The Art of an Outfit + eBay Store

As I was going through all of my items that I am listing in my eBay store, it got my wheels turning as to how I conjure up an outfit. Most of the time my outfits are put together from the shoes up. Recently, however, I've started putting together the outfit first and then finding the shoes after the fact.

I will use my most recent #OOTN as an example...

In this particular outfit, the dress came first, then the hair...I went with straight hair because it was a sleek dress so I needed sleek hair. Once I picked out the dress/hair I knew I wanted mint pumps because of the mint in the dress. (Tip - Don't be afraid of a colorful shoe with a colorful dress. Just pick ONE color in the dress to match the shoe with). I went with a gray clutch because of the gray in the dress and because unless I am wearing all black, I think it's super tacky to match your shoes to your bag. I also thought that since the dress and shoe were a bit "loud" if you will, I needed to subdue the rest of my accessories. When I get my nails done for a look I always try to get them a color that can be found in whatever I am wearing...again, unless I am wearing all black and then I will usually use my nails as the pop of color. And, since this was a heavily pattered dress, it only needed a low key bracelet. 

Which brings me to accessorizing an outfit in general - I think accessories can make or break an outfit therefore I am very picky when it comes to jewelry choices...I usually like the dress or whatever I am wearing to speak for itself. I also have a rule that if my dress or shirt has a high, embellished neck already I will not touch a necklace with a 10 foot pole. IMO, necklaces are where people go wrong the most....if you ever have to wonder if you should wear a necklace with your dress, don't...A necklace should accentuate the look and if you SHOULD wear one, you will know right away. Rule of thumb - You should wear the accessories, the accessories should not wear you.

Example of a dress that simply did not need a necklace. If I was her stylist I would have lost the necklace, and gave her a pile of blingy bangles as well as a cocktail ring. - 

So there you have it, my thought process when it comes to an outfit. #Stylist4Hire

On that note, my eBay store is up and running! Take a lookie, cookie! -

Decidedly Delightful eBay Store

Musings

eBay -

I made the announcement on my personal Facebook page yesterday that I am starting an eBay store. The clothes I am listing will be taken to Plato's Closet in a few weeks if they don't sell via eBay. After the initial listing of clothes, there will be a bunch of other things on there as well. I don't have emotional attachment to many things so I have always had this dream of selling everything in my house that wasn't bolted down and starting over. Here are some sneak peeks -

Spin - 

I have been obsessed with Spin for over a year now. There is really nothing like it as far as a cardio session goes. Last week, my gym was closed for vacation so I had the opportunity of taking cycling classes at a few different places and got to use different bikes than I am used to using. At The Edge, we are a Spinning certified gym and therefore use the Spin brand bikes. At LA Fitness (I used a free three day guest pass to take three cycling classes there) they use Kaiser bikes and I have to say I do not like them as much as the Spin brand bikes. This is going to sound totally foreign to anyone that doesn't spin but the Kaiser bikes don't "catch the gear" like other bikes do...when you turn up the resistance it just gets heavier. It's a little too smooth for my liking, I like to actually feel the "ground" below me. The other place I took a cycling class was in Portland at a place called Reve Cycling Studio and they use Schwinn bikes which are pretty similar to the Spin "brand" bikes. You could catch the gear and feel the ground below you. This is an awesome studio with infectious energy and I recommend anyone visiting/living in the Portland area to take a class there. 

Celebration, FL - 

For those of you that have hung out around this blog, you already know about my obsession with the formerly Disney owned town of Celebration, FL. I am currently reading a book written by a women (Barbara Nefer) who moved there on a whim with her husband. They were on a Disney Vacation and happened to go on some tours of some Celebration homes and decided to immediately pull the trigger and purchase one. She started a blog based on her adventures in Celebration and the book I am reading is a compilation of her blog posts. Everything that I have ever imagined about living in Celebration is true...the sense of community, the fact that you can walk everywhere and the best part, being able to head to Epcot for dinner on any day of the week. Le sigh...one of these days I will convince The Mister to move! The book is called Mickey Mouse is My Neighbor: Living Next Door to Disney World for anyone wondering what it's like to live a stones throw away from the Happiest Place on Earth.

Road Trip {Portland, Maine}

The Mister and I had the pleasure of visiting Portland, ME this weekend for a family member's wedding. The wedding was picture perfect and Portland was the perfect back drop for the weekend.

Downtown Portland reminds me a lot of Providence. Cobblestone streets, shops, great architecture and great restaurants. Portland is right on the water though so it makes for some breath taking scenery. When we got there on Friday, we decided on a date night to downtown for some oysters (J's Oyster was where we went which was absolutely divine) and bar hopping (we went to a place called Sonny's for a nightcap after dinner).

And then there was my Friday night outfit...a little jumpsuit realness for y'all....

#OOTN #JumpsuitRealness - As you can see, I didn't end up wearing the heels to walk around Portland...So I am looking forward to taking this baby for another strut with those heels soon. (Deets - Jumpsuit | H&M | Heels | The Shoe Dept. | Sandals | Forever 21| Bag | H&M | Bangles | Charlotte Russe)

The next day, the reception was at a pool hall/banquet facility right in the city. The views were amazing and it was great to party all night within the hustle and bustle of Portland. For the wedding, I rented a dress from Rent the Runway. It was Clover Canyon and I was obsessed with this dress. It fit like a freaking glove and the colors were absolutely amazing.

#OOTN - Deets - Dress | Clover Canyon (Rent the Runway) | Mint pumps | GoJane.com | Bag | Coach 

As you can see, the back was even better than the front...

My handsome date! (Calves | The Edge)

Overall it was such a fun (childless) weekend and I can't wait to visit Portland again!

Bachelorette Party Survival Kit

This past weekend, I had the opportunity of celebrating one of my oldest and dearest friend, D's "last weekend as a single gal." The Bride and all of her Maids had a wonderful day lunching and wine tasting and reminiscing. I ducked out before the nighttime festivities but I wanted to give all of the ladies a little gift to get them through the night/next morning so I put together some bachelorette party survival kits. The kits were made up of these supplies -

Water | Sweet and salty snacks | Gum | Wisps | Barbie Band-aids | Vitamin Water : Revive (the hangover cure I live by) | Tylenol | Kinky nip

I love the way they came out. #PerfectlyPink !

Food & Fitness

For the last month and a half, I have been eating the cleanest I ever have. I eliminated dairy, processed carbs, refined sugar and any and all processed foods. I of course have my cheat days/meals and I am always sure to have a cocktail on the weekends but for the most part I have been really good. You see, I hit a plateau which made me make the change. I realized that I could work out until my arms and legs fell off but until I changed what I stuffed down my gullet, my waistline wasn't going to get smaller.

With all of that being said and before I get into a few tips and tricks that have aided in my shrinking waistline, I want to disclaim - The only thing that will make you to lose weight is regular exercise and clean eating. The secret is that there is no secret. Hard work is what will help you get to the body you want. That.is.it.

Now, there are a few things that I swear by that I wanted to share with everyone today -

1. Lemons - Whether it be hot lemon tea in the morning and at night or lemon water all day, lemons aid in digestion and have a bunch of other health benefits. Lemons also help me de-bloat. In the past month the only thing I have had to drink is lemon water (and the occasional cocktail, of course). I have completely cut out all soda and juice. -

2. Sweat - In order to lose weight, you need to incorporate 45mins to an hour or intense cardio 3-6 days a week. There is no way around this one. Walking is great and all but until you get your heart pumping and you get your sweat on, you are not going to see results. I know that some people like to start eating right first and then start working out which is fine if that's your cup of tea...but working out is going to help you feel stronger and inspire you to keep going.

3. Stay off the scale - Srsly, you should probably just throw your scale out. I despise scales which probably stems from having to weigh in every month during pregnancy. Numbers do not mean anything...how you feel on the inside/how many push ups you can do/how your jeans fit mean more than a number on a scale.

#Word

4. Apple Cider Vinegar - Specifically Bragg ACV with "The Mother" in it. It needs to be organic, raw and unfiltered ACV to be effective. I do a half a shot before eating. Again, this is not a miracle cure for weight loss but it will aid in digestion and offers a bunch of other health benefits as well. I would not recommend doing anymore than a half a shot if you are just starting out doing this. Last week I did a full shot and was sick to my stomach for about an hour afterwards. Use with caution, this stuff if strong! -

5. Good, clean food - I am a believer in good, clean food aiding in a healthy lifestyle. As someone who has put in the hard work in order to lose weight and get strong I am not a believer in all these new shake programs that everyone seems to be doing these days. Not only am I not a believer, but those programs kind of offend me..Basically they are promoting the fact that you have such a lack of self control that you can't lose weight/eat healthy without spending your money on a pyramid scheme. No thank you...I will take my money and spend it on fruits and veggies and lose weight through putting in the hard work myself. The minute someone tells you that you need to spend money on anything else except a gym membership and groceries to lose weight/get in shape, walk away. Eating right may not take the weight off as quickly as one of these shake programs would but you will keep the weight off much longer as you are learning how to properly fuel your body with food from the earth as opposed to "food" from a factory. Take it from me - do it the hard way and you will feel a lot better about the fact that you didn't cheat your way to getting in shape. Trust me when I say that eating correctly will give you the same effect as all these shakes...you just have to put in the hard work (see the theme here?). This whole paragraph may offend people...and that's totally fine as this is simply my opinion. One last thing - If your child ever came up to you and said they wanted to lose weight, would you shove a shake at them? No, you would tell them to clean up their eating and you would tell them to be more active...let that sink in a little. #sorrynotsorry #rantover 

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor or a trainer, I am just offering tips that helped me loose weight and get fit. The bottom line is this - You need to be able to put in the work in order to get the results...there is no magic pill or shake that is going to cause permanent weight loss. The only thing that causes permanent weight loss is a lifestyle change. And let me also say this - skinniness is not everything. I would much rather be able to do 50 burpees in a row without stopping than fit into a size 2. 

Musings {Reality TV Edition}

Game of Crowns - 

Game of Crowns is a new show on Bravo (duh) chronicling pageant queens of the "Mrs." variety. Now, I have to admit...I was not interested in watching this show at all. When I saw the teaser for this I immediately dismissed it simply due to the fact that I have way too many bitchy Bravo women inhabiting my reality show repertoire to add whole 'nother cast. BUT then I found out at it was based solely in Rhode Island/CT so I once again drank the Bravo Kool Aid and watched! I also had a slight blip on the radar while I was watching the first episode and thought I should participate in Mrs. pageants myself. No worries though, as I continued watching and witnessing how badly these "beauty queens" behave, I passed on that thought real quick. This show is exactly what you would expect out of a Bravo show about (kind of old) beauty queens. Lots of high pitched yelling, lots of weaves mixed in with a whole 'lotta Rhode Island/New England accents. Watch with caution though, I have now added it to my DVR list of automatic recordings...Bravo wins again.

Candidly Nicole - 

Simple Life Nicole is still a favorite of mine.

Candidly Nicole is a new (possibly roughly scripted?) show on VH1 following around Nicole Richie in her every day life as she has wine with her (seemingly normal and not "Hollywood") mom friends and hangs out with her famous family (Lionel Richie was in last night's episode!) Now, this show is definitely interesting because Nicole is a total headcase...A sane one that's been through rehab, but definitely one none the less. She is ridiculously funny because she is so blunt and forthcoming and a little weird in her delivery that you can't help but laugh at/with her. Except you are more laughing at her because everything that comes out of her mouth comes out with a straight face so you never know if she is kidding or serious. Most of the time I think it's the latter. This is a good one to give a chance..She is hilariously funny and some of her friends that make appearances on the show almost seem some what...normal?

LeAnn and Eddie -

LeAnn and Eddie is also a new show on VH1 starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian. I can honestly say I only watched this show to see the train wreck that IS LeAnn Rimes and what her and Eddie are like as a couple. I'm not sure I'll follow this all the way through the season, but it was definitely interesting to see these two on reality cameras. I will admit this...there are some celebrities that I usually like more after watching their reality show and seeing how down to earth they are...this was not the case with L&E...they seem kind of stuck up and fake. LeAnne also comes off as very insecure to me...I guess I can't really blame her seeing as how tabloids have massacred her over the past few years. Sometimes I understand that celebs do these reality shows to get "their side of the story" out there but I am telling you right now, this show doesn't do any favors for LeAnne and Eddie.

Traveling with a Toddler {Child Proofing}

The Mister, Cy and I went on a trip to Delaware last week. As with any trip to a hotel, I always bring along my bag of child proofing tricks. Cy is definitely a child that needs child proofing anywhere he goes, so I have to be prepared for anything. Here are a list of my supplies and some tips and tricks -

We stayed in a Staybridge Suites and ended up getting upgraded to a one bedroom suite. Staying at a Staybridge ensured there was a full kitchen and separate bedroom. We never know if we will be upgraded to a one bedroom so I always bring all my supplies just in case I need to create a little sleeping nook for Cy if we get a studio room. Later in the summer we are going on a trip that we will most likely only be in a studio. I will be sure to do a follow up to show what that would look like. This time, it was not needed.

Supplies -

1. Corner protectors - Self explanatory | 2. Cabinet closers - The kitchen in our suite did not have cabinets with handles so I did not use these but always bring them just in case. | 3. Command strips - For creating a sleeping nook if need be. | 4. Yarn - The amount of uses for yarn is exponential so I always have a roll. | 5. Outlet covers - Self explanatory - I always leave the outlet covers in the room after we leave to pay it forward. | 6. Scissors - Self explanatory | 7. Video monitor - This is obviously optional if you don't already have one at home...ours came in handy as Cy was in a different room as us when he went to sleep. | 8. Velcro squares - We actually mount the camera part of the video monitor set on the wall with Velcro for a temporary mount. | Not pictured - A flat sheet for the sleeping nook, a $10 wooden gate from WalMart and a roll of clear duct tape.

Tip - Once you get to the hotel room move every piece of furniture that is not bolted down to the perimeter of the room for more play space -

Before

After

As you can see in the pictures above, the TV stand had a crap ton of drawers on it. Since my cabinet closers were not big enough to fit on these handles, this was my solution -

#TapeAndYarn

I also duct taped the kitchen cabinets (not pictured) closed as well because Cy is a big fan of opening/closing cabinets and climbing in them. We usually have a gate blocking off our kitchen at home but for this trip our gate was used to block off the bedroom during the day.

Like I said, having all of those supplies with you will allow you to come up with a solution for any sort of child hazard while on the road. The trick is being prepared..I have my travel child proofing supplies on hand at all times already in a Ziploc bag, ready to pack on a moments notice. Gathering all supplies beforehand will make for easy packing and preparedness. Stay tuned for our trip later in the summer...I will have pictures of what one of my "sleeping nooks" looks like.

Musings

Product Junkie - 

I mentioned in a previous post that I am attempting to now do my highlighting and contouring with cream based foundations and concealers instead of powders. It has been working out really well. I have a new favorite foundation (L'Oreal True Match) and I am still getting used to working with the Beauty Blender as opposed to my Sephora stippling brush. The BB definitely gives your foundation a more airbrushed look, which I appreciate and the foundation is a medium coverage so it's great in conjunction with the BB for a light, airy, summery look.

Biting the Trend Bullet - 

I finally had to bite the trend bullet and buy myself a pair of black strappy sandals. I got them at The Shoe Dept. (online) and they were only $12.98! I was excited about that because I never like to spend a ton of money on trendy items. Alas, I got this amazing jumpsuit at H&M (for $4.95 I might add) that needed this pair of shoes. Stay tuned for an #OOTD!

Real Housewives of NJ -

As all of you Housewives fans know, RHONJ started last night and it was a crazy one (per usual). Here is my take - The three new girls I am "meh" on right now. I need a few more episodes to form a proper opinion. I feel so bad for the Guidices...especially Gia. Their lives just seems so sad right now. I am happy to see Dina back! She was always a favorite of mine on Jersey Housewives and it's nice to see her back into the dramz. We shall see what kind of drama the ladies can pull out this season!

Wedding Recap {Wrap-up}

Thank you to everyone that read this week (and always, of course!) I had such fun going through these pictures and I am so glad I finally immortalized our wedding in the blog-o-sphere! Here are some forgotten items from this week's blog posts and a list of all our vendors which are all obviously local to the RI area. -

Forgotten Items - 

I mentioned this briefly in yesterday's blog post, but I thought it ended up being too vague in my explanation...We did not have a cake. My family owns a bakery and provided us with dessert for the wedding as well as the desserts on our table that we toasted with. Fun Fact - They also provided us with calzones and pizza for cocktail hour as well! Another little personal touch.

These are two pictures I forgot to include in my Wedding Recap {Getting Glam/Send Off} post -

I think I forgot to include this one because it's been posted on social media so many times that I think people are sick of it! This is one of my favorites though. I was inspired by the first Sex and the City movie when Carrie's Vivienne Westwood dress is on a dress form the night before her big New York Library wedding to Mr. Big. I knew I didn't want the dress simply hanging on a hanger in a door jam. It was too pretty for that.

This ring was my "something blue." It was ceramic and handmade and one of my first purchases towards the wedding. I thought it deserved a little shout out!

Wardrobe -
1st Dress - LightInTheBox.com
2nd - Vintage | Shoes - Betsey Johnson | Hairpiece | Etsy
3rd - JuliusBridal.com (does not exist anymore and even if it did, I would not recommend going through them.) Shoes | AMIClubwear.com | Ears | DisneyStore.com | Gloves | Vintage

Tuxes - Men's Warehouse

Locations -
Chapel - South Ferry Church, Narragansett, RI
Reception - Roger Williams Park Casino, Providence, RI

Photography -
LeFebvre Photo

Day Of Wedding Coordination - (I can not tell you how important "day of" wedding coordinators are. Especially if you have a venue that is basically just a building and you have to bring in all of you vendors and set up you own decor. Since I did all the planning, I needed people there on the day of to pull everything together and allow me to relax and enjoy the day) - Stela Parties and Events

DJ -
Engagements DJ

Hair - Laura Rothwell
Make Up - Kristen Marrah Lemoine 

Trolley -
Newport Wedding Trolley

*All pages in any frames (cocktail menu/love is sweet sign/Meet the Maids and Men signs etc) all DIY'ed by me on Microsoft Word.

Etsy - 
Programs
Invitation suite
LOVE Canvases
Bouquets & Bouts
Just Married parasol
Chapel door wreath (another forgotten picture)-

Thanks to everyone for reading! #Xo

Wedding Recap {Reception}

Sorry for the late blog post y'all! The Mister, Cy and I just returned home from a week in Delaware! It was a ton of fun, but I am happy to be home to my Mouse (Minnie Mouse, the cat, that is).

Without further ado, here is our reception -

My mama helping me in my cupcake dress (her wedding dress, reconfigured).

#CostumeChangin' - The Mister (& the groomsmen) also had a costume change (which I totally forgot about until I found this picture). He changed out of a white bow tie and vest into a black bow tie and black cummerbund and also changed his shoes into those black and white beauties. They were the perfect change for the party!

The Mister and I's introduction song was "Informer" by Snow. Ya know..to get the party going.

And, our first dance song was "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat

As you can see, the upstairs of the Roger Williams Park Casino is very Renaissance-y and visually stunning. It was one of the reasons we picked the Casino. Once you left cocktail hour and headed upstairs for dinner, you are basically smacked in the face with the gorgeousness of it all. Which brings me to the centerpieces. It was very hard to choose what these were going to be. I didn't think we could do any type of dramatic floral centerpieces as I didn't want them to compete with the room. So, I decided to follow our loose "vintage" theme and decorate the tables the same way I would decorate a set of floor to ceiling shelves. By piecing things together from various antique stores/items that we found along our travels of wedding planning (so deep, I know).

I still wanted fresh flowers on the tables so I incorporated them within the vignettes. I also wanted pearls every where so I incorporated those as well. We had votive candles within all the centerpieces too, to tie everything together. Having centerpieces like this definitely took a little bit more work/organization but every.single.table. was different and unique and it was worth the work and creativity that I put into it. You won't find this on Pinterest..unless you decide to pin these pictures, of course!

I was pretty adamant about not stopping the party/dancing for anything...including the typical wedding things (cutting the cake, the garter etc) and we did all the parent dances/speeches during dinner. We did a small little "feed each other the cupcake" situation but only for pictures. We specifically told the DJ not to bring attention to us during it. And I did want to throw the bouquet...ya know...to ham it up, of course. Which brings me to wedding tip #8 - If you don't want people wandering off during your reception don't play a ton of slow songs AND don't do any of those traditional wedding "things" where you have to stop the party to do. Those are the times people take smoke breaks and don't end up coming back to dance.

For our second favor, we had a Bloom Bar. We set a table up with different types of flowers, scissors, and twine and let people go crazy. I am still looking for another party to do this again...Not only was it eco friendly, but it also wasn't a chincy favor that people would forget about the next day. It also added more fresh flowers to the over all feel of the wedding since we had feather bouquets.

Another little touch - our wedding bands have each other's finger prints on them.

For our third and final looks (and since we were headed to Disney World for our honeymoon the next day) we both put on our Minnie and Mickey bride and groom ears. And I of course needed another pair of shoes to go with this look.

I finished off the night with a very Housewife-y outfit. A blazer and tea length skirt finished off with the perfect, vintage wrist length gloves. 

Random wedding tip # 9 - When you are planning out your playlist, stick to newer, party/dance songs. The reason why I say this is because the older crowd will dance to anything whereas the younger crowd will sometimes shy away from older songs. I had a strict "do not play" list that I gave to our DJ. Most of the songs on this list included all the typical songs you would hear at a wedding.#NoYMCA/CongaLinePlease

Obviously you can tell it was an amazing party.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a wrap up and vendor list!