Mad Men type look.  So now comes the wardrobe.

Well for him it was easy, suite and tie. He loves his suits and spends good money on them so they already look and feel the style. Me on the other hand I had to search for a dress. Luckily I stumbled upon Unique Vintage in Burbank and found everything I needed in one stop.  There were so many beautiful dresses and the sales associates were super helpful helping me get in and out of the dresses. I ended up picking out an Olive Green dress with a brown clutch and brown gloves. I even got a cute feather clip for my hair. The price was not easy to swallow, but I felt like the part.  Also when I tried the dress on I knew it was the one.

So the day finally came to shoot. I was nervous, I felt silly, were we doing too much? Should we have just gone with shooting at the beach?  What will people think? The day started with me going to the hair salon and getting my huge up do. While at the salon, I was wondering how on earth the ladies of the late 50’s early 60’s ever got their hair done on their own. Well the answer was simple they didn’t, really. They went to the beauty salon and got their hair done and slept in scarves or they would sleep in rollers. So an 1 ½ later My hair is all dolled up and I’m feeling super self conscious, I’m not use to having my hair teased up and pined with so much hair spray I’m sure I’ve destroyed some ozone layers. Now it’s time to go home and put on my face. The black liner is simple enough, just a little more than I normally use for going out. I choose a peachy pink lip and I’m finished. Now comes the spanx. Since I’m not going to actually wear a girdle, I settle for the updated version. I’ve never worn spanx before, it was a struggle getting it on, but underneath the dress I loved the results. I zip up the dress (or have my fiancé help since clothes were not made to be put on by oneself back in the day) then I slip on the brown ankle strap shoes and look at my future husband. The look on his face was indescribable. He looked at me like I was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.  His eyes lit up. The dress accentuated my curves (being a size 2 I don’t really have much normally) and made my waist look tiny. I looked mature, grown, like a wife. I also felt really glamourous and feminine. When I see my fiancé in his suit all cleaned up and freshly pressed, my breath catches a little. He is so handsome! We look like we just stepped out of a time portal.

So off we go to meet the photographer at the location. A tiny vintage inspired hotel. I can’t walk very fast, but I am standing a little taller and feel like a WOMAN. Usually I get carded for alcohol and people never believe my actual age.  I feel beautiful and strong.  We look great with out surroundings, but then I notice the other guests at the hotel, they are the ones who look a little out of place. Their jeans and t-shirts don’t go with their surroundings. We are so use to casual nowadays especially Southern California. No one actually really wears a full suit to work here unless it’s a special meeting.  Women suits are boxy and manish a lot of the times and the sexy ones are considered inappropriate for the work place because of dress codes established in God knows when.  So while I’m incredibly grateful for the progress in women’s rights and equality as well as our undergarments, I can’t help, but feel a little longing for the fashion and care that was taken in one’s appearance in the early 1960’s. Even Marylyn and Audrey dressed down, was impeccably tailored and well thought out. So while I love denim a part of me longs for the fashion and glamour of the Mad Men Era. Not to mention the chivalry of men, which by the way was shown to me way more in the few hours I was all decked out.