Spring Floral Wedding Attire

While planning what to wear for a Spring wedding in La Jolla, I stumbled across this gorgeous pink, floral printed maxi dress from Little Mistress. Although a floor length dress can look formal; the flowy, bright floral printed fabric, and minimal bead embellishments made this dress appropriate for a day time wedding and easily transitioned into an evening reception look. I kept the dress on the semi-formal side with a leather clutch and simple waves and natural (but big lashes) make up. Although the straps of the dress were supposed to cross over my shoulders, I let one strap on each side fall to the sides of my arms. Style Tip: Floral print knee-length a-line or tulip shaped dresses or maxi-length, in a soft fabric can easily be worn to a day time spring/summer wedding. If you want to glitz up your dress, wear a statement necklace or other bold jewelry, but make sure it doesn't clash with the print. For shoes, wear nude or a color from the floral print of your dress. Get the dress I wore in this post below:

Elsa Dress, Little Mistress
Pink Clutch, Borrowed
Photos taken by Scott Peter Hammond

Backyard (Poolside) BBQ Style & Ideas with ASOS

As apart of ASOS' Backyard BBQ Campaign, I got to style a look with pieces from ASOS. In preparation for a poolside BBQ shindig with my friend Renee (who also took these gorgeous photos), I selected an airy, printed tank; comfy 'mom' denim shorts; D'orsay flats; white sunglasses; and a metallic wallet clutch. I was going to be doing some grilling and food prep so I fixed my hair into milkmaid braids to keep it out of the way. Purchase the items featured in my BBQ look, and check out easy and colorful BBQ ideas below.

AJ Morgan Randall Round Sunglasses in Matte Crystal, ASOS
Double Layer Cami Top In China Blue Bird Print, ASOS
Denim Mom Short in Tobacco With Turn Ups, ASOS
MADDISON Flat Shoes, ASOS
Metallic Purse with Multi Compartments, ASOS

SHISH KABOBS

A fail proof BBQ dish that not only tastes scrumptious but is pretty-looking are shish kabobs. You have the freedom to grill veggies and meat or seafood, all veggies, all meat, or what have you on the skewers. For my shish kabobs, I purchased lean beef cubes, smothered the beef in BBQ sauce and strung them onto the skewers with colorful bell peppers and purple onions. I grilled one side for a few minutes, turned over and grilled the other side for a few minutes. For a side dish idea, you can also do fruit shish kabobs. Use wood or metal skewers, I used metal skewers because they felt sturdier than the wood ones.

WATERMELON BOWL

An interesting way to display fruit is with a watermelon or melon bowl. I cut the watermelon in half and sliced through and scooped one side out, you can repeat to the other watermelon side if you have more guests to feed. After cutting the watermelon into pieces, I placed it into the carved out watermelon side and stuck colorful toothpicks into the watermelon slices. You can also place other fruit such as strawberries, mango, and cantaloup into the bowl for a fruit salad. 

MANGO NECTAR WHITE SANGRIA

I didn't really have a set recipe for this summer-inspired, fruity sangria; and I also didn't have time to let the sangria steep over a long period time, so Renee and I improvised a bit for this beverage. We mixed chilled Chardonnay; mango nectar juice; raspberry sparkling juice; citrus vodka; and fresh fruit (orange, pineapple, and strawberries) in a pitcher and served in the darn cutest pineapple cups.

FUN (PINEAPPLE) CUPS 

Add an element of pizazz to your BBQ with pineapple or coconut shaped cups to serve your beverages in. These cups and other fun BBQ serving dishes and decor can be found at party supply stores.
Photos taken by Renee Rogers

Ballerina Skirt for Spring

I tapped into my ultra feminine side and ballerina days with this spring inspired outfit. Although the season officially turns into Spring this Friday, so cal has been experiencing unbelievably hot weather. To ease the frustration of the heat wave without walking around in a bikini to cool off, I styled this lightweight blouse with a colorful, a-line pleated skirt and pulled my hair up into a bun. I had a full day of events last Thursday wearing this outfit; a blogger lunch, store opening walk through, and two store events; so this look was perfect to take from day to night. See the outfit details below:

Blouse & High Waist Skirt, Express
Bold Cat Eye Sunglasses in Black/Lavender, ZeroUV
Boots, Mango
Clutch, Ann Taylor