Sunshine Award

Thank you so much to my friend at A Town and Country Life for passing along the Sunshine Award!  If you have not already been following her blog, now's the time.  She has such wonderful posts about her homes, children, adorable puppy, and one of the most enviable wardrobes around.

The rule of receiving this award states that the receiver is to pass it along to 12 other blogs whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world.  (I think some of you may have already been given this award, and if so, just another note that I think you and your blog are wonderful!)

I have found so many lovely new blogs lately on GoogleReader lately, so I am adding them to some of my other favorites.  I am looking forward to reading and posting more on:

Sparkles and Sundresses

Smart and Sassy with Sprinkles

Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore

Black Labs and Lilly

Monograms and Manicures in Manhattan/Boston

Pink Preppy Lilly Lover

Twist of Lime (formerly The Bogarde Buzz)

Pink Prep

 West Coast Prepster

Just Lovely

Fall Lilly 2010

So I bet many of you have already seen the Lilly Fall 2010 sneak peak.  Today more pictures were posted on LP's facebook page including what looks like workout gear!  

I would adore. . . 

This adorable top on the left--perfect to wear to work or class, especially if there's a happy hour after!

Love the hot pink of the dress and the neck of the jacket--the only problem is sometimes jackets like this make me look more buxom--something I'm not really "going for." ;)  This will have to be a try-on in store item.

Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Workout clothes!  I may be in lurve with this lovely striped open sweater for all sorts of lovely autumnal days.

And of course, you cannot make any "wish lists" without including a new Lilly dress.  I wear last fall's Stephanie all the time.

 

This is last year's Stephanie.  I've worn it to work, my birthday dinner, and to class.  It can be layered under with a button-down or with a cardigan and tights.  This summer I wore it with sandals.

What is on your Fall Lilly wish list?  How do you feel about the previews of the new collection?

Oh rats!

I feel like I need to pull an Audrey today and wear big sunglasses and I wish I could pull of this great hat...

Why?  Because allergies are attacking again. :(  Hope everyone has a more allergy-free Monday than I am! :)

Happy Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!

It's one of the best sales of the year--the Nordstrom Anniversary sale.  Today I am going with my friend to get facials and mini make-overs.  One of the great items that Nordstroms has for the sale is special beauty items and value sets. 

Love this Essie Fall 4-pack of minis.

This Dior Palette is a wonderful selection of pretty neutrals.

I know a lot of my friends love Bare Minerals--this may be a great starter set.

Last, but definitely not least, this Laura Mercier set has everything you need for a night out.  Just add her wonderful tinted moisturizer.

Anyone else hitting up the sale this weekend?

Blog Hop!

Thanks so much to Bethany at Maryland Pink and Green as well as Two Preppy Girls and Twist of Lime for hosting this week's blog hop!  This is the first week I've participated, and I can't wait to read all of the wonderful blogs that are participating.  I'm sure I'll find many more that will be must-reads.

Hoppy Friday! :)

Cheers to a fabulous weekend!

This weekend renewed my love for my sorority and my sisters.  Although I prayed for sisters often (especially when my mom was expecting my youngest brother), I was never blessed with a biological one.  The girlfriends that I gained in college meant so very much to me at the time, and only continue to grow in meaning in my life.

I was lucky enough to live in my sorority house for three years in college.  Many of the very best memories of college revolve around our gorgeous house and the camaraderie that we all gained by living together.  We had a blast outside of the house, but the preparations for a night out were just as fun and eventful.

Although it may be hard to explain the thing I miss the most about living in the house is getting ready with everyone.  Even when I lived in the Prez suite (with my own bathroom), I would come to the front communal bathrooms to prep for an evening out.  We would do each others' hair (I still have trouble with straightening the back of mine), do crazy make-up, borrow each others' clothes, and beg Em to hurry up so we could go.  I cannot believe there were never any mishaps with the laptops blaring music in the bathroom, that our house mom never had a heart attack when the juice always went missing from the fridge on the weekends, (well that almost happened a few times) and that everyone always always always looked dress to kill when we went out.

While we were all together this weekend the topic of weddings came up, and I shared that my secret hope that I could rent out our sorority house for the weekend and all get together together on my wedding day someday.  Those bathrooms (and the lounges right outside of them) share so many special memories and stories of college.

On Saturday night, we were able to spread out in K's parents' bathroom (thanks again!) and get ready together.  We were straightening/curling each others' hair, sharing make-up, and toasting to our friendship. 

Cheers to good girlfriends and sisters everywhere!

Chicago!

This weekend I am ecstatic to be able to see some of my very best friends in Chicago.  I'm flying in tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) and meeting up with my bestie, S.  I am super pumped that Bethenny Frankel's wedding is on--I told S that I thought Bravo planned it that way so we could watch it together while getting ready to go out. ;)

On Friday, four of my sorority sisters are flying in (well one driving and one is hosting us) for what we hope will become an annual tradition.  I haven't seen some of the girls since I graduated, so this is loooooooooong overdue.  

I know this will be a LEGENDARY weekend.  Do you have any fun plans for the end of this short week?  :)

Om

Although I wear yoga pants often, I have not been using them in the way intended.  So I finally started using the yoga lessons I purchased months ago on groupon.  I purchased a set of five lessons to be used at a local yoga center.  I haven't done yoga in years, and even then it was not exactly my forte, so I recruited a friend to go with me for giggles.  She did not mention she was basically a yoga master. ;)  I went Friday evening to a stress-relief session and it was wonderful.  It combined Satyananda yoga with meditation and breathing exercises.  It was also a very small class with only four other women and the instructor.  Although I felt like a beginner (which I am), it was not at all weird nor intimidating to be with women with much more experience.  All of the moves had modifications for varying levels of experience and flexibility. 

After such a wonderful experience, I am looking forward to continuing to go to the Friday evening stressbuster course as well as going to a few yoga classes that are offered at the gym I recently joined.  (Wow, it almost sounds as if I'm athletic with this post!) 

If I continue to go, it must mean I should buy more yoga apparel.

Lululemon is one of my favorite sites.

Can't beat the classic black cropped pants.

What a fun waistband on these! (And you should also note that Lulu does complimentary hemming on their pants.)

I would definitely wear this pullover to class!

Although I love all of these options, I would ADORE having Lilly Pulitzer athletic wear!  (There was a discussion a few months ago on the Lilly fb group about what lovely items people would buy.  At the top of my list would be athletic tank tops and stretch pants with colorful waistbands.)

Hope everyone is having a relaxing and fun holiday weekend!