Strength to the Weary

Via

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

This was one of the verses from my Jesus Calling devotion for the day (if you are in need of a good one - get this one! My Mom gave it to me almost 2 years ago and I am always in awe of how much it speaks to exactly what I am facing each day) and I just felt like sharing it with you. I love the imagery this verse gives me. The power and grace of a soaring eagle, the strength and endurance of a runner running a race - all fueled by our hope in the Lord and the new life He gives us. 

Where ever you're at today, don't give up, don't stop running the race and fighting the good fight. Start every day with dependence on Him, because our own strength can only carry us so far. And don't be afraid of that cliff you feel like you might be jumping off, it could just be God nudging you to teach you how to soar.

Vegas Bachelorette Weekend

The perfect golden weekend in pictures:

Christening the pool

It was pretty much the best, non-crowded pool ever

Dinner the first night 

A toast to Lisa!

Gundy (mine) and Blankie (Lisa's) come everywhere with us :)

Me and the beautiful bride-to-be!

Half serious/half not

(thanks to my friend Nicole for letting me borrow her dress btw!!)

The whole gang at Pure (we saw jwoww there, I bet you guys are jealous)

Lobby at the Wynn. Love that place.

Thank you heavenly pool for saving us from the scorching temperatures!!

Trump Tower aka Big Gold

Sparkly crystals

Pretty lobby

Me and sister at the Venetian

I love this one

Special dessert for the bride after a delicious dinner at Sushi Samba

Night 2 out at Tryst (loved that place)

This one again :)

Last pool day

Gold

I know these aren't the typical "get home late Sunday night from a weekend in Vegas feelings," but I honestly felt so blissful and relaxed that I couldn't stop smiling the whole way home. Besides maybe being a *smidge* toasty at times, I'm pretty sure we had the perfect weekend. We arrived to upgrades for our rooms (36th floor overlooking the strip), headed straight for the pool, and continued to have an amazing weekend all the way through. We laughed, we danced, we drank champagne, we barely paid for anything except maybe our fancier dinner out on Saturday, we got 8 hours of sleep every night, had good heart to hearts in the pool, and all got along perfectly. I love how sweet and fun all of Lisa's friends are (well I consider them my friends too :) and seeing how much they all love each other. 

I couldn't be happier about who my brother is marrying and who I'll get to call my sister. I pretty much get choked up every time I think about it. We cried saying goodbye to each other at the end of the weekend knowing the next time we would see each other would be just days before the wedding. Seriously I am ridiculous when it comes to the emotion levels lately - GOOD LUCK TO ME at the wedding. I wish I could post all the pictures (well you pretty much saw them all if you're friends with me on facebook), but seeing as I took over a hundred between my two cameras and iPhone, I think it would be a little much. So happy it was a successful weekend, and most importantly, that Lisa had a good time. Love you girls and can't wait to see you again in just a few weeks!!

xoxoxo

The Best

Since I didn't get home till almost midnight last night, and I have pictures to sort through from three different places, there was no time for a proper blog post today. But I will give you this picture of me and Lisa, and say that this weekend could not have been more perfect. I can't wait to give you the details and share some more pictures tomorrow, but until then, have a very marvelous Monday and let me know how your weekend was!

xoxo

Pieces of Glitter

The weather every night this week has been absolutely amazing. I took an extra long stroll around the Pearl on Tuesday night because I just couldn't bring myself to leave the lovely outdoor summer air.

Went to buy a gift for someone at Forever and naturally came across a few things I had to have. These tights have actually been on my "need" list for about a year now and I was so excited to see them back at Forever! Hate to say that seeing all the scarves and tights made me just a smidge excited for fall...Also can we please talk about my kitty in this picture? I die every time I look at her sweet little face.

Playing in the cool fountains on my lunch break

My new necklace from Forever that I am in love with. It reminds me of the J. Crew and Lauren Elan necklaces I love but for a fraction of the price

All these flowers and foliage were spotted on a walk after dinner with some friends on the East side. So pretty and unexpected!

My nails for Vegas :) Stolen straight from here.

I'm off to Vegas for the weekend to celebrate my future sister, Lisa! Can't wait for our gold-encrusted adventures filled with lots of pool time, girl time, and dancing. See you next week! Have a fabulous weekend!!

xoxo

Mix and Match

One thing following style blogs has inspired me to do is to start mixing and matching unexpected pieces together. I noticed that Miss Blair (among others) will wear dresses as skirts with a different top over it, or a dress worn as a top and tucked into a skirt or pants. A lot of times I think that I need more clothes to have cuter outfits, but the truth is, sometimes the more options I have, the more difficult it is to get dressed every morning. So I've started to think outside the box and see how I can mix up my clothes instead of feel the need to go out and buy something new. Here are a few looks I've come up with recently:

Gray T over my chiffon-layered white dress

Navy shirt dress tied up and worn over white tank dress I've had forever

Black T and lace top layered over same white dress as above

Ok, so they're not THAT different from one another, and apparently I am in need of a white skirt, but it's still a way for me to extend the life of a piece in my closet, and get my mind thinking about all the different combinations that are hanging in my closet just waiting to be discovered.

Do you mix up your clothes or keep things pretty basic?

Gold + Nude Nails

Via

So while I agree that Pinterest is mostly just a place to pin a bunch of recipes you'll never make, and pictures of vacations you'll never take, and is good for taking up huge chunks of time, there are a few boards of mine that I actually utilize. The biggest one being my "Dazzling Digits" board, or nail inspiration. I capture nail pictures from all around the internet and actually go back and try a lot of the different trends or colors I see (and love when my friends tag me in their nail pictures! :) My current nails are an example of that!

A couple different places have shown the gold glitter over nude look so I wanted to try it out for myself this last weekend for the wedding. Though I WISH I had Deborah Lippmann's Boom Boom Pow, I just went with my basic gold glitter from Forever over my favorite nude - Jazz by Essie. I love how they turned out! From a distance they just look like a very shimmery champagne color and you can barely tell that it's glitter. 

Definitely am a fan of mixing colors to create new looks. Be creative and see what you can come up with!

While we're talking about nails, I thought I would share my new secret weapon: Seche Vite - a top coat I found (thanks to this blog). Her nails always look so glassy and perfect so I bought myself a bottle and love this stuff! Before, I would paint my nails and I swear hours later they would still get creases in them if I wasn't careful. This dries so quickly and there aren't any smudges or lines after. I even painted my nails right before bed and they were fine! (this is like a dream come true for me). So I definitely recommend this one (and still love hoof lacquer too).

There's your dose of glitter and nails for the day! Make it a sparkly one.

xoxo

P.S. Do you like my new blog header? My brother did this one for me again and I LOVE it! Thanks Rich!!

Weekend Wedding

This weekend I went to a friend's wedding and wanted to share some of the beautiful details. This family (especially the mom and three girls) all put Martha Stewart to shame. They pretty much did everything for this wedding themselves and it turned out SO well! I was beyond impressed...

The busts on the pillows are exact replicas of them

Fun black and yellow candy and dessert bar

Me and my friend Amanda. You know some days when you just aren't having a "pretty" day? That was me at this wedding. Not trying to fish for compliments, I just was not happy with my hair, dress, etc. Good thing this day wasn't about me right? ;)

The newly engaged couple. Looking super stylish.

Gorgeous table settings

My friends Heidi and Lindsey (sisters of the bride)

The beautiful bride and her daddy

My neutral + gold manicure

Every spot had a customized name tag

Yummy food

The most adorable Grandma. Look at her dress and fun lipstick and cute dance moves!!

Good work on the wedding ladies and Congrats to Laura and John! Did anyone else go to a wedding this weekend (I feel like there were SO many on Saturday!)? Hope you got to enjoy the sun no matter what you did! 

xoxo