Birthday Goodies

J. Crew Silk Scarf, Tocca Perfumes, Urban Outfitters Necklace, A Feast For Crows by George R. R. Martin

Saturday was my 25th birthday! Although I had to work in the morning and didn't get to see my family, it was still a great day. Paul got me all of the amazingly thoughtful gifts pictured above, and then we did some shopping downtown and had a delicious dinner at a restaurant we've been meaning to check out, Jamonera. For me, shopping + good food  = the perfect birthday.

Top Three

Two new Forever 21 Dresses: Flounced Open Back and Polka Dot Shirtdress 

I'll try not to bore you with too many details, but this week involved a lot of planning for our home renovations. We scheduled our laminate flooring, carpet, and granite countertop installation as well as out hardwood floor refinishing. I can't wait for it to all be over so we can move in and actually enjoy our new home! We did manage to finish painting this week, which was a huge relief. Aside from all the boring house-related stuff, we also took a trip to Glassboro, NJ to check out Prime (a great new burger joint opened by the company I work for) for burgers and shakes. And of course, my week wouldn't be complete without a few new purchases from Forever 21, so I ordered two dresses from the online store and can't wait to wear them this weekend!

 Delicious Chocolate and Oreo Shake from Prime Burger

New House of Harlow 1960 necklace from Paul's parents and sister Sophie

Sunshine Day

Forever 21 Shirt, J. Crew Skirt, Forever 21 Necklace, J. Crew Bag, Vintage Flats, Michael Kors Watch, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets

This skirt has proven to be one of the most versatile items in my closet. The fact that the floral print is tone on tone makes it easy to mix with patterned blouses, but it looks just as great with a solid tee. It can also be winter-ized or summer-ized at the drop of a hat. Today I chose to pair it with my new yellow and white striped blouse from Forever 21 and was very pleased with the results. I think this might be my new favorite outfit.

Blossom

Forever 21 Dress, H&M Belt, Forever 21 Flats, Rebecca Minkoff Bag, Michael Kors Watch, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets

This Forever 21 dress looks and feels expensive, but in reality cost me next to nothing. Once in a while I'll come across a find like this that makes all the time spent sifting through racks upon racks of sub par clothing worth it. I bought this dress for Easter, but plan on wearing it well into the summer and even through fall with some tights and a cardigan. It's definitely one of those pieces that makes me excited to get dressed in the morning.

Silver Belle

Forever 21 Sweater, J. Crew Skirt, Forever 21 Necklace, J. Crew Flats, H&M Bag, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets

Here is the metallic lace skirt I was raving about a few weeks ago. With my red sweater and ballet flats I clearly copied the look right from the J. Crew model, but I added a collar necklace and ditched the chambray shirt to dress it up a bit. The result is perfect for day or night...in fact I wore it today for shopping and last Friday night at work and felt appropriately dressed for both!

409 Cross Street

My apologies for the absence of new posts last week. Things have just been so busy over here. I'm officially a homeowner and it's true what they say...the work never ends! We've been painting, cleaning, ripping out old carpets, and trying to make appointments with contractors for renovations so I haven't had much down time. Slowly but surely we're making our new house a home, and I promise to post photos as soon as it's complete!

Top Three

 J. Crew Baby Brompton in Sahara Dune

This week has been a flurry of preparations for the new house, and today we finally get the keys! I'm so excited to be a homeowner, even with all the added responsibilities that come with it. We're buying a house that was renovated in 2007 so luckily there aren't any major renovations needed...but there's still plenty of cosmetic work to be done so we're going to have our hands full for the next month or so. To help with the stress of buying my first place I treated myself to a new handbag from J. Crew and a trip to the PMA to see the Van Gogh exhibit. Both helped me preserve my sanity this week, at least for a little while!

 Van Gogh "Almond Blossom" Mug from the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Forever 21 Yellow and White Striped Blouse

Metallic Lace Skirt

J. Crew Sparkler Skirt in Tinsel Lace

I scored the deal of the century this week. I've had my eye on this metallic lace skirt since it's debut at J. Crew right around the holidays. The price, however, was a bit out of reach at $138. Since then, it's slowly gone down in price until I spotted it this week in my size for $39.99, plus an additional 30% off sale items, plus an additional 15% off with my student ID. I got this beauty for just $25! That's a savings of over 80%! I love a good bargain.

Paint Colors

Living Room & Dining Room: Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray

We move into our new house this Friday, and Paul has finally put a fire under me to start picking paint colors. The previous owners were fans of dark, rich color, but I'm more of a light and bright kind of gal...so we definitely have our work cut out for us. These new colors are going to completely transform the space and I can't wait to show you the results!

Office: Benjamin Moore Pink Ladies

Kitchen: Benjamin Moore Swiss Blue

Guest Bedroom: Benjamin Moore Golden Honey

Master Bedroom: Designer's Guild Jacaranda

Edgy

Forever 21 Top, BDG Shorts, J. Crew Ballet Flats, Rebecca Minkoff Bag, Karen Walker Sunglasses, Michael Kors Watch, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets

I love red and black together. It's not a typical look for me, so I consider it to be my "edgy" color combination. It reminds me of the brief period of time in high school when I shopped at Hot Topic. Thankfully those days are long gone, but I still like to break out the red and black every now and then for old time's sake.

Birthday Wishlist

1. J. Crew Tillary Purse in Collegiate Green - $148
2. J. Crew Classic Ballet Flats in Bright Cobalt - $125
3. Forever 21 Colored Side Zipper Shorts in Yellow - $17
4. No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel - $15
5. Anthropologie Soda Lime Tumblers (2 of every color) - $8 each
6. J. Crew Silk Scarf in Purple Cerise -$65
7. Diptyque Mimosa Candle - $60
8. Anthropologie Rain Poppy Mini - $118

Top Three

 In love with my new Easter dress from Forever 21.

This week started off with a very exciting Sunday night: pasta and meatballs at Paul's Aunt Anita's, then the season premiere of Game of Thrones! Both did not disappoint. We also did some more shopping for the new house this week, picking up some essentials from Ikea as well as some not-so-essentials from Anthropologie. Even though we don't necessarily need beautiful floral plates, I just couldn't resist! Especially since they were on sale for $7.95 a piece. On Wednesday we started packing up our apartment to make our move less stressful. Hopefully this whole planning ahead thing is effective!

Fulfilled my craving for a burger and fries at Five Guys.

Beautiful new dishes from Anthropologie.

Pretty Pastels

Ann Taylor LOFT Cardigan, Nom de Plume YAYA Top, Forever 21 Skirt, J. Crew Flats, Vintage Clutch, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets, Michael Kors Watch

I bought this silky floral tank a few years ago on sale at Urban Outfitters, and it never fails to add a nice dose of Spring to any outfit. I usually pair it with a pastel skirt and some gold accessories. In fact, I have a skirt for every color in the print: yellow, mint, blue, peach, and pink. I can't decide which combo I like best, although this peach skirt is in the lead right now.

Marigold

Forever 21 Sweater, Forever 21 Shorts, J. Crew Flats, Karen Walker Sunglasses, J. Crew Bag, Forever 21 Necklace, J. Crew and Forever 21 Bracelets, Michael Kors Watch

I can't seem to get enough of this orangey-yellow color lately. Especially when paired with a splash of bright red. I recently bought pants in the same color, as well as some new bedding from Anthropologie. It's such a nice jolt of sunshine on a cloudy day! I decided to pair this new linen sweater from Forever 21 with some fun striped shorts, also from Forever 21. I would suggest going up a size or two if you're interested in the shorts because they run extremely small.

Bargain Maxi

 Staring at Stars Dress, H&M Jacket, J. Crew Flats, Rebecca Minkoff Bag, Ray-Ban Sunglasses, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets

This dress is what I call a bargain. Originally $68 at Urban Outfitters, I found it on the sale rack in early Fall for just $9.99. That's a discount of over 85%!  While I only had eyes for cozy sweaters and boots at the time, I decided to get the gorgeous flowy frock anyway and hide it away until Spring. Now I'm very pleased with myself for not passing up such an amazing deal just because it wasn't seasonally appropriate.

Spring Cleaning

Vintage Striped Skirt, Vintage Sailboat Skirt, J. Crew Floral Skirt

I finally unpacked my Spring clothes and was pleasantly surprised to discover some hidden gems that I completely forgot I owned! It was like getting a whole new wardrobe without having to cough up the dough. Hopefully it will help me curb my shopping appetite for a few weeks. We'll see!

PS - Everything pictured is from last season and all vintage is from Retrospect.

 Forever 21 Floral Blouse, Topshop Peter Pan Collar Blouse

 J. Crew Striped Dress, Forever 21 Floral Dress, Kimchi Blue Striped Dress

Forever 21 Floral Romper, Vintage Striped Dress, Forever 21 Floral Dress

Top Three

 New Forever 21 Cosmetic Case. On sale for $6!

The highlight of my week was an 830 Monday night showing of The Hunger Games. I've been waiting forever for the movie version to come out, and luckily it didn't disappoint! Paul even admitted to liking it (although he would prefer some more gruesome battle scenes). This week we also did some antiquing in Chadd's Ford, helped Paul's sister move into her new place in Merchantville, and bought some boxes to start packing up our own place because...we finally got word on the house! The bank accepted our offer and we go to settlement on April 20! I can't wait to get in there and start making our new house a home.

 Reading A Clash of Kings in preparation for the new season of Game of Thrones premiering on Sunday!

A cozy new melon colored throw from West Elm.

Olive Shorts

Vintage Blouse, Forever 21 Shorts, Rebecca Minkoff Bag, Forever 21 Flats, Forever 21 and J. Crew Bracelets, Michael Kors Watch

High-rise shorts are one of my spring essentials. I already own a few denim pairs, but this is my first colored pair. At first I was unsure of the pleating, but after trying them on I realized that pleats aren't so bad after all. They're actually kind of flattering. Today I decided to pair these shorts with one of my favorite $2 vintage floral print blouses. Another pairing that I've tried was a blue and white striped tee with red ballet flats. I can't decide which I like better!