Styled by Jess

What to Wear – Mother’s Day Brunch

What mother doesn’t like to be taken out for brunch for Mother’s Day? I sure do! I always appreciate a reason to get dolled up and eat delicious food, I bet that’s not a surprise to hear. =) This year for Mother’s Day we’re heading to brunch with my mom and dad and my sister and her family. I think I’ll wear a springy dress and wear it with accessories similar to what I’ve rounded up below. By the way, isn’t this dress just great? I love that it’s coral but has some blues and pistachio green mixed in.

1. Asos Magic Spike Stone Drop Earrings; 2. Topshop Neon Jaquard Seam Shift dress (I love the pattern of this dress); 3. A manicure in essie‘s she’s pampered (my personal favorite red of the moment); 4. Pyramid Stud Waist Belt from Forever21; 5. Anthropologie Mom Necklace; 6. Finesse Ahead of Schedule tote (even on Mother’s Day, a mom always has lots to carry) from Modcloth; and 7. Asymmetric flat sandals from Zara (they come in yellow and orange, too!).

I hope you have a great Mother’s Day!

Spectacular and Easy Pasta Salad

Now that it’s getting warm and holidays like Memorial Day are right around the corner, I thought it time I share my spectacular and easy pasta salad “recipe.” It’s not really a recipe since I just mix a bunch of ingredients together, but there are a few key hints that I use making this pasta salad that make it delicious and therefore, why I wanted to share it with you…

Chop your veggies and put into a large bowl. I like to use red onion, green pepper, and grape tomatoes cut in half.

Cook your pasta according to the box directions, I like to use tri-color rotini and tortellini for a little extra flavor.

When the pasta is done, drain, and then immediately pour over your veggies. This step is key! Your pasta is SO hot (see how steamy this photo is?) it will slightly cook and soften your veggies to take the raw-ness out of them.

Immediately dress your salad. I am not fancy and use our favorite store-bought Italian right from the bottle.

Do add some extra pepper for flavor! Then cover and refrigerate for a few hours. The dressing will be absorbed by the pasta and everything will sort of meld together.

When the salad is chilled, right before you serve, sprinkle Feta cheese on top and fold to incorporate.

That’s it! So easy, so yummy, perfect summer side dish. Enjoy!

Anthro Shoes

I remember back in the day (I don’t know maybe around 2000, 2001?) going to the the Atrium Mall (RIP Atrium Mall) in Chestnut Hill with a specific mission to go to the giant Anthropologie, which was the first location in our area. The style back then was so new and unique and I remember always buying the most interesting finds to add to my wardrobe. Plus, the sale section at that location was always somewhat epic, taking up the entire back left corner of the store. Even though there are now Anthros everywhere and have become commonplace in local malls, I still love their overall aesthetic and certainly come out with unique finds every time I shop there.

I seem to always get lucky at the store and find my size in shoes in the sale section every time I look! Although now that I’ve shared that here, I hope I haven’t jinxed myself! I wore an awesome pair of Anthro sandals this weekend, for example, the black and white in the back is all beaded:

I was poking around their shoe department online over the weekend and found some really awesome spring shoes that I thought I’d share with you:

1. Reyn Flora Flats; 2. Velvet Weave Sandals; 3. Manx Oxfords; 4. Fisherman Rain T-straps; and 5. Sasha Braided Wedges

*I have no affiliation with Anthropologie, I just really like to shop there. =)

Couple Things…

We had a good week around this house, here’s a photo recap:

(from the top, left to right)

We made ribbbbbbbs

We went biking! Someone isn’t too thrilled about her bike-seat and can’t wait til she’s riding on her own… soon enough Z!

The weather was warm enough this week for sandals

Our tulips finally bloomed (we live on the shady side of the street)

Party prep

Random selfie, I just can’t get enough of my polka dot pants!

Have a great weekend – I hope you have fun Cinco de Mayo plans! I have you covered for recipe ideas, what to wear, and a super easy party decor idea. Here are a few fun links:

Don’t forget the Kentucky Derby is on Saturday!

I really can’t wait to see the Bergdorf Goodman documentary, opens in select theaters today!

An interesting article on the Vine app in the fashion industry.

These salted caramel cheesecakes look amazing!

DIY Drink Umbrella Wreath

I wanted to make a decorative piece for our small Cinco de Mayo gathering tomorrow night and I had about 12 minutes this week to make it. So, I thought of all those drink umbrella crafts I’ve seen on Pinterest over the past year or so and thought a bright Drink Umbrella Wreath would be perfect. And let me tell you how simple this fun wreath was to make.

You’ll need just 3 things: a Styrofoam wreath, a pack of drink umbrellas, and a ribbon to hang the wreath (not pictured b/c I forgot to grab the ribbon before I took this photo). Drink umbrellas can be tricky to find, but I just got them on Amazon (what would we do without Amazon Prime?). *Note, I used a 16″ Styrofoam wreath and used 66 umbrellas.

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The most time consuming part is this first step. Open all of your umbrellas!

Then, tie the ribbon around the wreath.

Then simply stick the umbrellas into the wreath. Make sure to arrange the colors at random.

I also stuck umbrellas around the outside of the Styrofoam wreath to add some volume.

And voila – Cinco de Mayo DIY Drink Umbrella Wreath!

What to Wear – Cinco de Mayo

I’ve always loved Cinco de Mayo – according to Wikipedia, the holiday “originated with Mexican-American communities in the American West as a way to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War, and today the date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.” It’s also the perfect excuse to drink margaritas and/or Coronas, wear a sombrero, and hang out at your local Mexican restaurant. Even though I don’t need a special holiday to do any of those things, it’s a fun reason to have a fiesta anyways. I’ve given you ideas on what to eat on Cinco de Mayo, now here’s an idea of what to wear:

1. J.Crew Collection short-sleeve beaded sweater; 2. Sombrero hair clip from iParty; 3. Beautiful hand carved yellow Mexican amber ring from an etsy seller in Mexico; 4. Serape drink cozy from iParty; 5. Vintage tooled leather handbag, Mexican purse pouch satchel from etsy; 6. Vibrant orange pedal star skinny jeans from Closed; and 7. Authentic Mexican Huaraches from la Mariposa.

PS. Tomorrow I’ll have the Cinco de Mayo craft!

Blog Better Boston Style Summit

I attended my first ever blog conference over the weekend and I just had to tell you about it…I went to the Style Summit put on by Blog Better Boston. It was so great to meet other bloggers from Boston and put a face to the blog name for so many I’ve been reading for a while. And can I tell you just how well dressed everyone was? I guess it was a Style Summit, so well dressed is to be expected. The event was co-hosted by by Amy and Alana and was held at the Boston Globe offices on Saturday. We went to sessions all day and mingled in between and over lunch. I’d have to say my favorite part of the day was meeting all sorts of new blogger friends and exchanging business cards so I remember to start reading all of their blogs!

Here’s a little photo recap of the day…

blog-better-boston-style-summit-2 zoe-chinese-food

Starting at the top, left to right…

A tiny pin with my new mantra

Emily

Holly

Tried on a fab David Yurman ring from sponsor Lux Bond & Green

Ok, I tried on 2…

Mini cupcake (1 of 2 I ate)

Annmarie

Swag!

Adorable dress I won from sponsor Lulu’s

And I got home just in time to eat dinner with my sweet Z!

Note: of course I forgot to take a photo of myself but I was dolled up in some pistachio pants with my fav matching necklace. You can see more photos here from Boston Globe Events. This Style Summit was such a blast, I can’t wait for the next event!

Update: Now you can see what I wore to the event, here I am posing in front of the boston.com photo backdrop when I first arrived to the event.

Photo courtesy of David H Brooks Photography

Cinco de Mayo Recipe Ideas

Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday, May 5th – we’re having a little fiesta at our house Friday night in celebration (plus a friend is in town for the weekend!). While I’m putting my Cinco de Mayo menu together, I thought I’d share some recipes with you, here is a round-up of a few of my favorite Mexican recipes I’ve shared with you in the past:

Guacamole (this was my first ever blog post, btw!)

Burritos

Taquitos

Sangria, not really Cinco de Mayo, but a margarita alternative if you don’t like tequila

Fish Tacos

PS. I have a fun Cinco de Mayo craft DIY to share later this week!

Couple Things

SO glad it’s Friday. We had a pretty good week around here…

I got to wear my favorite raincoat with a few rainy days this week.

Z got to try out her tricycle with all the warm/sunny weather we had too and I got to wear my favorite espadrilles to the playground – we are so ready for this nice weather…

Poor Maxine got stuck in her own scratching post cave. She’s just too big for it…

We got Z some jumbo Crayola Crayons and she immediately hopped on the phone and took notes with her purple crayon.

Have a great weekend, here are a couple links for you:

We got Chopsticks this week, not as good as Spoon, but cute!

I do love Gwynnie, but this dress might be a bit much!

I love the quirky Mother’s Day gift ideas at Paper Source…

but I think my mom would just like this orange trench coat!

Have you seen the new DVF line at GAPKids?! It’s so cute – I want to get these espadrilles for my Z.

What to Wear – Spring Weather

Spring weather cannot make up its mind, around here anyway. One day it’s warm enough for sandals and no jacket, the next day it’s freezing and mittens are necessary, and the third day it’s pouring buckets. How do you dress for such a varied climate? I have put together an outfit of pieces that will take you to from warm to cold to rain. Just don’t forget your rain jacket if it’s raining!

1. Pocket cardigan from Madewell; 2. Patterned tank from H&M; 3. Neon stone necklace from J. Crew ; 4. Colorful saddle flap crossbody bag from Urban Outfitters; 5. J. Crew toothpick jean in neon violet (everything is 25% off at J. Crew right now!); 6. HUE shoe liner (you don’t want to wear socks with ankle length pants and oxfords!); and 7. Isaac Mizrahi Oletta Oxford Shoes (I own these and they’re amazing and good in the rain! I get compliments every time I wear them.).