Lovely Finds: The Coveted & Mary Kate Steinmiller's style**

{via the Coveted}

Just clicked on this site, the Coveted, while getting my daily dose of because i'm addicted and I'm obsessed! I'm totally in love with the photography on this site, and the fact that we get to peek into the closets of the most fashionable people! I'm even more in love with featured Teen Vogue Fashion Market Editor Mary Kate Steinmiller's style. She says she wears mostly skirts made of rich fabrics paired with simple crew neck tops and sweaters, and tons of heels.  I love how the way she describes her personal style is so simple but the outcome is so rich and refined.  Makes me want to emulate this idea of just skirts, heels, vintage jewelry, and basic tops for a more classic and simple closet!

**Wow.  So after blogging about this, it seems as though there was a legal battle going on between Jennine Jacob and Coveted Media (of www.the-coveted.com) and Mark and Erin Kleinberg of this website, and so now they're called "The Coveteur."  See Fashionista for the story.

Lovely Weddings: My Sister's Bridal Shower

 My sister’s garden themed bridal shower was at Plumeria Beach House at the Kahala Hotel in Hawaii.  Everything turned out perfect, and I especially loved the ambiance of the restaurant and told my sister I’d love to have my own bridal shower here some day!  The service was amazing, everyone enjoyed the food, and the strawberry shortcake was the best I’ve ever had!  For the centerpieces (which also served as favors) I chose pink Lisianthus, off-white spray roses, and white stock to put in mini bud vases adorned with green ribbon and personalized with each guest’s initial.  I set out 4 jewelry stands (purchased from Urban Outfitters) with assorted jewelry from Forever21 for the guests to choose as additional favors.  I had so much fun shopping for all the jewelry and saved a lot of money by creating the DIY bud vases with Martha Stewart tags and letter stickers, and pearl and rhinestone stickers I bought from Michaels.  I also used Martha Stewart labels for the prizes, which were easy to make since the labels are so pretty to begin with.  Can someone else please get engaged so I can plan another bridal shower?  Baby showers are acceptable, too! 

Obsessions: Lanvin Jeweled Sandal

Could this Lanvin sandal be any more gorgeous?!

The pearl and jewel embellishments + the lightweight pale gold shimmery fabric = perfection.

Too bad it comes with a steep price tag of $995.

If you had this shoe, what would you wear it with?

My idea: A loose cream colored silk button down top (sleeves rolled up)with just the front tucked into very light khaki trousers with rolled cuffs, a dark caramel colored brown belt, and a bunch of pearl necklaces.

Obsessions: MAXI MAXI MAXI

I know, I know...maxi dresses are so last last last season!!!! In any case, the weather here has been very rainy and windy, which may have spawned my strange desire for maxi dresses. Or it could have been the absolutely gorgeous orange, blue, and white beachy-ish Tory Burch maxi dress that I saw in Neimans the other day that I cannot find on the internet what-so-ever. Here's a few I'm daydreaming about...

For Daytime

J. Crew Siren Dress $98

Nanette Lepore Milonga Maxi Dress $598

Thakoon Wave Print Maxi Dress $750



Milly Chain-Print Maxi $450

For Evenings or Special Occasions

Temperley London Domitia Caftan $1,650

Halston Heritage Silk Blend Maxi $995

Lovely Weddings: Finding a bridesmaid's shoe

I'm extremely honored to have been chosen to be maid of honor at my sister's wedding next month, and am super excited that her big day is coming soon! But that just means my days left to find a pair of shoes to wear to her wedding are numbered!

I have to find a silver sandal that goes with a tea length strapless dress with a decently high stiletto heel, and preferably platform. I started searching websites and found a few "nice" pairs, but as always, got a little side-tracked ... and bumped into some drool-worthy heels that I just have to share with you all:

First, a pair of hot Brian Atwood's in nude...

{Brian Atwood Greta Patent Leather Sandals, $705}

And a more girly beige pair of Miu Miu's...

{ Miu Miu Patent Leather Sandals, $895}

They look kind of pink to me, but whatever the case, I'm in love! Didn't someone say nude is the new black or something? If so, I agree! I love the edginess of the studded Atwoods, and the glamour of the jeweled Miu Miu heel.

Almost back on track on my search for silver sandals, I saw these two Jimmy Choo's...

{Vamp Glitter-Covered Leather Sandals, $750}

{Shimmer Suede Ankle-Wrap Sandal, $865}

Anyone have any lower priced options for me?

Lovely Decor: DIY Wall Hanging

Shadowbox Frame + 2 Pins + Sack that previously contained Ad Hoc Fried Chicken mix

I'd been meaning to tackle this project for quite some time now. For Christmas 2009, J gave me a bunch of things from Williams Sonoma...one of which was a bag of Ad Hoc Fried Chicken mix. I thought it'd be cool (and resourceful) to frame the bag instead of just throwing it away because it's special in two ways. 1) It was a gift from J, and 2) We've actually been to the restaurant a couple of times and really like it!

I found the shadowbox frame at a local craft store for $19.99. It came with pins, which I used to pin the Ad Hoc bag into the already upholstered backing. Then hang (I put mine in the kitchen). Simple as that!

Lovely Cakes: Strawberry Strawberry Cake

I must be on a baking kick. I blame it on the Rice Krispy Treats I made last week when I was looking for something sweet and found the ingredients in my pantry to fix them up. Which was followed by the cupcakes for last weekend's tailgate. Yesterday, I had a hankering for Strawberry Cake.

When J and I were in Dallas, J took me to get the most awesome strawberry cake from Celebrity Cafe and Bakery in Highland Park Village. So in an effort to recreate this delicious cake, I found a strawberry cake recipe and a strawberry frosting recipe and combined them. (I had to triple the frosting recipe to adequately cover the cake)

The result? Very close to the cake from Celebrity Cafe & Bakery. I think next time I'll add more pureed strawberries to both the cake and the frosting. You can never have enough strawberries!

Lovely Cakes: Chocolate Cupcakes

Today is the second to the last tailgate for the UH football season. This week, my J and I are responsible for bringing a dessert. I haven't baked in a very long time, partially because I've been lazy and partially because everytime I bake for no reason, we end up eating the goods which is not a good thing!

I've been searching for a good chocolate cupcake recipe for a while now and I think I've come across the perfect recipe! I came across Cake on the Brain, a blog by a Canadian who loves food and baking. She posted a recipe from Cooks Illustrated for Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and topped them off with Vanilla Swiss Buttercream Meringue Frosting by Martha Stewart. The cupcake recipe is a keeper...they are not super moist, but not dry and very tasty. I'm on the fence about the frosting though, because the buttercream is not very sweet and very buttery. I may try a different frosting the next time I make these cupcakes.

J said it reminds him of a Hostess Cupcake.

Lovely Eats: Greek Yogurt with Honey

Ever since I started exploring vegan foods, I started exploring the different types of yogurts.  Although the point was to experiment with non-dairy yogurts like coconut or soy yogurts, in the process I've realized that those ones taste like shit, and Greek yogurt is the bomb!  Non-fat greek yogurt, plain, with honey, to be specific.  Although some greek yogurt brands come with honey on the side, Yoplait is much cheaper, but their honey flavored yogurt seems to have the honey mixed in, which is a lot less fun than getting gobs of honey you can actually almost chew on.  So I just buy the plain Yoplait and add my own.  It's yummy, smooth, creamy, healthy (aside from the fact that honey is not used in moderation for this recipe, it's probably still better than the artificial sweeteners they use in other fat-free yogurts), and has tons of protein and calcium.  I've honestly never liked honey before, but now it seems I can't get enough of the stuff.  

Honey is my new obsession!

Lovely Designers: Lanvin for H&M

{Photos via Fashionista}

These are my faves from the Lanvin for H&M collection to come out November 23rd.  I wonder how fast they'll sell out-- like within hours? Or days? Or is it more like minutes? I usually don't succumb to fashion events like trunk shows, store openings, or even huge sales, because I hate crowds, and let's be honest, I'm really no "fashionista." But this one I might actually plan ahead for. M & R, you with me? I'm dying for that zebra trench and necklace as logical, useful, wearable, and therefore justifiable purchases. But the dresses are absolutely irresistible—the styles are fun and classy, and the detailing definitely shows the designer quality of the pieces.

Lovely Beauty: Birchbox

{www.birchbox.com}

I've been ordering makeup online at www.Sephora.com a lot lately, and I've been loving the samples I get with every order.  Every beauty product out there makes lofty claims and promises, but how many times have you purchased some well-reviewed name brand product only to find out it seems to work just as good as some generic product you already have at home, and for triple or quadruple the price?  So spending $50 on some moisturizer I've never tried is such a risky investment.  I've definitely discovered some great products through free samples, so Birchbox is sounding pretty appealing right now.  Every month, you pay $10 to receive a box of hand picked deluxe samples, along with instructions and tips on how to use the products.  They also apparently have informative articles and tutorials on their website on various products, which sounds like a great idea.  What good is a great beauty product when you're using it all wrong?

Seeing the products they have on their website currently is tempting me to join Birchbox...

Lovely Tunes: Katy Perry

CANDY LAND was my favorite game ever!  Princess Lolli and Queen Frostine were my favorite characters, I thought they were so pretty.  And I loved Gumdrop Mountains (and who wasn't excited to make it to the shortcut through the mountain pass?!)!  The game is so simple, and just like so many other board games, but the fact that there are different places for different types of candy with fun characters residing in them makes it such a likable game.  I never realized they changed the game every 10 years until I looked up the game just now--

I definitely had the 1980's version:

Katy Perry is awesome, and I just love this video!  The only thing I don't love about it is the fact that they're wearing whipped cream with cherry nipple bikini tops!

Lovely Eats: Portillo's Hotdogs

(I cannot remember what sandwich is on the left, but the Chicago Dog is on the right. There's tomatoes, mustard, pickles, peppers, relish, and onions in it.)

Four of us went to a conference for work in Schaumburg, Illinois. It's about a 45 minute drive to Chicago, but it was a nice area. We went to Portillo's because we wanted to eat a Chicago dog and someone at the conference recommended it, and it was sooo good! For someone who doesn't like hot dogs, I was amazed that I absolutely loved it.

Lovely Adventures: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

{entering hogsmeade}

{roller coaster}

{fake owls perched on beams inside an open pavillion}

{the butterbeer was delicious! the non-frozen version tasted like sweet cream soda topped with melted ice cream. the frozen version tasted like a cream soda flavored icee}

{hogwarts. there was a cool ride inside the castle. }

{in the hogwarts greenhouse}

{dumbledore's office. he's on the balcony.}

{the people in the pictures were animated and actually spoke; this is the room where the staircases always changed}

Lovely Eats: Texas State Fair

J & I made it a point to visit the Texas State Fair while we were in Dallas. We were dying to sample all the unique and yummy deep fried food that we would never be able to find here in the Islands. Our favorites included the chicken fried bacon, deep fried frito pie, and fried green tomatoes. The deep fried beer was a soggy-cracker-miss, and the deep fried butter was surprisingly yummy - but only in a one bite and you're done sort of way. We even stopped in at an aquarium where we saw an albino crocodile and fed stingrays (super cool but sorry, no pictures for that) and also visited a petting zoo where we had fun feeding all the animals.

{Big Tex - he even talks!}

{tons of animals at the petting zoo}

{deep fried butter with garlic butter sauce}

{caramel apple; fried green tomatoes (top); deep fried beer (bottom)}

{deep fried frito pie}

{chicken fried bacon}