Weekend Wedding

Congrats to my good friend Nicole and her husband Chris. We attended their beautiful wedding yesterday in Gloucester.  Nicole looked absolutely stunning and I love how she wore her mom's veil.  

beautiful view from the reception in Gloucester

gorgeous centerpiece

delicious chocolate cupcakes

girlfriends

loved these orange lanterns

Kim (the maid of honor) had a great hair style

our crew except we are missing the groom

beautiful flowers

more beautiful flowers

Remember when I went to the Cynthia Rowley shopping event? Well I ended buying a dress and it was perfect for the wedding

Cynthia Rowley dress, Anthropologie belt, Banana Republic clutch, Stuart Weitzman platform pumps (scored on sale of course!)

This is how my shoes looked at the beginning of the night.  But, when I changed into my flip fops to dance I left my shoes under a table and I think one of the dogs chewed up the back of my heel.  Let's hope the cobbler can work a miracle for me!

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Weekend Wedding

Farewell to.........

Farewell to long walks on the beach on hot summer days

 sweet cherries (and mangos and watermelon)

leisure bike rides with no particular destination

gorgeous Nantucket

outdoor boutique shopping

colorful summer flowers 

weekends where the weather is hot enough to sit on a bench and people watch 
(and get sidetracked with my new gadget)

sandals and cute summer skirts 

and farewell to summer dresses!

What will you be saying farewell to this summer?

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Farewell to.........

Style'n Outfit and Styling Tips from Tim Gunn

Usually I have some sort of reason I am posting a picture of an outfit.  But,  this is just a simple outfit I wore over the weekend.  I guess I wanted to try out my new H&M tank and my new Stella McCartney strappy espadrilles. 

I love this blank studded tank so I bought another one in a grayish/lavender tone.  It seems like I aways end up items I like in two different colors.  In fact, now that I think about it I have this belt in yellow as well.

Do you ever like something so much you end up purchasing two (or more) of them?

{Stella McCartney Strappy Espadrilles,, Guess pants, H&M tank,
bangles gifted from my mom from a boutique in Newport RI, Michael Kors watch,
Chanel sunglasses, Club Monaco skinny belt }

And Amgen (the company I work for) along with Pfizer sponsored this amazing contest for patients with Psoriasis. Check out Tim Gunn's summer styling tips below.

Amgen and Pfizer today announced the five winners of the 2010 Addressing Psoriasis™ contest, which recognizes people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who want to feel more confident in their everyday style. The winners have traveled to New York City where they will receive a one-on-one consultation with Tim Gunn, mentor to the designers on TV's "Project Runway" and chief creative officer of Liz Claiborne, Inc. Gunn will help the winners embrace their personal style and work with them to select outfits that complement their individual looks and lifestyles, and that work with their psoriasis. The winners' stories and experiences will help raise public awareness of psoriasis. - (For more details see the Amgen Press Release )

SUMMER STYLE TIPS FROM TIM GUNN

Allure Daily Beauty Reporter Blog
By Sarah Wexler
July 28, 2010

As a huge Project Runway fan, I couldn't wait to catch up with host Tim Gunn (who let slip that the show will be all super-sized 90 minute episodes this season). Gunn was dressing five people who suffer from moderate to severe psoriasis for the Addressing Psoriasis campaign (Gunn first got involved last year because his sister has the skin condition). Between consultations, we snagged him to ask a few style questions:

ALLURE: It's so frickin' hot this summer. What can we wear to not melt but still look put-together?

TIM GUNN: The temptation is to wear baggy clothes, like tent dresses, that don't touch you. But the more voluminous your clothes are, the more voluminous you look, so make sure the fit is flattering; try belting a shift dress.

A: What's the best look for summer hair and makeup?

TG: Simple and natural. If you wear too much, you look like you tried too hard; if you do nothing, you look so messy that it detracts from your outfit.

A: Are skinny jeans and leggings ever going away?

TG: Let me say that just because something is a trend doesn't mean everyone should wear it—only .0001 percent of people look good in them. And your shirt should be dress-length—otherwise, we see too much, and it can just be vulgar. Leggings are stockings, not pants.
A: What can we buy now and wear through fall?

TG: Citrus colors are going to fade out for fall, and I never recommend pastels—they make women look either babyish or dowdy. Your best bets are rich, saturated jewel tones, which you can definitely wear into next season.

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Style'n Outfit and Styling Tips from Tim Gunn

The Perfect Dinner Party

Here are some pictures from the bachelorette party I attended this past weekend in Cape Cod.  It was so nice to get all the girls together and hang out Saturday.

Ok I know you are going to ask about the undies so let me just go ahead and tell you. We played this fun game where everyone brings a pair of undies and Nicole has to guess who brought each pair. When she did not guess correctly (which was in almost all cases!) we started lining them up on this clothes line.  I bought Nicole these ones from lululemon because I am literally addicted to them.

Nicole's dear friend Kim, hosted a Surf and Turf bachelorette dinner at her Mom's place on the Cape Saturday evening.   Afterwards, I thought about how much I love attending dinner parties and throwing them.  In my opinion there is no right way to throw a party but here some tips that I have found to be helpful.  And Kim must find these helpful too because she did an amazing job hosting and planning this lovely dinner al fresco.

{Kim-the hostess on the left and Nicole-the bride to be on the right}

Style'n tips on hosting a stylish and perfect dinner party

1. Keep the meal simple. This is not the time to be experimenting with new recipes.

2.. Organization is key.  It helps to write down a schedule of everything you need to do for the dinner party.  Also, prepare are much as you can prior to your guests arriving.  The last thing you want is for your guests to be doing all the work. But if you do have guests assisting you then be sure to delegate.

3. Make sure your guests can eat what you prepare. So check if you have vegetarians, guests with food allergies, or just picky eaters.

4. Always have some good background music and select the music based on the event and the type of mood you are aiming for.

5. Make sure you have enough wine, cocktails, and and other drinks on hand. 

6. Have fun with the decorations and details and and don't feel like everything has to match. Fresh flowers are always a bonus.

7. Last by not least make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get ready and look stylish!

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The Perfect Dinner Party

Happy Friday

I hope all of you had a wonderful week!
I am so excited to head  to Cape Cod tomorrow

for my friend Nicole's Bachelorette weekend.

{ Me, Nicole,  Alli, and Monica}

{Nicole and me -picture taken a couple of years ago at Monica's rehearsal dinner }

Meanwhile,  Aneesh and Ariyana will be enjoying some quality father-daughter time together.

 Will you spending some quality time with good friends and family this weekend?

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Happy Friday

Gazpacho with Avocado Relish

This weekend was so hot  that it was nice to enjoy this refreshing cool summer soup.  I was going to use this recipe from the August issue of Cooking Light but I really didn't want to make the gazpacho with shrimp.  After browsing through some other recipes I found this recipe for Gazpacho with Shrimp and Avocado Relish. I decided to go with this one because the avocado relish looked so good.   So, I used this recipe but modified by leaving out the shrimp and I added some zucchini instead. This is a healthy and delicious weeknight meal and we even had leftovers for lunch yesterday.

Do you have a favorite meal for a hot summer day?

{ingredients for the soup}

{the avocado relish}

{the final product served with some garlic bread}

Ingredients
Soup:
1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp          ( I used zucchini and omitted the shrimp)
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce                                             (any hot sauce is ok)
1 pound plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove ( I used 2)
1 (11.5-ounce) can low-sodium vegetable juice        (you may need to add more than this)
Relish:
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 ripe peeled avocado, diced
Preparation
1. To prepare soup, cook shrimp in boiling water 2 minutes or until done. Drain and rinse under cold water; coarsely chop shrimp.
2. Combine 3/4 cup bell pepper and next 9 ingredients (through vegetable juice) in a blender; process until smooth. Stir in shrimp. (I like gazpacho a bit chunky so I didn't blend it very long)
3. To prepare relish, combine 1/4 cup bell pepper and remaining ingredients. Top soup with relish.

From Cooking Light, AUGUST 2009

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Gazpacho with Avocado Relish

How to update your look

One of my friends and I were discussing how to make some of our older favorite pieces of clothing look more up to date and current. I think one of the easiest ways to update an old look is to simply wear the outfit a different way. The key is to incorporate a newer trend into the outfit by focusing on accessories such as belts, jewelery, shoes, and handbags.  On Saturday I went out to dinner and decided to put on this BCBG dress from last season. This dress actually ties in the back but I really don't like that feature of the dress anymore. So I hid the attached belt by adding  this wide brown belt over it.  I also added a fun watch, a gold cuff, and a pair of  brown peep toe platform pumps to complete the look. I felt like my outfit was instantly updated.

What are your favorite ways to update your look for the summer?

{BCBG dress, Enigma shoes, Prada bag, Tory Burch cuff, La Mer collections watch,

Anthropologie belt, Chanel sunglasses }

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How to update your look

Beautiful Necklaces

I have always loved necklaces because they can transform a simple outfit into one that it polished and complete and this season the choices for beautiful bold necklaces are endless. I love these necklaces below. 

1. Banana Republic Tough Love Necklace $69.50

2. Amrita Singh Yantu Necklace $100

3. Lauren by Ralph Lauren Hammered Circle Necklace $157.54

4. Kendra Scott Nell Bib Statement Necklace in White Lilly $315

I bought this necklace from Ann Taylor Loft while shopping with my sister. Somehow, we manage to always pick out the same items especially when it comes to jewelry and accessories.  My sister and I try not to buy the same things because we always borrow from each other, but this time there was a sale on this necklace so we both walked out with one.  

I also grabbed these cotton crinkle shorts from Loft.  It took me a while to decide if I was going to embrace wearing shorts this season. But, after trying these on I was sold.

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Beautiful Necklaces

Week in Review

Our vacation week in Maui is almost over and we will soon be back to reality.  I thought I would share a few pictures from the week and some of the things I loved about this vacation.
What do you love most about vacation?

                                        {I enjoyed reading this book and loved sipping on red wine}

                                              {I loved waking up early and doing yoga on the beach}

                                           {I loved sitting by the pool and long walks on the beach}

                                              {I loved eating dinner while watching the beautiful sunset }

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Week in Review