happy wife, happy life

bracelets: Alex and Ani || nail file: Similar || nail polish: Ulta

For the bridal shower we threw in May, I decided to gift the bride-to-be with a less traditional gift which is shown above.  Now, I know that shopping from the registry is always appreciated, however you still have the actual wedding to give the happy couple an item off their registry so I feel that it's okay to "shower" the bride with a more personalized gift at the bridal shower.  

I do have to give credit where credit is due, and that would be to my friend who got me a set of these Alex and Ani bracelets for my bridal shower.  I thought it was such a neat idea that once Holly got engaged I knew I wanted to get her some of these gorgeous bangles.  The "B" initial is for her new last name once she has tied the knot and the stone is the birthstone for September, the month of the wedding.  I purchased these ones from the Shoe Closet Boutique , a local boutique in Wichita Falls.  I paired them up with a pretty nail file & an Essie nail polish which is appropriately named "happy wife happy life", both items I got from Ulta.  

This DIY gift is a perfect reminder to the bride to take a little time out of her busy wedding planning life and just relax a little while giving herself a fresh mani or pedi (or both!) before getting back into the stressful business that involves planning a wedding, aka; the start to happily ever after.  

I hope this helps you in your quest to find the perfect gift for that bride-to-be! 

~Amy

a fashion conversion

necklace: Francesca's|| top:The Runway Seven | jeans: Loft|| sandals: Similar|| bracelets: Similar

When I first saw that the high waisted jeans were coming back into fashion I was quite skeptical & scared to see what this meant for women everywhere.  In my mind high waisted jeans were on the same level as denim overalls, i.e. cute when you're a small child but once you hit adulthood you look like a train conductor in them (overalls not jeans).  However, my mind was totally changed when I got these highwaisted periwinkle jeans at Loft, and the best part?  They were $10.00!!  I didn't even notice them at first until another customer pointed them out to me and said "you need to try these on, they would look amazing on you!"  While I don't agree with that amazing part, I was sold as soon as I tried them on.  I love the fit & feel of them, and the floral print adds a cute & feminine touch.  So, that is how I crossed over to believing that some 90's-2000's fashions are worth repeating.  But not overalls, never overalls.  And please please do not be tempted to buy those horrible whitewashed ones that I keep seeing everywhere, they will make you look like a window cleaner.    

~Amy

  

I haven't been this excited about Friday since last Friday

This is definitely a more laid-back, casual office look but one that could also easily transition from work to a night out!  I am really not a fan of the 'Tribal' look that is so popular right now but I loved this maxi dress and I felt like the tribal elements were subtle enough that it wouldn't bother me.  The sequins provide great texture to an otherwise simple navy maxi dress, and the side slits keep it interesting (and keep you cool in the summer months).

I simply added a black cardigan over the dress to wear it to work, and then simple grey ballet flats to complete the look.  The dress looks great with heels, but since the slits go a bit above my knees I felt that heels made it a bit less office appropriate.  

I loved this outfit with a messy side-braid and a simple rhinestone head band; the head band added the perfect compliment to the dress.  Since the dress has plenty of sparkle I didn't add any jewelry.  I know my braid is not nearly Elsa-worthy but I think I would need more hair for that to happen.

Maxi Dress: Express

Flats: Target

Cardigan: Target

Head Band: Charming Charlie

Shopping for Men

Basket: Home Goods  || Apron: Home Goods || Beer: Trader Joe's || T-Shirt: Similar || Beard Wash: Lush

My husbands birthday was this past weekend, and like most women, I have a hard time figuring out what to buy for him.  Why are men so hard to shop for?!  After contemplating for a while what I was going to get him I came up with the idea above, it basically all stemmed from the awesome drink basket, which I found at Home Goods.  I'll break it down so you can see what all is in the "basket".  Above you will find links to all of the gifts, keep in mind that most of them are available at many different stores as well. 

(1)  We bought a Traeger grill last year and it's basically our favorite way to cook now.  We tried making stuffed jalapeños one time but just didn't quite get the technique down, so when I saw this set I knew I had to get it for him.  And I figured an outdoor apron would be perfect to pair it with.  I got both of these items at Home Goods but I'm sure you could find them just about anywhere.

Side note: I actually gave him the jalapeño set the night before his birthday because we were making jalapeño popcorn using fresh jalapeños, the set comes with a tool to clean out the peppers so I figured we might as well use that rather than the knife, spoon, jalapeño juice in our (okay, my) eye fiasco that we usually go through.  Oh and if you didn't already know, our entire family is obsessed with homemade popcorn.  Every Friday night for as long as we can remember our family would pick out a movie to watch and make a bunch of stovetop popcorn.  It's our favorite tradition that we take very seriously & all three of us sisters make sure it is carried on by each of our families.

(2) He's beer obsessed.  But not any type of beer, it has to be the dark strong flavored stuff.  I personally can't handle it, a Corona with a lime slice is my ideal beer.  I picked up these two at Tarder Joe's and honestly, I just picked these two cause I thought they looked fancy, haha! 

(3) I found this shirt at Target when I was out shopping with my mom and sisters while they were visiting.  At the time they didn't have it in his size but I went back a couple weeks later and was so excited to find it!  I probably looked insane talking about how awesome it was to my 12month old who was just looking at me like I was showing her a brick wall.  

(4) I'm a huge fan of Lush products!  For Christmas last year I got him two soaps from there and he loved one of them, he didn't care for the sent of the other but that didn't bother me since it just meant I could put it in the guest bathroom as a hand soap instead. I made sure to use that sink for hand washing ever since I put it in there.  We don't have a Lush close to us but I made the half hour trip to the mall the other day for some shopping & an excuse to stay out of the heat.  When I saw this wash I knew it would be prefect since he just started growing his beard out again.  Last night he said to me (pointing to the jar of facial wash) "did you smell this?"  I figured that meant he didn't like the sent, again...  I replied, "Umm, yeah I did.  Why?"  He said "cause it smells amazing!"  Insert sigh of relief(!) 

And that's it!  I wrapped one of the bottles in tissue paper and then realized I didn't have any more so I may or may not have used napkins for the rest of the fillers... Whatever works, right?! 

I hope this helps give you some ideas for the men in your life!  Doing something like this basket is a great Father's Day gift as well, which is right (yikes!) around the corner.  My main tip for buying gifts for guys is just to get simple stuff, they don't want random little nicknacks that they will probably never use.  And I'm speaking from experience, haha.  I have found that food, some type of drink & products like that facial wash are good because they will actually get used, rather than just set somewhere and forgotten about.    

Oh and if all else fails... 

 throw something Star Wars related in there and it's a guaranteed winner.

~Amy 

I'm dreaming of a white... sandy beach

Hey, y'all!
   It's been a long time since I've done anything on this little corner of the internet.  Life has been getting busier and busier lately, which, of course, means I want more and more to procrastinate.  So, in an effort to pretend I don't have a long to-do list waiting for me, here's a fashion post from Colorado.  I think this outfit perfectly conveys how I felt about going to class this morning  -- I wanted to be on a beach.
   If you know me at all, you know I'm not always the beach-y type.  Maybe it was something about the way the weather was this morning.  Or the way this outfit makes me feel like listening to the waves.  Or maybe it's just because I have an upcoming exam that I don't want to think about.  Whatever the case (and we all know it was the exam), you'd better believe the windows were down on the way home, letting in the warm air and letting out the Keith Urban/Kenny Chesney sing-along that I know everyone wanted to hear.

This is one of my favorite dresses I own.  It's so breezy, long, and comfy.  The shirt is my sister's, but it's also one of my favorite things to wear.  So, I braved the combo and tried something new (for me) by putting the shirt over the dress, then tying a knot.  I may or may not have spent about 5 minutes tying a knot over and over again until I could figure out a sweet spot that wouldn't look odd.

 sunglasses: Target

shoes: Sam & Libby (no idea where they came from. My mom spoiled me)

dress: Lauren Conrad (from Kohl's) | shirt: Old Navy

That's all, folks!  If you're often a fellow procrastinator, I'm sorry this post wasn't long enough to really delay what you need to do.  But you can always stall by reading more posts! ;)   If you're the type to find motivation when you need it, please know that you're a special kind of person and the rest of us don't understand you envy your drive.

~Holly

Bridal Shower!

In May, Mary & Amy threw a bridal shower for soon to be married sister, Holly.  Since weather in Texas has been pretty crazy lately we were so thankful that it was sunny and clear for the whole party!  We had a fantastic time throwing this party & the bride loved every minute of it.  We hope you all enjoy seeing some pictures of this special day where we celebrated such a wonderful lady as she prepares to marry a great guy!  Thank you so much to everyone who came & partied with us! 

P.S.

We want to extend a HUGE thank you to our other sisters who were such big helpers with food preperation, helping decorate, gift wrapping, etc.  You girls rock!!

~ We had decided early on that our theme for the party would be shabby chic with touches of gold & glitter. We did a lot of DIY projects (which we will be posting tutorials for!) and we were thrilled with the results!  

The wedding date. September 5th, 2015

We decorated a scrap book for each guest to write a special note to the bride.  A photo spot was on each page as well so she can put photos from the party inside next to the notes.  The tabs are places for the bridal party, mother of the bride, mother of the groom, etc. 

We made all of the favors, which were scented tea lights wrapped with some cute Washi tape. 

The food table, yum!  We hung some streamers, ribbon & cord behind the table at uneven lengths to decorate the food space.  We also hung some pictures from the couple's engagement session.  We threw the party at Mary's house and it just so happened that she had this gorgeous picture of the Colorado mountains above her table.  The bride and groom are getting married in Colorado. so it was perfect for right above the pictures!  

We served lots of finger foods including delicious & adorable cupcakes made by our sister, Emily.  Also, how adorable are those cupcake stands?  We found these ones at Target! 

Above the drink table we hung pictures of the happy couple.  The ones in the middle are from their engagement session and the ones on the side are random shots which we hung using strips of burlap.  We printed some from the bride's Instagram as well.  Leaving the captions on with the pictures helped to add a cute & different look from the rest of the pictures.  

The lovely bride-to-be with party planner, Mary! 

The drink station.  

We used Modge Podge to add gold glitter to the bottoms of the glasses - aren't they adorable?! 

A delicious bowl of sangria; we will be posting the recipe soon!  

Mary had the clever idea to decorate the water bottles as well, some with ribbon & lace and the rest with chalkboard tags & hearts!  

Party planner, Amy, with the lovely guest of honor.

We found these adorable pink vases in the $1.00-$3.00 section at target and decided they would be perfect as center & accent pieces.  Baby's breath & pink spray roses made the perfect bouquet!  

The hostesses & party planners! 

**note from the future bride: I can't believe how much sweet effort these two put into my bridal shower.  They did so well with the whole theme -- and they didn't even have to ask me what I like!  I felt so loved by my awesome family, wonderful future in-laws, friends, and most especially my fellow blogger sisters.  They made me truly feel blessed with the hard work they put into this lovely bridal shower

xoxo