Reading Rainbow

I'm taking my summer 2011 bucket list by storm! Last week I caught a second wind late in the afternoon and decided to tackle our built-in bookshelves. I've always admired color coded bookshelves solely for their prettiness because they are clearly not functional. We used to have our books grouped into "his" and "hers" sections along with genre. Now it's relatively impossible to find a book unless we remember the color of the spine but it sure is lovely to look at! Functionality is never fashionable anyway. :) Here are the horrible "befores"...

 gross. X box games, Calvin and Hobbs, etc. clearly this is Matt's side...

 and the fish trophy? I can't believe I let that stand for this long...

 who keeps weights in their bookcase?! ghetto. and that white horse rearing up was a gift. don't judge. 

 my side includes yearbooks, dvds, teaching books, dog books, and lots of series like "twilight"

and now for the "after" shots...

 glorious! white, black, blue and pink books for me.

 now matt's side is rainbowliscious! and hmm where is that fish?

kind of hard to tell in this shot especially with the doors closed but i know what hides behind them and that is all that matters! :)

Have you tried this fun little update to your library? See you tomorrow for some 4th of July musings.

LA Ladies

As I mentioned earlier this week I went to my friend Dani's bachelorette party in LA, West Hollywood to be exact. We had so much fun going out to dinner at Red O, laying out at the pool at Petit Ermitage, and dancing the night away at Crown Bar.

 waiting for our taxi to Red O

dress: Forever 21 (borrowed) 

 the bride to be and me

 sunning on the deck of our hotel

 put your hands up for the bride!

me: bikini by VIX

bride: bikini by VS

 me, the bride, and our friend Page

coverup: Sound & Matter (discontinued) but a similar one here

 dancin at Crown Bar

dress: H&M (borrowed)

 less than three weeks till she ties the knot!

such a cute bride! 

dress: Forever 21

I can't wait to celebrate with Dani at her wedding on July 16th! You can't tell from the pictures but her sash says "The future Mrs. Carpenter." So fun! What did you do on your bachelorette party if you are married? I did the Vegas thing (Hmm, I may have to post on that for old times sake!).

Sheridan French

Ok so I don't typically post twice in a day but I found this new blog and I'm in LOVE! This girl is doing a giveaway for her clothing line and I signed up for it here. Below are some adorable pics from her blog to intrigue you (it worked on me!).

 cutest family photo ever!

ikat, coral, leopard, and a chandelier? i'm in love...

look at the dress she's wearing! So stinkin' cute. I really want to win that print but it is sold out so I went with this print below instead.

i hope i win! make sure you visit Sheridan French and sign up! Good luck!

Berry Sweet

As a goodbye gift a teacher from my old school gave me this sweet item from the kitchen store called Sur la Table. She said that she doesn't know how she ever lived without it so I was intrigued. It is basically a mini strainer but for berries or fresh picked cherry tomatoes from our garden. I thought it was a totally useful and unique gift which I love! Plus, who doesn't eat fresh fruit or veggies in the summer? There are two awesome things about it. One, it folds down when not in use which is good because my kitchen has NO storage. Two, it has a lid to catch any extra water that doesn't immediately drain. Pretty legit, right?

 collapsed 

 the water catching lid

ta-da!

Get your own here.

PS remember this post? Well, my friend Carrie uploaded the pictures she took of me for fun. Go to her blog here to take a peek at her amazing work!

Happy Tuesday! Today I am visiting my grandma and then have a dentist appointment. I've been flossing like a mad woman so I hope the dentist gives me an A+!

Helloooooo lovelies! Wow, I had a fantastic weekend but I am totally wiped out from it! Like I said, I went to a friend's bachelorette (yay I finally learned how to spell it) party in West Hollywood. I had the time of my life which was apparent to Matt when I came home and napped for two hours yesterday. ;) More on the party later this week...

Although the weather has been really warm in the day the temperature has been dropping nicely in the evening which makes great weather for walking. Last week Matt and I were on our evening walk and I had worn my favorite ikat dress that day so he snapped some photos of me. I am currently in love with all things ikat print and have been eyeing some pillows (here here here and here) sold on etsy to spice up our family room. One of the cheapest and easiest ways to change the look of a room is to switch out pillows (advice from a blogger friend :) ).

 yay ikat! 

 obsessed with sally hanson nail decals

 um prettiest girl ever?

 me and my girl

ahhhh summertime! 

dress: ATL

cardi: JCrew

sandals: target (top 10 purchases of all time)

shades: Juicy

watch: MK

So are you as in love with the ikat trend as I am? I also love trellis prints as seen here.  Have a lovely Monday!

Fried Zucchini

Although this wasn't on my official summer bucket list I still wanted to eat up all the zucchinis and squash we have been growing in our garden and not let anything go to waste. I'm kind of burnt out on it though and was looking for some new recipes when my hubby suggested that we fry them. So healthy, right? ;) Anyway, my brother and his girlfriend came over and we put them to work! The jury is still out on which ones were better. Some of the veggies were battered in a flour/cornmeal mix and others were just fried with flour. It was super easy though and very tasty with ranch dressing. Mmm Mmm good!

 the ingredients

 little younger brother helping

 

 the dry ingredients

 all set! 

we decided to fry outside to avoid a mess indoors

 

 sizzlin'

 the chefs

fried zucchini goodness! nail color: Greenport by essie

So what are your plans this weekend? I am leaving for the weekend and going to LA for a friend's bachelorette  party. I'm really excited and it should be very fun! Enjoy the hot weather!

This Never Happens to Me!

Ready for the coolest story ever? Ok, maybe not but I thought it was cool! Ok so ever since college I have become obsessed with Lucky magnetize. I really like it because it isn't like Cosmo other magazines that give the same ol' same ol' trashy sex advice and Glamour other super liberal magazines. It has lots of fashion and beauty product advice which I love! I also adore how they mix high and low end items for an overall fabulous look.

So get this...almost every time I get the magazine in the mail I enter their Lucky Breaks giveaways online. I have never won...until now! Holla! I won a cute pair of green cargo skinnies! I would not have purchased these on my own dollar but am so happy to have found a home for them in my closet. I can totally see wearing these just as much as my skinny jeans.

 please ignore the weirdness that are my toes. nail decals from Jamberry

nailpolish: a grape fit! by OPI

 new turquoise necklace from Forever 21

 love how the zipper adds some "toughness"

my friend rikki insisted that i get feathers and i'm glad i did! i can easily hide them or show them.

So what do you think? I'm smitten. I couldn't find them online or the magazine that featured them so I'm not sure how much they were (either 78 or 178). But either way it's a free pair of cute pants that I WON! Go here to enter today!

tank: Forever 21 (currently but i couldn't find it online)

pants: BLANKnyc 

shoes: Jessica Simpson

glasses: Kreed

earrings: a gift from my friend Kelly. 

crossbody: Junior Drake (nordstrom)

Keep on Dancin' till the World Ends

Will I ever be too old for Britney? Never! Especially considering the guys sitting in front of us at the concert were bald! So, my friend Rikki and I went to the Femme Fatale concert last night in LA. It was awesome!  Brit did not disappoint with her sultry dance moves, fireworks, and smoke machines. We were on our feet the whole time singing along (I will spare you the videos I took) and shaking our thangs. :) It was so much fun! And sorry Lady Gaga... Britney will always be # 1 in my book!

 tank: Forever 21, skirt: Forever 21, shoes: Jessica Simpson, earrings: boutique, watch: MK, nails: A Grape Fit! by OPI

 Rikki offered to be Matt my photographer for the night

 love her feathers! and so did everyone else in LA

tank: Forever 21, skirt: boutique, shoes: BCBG, wristlet: Tory Burch, necklace: Forever 21

 friends!

 "let's hold hands!" - Rikki

 i'm in LA trick

 the countdown...

who has been tanning and who hasn't... :(

What concerts have you been to that were your favorite? Any plans to go in the future? Are you seeing Britney?