Favorite Things

The blog La Dolce Vita has a regular piece called 'Style Files' where they interview someone who has undeniably wonderful style to give you a peek inside their head. This is my second favorite regular on the blog (Jet Setter's review of the world's most unreal hotels makes me just DROOL every time) and I took the time to fill out the typical questions myself, because I thought it could be interesting. Really, all it did was prove how very 26 I am. The typical subjects of LDV's interviews are established, successful women in their 40s who have refined taste and distinct style. It'd be interesting to do this same 'interview' again in 10 years. Remind me, k?

How would you describe your style? Pretty understated. I like to play with trends but I'm not investing in anything very distinct just yet, for my home or my closet. I'm still trying to figure out my style so I only invest in classics. A sturdy leather couch, a Louis Vuitton bag, diamond stud earrings. Those sorts of things. Everything else I own comes from TJ Maxx and usually has fringe.
Where do you turn to for inspirations? Pinterest and blogs. What can I say, I'm a girl of that generation.
Who are your personal style icons? I'd go with Kate Hudson, Diane Kruger, Kate Bosworth - gosh, I have a thing for blondes!
Before I die, I'd like to... be well-traveled.
Guilty Pleasure - The Kardashians. I think they're absolute dolls and I love them. Can't stop, won't stop.
Greatest achievement - landing Daryl! That may sound like a corny, engaged-girl answer but I mean it. I admire him so much.
Go-To Outfit - Really tight skinny jeans, chunky footwear (think moto boots or wedge heels), and a floaty top. Or a maxi dress. 1970s couture, really. :)

Style Mantra - Never compare yourself to others.
Scent - Chanel Chance (the gold one, not the pink one) and I just picked up Dolce by Dolce and Gabbana for summer. I needed a change; I've worn Chanel since high school.
Piece of Jewelry - My engagement ring.
Color I Never Tire Of - Gold

Flower - Tulips; they remind me of Texas Tech's campus
Design Element - paint
Era - Art Deco/1920s
Pattern/Textile - I figured I'd have grown out of my love for leopard print by now but I just haven't.

Book - Ender's Game, Chocolat, Brave New World
Hostess Gift - Does BYOBing my own champagne and conceding others a glass or two count as a hostess gift?
Meal - A really ooey gooey quesadilla with tons of guacamole, and OF COURSE tequila and soda with lime (because a margarita is too many calories, says the girl with cheese hanging from her chin).
Drink - Pinot Noir for at home, watching TV, Champagne for by the pool and Don Julio tequila with soda and lime juice at restaurants. That makes sense, right? Pairing your drinks with your location rather than you meal? I think so.
Way to Unwind after a Long Day at Work - Stretching! I would call it yoga but there's no flow to it and I move myself around so I can always see the TV.
Weekend Destination - Houston, Texas
Song that Always Puts Me in a Great Mood - Rumor Has It by Adele
Actor/Actress - I can't get enough Kevin Spacey, Robert Downey Jr., Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP), Emma Stone, Zoe Saldana and Jennifer Lawrence

City - Seattle, Washington
Museum - Houston Museum of Natural Science (I'm not awfully cultured when it comes to museums... so out of the handful I've been to, the dinosaurs win).
Risk Worth Taking - Telling people about your goals
Greatest Extravagance - Travel

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Guest Bath Planning

A picture really is worth a thousand words, isn't it? I had intended to explain how excited I was to be updating our guest bathroom... but does it really need explaining?

I was SO excited by my plan for this bathroom until D unceremoniously shot it down. I should have just painted the bathroom without asking him. I feel as though if I'm the one putting in the elbow grease, I can paint the bathroom any shade of pink I darn well please. That's right. I wanted a pink bathroom so bad. A french pink with just the right amount of beige to keep it classy but not so much it read peach. With dark wood cabinets and gold accents? I mean, COME ON! It would have been gorgeous!

Yea, well, even sending him this picture of kinda-sorta my vision did not do sell him. His response: "I love you to the moon and back but I really really don't want a pink bathroom".

And that was that.

Such a shame, it would have been so lovely.

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway. I've got a backup plan, and it involves that wheat-ish color of the stone in my inspiration image on the walls and pink accents, instead. Not NEARLY as cool, but this is what marriage is, right?

Tonight I'm going to get some paint samples on the walls and crawl up in the attic and see if there's anything to that soffit where the can lights are installed. Surely there can't be, and if there isn't, I want it gone! Make some room for some fabulous light fixtures, obviously. Light fixtures are my new thing. It's my favorite section of Lowe's these days.

I've had my eye out for an affordable version of this for the dining area for a while and I'm always on the look out for a timeless show-stopper for the vaulted ceilings in the living room. I refuse to settle for anything less than perfect, so until I find perfect, we're going with 'dated brass ceiling fan'.

So, yea, I've got my eye on the weekend, excited to get rid of the paisley-chic in the guest bath! Hope your weekend planning is going well on this hump day!

xo

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5 Things

1. The Collect App! I seriously got on my blogger account today so that I could write a '5 Things' blog JUST so I can share this app. Now I'm going to have to think of 4 other things... ANYWAY, yes. So the app is free and it completely plays to my love for documenting things. It's a photo-a-day journal app that is so simple and sweet. It's not a social app, shockingly, but I'm obsessed with taking the time to notice something each day that I'm grateful for or makes me happy, capturing a photo of it and then looking back at the blessings that month! You can print out the calendar at the end of the month and have a physical journal to browse through... but I probably won't. Although since you don't have to create an account to use the app, if your phone goes south, your journal will be lost with the phone.

2. My homemade iced coffee! I made my very own batch of Pioneer Woman iced coffee Saturday night (I know, I'm such a wild child) and it turned out really stinking good! I put a splash of milk in it and since the fridge door was already open and everything, I poured some maple syrup in it, Buddy the elf style. Yummm. It was my picture for Collect on Saturday and everything.  It was the most exciting thing I did Saturday. Couldn't really take a picture of me sitting on the couch watching Sister Act II, now could I? I don't think I need to even mention that D went out of town Saturday to see his mom... based on my activities, I think it's pretty clear I was unsupervised.

Letting it... brew? steep? Not sure what the terminology is for iced coffee.

This isn't a picture of myyyy coffee... it's the picture Pioneer Woman put on her recipe... 

but mine looked very similar

3. Irene Suchoki. She's a Canadian photographer after my heart. D mentioned a while back that he doesn't want "any abstract art in the house" which I thought meant no Cubism-era Picaso or anything, which is fair; that stuff is trippy. But come to find out, he means he wants exclusively literal art. Photography, really. So when I happened upon Irene's Etsy shop, I knew it would be the ideal compromise. I see a bulk order being placed in the near future. And for the record, she does photograph colorful stuff, too. I just happened to pick a couple colorless examples.

Icebergs reflected off still water

The black sand beaches of Ireland

Zebra stripe without being all up in your face about zebra stripes.

4. Monistat Anti-Chaffing Gel. Yum, right? But it's not quite what you think. I saw on Pinterest that people are claiming it's the dupe for Smashbox Photo Finish Primer and it sparked my memory. I used to use it, mixed with my foundation in the summers, to keep from sweating all my makeup off. So I've brought it back in to the rotation now that the weather is heating back up and I forgot what a little miracle worker this stuff is. I got it at Target.

5. Toe touches - I get in to a rut when it comes to abs but this one is new in my rotation and it's a keeper. I thought doing V-ups WAS doing toe touches. Unbeknownst to me, those are different exercises. Gawd, Karen, you're so STUPID! These you keep your feet right where they are in the picture below, no up and down with your legs. Only your upper body moves. Burn baby burn!

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Wedding Planning Part II

Yea... I'm not doing so good at blogging my wedding planning. In my defense, it's because I haven't done a ton of wedding planning worth blogging about?? I think when I'm in the throws of decorating, it'll make for better blogs (and pictures).

But for propriety sake, here's a little peek in to what we've got nailed down so far.

1. The dress!!! That was harder and then easier than I thought it would be. My first outing turned out pretty miserable, tears in the dressing room and everything. However, it turned out that I was just at the wrong store. After my first trip, I was sure I was going to be the bride that hated everything. I tried on dress after dress and my sister, mom and Ashley would oooo and ahhh but I just rolled my eyes. I hated all of them.

BUT THEN! I picked out another store and did a little research. I found out what designers they carried and scoped out the selection online before heading in. I had a list of style numbers I would be interested in trying on and just handed the list to the consultant. She pulled what they had in stock, about 5 of the dresses I had picked out, and I fell in love with all of them. Don't worry, I won't be the bride with the wardrobe changes. I narrowed it down. Luckily, I'm super decisive and picked which one I wanted, bought it, and since the sample they had fit me like a glove, took it home with me. Boom. Done. Dress.

So yea, my recommendation would be to look up the designers the store carries online and come in with an idea. Also, I forced myself to try on silhouettes I didn't think I'd like on my body type... and I didn't like them. So, I mean, that's still probably good advice but if you already know what you want and you try it on and it looks totally fly, don't second guess it. You're a grown up who knows what she likes. Embrace it.

2. I found a photographer that isn't going to just rob us blind! She's PERFECT, too. I insisted on going to coffee with her before hiring her and she came in SO prepared. She bought my coffee (nice touch), she had a ton of samples to show me, answered ALL my questions, and laughed at my jokes! What more could a girl want?! No really, we clicked and I was so thankful. I think I'll have a lot of fun with Megan on the big day!

This is the list I found on Pinterest of questions to ask your photographer. 

I printed it and carried it in with me like a total dork but no regrets. It was really helpful.

3. We picked a DJ! And get this... he's the cleaning guy at my office! No. I'm not kidding. He has a couple jobs and one of them is DJ! He does our company picnics and events around Seminole and he did a party we went to the other night. I told D to scope him out and D took it very seriously. He liked the way he transitioned between songs (I would have never noticed), he liked that he rolled with the punches (one of those being that D requested the end of the party turn in to karaoke night) and he had a great selection! His set up is legit... so yea! Serious budget saver there! Also, he's really just the nicest guy.

4. We picked out Save the Dates! I know, we're getting ahead of ourselves a little here. But, hey, anything to get a check mark on my to do list, I'm game. What actually happened was that HE really liked them. He hasn't really had an opinion about much yet, so when he was psyched about these engraved wood Save the Dates, I was sold. They met my two requirements: they had the date on them and they weren't very expensive. Done. And. Done. Well... we've requested some font changes (a few too many hearts for us, personally) and need to approve the proofs... but otherwise, totally Done and Done.

Oh, and we don't have to stress about getting our engagement pictures done to include on the Save the Date, which is an added bonus. We have been meaning to get those done but finding a time that the photographer is free, my highlights aren't totally grown out and we don't have something we'd rather be doing... practically impossible. But we'll buckle down and get it done soon. Maybe.

Etsy, if you're curious.

That pretty much covers our progress as of yet. Our top priorities coming up are:

1. Sampling whiskey cocktails in an effort to pick a signature drink for that night (it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!) So far, our favorite is really just whiskey and soda water with a bunch of fresh lemon juice. But don't worry, we realize that's a pretty lame signature drink. We'll keep at it.

2. Making up a hashtag for the festivities!!! I delegated this to D; he's pretty clever. It'll probably be some engineering joke. :)

3. And, oh yea, we should probably finish asking our bridal party to participate. I just have one more little lady to ask but D still has to ask ALL of his guys! We wanted to do as many face to face as possible but some plans have changed and its looking like we're just gonna have to suck it up and make some phone calls.

So there's my short and sweet update on wedding planning for ya! Afterward, I'll definitely share my master wedding spreadsheet, lessons learned, maybe even budget because, honestly, that's a big part of wedding planning!

Thanks for caring, bloggies! Love you!

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