Turquoise Affair

Last night was magical. It was the opening party for Art a Fair, an event I attend every year in my hometown of Laguna Beach. Art a Fair is always like a reunion. I run into lots of familiar faces, including this one and was invited by the lovely and sweet Elizabeth - whom I adore.Elizabeth makes beautiful jewelry that you will be seeing in print shortly : )

As a girl who loves to play dress up, I auditioned several outfits before settling on one of my absolute favorite maxi dresses/best purchases of all time from H&M. I wanted to wear a handmade statement piece since this was an artisan event, and I loved adding the turquoise on turquoise of one of my favorite (if not my favorite) necklaces by the fabulous Denise Yezbak Moore. I topped it off with a vintage ring, a huge green rock ring I found in a tiny store in Vegas, and my Gorjana Viceroy bracelet. I had to wear huge wedges since this dress is long, so my shoes are Juicy Couture, and my feet still hurt from walking in them all night : (

Please excuse the stereotypical self-portrait shots of me. Being an editor, I am very picky about pictures and all the ones my boyfriend took of me outside, I just did not like. Mad props to our photographer at work who can always get a good shot of me. Now, that is talent!

After Art a Fair we went out for a romantic dinner at French 75, one of my absolute most favorite places in the world let alone Laguna. We ate outside by a fire, sipped champagne, ate mussels and olive tapenade and watched the stars glow over the ocean. This place houses so many memories for me. I remember my 25th birthday inside the French restaurant while decorated for Christmas, my mom's first visit to Laguna Beach, and my friend's going away party where we danced to the piano player's music. I remember when my former roommate and I would wander the sidewalks of Laguna Beach after work in the summer and we would just tell each other "We are so lucky to live here." I found myself saying the same thing last night as I walked the sidewalks, my feet blistering, holding the hem of my dress up so as not to crush it beneath my wedges. I looked up at the lights from the houses on the hillside and smelled the salt in the air and felt the chill on my skin; this is a blessed life.

Little Flower

My coworker Cynthia pointed me in the direction of these amazing shoes on Etsy. 'Blodyn Bach' is the name of the shop and it means "Little Flower" in Welsh. The designer says Little Flower is symbolic of life's luxuries as well as the environment. And the environment is key here as these shoes are sustainably made. They are handcrafted and printed on organic cotton. With wedges and prints so in season, and eco-friendly fashion always being the smart way to go, we can all get behind (or should I say "get in"?) these shoes. Here's to leaving a friendly footprint!

Traveling Companions

I was so in need of a vacation that I packed in my head what I needed before I actually broke out my DVF suitcase. That was a first! I am usually a horrible packer, but this time I was done in 20 minutes and fit everything into a smaller sized suitcase. That's the good thing about summer, you can pack clothes that don't take up much room.The toughest question I face when packing is not what to wear but what shoes to bring. In Vegas there is so much walking, so I knew I needed sandals, but depending on what else we did (fancy dinner etc) I wanted to have the proper shoes for it.

I ended up packing my Brian Atwood's which are my tallest pair of heels. And sadly, I did not wear them. In fact, I never have. I am still left waiting for the right occasion I guess. I spent most of my time in my Zara rhinestone sandals, which are super comfy for Vegas walking.

If anyone understands my shoe attraction it's the Cosmopolitan. This hotel had a giant shoe waiting for me to pose with, and these cool dripping shoe pictures on the way to the Wicked Spoon (their amazing, fantastic, wonderful, buffet -- talk about a good indulgence!).  

But sometimes it's not what you take with you that makes a trip special. It's what you take away. We stopped at my favorite outlets before leaving. The Vegas Premium Outlets NEVER let me down. Lo and behold Dolce & Gabbana were having a sale! I picked up these cherry wedges (the last ones) for an absolute steal. And then the best thing happened: they were gifted to me by my favorite traveling companion, my boyfriend : ) Now, that's an unbeatable deal.

Happy travels!

Color Craze

Right now it's quite trendy to layer color on top of color on top of color. This is being done through ombre, color blocking, tie dyeing and simply pairing color with color. I couldn't be happier, as I have always enjoyed a pop of hue here and there, and I love playing with bold brights. While in Vegas this past weekend I noticed the play on color everywhere, in food, on furniture, etc. So I put my most colorful foot forward and stepped up to the plate, taking pics of my colorful observations.

Above:
Dress from H&M
Chairs at Margaritaville
Rainbow Roll at Hamada of Japan
Souvenir magnet from Sugar Factory
Twinkie goblet, also from Sugar Factory
Way cool ombre chevron ring from Target  and ombre dress from H&M

Hope your week is colorful!

Shoes Are My Middle Name

I apologize for this anachronistic post. Honestly, I bought these shoes prior to my vacation plans and prior to my shoestring shopping budget. I swear!!!

What's most funny is that I found these Sam Edelman spike & rhinestone Exie flats the day after I DIYed my own pair. And I had to buy them because they were 50% off and the only pair in store was MY size! Meant to be or what?!

I was also stopped dead in my tracks by these red wedges (again with spikes & rhinestones) by Zigi NY. I had never heard of the brand, but I loved these shoes so much, and since they were on sale too (20%) off, I couldn't say no. Again, they were the last pair, and they were the perfect fit for me.

Because I found such electrifying shoes at amazing deals, I am declaring my allegiance to Eilatan shoes, the store in which I scored these beauties. They have so many funky finds there! I pinned a bunch on Pinterest and am thinking that might call for another blog post. Fun fact about Eilatan: the store's name is Natalie spelled backwards. It just so happens my middle name is Natalie (my parents named me after Natalie Wood); thus, shoes are kinda sorta my middle name : ) Fitting, don't you think?

Happy Shopping!

Arm Party

A huge trend right now is layering your bracelets and stacking bling upon metal; mixing and matching. It's called an arm party. And well, I like to party! I've included some of my favorite examples from Pinterest. The bottom six pictures are my own from Instagram. The ones of the rainbow skirt and friendship bracelets are from this new jewelry artist I met Wednesday. Check out Lisa Marinucci on Facebook. Her work is divine!!!!!!!!! And the model for that jewelry and the designer of that fab skirt is none other than my friends at Sicilian Gypsy .

My jewelry credits: Eurotrash, JoAnn Doxakis, Lisa Loria, Colleen Pike, and my own creation with the help of Terri Brush. The rest of the jewelry attending my party is vintage, with the exception of the Juicy piece. And of course, you can see my fave scarf from this lady, which is just as gorgeous as a necklace if not more so.

Hope you do a lot of (arm) partying this weekend!