Colorful Maxi
6.30.2014

Dress: Language Los Angeles c/o | Heels: Target (similar here and here)
Bag: Rodi Boutique (sold out) | Watch: Fossil | Bracelets: F21, Lily and Laura

Well hello there! I'm finally back with an outfit post and excited to be styling this gorgeous maxi dress from Language Los Angeles. They have so many unique pieces and use fine fabrics and specialty dye techniques, all in relaxed silhouettes. I'm loving the vibrant colors of this dress and how perfect it is for summer parties, weddings, etc.

We have been renovating away in our new house and it's finally starting to feel like "home"! The wedding is just 26 days away and last-minute decisions and details are popping up left and right!

xo,
Jacy

Summer Shoes
6.25.2014

Hello friends! I am [hopefully] back to blogging if life settles down a bit. We closed on our house last Friday, and have been working non-stop on it after work every day! There aren't any huge remodeling needs, but new paint, carpet and floors were a must. We are also re-framing the master bath, and a kitchen makeover will slowly be taking place over the next year.

That being said, painting and ripping up old light blue, patterned carpet is about as un-glamorous as you can get. Outfit pictures have definitely not been in the equation these past several days, but I'll be working on some posts this week :) For now, I'm sharing some of my favorite summer shoe finds! It seems like every few years I reach a point where I need several new pairs of shoes at once, and this is one of those years! With my honeymoon to NYC coming up in just over a month, I'm really on the lookout for chic sandals that will be comfortable for walking. I've been scouring my favorite online shops for summer shoe trends, and many of my favorites are below!

Flat sandals:



Heeled sandals/wedges:



Flats:



What's your favorite shoe trend this summer? Have you found any amazing flat sandals I should check out??

xo,
Jacy

Casual Stripes
6.16.2014

 Top: J. Crew Factory (on sale!) | Jeans: Forever 21
Flats: Go Jane | Bag: The Limited
Watch: Fossil | Tassel Bracelet: Cathryn Ann Designs | Pink Beaded Bracelet: Lily & Laura

Hello! I can't tell you how excited I am to be posting an outfit. I know it's been a couple of weeks and I feel terrible about it. This is one of my new favorite outfits though, so I'm excited to share! With a limited budget this summer I'm trying to buy tops that go with a lot of things, and this J. Crew Factory blouse is a perfect example! I've worn it a few times like above, but it's great with anything from denim or colorful chino shorts to being tucked into a pencil skirt for work.

A little life update:
- I'm starting my 3rd week at my new job, and I'm absolutely loving it!
- If everything goes smoothly, we should close on our house 1 week from today (knocking on wood)!
- Wedding planning is going so well and I can't believe we're just 5 1/2 weeks out! My first bridal shower is this Saturday :)

I hope your week is off to a great start. Thanks for reading!
xo,
Jacy

{Thank you to my sister Tess for the photos!}


Shopping Wish List | Work Inspired
6.10.2014

Top: Topshop | Dress: Gap (love the pink too!)
Skirt: Zara | Purse: Rebecca Minkoff
Sandals: Target | Ipad Mini Case: Kate Spade | Blazer: H&M

This month's shopping wish list is all about work attire! Pretty much all of my shopping (or online window shopping) lately has been with my new dressier job in mind, and I've been on the lookout for versatile pieces that can be dressed up in the workplace or dressed down for play. Work attire has a bad rap for being boring, but it can totally be fun when you play with color, prints and textures. So far I've added pencil skirts in purple, turquoise and white lace, blouses in stripes and pastels, and chic tailored pants in white and black (because they'll go with everything).

xo,
Jacy

PS ~ I bought those Target sandals last weekend and they are the bomb.com! They look great on and will be perfect to wear from work to evening.

Wedding Centerpiece DIY
6.09.2014

As many of you know, I'm getting married this summer (in 47 days - ahh!), and I've been sharing bits and pieces of my wedding planning along the way! Weekend before last my sister visited for a little DIY Day and we knocked out nearly all of our wedding decorations (with the help of Trey's mom and aunt) in one afternoon. 

I am not at all a crafter!! Seriously...not at all. I don't even remember the last time I tried to DIY or craft something. So, I will readily admit it was pretty insane of me to plan to DIY nearly all of my wedding decor with just over a month to spare. Fortunately, everything has turned out even better than imagined so far (cue the "Hallelujah Chorus"), and it's been a huge weight off of my shoulders (and something big to cross off of my to-do list)!

My wedding colors are lavender/lilac, gray and silver. We'll have a few dark purple accents, but those are my primary colors. I wanted centerpieces that were chic and glamorous, but inexpensive. And these proved to be the perfect fit.


Going into wedding planning, I knew I would be picky about centerpieces, but also knew there wasn't a lot of room in our budget for them. Where centerpieces get pricey are flowers and buying vases, etc., so I knew this was something to avoid. The pictures above show a bigger grouping than what will actually be on each guest table, but I just wanted to show off some of the different things we did.

Step One: Collecting Bottles & Jars
As soon as I came up with this idea back in February or so, I asked several people to start saving wine bottles, mason jars, and other pretty bottles and jars for me. Fortunately, both my dad and I love drinking wine, so this helped speed up the process ;) We needed A LOT of bottles though, so everyone's help was so appreciated. The best part? These supplies were 100% free to me!

Step Two: Supplies
  I ended up using 3-4 different silver spray paints because I wanted there to be a bit of variety. Rust-oleum spray paints are great, and are pretty inexpensive at Lowe's and Wal-mart. Here were my two favorites:
 The one on the left was purchased at Hobby Lobby and was over $8. Despite the slightly heftier price, this one was my favorite and had a slightly translucent, shimmery finish. The one on the right was purchased at Lowe's for $3-something, and had a high-shine almost-chrome look that I loved. All in all I spent about $20 on spray paint.

Other supplies:
Modge Podge - $5-$7
A paint brush (to paint on the Modge Podge) - already owned
Silver glitter (purchased at both Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby) - $6 x 2
Thin painter's tape (to make a straight line for glittering) - already owned
Clear spray lacquer to seal/protect the spray-painted bottles - $3-$4
An extra case of mason jars purchased at Wal-Mart - $9

Total cost for centerpieces = right at $50!

Step Three: DIY Time
We set up a couple of folding tables and covered them with plastic (newspaper would work too - just make sure everything is covered that you want covered). Spray painting is pretty self-explanatory, but just make sure you don't put on too thick of a coat as the paint can run. I learned it was much better to go over a bottle with a light second coat than to worry about trying to perfect it and then over-painting. As for the glittering... It was messy but fabulous! I just love the glamour and drama the glittered bottles and jars added, especially with a tea candle inside. For the jars and bottles that went halfway up with glitter, we used the thin painter's tape to make a straight line, and then painted below with modge podge. I found an empty shoe box to pour glitter over, and this made it easy to pour the excess glitter back into the glitter jar (and to keep it in one place).

What's left?
Our florist will be ordering some loose stems at wholesale to put in some of the bottles. This will probably cost us between $100-$150, but that cost is so much lower than doing floral arrangements or having to buy a bunch of decor items. We will have just 2-3 loose stems per table to stick in the bottles, and then the mason jars will have tea candles inside (I still need to buy those as well).

What do you think?? I'm so incredibly pleased with how these turned out, and can't wait to walk into my reception with everything set up and glowing! 

xo,
Jacy




Summer Peplum
6.05.2014

Top: Tobi (old | similar + more below) | Jeans: Forever 21
Heels: Steve Madden (similar here and here) | Bag: Phillip Lim for Target (sold out)
Necklace: Forever 21 (similar)

I don't know about you, but I still absolutely love peplum hemlines. To me, they invoke a classic elegance (the 1940's are my favorite) and are so flattering and feminine. I paired mine for an easy-chic look with heeled sandals and a statement necklace and think it would be just perfect for a date night :)

I hope you're having a good week! I'm definitely ready for the weekend!
xo,
Jacy



Summer Dresses
6.04.2014


Hello! Today I'm guest posting over on the Remington Ready blog for Remington Products! They asked me to style 3 of my favorite dress trends and I chose a shift dress, a maxi dress, and a skater dress. Head on over to Remington Ready to read more!

xo,
Jacy

Love Tee
6.02.2014

Tee: J. Crew Factory (love this one too) | Jeans: Gap (similar)
Flats: Go Jane | Bag: The Limited
Necklace: Etsy (similar) (real J. Crew one here) | Watch: Fossil | Gold bracelets: old F21
Pink bracelet: Lily and Laura (Staxx Boutique buy in Springfield | great online selection here)

I hope your Monday is off to a great start! Last weekend on Memorial Day Trey and I got to go to the outlet mall at Lake of the Ozarks (Missouri girls you know what I'm talking about...it's great), and I did quite a bit of shopping for my new job! I had great intentions of only buying things I could wear to work, but I couldn't resist this little 'Love' tee at J. Crew Factory. Oh, and did I mention everything in the store was 50% off + an additional 10% off?! Yeah, I kind of went to town.

I love dressing up a graphic tee with jewelry (in this case my statement necklace), shoes, and sometimes a blazer! They're so fun to play around with.

xo,
Jacy 

Photos by Kate of Just Kate



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