Party with Pico!

This is the best salsa on the planet and now thanks to my mom, the original creator, you have the recipe! I am a salsa-aholic. I use salsa as salad dressing, I put it on scrambled eggs, it's always in my fridge. I truly don't know a better snack on the planet than tortilla chips and salsa and I have never found salsa better than my mom's homemade pico!

What you need: 

• 6 tomatoes (firm, not squishy 
• 1/2 white onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 lime juiced (or 2 if they are small) 
• 1 1/2 jalapenos*
• 1 tbs garlic salt
• sprinkle of lemon pepper

*This is just a suggestion! Use 2 for more heat (spiciness) or only 1 for less. The heat will also vary based on how many seeds you use. If you want your salsa to be very spicy use all the seeds, not so spicy scrape them out and throw them out. Also, wash your hands thoroughly after handling the peppers before touching your mouth or face. 

Let's make some salsa: 

First juice your limes into the bottom of the bowl. 

Next, put the onion, garlic and the jalapenos into a Cuisinart and pulse until they are diced into chunks. If you don't have a Cuisinart, you can dice them by hand. Add the mixture into the bowl. 

Get your tomatoes and dice half of them by hand and use the Cuisinart to do the rest. That will make sure there's not too much liquid and that the salsa is still chunky. Pulse the Cuisinart, don't liquify the tomatoes, you want them to be chunky! No Cuisinart, just do it all by hand. 

Pour all of the tomatoes into your bowl. Add in the garlic salt and gently stir. 

Sprinkle a layer of lemon pepper over the top of the mixture. Let it sit in the bowl for an hour to let the flavors combine. Serve chilled with your favorite tortilla chips! 

This recipe makes a medium sized bowl, enough to share! 

Invite some people over for a fiesta and spread a little sunlight and happiness around with this delicious recipe! 

Love you bunches, 

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

*Psst* Click the picture to find a copy

Tales of the City is one of the best books I have ever read! I will be buying every sequel available and reading them just as fast as I read this one (in a weekend). I highly recommend this book and have actually leant my copy out to a friend, and had another friend buy one too.

A little history: Tales of the City was originally a serial written by the brilliant Armistead Maupin in the San Francisco Chronicle. The book is a compilation of these stories – each chapter is one newspaper article. The story follows a wide variety of characters and their lives in San Francisco in the late ‘70s. It reminded me of Love Actually in the sense that everyone is connected in some way or another. I loved figuring out the connections between the characters!

If you can’t relate to at least one of the characters, you’re lying to yourself. The wide variety of quirky people in this book allows for all kinds of daily human interactions to be evaluated and for everyday characteristics to be put under a microscope for the reader to analyze. There’s the woman starting a new life in the big city, a batty old woman with the wisdom of thirty people, and a gay man whose parents are blind to his sexuality. Then there’s the rich old man, his bored spoiled daughter and her unfaithful husband. This book is full of twists and turns and so many secrets. But you’ll never see the ending coming. Seriously, plot twist of the century. Don’t skip ahead and ruin the shock. And shock it was, I didn’t even know what I was reading in those last few pages. Of course, now I have to know what is going to happen to the characters in the next book.

So next time I am in San Francisco, I will buy More Tales of the City.

Five owls for this great, funny, roller coaster of a book!

OH AND! There's a miniseries staring Laura Linney! I saved that for last because I think you should read the book first, but just in case you can't get enough of these characters, like me, you have options!

Go out and spread some sunlight, my beautiful friends.

Love you all,

May Stitch Fix!

I got my Stitch Fix box! I love showing up to my house and having a box of pretty things waiting for me! This was my second box, the first came before I started blogging, and I was pretty excited because they are supposed to get better and better with time. The stylists that select your items use the pieces you keep and the ones you send back to build on your style profile so the items they send you get more and more in tune with what you want! Last time I only kept one piece, but I really loved almost everything in this second box. 

So I ended up keeping two pieces, even though I loved four! I really didn't like the green top, it was too big and the pleating on the boobular region made it hang funny. I loved the little blue necklace, but I had just bought this one (it's on sale now!)  from Francesca's and it was too similar to pay for another one. 

I was, still am, and probably always will be in love with this dress, but since my torso is so short it just didn't fit right. I debated for days what to do, send it back, keep it, send it back, keep it. In the end, I couldn't justify the price for something I wasn't totally sure I would wear. I am considering asking the stylists to send one in my next box in a smaller size that I can try and see if it fits better, because that print and those colors are so cute! 

I decided to keep both of the sleeveless tops. I feel like I always need tops to wear no matter how many I buy. Is that just me? Or does everyone stand staring into their closet wearing only pants and think, "I don't have a single top to wear with these jeans!" Which is ridiculous because basically every top goes with jeans, but welcome to my morning routine. 

Click the photo to see how else I styled these shorts! 

I really liked this yellow top, which was a total surprise to me. I usually don't go for yellow because I feel like it can sometimes make my face appear to be a little yellow, but the cut and color just screamed summer so I decided to give it a try. I'm actually surprised how often I've worn this top in the few weeks that I've owned it, so I think I made a good decision! 

From the minute I opened the box I knew this top would soon be living in my closet! I immediately fell in love with the embroidery! Plus, it's two tone, white on the front and a beautiful coral color on the back! I paired it with white jeans, but I can't wait to try it out with jean shorts and maybe even a skirt this summer! 

Let me know how else you think I should style these two tops! What pieces did you like best? 

Enjoy some sunlight today! 

Love you tons, 

Making Lemonade!

Shorts: Forever 21 || Top: Primark (But I want this one, too. And this one is similar)  || Shoes: Old, but loving these, these and these! || Rings: J. Crew Factory (sold out, but these are under $10) || Necklace: Forever 21 (one from the set!) || Watch: Michael Kors

I have been loving lemons lately! I add it to my water, I just bought a bracelet with the print and I'm pining after the Kate Spade wicker bag shaped like ... you guessed it ... a lemon!

I was walking around Forever 21 and was seriously striking out. I went to look for festival wear because I may or may not be going to a music festival this weekend (really ... I don't know if I'm going), but I just wasn't finding anything I was in love with. I was riding up the escalator and as I went up I looked down and spotted these lemon print shorts! Definitely not what I went to find but, omg I love them! Did I mention that they were $11? Ummm yeah ... it's a steal!! 

I have worn them so many times already! Since they have a pretty bold print and the background is black, I was a little worried about finding tops that paired well, but this black scalloped top works great. I think any solid black top would look cute and since they're high-waisted I am looking for a cute crop to wear with them! (Check back tomorrow for another way that I styled them! I don't want to spoil the surprise!) And you know what they say, when life gives you lemons make a really cute outfit. Isn't that how it goes? 

Make the most of today and spread some sunlight to those who need it! 

Love and hugs, 

DAT BIKINI BOOTY!

Summer is here, but that doesn't mean it's too late to get that bikini body you want! Push yourself, grab some weights and do this quick workout! Feel the burn because trust me your legs are going to be on FIRE! This workout made it impossible to walk down stairs!

To track your minute intervals use this interval Timer: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/interval-timer/

You can do it! Don't forget to drink water. Stay hydrated!!

If you have a question about anything please let us know!! Comment down below and Matt and I will answer!

After you burn your booty, use those endorphins you just released and go spread some sunlight! 

Love you guys!

Blue Lace and Strappy Sandals!

Dress: ASTR from Nordstrom || Shoes: Steve Madden || Bracelet: David Yurman || 

Rings: Boutique (but similar versions are here, here and here) || Sunnies: Ray-Ban

I was browsing in Nordstrom and came across this Tiffany Blue dress and I fell in love! Not only is it my favorite color, but also the perfect summer dress because it's so light weight. I love that I can pair this with heels, flats and even use it as a cute swimsuit cover up! Since I was headed to Boston for a graduation, I used that as my excuse and left the store a very happy girl! 

Once I was in Boston, I, of course, went shopping and wondered in to a Nordstrom Rack where I ended up purchasing these great strappy shoes ... and two more pairs. I also found these great stacking rings with turquoise detail at a small boutique. However, I recommend finding them in a sterling silver because these turned my fingers green in about an hour. I had to wash my hands, put them back on and then take these pictures! 

Go out and spread some sunlight today! 

Love you all, 

Cover it up!

Forever 21 || Forever 21 (On SALE!!)  || Pomp and Circumstance ||
Nordstrom Rack || Lilly Pulitzer || Gretchen Scott

I love all things swimwear. If I had my way, I would be by a pool all summer long only taking breaks to go play in the ocean. In preparation for Memorial Day weekend, I bought the cutest coverup from H&M (I can't find it on the website, but I am still working on it!) and it made me think of all the other cute options out there! I've been looking for a couple more to add to my collection so I have options this summer! In the past I have made a habit of wearing a PFG as my go-to coverup, and while that is a great and comfy option, I love that these add a little extra style to your look as you lounge in the sun! 

I hope your Memorial Day weekend is a blast and that you get to soak up some sunlight! 

Love you bunches, 

Mermaids in Paradise By Lydia Millet

*Psst* Click the picture to find a copy

The phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover” bit me on the ass with this one. I was looking for a summer read and saw this book with a cool mermaid illustration and an intriguing synopsis on the inside cover so I decided that even though it wasn’t out in paperback yet, I would pay the extra money to have a book while on vacation about warmer climates and the coolest of mythical beings.

I wish I had started with Part 2. I wish I had straight up skipped over the entire first 55 pages. If you want to read the book, then that’s what I recommend. The first part adds nothing to the story except for unnecessary character development. Basically, it was a sounding board for how awful marriage, weddings and the chauvinistic and materialistic traditions that go along with them tend to be. My thought the whole time was “why base your book on a honeymoon trip if you hate the idea of it so much?” The common law couple or the “just dating” couple (*raises hand in the air*) could have simply gone on vacation together and then all the unnecessary angst would have been written out of the story completely. I bought this book to escape to a land where mermaids exist and people try to help them, but oh wait someone gets murdered. I did not buy this book to read page after page of political moralizing.

Once the mermaids were found and the adventure began, the story wasn’t bad at all. I just got tired of the main character over-thinking everything. There are paragraphs dedicated to her fat jiggling while she rides on a golf cart and how that fat relates to the socioeconomic trends of our society. It was exhausting and not what I expected from the inside cover.

I just felt like this book was ruined by the author shoehorning her agenda for social justice into what was otherwise a fun story. I am all for activism and Equal Rights, but on my own terms – they don't need to be disguised as a fantasy novel. I felt like the jargon got in the way of the story just a tad too much.

Unfortunately, Mermaids only gets one owl.

Brunching in Hats

Dress || Hat || Shoes (different color, but the white aren't on the website...) || Necklaces ||

Sooo I went to Forever 21 the other day and bought this whole outfit. The whole thing. I mean expect for the pieces underneath, those I have Victoria to thank for, but we're just going to keep that a secret. ;) 

I bought each of these pieces separately (I didn't try them on as an outfit), but when I got home I realized that they all really worked as an outfit! If you saw my London Haul video, you know that I've been looking for a hat like this one for a few weeks. I saw it, I bought it, I didn't think twice and then I wore it the very next day! I mean if that's not a true sign of loving what you bought, I don't know what is! 

KB picked this dress out for me because it's very close to my favorite color and he was trying to hurry the shopping excursion I dragged him on along, but it's a great pick! I also, found these layering necklaces and I thought it was one necklace, but surprise surprise! Each layer has it's own clasp!! So that might be a draw back for some, but I love this because now I can mix and match with stuff I already own! 

Happy Sunday, my lovelies! Go out and exude sunlight today!

Love love love, 

Reese Witherspoon's Gift to us ALL!

1. Top & Shorts || Top & Skirt || Top & Shorts (bag)

2. Floral Tote || Wicker handbag || Makeup Case 

3. Bracelet || Necklace || Cuff

4. Magnolia Trinket || Notepad || Lipstick!

While many people bow down to Queen B, I pledge allegiance to the other queen of the southern states, Miss Reese Witherspoon. (Don't get me wrong I LOVE Beyonce, like a lot.) And now Reese is bestowing upon us and the fashion industry a huge gift: Draper James!

Reese has had quite a year with all of her movies and her glowing Oscars look *swoon* and this month she launched a clothing line that really screams southern prepster, which basically falls in line with the majority of my closet. (Also, she's doing the audiobook for Harper Lee's new book!)

Her clothes are clean cut, feature peaches and magnolias!! (Huh. No wonder I am so on board!) While the clothing line is only over a week old, Draper James is selling out and rocking the market! These are the pieces that I have my eye on most, but the website is full of adorable options for this spring and summer and I am beyond excited to see what she comes up with for the fall! 

Also, can we stop and talk about how great that lipstick color is? Let me just bend and snap my way over to the checkout button. And since I'm getting makeup, I should probably throw in the "put your face on" makeup bag ... I mean, powder room pouch ...  to keep it safe. Bless your heart, Reese!

Thanks for reading lovelies and don't forget to spread a little sunlight today. 

I love you all to pieces, 

Chambray and Sunnies

 Chambray Shirt: Nordstrom || Top: Mine is old, but this H&M top is super similar || Jeans: J. Crew || Shoes: Guess, but from last summer (Check out this pair and this pair)  || Sunnies: Nasty Gal (or splurge and get the real Prada ones) || Earrings & Necklace: From a local boutique! (#shoplocal) || Bag: Francesca's (this, this and this! I am leaving to go get these bags right now!) 

A few days ago, I got these amazing sunglasses in the mail and I wanted a laid back outfit that would let them shine! I fell in love with the Prada version, but since I have to keep buying clothes and outfits to share with you on the blog, I can't drop $400 on one pair of sunnies. (I also have to pay bills and do other silly adult things) Thanks to some other bloggers, I saw that a super similar pair was on Nasty Gals site! So I handed over my $20 and a few days later they were here on my doorstep! I am so happy with them and can't wait to wear them all summer long! 

For a long time I was really afraid to wear denim on denim, but wearing this chambray shirt in place of a sweater or jacket (I'm always freezing so I always have layers) is a great way to make your outfit laid back and breezy! Perfect for summer :) 

I like this outfit because it was a perfect mixture of pairing new pieces with old pieces with some unique boutique finds! I'm sorry there aren't exact links for everything, but that way you can make this outfit your own! 

Go spread some sunlight today and happy, happy Wednesday!

Love you bunches,