Beachy Keen

I've been thinking about the beach lately...mostly for two reasons. First, my best friend just got back from North Carolina and she and I FINALLY got together the other night to swap stories (hers about the beach, mine about jewelry and design). And second, I'm going to be taking a little beach vacation in July with my sister (yearly trip to Indiana to stay at a house right on the beach)! Needless to say, I'm pretty excited and thought I'd do a "beach-themed" post featuring some of my favorite items to further the excitement.

First of all...gotta have the sunscreen, an umbrella and a big straw hat...especially me cause I burn to a crisp otherwise!

I like the Aveeno suncare products because they aren't harsh but they are strong (I sometimes use baby sunscreen cause I figure if it's good enough for a little one's skin, it's gotta be gentle!)

Straw Hat from J. Crew

Love this huge umbrella and chair set from Fiber Built Umbrellas...plenty of shade!

Next I worry about a cute swimsuit and equally cute cover-up, flip flops and a beach towel.

I really like the J. Crew bathing suits and I'm thinking I'm going with a one-piece this year...Maybe this one in navy??

I got a really light and fun sheath cover up when I was in Miami last year and I absolutely love it! This one is similar:

And of course, sandals are a must! I've always got a pair of these on hand from J. Crew (ummm...can we see a theme here?)

If I had all the money in the world, I'd get this beautiful beach towel from Missoni. As it is, I usually just use something that is readily available (there's a whole collection of towels at the beach house!)

Finally...I need the beach equipment, which for me means sunglasses, a great read, something to keep me cool and a great bag to tote everything around in.

I love my huge sunglasses! I have just one pair (which I'm always misplacing) but I always make sure I put them in my beach bag before I head out...these are similar (I don't remember where I got mine):

A great book is essential to me when I'm at the beach and I've been eyeing a few to take with me:

I've read her other books but I really want to read Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark looks really good when I feel like a little mystery...

And, even though it doesn't look very beachy, I can't wait to read the new David Sedaris book When You Are Engulfed In Flames. If it's anything like his other books, it will keep me laughing all day!

One really important essential at the beach is a way to keep cool when it's sooo hot (even in the shade of a huge umbrella!). I like to keep cold drinks on hand and I could definitely use one of these insulated coolers/totes:

My last essential is a large tote bag that I can stuff everything in and that will stand up to sand, sun and sunscreen. I have a few but I'm thinking of upgrading to this:

Is it time to leave yet!?!? What are your beach essentials??

Whooo Hoooo!

Well this is where my sister and I can be found this weekend!! I can't wait for the fabulousness!!

Passion for Fashion...

I stumbled upon this great website through a new-to-me blog I've been reading, Cosy Up. It's called Polyvore and its quite addicting. If you aren't familiar with it, I highly recommend checking it out! Basically, it's a fashion website where you can sign up for free and play around with different items of clothing, jewelry and accessories to pull together outfits (which they call "sets"). There are literally thousands of pieces which are categorized by color so you can very easily find coordinating pieces. The great thing about it is, most of the pieces are available for purchase and they tell you where to find them so it's a one-stop-shopping experience (for those of you who have the funds!). I could spend all day putting outfits together (I find that I'm much better at this on screen than I am in real life) and I'm really feeling inspired to start dressing better! This makes it so easy and it's really good practice for those of us who need a little refresher from time to time...Check it out, but don't say I didn't warn you about the addictiveness!! Here are some of the outfits I put together all by myself (my parents would be so proud)!!

Fierce!

The finale of Project Runway Season Four is on tonight. My sister and I have been watching the show like addicts and can't wait to see who wins (my vote is for Christian). I thought I'd share a look back at some of my favorite designs from this season in preparation for the showdown between Christian, Jillian and Rami tonight! It should be fierce!

Here is Christian's design from the first episode (which he would modestly describe as fierce!)

This is Victorya and Kevin's piece that won the challenge from Sarah Jessica Parker to create a piece for her clothing line, Bitten.

Rami's creation for the Hershey's challenge using items scavenged from the Hershey's chocolate store...LOVE it!

A look at Jillian and Victorya's avant garde design featuring a trench coat to die for!

I love the dress Rami made for the art-inspired challenge modelling the Grecian statues from the Met.

Jillian's gorgeous creation for the final runway show before Bryant Park.

So who do you think will win!!??

Sex and the City!!

Can I just say I'm super excited for the movie!! Check out the fab website...and the amazing clothes! I miss this show!!

Oscars Glamour

I'm admittedly not much of a fashionista, but I do like to watch the Oscars to see what people will wear...I just have to ask, what was with all the red and black???!!! Seriously, I think people should have talked to each other before hand (or at least their stylists should have) so they didn't all show up in the same color! Does this mean red is coming back? I hope not, I was ready for yellow and blue! Anyway, here are a few of my favorites (most of them are red...that's all I really had to choose from):

I think she had the best overall look...flawless!

Beautiful but I wasn't too crazy about her makeup.

Red again but I like how it sets off her ivory skin.

She manages to get it right again! Gorgeous!!

Fierce!!

Very chic, and I love her jewerly!

I love this dress...

While I wasn't crazy about the her overall look...I'm so glad someone wore something other than red or black!! (and the mom-to-be does look very pretty)