What I'm Loving Lately

I have taken an unintentional hiatus.  I have had a very busy last few months.

I wanted to share a few things that I have been loving lately!

Loving...though not buying. So I guess "observing from afar" would be most appropriate.

Is it just me or is Lilly hitting the head on the nail lately with everything.

Seriously, the colors and cuts of everything in the Summer 2016 is unbelievably flattering.

I have long been on the search for a  new perfume.

I have been wearing Juicy Couture and Juicy le Fleur for the past few years, but fell in love with

Flowerbomb by Viktor and Rolf...or so I thought. The different notes actually did not smell good on my skin at all. I fell in love with La view est belle by Lancôme...and never in a million years did I think I would like a perfume by Lancôme so much. I love their cosmetics but have often found a lot of their fragrances to be a bit too powdery for my liking. I have met my match...this sensual blend of floral scents is absolutely mesmerizing and the smell changes on my skin throughout the day. To say the least, it is warm and refreshing and I get countless compliments on it.

If you have not gotten on board with the new toy obsession, now is the time. While in San Francisco on Haight and Ashbury, I fell in love with these little Mermicornos from outside the Woot Beer Kidrobot toy store. Now, all I do is buy blindboxes. It is chronically addicting. If you think these are cute, check out the Dunny series as well. I love that so many different artists design "toys" for these collections. I have mine on display, and am quickly running out of room. These are not for kids at all. There is a blindbox series for everyone and opening a box not knowing which character you are going to get is better than waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.

I have every single Mermicorno, and all are loved equally. I love that each Mermicornoo has a story.

Lastly, my breakfast fascination has gotten out of control. I am a night shifter, so come 2 am I am craving waffles, bacon, eggs, sausage, English muffins, pancakes, etc. If I don't go out to breakfast with coworkers I come home and try to have as healthy of a meal as possible. Two of these Thomas Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins with butter and jelly along with OJ and a banana will hit the spot for me. If I am eating at home I get in bed almost immediately after so I try not to have as big of a breakfast as I would if I am with others.

What have you been loving lately?

XOXO,

Delicious No Baking Soda Banana Bread

I was pleasantly excited to make banana bread in anticipation of a trip to California and needing to use up some bananas that would otherwise have gone to waste. However, I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that I had no baking soda to my name. My mind was set on banana bread, so I instantly searched for a no baking soda banana bread recipe and followed this one. To be honest...it is completely delicious! I expected the bread to be denser but am finding it is surprisingly fluffy and moist. While in the future I will probably use baking soda (I feel like it makes more bread) I would not hesitate to make this recipe again. It tasted like cake! 

And that beautiful monogrammed marble cutting board? I found it at Homegoods! 

Hope you all had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. 

XOXO, 

A Classic Shift

Though I have been wearing white and bright colors for a while now, what a perfect excuse to start wearing your Lilly dresses again...Memorial Day weekend! Celebrate the Red, White and Blue in this navy shift dress from Lilly, currently on their website. I hope it goes on sale this summer!

XOXO,

Living Room Decor

The living room is one of my favorite areas to decorate. I am a firm believer that when it comes to interior decorating, it is crucial to tackle the areas that the most amount of time is spent in by household members and guests. For me, this includes my living room, small dining area, and kitchen.

My living room has the most spunk out of all areas in my apartment. I was allowed to paint an accent wall and chose to go with a Cerulean Blue from Sherwin Williams. This was actually the easiest part for me. I knew I wanted to decorate with navy, yellow, white, aqua, and touches of orange. It only made sense to paint the accent wall aqua! Leaving the wall parallel to the accent wall a tan color allowed my gallery to pop.

The tall floor lamp to the far side of the room is from Better Homes and Gardens. I found it on Walmart.com. the other adjacent table lamp with the rope knot is from Homegoods. The large area rug was a fantastic deal on Joss and main. The throw pillows, save for the Lilly Pulitzer pillow, were all from Homegoods as well. The coffee table and end table are matching solid dark wood, and the blue suede couch has a gorgeous seater on the far right end.

Better Homes and Garden lamp purchased on sale from Walmart.com.

The bowl on the bottom shelf of the table was purchased from TJ Maxx, and the paisley blue, yellow and white balls were from Michael's. I purchased the adorable tabletop sailboat off Amazon a few months ago.

More to come on coffee table décor soon!

I am a deep lover of all things from the sea, so naturally this Lilly Pulitzer pillow fit perfectly in my apartment.

The large 3 x 4 ' canvas over the couch was an original done by yours truly.

All of the artwork on my walls has actually been painted by me. On the wall across from the couch you will find my own personal gallery.

Photo was taken prior to rearranging room and new furniture.

Unfortunately, a lot of the items used to decorate my living room were purchased on sale a few months ago or from stores like TJ Maxx, Amazon and Homegoods so I cannot give you a direct link.

Don't forget to enter to win a Louis Vuitton personalized key fob from Siesta Key Needlepoint by clicking the link here!

Have a great start to your week!

XOXO,

Louis Vuitton Key Fob Giveaway

I am so excited to announce a giveaway with Susan from Siesta Key Needlepoint for an upcycled Louis Vuitton key fob of your choice. 

Susan is a sweet friend of mine who primarily runs her custom online needlepoint shop from The Sunny State. She has taken to creating lots of goods using upcycled Gucci and Louis Vuitton canvas (I can proudly say I own a pair of her Gucci tassel earrings and they are my favorite) and they are quickly selling from her site. As you can see below, there is so much personality in a personalized LV key fob. 

The winner of this giveaway will receive a LV key fob in the color of their choice. Susan is so easy to work with to create a design and charm that you love. This giveaway will run until June 18th, giving you an entire month to enter. Enter using the Rafflecopter giveaway below.

Be sure to come back...some entries like sharing on Instagram can be completed each day!

I think the pink or blue LV key fobs are my favorites. So vibrant. Perfect to carry you from Spring to Fall in cheery style. 

Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck to everyone! Be sure to stop by June 18th for the posted winner. Winner will be contacted via email as well. 

XOXO, 

Cozy Bedroom Spaces

I recently moved and have been in the process of decorating my bedroom while forgoing a formal bedroom set. Someday I plan to invest in a solid headboard before moving and eventually will purchase a cherry bedroom set. However, apartment living is not ideal in the sense that everything that is moved in will need to be moved down 3 flights of stairs. Heavy furniture can wait. 

I found this formal metal marble glass top table at a Homegoods recently and it lights up the wall of my room perfectly with reflections from my crackle glass lamp (also from Homegoods). I found these two 5 x 7 " frames from Amazon and framed two Lilly Pulitzer agenda paper cutouts. 

The sailboat was also a late night Amazon find. I purchased the starfish at Michael's Craft Store. 

Enjoy this nautical space! 

XOXO, 

Buca di Beppo Chicken

I love to cook, and recently made this Buca di Beppo chicken exactly as it is prepared on the Food website. The only changes I made were hand juicing 4 lemons and forgoing the other 2 lemons for a garnish. I also chose to splash the chicken with extra lemon juice on the second day leftovers for a little extra flavor. 

I served the chicken with white wine and poured extra lemon butter wine sauce over whole wheat noodles. I also had a side of arugala salad. 

Buca di Beppo Chicken 

You can find the link to the recipe above. 

Enjoy!

XOXO,