INTERIORS:: PINK COUCH + LARGE HORSE

 

I kind of want to make this happen, but where does one acquire a hot pink couch and a large wooden horse? Not at ikea, that's for sure. Although come to think of it that couch does look kind of ikea-ish, I wonder if it's possible to dye a couch cover? Apologies for the all-overness of this post, but 

if a blog isn't for a long string of pretty-image-induced thoughts, then I don't know what is.

xo Cristina

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SOURCE: DOMINO

P.S. I MADE THIS:: BACON EGG & CHEESE SCONES

Hope you all had a lovely long weekend! Get up to anything fun? I got a bit adventurous and made bacon egg and cheese scones. I know, yum. My bloglove of course started years ago with street style blogs, but recently I can't get enough of pretty recipes on pretty food blogs, Tastespotting in particular (anyone else love that site?). I always fall for cookies and cakes (naturally) but this recipe caught my eye with its delicious simplicity: bacon? eggs? cheese? I can do that!

And so I did.

Are you guys liking the videos? Well I'm enjoying making them so tough ;) I found the scone recipe on the ever excellent Butter Me Up Brooklyn and the super easy whipped butter spread on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. You don't have to make both of these together, they're each delicious on their own (the butter spread makes my morning toast so special!). Follow the jump for the details...

WEEKEND WARS:: THE LOOK FOR LESS!

 

Three. Day. Weekend. Is there anything better than those three little words? I don't think so. For this loong Memorial Day weekend I put together a chic look you can wear to the pool, to the beach, to the lake, to the park, or anywhere you desire - and then I found it for less!!

In a fun twist of fate, the look for less costs exactly 10% of the original look. 

$810 vs. $81

I didn't even do that on purpose.

The Look:

See by Chloe sandals / $250

Marie Turnor envelope clutch / $225

Stella McCartney sunglasses / $225

Mathias Chaize bracelets / $110

TOTAL: $810

For Less:

Topshop sandals / $28

Rosa envelope clutch / $25

Urban Outfitters sunglasses / $16

Pieces bracelets / $12

TOTAL: $81

With the $729 that you save on this outfit, you can even afford that Chloe scalloped bikini (and pay the rent!) that I've decided is the absolute most perfect bikini I've seen in all my years. It's been about 3 summers and I still want it. It must be love, right? If you still don't want to shell out for the original, you can DIY your own scalloped bikini for $9. See here.

Happy Three Day Weekend!
xo Cristina


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TOP 3 SUMMER MAKEUPS

 

These are my top 3 favorite makeup looks for the summer, as you can see they all involve plenty of color. The last one, hot pink lips, looks fantastic with another summer favorite of mine, the daytime smoky eye.

1. Colorful liquid eyeliner

2. A wash of colorful eyeshadow on the eyelid

3. Hot pink lipstick 

What do you all wear for the summer?

xo Cristina

p.s. don't try all of these looks at once. or if you do, send me a picture because that would be a trip!

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SOURCE: NASTYGAL

IT'S ALMOST SUMMER!

I feel like this season, more than any other before, we all got into the Spring fever. It might have been the pastel color trend, or the floral fascination, or maybe it was the feminine frenzy of 50's-inspired Prada (I honestly did not mean to take the alliteration that far).
Or maybe it's because blogs have really embraced seasonal themes this year - did anyone else find that last New Year's was sequined insanity? Anyway, florals and pastels were fun 'n all, but I'm ready for SUMMER! Swimsuits and palm trees and cutoff shorts, here we come. Or if you're Ashley Smith, summer might involve throwing a personal party in your 50's-style motel room in which you try on a bunch of vintage party frocks and shimmy. That could work too.

Who else is ready for summer?! Especially after that video ;)

xo Cristina

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SOURCE: FASHIONGONEROGUE

WEEKEND WARS:: Working Weekend

 

Can you believe it's already Friday? Has it already been whole a week since I packed up and got on the road for my lil trip? I have no such plans this weekend, in fact quite the opposite. I'm working! Don't get me wrong I have an awesome new job and I'm happy to do it, so I put together a little look at what I'd like to be wearing. You can also interpret this post as basically everything on my wish list right now. Literally, I have a Pinterest board called "Wish List" and all of these are on it. The boyfriend jeans have been on that list for a long time, and I'm starting to think it's about time I own a pair of jeans that is not skinny. But I still have a slight hang up about paying lots of money for ripped clothing. Ah well, it'll probably happen sooner or later.

1. shirt TOPSHOP / 2. notebook & pen NEEDSUPPLY / 3. sunnies TOPSHOP / 4. scarf METROPARK / 5. earrings MADRONA STUDIO / 6. bag ZARA / 7. shoes JCREW / 8. jeans ZARA

Happy Friday!

xoxo Cristina

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BEAUTY FILE:: EOS LIP BALM REVIEW

 

When I first saw these pastel balls at CVS, they piqued my interest. You know we're all pastel-crazed this Spring so anything in mint or lavender is pretty much a gimme. At $3.79, I bought one. Now, what are they? EOS, or the Evolution of Smooth, is 95% organic, 100% natural, paraben and petrolatum free lip balm. I don't always look for organic products but I figure something that I put on my mouth should probably be safe. As for the packaging, I can't fault it! It took me a couple tries to figure out that the tops screw off (embarrassing? maybe) but once you get that down it's a lot of fun to apply lip balm in a new way! It's like having a brand new toy and wanting to play with it all the time. Sure, it's a little gimmicky, but anything that will convince me to hydrate my lips more often is a great thing. If you're not into the ball, it also comes in a stick. So far, my lips are smooth and soft, success! Prior to this I was a Burt's Bees addict, but I actually think my lips are smoother now than ever before (that could be because I've been using it so often). I found mine at CVS but you can get them on the EOS website as well. I chose the flavor Summer Fruit, which is delish, but I'm reeeally wanting to try the lemon drop and the sweet mint!

I'm trying to enforce a rule, I can't buy a new one until I finish my first one. Just one more reason to use it all the time!
xo Cristina

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SOURCE: EOS, NAILNETWORK

OLSEN FASHION CHALLENGE

And now, for a fashion face-off!

I'm finally on the Elizabeth Olsen bandwagon. You know I'm fiercely loyal to my girls MKA, but Elizabeth is proving her sense of style to be genuine and uniquely her own, which I love. How bout you guys, are you into Elizabeth? She's definitely growing on me.

xo Cristina

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SOURCE: OLSENSANONYMOUS, JUSTJARED

WEEKEND WARS:: ROAD TRIP!

I had just the most wonderful weekend! I went to visit my love M in Dallas Fort Worth and managed to capture it with this fabulous new app I bought on Friday (called Super8). We went antiquing, dream house hunting, swimming (ok we sat in the hot tub), watched M's play, followed by dinner at the Woodshed Smokehouse, and then to the Chihuly exhibit at the Arboretum! It's going to be hard to go back to work today... I may or may not be watching this video over and over again to relive my weekend. So many firsts: the first trip of the summer, my first attempt at shooting a video with the first iPhone app I've paid for, and my first video successfully uploaded to Fuji Files! Unfortunately I'm almost entirely behind the lens in this one, must remember to turn the camera on myself more often next time. But overall I'm quite pleased :)

I highly recommend Super8 to any Instagram addicts, it's definitely the next step in capturing life through a super cute filter - but with movement and music! I'm so looking forward to making more of these.

Let me know if any of you have tried out Super8!

xo Cristina

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LET'S DISCUSS: IS BRA-LESS REALLY THE FRENCH WAY?

Upon reading an interview on the Sartorialist of this very stylish Parisienne named Victoire Chopinaud (a very sexy name I imagine, when pronounced correctly) there were some of the usual responses, like "oh I study at the same school of couture that Yves Saint Laurent and Dior attended." And as I wallowed in the Frenchness of it all, and in the fact that I will never have one ounce of her French style, I read on to find this little gem,

"Button downs are better when they smell like and belong to a boyfriend.  I have this perfect faded army shirt by Arrow and a bunch from YSL, Dior Homme and The Kooples.  I wear them the ‘French way’ (aka no bra) mixing cologne from a boyfriend with Chance by Chanel, a scent I’ve been loyal to since I was 15 years old." 

The 'French way' aka no bra? French women don't wear bras? Is that part of the je ne sais quoi? 
 Are you to tell me that if I stop wearing a bra under my button down shirt I will be one step closer, okay one inch closer, to looking like a Parisian? No no, I would never presume that I will ever look French, but would this help? I suppose I can see that the super-extra-padded-push-up-to-your-ears bra is an American invention courtesy of Victoria's Secret, and that maybe French women wouldn't be into that. And I know that the bra of the moment are those barely there triangle bras. But to wear no bra at all? I just had no idea that this was the 'French' way. And now that I do, I'm tempted to give it a try.

Ladies, let's discuss.  

I so enjoyed reading your feedback on my tights + open-toed query that I'm starting this new series!

So let me know in the comments if you were aware of the 'French' way, and would you ever try it?

xo

Cristina

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SOURCE: THESARTORIALIST

BEAUTY FILE:: MET GALA MAKEUP!

 

 I wonder, do boys anticipate the Super Bowl the way we anticipate the Met Gala?? I'd say that compared to last year, I was missing the color at this Met Gala! Where were the gasp-inducing gowns? I felt that things were a bit understated and there were a few too many short dresses for my liking. There are so many other events to go short and casual to, why not dial it up for this one? I did however fall for the makeup! Camilla Belle and Kate Bosworth in particular stunned in their dark lips and perfectly shaped brows. Even though we're coming up on summer, I'm dying to try a dark lipstick like Mac's Rebel or Tarte's Zen.

Who were your Met Gala favorites?
xoxo Cristina

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SOURCE: JUST JARED

READY MADE ARM PARTIES

 

Tired of tying every friendship bracelet and clasping every bracelet around your pretty little wrists every morning (even if a rocking arm party is totally worth it)? Enter Hipanema. First of all, can we talk about this name: HIPANEMA?! Cutest hippest beachiest name I've ever heard. Beachiest is a word, right? Used in a sentence, it might sound like this "I've stopped eating croissants so I can have the beachiest bod by July" (this is not actually true, I ate a croissant for breakfast). Now, back to the point of this story. Hipanema is an excellent play on words in addition to being a fun new brand of ready-made arm parties. One magnetic clasp and you have beads, shells, and colorful thread adorning your wrist in just one step. Now one itsy bitsy teensy weensy problem is that this is a cooler than cool Parisian brand, so I haven't found any American stockists as yet, but I did find a similar look over at free people for a cool $38. Not bad! Now, just to decide between the two colors...

Are you all over friendship bracelets and arm parties yet?

I think they're perf for summer!

xo Cristina

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SOURCE: HIPANEMA, SUSHIPEDRO, FREEPEOPLE

WHAT TO WEAR TO:: AUSTRALIA FASHION WEEK

 

This week was Mercedes-Benz Australia Fashion Week! I spent the last 3 years living in Sydney so I'd give anything to be there right now. Say I was making the trip, this is what I would pack. And just to get into the spirit, this post is 100% Australian designers!

We've got Bassike, my favorite t-shirt label (soo comfy). That coveted Bec & Bridge hat I fell head over heels for last season. Print masters Dion Lee and Sass and Bide. The perfect heel by Tony Bianco. And a pretty bra (which I own in hot pink!) by One Teaspoon.
Find them here:

1. SHIRT BASSIKE / 2. NECKLACE KIRRILY JOHNSTON / 3. HAT BEC & BRIDGE / 4. SHOES TONY BIANCO / 5. SKIRT DION LEE / 6. PANTS SASS & BIDE / 7. BRA ONE TEASPOON / 8. CAMERA CANON / 9. SUNGLASSES KSUBI / 10. SHIRT BASSIKE

Have a fantastic weekend!

xo Cristina

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SOURCE: VOGUE

THE TOP 10 ADVANCED STYLE TIPS

We all know 90-year old street style starlet Iris Apfel, queen of the over-sized sunny and the one-too-many accessory. And for the longest time in my mind Iris was a lone crusader, the first and the only fashionista over the age of 50. Boy was I wrong! I'm happy to say there are plenty of fierce women out there, and many of them can be found on the inspiring blog Advanced Style. Isn't that the perfect name?

We're all thinking it... "old," but Advanced is so much more accurate! (I feel guilty now for my old lady pantyhose comment earlier). We have SO much to learn from these women, there were about 27 quotes just in this film clip that could change the way I dress forever! Here are just a few..

The Top 10 Advanced Style Quotes

1. I just like to feel better dressed than other people.

2. On the one hand everybody wants to look like everybody else, and on the other hand everybody thinks they are individuals.

3. Young women, you're gonna be an old woman some day, don't worry about it. Don't sweat it. Every era builds character.

4. Too many people are too afraid and they just want to do what everybody else does and look like every body else.

5.  I am dressed up for the theater of my life every day.

6. You get treated nicer if you're well dressed.

7. You don't want to look crazy, the object is to look as chic as you can but your average person in the street would never wear this.

8. It's fun to dress up. It's an exercise in creativity and it makes you feel better.

9. I'd walk into a store and they would say "everybody's wearing this dress" .. put it away then don't show it to me.

10. There is no substitute for life experience.


I just hope to have one ounce of their style when I'm 90!
xoxo
Cristina

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SOURCE: ADVANCED STYLE