Classically Colorful Bedroom / Things That Sparkle

I do a lot of interior decorating browsing, but somehow I just discovered Alexandra Kaehler's bedroom from Things That Sparkle. I seriously love Alex's style. It's classic yet colorful, put together and chic but livable.

And how cute is her puppy? I swear in NYC animals are like celebs. You see one on the street and freak out.

Alex did a great job of rounding up her room picks, but since I just discovered her post that was published in April, some of these are no longer available... So, here's how you can get the look now!

1. Dottie Duvet Cover - PB Teen

2. Silk Jinja Pillow - Anthropologie

3. Giselle Tufted Headboard - Ballard Designs

4. Toscana Alarm Clock - Michael C. Fina

5. F. Scott Fitzgerald Flappers and Philosophers - Barnes & Noble

6. Little Dictionary of Fashion - Barnes & Noble

7. Esca Wine Bottle Coaster - Bliss Home & Design 

8. Khloe Crystal Lamp

Life Lately + Piperlime Sale

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Over the weekend, I checked out Stone Street's Oyster Festival and went to a friend's house warming party in Williamsburg. Oyster Fest in Atlanta is a must do in February with steamed oyster buckets and live music. New York’s version of was much more a la street fair. The tents packed Stone Street with a crowd like 5^th Avenue during the holidays. Menus ranged from lobster mac and cheese, to bratwursts to oysters on the half shell.

I loved visiting my friend Sarah’s new apartment in Williamsburg. Sarah is extremely chic and stylish, you may remember her from our sample sale mishap earlier in the year. I loved her apartment and décor, especially her Tolix yellow chairs she swears she had before Chelsea Market. 

Chairs: interior secrets

Hanging White Pompoms: paper source 

Hor d'oeuvres: grilled peach an burrrata crostini with prosciutto, root vegetable fritters with fig sauce, and stacked watermelon and feta salad with mint: Plate Dates by Marissa - interested in having Marissa cater?email her: here

Band: Jumbo Brown

Also, super excited today about Piperlime, Gap and Banana Republic's huge sale. It's 20% off and up from Piperlime, Banana Republic and Gap! Piperlime became one of my favorite stores after lucking into winning a gift card last Fall and discovering its flagship store. I went to the store yesterday and found some great faux leather items and booties for the season. Here are my top picks for my shopping bag.

Hump Day Home Makeover...Almost / Modern Home Office

I had every intention of catching the very last bit of Hump Day today with a long overdue Hump Day Home Makeover, only to realize the obvious...

It's not Wednesday. 

In the grand scheme of forgetting what day it is it's definitely a win when you realize you are closer to the weekend than you thought. 

This week I spent more time than usual at my job, which got me thinking about how office spaces influence your mood, creativity and quality of work. Going into an office every day with a team and office culture keeps work exciting, motivating and on worse days manageable. But what about the professional bloggers out there? I can imagine keeping up motivation and creativity can be tough and make your office surroundings even more important. For me, its fun to think about having a home office one day considering my current favorite is pretty much bigger than my whole New York apartment. My home office would have to be simple, clean, bright and have a really big table.

image via

Orange Handbags

left | top middle | bottom | top right

I love a good orange purse to bring a spurt of color to a Fall toned outfit. It just so happens that Celosia Orange made it to Pantone's list of Spring 2014 colors which means this baby is in for the long hall. Here are some of my favorites whether you want a bargain for the Fall season or a splurge you can carry into the Spring.

// 1.  Modekungen Minimalist Bag //

// 2. Chloe Paraty Mini Leather Shoulder Bag //

// 3. ASOS Across Body With Two Front Buckles //

// 4. Celine Leather Luggage Sheep Skin Bag //

// 5. ZARA City Bad with Pocket //

Brooklyn Weekend + Upcoming Blog Sale

CT and I have spent our past two weekends together just wandering around Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. It's a great change of scenery and pace from NYC and fun to see a new part of New York. On Saturday, we headed over to Bedford Avenue to find a new brunch spot and tried Sweet Chick. Sweet Chick's signature brunch dish are the chicken 'n waffles, which weirdly enough I've never tried despite growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Holy chicken 'n waffles!

They were so good. Salty and sweet = amazing. Sweet Chick serves the dish with three different kinds of butter - rosemary, honey and raspberry. The rosemary was my favorite and I loved the syrup on the chicken. 

Saturday night, we were back in Manhatten and went to the Upright Citizens Brigade to see this improv comedy show called "Grandma's Ashes." The idea? The audience submits a secret that the cast then acts out. It's only $10 and hilarious, so I highly recommend it! 

I also started cleaning out my closet for Fall this weekend and have a lot of clothes I just haven't worn. I've put a couple of the items on ebay (here and here), but am thinking about trying out a blog sale. Another blogger I follow did one a while back and it was such a great idea of what to do with the clothes you've really only ever worn once or twice..or the item you bought online that didn't fit so you never wore it and you forgot to ship it back...oops. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this. 

Have you tried out a blog sale? I'd love to hear what you thought if you ran one or participated in one! 

Cheers! Hope you had a great weekend too.

Phillip Lim Now On Sale At Target!

New Yorkers everywhere are cursing the fact that we don't have a Target in the city more than usual today. At midnight, Phillip Lim's new affordable collection launched at Target. The good news is a lot of his pieces can be purchased online, but most of his iconic bags must be purchased in store. 

Road trip anyone?

TOP 6 PICKS 

PHILLIP LIM FOR TARGET THAT YOU CAN BUY ONLINE

What is your must-have item?

Fall Shoes Under $100

1. High Heel Pointed Heel Shoes - ZARA

2. Aldo Platenik Flat - DSW

3. Leather Court Shoe - ZARA

4. Ecote Growler Suede Ankle Boot - Urban Outfitters

5. DV by Dolce Vita Laria Flat - DSW

6. Seychelles Whisper Mini-Wedge Heels - Urban Outfitters

Since I walked basically all of my Fall shoes into the ground last year, I am in some desperate need of some new booties and flats. Buying shoes for a new season can really break the bank, so my picks are all under $100. 

Hello From The US Open

I lucked into some last minute US Open tickets and ended up court-side just a few hundred feet up to watch Djokovic v. Wawrinka and Nadal v. Gasquet battle it out for the Men's Finals. This was my first open and hopefully won't be my last. I just think tennis is such a fun sport to watch at this level. It's fast moving, strategic and the players have heart. Twenty-one minutes into a set point, an exhausted Wawrinka paused for some crowd applause to boost his spirits. 

Looking to go to the open next year?

The seats in the 300 section aren't as bad as you expect nosebleeds to be. The height actually gives you a good perspective on the play. 

The Ordinary / Charleston, South Carolina

New York is known to always have a new restaurant popping up on every corner, but what about Charleston, South Carolina? Every time I visit Charleston there are at least 5 new places on King Street since my last visit or a new restaurant written up in Southern Living. In what feels like a few months, there’s a new “it” restaurant in town, and it is as good as you’ve heard.

 

The Ordinary is Charleston's new “fancy seafood and oyster bar." Mike Lata is the award-winning chef and owner of The Ordinary and longstanding Charleston restaurant FIG (Food Is Good). His new restaurant is located on Northern King Street in an old bank building from 1927. What I love about The Ordinary's design is the high 22-foot ceilings, balcony and bank vault door. The large oyster bar is also a great touch and looks like the perfect date spot for oyster lovers like me.

source

What To Order?

Raw Oysters, clearly. 

They have selections from the West Coast and East Coast and varietals vary by the season. Our favorites are the East coast because they are larger, saltier and grimier than the creamy West Coast oysters.

{We love oysters so have found over favorites by trial and error, but if you're unsure of what you like, check out this guide!}

Oyster Sliders

This dish has been written up a few times and I can see why. They are great mix of unusual flavors like pineapple, pickled cabbage, sriracha hot sauce and cilantro with a fried oyster.

Black Bass en Papillote, Fennel, Sauce Mousseline

Our table ordered a few dishes and passed them around. This seafood dish was by far our favorite even over the whole fish which we normally love. The fish was cooked in parchment paper to keep it moist and topped with a creamy hollandaise like sauce. 

 

Been to The Ordinary? Share your favorites below!

Pantone's Spring 2014 Color Are Here!

I heard today that Pantone was invented by Lawrence Herbert, and realized I had never really thought about why we all get so pumped up when the Pantone colors are announced.

In the fashion world, Pantone is the source for the upcoming season's color trends, but why? I'll admit I hadn't really ever questioned where Pantone's credibility came from until today. Evidently, for more than 20 years, Pantone has been surveying NYFW designers to gather what color trends are the hottest for the next season.

This year, the designers attributed their color inspiration to flowers, travels, and confident women. 

I'll take it. 

While these colors might be meant for fashion, I think they translate well into some interesting and trending colors in home decor. So without further ado...here are the Spring 2014 Pantone colors, decor style.

Hemlock and dazzling blue are at the top of my list. 

How about yours?

image sources
1 | Decor-Eat
3 | 4
5 | 6
7 | 8
9 | 10

Life Lately - Via My iPhone

Sometimes you have these moments when you realize just how far you've been sucked into home decor obsession. Friday night, CT and I were walking back from the King Street bars and I was snapping pics of store window displays that I had to come back to see the next day. 

#designbloggerproblems

We had a lot of fun in South Carolina this Labor Day with some great food, King Street shopping, college football kicking off, (well kinda...if you're a dawgs fan like me you've already started forgetting Saturday), the beach, books, and kitties. 

Michael Mitchell was one of those stores I had to check out and of course I found this metallic piggy bank I had to have. It's $200 price tag secured it a top spot on my wish list. Circa Lighting was the next store which I have seen online but didn't know was actually founded in Savannah making me like it even more.

At Pawleys Island I read a really great booked called, A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash. His writing style reminds me of great story tellers like John Steinbeck or any other great author you unknowingly complained about having to read on your summer reading list. I know I did. Oh and I fell in love with our beach kittens, who are now about 5 months old. Khalessi, the white kitty above, is my favorite - super sweet and playful. It's just killing me that I can't bring her to live in my New York apartment!

And in case you were wondering...
The Ordinary in Charleston is as good as you've heard, so check back next week for my recommendation on what to order!

Row 1: Home-cooked vegetable plate inspired by Georgia Grille | Sunset at Pawleys Island | Metallic Piggy Bank at Michael Mitchell

Row 2: Complimentary Low-Carb Breakfast in bed at Harborview Inn (I told you this place is the best!) | CT and Me at The Ordinary | Brussel Sprouts

Row 3: The view from the Harborview Inn rooftop | Thornton Table Lamp at Circa Lighting | Crab Statues at Michael Mitchell

Row 4: Shrimp + Corn Dinner | More Pawleys Sunset | Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese, Capers, Green Onions Appetizer 

Row 5: Crab dock essentials | Khalessi | Jalapenos Margarita at Los Americanos

Row 6: Salad Nicoise at King & Grove | Basil Margaritas | Jalepenos Corn Muffins