13th Anniversary: Lace

Nathan & I celebrated our 13th Anniversary on February 19th. 

{We were young lings when we got married}

For our anniversaries, I like to incorporate the traditional gifts into our day.  The 13th year is lace.  {Click Here}to see the suggested gift list by year.  It's a fun tradition.

 

The Gifts

I was trying to be creative and think outside the box.  The idea popped into my head to get Nathan "LACES" as in a new pair of shoes.  I set off to Nordstrom Rack and immediately hit the Women's shoe department first ;)  I think I'm on auto pilot to go straight there. Of course I found shoes I love. These Jessica Simpson T-strap platforms.  I then headed over to the men's shoe section to knock out 2 birds with one stone: try on my shoes and looks for ones for Nathan.  I didn't find anything for him :(  I had to get creative and think what else to get.  I bought him a new belt (not pictured), Under Armour running pants, and new socks.  All things he can wear with shoes he already has with "laces."

Big Gifts from Anniversaries Past

11th Anniversary: is the gift of steel.  We bought a new BMW.

 10th Anniversary: This was my favorite.  We love Vegas and went back for our anniversary. It's where we went on our honeymoon so it was fun to return. The gift for that year is tin/aluminum.  We stayed at Trump International (highly recommend~5 star hotel) which is a big "metallic" hotel.  My gift was a David Yurman cuff cable bracelet which also goes along with tin/aluminum.

 

 

Lace & Fashion

Lace was everywhere on the runway for Spring 2013 fashions. Here are clips:

My Interpretation of Fashion & Lace

I'm obsessed with the Nickolas Kirkwood lace heels.  I first saw them on Kelly Ripa (she's wearing a different pair of Kirkwood's in the pic. Aren't they a piece of art!!  Expensive art for your feet at $1800.

 

 

 

I put together this outfit, using the shoes as my inspiration.  If you didn't hear the news, matchy matchy is back!  It's acceptable again to match your shoes to your handbag, and to your belt.  It's also acceptable to wear head to toe lace. 

Top is Prabal Gurung. He's a high end designer who just did a line for Target.

Skirt is Downeast

 Mix & Match pieces I created:

Lace Cardi from Downeast, along with the Skirts. Black lace underpinning is Downeast
iPhone lace case.The SHOES!!  I think they are a great alternative to the Kirkwoods.  I'd like to add them to my shoe "art" collection.  The are also Prabal Gurung for Target.

 

 

Lace etc...

 Lace aviators are Valentino.  I love the mix of masculine & feminine.

Uggs are from their Bridal Collection.  How fun if you have a winter wedding. Not to wear at the actual wedding...maybe while getting ready :)  I like the fluff flops and the blue soles.

 

 

Last but not least...

It's important to look great while working out :)  The lace trend is even in workout gear.  This outfit is Lululemon and from their laceoflage collection (sadly it's about out of stock).

 

I hope I inspired you to do something creative if you have an anniversary to celebrate this year.

 

These are my favorites!

Love,

Laura

Valentine's Week

I can sum up Valentine's week with one word:

SURPRISES

It's no surprise to those who know me that I am not tech savvy in the least.  I was up all night the night before V-day making 60 picture cards for my kids to take to school.  I couldn't get the pictures to turn out right (long story) and the night felt like Christmas Eve.  The feeling that you're never going to get to bed and the feeling that time is slipping away.  I did manage to get it all done by 11:30pm.

 Onto Valentines Day:

For dinner, we had a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphys.  I was surprised at how huge, tasty, and cheap it was (7 bucks).  This will be our new tradition.  After dinner, we loaded the kids in the car and went to Freddy's for their favorite treat; worms and dirt, no surprise there :) 

Gifts:

Two huge surprises.  My Christmas gift finally arrived on Valentine's Day, a lemon citrine David Yurman cable bracelet.  I think it's safe to say my Yurman bracelet collection is now complete.  I love them. 

The biggest surprise of all was an Iphone.  I had a BlackBerry and had a love hate relationship with it.  Most days I wanted to throw it into a river.  It freezes all the time and thought maybe it might meet it's match in a cold icy "freezing" river.   Despite that, I couldnt' seem to get rid of it because it's basic in nature and easy to use when it's not frozen.  I now don't know how I made it this long without the IPhone.  It's kind of like switching from a programmed VCR taping your favorite shows to DVR.  I picked up this pink and gold chevron case for my white phone.

Pay it Forward Gift:

More on this in a post coming very soon but if you're on Facebook, you probably saw the pay it forward status idea last month.  I received a surprise pay it forward gift this week from a high school friend named Amber.  She's a makeup artist and indulged me with some great goodies; a Tweezerman file and buff set and Deborah Lippmann nail polish in Sweet Dreams.  I buffed my nails and painted two coats.  It's a fun bubble gum pink with gold sparkles.  Matches my IPhone case :)  I also painted my little diva's toes.  Painted toes are like brushing teeth for her.  She wants it done at least once per day, sometimes twice.  It wasn't easy to get her busy feet to stand still but she loves the color too.

Last but not Least:

To end the fun week, I realized I had had my share of sweets and not one workout.  Bad surprise realization.  I can certainly feel it.  I redeemed the Lululemon gift card my friends gave me for my birthday with this jacket and striped top.  Hopefully that will give me a little more motivation to get back into the swing of things next week.  I've been doing the Insanity Workout for 2 years and love it.  It's surprisingly very hard but very rewarding. 

Now onto my anniversary in 2 days. Another week of surprises :)

These are my favorites!

Love,

Laura

Laura's 2013 Valentine's Day Picks

It's hard to believe Valentine's Day is this week.  It's also my 13th anniversary this week so love certainly is in the air. Here are some of my favorites.

Classy beautiful outfits for an elegant Valentine's Day. 

 I found these looks on Pinterest but they are exactly something I would've created. 

 Click on my Pinterest Closet for direct links.

 

Fun outfits for a semi dressy night out.  Pinterest

 

 

Valentine's accessories

Ombre Necklace: Anthropologie

IPhone Heart Case.

 

 

I ordered this coat (yet to arrive) for $24 from JCP

Shoes: Charlotte Olympia.  Cute but far from budget friendly

Essie Nailpolish

Tiffany Bracelet: my parents gave me this for college graduation. Perfect V-day gift too.

Cute shoes from Gap

Classic Essentials

ShoeMint Red Ballet Flats.  I'm kind of obsessed with these :)  I can count on half a hand how many red items I have in my closet and it's time to try red.  I'm waiting for these to go on sale.  Don't ever pay full price at ShoeMint. Tory Burch Clutch: great classic bag.  NARS eyeshadow from their Spring Collection.

 

 

Another great Pinterest Outfit.  China Glaze Ruby polish.  Stays on really well and the color is fun.  ShoeMint Jess pumps.  I bought these so I could get the box :)  slight exaggeration. YSL Sheer Candy Gloss in Pomegranate #4.  My current fav lip color. Emily Maynard's too :)

 

 

Comfy Casual Night-in

Pinterest outfit

Ugg Slippers and flip flops

Fun nail idea.  Pinterest

 

 

Wishing you a Fashionable Valentine's Day filled with Love!

These are my favorites!

Love,

Laura

 

Shopping for a Box

I saw this on Pinterest today and I can totally relate.  Actually, my kids can relate and that's why we don't  EVER buy Lucky Charms.

This same thought rings true to shoes and boxes.  The shoes are the marshmallows and the boxes they come in are the cereal.  I keep the shoes and toss the boxes.  I don't save boxes.  Every February, I face the same dilemma when I receive the yearly email from my daughter's teacher to bring in  a shoe box for her Valentines.  Last year, I was "forced" to buy a new pair of shoes just so she would have a box :)  I didn't learn my lesson and was once again left no choice but to buy a new pair of shoes this year too.  No guarantees I'll be prepared next year.  I have to admit I am liking this yearly tradition of "New Shoes February."  It's a win win situation.

 

Last year, I bought these Stuart Weitzman knock offs at Target.

 

And, my pick for this year... these Charlotte Olympia knock offs by ShoeMint.

Stay tuned for my knock off pick next year.  I have no intention of putting a stop to this tradition :)

 

These are my favorites!

Love,

Laura