Excellence is not an act, but a habit

Excellent: Otomi prints and a DIY

With warmer weather on the horizon (hopefully), it’s time to start thinking about easy ways to make your home and surrounding spaces reflect the change in season. To me, spring and summer are a great excuse to introduce bright colors and playfulness to your space. One easy way to do that is to using otomi fabric in one of your rooms- or even your porch!

I love the bright colors found on otomi prints and the boho/eclectic touch they inject into a space. That said, authentic otomi fabric is an investment, with pieces starting around $100 up to $400. Lucky for you and me, Cassie from the blog Hi Sugarplum! recently posted an inexpensive and easy DIY painted otomi table for your patio:

Guys, even I think I can pull this craft off and enjoy my summer cocktails in style. How about you? 

Maine trip: BOOKED!

Yesterday, the hubs and I booked our week-long vacation to Maine in late July. 

Seriously, I’m THAT excited. The thought of getting away for a week and exploring an area where we both have wanted to visit for a long time is INTOXICATING. Planning trips is like my own version of heroin.

We’re going to use Camden as our home base for three nights, for daily jaunts to nearby towns in the Midcoast area. Lobsters. Sail boats. Antiques. Yes. Here’s where we’re staying (found via airbnb)

From there, we’ll be spending two days at the Claremont Hotel in the Southwest area of Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park and tourist hot spot Bar Harbor. 

Our final two days and night will be spend in Portland. Fingers crossed we’ll get to sync up with our wedding photographer and friend, Meredith Perdue, whose website Map & Menu inspired our trip in the first place! 

Now that the lodging and flights have been booked, I can get into the good stuff- planning our activities and making reservations at local restaurants. Oh and plotting out how many antique stores I can hit along the way. If you have any must-see Maine attractions, areas or can’t-miss restaurants, please let me know. I have to admit I have some very in-the-know friends who have already sent us some incredible ideas but I’m always open for more!  

Wine, Cheese and $20 Please!

A friendly reminder to all of you friends out there in the Triangle- the Wine, Cheese and $20 Please event is a WEEK AWAY! We’ve booked an amazing space (Spy Raleigh), secured delicious appetizers and desserts from local restaurants (including Humble Pie and Market Restaurant), have a live musician and amazing raffle prizes including a beautiful necklace from Hyla DeWitt. Buy your tickets today! 

Recent favorites

A leopard shift dress that is oh-so comfy and workplace appropriate from Target (click images for source)

Pilates Hottie nail polish from Essie

I love using these wipes to remove makeup after a workout and before bed. So refreshing!

I’ve been slathering this on every night to fight dry heat and sensitive skin. So far, so good but doesn’t do much for tightening/brightening. 

New favorite beauty trick to brighten up my Khloe Kardashian dead eyes in the morning is to line the rim of my bottom eyelids with white kohl eyeliner (after applying copious amounts of under eye concealer/brightener)—instant lift!

I picked up this sheer cheek tint from Bobbi a few weeks ago and I’m loving it. I dab it on the apples of my cheeks, and then use a concealer brush to spread the color up towards my eyes and then back down near the lower part of my cheek. 

As I’ve expressed many times on this blog, I’m an admitted lip gloss addict. As in, I have an Old Navy leopard pencil pouch filled to the brim with lip glosses, lip sticks, lip stains- you name it. Well, my search for the perfect barely there natural glossy pink tint that can go on by itself or over ANY COLOR LIPSTICK (believe me, I’ve tried) is over. Run, don’t walk and get you one. (Color is ‘Cherry’)

When I’m listening to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Kiss” album

Currently on fourth rotation here in corporate cube world. Jesus take the wheel and make these PowerPoints disappear.

Excellent: Style Me Pretty Living

When I was planning my wedding, I heavily relied on Style Me Pretty for inspiration-whether for purchasing my wedding gown, finding the right hairstyle or planning out flower arrangements and bouquets. Imagine my delight when I found out they have launched a home style style- Style Me Pretty Living! Make sure to check it out and get your daily dose of pretty. I’ve already started some brand new inspiration folders using the sites handy “favorite” tags. 

D’Orsay Flats

One of the big trends this year has been d’orsay flats- specifically those made by Jenni Kayne. 

When I saw these flats, I fell for them…hard. Love the shape, the variety of choices and their slightly edgier side from your typical ballet flat. What I didn’t like, however, was their price: $395/pair. 

Maybe I just don’t “get” fashion but that seems a wee bit steep. Lucky for me, I found a very similar pair from Jeffrey Campbell on Nordstrom.com:

You can buy them here. Yay for small wins in the name of fashion on a budget. 

From PEOPLE.com: Four reasons why we’re still obsessed with corgis

Must be a slow news day People. But I’ll take it. 

Check out the photos here.