First, I wanted to mention that Meghan of the Magpie featured me on her blog today. Both she and her blog are adorable - you should go check it out!


Mmmm Sangria! The Fourth of July is coming up, and Jason and I love this summery American holiday. I wanted to share my Sangria recipe I will be making on the 4th. 

 

What You'll Need
Berry Vodka or Liquor - I used Raspberry Pomegranate Vodka
White Table Sugar
2-3 Fresh Lemons
Blueberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Red Wine (I suggest Merlot or Shiraz, preferably one that has blackberry undertones. The Bota Boxes are perfect for this - I use the 3 Liter bow for parties)
Simply Cranberry Cocktail

First, get your fruit. Combine to get 4 cups of berries. Toss in 1 cup sugar and a drizzle of lemon juice, then pour over it with 1 cup vodka and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Scoop the berries out of the vodka mixture and place into a large container. I am photographing a small batch, so while a pitcher is pretty, it's not gonna hold your 3 liter batch! Trying halfing this recipe for smaller pitchers.

Pour 8 cups of wine (you will have some leftover if you get the 3 liter box here, if you want to use it all, adjust the recipe!) and 4 cups of the cranberry juice over the berries. Allow to chill in the fridge.

Serve with ice and garnish with leftover berries and lemon slices! Happy fourth y'all!

One thing I both love and find challenging about my job is properly testing products. What size laptop can I fit in here? Does it fit a large cell phone, not just an iPhone? Is this pocket layout user friendly? Is this material nice, durable, and fits the quality standards of our brand? I have a few things I have tested, from carrying a backpack to Vegas and back, to these new women's bags. While this is just a sample, I need to make sure that everything is right before we go into production, which means carrying things myself, or allowing someone else in the company to carry them. I do love being able to see my designs through from the beginning like this, and I cannot wait to get this and the two other ladies' designs on my drawing board out.

The process is a long one though, and I doubt I'll see this come to market before 2013 comes. This is my personal favorite of the bunch. The braided handle is my favorite part, I was definitely inspired by the Alexa bag on that one.

I got this dress at Target over the weekend. What can I say? I have a thing for teal. And this belt seems to be made for this dress, yes?

sweater : ann taylor outlet remixed

dress : target

belt : from a modcloth dress remixed

headband : anthropologie

heels : seychelles via nordstrom rack remixed

ring : target remixed

necklace : fossil (similar) remixed

bag : own design for current company

Also, Rachael won the Fossil Crossybody Bag & Ad Space giveaway! Thank you to all who entered - keep reading and look out for a another giveaway next month.

Today is Jason's last full day in Pennsylvania before he returns home for a week, then after the holiday, another 5 months. It's kind of hard to even type it because I'm still pretending that he isn't leaving. As a nice last day treat, we drove to Bryn Mawr, a suburb of Philadelphia, to see Moonrise Kingdom at a little theatre. We ate a local burger place named quite literally, BRGR Joint, and then ice cream at Scoops. The town was a-dor-able and reminded me of the suburbs I grew up in. Oh, and Moonrise Kingdom is an amazing film with such a great story, I loved it. Might be my new Wes Anderson favorite, besides Life Aquatic.

This dress is one I almost always wear as a top, but I really wanted to wear it as a dress since it was SO hot outside today.  Plus, it goes well with my vintage jewelry and wonderful new earrings from Anjolee. These earrings are beautiful and you will be seeing them in review tomorrow, so here's a bit of a sneak peak.

sweater : ann taylor loft remixed
dress : free people (kind of similar) remixed
sandals : miss trish for target
bag : vahalla brooklyn via etsy remixed
headband : forever 21 remixed
necklace : tiffany remixed
watch : relic
bracelet : vintage & paris market remixed
earrings : c/o anjolee

The weather is quite humid and hot here, but the summer sun is just beautiful. And having Jason around has been wonderful - I love having someone to take my photos in pretty areas like this. Only negative to Jason being here is the crazy amount I have been eating and the weight I have gained. Oops. I'm starting a nice diet and exercise regimen next week to get back on one of my New Year's resolutions. For the record, the one big one I have not broken is that I still have not worn pants for an entire 6 months now!

 

dress : sparkle & fade via urban outfitters (similar) remixed

belts : aerie & target remixed

flats : modcloth remixed

purse : marc by marc jacobs remixed

scarf : modcloth

We've been married for one whole year today! I'm so ecstatic we were able to be together for this day (originally, that wasn't going to be the case!) Being apart for this year has been harder than I could have imagined, and I can't wait until we get to be married and living together again.

 

We took a honeymoon to Walt Disney World. We stayed in an amazing hotel and spent an amazing week at Disney. Seriously one of the best memories of my life. I have TONS of photos, but I wanted to share with you some we took in our married ears at the Magic Kingdom.

see more photos here

ears : gift from my sis in law sarah & her boyfriend dave

top : marimekko via anthropologie

belt : vintage

shorts : target

shoes : keds via zappos

necklace : crave jewelry design

sunnies : ray ban

Also, check out this adorable video my husband made as a gift. It's my tattoo in animation form!

Jason and I are celebrating 'anniversary weekend' and our first little event was to take a trip down to Baltimore. Since it is only about an hour and a half from where I live, it was a nice drive and a great city to visit. We enjoyed walking around and eating and drinking at a bunch of local places.

Hungry Andy's was a delicious first meal for us! We tried Baltimore pit beef and had delicious hand cut fries.

Mr. Yogato was an adorable fro-yo shop. I love this stuff.

We enjoyed cocktails at Rye. They were delicoius

I am a big fan of Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss so I made a point of visiting their beer garden in Baltimore. It didn't disappoint.

Our day ended with delicious tapas at Tapas Adela in Fells Point. It was a nice end to a day of walking a lot. We had reservations at somewhere I thought was close, but it ended up being WAY too far from where we were and even farther than where we parked. This was a nice little surprise find.

   



dress : sugarhill boutique via modcloth
belt : target remixed
sandals : target remixed
bag : marc by marc jacobs remixed
bracelets : target & kate spade remixed
earrings : kate spade remixed

First, thank you Lori-Lynn from A Little Slice of Special for featuring me in Why I Blog Wednesday. You all should go check out her blog!

Lately, all I really want to listen to is pop-punk / alt-rock from the 90s. Like stuff that might have been on the radio when I was a kid. You know, maybe, what I am talking about. That Harvey Danger Flagpole Sitta song. Some the of Strokes, particularly Reptilia. That Lit song. I don't know what it is, but that's basically what we listened to for our drive back to Pennsylvania.

sweater : mossimo via target remixed

dress : forever 21 remixed

belt : target remixed

flats : marc jacobs remixed

necklace : target remixed

bracelets : nordstrom and kate spade remixed

sunnies : ray ban remixed

I love visiting Akron. Well. I guess I love visiting anywhere these days. Little trips just make me oh so happy. We spent Saturday celebrating my father in laws birthday, seeing Men in Black 3, and eating delicious ice cream at my favorite place, Stow Cone.

top : loomstate for target remixed

skirt : buttons via francescas collections remixed

belt : forever 21 remixed

sandals : target remixed

bag : cambridge satchel via modcloth remixed

bracelets : forever 21 & kate spade remixed

sunnies : ray ban remixed

necklace : crave jewelry remixed