My husband and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary last week. We were married at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on a day and time chosen by a vedic astrologer (as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this post). We had our reception a few months later where I grew up. It was the best of both worlds, something simple with little fuss and a great party to follow.
Our wedding day 2008
On our first anniversary we returned to Santa Barbara and planned to do it each year.
Riding bikes to and from the Courthouse on our first anniversaryOn the steps above where we were married
The next year to we went to Santa Barbara in April with our newborn son.
Just before our second anniversary
Then life got in the way. We lost my husband’s father the day after our third anniversary. Two years ago we moved into a house we built. This year, we felt we needed to connect to that time and place. We manged to get away on the actual day.
It made us realize how important couple time is and how important it is to get away and unplug (as much as possible). We were only there for twenty-six hours and we enjoyed every minute. It brought us back to the essence of why we are together which is easy to forget in the day to day.
J. Crew recently issued a challenge to wear gingham for a week on their instagram. Here are Jenna Lyon’s five amazing looks. My husband and I returned from a rare night away from our son to find a Peppa Pig in our bed. (I recently won Peppa playing a carnival game at Legoland California). Here is one of my gingham looks from last week, inspired by Peppa.
I was first introduced to Liberty Art Print fabrics in High School. My mother traveled internationally for work and brought home a skirt that you finished yourself from the Liberty Store in London on Regent Street. It was a beautiful navy Liberty print and had an elastic waist. You finished it by cutting and sewing it to your size. I loved the print and remember it well. My first trip abroad was to London and I remember visiting the Liberty Store on Regent Street and being in awe of all the fabrics.
For the last few years, J. Crew has had several Liberty Arts fabric prints in the collection. They have been mostly used in shirts with a few other pieces (including a clutch I missed out on). I have been collecting the shirts for a few years now.
I wear them all the time and they are an easy way to elevate a basic button down with color. The prints are classic, fun and easy to combine with other prints. Below is a look I put together for Sunday morning breakfast with my family when we all woke up late.
Floral and Stripes
J. Crew shirt (older style) / J. Crew flats (on sale plus 30% off code GETSHOPPING)
J. Crew just brought out these shoes in a fun red in Liberty Arts Fabrics Wiltshire print. They happen to be in my favorite go-to Gemma style. I ordered them right away, they are online only and still available.
J. Crew Gemma Flats in Liberty Art Fabrics Wiltshire print
I styled them with stripes, a blazer and jeans.
J. Crew Shirt (similar here) / J. Crew Blazer (similar here)/ J. Crew Jeans (similar here) / J. Crew belt in navy calf hair (others here)/ J. Crew Flats
I already picture a lot of looks with these shoes including working them into my July 4th look. In the meantime, it is nice to have some May flowers on my feet.
I love leopard is obviously an understatement for me. When I saw this yellow leopard bracelet, I instantly loved it. I thought about for a few weeks. I am trying to shop my closet these days and only buy what I really love. I don’t mind spending on things I wear over and over again. The worst is when you get caught up in the new styles and don’t wear something very often. This bracelet stuck with me and once I bought it, I wore it right away (a good sign). It is such a great pop of color and great nod to the Cartier Panthere bracelet without being a knockoff. It’s fun and easy to wear. I am styling it with one of my favorite shirts from J. Crew from last year (that I was thrilled to see again this year in the recent roll out), my favorite white jeans, and statement flats with pom-poms. The shoes are sold out, but J. Crew has a lot of unique styles and colors in the latest roll out.
When it comes to pattern mixing, sometimes more is best. The floral blouse is one I loved when I first saw it and ordered it. It’s light and breezy and has a great color palate to mix with my favorite navy or even these aqua jeans. I like to either keep the tones similar (or let’s face it navy and white, my favorite) as I did in a post last week ,or go for it with a mix of at least three prints.
My maternal Grandmother’s name was B. Actually it was her middle initial and she was only given a middle initial. She really disliked her first name, which is a great name and one that became very popular a few years ago. I won’t mention it here out of respect, she really disliked it that much.
B at sixteen
Grandmother B was feisty and spirited and also incredibly energetic, giving and kind. She was nothing short of a dynamo. She kept a vigorous fitness routine well into her early nineties. My friends would often comment when we were in our twenties that “we did not work out nearly as much as your Grandmother”. She made friends wherever she went.
Grandmother B was living a retirement community near my parents when a childhood friend’s Grandmother Roz moved in. Grandmother B had only known my friend and had never met Roz. My friend mentioned that Roz had just moved across the country to this same place after losing her husband and was having a hard time. I mentioned it casually to my Grandmother and she tracked Roz down by waiting in the lobby for Roz to come back from a trip shopping and introduced herself. They became besties. It was so inspiring to see them build this great friendship so late in life when most people are set in their ways.
Roz and B
Grandmother B died the day before her 100th birthday almost five years ago. The whole family was in town for her party. She lived her life to the fullest and with gusto until the very end.
Grandmother B with my son on her 99th birthday
Whenever I see something with a bee on it, I want to buy it for her. She had all sorts of bee sweaters and shirts. So when I saw this at J.Crew, I had to have it. It is also a bonus that it is about “BEE the change” and fifty percent of the retail cost will go to saving the bees. More on that here.
The night before I saw the t-shirt I had an intention bracelet made with “BE ME”. “BE ME” sounds so simple, but it is what I am working on. J.Crew has a crewcuts version for this collection that says “Let me bee”. If we all bring our true selves to things, magic happens. Grandmother B was very authentic and said what she meant and meant what she said (and did not always filter). She also really did not care what others thought of her, she had fun. She lived to be 100 years old, so there must be something to it.
I was lucky enough to grab the pom-pom shoes from J. Crew when they first came out (they were online only). I have seen them pop up a couple of times in the sale section. It may be worth a little sale stalking. I was wearing them last week and saw the long sleeve tee. The shoes insisted I buy it. I am styling the shoes and pom-pom striped tee with my cropped high rise lookout white jeans from J.Crew to show off the pom-poms as well as pair of lavender AG jeans that are on sale at Calypso
I love the mix of a more bohemian look with my favorite stripes. The top and jeans are from Calypso. They have extended their friends and family sale, so you can get them both at 25% off until 11:59 pm eastern today, April 18th. Use code FRIENDS16 . Update the top is on sale, plus 50% off.
The top is light and breezy and I love the detail on the tie.
The sandals are on sale at J.Crew. I did not buy them right away and then they were sold out. I was thrilled to pick them up on sale last week. – Update they are sold out. Hereis another style that would go well with this look.
These J.Crew color block pom-pom shoes are amazing. I was worried that they would be uncomfortable and they are very comfy. Sadly, they are currently sold out. I did score them on the website after they were previously sold out, so it may be worth some website (JCREW) stalking (one of my favorite pastimes). The higher, sandal version is still available (and on sale!). I have styled them below with pieces that are currently in stock.
the navy leopard 