Holiday Tulle

Cassandra of Coco + Kelly

I was first introduced to tulle during my time as a Princess. From age 4 to 8, I was (as every little girl is) a bona fide royal. I danced and twirled and declared "let them eat cake!" to all my loyal, stuffed subjects.

Since my reign ended, the magical princess spark created by twirling in a tulle skirt has laid dormant in my childhood memory. Until now.

Tulle has popped up in the blogosphere and the result is awe inspiring. Top of my Christmas Wish List this year: tulle, tulle, tulle. My absolute favorite result of this recent trend is the idea that a tulle skirt can be worn with something as casual as a flannel. The perfect holiday ensemble. A princess might not dare, but a 20-something woman on the cusp of greatness must say yes.

Bee of Atlantic-Pacific

Here are a few of the skirts I'm currently coveting...

D&G Layered Tulle Skirt 

Karinska Tulle Skirt - Anthropolgie

Happy Twirling, 

M

Gretta Tulle Skirt - Alexandra Grecco

Graphic

Madewell Counting Sheep Sweater 

Graphic prints have been all over the fashion world for awhile now and I am so happy people have finally come around.  

There is a picture of me as a wee (adorable, super cute, irresistible...) girl taken in my front yard. Fall leaves are all around and I'm wearing a chunky knit sweater with a big reindeer right on the front and killing it with a perfectly trimmed bowl cut (unfortunately my parents are the proud owners of this pre-digital photo). When all these graphic sweaters popped up I immediately thought of that photo. My circa 1992 self was so fabulously fashion forward, took awhile for everyone to catch up but so happy it happened. 

Here are the looks I'm coveting & the purchases I plan to make in the very near future. 

Sugar Hill Boutique Foxy Sweater

Equipment Heart Blouse

Gap Apple Blouse...no longer available.
Similar

H&M Hanging Bat Sweater
Perfect for Halloween as I am completely
lost when it comes to costume ideas.

- M

IPhone 5 case

I just caved in and joined the rest of America by ordering the iPhone 5- i meannnn how could you not? My one problem with getting a new phone was the sad thought of having to part with my wonderful iPhone case my sister got me for Christmas last year. But good news! This lovely designer, claire bella has already come out with iPhone cases for the 5, the exact place my sister got my old one. I have already placed my order for this one in blue and cant wait for its arrival!  Do yourself a favor and check out clairebella.com and see all of the adorable styles.

-L

Lanvin Flats

I have had an obsession with Lanvin ballet flats ever since Katie Holmes was spotted wearing them in almost every color imaginable back in her old Tom Cruise days. I never thought it was realistic for me to get these buttery flats, so I have always settled for my sue london flats, which don't get me wrong- these are still wonderful shoes. Recently my co-worker came in with these brown and red cap toe flats. She was a doll and catered to my drooling, letting me wear them around the office for some of the morning. Slipping these flats on was like slipping on a pair of those comfortable slippers everyone secretly owns that you never want to take off. I am now making it a priority to own at least one wonderful pair of these ballet flats. My christmas list seems to be growing and growing

Throw Back

I found this tumblr today and had to share. Talk about some major nostalgia.

http://imremembering.com/

Your welcome, 

M

Mint, Mint, Mint

I'm not talking about the amazing color or the awesome mint jean jacket I just bought (who knew American Eagle had cute stuff for the over 15 crowd?!). I'm talking about Style Mint, Jewel Mint, and Shoe Mint. Three super cool membership websites that offer great styles at even better prices.  My love affair started with Rachel Bilson and Nicole Chavez's Shoe Mint, or I guess you could say it started with a major girl crush on Summer from The O.C. back in 2003.

Sigh.

Anyway, each website is run by different celebrities who either design or give advice about how to wear their favorite styles. They've been around for awhile but I have just recently become obsessed with checking them every day and adding more and more stuff to my shopping carts.

Here are a few of my favorite styles from each of the sites.

Campbell Dress, a MK&A pick

Christina Flat

Maxwell T

Daisy Earrings

Pave Pearl Rings

Veronique

Shoe lovers also need to check out Sole Society! Here are some of my current cravings:

Dylan Bow Ballet Flat

Alison Suede Pump

Sydney Printed Platform Wedge

I'm sure you're noticing many fall appropriate options. As much as I love the long, hot summer days, I am so ready for fall fashion (and my birthday!).

Happy shopping!

M

Colored Skinnies

I am not quite ready to pack away my bright blue skinnies, hiding them away until the days of warmer weather a year from now (which by the way things are going, it seems we will never hit the cooler climate). Yes, they are rather bright but I am determined to make them last more than one season..I keep picturing them with my brown Golden Goose boots and my new chunky sweater from Acrobat..or any of these sweaters from Vince( yes, I will spend every paycheck I get on these). Here are a few ways to keep rocking your bright skinnies into the cooler months!

-XX, L 

Words

Always. 

http://pinterest.com/MJBarbs/words-wisdom/

M

Dirty Secret

Sometimes I feel pretty lucky in the hair department. My brown locks are dead straight and can air dry normally without any prep or product, but my hair turns from sleek & shiny to gross & greasy after about 10 hours. This forces me to take a shower everyday or even twice a day if I have nighttime plans. Combine this dirty hair with a real struggle to wake up early and you've got one greasy problem.

A good friend swore by dry shampoos but I was skeptical. When Garnier came out with an inexpensive dry shampoo I decided to try it. My hair smelled nice and maybe looked a little better for about 5 minutes but then went straight back to nasty. I've heard opposing reviews but my stick straight, greasy prone hair did not take to it.

One day while browsing the new Essie nail colors at Ulta, I overheard someone ask an Ulta employee about dry shampoos and which one was the best. They were immediately pointed in the direction of Tigi's Rockaholic. I waited and purchased the product at Target to get a better deal (Amazon carries it at really low prices as well).  BEST money I have ever spent.

Rockaholic smells good, drys up my hair's excess oils, makes it look clean and allows me to get a few minutes of extra sleep in the morning when I just can't seem to get out of bed. I wouldn't suggest using it every day, it drys your hair out and you should shower but for those rough mornings or awkward situations, Rockaholic is the perfect product to give you a refreshed and ready for the day look. It can be your dirty little secret.

Rock on,

M

MK and A

Not much has changed about me since being a little one. From the good old full house days to their Elizabeth and James, and the Row collections, Mary Kate and Ashley have been my obsession since my younger days. I would watch hours and hours of any movie/tv show that the olsens were caught in and now I spend these hours reading blogs, magazine articles, and wasting away money on their fabulous clothes. Something about them has always intrigued me, and yes at times they definitely push the limit in the fashion world but this makes them all the more fascinating. Here are just a few of my favorite looks on them.

xx, L

I Will Wait

Mumford and Sons is one of those bands that has the ability to completely relax a person while also giving them a strong desire to sing along. Here is "I Will Wait" off of their new album "Babel" which will be released on Sept. 24th.

I just love Marcus Mumford's voice and all four of them are pretty cute in a quirky way. 

**Insert cute British accent**

He is obviously waiting for me. 

I'll wait for you,

M

Style Crush

These days I mostly turn to blogs for style inspiration. There is something more approachable and real about stylish bloggers as opposed to glamorous stars. Some of my favorites are Cupcakes and Cashmere, Atlantic-Pacific and Could I Have That. Although lately I have become obsessed with a 12-year old girl. I'm not talking Lolita obsessive but I am definitely suffering from major style jealousy.

If you're a fan of Mad Men then you know Sally Draper or, as she is called in the real world, Kiernan Shipka. The most stylish 12-year old in America, or the world for that matter. She is 12 going on 25. 

Thanks to Suri's Burn Book (my favorite place to go for celeb gossip and a good laugh) for sharing this awesome clip. A look into Kiernan's closet. Despite the converses her style is impeccable. I drooled a bit.  

When I was 12 I wore joverals, neon green and blue plaid Keds and had no idea what a "peter pan" collar was. Life. 

Dreaming of 12-year old style,

M

Busy Bee

Life has been crazy busy lately. Moved to a new apartment, a pile of work on my desk (currently procrastinating), friends coming into town, being patriotic (way to go Gabby!), ordering clothes online, etc.

To get through this tough time I've find myself listening to this song quite a bit via Spotify. I think it's hilarious. Sorry Carly Rae, I have a new favorite.

Back to it, 

M

Monday's

Monday's are the worst and I seem to always have little issues on the first day back in reality. This morning I was running extremely late, realized I had no coffee and no breakfast. So I quickly run to starbucks craving iced coffee and their delicious honey yogurt and granola. Searching the food section I cant seem to find the honey yogurt, instead the berry blend-the one with fake fruit. As I'm talking to myself trying to decide if I should stick with a healthier option or cave in and buy a cinnamon swirl coffee cake I realize I have backed the line up. And thats when I see this guy I went to highschool with. I casually put my head down hoping he doesn't notice me but of course he does and starts to chat my ear off. Have I mentioned I am NOT a morning person? Frazzled I order the wrong drink, while the man behind the counter must have had a bad case of the Monday's as well because he gave me a fork for my yogurt instead of as spoon! But the day is looking up, and here are a few qoutes that help me get through my Monday!

xx,L