“the sun and the sand and a drink in my hand…with no bottom”
yep! y’all, we’re heading to the beach! today at 2, family vacation officially begins! we’ll be getting on the road with my parents, bro, and his gf, and traveling just outside of atlanta (just for a pit stop) tonight. back on the road in the morning to head down to the emerald coast. we’ll swing through and pick up nana at the airport, and then hit the beach! we’ve been going to destin, florida since i was little. growing up in arkansas, florida was the default vacation spot, and upon moving to virginia, we just can’t seem to shake our love for the gulf! i love that soft, white sand!
so, i'll be signing off for the week, but i've got some great gals who are going to hold down the fort while i'm gone! y’all have a lovely week, and try not to get too jealous of my tan when i return!
if you know me in real life, chances are you’ve heard me brag about my family. i do it often. now, obviously my opinion is biased, but i really do believe i have the best of the best! not only was i born into an amazing family, but i married into one as well! i could go on and on…but this post is for one family member in particular: my mom. she deserves a post every day of the year for being so awesome, but today especially! why? it’s her birthdayyy!
her nickname around our house is “happy girl”. she always has a smile on her face – and not in the stepford kind of way. she genuinely is happy the majority of the time! she’s not high maintenance or hard to please – just what you want in a best gal pal. my mom and i are extremely close. a day that i don’t talk to her at least twice is a rare occurrence. i'm sure my phone calls will double when the day comes that we have kids (still far away). she’s definitely in the top 5 list of my favorite people - i'm sure most who meet her would say the same! she’s a great friend, mother, wife, sister, advisor, and margarita buddy! i love my mom. today, on her birthday, and every day.
maybe i'm late to the party on this one, but recently (?) lilly pulitzer announced that they would be releasing custom prints for every state! although i'm not a huge lilly girl, this is SUCH an adorable idea! i'll definitely be including something featuring my favorite states on my birthday list.
today they released the full preview of the north carolina print on facebook, but you have to solve the little puzzle to view it in its entirety. lucky for you, i've done all the hard work already:
i spy…the beach, the mountains, tar heels (boo! go duke!), dogwood blooms (our state flower), a cardinal (nc state bird), the wright brothers’ first flight, crowns (QUEEN CITY, represent!!), grapes for our many vineyards, and something that looks like donuts (anyone know what this is about?)
fun fact: virginia and north carolina share the same state flower and bird. crazy coincidence!
anyway! if you’re on the lookout for your state, be sure to follow lilly on facebook to get all the updates on the newest releases, or view the small state swatches here.
apparently lilly is a little biased towards georgia. at this point, they’re the only state being sold online, but i'm sure local lilly stores will have the murfee state scarves in shortly after they’re released.
nc girls, what you think? does it sum up our great state enough for you? and what about those donuts?
hey y’all! i was sick yesterday and took the day off work. so needless to say, i'm busy playing catch up today in the office and can't squeeze in a sec for a real post. BUT, i do want to invite you to join me in fatmumslim’s photo challenge for august! i've never done one before and had already vowed to take more pictures, so here's my chance! follow along and see how long i stick with it: @lauraleighwyatt on instagram!
it’s no secret that alex loves the olympics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to guess today’s friday five theme. the OLYMPICS! today, we’re spotlighting 5 things i'm digging from around the globe to celebrate this huge worldwide event!
1 | i've seen so many vintage-inspired prints around the interwebs, and i'm especially loving this one!
2 | butter london has gorgeous metallic polishes in all shades, so get your olympics on with the full monty, diamond geezer, and the old bill – lbh, the USA only knows how to go for the gold!
3 | i've always loved her state necklaces, but would you sport the USA around your neck? maya brenner has definitely found her niche with these adorable pendants. you can even have the diamond placed on your hometown! …wonder if i could get away with layering 3 states?
4 | i'm really loving this american flag scarf. wouldn’t you pay $200+ for it? pshhh. it’s too hot for that mess anyway! at least it’s cute!
5 | how adorable are these ballet flats from j.crew? the elastic is similar to the carolines by tory burch, which are super comfortable. and i would assume these are as well!
so that’s it for me, ladies and gents! i hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys the opening ceremonies tonight! i'm linking up with my favorite, alex and sweet lauren today for “friday five” and “high five for friday”.
let’s focus on the positives…
ok, so my palms got sweaty just looking for pictures. have any blog friends been skydiving? was it an amazing experience?? i need to know! i need a few reasons why i shouldn’t chicken out! if you're like me, and are curious about the statistics, this article put me at ease somewhat.
now tell me…
where's this tuesday taking you?
you wanna link up? just grab the text in the box up there, and paste into the html source section of your blog post! -- and leave me a comment below letting me know you did!
i received my dress (pictured above) this weekend and am SO pleased with the design, fit, and quality of their merchandise. not only do they offer excellent customer service (which is always a big deal in my book), their clothes are adorable and affordable! my dress is out of stock right now, but i'm sure based on it's popularity, it'll be back soon! weee! it’s FRIDAY! and for the first time in weeks, we'll actually be in town with NO plans whatsoever. isn't that the best? if i have any idea, i'd say here's what’s in store: redbox(es), dinner in, yoforia, a little gym, a lot of sleep, and lots of kitty snugs. so since the weekend will be pretty low-key, my friday five consists of a few things worth mentioning from this past week:
5 | lastly, i just want to mention that my thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the shooting last night in colorado. i pray that the power of community and the nation's support can help them overcome such an unbearable tragedy.
i hope everyone had a great week and has an even better weekend. i might have to join miss a.liz for her weekly dance party this afternoon!
per usual, i'm linking up with my favorite, alex and sweet lauren today for their own “friday five” and “high five for friday”.
andrew and i have 2 great friends getting married the first week in august in roanoke, virginia, and of course, all i've got on the brain is "what am i going to wear?". i'm sure andrew will be excited to find out that i'm thinking of wearing a dress i already own! here's how i'm thinking of styling it:
1 | older dress from the j.crew outlet. i believe it's called the bridget dress in the "poppy" print. i love the pretty colors in it and how it looks like the flowers have been painted right on the dress. i wore it to my friend, emily's wedding almost 2 years ago. (happy almost anniversary, girlfriend!)
2 | cute clutch that hasn’t been found yet! send ideas my way, s’il vous plait!
3 | skinny gold belt. i'm wearing more of a mauve color in the pic above, buuut i seemed to have "misplaced" it, so we'll just go with gold for the sake of convenience! no link necessary; you can find these almost anywhere nowadays.
4 | i'm not much of an orange gal, but i really like the style of this bracelet from j.crew. i need a little extra color, so my ensemble isn’t so champagne/gold - not to be confused with ivory/white. don't think the bride would approve!!
5 | since my hair is longer now *yay!*, i think i'll attempt a low-maintenance updo - nothing too fancy! i'll channel my inner pink lou lou, and see if i can pull it off. maybe a trial run beforehand is in order? if that doesn't work out, i'm sure i'll stick with my old standby – big curls and volume!
6 | lastly, ma shoes! i bought these shoes back in october, and have gotten SO much use out of them. they've got a little more spunk than your usual nude pump, and i feel ultra fancy in them! i got them through ebay (big shocker, i know!), and they're pretty uncomfortable after a couple hours. pain is beauty, right? they're higher than they look in the picture, so i'm sure that plays a factor in their [un]comfort. maybe i'll try some of those foot petal pad, things?
so that's where i am, in my mind, today! getting ready for a fun night out with good friends and some dancing with my husband!
where's this tuesday taking you?
you wanna link up? just grab the text in the box above and paste into the html source section of your blog post! got it? leave me a comment below if you linked up, so i'll know if y'all like this whole idea!
this weekend, andrew had a few friends in town for a bachelor party, and i took it upon myself to head out of town. it was so nice to spend a low-key relaxing weekend with my family, and i even squeezed in a little pool/party time with some much-missed friends! here's a few snaps from around my parents' house:
hope everyone had a great weekend! here's hoping that this monday flies by!
it’s no secret that i like digital design: sometimes i take my little inspiration/friday fives/what im loving wednesday boards to an extreme. my job has taught me so many tips, techniques, and new programs, and i'm really fortunate to have picked up on them fairly quickly. i'm really lucky to have a job that i love and that challenges me every day (and not in the "my jobs really sucks and is really hard" way, but in the "think of something NEW, FRESH, and CREATIVE" way). so today, for my friday five, i'm sharing some design tidbits that i use every day and can't live without:
1 | i realize that i'm very fortunate to have access to the adobe suite every day at my work. this is my second job that has provided these programs to me, and just having access to them every day, along with some trial and error, has taught me just as much as any class could. *mental note: take a class on adobe suite. i use fireworks, dreamweaver, photoshop, and illustrator every.single.day. whether i’m blogging or not.
2 | i've always had a fondness for fonts. my work computer and home laptop are stocked full of fun fonts (a lot of which i've never ever used, but still love). i've listed some current favorites - which will change next week, i'm sure. i think for most of these if you google the name, you can download them for free. confession: i've never paid for a font.
3 | never underestimate the power of inspiration. i'm a big fan of looking to those who are bigger/better than me to learn and grow. everyone i work with is really good at what they do, so i'm constantly learning new things. for blog and design inspiration, i love looking through kelly/fabulous k's awesome designs. she's definitely one of my designer role-models, AND she's really sweet - she always tweets me back!
4 | quickly followed by #4, knowing that i'm still a beginner. i do tend to get "down" sometimes when i see awesome designs and think "man...i wish i could do that". us beginners need to stand back, relax, and realize that we're learning all the time. i can't expect to be an expert right off the bat. design success, blogging success, career success: these all take lots of time and energy -- just gotta put in the work!
5 | sweet friends who are my guinea pigs. i've done a handful of designs for friends, and i'm really thankful that they give me a shot every now and then to practice on them! save the dates, wedding invitations, blog designs, even christmas gift tags - i really do enjoy putting these things together and working with my girlfriends to design something that's "just perfect" for them. ps. head over to alex’s blog and tell her how much you love her new design!
ok ok! i'm hopping off my soapbox! if you have some tips for design or a cute blog/website that you draw inspiration from, i'd love to hear about it!
like every other friday, i'm linking up with my favorite, alex and sweet lauren today for their own “friday five” and “high five for friday”.
happy weekend!
finding the perfect dress is hard. especially when everyone and their mother wants the same one. i saw a dress on a blog post about 2 months ago and HUNTED IT DOWN directly after - only to get the runaround and 3 weeks after paying, told that it's going to be another month. "please cancel my order." bad customer service just doesn't fly with me. i digress. pinterest has created a monster when it comes to shopping for cute clothes. one adorable outfit gets pinned, and 2 weeks later, every sorority girl this side of memphis wants it. i've got a little strategy i want to share, and although it may not be the most efficient process, it ended up working for me...
above is the dress for the search. aside from hunting down every pin of the dress on pinterest - which inevitably will bring you to the same [sold out] boutique, i turn to google.
option 1: i come up with as many descriptives as possible and google image search them one after another - in this case: coral and teal maxi dress // chevron maxi dress // mint and orange maxi dress // robins egg maxi dress // turquoise and coral maxi dress // chevron mint maxi dress // colorblock mint and apricot maxi dress // colorblock chevron // mint and coral // ...the list goes on and on. if the image is the dress in question --> click it! if you're lucky, it's IN STOCK at a cute boutique that offers free shipping! double score!
option 2: another successful, little known fact, is the drag and drop option for google images. copy a photo of an item and save it to your desktop. open google and click on the image search tab.
click and drag the saved image from your desktop to the search bar. google will then upload your image and search based on a number of factors: the image itself, the filename, and other awesome stuff that google can do…. with any luck, your search results will look like this: 
and go on and on with places you can buy/find the dress! THIS IS HOW I GOT LUCKY! i was able to find it in multiple places and get the best deal without breaking the bank. and because i'm so nice, i'm sharing a few places that (as of 10:30 am on wednesday, july, 12) still have the dress IN STOCK:
p.s. it's also no secret amongst my friends that i love to shop on eBay as well. some boutiques sell on eBay, and it's NEW clothing, so don't be afraid to try the keyword search route there!
do you have a method to finding those hard-to-find in-high-demand items? let me know your secret!
happy hunting!
it’s COMING! my favorite time of year! even rivaling any major holiday, because it actually happens twice a year: RESTAURANT WEEK! andrew and i took advantage of this back in the winter and it was WONDERFUL! if you know me in real life, you know i love to eat! in fact, when people ask me what we love about living in charlotte, i usually say "the food"! and even though there are and endless amount of restaurants popping up all over the qc, we find ourselves eating at the SAME ONES over and over again. (if it ain't broke...) this is a great opportunity to find a new favorite, or indulge in a higher tier restaurant with $30 price tag! i like that! the dates are
friday, july 20 - sunday, july 29
click the link above to view all of the awesome restaurants in the area AND the menu they’ll be offering for restaurant week! one WONDERFUL tip: a lot of these places have online ordering: soooo if you're snooping around today while you’re at work, you can make your reservation, look like you're still doing work, and get away with slackin' on the job!
are there any places that you’ve been that i can’t miss? i GOTTA know!
oh hey! i've been a off the radar for a little while, so i apologize. i've been taking some time to unplug and get my mind right over that past week or so. we've been having a blast on the weekends with lots of visitors – too bad summer is FLYING by! this weekend is no exception, andrew and i are hitting the road up to richmond, virginia for the weekend to spend some much-needed quality time with some of our best buds. we'll be splitting up for the weekend - andrew with his college roomie and bf, andy, and me with my favorite gal pals from college as well. if it were up to me, i'd be there now!
richmond, virginia
as much as i love charlotte, this move hasn't been all roses for me. i've found it hard to settle into a good group of gals like i did in college, and i miss my girlfriends SO SO much.
i've very much looking forward to lots of of girl talk, gossip mags, wine, bachelorette talk, boy band playlists, hair and makeup, false eyelashes, panera brunch… the list goes on and on!
i hope everyone has a safe and very happy 4th of july holiday! we'll be watching the fireworks somewhere around uptown! if you know the perfect spot, let me know!
i'm taking a break from my hectic week to send out an SOS...
my perfect shoes are on their last leg (no pun intended), and i'm in dire need of some new brown wedges. not just any shoe, but the perfect brown wedge:
pictured above is the steve madden quinne wedge in brown. i've had these wedges for about 2 or 3 years now, and i WILL cry when the strap finally gives. i can wear these gals days without getting a blister or sore soles. to say that i love them is an understatement. unfortunately SM doesn't make them anymore [[insert frantic sobs]]. since i've been lazy for the past 2+ years and not unbuckling them each time - just slipping them on, along with many late-night outings at my favorite watering hole(s), their condition just isn't appropriate for everyday wear anymore.
so...it's up to y'all to help! PLEASE! if you've seen these shoes, or if you do in the future, size 8 please!
am i the only one who gets THIS
attached to a pair of shoes?
if you're like me, you probably tossed your little keurig instruction manual the day you got it and haven't thought about it since! untilll...you noticed that your coffee cup just isn't as full as it was that first day. hmph. i've been procrastinating cleaning my keurig for the past 2 weeks, just opting to refill with the large mug icon 2 (sometimes 3) times a morning. yeah, i'm that lazy. last night, i did it. i cleaned the keurig, and it's SO easy. happy friday! this week has blown by – don’t you love that?! although, with friends coming in today, our weekend is sure to do the same thing. oh well! let’s celebrate! it’s friday!
alex hosts her friday five every week, and this week her theme is sunless tanning. would you believe that i’ve NEVER gotten a spray tan? i'm not a big tanner anyway because my skin doesn't get pasty white if i don't lay out, but i do enjoy the occasional trip to the tanning bed. *gasp* i know. so really, i wouldn't have too much input to give you for friday five: sunless tanning. BUT what i will give you are a few things i'm excited about this weekend:
4 | i get off at 2:30 today; what's not exciting about that?
so that’s it for this week! as always, i'm linking up with my favorite, alex and sweet lauren today for their own “friday five” and “high five for friday”.
happy weekend!
