Happy Holidays

I'll be heading home to Texas over the holidays for some quality family time, loving on my ridiculously adorable nephew, stuffing my face with my Mom's home cooking, and running a bajillion miles on the road to balance out said face stuffing.

I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Michele

Image courtesy of @andgrassi via Instagram



Cookies for a Cause

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Boston #CookieSwap for a Cause, put on by the always fabulous Swapaholics and Boston Food Swap. The event was an all-out, sugar coma inducing event where every cookie brought would provide a donation to Cookies for Kids' Cancer.  I'm a huge fan of swapping and a passionate baker, so this was an easy way to combine two of my favorite things into one event for a good cause.

This was one of the biggest swaps I've ever been to, with about 150 other bakers on hand to help the cause. Joining me in the cookie festivities was Kristen, and after setting up our cookies and brownies, we were off to snag the goodies. 

Fellow baker-swappers getting the tasty treats

I love this description of the recipe!

Each swapper received a Gladware container to fill with delicious cookies. As you can see, we did some serious damage.

 Once we grabbed our tasty swag, Kristen and I had some fun taking photos with Santa. 

This was such a great event, and I really hope there are more swaps like this to come! Now if you'll excuse me, there are some cookies calling my name.
 

 Top: H&M (Gift from office Secret Santa) 

Skinny Jeans: Ann Taylor Loft

Headband: The Fashion Truck

Black Friday Shopping

Happy (Cyber) Monday Lovelies! I hope you enjoyed a long weekend with friends, family and food. Did you partake of the retail madness? I tried. Really, I did. It started with cyber shopping on Friday (why brave the mall when you can shop from the comfort of your PJs?) but that unraveled when a few sites I went to, ahem Gap and Anthro, weren't working. FAIL. I actually went to Best Buy, but a check out line wrapped around the store told me I wouldn't be taking anything home. 

It started to look like my weekend would be a complete shopping bust until Sunday night. ApartStyle sent me an awesome notification about a sale. The ending result was scoring these beauties at a STEAL. Originally priced at $440, they were on sale for $89. Shopping success. 

Nappa Leather Slim Pant

If you haven't already checked out ApartStyle, I strongly suggest you do ASAP. I've shopped from them a couple times for wedding dresses (here and here) and I've never been disappointed. So if you're on the hunt for a little something for yourself today, check out Apart. They're having more killer deals today for Cyber Monday. 

Did you have a successful shopping holiday? I'd love to hear what you scored over the weekend, whether it was for family, friends or yourself.

*note - I was not compensated for this love fest on ApartStyle. I'm just a fan girl.

Smiling Stiletto-Marshall's Shoe Event

If you've ever read by blogger profile (that little blurb about moi on the right hand column of my blog) then you know I believe shoes make the outfit (at least 99% of the time.) That's why I'm a fan and member of the Smiling Stiletto Shoe Club. 

Last week the club hosted an event, sponsored by Marshalls, at Vlora Restaurant. There were goodies galore up for grabs by playing a few games, like "Guess the Marshall's Price" where, if you guessed the Marshall's price for items like Prada sunnies, you won them. How awesome is that? Unfortunately yours truly did not win any of the clothes/shoes/sunnies, BUT every one walked away with at least one Marshalls gift card. 

My favorite part of the evening, however, were all the shoes (natch.) Pairs and pairs of shoes were placed around the event, so naturally I ignored any photos of my outfit and instead focused on the shoes. Feast your eyes. 

The Shoe Table

I want these coach boots

I also want the leopard wedges and the purple suede booties

Love at first sight.

  What I'm Wearing: 

Top - Tilly's (worn here and here)

Skirt - American Apparel)

A Fashionable Affair

I wanted to share some photos from our trip to New Orleans. The extended weekend was pretty magical - not only did we get to see some of our favorite friends, but the bride and groom got married in style. After exchanging vows in a beautiful courtyard, the entire wedding party was marched through the French Quarter behind the Second Line band Treme, which included a stop in Jackson Square for their first dance. 


To say it was beautiful wouldn't do justice to how amazing this wedding was. And because the bride and groom are such stylish folks, you can bet their wedding guests were too. Below are some photos of the grand affair. 

Tis True

The tall drink of handsome next to me is my date - we didn't mean to, but we matched!

At the Pharmacy Museum just after vows were exchanged

The twins and I after the reception - feeling the New Orleans spirit

Love this man!

I took some video of the wedding as well, and will share that as soon as it's ready (you wouldn't believe how long it takes a non tech savvy girl to make these things happen!) Until then, I hope you've enjoyed. 

All That Glitters

Happy Monday Lovelies! As you're reading this I'm returning from a weekend in New Orleans. As I mentioned on Friday, we're in the Big Easy to celebrate another wedding (if you're counting, that's 4 this season, none of which were in Boston) and en route back to Boston today. Since I don't have an outfit for you (yet), I thought I'd show you what I wore to the wedding via designer images. 

 I was lucky enough to score this sparkly Diamante Tiered Dress from Apart Style last year via a giveaway. I wore it once to Stephen's office holiday party, and was never documented wearing it, so took the opportunity to wear it again. I thought it would be sassy enough to storm the streets of the French Quarter.

I have to admit that it was love at first sight with this clutch from House of Harlow 1960. I knew I wanted something in red (there again with my red obsession) and this clutch just looked so bad ass. I love everything about this clutch - from the gold studs to the jaguar head clasp.

I hope your Monday is off to a great start, and I promise I'll have photos from New Orleans later this week. Until then, enjoy the start to your week! 

xoxo,
M.

The Perks of Being a Model

I think nearly every young girl has dreams of being a model when she grows up. I know that I certainly did. And while my HUGE boat feet gave me hope that I'd grow into them, alas, the abrupt stoppage of height at just 5'4" ensured that I'd never have a career careening down the walkway. 

After seeing this slideshow from Fashionista earlier this week, I'm a little thankful that I didn't end up a runway model. Take a look at what the various Fashion Week(s) does to a dainty doll (note: not for the faint of heart or those with feet issues)

The Great Escape
It’s tough to keep the pinky toe in check. This was especially evident at Christian Dior, where they were slipping out the sides. The problem? We’re putting our money on the poorly-placed strap at the front. 

 The Ill-Fit
This is probably the most common runway problem. Either too tight, or too large, models often have to contend with ill-fitting shoes that may fly off at any second, or will cut circulation off completely. Opened-toed sandals seem to be the best bet since the toes at least have somewhere to go.

 The Wardrobe Malfunction
Not as common as the others, but the broken heel has been known to happen. These Mugler heels were needle-thin. Too thin, in fact, since many of them seemed to have bent right out of shape. Or perhaps they simply buckled in fright after that bizarre video of Lady Gaga. 

 

The Protective Measures
For any woman who wears heels on a regular basis, you can be pretty sure there will be a few bandaids kicking around her purse. The aesthetics of the bandage are probably the reason why more aren’t seen on the runways, though we wonder whether it’s always the right choice. Scabs are pretty tough to look at, too. Speaking of… 

The Wear and Tear
The slow decline of a model’s foot is obvious when looking at the collections from city to city. The pristine skin and tone from the beginning of NYFW takes a sharp turn by the time the model makes it to Paris, none evidenced so clearly than at Louis Vuitton, one of the very last Paris shows. Bruises, cuts, discoloration… it’s a bit scary, to be honest. We hope all the models are now enjoying a good rest. And hopefully a foot rub. 

On that note lovelies, I think it's time you kick off your heels and put on some flats to enjoy the weekend. I'm in New Orleans right now celebrating a wedding, so you can bet I'm in my fanciest heels navigating Bourbon Street. Hopefully I don't end up like these models when the weekend is said and done.  Enjoy your weekend! 

xoxo,

M.