Obsessions

NEON PAINTED WOODEN SPOONS
I think you all know by now I am not a huge DIY kind of girl (I admit it I get lazy) but this is one DIY I most definitely plan to attempt. How cute would a a few of these be bundled together with oven mits and dish towels for a housewarming or hostess gift?

{via}

REBECCA MINKOFF BOMBE MAC PURSE
Love this purse in a serious way. It also comes in a coralish pink but I love the black version best.

LUCA COUTURE COLOR BLOCK TANK DRESS
I live in light weight knit dresses during the summer. It gets so darn hot here in Charleston and they keep me cool. I also love that you can pair them with cute flats during the day or dress them up with wedges or heels for a night out. Loving this color block tank dress and it is a great price!

KENNETH JAY LANE JADE NECKLACE
I am really loving this chunky necklace for summer. I am all about chunky necklaces paired with my summer maxis and blouses. I think this jade color would look amaze with pink.

WASABI AND SOY SAUCE ALMONDS
These almonds are so delicious. The perfect touch of spice from the wasabi and salt from the soy sauce. I highly recommend! They have been my go-to snack lately!

Scenes From Our Weekend

Here is what went down!
On Friday I went to the Spring event at Novel here in Charleston and got the cutest hand painted bags by WayWay ( Blue Chickadee). Inside each bag there was a notebook and pen, the perfect little gift in my opinion. WayWay does some many cool hand painted things- you can check out more on her blog here. I scarfed up a few of these bag sets to save for gifts. For all you locals you should totally stop in Novel sometime, in addition to WayWay's painted items, they had the most gorgeous stationary by Bon Vivant and I am still dreaming about the Jewelry by Jane Pope. A girl could do some damage in there!

We enjoyed St Patty's at the beach near our house. The weather was perfect all weekend.

Attended two 30th Birthday parties and a dinner Saturday night. Here is what I wore:
Dress is DVF and bracelet is JCrew.

My local wine store recommended this great Chardonnay blend. I love shopping for wine at local wine stores vs the grocery store because you can find such great wines at a great price because the mark up is not as high. This wine was delish and retailed for $9.00. I find on a whole wine stores have a much better selection and the owners are always super knowledgeable.

We made the most amazing Shrimp Nachos. Recipe to come Wednesday and trust me you don't want to miss this one! Matt and I both agreed these were one of our best creations yet!

Enjoyed my Sunday morning (a wee bit hungover) outside reading Vogue, sipping coffee, and watching my little man run around. The perfect morning.

Have a great Monday! Its the start of my Birthday week and I believe in celebrating for a full week! I have decided I really want a pair of colored jeans for my birthday. I don't own any colored jeans, so I want to know who makes the most perfect fitting colored jeans? I am leaning towards these two colors, either coral or mint green. I would prefer not to spend a fortune on the jeans but I am willing to pay more for a great fitting pair. So tell me ladies where should I shop to find the best colored jeans?

Thoughts For Friday

Happy Friday! I am so excited for this weekend. We have so many fun parties to attend which is very welcome after two low key weekends. I am ready to get dressed up and get my party on!

I went out to dinner Monday night with two of my favorite ladies Chassity and Caycee to celebrate Chassity's birthday. We dined at The Macintosh and it was amazing. Loved everything we ate. If you dine there I highly recommend the truffled fries and Lavender Martini- out of this world! Here is my Outfit (Dress is Generra from Hampden Clothing a few years ago)

How cute does Kristen Cavelleri look preggo in her one-piece. I mean I seriously want that bathing suit pregnant or not it is so chic. Anyone know who makes this swimsuit?

I am thinking about picking up these rubber Tory Burch flipflops. Anyone own a pair? I am looking for a casual pair of flipflops to wear with shorts and dresses this summer. I am digging the black and tan. They seem like the perfect summer sandal for a fraction of the cost of her other shoes.

I rue the day Matt ever brought home this new Fruity Pebbles cereal. You see I have a weakness for cereal. I can't buy the sweet kind because I will eat a whole box in a day. The Marshmallow Pebbles is ridiculously good, you should buy some. But be warned, its like crack I can't stop eating it.

I was browsing through Oprah's magazine (which surprisingly was a pretty good read) while I got my nails done last week and came across a new juice recipe from Dr. Oz. He said it was his go-to detox juice recipe. I made it this week and really liked it. For those of you with juicers you should totally try this recipe out.

I am not a huge St. Patrick's Day partier. Although I will say I went through a stage in college where I loved Guinness and it was all I wanted to drink (so random, right?? But I found since it was less carbonated I could drink more without feeling so full. Priorities in college. Plus it does have less calories than most beers.) Now I never really drink beer but I am thinking I want to make these festive "Pot of Gold" cocktails featured on the Glitter Guide yesterday. They have fresh pear juice and champagne in them and sound divine.

My birthday is a week from Saturday and I am actually excited about it this year. My family gets in town Thursday and I am hoping to hit up the Rooftop Bar or somewhere with fabulous outdoor seating since the weather has been so nice. For my local readers what are your favorite outdoor spots to enjoy drinks in Charleston?
If money were no object this is what I would like to wear for my Birthday night out.
Tibi Draped Shift Dress

and I would pair it with these DVF Sinead Twist Sandals

Here's to hoping the weather this weekend is as amazing as it has been all week. We have been loving our park playdates! Gotta love that my little man insists on wearing his rainboots with every outfit!

Have a fabulous weekend!

The Look For Less x 2

I am pretty sure you have all seen this Tibi Maxi Skirt all over Pinterest and the blogasphere lately. I love it, really do but $495 for a skirt is ridiculously expensive. There is no way I am going to pay that.
TIBI ARIZONA PLEATED SKIRT, $495

I came across this skirt from Anthropolgie. The pattern is different, and yeah I probably like the Tibi pattern better, but this skirt is a 1/3 the price of the Tibi skirt and the style is pretty much exactly the same. I actually really like the color blocking on the Anthro skirt.
FIELD OF VISION SKIRT, $148

Another item I have been stalking is the Celine Colorblock Tote. Sadly, at $2000+ that purse will never be mine!

I found this super cute similar version at Old Navy. I know I am shocked too, but Old Navy has been killing it this year with their line! First the sailboat blouse and now these totes. This purse is truly a fraction of the cost of the Celine Tote. It was orginally $29 but it is one sale right now for $17.80. Heck I would almost buy two for that price. They are faux leather so I think they would be adorable beach totes because they would be easy to clean!
OLD NAVY COLORBLOCK TOTE, $17.80

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

I made this casserole a few weeks ago because it was voted Casserole of the year by Taste of Home Magazine. Plus lets be honest, I never met a Mexican dish I didn't love! This casserole certainly did not disappoint and the best part it was so simple to put together. If you are a Vegetarian I think this would be great without meat and you could just add another type of beans or an additional veggie. I also think it would be great with ground turkey or shredded chicken if you don't like red meat. It was cheesy and filled with so many great flavors! I love making casseroles because I can make them earlier that day and then just pop them in the oven. I usually make them during nap time and then I have more time to spend with Sterling and Matt when he gets home (and more time to sit and sip my glass of wine). I highly recommend this, it was super tasty!

I promise it tastes better than my sad picture looks, but wanted to show you our "real life" picture of the casserole.


CHEESY ENCHILADA CASSEROLE
Ingredients
•1 pound lean ground beef ( lean)
•1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion
•2 1/2 cups salsa
•1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
•1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
•2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
•1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
•6 flour or corn tortillas (8 inches)
•1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn
•3/4 cup sour cream
•2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend or your favorite cheese
•1 cup shredded lettuce
•1 medium tomato, chopped
•1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro to garnish
• *Note: I cut the flour tortillas to fit my pan, since they were the very large size. I also added in a can of refried beans to the mix because I love refried beans. It is not in the original recipe but I thought it worked perfectly.

Directions
•In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
•Stir in the salsa, beans, corn, dressing, sour cream, taco seasoning and cumin.
•Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
•Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
•The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
•Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.
• Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings

Top Two Photos and Recipe VIA

Obsessions

I am so glad everyone is still digging the Obsessions posts because I sure do love writing them!

AQUA CANYON IKAT TIERED MAXI DRESS
Obsessed with this dress and even more so with the price tag. It is only $118, such a steal for a cute maxi dress. Pretty sure she will be mine soon!

HOUSE OF HARLOW JEWELRY
So of course I had heard of Nicole Ritchie's jewelry line but I had never seen it in person. While I was in Charlotte we stopped in Nordtroms where they had a display set up of her jewelry. I loved every piece I tried on. The jewelry was made so well and even more beautiful in person. I thought it looked like it should cost alot more than it did! My two favorites pictured below. They both come in black as well but I was really digging the neutral color.
Station Leather Necklace

Double Sunburst Pendant

34 DEGREES CRISPBREAD
I am so hooked on these crackers. They’re the thinnest, crispiest cracker around, and they’re baked with no added oil. I bought the multi-grain kind and it is made with only 3 ingredients, so you know they are good for you. One serving of 34° Crispbread is 9 crackers and that is only 35 calories and 0 grams of fat. Seriously go pick up a box of these. I found mine at Costco but I have seen them at Earthfare as well. They pair perfectly with my cheese and wine in the afternoon!

DVF KLEE TOE FLATS
I am in love with these shoes in a major way. They are the perfect nude color with a hint of hot pink.

ALMOND MILK
I have to admit I switched to Almond Milk after I heard Gwyneth say that she drank it. I know alot of regular diary and milk are laden with hormones and Almond milk is not. There is no cholesterol, lactose, or animal products in Almond Milk. It is so good I may not switch back to regular milk. The Silk brand is what I tried and love.

TRADER JOES WILD MUSHROOM AND BLACK TRUFFLE PIZZA
This is the pizza I blogged out yesterday. It is so darn good. You must try this if you love Truffles. You can really taste the flavor in the pizza. I think mushrooms and truffles are quite possibly the perfect combo. I do recommend adding extra cheese.