Best Kept Hair Secret

My hair is long and mostly wavy. While most people have an average of 100,000 strands of hair on their head {yes, I looked it up}, I swear I have triple that number at the very least! It's deceiving though, it doesn't look like it would be that much but if you ask any hair stylist that has ever worked on my head, they can confirm that without reservation. It's actually very annoying... I get charged more than the norm, hair stylists dread the day I have to return, etc. The only plus I see is that I'll never go bald :) Phew!

So with that said, I don't have the time during the week to upkeep this monstrosity. Enter J.Crew's life-saving hair accessories! They have the very best clips, headbands, pins, and so on! I'm so picky when it comes to these things because of the mop I have on my head, and I can attest to the fact that J.Crew's hair accessories rarely break, they hold the hair up properly, and they have the cutest styles that don't make you look like a teenage wanna-be.

They are a little on the spency side so I wait for a sale to stock up. This weekend I bought 3 leather studded headbands {for those bad hair days} all for $12! These were on super sale and not even available for purchase online so drop by in person and see what's left. Keep up the good work Jenna Lyons! You never let me down.

Good Luck Charms

I know, I know...here's more confirmation of my superstitious-craziness! You must be so tired of hearing about it. But I <3 good luck, don't you??

Sitting on a faux crocodile tray in the foyer, are my 2 new good luck charms {well, 3 if you want to count my adorable baby nephew}. My mom gave us both the cute owl and the crystal elephant. I couldn't find too much info about owls except that they symbolize wisdom, so I'll just pretend that it's good luck and watches out for us with it's mighty-awesome wisdom. :)

The crystal elephant is more special. She brought it back from Prague on her most recent trip because she's a firm believer of good luck charms too. My mom has always had an elephant figurine in our house. I never paid any attention to it. But when I moved into my own house, she said we needed an elephant. I looked it up and it actually has a nice story behind it. The elephant represents loyalty, good luck, and fortune. Apparently, it's extra lucky if the trunk is raised. In Feng Shui, it is said that elephants protect the household and bring fertility luck to those wishing for babies. {Hmmm.... Now I'm wondering what's the real reason this gift was meant for.}

Then she told me that I'm supposed to place it facing backwards at the entrance of the house. No idea where that came from but I'll do it anyway for extra points. This better not have been some prank I just fell for!

Happy Birthday Sister!

Had lots of fun celebrating my sister's 30-something birthday this weekend! We started off with the usual mall-strolling {including an extra companion this time}

then a delicious dinner at Atrio at the chic Conrad Hotel.

We couldn't help but swoon over the awesome decor. Now that I know what certain things really cost, I know that this designer spent a pretty penny on the Hilton's tab. We have stayed here a couple of times and it's definitely luxe with beautiful views. Perfect for a celebration!

check out those wooden X benches!

Happy birthday Sister! I <3 u!

Design Star is Back!

It's that time again and I'm so excited! The new season of HGTV's Design Star will be debuting this Monday, July 11th at 9 pm. {YEAAHHHHHHHH!!!} I was hooked into the last two seasons and have been so happy with the winners Antonio Ballatore and Emily Henderson. This year they're cranking it up a notch by including Mr. Color Splash, David Bromstad, into the mix as a mentor, and some undisclosed celebrity judges. The same panel of original judges remain: Vern Yip, Candice Olson, and my ultimate fave, Genevieve Gorder. The contestants are a crazy mix of professional interior designers, retail merchandisers, stylists, and artists. Read about them here and cast your vote for your fan fave. 

The drama, the competition, the great exaggerated design obstacle courses...I love it all! Let the games begin!

All in the Family

Here's our family room in all it's yellow & gray glory! We waited 3 long months for these couches because they were on back order but I. needed. gray. couches. There was nothing else out there that I had a sofa-crush on; trust me, we looked everywhere. But it should be obvious by now that I like the hunt. I stalked every Target in Miami for these Dwell Studio flower pillows on my lunch breaks, and those smaller yellow pillows from Ikea were the perfect addition. Thrown on the side is the softest, most yummiest blankie which is also reversible. I scored this one on sale during the Christmas season, and I can't wait to get a back-up because I use it every day. The coffee table was a generous donation from my sister and sitting on top are a couple of W.E. collection items. {I'm thinking of starting a W.E. museum here one day}

A gallery wall on that big empty blue space is in the works. Time to do a little inspiration research!

Loving all the wrinkling on the sofas...it means we're definitely breaking them in!

Granny's Skills

So excited because today I picked up my brand new dining bench cushion from my favorite seamstress, my granny! I love my dining set, and I waited months and months for it to go on sale. It finally went on sale in June and I jumped at the opp {apparently it only goes on sale once a year!}

 ...but I wasn't a fan of the $60 cushion that came with the bench. I opted for switching to another cushion, except that it was nearly impossible to find cushions in this size anywhere! I finally found one in an ugly outdoor fabric and chose this embroidered trellis fabric from curtain panels. Granny put it together and voila!

We have lots of fabric left so the hunt for chair cushions begins now!

{thanks Wela!}

Cause Baby You're a Fiiiiiiirework!

Sooo ready for this long weekend to celebrate the good 'ol U.S. of A.! In preparation for the abundance of fun I plan to have, I will be...

Sipping on this,

Munching on this,



With this on the nails of my phalanges,

Having fun at this pool,

And blowing up some of these somewhere TBD!

Happy 4th of July classy bees!