Summer Gold

While I was out shopping this afternoon, I can across some really great pieces of gold costume jewelry that I wanted to add to my collection. I have a slight addiction to gold during the summer time. It just works so well with my (faux) tan and all the bright clothes that summer has to offer! Plus, the great thing about buying costume pieces is that you can find some really great things that don't cost a lot of money! Today my luck was found in Francesca's and Express. The both had really great sales on their accessories as well. WIN!

Here's the new pieces I picked up today! A couple new bracelets and two pair of earrings!

(ps: Um, I have no idea why some of these descriptions are underlined. A computer savvy girl, I am not... Oh well!)

Three great bangles which can be worn alone, or stacked. The orange one is clearly a take on the Hermes bracelet for a fraction of the cost. I can easily wear these with both my gold or white Michael Kors watches.

I've been keeping my eye out for a big pair of gold earrings and I think these fit the ticket. They're really lightweight and just the right size. Obsessed.

Gold Hoops that are really sparkly when you wear them. Too bad my camera isn't doing too good of a job showing that!

...And, here's the things that I've had for a while:

Christmas gift from my parents. It's a Delicate Raymond pendant necklace with an "M" monogrammed on the front for my name. I wear this ALL THE TIME!

I bought this necklace from JCrew maybe a year or so ago and I can't even tell you how many compliments I get when I wear it. It's called the "Fireball" necklace and for good reason. It shimmers like crazy in all kinds of light! So pretty!

Michael Kors Runway Watch. It's huge. It's perfection.

I bought this from Ann Taylor around Christmas and it's one of my favorite necklaces. It makes a statement all on it's own. Big. Flashy. Pearls. Gold. Man - so many good things going on here. I love them all!

Here's the team! All my favorite pieces for summer! I can't wear to pair it all with the great dresses I bought for my sister in law's wedding in a few weeks.

Black Belt: In Shopping

You see, friends. This is why I need to STOP napping with Ava during the day! Who do I think I am, a toddler? Yikes. So here I sit at 1:30 in the morning and I'm all motivated to write a little something on my blog before I attempt some sleep.

Let me just start by giving one of my best friends, Deena Madsen, credit for the title of this post. Here's the background. This past Sunday, I ventured out into downtown Raleigh to try and find a one-of-a-kind dress, or two, for my sister in law's upcoming wedding. I'm so over prom-like, cocktail dresses, I could scream. I searched online and in the stores for weeks trying to find something that I couldn't live without. Nada. Zilch. Nothin'.

Then, low and behold, in the beautiful boutiques of Raleigh, I finally found some really amazing things. Here's the best part about shopping the little stores: The buyers for these little shops only purchase maybe 5 of one item, in a variety of sizes and then let the crazies, like myself, fight tooth and nail to bring one home. It's cool, I own my crazy. Heck, I write about it all the time! So as I'm walking through the store, "Scout and Molly's", I spy THE ONE. Yup, almost like seeing your wedding dress. Almost. I take it off the rack and to my complete disappointment, it's a "large". Now, I'll fully admit this last year hasn't been the best to my waistline, but a "large", I am not. I could have probably taken the leftover material and made a dress for Ava. (Wait, that's brilliant! Darn...).

Anyway. Here comes the "Black Belt Shopper" in me.

I spend the next 72 hours scouring the internet, calling other stores, and even emailing the PR representative AND customer service rep for the company, Alice and Trixie, asking for help. I'm actually being serious.

Finally, the CS rep hunts down my dress somewhere in the lovely state of Georgia where they, FOR FREE, shipped it to another store in North Carolina, who then shipped it, FOR FREE, to my house. My latest stalk on UPS.com tells me that my dress will be at my house by the end of the day tomorrow.

I think I should do this as a side job, yes? You can't find it? I bet I can...

The icing on the cake for this little experience is that not only was the dress found, it was on sale.

Holla!

And, for your viewing please: THE DRESS! It's so unlike any thing I've ever worn to a wedding and while I don't plan on wearing this to the church, it's FOR SURE going to be out and proud for the reception. It's so perfect and summery!

(A quick shot of the one being sent to me. The lovely girls at Luna, www.shopluna.com , were just the best.)

Tim McGraw Concert!

Hey y'all!

We hit up a country concert last night and made sure we were dressed for the occasion! What? You don't think Louis Vuitton is country? Psssshhhh. I finally got to break in my Frye cowboy boots last night, or rather, they broke me. I have the blisters on my heels to prove it! Oh well, fashion can be painful and I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

One of my closest friends from high school, Nicole, and her hubs Brian went with us and we had such a great time! Did a little tailgating before we went in to save some money from the 12 dollar beers and 8 dollar pretzels. We originally had lawn seats, but as always, you could trade in your tickets for seats if you got there early enough. We were hoping to avoid any rain so we did a swap only to realize we were still uncovered. Awesome! Thankfully there was no rain by the end of the night and we had a great time!

The Band Perry and Luke Bryan opened for Tim and they were really entertaining! Curt is a big Band Perry fan and Luke Bryan has a couple great songs out there as well (and pretty easy on the eyes, if you ask me!). Tim McGraw doesn't age and still looks amaze in a pair of jeans, a tshirt, and his trusty hat. Yum.

Here's some pics from our night out!

Curt, myself, Brian, and Nicole

Nicole and I with our 24 oz CANS of beer. Have mercy!

Tailgating in style. Like the big truck behind me? There's a whole lot of those in the south.

Curt's boots he bought over 10 years ago! No blisters for him!

The Frye boots Curt bought me for Mother's Day. Wearing for the first time meant I did get the blisters on my heels. Totally worth it.