All You Need Is Love: February 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

RTR for Spring

Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! I've been a busy bee at work, and have been in bed by 9:00pm the last two nights! It's been great :) I'm excited to go to an Oscar's viewing party tonight -- I can't wait to find out who wins the awards, and of course check out the (hopefully) amazing fashion! I love award shows, and this one is by far the most entertaining and glamourous to me.

Have you all heard of Rent the Runway? I'm sure most of you have, but if you haven't, it is a website where you can "rent" designer dresses, clothes, and accessories for a fraction of the original cost of the item. They will ship you the item (in 2 different sizes of your choice) and you get to keep it for several days, and then you return it. It is great for special occasions, wedding weekends, and fun events where you would love to wear something fancy shmancy, but don't want to pay a fortune.

Especially if you might only wear the item once!

Anywho, I have yet to try anything from the website, but I have lots of friends who have, and they loved it!

Here are my top picks for spring, now all I need is a reason to rent one! Beach vacation? Cruise? John, are you reading this??? ;)

XOXO

Milly -$50

Proenza Schouler -$200

Rebecca Taylor -$50

Robert Rodriguez -$50

Shoshanna -$50

Tibi -$50

Trina Turk -$40

Trina Turk -$50

12th St. by Cynthia Vincent -$50

Yumi Kim -$40

Have you ever tried RTR? Did the dresses/items work for you?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Take me to the Oscars!

Oh, if only I was able to be someone's date to the Oscars....

Instead, I'll be just changing out of my scrubs, into some lounge pants and a t-shirt. But, THIS is what I would wear if Matt Damon suddenly called me and asked me to fill in for his wife....

Notte by Marchesa

Overstock

Valentino

Jimmy Choo

And for hair and make-up, I would channel Eva Longoria's messy updo, and flawless face. I love her face-framing waves, and the glowy, bronzed look with the nude lip. Stunning.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, sweeties!! I hope you all are having a wonderful week! It's been a really weird week of weather here in NC, we had a beautiful sunny day on Monday, then it turned cooler, and today it's rainy and cold! UGH. I'm soooo ready for spring and summmmma. Aren't you??

Today, even though it's incredibly dreary outside, I'm thankful for a lot of things....

so I'll share them with you!

1. Perfecting my sweet potato fries -- and sharing them with my sweetie.

2. Thankful that my neck is finally feeling better after a week of it being sooooo sore. I don't know what I did to it, but I'm so thankful for my hubby warming up my "neck buddy" every time my face started to look like this....

3. Getting to go to the DUKE basketball game last night where they played (and BEAT!!) Temple! Wahooo! It was so much fun, and we had great "seats", although you NEVER sit down at a Duke game.

(Below are 2 videos that are just a little taste of the game - it is always so loud in there! I LOVE the energy!)

#1 Video is during a free throw (by a Duke player), the whole crowd raises their hands, and says "WHOOSH if the ball goes in. And then we are telling this one obnoxious Temple fan to "Sit, Sit, Sit".

And yes, that is me cheering "Let's go Devils!" in the 2nd video... hehe :)

4. Thankful for finding the perfect spring nail polish for my pedicure... (OPI - So hot it Berns)

...at my new favorite nail salon!

5. Pairing my new toes w/ my new fun strappy wedges!!

6. Booking a spring break trip with our dear friends (McKee and Courtney) to ASHEVILLE!

via

We will be staying in the cutest and coziest cabin, doing lots of hiking, exploring, grilling, hot-tubbing, relaxing, board-game playing, and visiting the largest home in America, the Biltmore!

7. And last but not least, I'm thankful for YOU, my lovely readers!

Thank you for your love and your comments!

XOXO

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Four Eleven West

Monday afternoon, my dear friend Katie and I ventured into lovely Chapel Hill for brunch and some shopping. It was a glorious day, 75 degrees and sunny, and we loved walking around Franklin Street in the quaint downtown.

I had heard about a cute restaurant called Four Eleven West, so we decided to try it out!

And we were so glad we did!

Adorable courtyard

Katie and Me :)

These rolls were DIVINE.

We both ordered the Lemon Seafood Linguini... and LOVED it.

Yeah, we loved it a lot.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!!
XOXO

Fondue Fun

Due to our crazy/busy work and school schedules, John and I decided to celebrate Valentine's day this past weekend on Saturday night. Since I work my usual 12-hour shift on Saturdays, my sweet hubs offered to plan and cook our romantic dinner, instead of going out. (I am usually exhausted and looking pretty rough by the end of the night, so that sounded great to me.) So I let him have the reigns and I wasn't allowed to ask any questions of be of any help....fine with me! :)

I walked in to our cozy abode Saturday night to find this fabulous spread of fondue that John had prepared!

(Sorry for the poor picture quality..my camera wasn't charged, so I used the camera on my phone...)

Michael Buble was sweetly serenading us in the background, and he had even pulled out our sofa and made it into a huge bed w/ pillows galore, where we watched movies after dinner.

There was beef and chicken, asparagus, squash, mushrooms, zucchinni...and the amazing white wine cheese fondue that we dipped our freshly baked bread in. SO DELICIOUS.

We had such a great night, but the best was yet to come!!

DESSERT! :)

home-made card for my sweetie :)

Hope you all had a very *sweet* Valentine's Day!

XOXO

Friday, February 18, 2011

Fashion Friday - Groovy Gear

Peace, Love, and Happiness. What do these three words have in common with today's post? Well, it appears that the 70's are taking over spring's newest fashion looks. Flowy tops, floral prints, feathers, clogs, mocassins, and fringe are all coming back. So go raid your parent's closets (or your own closet if you are my mom reading this) and get ready for this 70's revolution of style.

XOXO

All above via

J Brand jeans via

Ombre

Lately, I've had my eye on some pretty ladies donning the "ombre" hair look. I know it's been around for a little while, but now I think I love it. But I'm not sure. I don't like the extreme difference in color, but when it's done well, and more subtly, I think it can look really cool and chic.

My hair is finally long enough to maybe try this look....what do yall think??

XOXO

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Celebrating Baby Hake

This past weekend was one of my best friend's baby shower! Ellen is one of my best friends from college and we are all so excited for the arrival of Baby Hake in April! Chelsea and I hosted the shower at her beautiful house in Atlanta, and we had about 16 guests total. We served fruit salad, meatballs, pigs in a blanket, mini mac & cheeses, veggies and hummus, mimosas and cupcakes! Everything was so tasty and very easy. I also made "Wishes for Baby" cards which the guests filled out during the shower. All in all, it was a fabulous weekend, and we all got to shower Ellen and Baby Hake with LOTS of love! :)