I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Merry Christmas! I love this time of year and today is the last to celebrate all the twinkling lights, sounds of the season, the food (oh the food!) and of course the smell of a fresh tree! I have always had a fresh cut Christmas tree and this year Billy picked an amazing one! But I loved this gorgeous, over the top, amazing, faux pink tree! Talk about a girly christmas! it has a very 50's look with the big ornaments and the big bulb lights. It's from the Queen of crafts - Martha Stewart (who I secretly love to watch!!!) Here are a few more holiday pink details from Martha Stewart that I love:

these are the ornaments on the pink tree above. I love their unique look, the sparkly butterflies and the fact that you can make them! find out how you put these together here.

These glitter wax candles would be my dream centerpiece for christmas dinner. And I am in love with this icy dewdrop bouquet. That would look fabulous on your front table when you great holiday guests. d-i-y directions here and here.

ok - a butterfly wreath? whhhaattt? I'm in total fantasy land. how beautiful would this be hanging on your door? it would make you feel like a christmas princess every time you came home. you too can create this.

This year we moved right in the middle of December and around Billy's birthday. I'm hoping next year that we can have a holiday party and I can use some of these ideas for decorations! :) Hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas!!! xoxo

all images via martha stewart

CHRISTmas :)

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! :) I can't believe December 24th is upon us and then 2009 will be over! Wow these past 365 days have been filled with change and lots of learned lessons. But I am so thankful for everything that God has provided for us and for where we are in our lives. He challenges us every day, making us stronger and more humble than the day before. And especially during this time we are reminded of the birth of his son and the sacrifices he made. Thank you Lord! :)

In a time of rejoicing I am a little bit sad. This year I will be spending my first Christmas without my family ever. Billy and I just could not make it home for Christmas this year (waaaaayyyy too expensive) so we are visiting our family in early January. It will certainly be a different kind of feeling but I am excited to be spending the day with just Billy. It will be some much needed one on one time since we have both been so busy with work lately. My parents have sent us a few packages to open and we are planning on exchanging a few gifts too so our tree looks and feels very homey and Christmas-ey. I have to work all day today (bummer) but tonight we are going to visit Billy's family in Huntington Beach - some of which he hasn't seen in years! I am very excited to meet and get to know everyone - especially Rosemary our host. :)


Then on Christmas Day we will be sleeping in, enjoying orange and cinnamon rolls (family tradition in the Schwartz household) and opening gifts. I am also making my first ever Christmas dinner (make that first ever Holiday dinner for any matter) I got a mini ham for the two of us and plan on making sweet potato casserole, scalloped potatoes, my homemade macaroni and cheese, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole then pecan pie for dessert (that I store bought - because Billy loves it and I would hate to mess that up!) I'll be sure to let you know how this goes... haha


So we wish you a wonderful Christmas and hope that you have safe travels and warmth of family and friends around you these next few days. :) xoxo

image via Web Art Store

Rodar-tay for Tar-jay

Ok so I am a little bit late on this post - I've been soooo busy working at the store (non-stop! it's been crazy but that's a good thing!) but I had to write something about the launch of Rodarte for Target (pronounced row-dar-tay for those of you who don't know) that happened this past Sunday. Jamie (one of the amazing minds behind ban.do) and I have been soooo excited about this and talking about it for months. I literally came home from work on Saturday so excited - it was like Christmas Eve and I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep. Then Jamie called me, in a panic/excited state. One of the targets near us put it out early and there was absolutely no one there!!!! So I raced over there (to the utter confusion of Billy - men will never understand the things we women do for fashion) and literally tried on every single piece in the collection. my cart pretty much looked like this and the dressing room attendent was none too pleased with me:

There were two pieces that I knew I was going to get for sure but I wanted to try everything on. While I knew this collection wasn't going to be the best quality I was still pretty pleased with the pieces I ended up purchasing. The leopard dress is literally ah-mazing. It's got these cute bows going down the back that give it that vintage feel. The amazingly beautiful Dakota Fanning modeled it for Teen Vogue December/January issue (wow has she grown up!)

So cute! It's short so totally do-able both the rest of winter with tights and spring! But the piece that I was most excited about and was soooooo happy they had my size was the leopard print jacket

it is sooooo fantastic. I had a target gift card from my mother in law Patrisia that allowed me to get this jacket - score! Otherwise I would have been in big time trouble with my hubby... The third piece I took home was a wild card - an orchid pink top with an adorable bow on the neck.

I grabbed it in my frenzy to try everything on and it was the only other piece I truly liked on me. Super girly and lots of fun. The color is very reminiscent of this Rodarte gown Natalie Portman wore to the Oscars this past February.

Overall I enjoyed the collection even though a few of the pieces were definiely not for me (either fit was off or just not my taste). I am super satisfied with my purchases and already planning on when I can wear everything. The only thing I wasn't able to grab were those cute bow belts or lace tights. Oh well - I guess I can't really complain anyways. I got everything I truly needed :) I'm already dreaming about Zac Posen's line for April.... xoxo

images via the thread, teen vogue, ebay, target