month in photos: april

Happy Monday! You might remember last month I decided to start a new series where I recap the month in photos on the last day of each month.... Here's a little look at my life in April. Next month I hope to take so many pictures I have to use my new photo collage apps to fit everything in to a reasonably-sized post.

Punta Cana landscape.

a friend recently started her hair stylist profession and taught me how to make pretty curls!

went on a recruiting trip, back to my beautiful alma mater's campus for the 1st time since graduation.

brunch bunch attire. The leopard Sperry's were a new purchase from the danger zone shopping day.

no filter on this one, what a beautiful sky!

Blue Eyes & I last Friday night. I'm wearing my new Kendra Scott necklace (on sale!) and randomly, my glasses.

Tim Gunn was in KC! Full recap of the Silver Fox's visit in another post.....

wedding season: dresses

Dunnn dun dun-dun..... It's wedding season! Who's attending one this weekend? I can't believe it, but I am actually wedding free until August. When did the fall become the popular season to get married? I love fall weddings, but it really cuts in to my K-State football game attendance. And since 2010, I've seen a major trend shift towards autumn weddings instead of being the coveted June bride.

If you are lucky enough to be going to a few weddings early in the season, what are you wearing? I've found some beautiful dresses in fresh hues I would just love to see on a reception dance floor....

Budget friendly: (under $100)

ASOS midi

Wallis floral dress

Miss Selfridge teal maxi dress

Not as budget friendly: (but really fabulous)

Diane von Furstenberg Edna dress

Tibi pleated silk-chiffon dress

Young, Fabulous & Broke Jeremiah ombre maxi

TGIF times a million and have a happy weekend!!

random acts

I have to brag for a second. I have the best friends ever. And I really hope everyone out there reading this can say the same, and if not, come hang with us! Seriously, I couldn't be much luckier. I found wonderful friends in high school and was lucky enough to find an equally amazing group at K-State. The knowledge of how lucky I am has always been there, but the inspiration for this post just happened last week. I received this weird looking envelope in the mail from a bride-to-be friend from St Louis. I'd already received her save the date - was this a bachelorette party invitation already? I opened it to find this sweet note and magnet:

The funny thing is, I don't remember giving her that glass at all. But I am love-loving this new refrigerator decor! We really tore it up back in the day (just wait until your wedding!) therefore the quote on the magnet is perfect. Thank you Lizzie for such a sweet random act of kindness! Now I feel the urge to pay it forward.....

lilac art via

going pink

Who has gotten in to the bright lips look this spring? At first, it reminded me of my mom, who has never left the house without some shade of coral or magenta on her lips since 1986. Probably earlier, but I'm unable to recollect that far back. Not that a trend reminding me of mi madre is a bad thing; she's a pretty happening 56 year old who at times buys clothes for herself I've been coveting and waiting to go on sale. Future post idea: my mom's style through the decades. 

Back to the topic. This past weekend, Blue Eyes was in Houston and my roomie was in Wichita, so I was lonely. And when I get lonely, I go shopping. Danger zone shopping. So I went to the MAC counter at Nordstrom and promptly asked them to work some magic on my lips. No more nude glosses and chapstick for me. I needed a pop of color that was completely out of my comfort zone. And oh boy did I get it!

MAC "Viva Glam Nicki" lipstick via my Instagram

I wore it to an engagement shower on Saturday with this gloss over to mute it a bit, and loved it. I couldn't believe it! As a redhead, I would've never ever in a hundred years imagined I'd buy a bubble gum pink lipstick and actually wear it.

Are you already wearing a bright lip color? Fill me in, I could always use some more inspiration!

better late than pregnant

Get your heads out of the gutter.... I'm talking about trivia here. BLTP was the name of our team last night at Westport Flea Market and I must confess, we were the WORST team in the bar. Maybe it's because all 5 members of the team grew up within 10 miles of each other (that would be almost zero diversification), maybe it's because this was our first trivia experience together, or maybe it's because we don't have photographic memories and perfect instant recall. Whatever the reason, last night we came in behind a team called "Napkin". Really? Pure disappointment on my face. I guess we should have expected it after we had to Google Funny Trivia Team Names because we were struggling so much in the creative department early on. I mean, I did throw out Team Floozy, however Blue Eyes and the other male on the team were having none of that.

But seriously, do you know what state this license plate is for? No cheating allowed!

the beginning of the end for team BLTP....

So my $5 went to some team called "And Dick Clark presents..." (too soon? I thought so). Other than being big time losers, I had a ton of fun, which is all that really matters, right? Even so, I am planning on redemption next week. Maybe we can recruit some all stars to join us.... any takers in the KC area? Only kidding.... kind of.

TGIF times a million!!

trip highlights: Dominican Republic

What a trip! I can't believe I've been back in Kansas City for a week already. Blue Eyes, his family and I arrived in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on April 5th for five wonderful, action-packed days of vacation. The most exciting part for me was fulfilling the very tip top item on my Bucket List: I learned how to surf!! We went to Macao Surf Camp where we were taught proper form and had one-on-one instructors. Once standing upright on the board (it took me a few falls and lots of salt water up my nose), it is the most fun I've had in the water since skinny dipping with my friends in high school. I already can't wait for the next trip when I can get back out on the board and ride more waves.

A few days before the surfing excursion, we went zip lining (no pics allowed there, but it was so liberating!) and embarked on a fun booze cruise where we got to swim with nurse sharks (scary) and a sweet seal named Jaca. I ended the trip with tons of bruises and scrapes from surfing, wonderful memories with Blue Eyes and his fun family, an empty wallet from the resort's casino and a love for the Dominican and its people. All in all, a successful vacay! 

Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip. I'm waiting for more from Blue Eyes' aunt and mom, but these are from my camera and the surfing photog. Enjoy!

Beautiful coast line

me, cousin, mom, aunt and Blue Eyes with Jaca. She was so soft!

Macao Surf Camp

What a baby wave but... I'm up! NBD.

our surfing crew: Blue Eyes, cousins, uncle, and brother

surfer pup!

Blue Eyes' mom and I enjoying gars on our first night. Yes, we're matching. 

You can find my mint jeans here. The leopard Old Navy top is out of stock, but similar found here. 

The houses in DR are all colorful, each color representing a Catholic Saint to protect their house. 

mint condition

Kenneth Jay Lane

What a pretty way to incorporate spring's hottest color: mint!

creep fest

I realize this might be something that goes against my blog mantra, but I find it interesting/informative and thought I'd share. By now I think we're all aware that little BIG spiders/bots/companies track our every move on the internets. They collect data on where we browse, how often we're there, etc etc CREEPY. I'm not going to get in to the techy mumbo jumbo because frankly, I don't really understand it. I still can't figure out how my TV gets Cam, Gloria, Phil and the rest of the Modern Family crew in my living room every Wednesday.

Yesterday I discovered a nifty little gadget (they, the techy people, call these "add-ons") called Collusion. Disconnect, Inc. has made it their business to keep what you do on the web your business, to a certain extent.

One of the most popular add-ons allows you to "disconnect" from Google, Twitter and Facebook so their bots aren't stalking you all over the place when you're not even logged in to those sites. You can still get on FB like normal, they just won't receive notifications when you visit one of their over one million connected sites that can push your info to third parties.

I haven't downloaded Disconnect just yet, but I did install Collusion, which shows a map of all the websites currently tracking you. Get ready for a creep fest. I went to 3 websites (just 3!) after installing Collusion, and here's what my map looked like:

should we sign up for the Witness Protection Program????

So all these little guys have a snippet of my personal information and will continue following me until they decide not to anymore. There's nothing I can do about it, except install the Disconnect gadgets which will help a bit.

Just for full disclosure, the three websites I visited were Yahoo! Finance, Gmail, and this cute blog post sent from a friend. I don't think I want to know what happens when I get to AmEx, eBay or J. Crew.

Pretty freaky, huh?

spring dream satchel

tory burch bond small satchel

Is this not the most pretty and sleek satchel you've seen all season? If it's in your budget I'm super jealous and think you should probably get it stat. If it's not in your budget (like me), there's a similar, less expensive model over at J. Crew. Love the white and tan combo!

j. crew mezzaluna satchel

procrastinator

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine was simply lovely, but now the inboxes are overflowing, my body is torn up (more on that later), freckles are out in full force, deadlines are approaching, suitcase is still full... and what am I doing? Reading blogs and looking at pretty things. I guess I'm not quite ready to face the real world just yet. It's a beautiful crisp morning here in KC and I am really wishing these would magically appear at my doorstep.

kate spade via

Tolani Pantone scarf

ella moss ringo maxi

Happy hump day! 

month in photos: march

I'm starting a new installment on the blog where at the beginning of each month, I upload some of my favorite pictures from the previous month. I hope you enjoy while I track my adventures, findings (like little Bowie down at the bottom), obsessions and projects!

flying to Orlando for a work conference

"The Capitol" drinks at The Hunger Games Fork & Screen. Those are glow sticks! in the drink!

Lake of the Ozarks for a little mock Spring Break

Opened up one of my favorite wines from the Napa trip to enjoy with my parents and Blue Eyes

rainbow on Highway 50 en route to the Ozarks

Cute new hair ties for spring

This little guy (who we later found out is named Bowie) ran away from home. Some friends and I took care of him until we got hold of his owners the next day. How precious is he?  

I leave for the Dominican Republic first thing tomorrow morning! Woo hoo! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Cheers :)

officially in la la

It is so hard to concentrate today.... I leave for the Dominican Republic in t minus 3 days! Hope you're all having a much more productive Monday than I am. 

[all images from Note to Self Tumblr]