Guy Gift Guide

Guys are the HARDEST people to shop for!  Not us, them!! :)  All of these gifts are under $50, and perfect if you are looking for one more "little thing" to complete your gift!

1.  Eggnog Moose Mug(from Christmas Vacation!)$20

2.  Tartan Scarf $28

3.  Kiehl's Skin Care Kit  $42

4.  Casio Watch $40

5.  Tablet Case $28

6.  Travel Kit $20

7.  Slippers  $40

8.  SALUT Flask $28

9. Vans iPhone Case $28

Hope you all had a great weekend!  I had a Christmas Party, and  got lots of shopping & baking done.  Post soon on some great food gifts that I made today!

Gift Guide for Friends

Did you ask your friend what they wanted for Xmas, and they told you that..."they don't need anything", or that "they don't know what they want"?

No worries...this gift guide will help you.  There is something for everyone, "the cook", "the social networker", "the fashionista", etc... and all under $50!!

1. 3pk Adorable Notebook Set $12.95 

2.  Oversized Leather Clutch $46

3.  Instagram Photo Magnets Set of 9 $14.99

If you want to use your friends Instagram photos, it is a bit tricky, email me for details.  Also, must order by December 9th if you want by Xmas.

4.  Ikat Print Tea for One $38 

5.  Tiny Gold Initial Necklace $25

6.  Dipped Wooden Utensils with Glass Container $25

7.  Faux Leather and Knit Gloves $26

GOOD LUCK shopping!

Keep and eye out for my guy gift guide coming later this week.

Tees and Leather Skirts

Three things that make a perfect outfit??

Vintage Tees, Full Leather Skirts and Booties!

This look keeps popping up all over, and I am in love...

It is chic, effortless and I MUST recreate soon!

Source 

Source

Source

Here is a perfect full leather skirt to start your look, at a great price from Urban:

The ladies in the inspiration photos have bare legs, but this look goes great with tights for the cold weather.

If you want to get creative, go with a different color leather skirt, like gold or red!

Taste of Vintage

Do you LOVE fashion, food and fundraisers??

Goodwill Industries of Akron is hosting their 7th annual Taste of Vintage 

on Thursday, November 15th.

Part of the event is a restaurant tasting (14 local restaurants/caterers participating), and a silent auction including designer bags and jewelry donated by Goodwill.

The evening culminates with a Vintage Fashion Show.  All items are from Goodwill's unique, permanent Vintage Collection.

Individual tickets are $50, all for a good local cause, and can be purchased HERE.

Round up your friends, and hope to see you at one of the best Akron events of the year!!

NOTO & Pawsibilities Fashion Night

Last month, I attended an event for a great organization, 

PAWSibilities the Humane Society of Greater Akron at my favorite Akron boutique, NOTO.

It was $10 to get in, and all ticket proceeds went to PAWSibilities.

The night was filled with great shopping, snacks, drinks, and a fun dress up photo booth!

Photo of NOTO's very own Pumpkin Spice lotion, which smells so yummy.

Wall of cute fall dresses.

This is the sweater dress that I bought, and absolutely LOVE.

It was a great event, and will let you all know when the next one is!

Make sure you check out the PAWSibilities website HERE for more info on the organization and their events.

If you live in the Akron area make sure you stop into NOTO boutique!  They get new merchandise all the time :)

Oh, and....HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Dear NY

Dear New York, I love you!

In September I got to spend a long weekend in NY with my best friends, shopping, eating and going out.

Here are a few snapshots from the weekend...

A few things I found shopping, good basic riding boots from Macy's, and interesting belts & a cobalt blue hobo bag from Anthropologie.  In the photo on the bottom left, these my friend Jen wore necklaces styled by me.

Bought a great fall skirt from the Rachel Roy collection for Macy's.  I wore it to work recently styled with tights, boots and a denim shirt.

I stumbled upon an AMAZING macaroon place on the upper east side, called Laduree.

The macaroons are flown in from Paris daily, and are quite heavenly!!

This was a gorgeous day in Central Park that I spent with my friend Ann Marie.  

Best friends obviously have matching Ray Bans :)  

I just love the top picture of people "sailing" mini sailboats in the pond.  Days like that make me so happy!

Just another wonderful weekend in the books.  

Dear New York,

Until we meet again!

xoxo

Peplum Craze

FIRST of all, just want to apologize to all of my followers that I fell off the face of the earth!  I was traveling a lot the past month, but no excuses, won't happen again!!

The Peplum is a trend that started in the spring, and has exploded everywhere this fall.

The flare at the waist can be very flattering on many body types, and give you that hourglass appearance.

I wore this look for a date night. It was rather warm that night, so wore wedge sandals (would now rock this with booties and a cardigan).

Peplum Shirt (TJ Maxx, cute one here), Denim (Levi's Curve ID), Wedges (Aldo), Chain Strap Handbag (similar here)

A closer look at the shirt details and necklaces...

Arrow Necklace (stella & dot), Choker Necklace (vintage, but similar here)

Thank you SOO much for reading! There is much more to come this week on my trips in September to NYC and San Fran.  Also a post on a great event I had the privilege to be invited to for a great cause, PawsAbilities!!

Grilled Peach Dessert

This is an easy, low-fat summer dessert with only 4 ingredients!

For one serving, you will need a peach, cinnamon, agave nectar or honey and low-fat vanilla ice cream.

First, slice the peach in half.

Next, grill the peach for five minutes each side, on a preheated grill.

I start with the cut side down, and don't mess with it until you flip it.

This will ensure that you get grill marks.

When the peach is done, it will have slight grill marks, and will be soft to the touch.

Place in a bowl with a scoop of ice cream.  Lastly, sprinkle with cinnamon & agave nectar.

This is a great, easy dessert, and can be made for any amount of people!  Guests will love it, and be very impressed!!

Outfit Inspiration - Rene Russo

Images from Google Images

One of my favorite movies of all time....Major League was on TV when I got home today.

I never realized how beautiful Rene Russo was in this movie!  What a babe!!

Her outfit in this scene is casual 80's style with a sexy librarian feel.

Also, loving her messy, natural looking ringlet curls.

Here is my modern day take on her outfit :

Cable Knit Cream Sweater here or similar here

Button Up Skirt here or similar here

Oversized Round Glasses here 

You can't see her shoes, but I imagine her wearing these...

Lace-up Booties here

Oxford shoes would also be so cute with this. 

See my post on oxfords and loafers here.

Thanks for reading, and hope you have a great day!!

Loafers and Oxfords

I am sad that summer is almost over, but excited to enter my favorite season, fall!

I have already started making my wish list, and favoring these menswear inspired shoes, loafers and oxfords.

Dolce Vita has nailed this trend with fun colors and embellishments.

You can find both of these at Free People.

Novelty Loafers from Zara

Moccasin Inspired Loafers from AE

Neon Sole Oxfords from Alloy

Heeled Oxfords from Lulus

Trend - Rhinestone Necklaces

Rhinestone Necklaces are a trend that I have been following/coveting for the past few months.

These necklaces are not just for weddings and special occasions anymore!

Here are a few blogger looks I found on Refined Style:

Neon on watercolor floral

Fancy mixed with a basic staple, a denim shirt

Spray painted white.  You could do this with any color, for a great inexpensive 

statement necklace!

Loving this layered look

Not sure where the blogger necklaces are from, but here are are some I found, if you want to try this look.

 Mixed trend of faux collar with rhinestones from Asos

Vintage from Etsy

This one would look great spray painted!

Neon from Etsy

What are your thoughts on this trend? Is it something you already have or will try??

Gourmet Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Tasting - Olive My Heart

A local blogger friend Lyndsey, from A Lovely Little Blog set up a blogger night at an amazingly cute new gourmet olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting room and shop called Olive My Heart.

This shop is local for me, in Hudson, Ohio

Image from Olive My Heart

The night started out with a perfect table of amuse bouche, from a restaurant I love, Nosh Eatery.  The chef prepared an assortment of appetizers that incorporated different oil and vinegar from the shop.  

My favorite was what you see on the little spoon tower, which included a type of fruit, cheese and topped with a flavored vinegar.  Yummy and so cute!

Dessert was a Dark Chocolate Brownie made with the Blood Orange flavored Oil.  Very good and different!  I think they have the recipe on their website here.

Since it was a private event, we got a fabulous tour from the owner Linda, and were able to taste anything and everything we wanted.  Such a great little event to do with a group of girls or couples!  All you need to do is contact them to set it up!

The array of Olive Oil and Organic Balsamic Vinegar was truly amazing.  They had any flavor you could imagine from Fig Balsamic Vinegar to Wild Mushroom and Sage Oil, which tasted like a Thanksgiving meal :)

Actually narrowing down what to buy was the hardest part, but very helpful that you can taste before you buy!!

If you aren't into the private party thing, don't worry, just drop in during their open hours, 7 days a week!

Olive My Heart is a great place for entertainment and gourmet food shopping!

This is a place I would love to take my mother, and return to soon.

Picture of the vinegar dispensers

Part of my dinner tonight...Tuscan Herb Oil made into dipping oil with fresh garlic, Italian seasoning and fresh bread to dip with.

Cannot wait to try out the Fig Balsamic Vinegar I also bought!

Summer Wedding Style

When attending a summer wedding you need to be aware of two things before selecting your outfit, the weather and the setting.

Assume that the weather is going to be hot, and dress in something comfortable and breathable.  Also, if you have wavy/curly hair make sure to wear it so it can stand the heat and humidity.

Footwear is important for the setting of the wedding, because you will want to wear flats or wedges if it is outside.  Otherwise your heels will be sinking into the ground!

I attended an outdoor wedding yesterday, and as you can see I wore a breathable dress, wedges, and did my hair in beachy waves.

dress Piperlime (similar here), shoes Aldo, clutch Francesca's

Here is a better close up of my accessories

watch Nixon, and bracelet gifted

Hope you had a great weekend, and find these summer wedding tips helpful!

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago, and bought a Thin Crust Boboli Pizza Crust.

I knew there had to be a way to make a grilled pizza out of this.

By just googling "How to Grill a Boboli Pizza", I found these instructions on how to grill it.

They suggest that you use the thin crust when doing this.

After that I found a great BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe from blogger Pioneer Woman.

She makes her own crust, but who really has time for that??

See below for my fusion of the Boboli grilling instructions, and the recipe from the Pioneer Woman.

Make sure that you slice the mozzarella as thin as you can, and coat the chicken with the BBQ sauce.

Here is the finished product!!  

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Olive Oil for Drizzling

Salt for Sprinkling

10-12oz, fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

A Few Very Thin Slices of Red Onion

Dried Parsley, or Chopped Fresh, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Salt chicken breasts on both sides, and place in an ovenproof dish.  Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts, and make sure to coat both sides.  Bake for 20-25 mins, or until done.  When you put the chicken in, preheat your grill to high heat.  Remove chicken from oven, dice finely, and set aside.

Brush olive oil on both sides of the crust, and grill each side 2-4 mins.  

Assemble the pizza...

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of BBQ sauce on the crust

Layer the cheese in a single layer on the bottom

Sprinkle the diced chicken on the cheese, and then the red onion 

Lastly sprinkle the parsley on top

*Note that the grill does not really cook the onion, so if you don't like it crunchy, I would slightly grill or saute it before putting on.

Put the pizza on the preheated grill for 10-20 mins(depending on your grill, and how hot it is).

Pizza will be finished when the cheese is melted, and the crust is golden.

This whole recipe does take a bit of time, but well worth it!  My BF still raves about it, and asks when we can make it again!

I love using the grill in the summer! 

What is your favorite summer grilled recipe??