Daily Style – Sweet Peter Pan

April 30, 2012

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(Blouse – ASOS Maternity; Jeans – Pea In the Pod Maternity; Shoes – old BCBG; Bangles – Kate Spade; Necklace – F21; Preston Glasses – Warby Parker)

Blouses and dresses with Peter Pan collars are usually not my first choice in silhouettes, but this little top stole my heart nonetheless.  I tried to play down its sweetness though, by wearing it back to a pair of boyfriend jeans and ankle-strap heels, although the rolled bun isn’t really helping matters is it?  This type of ensemble calls for no swear words and lots of cookie baking doesn’t it (yes, I’m a closet swearer, sorry)?

22 weeks and growing!

Styling Tip: To make a Peter Pan collar seem a little less sweet and demure, wear a chunky or bib necklace to offset the look just a bit.

Maternity Styling Tip: Switch up your look during pregnancy by swapping the skinny maternity jeans for a pair of boyfriend maternity jeans.  They are much more comfy and allow for more breathing room than skinnes, plus are just as versatile.  They look great with heels, wedges, flats and flip flops. Linking up with BonBon Rose Girls for Monday Mingle

Like For the Love Of on Facebook! When we hit 100 likes I’ll be giving away a set of the neon rhinestone bangle bracelets!


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Top 5 Spring Nail Polishes for the Best Pops of Color

April 29, 2012

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Giving myself a quick mani complete with a nail polish change is for me, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to lift my spirits and make me feel good.  As the old adage goes, look good, feel good, and when my nails are pretty, I just feel a tinge bit happier.  Now that Spring is in full swing I thought I’d share my personal favorite colors to give my nails a fresh pop of color.  And currently, my local beauty supply store is having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on polishes, so if you have any personal favorites not listed here, please share!  So here’s my list… Starting at the top left with OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender.  Now I know OPI versus Essie is sometimes a heated debate (ok not really, but some ladies definitely have their preferences).  Personally I don’t really give a damn and love each just the same.  The brushes on OPI are thicker and wider so for some with small nails this is a problem, but I have long nail beds so it really doesn’t matter to me.  Overall, I tend to like the pastel and light colored shades that Essie has to offer over OPI, which is why I’ve listed so many here.  I think OPI does a better job overall in their dark, moody color department.  This shade of lavender is perfection though, offering a nice mix of shades of pink and purple so it isn’t too dark or chalky.

Essie French Affair is the perfect shade of girlie pink.  Two coats and you definitely get saturated pink color, so if you like something more sheer, this isn’t the color for you.  But if you like the punch a girly pink has to offer, this one is perfection.

Essie Mint Candy Apple is the it color for a bit of mint this season.  If you follow me on Instagram (@fourflights) or Facebook, I posted a picture of this polish as the perfect way to test drive mint for spring, if you’re not feeling ready to delve into the color for attire.  Also, this color garnered lots of attention when I wore it for my contributors post at Making It Lovely.

Essie Boat House is coral done right.  Not too orangey, not too red, like the story of Goldilocks, it’s just right.  It stands out, yet seems to go with everything effortlessly.  I can’t get enough of this color this time of year.

Finally we have Essie Fifth Avenue, which is my new favorite shade of red and has been for a few months now. It’s absolutely perfect for spring, but I also wore it all throughout fall and winter because it is reminiscent of the colors of the holidays.  It’s the perfect balance of blue-red and orange-red and walks the line right down the middle.  It also looks killer when mixed with French Affair. My quick and easy tips for an at home manicure are to first give your hands and cuticles a good scrub in the shower or sink, file and cut any loose cuticles with a cuticle nipper, then apply a coat of Rejuvacote Nail Growth System, 2 coats of polish, and a coat of Out the Door polish drier.  Make sure to moisturize completely after polish dries and add a touch of oil to your cuticles to keep them from drying out.

Have any other tips or nail products that you love?  Please share!

Like For the Love Of on Facebook! When we hit 100 likes I’ll be giving away a set of the neon rhinestone bangle bracelets!


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Casual & Neutral Place Setting

April 27, 2012

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I thought since I had the pictures already taken, and the floral arrangement post has received a good number of pins, I’d share another little set up I did over the weekend just for fun.  I know what you’re thinking, “how and why did she do this just for fun?”  Well the kids were swimming away so I had about 30 minutes to spare and thought it would be a nice way to enjoy our Sunday dinner, with a set table, something we never ever do.  I stripped away the pastel colored ribbon from these arrangements and quickly added this really pretty assortment of natural colored ribbon.  It took minutes guys, that’s how easy this is.  I pinky swear.

The tablecloth was already in place and I just added some place mats and our melamine plates from Target (I got them about 5 years ago).  Oh, and maybe I just wanted another excuse to take pictures of our new dining room chairs.  So sue me.  Ready to take a look at this neutral place setting?  Here you go… The majority of the ribbon was found at Michael Levine and is primarily meant to be trim.  It was all less than $1/yard, except for the blue and cream striped binding.  That was $8/yard but I had to have it I loved it so much.  I only bought 1/2 yard.  The pretty linen ribbon in the scalloped vase below is actually ribbon I saved from a birthday present (it’s the standard wrapping ribbon Pottery Barn uses, isn’t it so prety?).  It’s hard to tell, but the scalloped trim is just trim, not attached to the ribbon itself.  I tied it in the back of the vase since it was too thin to add the double stick tape to.  Hot glue would have worked great as well. The flowers were a collection of mostly hydrangeas, both large and small variety.  The taller pink stems are just stock.  The filler is buplureum, and the cute little white button like flowers are called Brazilia.  It’s noted on my receipt as that, but couldn’t really find them on Google, so good luck with those 😉

I found all of these flowers at the LA Flower District located at 755 Wall Street.  I went to 2 main vendors, Villa Growers Inc. and Rios Wholesale Flowers.  Rios had better prices, but Villa Growers had a couple of extra varieties that Rios didn’t have.  Both places were great though.  I recommend only visiting this flower mart if you’re looking for special varieties.  In the downtown Flower District there are streets and rows of vendors galore, but after fumbling my way around for a while I figured out that this place had the greatest collection of vendors carrying the prettiest varieties.  Most of the other vendors just carried standard varieties of flowers like carnations, daisies, mums, roses, etc.  Here you can find everything from sweet peas to peonies.  Oh, and I bought all of my succulents from my terrariums at Kimura’s for $2 a piece.  If you’re in the need of a lot of flowers, I definitely recommend visiting the mart because the prices just can’t be beat.  My local florist normally charges me $8-$10/stem for hydrangeas but here I got a whole bunch of them (4 stems) for $6!!

Take note that most of the vendors start shutting down by 11-11:30 am so get there early, but not before 8 am as it is only open to wholesale customers before 8 am.

Like For the Love Of on Facebook!  When we hit 100 likes I’ll be giving away a set of the neon rhinestone bangle bracelets!


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Beauty Review – Dr. Gross Alpha Hydroxy Peel Pads

April 26, 2012

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I turned 36 this year, and as the evidence of sun damage and general signs of aging started to become more and more relevant in my skin, I decided that this year was the year I needed to start getting serious about my beauty regimen.  I wrote a quick post about this topic a couple of months back and asked my friends and readers for some advice.

My main areas of concern were/are: age spots from sun damage, fine lines and general dryness/dull complexion.

The overwhelming response from everyone that wrote back was that I needed to add Vitamin C and some sort of oil to my skin care routine.

It just so happens that my friend Spencer’s partner Mark had left the beauty industry to work for a renowned dermatologist representing his skin care line, Dr. Gross Skincare.  The thought of walking into a department store and trusting that just any sales girl would point me in the right direction of a proper skincare regime completely overwhelmed me.  Going to see someone referred to me by a trusted friend calmed my nerves though.  Also, being that all of Dr. Gross’ products are fragrance, sulfate and cruelty free, as well as vegan, assured me that his products would be safe to use during my pregnancy.  I visited Mark at one of the Nordstrom stores he represents and we talked about my current routine and my concerns.

The good news is that he didn’t instantly tell me I had to throw everything I owned out in the trash and start from scratch, which I greatly appreciated.  Instead he suggested that by adding a couple of new elements to my existing routine and product lineup, I would still see the results I wanted.  When some of my old products ran out, I could then think about trying a few new things.  What I already had in my lineup was the Clarisonic, which I use daily, a gel face wash by Murad, Kiehl’s night and eye cream, and a day cream by Eucerin. The first thing Mark suggested was adding the Dr. Gross Alpha Hydroxy Peel Pads to my routine.  And let me interject here to say that Mark knows his line, which always puts me at ease.  There’s nothing worse than talking to a sales person who is vague and lackluster in their sales approach.  Listening to Mark speak about these pads, made me feel like these pads were made for me specifically.  In a nutshell here’s what the pads aim to do:

“Dr. Gross created the Alpha Beta Hydroxy peel pads to be an easy at home 2step system to target anti-aging, pore reduction, cell renewal booster, and complexion brightening and smoothing. The pads are gentle and designed to be used daily for optimal benefits. Phase 1 slightly lowers your skins pH with fruit acids that target cell renewal, brightening of the complexion, and evening and soothing the complexion whereas Phase 2 boosts and neutralizes phase one with serum properties such as retinol, genustein, & co enzyme q10 that increases collagen production in the skin as well helps to fight against free radicals.”

Pretty impressive right?  In a nutshell y’all, the pads feel good.  They tingle just a bit to let me know they’re working.  After I complete the 2 step process my skin feels softer, like all that crap has been sloughed right off.  My moisturizer and makeup goes on smoother and my skin really does feel more luminescent.

The box comes with a 30 day supply of the 2 step process, which Mark recommended I use everyday.  To help with costs just a bit I’ve been using it every other day and I’m still getting great results.  At $78 the pads aren’t necessarily cheap, but they aren’t outrageous either, considering how much facials and other high-end beauty products cost.  These pads do really leave my skin feeling like I’ve had a minor peel with my esthetician.  Skin care is overall not a cheap endeavor which I’m learning with the more research I do.  Overall though you get what you pay for, and Dr. Gross’ products seem to be a great option for mid price range skincare.

I in no way was paid for this post or was given any free products.  I paid for the pads myself, as well as 2 other products I’ll talk about down the line, and I’m enjoying them all.  I just wanted to share this one first because it’s given me the quickest and most noticeable results.  Also, the link I provided shows the pads in a jar, but they are now sold in a 2 packet sealed package as I pictured, making them great for traveling, and preventing any dry out from opening the jar every day.   Let me know if you have any questions!


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Daily Style – The Good Stuff

April 25, 2012

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(Jacket – Dolce & Gabbana; Shirt – American Apparel; Jeans – Gap Maternity; Shoes – Dolce & Gabbana)

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated thirteen years of marriage.  When he asked for my hand in marriage over thirteen years ago, my dad replied “Are you sure?”  Lucky for me he’s a bit of a risk taker and said “Yes!”  It’s been overall an amazing thirteen years together.  We kept it simple this year and didn’t exchange gifts and just visited a local restaurant that we hadn’t been to in years.  We were done by 7:30 so we could get the kids home to bed.  Not the most exciting of anniversaries ever, but it was perfect for us.

I decided to break out the good stuff and wore two of my favorite pieces from my old days working in designer.  I only own a few really nice things, this Dolce & Gabbana jacket, being one of them.  Back then, it was common for all the girls I worked with to wear designer shoes and clothes everyday but it always gave me heart palpitations to think of spending so much on shoes or clothes.  I was on a business trip with my boss once and the suit that this jacket went with was on triple discount markdown.  It fit me like a glove and I will admit, I felt different in that suit.  I bought it and looking back, I’m so glad I did.  I’ll probably never, ever buy something designer again, but at least the one thing I own is a true classic, a khaki colored suit.

The shoes are also Dolce & Gabbana from 2004 and I haven’t worn them in years.  I posted a picture of them on my Facebook wall yesterday with the caption “good design never goes out of style”.  Indeed that’s true. On a side note, I felt very funny posting this outfit because of the higher price point items.  After all my whole mantra is about making style more approachable, and designer isn’t really approachable.  But this was a different time in my life, one that I’ll probably never relive again.  If anything, it’s a testament that no matter what the label, a lovely pair of heels and a good fitting blazer have eternal life and value.      Styling tip: When wearing heels in spring, give your jeans a loose, messy cuff for more of a casual, yet still dressed up feel.

Maternity styling tip: Wearing maternity shirts all day can leave you feeling a little bit frumpy.  On occasions when you want to feel special throw on a jacket, vest or other layering piece from your existing, non-maternity closet, to feel a bit more pulled together.  Adding more layers over the bump will make you feel bigger, but open layers leave you feeling polished. Going forward I’ll be including styling tips (and maternity styling tips) for each look.  Just a little something to help pull your look together and give you insight into how I get dressed everyday.  I hope you enjoy them 😉

Linking up with BonBon Rose Girls for Monday Mingle

Follow me on Instagram @fourflights and subscribe via RSS or Bloglovin


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DIY Floral Arrangements

April 24, 2012

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So fresh floral arrangements may not be a necessity at a 7 year olds birthday party, but since I was heading down to LA to visit Moskatel’s and Michael Levine, I figured why not make a pit stop at the LA Flower Mart too.  After all, shouldn’t having a few fresh flower arrangements around the house after the party be my reward for all my hard work?  I am no expert at floral arrangements and like with most things, I try to keep it as simple as possible, so I thought I’d share with you how to make a simple fresh floral arrangement for your next event.

Over the years I have collected several round and square clear glass vases.  I use these because of the clean and simple lines and the fact that they go with any color or party scheme.  You can add ribbon, as I did for her party, to go with the decor, as opposed to trying to match the flowers, and then use fresh white flowers for your arrangement. Measure out your ribbon, add some double stick tape (or a touch of hot glue) and then apply the ribbon.  Add layers of ribbon or keep it simple with just one patterned strip of ribbon. *Tip: Add strips of double stick tape in a quadrant to help the flower stems stay in place.  Now you’re ready to begin arranging your flowers. Begin by trimming your stems to desired length and snipping off leaves towards bottom of the stem so the arrangement looks clean in the base of the vase. I like to begin by adding my thicker, fuller flowers, and then add bits of stock and filler at the end where needed.
With shorter arrangements you may not need to add the tape, it just depends on the type of flowers you’re working with. Your end result is an array of beautiful, fresh flower arrangements that cost a fraction of what you’d pay at the florist.  If you’d like to see the details of the types of flowers I used in these arrangements, and which vendors I purchased from at the LA Flower District, please visit this post. Follow For the Love Of on Bloglovin and via Instagram @fourflights


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Think Floral

April 23, 2012

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Well hello there friends and Happy Monday!  I’m obviously a little late in getting a post up today.  It was a busy weekend, with my daughter’s 7th birthday party on Saturday, and yesterday spent going to church, purging closets and taking pictures of tutorials for the blog and new dining room chairs, not taking outfit pictures.  I’ll be sure to get a daily style post up on Wednesday, but until then I wanted to give you a sneak peak of an upcoming tutorial on creating your own floral arrangements.

(I’m so in love with our new dining room chairs I took pictures of them for about 10 minutes yesterday.  The new table should be delivered next week, but in the mean time it’s a vast improvement in our space after the same tired set sat in there for over 13 years!)

To see other party details from Taylor’s mermaid themed party, visit my other blog.  Oh, and I wanted to mention that I’ve been brainstorming and thinking up ways I can create some of the posts you all had mentioned wanting to see from me here.  You guys had some brilliant ideas, but ideas that take thought and planning and I want to do things right.  So I’m working on it and haven’t forgotten about it!  I truly did appreciate all of your thoughtful feedback, so thank you.  I’m off to clean my office and purge some more for our garage sale this weekend.  We’re on the home stretch to getting some house projects done before the baby comes, and purging old and unused items will be the pinnacle point in us getting those projects done.  Oh, and I may make a hydrangea corsage or two 😉

I hope you guys are all having a great Monday and I’ll see you back tomorrow…think flowers people.  Lots and lots of flowers


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First Giveaway – Neon Rhinestone Bangles

April 19, 2012

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It’s my daughter’s 7th birthday today and so in honor of her, I’m hosting my first giveaway.  Win a set of these neon rhinestone bangles (2 bangles). Of course you can make these yourself, but if you’re lazy, or tired, or busy, or whatever, I can make some for you!  While I’d love to say there’s no “catch” and I’m giving them away from the bottom of my heart, I have taken a vow to always try to be honest here and will admit that yes, I am buying your love.  I am not too proud to admit that.  So here’s the catch, I started a new FB page which you can find by clicking here, or on the “f” button up on the right.  If you would be so kind as to hop on over and “like” it, I would very much appreciate it.

Asking for likes in all honesty feels very weird to me, but sadly we live in a blogging game of numbers, and the better the numbers, in conjunction with good content, the better the chances of opportunities coming your way.  When I reach 100 likes, I’ll randomly pick a winner out of my Facebook fans.

If I’m feeling wild and crazy I’ll give some more stuff away to hit 150, and so on.  I’m thinking someone needs a set of my glittery neon notecards in their life, no?  So maybe that will be next…

So head on over and start liking me people.  Because I can’t do this on my own yo!  😉  Lots of love and thanks and all that good stuff.  XOXO!  And happy birthday Taylor, my sweet first born!


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Daily Style – Red & Gold

April 18, 2012

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(Dress – ASOS Maternity; Jacket – Nordstrom BP; Boots – Dolce Vita; Pins – Ban.Do; Jewelry – Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Forever 21, Stella & Dot)

Last night we ventured out to the Kimbra show at the Troubadour.  My husband has quite the crush on Kimbra and often sits here at night browsing her selection of music videos on You Tube.  Not in a creepy way, just in an admiring way…that didn’t sound right did it?  Anyhow, he discovered that she was playing her own little show during her tour with Gotye so he bought us tickets, and it was an amazing night.  We started out with dinner at the Eveleigh and couldn’t have had a better time together.  One of those much needed date nights where you get 2+ hours between driving and dinner to really talk and laugh.  I feel happy this morning, despite getting to bed well after 1 am.

If you’ve never been to the Troubadour (I hadn’t before), it’s one of those legendary LA venues and is basically a teeny tiny bar with a stage and some upper level seating called “the box”, reserved for VIP’s.  Well one of the nice bouncers saw that I was pregnant and let us sit up there.  So we got to sit down if we wanted and got an amazing view.  Who knew baby bean would be helping us at in concert situations?  Kimbra was incredible by the way.  Adorable little thing with the most powerful voice, and the girl can shake it!  So good.  Happy Wednesday everyone!  Linking up with Lindsey for WIWW & Monday Mingle


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Favorite Bead Supply Store

April 17, 2012

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It seems like between me and the kids, we’re always visiting someplace interesting or fun, and so I thought I’d start sharing some of those places with you all.  Most of our favorite spots are of course local, but there’s always a treasure to be found while traveling about too.  Today I’d like to share a place that I enjoy visiting to pick up unique beads and jewelry findings in bulk at very reasonable prices; The Bead Factory in Downtown Los Angeles.

The Bead Factory is on a street lined with many other jewelry supply stores, but this one in particular I found on yelp and it had some pretty good reviews.  I’ve always been happy with their selection and prices so I just keep going back, but one of these days I plan to browse the competition to see what else I can find.  For now though this place works just fine for me. Some trips I go in with a specific idea in my head and I know straight away what I’m looking for.  Other times, like this day, Miranda and I had some time to kill before our interview with Kay, so we just had fun browsing and picking up odds and ends. My advice when visiting a large warehouse supply store like this place is if you’re a novice, have a basic list of items you will need and know them by name, or at least what purpose they serve.  Jump rings, lobster claw closures, crimp beads, etc.  The employees are helpful enough to point you in the right direction, but not so helpful that they’re going to give you a lesson on bead stringing if you’ve never done it before.  Speaking of which, would it be helpful to write a post about basic jewelery making supplies that I commonly use, and identify them so you can speak like a pro? Supply stores like this usually carry a wide range of beads in many different shapes, sizes, colors and materials.  Touch and feel to make sure you know what you’re getting.  The colorful beads below looked like regular matte plastic, but were actually made of polymer clay.  Very cool.  In addition to beads you can usually find grommets, spikes, chains, and just about any of the latest trendy items so you can DIY it like the cool kids. Sometimes I’ll admit I get carried away when shopping for supplies and even though the prices are cheap, it’s deceiving.  Before you know it your bill can quickly add up to $50.  I bought several strands of these skull beads and I have no idea what I’ll do with them yet.  I know I can make the usual necklace/bracelet piece, but I’m trying to think of a DIY that’s a little bit more me…if colorful skulls are even me at all…

The Bead Factory has a pretty basic website that you can order from found here, or if you live locally and would like to visit, they can be found at: 810 S. Maple Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90014 – 213.624.2121.  There’s parking meters that take credit card or coin right on Maple, or you can park at one of the nearby lots and the rates are usually between $5-$10.

What are some of your favorite places to find DIY supplies?  Both online and in your area?


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