Birthday Coat

I mentioned back in this post that I found some fun things at an estate sale a couple of months ago. I also found two, absolutely amazingly beautiful things that I didn't purchase that day (the prices were a little steep for an estate sale): two remarkable wool coats from the 50s that happened to fit me like a glove. These coats were unbelievable (if I haven't mentioned that enough yet), and I don't ever even look at clothes at estate sales. But these coats were out on display, in mint condition, and had beautiful vintage silhouettes. If I would have bought those coats that day, I would've had to shell out about $100 for them, and since you can buy a new coat for that, plus I was already buying a twin bed for Levi and some other things at the sale, I passed.

On the last day of the sale (a Saturday), everything was 50% off. We were already overbooked that Saturday (running in a 5k, hosting a dinner for our dinner club, and preparing for a baby shower) and it left no time at all for driving an hour to see if either coat happened to be left at the sale. I sent my grandma a text (she was with me at the estate sale) that told her I was really regretting not getting at least one of the coats and if anyone (in the family) was in town that day, to run by and see if they were still there. She didn't reply so I just assumed she got it but was busy.

Well, a month later for my birthday, I unwrapped the most beautiful coat ever and it is now hanging in my coat closet. My grandma went back to the sale and got it on the last day (the other coat had sold). Without further ado, I will show it to you. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the Shoe Fits... {Guest Post}

Happy Monday! We are currently vacationing at the beach right now .Today you get a special treat - my cousin Chelsea is guest posting for me (she also did once before, here)...about shoes! You can read more from Chelsea here and here. Thanks Chels!

Well, hello again! So nice to be back, I figured I'd do something a little different this time so bare with me.


When Les asked me to do another post I was honored, and panicked. Why? For one, I titled this post "Toilet Talk" with every intention of doing a "Project Post" about my recent bathroom remodel, but then decided it wasn't fun or thrilling and I wanted to be asked back again thus the forth coming random post you are about to embark on....Ready? Let's go!

So here are a few reasons why I could never be a blogger:


1. I lack the ability to start and finish something. No, wait, I take that back. I can start and finish something it just may not happen for awhile. Blogging....it's all about keeping the reader's attention and giving them a reason to come back. Which requires posting regularly--as opposed to once every 8 months.  {See below}

2. For this blog alone I started 5 different posts and couldn't finish a one of them without totally losing my OWN attention.


3. Oh, I also have a mild form of ADD {which, let's face it, who doesn't have some form of it}. Like between writing #2 and #3 reasons I was pinning new style options for summer color combos, looking through Facebook to see how many new fans the shop {oh, the shop? read here for more info} acquired since posting a contest, and paying for my internet bill so I could at least finish this post for my cousin.


Oh, sorry, didn't mean to leave you again...ok, where was I? Oh yeah...


4. Ok, here's something I could totally blog about and start and finish all in the same sitting, here goes nothing!


Shoes.


Let's face it, girls {sometimes guys...yeah, I'm talking about all your tennis shoes, dude!}, we likey the shoes and we likey the variety. I won't even go there {you know, how many shoes you have}, let's just keep that little fact to ourselves. Regardless, we love them! So in honor of women and our love for shoes, I'm going to share with you a little shoe secret.

My favorite shoe line as of late? Lindsay Phillips! The girl is genius! This all started as a High School project now turned mega successful business that women of all ages and styles LOVE to wear! The concept behind these shoes is that you take one pair of shoes and interchange what they call "snaps" on the shoe to create a whole new look and shoe!

Here are some of my favorite combos:

 

I cannot describe to you how fabulous this shoe line is! If you are looking for a Spring/Summer shoe to be your "go-to" shoe that can virtually go with anything, look this line up and thank me later.

Thanks for reading!

Chelsea

I Have a Uniform...Oops!

Unfortunately, I often get into a clothing rut. Maybe posting about it will cause me to stop wearing the same thing over and over so often (if I know several people I interact with regularly see this). I start wearing something I'm comfortable in (mentally and physically) and 6 months later, I realize that there's an 80% chance that if you've seen me in the last 6 months, you've seen me in this outfit (or a close variation of it)...oops. I asked Tyler a few weeks ago if he noticed that I basically wear the same outfit all the time, and he said "yeah, or at least a similar one." That's just not the kind of thing he notices folks - it must be bad. Consider this my vow to change it up a bit...for my family's sake.

Gift Guide

I love picking out gifts for people - a few people asked me for help this year picking out gifts for a special girl in their life, and I had a lot of fun thinking of things to share with them.

This guide wouldn't necessarily "fit in" with my gift list (I will do a "budget" gift guide next!) because in my family, we stay with $50-or-less gifts, but for someone whose budget for a certain gift is a little higher, this has some great options.

1. Cashmere Cardigan - J.Crew has these year-round. I got one (in a brick-red color) for Christmas a few years ago from Tyler's family, and it's still one of my favorite pieces ever (timeless), and may get a hall-of-fame post on the blog someday :)
2. Polka dot blouson dress - this one is also from J.Crew, but keep in mind it is only a suggestion:) It's a great shape for a lot of body types and a very versatile dress! (& this one is on sale right now)
3. Polka dot clutch - I saw this here and have loved it ever since. It's good-quality leather and a really fun print.
4. Pave link bracelet - just because I think it's beautiful :) - a great gift.
5. Leopard calf-hair flats - this version is $250, but you can get almost the exact same ones here for $79 (they look different online but in real life they look almost identical)
6. Gold sequin top - obviously this particular top is a little pricey at $400, but a similar one that's not a budget-breaker would be a great, fun gift!

Hall of Fame Cardigan

This sweater pretty much has the exact same story as my hall-of-fame shoes that I posted about several months ago. I bought it at The Limited back when The Limited was cool 10 or 11 years ago (joking..............kind of). I was "school shopping" with my mom and she and I both bought one of these sweaters (hers is black) for something like $7 each. It has lasted 5 moves, several garage sales, lots of wear, and one decade and I still love it. It has been a great staple in my closet.




{Two things I love: scalloped necklines and tortoise buttons}

Bubble Relaunch!

{via}

Several seasons ago (maybe sometime in 2007?), J. Crew released the Bubble Necklace with their fall collection. The Bubble Necklace is a beautiful piece of art made of 18K gold electroplated brass with hand-set resin cabochons and beads. It was wildly popular, and they kept it around for a few seasons and offered it in several different colors. Since then, they discontinued the necklace and for the last several years, you could walk into almost any mainstream clothing or department store and see cheaper, colorful, not-so-great copies of the Bubble, and the necklace has continually been wildly circulated on eBay (and still is - just search "jcrew bubble necklace"). Most stores who copied the necklace added a few beads, or made the shape a little different, but H&M came right out and copied it exactly (minus the high-quality products J. Crew uses) as seen in the picture below. 


Well, good news to all of you who have lusted after the necklace for years (me), IT'S BACK! And it's offered this season in two of the best colors ever, Black and Modern Red (and good news - Christmas is less than three months away). I will leave you with some eye candy:

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{H&M's copy of the Bubble necklace - almost exact, but made with cheaper materials. VIA}



My 'Levi' Necklace

Since before Levi was born, I had an idea of a necklace I wanted to find and have to wear every day as a reminder of what a blessing he is. I began my search not long after that, and kept finding necklaces similar to what I had envisioned, but just not exactly the one I wanted. I checked out different stores that I knew did stamping and engraving of charms, but had no luck. I began searching Etsy shops and different places online, and finally came across One Life Jewelry.

I found a necklace in this shop that was almost exactly what I was wanting (the closest I had come so far), and I was planning on ordering this necklace and settling for it because it was so great (pictured below). But before I ordered it, I sent a message to Arlyne, the owner and designer who creates and makes all the jewelry, to see if she would consider making the two tiny changes I wanted to make to create my perfect necklace, and much to my surprise she was very happy to do it.

{The necklace similar to what I wanted, image via One Life Jewelry}

The necklace I wanted was just a small gold, disc-shaped charm, with Levi's name stamped in the center (in a script font) and his birth date below it (in a regular font).

I am so happy with my necklace, and I will definitely be ordering from this shop in the future. Since this is something I wear most every day, I went ahead and invested in a 24 carat gold chain the size I wanted so that I know it will last for a very long time and at some point in the future I can add to it if I want. Here are a few other necklaces I love from her shop.

{Tree Branch Necklace, image via One Life Jewelry}

{Baby Monogram, image via One Life Jewelry}

{Family Tree necklace, image via One Life Jewelry}



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{Levi - 10/26/10}

 

Nail Spotlight - Fun with Sparkles

I've been known to try some crazy things on my nails. I usually stick with what is my interpretation of the classics, but I also like to try something fun every once in a while.

I saw this image floating around on Pinterest and pinned it to my Style pinboard as something to try (I had the nude color but needed to get the gold sparkle*):

*Confession: I already owned about 4 different "gold sparkle" polishes, but this one was unlike any of them and so I had to hunt it down. So if you ever need a gold sparkle polish, I'VE GOT FIVE.


{Seen here, originally here}

And here is my version of it. It's pretty much the same, except that girl's photos are better because she took them during the day with natural light (I meant to, but ended up doing it at night after the little one went to bed), and she is just a better photographer than I am (which is pretty easy to achieve - I'm no photographer).

{OPI Barefoot in Barcelona and Sephora by OPI in Only Gold for Me}

Nail Spotlight - Welcome Fall!

One of my favorite things about this summer-to-fall transition is not only the cooler morning/evening temperatures, the excitement of football season, or the promise of my favorite holidays right around the corner, but also the ability to wear fall colors on my nails. I know...it doesn't take a whole lot to excite me.

My absolute favorite fall color is "Ruby" by Orly. It is the perfect dark red; not too dark, and not too close to Christmas or cherry red. I make myself wait until September to use it for the first time, because it is really the first month you can consider a "Fall" month.

I mentioned in this post that I inherited several things from my Granny Iva. My love of keeping my nails painted/manicured was one of them. Unfortunately, I also inherited my love of Dr. Pepper and candy from her too.

{Granny Iva with a Dr. Pepper & manicured nails & a 10-years-younger Leslie}

Nail Spotlight - Classic Red

I told you in this post about my love of keeping my nails manicured, and I'm back to share one of my favorite colors with you. Red is my favorite color in general, and while a lot of the time I keep my nails neutral, a great pop of red is necessary to change things up from time to time.

I've bought the same shade of "classic" red for about 10 years - luckily the company that makes it considers it part of their permanent collection (which you can view here) and promises never to discontinue it. It is called "Haute Red" and is made by Orly. You can buy it at Sally's, Ulta, or anywhere else that Orly is sold.

This red is my favorite because it is great for so many things. It is a great "cherry red" to wear in the summer, and it's also a great "Christmas red" to wear around the holidays. It has a slight tinge of orange - so it looks great with coral-type colors, and somehow, it also looks ok when you wear pink colors. It's just perfect for every thing you need a great red for!

Nail Spotlight - Taupe

I paint my nails a lot. I would say that I keep them freshly manicured and polished about 90% of the time. I always polish them right before I go to bed (during my "power hour" ..or hours.. after we put Levi to sleep - this is when I get everything done). I inherited this trait from my great Granny Iva. She always wanted her nails polished - 100% of the time - and felt naked without them done. I enjoyed painting her nails whenever we got to spend time with her.
I prefer to do my own nails instead of getting a professional manicure, because I am pretty meticulous about it and frankly I just do a better job. I feel the complete opposite about my toes though, I try to get regular pedicures to keep my feet in tip-top shape. There are only so many sides of your own feet you can reach! :)
I love neutral nail polish - nude colors with a hint of pink. This became popular several years ago, and I'm glad it has stayed around as a nail "staple." I usually stick with neutrals, or variations of red, but every once in a while I like to try something out of the ordinary.
A year or so ago, taupe nail polish became popular. I didn't like it at first, but I have to say it's grown on me a little. This past week was my first try at taupe nails (I've done toenails and loved it on them), and I have to say I like it as an alternative neutral from my normal light pink. The polish is by OPI and called Barefoot in Barcelona.

Here are a few essentials that I use to keep my nails manicured.

Orly Top 2 Bottom for a base coat / Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (I also love Orly In a Snap for a top coat) / Solar Oil for cuticles (a must for in between manicures/polishes to keep paint looking fresh and skin moist - especially on toes)

H A P P Y   T H U R S D A Y !
I am coincidentally heading over to do
my sister's toenails for her now (I am the family pedicurist)...