You can find me at {Daily Crush}

Hi Friends!  I am guest posting today at Daily Crush... one of my daily reads and one of my favorite places to seek out inspiration.  Katie invited me to blog about some of my spring favorites!  Below is a snippet of my post, but click {here} to see the rest!  xxoo!

polyvore created by {ashley gale}

Ashley Gale Photography: Newborn

I had to share a precious photo from this past weekend!  Say hello to Nolan, the next Baby Gap model!  Seriously... how cute is his knitted 'smoking jacket'!!? :)  I went to high school with his parents and there is no doubt where these good looks came from!  I can't wait to show his mom and dad the rest of his photos! :)  Also, stay tuned for a few more babies this weekend!  I recently took photos of a handsome little man (and future baseball star) named Cole, as well a sweet little girl named Ella and her new baby brother Parker!  Have a great night!

Backyard Fantasies

I am a downtown / city girl through and through!  However, looking at some of these images secretly makes me want a big back yard that I can be creative in!  I'm just dying over some of these garden party inspirations!  And... a night at the movies - right in the backyard??  Can one of my friends please host one and invite me??  Happy Monday! :)

All images found on {Pinterest}

Happy Sunday!

I love Sundays!!  I especially love them when they are 80 degrees and everyone is out and about!  I live downtown and across from a big park... so I can look one way and see everyone shopping, dining and getting ice cream on High Street... or I can look another way and see people running, walking dogs and lounging by the pond -- it's amazing.  Is it just me, or is EVERYONE so much happier when it is nice out!  I have been inside for most of the day today just getting things organized and still resting from not feeling 100%...  but I'm hoping my friend {Kristin} starts craving some ice cream from {Jeni's} real soon... because I have been craving it since I woke up this am!!!  :)

{Jeni's Blog}

Weekly Gratitude

There is a Weekly Gratitude series going on in the blogging world and I thought that this would be a great week to join in!  There are so many things that I am grateful for in my life, but here are just a few I thought I would share with you this week:

I am thankful for the best spring trip to Mexico with 5 amazing ladies! 

The weather, the food, the drinks were all absolutely amazing!  

Can't wait to see you all again soon!

I am thankful for the people at Vino Vino for hosting the most wonderful 

wedding shower ever for my sister this past weekend.  

It was absolutely one of the best parties I have ever been to!  

Pictures to come soon :)

I am thankful that I got to see all the wonderful women in my family this week!  

It's not often that we are all together in one spot, but thanks to 

Amanda's wedding events, it seems I get to see them monthly now :) 

I am thankful that it is FINALLY starting to feel like spring!  

I love that it is daylight when I leave work and the warmer temperatures 

have inspired me to rearrange my closet with spring clothes first!

I am thankful for the two newborn baby sessions I have this weekend!  

It is so great to be able to do what I love on the weekends and to help 

capture memories for my friends! :)

I am thankful for all of the sweet comments I receive on my blog daily!  

Thank you for reading!!!

And... since I am thanking people - I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to thank Molly from {Urban Nester} and Dora from {A Drop of Indigo} for awarding me with blogger awards!  Thank you for thinking of me!  I'm new to the blog award thing - but I think I am supposed to list 10 things (you may or may not know) about myself and then award 10 other bloggers!  My list is below... but I can't pick out just a few inspiring bloggers, so I give the award to every single blog on my blog roll (to the right)!  xxoo.

I am 100% Aquarian.  Maybe even 110%.  It's kind of scary!  

In college, I became very interested in horoscopes and rising signs... 

I was devastated when they just announced that the zodiacs may be all wrong!  

I love buying gifts for other people.  

Once I make the purchase, I get even more excited and completely impatient to give it to them.  

I need immediate gratification, even when it relates to gratifying someone else.
Oh, and every gift is absolutely beautifully wrapped :)

 

I have started a diet every single Monday since 2001.  

It has lasted until about lunch time on that particular Monday.

I just learned, at age 28, that I absolutely love tea... and toast!

oh, and I now own a toaster for the first time in my life.

I've tried switching from a PC to a Mac every year since high school.  

I finally made the switch last June and will never go back!

I love road trips!  

The most beautiful & fun road trip I ever took was from San Francisco to Portland!  

 

I remember everything from photos! 

I could tell my friends what they were wearing years ago if I saw it in a photo just once.  

I guess that goes hand in hand with the fact that I am a very visual learner.

I love day drinking!  

I will be excited for weeks if I know an event is coming up that calls for drinking before sunset 

(ie. early morning tailgating, summer holidays and parties, Sunday funday ;)

I am a HUGE excel spreadsheet nerd.

and I believe vlookup was the best invention ever!

I would have a lot more money if I had a lot less clothes!

It's true -- I absolutely do not need everything hanging in my closet... 

but they were all "must haves" at one time or another! ;)

Friday's Fancies: {Chevron Chic}

Remember {av} who created a Friday's Fancies {guest post} last week?  I've decided to mix up my Friday's between her series and my {fab 5 friday} series!  This week is the perfect week to participate in her series because I have a few new outfit inspirations I wanted to share with you!  Up this week: A Chevron Printed Dress.... love, love, love!

polyvore created by {ashley gale}

I saw the first photo, my inspiration, on one of my favorite style blogs {atlantic-pacific} and instantly fell in love with the dress.  I haven't decided yet if I am going to splurge on the DVF dress or if I am going to wait for Forever 21 to knock it off.  Either way -- it's would be my "fancy" to take this dress and pair it with some spring colored brights (including a yellow rain coat to protect me from the rain)!

Check out other blogs who are participating in the Friday's Fancies series {here}!  xxoo.

The "It" List

Hi Friends!  Happy Friday... finally!  It's been such a long week! Check out some great blogs and inspiration below  -- "the IT list" was compiled by Jill from {a good life for less}! Have a great weekend.... but remember I post on the weekends -- so check if back if you are on the computer :)

Happy Friday ladies... I hope you have big plans for this weekend!  In the meantime, take some time to visit these inspiring posts from the blog world!

• shen dove style pairs a floral dress with a simple blazer for the perfect spring look.  We both agree that a blazer can pull an outfit together so easily.  (find shen dove style on twitter!)
• walking around {where the sidewalk begins} lays out her top restaurants in Chicago.  I always enjoy getting good recommendations for dining in my favorite cities!  (find walking around on twitter!)
• good clean fun whips up the ultimate summer cocktail... as she says that "conjures up warm summer nights, lightening bugs, and laughter" - I don't know how you can say no to that! (find good clean fun on twitter!)
• thought and musing remixes one little black dress into three gorgeous outfits!  You have to pop over and see her styling work.
• strong sense of style has you covered (literally) for the rainy spring weather.  Check out her picks for rain jackets, wellies and umbrellas, oh my!
• a spot of whimsy recognizes that sometimes you just need a dash of inspiration in the form of Audrey Hepburn. And to that I say, 'Amen, my sister'.  (find a spot of whimsy on twitter!)
• rose a la mode features the office she never uses (while looking fab, of course!) - do you have a room in your house you don't use? (find rose a la mode on twitter!)
• sweetie pie style always posts her recent inspirations on Monday mornings... it's the highlight of my post weekend slump.  The images she finds never disappoint! (find sweetie pie style on twitter!)
• capital barbie gets ready to "lace up" for spring... but not like you may think! Check out her new favorite style of shoes! (find capital barbie on twitter!)
• a little dash of ash pulls together tons of interior inspiration featuring navy blue walls.  A look that I totally love, even more so after perusing all these gorgeous photos! (find a little dash of ash on twitter!)
• mama loves papa is posing pretty in a super fun bird print dress for spring... her post also features her husband's (aka 'papa') new vintage VW truck - so cool! (find mama loves papa on twitter!)
• a spoonful of dish manages to put together a fun blog post even when her internet is down - find out how she did it!  I love a resourceful gal!
• good life for less is color crushing on red + pink + khaki - check out her inspiration! (find good life for less on twitter!)
• good tots features a very chic nursery inspired by this gorgeous magenta dresser/changing table.  So fun for a sweet baby girl!

the IT list is compiled each week by Jill of good life for less - for more information, click here!

Wedding Belles (and whistles)

One month until my sister's wedding <insert big, happy smile here>!!!!  So... I thought I would take advantage of this time to share some of my favorite wedding inspirations - since I think it is normally kind of weird for a single gal to blog about weddings ;)  Don't worry - I am not going to turn this into a wedding "destination", maybe just one post each week until the BIG DAY... then I'll go back to searching for that perfect man! ;)  First up - one of my favorite designers, Kate Spade, launched a wedding line last week - have you seen it yet?

It is a "celebratory collection of little white dresses and colorful accouterments for every shower and soiree".  You can shop by sections like "for the bridesmaid" or "for the honeymoon" or you can swoon over the photos (below) and wish you got to go to a super cute party like the ones they captured for their marketing!  Oh, Kate, what are you going to think of next?  Shop Wedding Belles (and whistles) {here}!

Wednesday Workspace

Last week, Rachel from {Little Bits of Lovely} wrote a {guest post} on beautifully styled workspaces!  Since I love pretty and unique workspaces as well, I thought I would share with you some of my favorites.  However, narrowing them down to just a few was very, very hard - so you can see my other favorites {here}!  Enjoy :) 

All Images found on {Pinterest}

The Perfect Seating Chart

Many of you already know that my sister is getting married in May!  We are very excited as this will be the first big wedding in our family!  As maid of honor, I have been trying to take on many tasks so that my sister can sit back and enjoy her engagement.  However, I thought I would pass a task on to my dad!  I emailed him one day and asked him if he would draw us a seating chart that we could use to place people at their tables with post-its (so we could easily change things around based on RSVPs). I asked for something similar to this:

{Martha Stewart Weddings}

 But... received this about 24 hours later!

WOW!  Amanda's exact layout of her reception made out of wood!  Please notice the dance floor, as well as the tables with gold ribbon to represent the table runners that we are having made for the tuscan style tables.  The "seats" at the tables are even velcro so we can move them around! Impressive Dad!  The best part of it all -- he was absolutely thrilled to help :)  Now... time to put the names on the "people" and start assigning them seats!

Painting with Navy

I love the perfect, classic color, Navy. I think it is safe to say it is one of my favorite colors (next to green of course)!  For a couple years now, I have been talking about a navy painted room (inspired by a navy and white rug I found at Pottery Barn).  However, you can't just paint any room a dark color - you have to have a big room with lots of light and beautiful white trim to brighten it up.  Or you need to pair with amazing bright accent pieces - kind of like these amazing inspirations below.  One day...

Images {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

Skinny!

After gaining 3.5 pounds in Mexico and another 2 this weekend after lots of food and drinks celebrating my sister's soon-to-be wedding... I have no other choice than to publicly post a reminder to myself:

So for one month....

Oh, and google is not making it very easy for me! ;)  Happy Birthday to one of my most favorite foods in the world: The original sundae!