Hot Man Parade

My Jewelry Staples

I buy a lot of accessories, but I really just stick to the basics. Every now and then I'll bust out something exciting, but in real life I wear very minimal jewelry day to day. Every chica is different so I thought I'd share with you what my everyday pieces.

Michael Kors Resin Bracelet Watch

1. A watch
I've worn a watch every single day since the fourth grade. Don't beleve me? Ask around. It killed me not to wear one to formals and to my wedding. I instead, tucked it into my handbag. My favorites are men inspired bracelet watches with a somewhat large face. I wear the one above, but it's no longer available. Michael Kors is probably one of my favorite watch brands and they make other similar ones (so does Fossil which is the same company).

Rachel CZ Studs,  Rachel Faux Pearls,  Rachel Stone Dome Studs

2. Stud Earrings
When in doubt, a stud usually works best. My go-to earrings are either simple diamond or pearl studs. I have a couple that are a bit dressier that I switch it up with, but you rarely see me with dangly earrings, they just hurt my ears.

3. Rings
I've worn one ring on each hand all of my life. It varied between a total of 2-4, but they were always there. For whatever unknown reason, I can't stand wearing a ring on my index finger even though I love the look. Right now I wear my engagement ring and wedding band on my left hand and Tiffany & Co Paloma's Tenderness Heart ring on my right.

4. Pearls
Either a long chain or a simple shorter pearl. I love pearl necklaces because they're classics, but I always feel costume-y when I wear one. A single pearl necklace is one of my favorites that I wear most often, it was also the Pearl Award I was given by my Chi Omega sorority my last year of college (the one above isn't the one I have, but is similar). The H gave me Return to Tiffany pearl bracelet as a wedding gift which I always wear. 

5. Necklaces
Along with the above similar pearl necklace, I also wear Jungwha's Tiny Gold Puffy Heart (see my review here) and Jane Seymour's Open Heart Necklace that the Mr gave me a few years ago as a birthday present. I love simple necklaces that can be worn daily and match nearly everything. I also apparently really love heart stuff. I get it from my Mom.

Accessorizing is the best way to mix up your look and add a pop of color or a statement piece to your look, but in all honesty, the only two items I wear every single day regardless of what I'm doing is my wedding ring and watch.

What do you wear most often? What are your jewelry staples?

Recent Purchases + OOTD

On my blog date with Lyndsy and Danielle, I picked up two items from our shopping trip:

Frenchi Silky Tee

Here's a pic of me wearing it with layered chaing necklaces and black skinnies.

First up is this rich jade top. I love that it has sleeves and a high neck which makes it perfect for any occasion, but really sold me is the long back. It's great to pair with leggings and won't show any plumber crack, LOL.

Victoria Secret Luminous Mineral Blush Duo in Pleasure (not pictured)

This blush is gorgeous! It's very "luminous" and the Pleasure color is a pink and rosey bronze, perfect for any complexion.

LC Lauren Conrad Ruched Open-Front Boyfriend Blazer

For my new job (which I'm loving BTW) I picked up this blazer and I love it! I've worn it several times already and I really want to pick up the pink blush one as well now. It fits pretty well, I was in-between sizes and went for the one a tad smaller because it had a slimmer fit on my body. It's really great in person and no one can believe me that it's from Kohls.

I've been loving this scarf (on left) from PollenBrooklyn on Etsy, but at this time she is on vacation. Then I found a similar scarf at HandM this weekend for $7!! I couldn't pass it up and wanted to buy every color. I'm thinking about going back for it in black too. It's not quite as full, but it suits me just fine. I can't wait to rock it this fall.

What have you been shopping? Any goodies for fall?

Snip, Snip

A few weeks ago, I cut my hair. If you follow me on Twitter you're well aware of the new change. I've been wanting to post the new cut, but wanted to show you a pic on how I style it day to day.

Here's the before and after at the salon:

We cut off 3+ inches, put some layers towards the bottom, and put in some low lights. I've also started wearing it parted down the center instead of on the side. I'm still getting used to that! It's so weird how such a little change can make such a big difference. I have a really bad cowlick and have worn my hair parted nearly my entire life (besides a short stint in the 4th grade). I have to part, blow dry, and pin it down right away everyday for the last 15 or more years. I still have to do that with my center part, and I'm still getting the hang of blow drying using my right hand instead of my left.

Ok, so here's a pic of it curled and parted in the center (I'm wearing a strapless robe, fyi):

I really like the change, I've gotten a lot of compliments that's it's chic and stylish. I'm still getting used to the middle part. So is my hair- I often find it trying to sneak back to the side. The part I love most about the new cut is how the layers in the front frame my face (I always curl my hair away from my face), I think it really thins my cheeks. 

I'm really glad I went for the cut, I sometimes miss my longer locks, but I really feel like I needed a change. Although I love long hair, I've always had a fondness for short hair and wore mine short all through high school and part of college. I can wear extensions any day right?


So there you have it. Have any of you changed your hair for the fall?

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty + Blog Lunch

Last weekend I checked out one of my favorite all time plays at the OC Performing Arts Center, West Side Story. Love. Pure love. I went with my Mother-in-Law and 2 of my Sister-in-laws, and one of my girlfriends. We had so much fun! The show was incredible, and afterwards we went out for dinner and drinks and a very fun Target shopping trip before heading home for wine and Something Borrowed (which I really liked - and yes, I read the book).

Then, this poor tragic soul died overall the Missoni drama at Target.

I also was lucky enough to meet up with Danielle from Sweet Nothings and Lyndsy from Yellow Brick Blog. We've met up before a few months ago, and another get together was long over due! We headed to brunch at The Farm and did some shopping at The Grove. It was so much fun and these two dolls are the best! Can't wait for our next playdate!

Such a great weekend! What did you ladies do? Anything exciting or new?

Salvation Mountain

When we went camping, we heard about Salvation Mountain from some of the Fountain of Youth residents and had to check it out. Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knight's tribute to God, he has spent the last umpteen years painting and creating this mountain to share God's love with the world. It's truly an incredible sight. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland looking at his work, walking through his "caves", looking through the windows he built into the cave walls, and walking the "yellow brick road" to the top of the mountain. Leonard Knight lives in his van without heating, electricity, running water, etc and creates this mountain with donated paint and supplies. He seriously paints every nook and cranny, every part of vehicles left behind there, and creates something beautiful out of everything.

"From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain" via here. The mountain is nothing like I have ever seen, one man's dedication to God and the world, is so inspiring, it's even been deemed a National Folk Art Site.

The bottom of the article says "Leonard Knights describes his work as a love story: "I paint the mountain because I love God and I love people". " Isn't that awesome? I love when amazing things like this happen, God IS love.