Pretty in Pink {and Red}

Emma Stone rocked the red carpet last week at the premier of  No Strings Attached Friends With Benefits. (Anyone seen this yet? Should I wait for netflix?) This girl seems to be taking  Hollywood by storm lately and she was looking gorgeous with a capital G in this hot pink and red Giambattista Valli ensemble. It helps when you have awesome red hair to complete the look. This bright, bold color combo is quite the show stopper. Not sure I could pull it off myself, but I do love these shades together!

{via}

Some stylish Blogger ladies showing their pink and red style. From left: Image via Lookbook.nu, Taylor of Sterling Style and Kendi of Kendi Everyday.

Everyday pink and red inspiration.

Outfit#1: Seneca Rising Magenta Marley top, J Brand 1046 cut offs in bright red, Tappet by Vicini sandals, Oliver Peoples square frame Emelia sunglasses, Outfit #2: Madewell Saltspring Sweater,  Jcrew chino shorts in shocking pink, Jcrew rainy day bow ballet flats, Juicy Couture floral stud earrings Outfit #3:Madewell Midsummer dress,  Tobi Boyfriend Linene scarf, Max and Chloe gold cuff, Zara heel & toe loop sandals

 

Christmas in July

Happy Monday! Well this weekend was HOT HOT HOT! Thanks to the insane heatwave that has been ravaging most of the country the past week, there is no better time to celebrate Christmas in July! What's better on a super steamy, 95 degree day than some frozen drinks, melted snowmen and a christmas tree in the sand? Or at least being on the beach and near sand, I'll take it. This little made up holiday was the theme of one of my favorite parties last summer because I love all things Christmas and will take any excuse to listen to Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas or watch Elf before Thanksgiving. Here are some fun ideas for a summertime Christmas celebration.

A warm weather "sleigh" and by far the most awesome non-tree Christmas "tree" I have ever seen, created by stacking tons of green books and boxes against a mirror. Love!

Melted snowman cookies! How hilarious are these? Get the recipe {here}

 

Frozen Hot Chocolate!

NYC's Serendipity, home of the famous frozen hot chocolate, recently reveled their recipe for this  concoction of chocolaty goodness.  Simple and perfect for a hot summer day!

Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate

• 6 pieces (1/2-ounce) chocolate , a variety of your favorites (mix in some Andes for a minty twist)
• 2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate mix  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 cups ice
• Whipped cream
• Chocolate shavings (if you want to get fancy)

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a double boiler over simmering water stirring occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar and stir until completely melted. (I tried to speed this up by melting chocolate in the microwave and then adding the cocoa, sugar and milk. Epic fail. This absolutely does not work!)

Remove from heat and slowly add ½ cup of milk until smooth. Cool to room temperature (also a very necessary step!)

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the room-temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant glass and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Summer {Fancy} Friday

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. (I have that terrible Rebecca Black song in my head after watching {this} hilarious spoof by Stephen Colbert and The Roots). Ahhhmazing! 

Anyway....it has been quite a scorcher this week and it has me seriously craving some beach time! Unfortunately I will have to wait two weeks before getting to the beach, but in the mean time I will at least be looking beachy while enjoying relaxing summer weekend here in Columbus. AV's {link up} this week is a little white dress theme, however I went a bit more casual with some little white shorts for my {not so} fancy Friday outfit inspiration. I am pretty excited for my little bro to visit this weekend and we will be spending lots of time outside - grilling, eating bbq at the Jazz & Ribs fest and hanging in the park - and then escaping back to the house for some ac. Hope you have a great weekend!

1. Madewell Ex-boyfriend Chambray Shirt 2. Straw sun hat 3. Kate Spade Flower Patch earrings 4. J Brand Vixen cut off shorts 5. Essie nail polish in Greenport, Sag Harbor and Shelter Island  6. Top Shop Hesta Jade Tie Up sandals.

All other photos via {Pinterest}

JK Create's Crayon Art

Oh hello JK Create, my latest Etsy discovery! I just love finding unique and affordable art. If you have not seen Jessica's work yet, get yourself over {here}to take a look! These pieces are awesome, LOVE the originality of the designs and the bright, bold color impact. They definitely bring back memories of elementary school and shopping for school supplies. A brand new 64-box of crayolas was my jam at the start of a new school year. Jessica can customize the color palate to whatever suits your fancy, so you can mix up your favorite colors (I'll take some robin's egg blue, jungle green and razzmatazz!) or match the color scheme of any room. So fun!

Get Shorty

As much as I am loving all of the lace shorts, scalloped shorts, silk shorts, yes even culottes (hello 5th grade flashback anyone?) and all the other fancy schmancy short styles around, I must give a shout out to my go to summer uniform, vintage denim shorts . There is nothing better than throwing on a perfectly broken in pair of denim shorts on a weekend morning (or in my case, any morning since they are totally acceptable attire where I work). Levi's 501's are a true classic, but any pair of jeans past their heyday will lend themselves to the perfect pair of shorts, so get out your scissors and get to work!

Images via Pinterest

How amazing do MK and Ashley look in this photo?! (Despite the fact that they are legit fashion icons, I will forever think of a 7- year old Michelle Tanner when I look at them).

If you are not so keen on getting all Edward Scissor hands on your favorite pair of Citizens, here are some styles from some favorite denim brands, the next best thing to making your own since most of the "breaking in" is already done for you. It's like you've had them for years.

Abercrombie & Fitch STACY short, Current Elliott paint splatter boyfriend short, Abercrombie & Fitch RANDI short, J Brand boyfriend denim short

A far cry from the good 'ol classic, but it is hard not to love these colorful bad boys that take it up just a notch.

J Brand cut-off rigid denim shorts, Top Shop MOTO coral denim shorts, Top Shop MOTO pink cut off hot pants, J Brand fuchsia cut-off rigid denim shorts, J Brand bright blue cut-off denim shorts

Fiesta, Fiesta!

Happy Monday! This has been quite a relaxing weekend and I was able to enjoy some delicious meals, pool time, nights out with friends, the world cup game and finally got in some blogging. Last weekend we had a surprise party for my boyfriend's 30th birthday and it was such a blast! Shockingly we actually pulled off the surprise - including his fam flying in from out of town - which was the best part (although quite stressful since I am the world's worst liar)! Since he looooves Taco Bell Mexican food we had a Mexican-themed bash aka Fiesta de Blannin, complete with a margarita bar, taco station, a nacho cake, and costumes - party shirts, sombreros and fake mustaches. A huge thank you to all of the family and friends who helped make this party such a blast! 

The Birthday Boy!

Making the fiesta desserts was quite an adventure! I found a pretty great tutorial for Chili Pepper Cake pops here and used a recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate frosting and cayanne pepper chocolate to add an extra kick.  Continuing my foray into cake decorating, I made a cake that looked like a plate of Taco Bell nachos! Since nachos are supposed to be a big cheesy mess, this was great since it was pretty difficult to mess up. 

For the cake and the frosting I used one of my favorite recipes from Rachel Ray, Lime Margarita Cake which tastes like a delicious and refreshing margarita. (I cheat this recipe just a bit and use white cake mix out of the box as a base, which is MUCH faster and tastes just as delicious!)

Nacho toppings

Tomatoes: Swedish fish

Lettuce: Shredded coconut tinted green

Tortilla chips: Yellow fondant mixed with crushed oreos

Cheese: White chocolate colored yellow, melted into a block and shredded

Sour cream & guac: Frosting

The awesome dude at Taco Bell gave me some extra burrito wrappers to make this look extra authentic!

Summer Essentials

Happy Thursday! Today you can find me over at Emily's blog:

I love summer and all things about summer so I was super excited when Emily asked me to guest post on my summer essentials. I have also been too busy enjoying the amazing weather to blog the past week or so, since staying inside staring at a computer is about the last thing I want to be doing! I'll be back to normal posting one of these days, but in the meantime come on over here to check out my favorite things about summer tiiiiiiiiiiime! Here is a quick snapshot...

Oh denim shorts and flip flops, summer dresses and bathing suits, how I love you so! Warm weather outfits are my fave, so easy breezy and care-free. I could seriously live in my flip flops, with perfectly pedicured toes of course. Two swim brands I am completely crushing on this summer are Gilly Hicks and Sea Folly, such cute and girly suits!

Image via {Pinterest}

Red, White & Boom Weekend!

Hello friends! I feel like I have been mia from the blog world for far too long! After quite a busy trip to China and Taiwan I returned for a fantastic July 4th weekend full of sunshine, bbq'ing, fireworks and eating and drinking far too much. We had friends over for a bbq on Sunday complete with the requisite red, white and blue decor, delicious blue cheese and bacon burgers and jalapeno-cucumber lemonade cocktails, and fireworks that were 100% way to big and crazy to be lit off in our teeny back yard! (I'm pretty sure fireworks are not supposed to be scary). Our resident house band "No Big Deal" aka Nick and Jonathan put on a little acoustic show of patriotic favorites like Miley's "Party in the USA" and Katy Perry's "Firework." Monday we watched more fireworks in the park, but this time we left it to the professionals and just enjoyed the show without fearing for our lives :-) All in all it was a perfect summer weekend! Hope you all had a fabulous time celebrating America's birthday!