Lily's Closet

Summer is my absolute favorite time of year to shop for my daughter. It's her favorite too because it's all  dresses, all the time. They are all she ever wants to wear. Shopping for a girl in 2015 can be an interesting experience. Everything seems to be super short or cropped or glittered or bedazzled. I don't want my four year old wearing rhinestone short shorts. Just, no. I saw a shirt yesterday that said "No Text On the First Date". Um, excuse me? It was in a store aimed for tweens/teens. What. The. Hell. That being said, I have my go to brands that never fail.

Mini Boden
I love Mini Boden. I love that everything is extremely well-made and lasts wash after wash without fading or coming apart. I love that it's well-priced and adorable. I love it. Well played Britain, well played.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

Pink Chicken
The cutest dresses ever. Pricey, yes...but I usually get 1 or 2 for the summer. They wash really well and in the fall she wears them with leggings and boots.

1 / 2 / 3 

J. Crew
Oh J. Crew. Thank you for keeping my young girl looking like a young girl. Yes, you can be pricey too and sometimes I laugh at you and your ideas of what a t shirt should cost. But I always know a coupon code is in my inbox and all is right with the world.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Lilly Pulitzer
Because, duh.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Gap
I hesitated putting Gap on the list because it can be so hit or miss. Sometimes their girls items look like they should be dressing like boring pre-school librarians. These dresses are super cute though and I could see Lily in any of them. Especially that white one. Love it.

1 / 2 / 3 

And because she is still only (almost) five and runs and jumps and climbs, I stock up on these at the beginning of the summer. She wears them under all her dresses and skirts, because while she is awesome at climbing trees and doing cartwheels, she is still a lady.

Tuesday/Shoesday

Get em while they're hot.

1/ 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

If you buy anything this spring/summer, make sure it is tasseled. I couldn't resist those silver flats. Also, mules are back? But I suppose when they look like that Vince pair, I'm down.

New House Files: The Kitchen

Progress! It's happening! The slab foundation is being poured tomorrow (!!) and then framing can commence. Still have fingers crossed for a September/October move-in date. I've been finalizing a lot of decisions, one of those being the kitchen. It's white. It's classic. It will never (hopefully) go out of style.

I went back and forth and back and forth on marble countertops. And while I looooove how they look, I don't looooove how they patina and need to be handled with care. Some folks don't mind the occasional stain or scratch or chip..."character" and all that jazz...but it would drive me insane. I decided to go with quartz. It's as hard as granite, doesn't stain, and it comes in a myriad of colors. Also, just for clarification, the island will be quartz and the counter behind that where the range will be, will be butcher block.

I've had this kitchen pinned for years. During the planning process I kept coming back to it. It's pretty much the layout of the new kitchen…large island, back wall with windows, range in the middle. I just love it.

Can we discuss that range?! I just CANNOT wait to get that bad boy installed. And I can't seem to part with my beloved subway tile. Though she will be getting a fancy herringbone pattern this time around. And finally, brass hardware for the win!

Can We Talk About Banana Republic?

They have hired a new creative director. Who is BRINGING IT. I haven't thought about BR in probably 5 years (because, let's face it, it sucked). It was all silky tank tops, cardigans, and business lady skirts. And not in the good way. I want boss lady skirts. Remember what happened to J. Crew when Jenna Lyons came on board and resurrected it from the brink of death? And made it awesome? It's happening again. I had that black popover dress in my cart in 5 seconds. I can't wait to see what's in store.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 

New House Files: The Master

Things are sort of at a weird in-between stage on the house. Kind of a calm before the storm. Plans are being permitted and things are getting priced. I'm picking out things like brick, doors, and windows. I'm designing built-ins and fielding calls from the contractor husband about 5 times a day. I've had a few people ask me if building a house is hard. It's not hard for me. I always ask them "Can you handle making 5 decisions at one time and not changing your mind?" Or, "Do you care about things like gutters and grout lines?" If you can and do, building a house should be pretty easy for you. If you can't and don't, you can still build a house, but it will take you about 3 years…or you can hire someone to make all the decisions for you while you drink sangria on a beach. Or something like that.

Because gutters are not exciting at all, I've been dreaming up a master bedroom design board. I really had no idea what I wanted to do until the genius that is Biscuit launched their Spring collection. I fell hard and fast for the Bloomsbury in green and ordered the duvet in about 30 seconds. So naturally everything is falling into place now. I'm pretty sure I'm going to reupholster our bed in a light blue to make it pop off the Schumacher linen wallpaper. I also want to do a chaise in front of the windows. I love this slipcovered version, but with a pink tape trim added to the bottom.

I'm also carpeting our bedroom this time. Last house we did hardwoods and it never felt cozy and inviting. I'm hoping to find something with a subtle animal print sort of like the one on the board. A few accent fabrics for pillows and the such and voila!

Duvet / Wallpaper / Chaise / Trim / Dresser / Mirror

New House Files: The Powder Room

I live for a good wallpaper. Especially in a powder room or bathroom. I'm planning on wallpapering the powder room on the first floor of the house. They are great places do something dramatic and fun. They are like little jewels boxes where you can play with color and pattern and lighting. Usually only guests see it so why not go for a wow moment.

Here are a few on my Pinterest Board…

Obviously there is a theme here. Dark, moody, with lots of brass.

Here are some of the papers I have narrowed down from the millions of beautiful options. Seriously, wallpaper is bringing it these days.

Wanderlust

It's freakin' freezing here. Let's all pretend we are laying by the pool here, at Round Hill in Jamaica. This is definitely on the short list of places I want to visit next.

I want to go to there.