Happy Happy Weekend!

BIG weekend planned! Today I am heading over to spend the day and night with my girls at a friend's beach house for her bachelorette party. Can't wait to relax by the pool and sip cocktails...then we will hit the town at night for some dinner and drinks...

Then we are going to indulge in some fresh seafood- and "pre" celebrate my husband's birthday with some of his friends...

Sunday we will continue the celebration on the boat or at the beach and then head down to one of our favorite little towns- Cape May- for a quick little getaway...

Whew I got tired just typing all that! I hope I make it through this busy weekend ahead! Happy Happy weekend my dears!

Random Stuff + New House Update

I literally dragged myself through yesterday...I was exhausted all day and felt a little under the weather- but the good news is I still managed to get to the gym (yay!)

{via this is glamourous}

About a week ago, Kevin and I drove back to our old stomping ground for dinner. We were craving the grilled chicken sandwich from one of our favorite restaurants Marco & Pepe...man did it deliver!

Yes, I ate the french fries...go ahead judge me...

We ordered the grilled corn on the cob for an appetizer- it was amazingly good!

Here I am drinking my wine...I have to find out what it is called because it is fabulous and a GREAT value!

I took a picture of this hutch that they have there because I want it for my house...do you think they would sell it to me?

"I Do" Bridal Bags

When I was getting married a "bridal bag" was an after thought...literally. The day of my wedding my mom asked me "where's your purse?" And I was like, "Oh my god! I don't have one? Do I need one?" I ended up giving my extra lipgloss and tissues to my mom to carry in her purse. For all you brides out there, have you seen these lovelies by Rebecca Minkoff? LOVE THEM!

{via The Purse Blog}

{image via StyleList}

Did you, or would you carry your own purse on your wedding day? If so, what would you carry in it?

Mid-Summer Dreamin'

I am so not over summer yet- and definitely not ready for it to end anytime soon...As we approach these "dog days" of summer here are some things I am dreaming about...

Driving with the top down...

Diving into the pool...

Fresh squeezed lemonade...

Boating...

Dining Al Fresco...

An evening stroll by the water...

Spending time with the girls...

Getting caught in a rain storm...

Fresh watermelon...

What are you dreaming of today?

{images via: Keenan Evans; Vogue; Martha Stewart; Under a Paper Moon; English Muse; Marie Claire;

Harper's Bazaar; Edible Boston}

Fall Beauty

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was so great- that I am finding it hard to get into "the swing" of things today...We had fun trying new seafood restaurants, riding the waves at the beach, steaming clams on the bbq, and drinking ice cold Blue Moons...In order to get out of my summer haze this morning- I decided to post about Fall Beauty. What was popular on the fall runways? What can we expect this fall for make-up and hair?

Prada

Here at Prada, the hair is high, the make-up is minimal, and the brows are the focal point...

Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana showcased parted hair pulled into a low loose bun or ponytail...All the models wore a berry red lip...

3.1 Phillip Lim

Hair at 3.1 Phillip Lim looked like it was just pulled out of braids (which I love)...make-up is minimal with lots of peachy pink tones...

Christian Dior

At Christian Dior they debuted the infamous "fish tail braid"...The make-up had many bronze, gold, and peach tones...

Have you started to think about Fall style, or are you staying in summer as long as you can?

All photos via Style.com

Quote of the Day

"We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." 

Angelina Jolie 


{photo via W Magazine}

Email Trail

Yesterday I was going through my e-mail folders asking myself ..."what the heck do I have saved in here?" What I found was an emotional journey through the past 6 years. My life has changed drastically in these past 6 years... The oldest e-mail I have saved is a "love note" from my future husband, who at the time I had just been dating for about three months. It is the sweetest little note that I will cherish forever (printed it out to add to the scrapbook).

Then there was the beautiful e-mail from my Aunt on the first anniversary of my father's death that brought me to tears. I want to share it with you all...

Dear Cara, Paul, and Geena,

On the anniversary of the death of our beloved Ralph, the Ralphster, I want to say how proud I was of all three of you during the last hours of Ralph's life here on earth.

Cara, you were always there for Him.  Before school, after school and during the entire day.  Paul, your thoughts were always with Dad and he had joy in knowing that you loved Him.

Geena, Dad was in complete ecstasy just to look at your beautiful face.  He loved all three of you more that life it self.

"Thank you", for being so brave, so strong and so loving.

Your lives are an example of his love, never change!

With love,

Aunt Vicky

Then there are the e-mails of me going back and forth with the breeder that I bought Boomer from...here we are when he was just a little baby (still a baby at heart)!

Then there are a bunch of e-mails about me starting my career in Public Relations...My first resume, job interviews...At that same time there are e-mails and pictures of our first apartment in Jersey City...Soon after that we got engaged! So I saved almost every e-mail of the wedding process (good and bad) in the folder "Our Wedding"

This photo was e-mailed to us by my mother-in-law...I read the e-mail while we were on our honeymoon in Greece..

After the wedding, there a bunch of really funny e-mails from my friend Rachel and I... We were always concocting up new business ideas (we should really ACT on them) and there are a bunch of inside jokes that I forgot about...I had a good laugh!

I know this is a long post, so if you are still with me, thank you for reading! It was really fun going through all the old e-mails I have... It was a good reminder of all the good times and bad, and to see how much I have grown...I wonder what I will find looking back 6 years from now??

Have any of you ever taken a trip down memory lane through your e-mail? Am I the only one that saves e-mails?

Have an Amazing Weekend!!!!

Greige Nail Polish + Giveaway Winner!

So basically my nails have been a shade of pink, red, or orange all summer...I need a change asap! I am thinking when I go for my next mani-pedi I will choose a shade of Greige....

Chanel polish #505

{photo via All Lacquerd Up}

Have you tried any of these colors before? Did you like it?

And the Winner of the CSN Gift Card Giveaway is.....Carrie from Couture Carrie!! Congratulations- and I will be e-mailing you shortly! Thank you to CSN Stores for partnering with me -and all of you who participated!!

Happy Wednesday Loves!!

Love it or Hate it?

The start of this week has been a busy one! I am attending a lot of advanced training classes for work, all while doing my usual workload, so I am just trying to catch my breath. Plus, this crazy hot heat is starting to get to me. All I ask for is a little breeze! So in light of this hot and heavy heat most of us are in, I thought we could play a little game called Love it or Hate it (the outfit, not the celebrity)...

1. Gwenth Paltrow at the Stella McCartney for GapKids event

2. Rachel Bilson

3. Rachel Zoe

4. Eva Mendez

5. Margherita Missoni

My thoughts...

1. Love the tee and blazer, but not a fan of those jeans (yuck!)
2. Rachel Bilson can barely ever go wrong when it comes to style, however, I am not loving those pants on her...too baggy!
3. Love the coat, hate the boots
4. LOVE LOVE LOVE! Eva nailed it (in my opinion, of course)
5. I have to say that although this outfit may never work on anyone else, Margherita totally pulls it off! Those shoes are to die for!

Now it's YOUR TURN, what do you think of these outfits? Love them or hate them?

PS. This is your last day to enter the gift card GIVEAWAY!

Pops of Gold

I love using gold as accents to rooms...I prefer gold over silver any-day...Would you ever consider painting a ceiling gold like this one?

This coffee table legs are ultra luxurious, and I would love to find that EXACT blue and gold lamp for m new family room...

Glam up any photo by using gold frames like these...

Love this beautiful vintage looking gold mirror frame...it's the perfect focal point in this white room...

These chairs are to die for!! I was going to spray paint my kitchen table and chairs a cream color, but maybe I spray paint them gold (they are currently gunmetal)? What do you think?

Do you prefer gold or silver accents?

***If you were not able to see the photos in yesterday's post...here they are

Another Lovely Weekend...

Despite having to work this weekend I was able to find time to wine and dine, furniture shop, and relax in the sun...I did not have time however to upload the pictures I have taken this weekend for my usual "weekend in photo" post. Maybe I will post them for tomorrow's post. How was YOUR weekend?

Monday's are always hard to get back into the "swing of things" so I will leave you with some additional photo's of Lauren and Robert's Wedding from last weekend...

They had the cutest first dance EVER! They choreographed a little number to "And then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals...

Here we are watching a collage of photos put together by their sister and brother-in-law...Did you see Lauren's pink shoes? We all wore the same ones :)

LOVE this little ring dish that their adorable ring bearer held when he walked down the isle...These photos were all taken by their photographer Brad, from Brad Ross Photography. He did an amazing job, and if you are looking for a photographer in the New Jersey area, here is his website.

Have a great week and don't forget to enter the Giveaway!