Fun (and cheap) tribal shorts OOTD... and a BIG Bendel box.

Happy weekend, everyone! 

Today I'm brining you guys all the outfit details from last night's look. I went out with a friend sort of as a late birthday celebration. We went to an amazing dinner, shared lots of girl talk, and I busted out my new shorts and clutch for the first time.

This outfit is actually super affordable. The clutch is really the only super pricey thing happening, but you could always find a cheaper alternative. 

I L.O.V.E this clutch because it holds just as much as my large bags. I mean I know it's technically a "clutch", but I like to refer to it as the "mega clutch". It's ridic huge.

Ok so I posed this question on my Instagram last night, but am I the only one that calls these types of shorts "a$$ front shorts"? Seriously.
You know, because they make you look like you've got an a$$ in the front.  I've seen some hilarious examples of this, however, I'm not about to embarrass anyone on here by posting pics so use your imagination...haha. I think it's the fabric. With this cut, if you go with a thicker fabric (like a faux leather or thick cotton), you can seriously have this front-rear situation going on.

Yeah, that's me trying to demonstrate this phenomenon. Not sure if it's translating....haha

But seriously, these shorts are not bad. The material really flows and lays nicely and looks more flattering rather than like a big ol' front butt. 

About wearing these shorts, they're super easy to style.  Pair them with a tighter top, like I did with the simple black tank when the weather is warm, or throw on a blazer with it when the cooler weather rolls around.  LOVE this exact look with a simple black blazer.

So what do you guys think about these shorts? Have you found any great ones of this style anywhere? I'm obsessed with these...

And birthday presents in big Henri Bendel boxes, apparently.

I know, I know.... I can't show you something like that without sharing the goods inside.

Is this not the cutest teapot you've ever seen?? Such an amazing surprise!

details:

shorts- Forever 21

top- Target

shoes- Forever 21

necklace- Stella & Dot

bag- Henri Bendel

The day I turned 29 for the first time...

So some of you may already know that my birthday was a few days ago.
Before I get this post rollin' I've got to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who sent along sweet birthday messages to me. It made me feel so warm n' fuzzy inside! :)
Truthfully, It was probably one of the most relaxing days I've had in quite some time.  I decided to take the day "off".  However, when you do what I do (blogging/YouTube) on the internet, you never truly have a day off. While it's great that I can make my own hours, I'm usually checking my channel, comments, posts, filming, editing, planning, emailing, communicating with companies I'm collaborating with, etc.  Weekends, late at night... all throughout the day, basically. It's truly more work than when I taught full-time (and was in school full-time). Wasn't meaning to get into all that, but that's what happens when I blog sometimes. Whatever comes into my mind sometimes just comes out onto the page.
I LOVE what I do, though. I always have loved the quote, "Love what you do and you will never work a day in your life." So true.

Anyway, my point is, while I was taking the day "off" (not really), I decided to go to our neighborhood pool for the first time. I felt like I was on vacation and the weather was absolutely beautiful.

While I was there, I got a message from a friend telling me the sad news about Talia's passing. It absolutely broke my heart. The rest of the time I was there, I remembered happy memories about our few brief moments we actually were able to spend together when we met at IMATS in LA this past January. She was seriously larger than life. Her personality and positivity were so huge that you didn't really notice she was just a small child. It's so unbelievable what she went through battling cancer at such a young age when kids shouldn't have to worry about life's heavier things like that.  When I was talking to her, I never even thought about that, though. She was so happy and sweet and I had so much fun talking to her, even for just a little while.

While thinking about what she endured, it's so inspiring to see how she handled it and turned it into something positive. Reaching out to so many people, bringing so much awareness to childhood cancer, and touching so many people's lives through YouTube.  We're seriously so blessed to have gotten to know her, even if only through the internet.  She'll always have a special place in my heart.

After the pool, with a heavy heart, I headed back to our house and did some cleaning.  

House cleaning. I know, birthday awesomeness.

I got ready for dinner, Brad came home from work, and we headed out to one of my favorite spots, Stoney River.

As we headed out the door, Brad gave me one of my birthday gifts...

It's by Michael Kors. It's bright gold. It has a chunky chain link band. I'm in love with it!  I had really been wanting a new and fun watch. This one is the perfect mix of being fun, classic, and stylish. 

This is us heading out the door...

Isn't he presh? I've got to make him crash my out-the-door ootd pics more often. ;)

Here's a better shot of my outfit.

details:

Ted Baker Dress, Target shoes, Michael Kors watch, cuffs from thecurrentcustom.com, Louis Vuitton Lumineuse PM

You may remember this dress from my post about my recent trip to New York.  It's so comfortable! I knew it had to be my birthday dress. :)

So off we went to Stoney River... Here's a few shots of our delicious noms.

This salad was unbelievably good. Sort of like a "caprese" salad, but with the little peas and fried onions (which Brad mostly ate), it was amazing.

 This was my meal. A filet mignon with mashed sweet potato casserole. These sweet potatoes are basically my favorite thing ever.

 This was Brad's. His steak was crazy huge with some yummy mashed potatoes with shallots. Delish as well.

And finally, Stoney River is awesome and brings you free chocolate cake on your birthday. It was yummy and fudge-y and delicious.

When we got home, Brad gave me the sweetest birthday card ever and these little Kate Spade elephant salt and pepper shakers.

Crazy cute, right?  They look perfect on our kitchen table.

Crappy iPhone pic, but they still look presh.
We then spent a relaxing night at home and watched The Big Lebowski... lol. I can't help it, it's one of my favorites.

So again, thank you all for making my day extra special! I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

How I Packed for New York!

Hey everyone!
So some of you who follow me on Instagram probably know already that this past weekend I took a quick trip to New York City to shot something special for Shape Magazine. It was such an awesome experience!! Although I already posted a few photos from the trip on Instagram, here are some of those and a few more...

Some gorgeous shots of the city from the top of the Empire State Building...

The last day we visited Ground Zero and saw the new towers built near the World Trade Center site. The tower below is the same one lit in red, white, and blue above. 

We got the opportunity to speak with a few New York City Police Officers near the area who were SO nice and hospitable. We could have talked to them and asked them questions all day and they probably would have been glad to. All of the "true" New-Yorkers we met were some of the nicest people ever.

SO while I was packing last week, I thought it would be the perfect time to film a little packing "how-to" video. Or at least how I did it for this particular trip. So check out my (very long) video below to see  some of my best packing tips and all the things I brought along!

A Little Trendy Chevron Dress...

So the past few days have been a bit cooler and rainy around here (and a bit gloomy at times). So I figured why not bust out a dress with a bit of a sleeve in a fun print...

Trouble with most of these little trendy, crazy-printed dresses of this style is that they're honestly a bit shapeless and can look a bit "too much" where the print is concerned if it's a bit louder like this one.

Which brings me to my main accessorizing philosophy-- Use accessories to toughen up "sweet" outfits. This dress would also work perfectly on a 4-year-old (ahem in a MUCH smaller size). But with the right accessories, it works for my personal style and looks a bit edgier and appropriate for a grown-up like myself...haha.
Don't get me wrong, it's super cute on it's own, but when the print is this loud, sometimes it's just screaming for something to break it up a bit.

Since these types of dresses usually fall a bit short on me,  belting them and losing a few inches is definitely not an option.  Then we'd be left with a whole new set of inappropriate problems, guys.
So to make it work, I like to throw on a jacket to break it up a bit. Especially when the print is super loud like this one.

Ahhhh much better.

SO much more "me". Leather jackets are genius. If you have a nice lightweight one like this, you can throw them on anytime, anywhere and they always work. Especially on cool, rainy Summer days.

So a bit of leather, a spiky necklace, and a chain-handled handbag did the trick. No longer 4-year-old appropriate.

details:

dress: Dress Up Boutique (shopdressup.com)

jacket: Tinley Road

purse: J. Crew Factory

necklace: BCBG

shoes: Forever 21

Easy Summer Dress OOTD ...and something new underfoot

Happy Friday, Loves!
Today I wanted to share a really easy (and affordable) look with you all. Well, minus the bag. Because if you guys know me at all by now, you know that I like to invest in my handbags. I don't have a ton, but my philosophy is that I'd much rather invest in a few classic handbags that go with anything and that I can carry forever, rather than spending a lot (or a little) here and there on a huge collection of trendy bags over the years that would add up to the same amount anyway. Trust me. It works out.

But no worries, you can totally put any type of bag with a look like this. I was dying to break out my new Target wedges (you may remember from my recent Target shoe haul post here) in this gorgeous shade of coral. Pairing them with an easy dress like this in a natural tone allows you to have fun with your accessories! No matter what you put with a dress like this, you can't go wrong.

Oh, and I know...The OOTD posts have been a little few and far-between lately.  It's for good reason... Do you notice something different in the photos below?

and no, it's not the awkward between-the-legs birdhouse shot. 

I know, it's probably a bit hard to know what you're looking for unless you had a before shot to compare it to, but we totally built a patio this past weekend! Look for a post for the completed photos and how-to details of that coming up soon...

Anyway, I'm pretty much loving it. Because this is my favorite spot in our backyard to take photos,  I now don't have to worry about getting my shoes messed up in the grass and dirt.  Plus, we have an awesome spot for outdoor patio things that don't really work on our screened-in porch, like our grill and gas fire pit. 

It's still a bit muddy around the edges, but I can't wait to spruce it up with some pretty plants.

Ok, so back to the outfit details...

details:

dress- Forever 21

shoes- Target

necklace- BCBG

earrings- Henri Bendel

bag- Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM

double ring- Henri Bendel (these are available again!) 

 Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

Don't miss my June Favorites video that just went up on my YouTube channel today as well!