If you’re like me and regular trips to your jeweler for cleanings isn’t a realistic addition to the schedule, I have found an at-home solution that can get help you get that dazzling sparkle back in your jewels.
The Diamond Dazzle Stick is a pen-sized diamond and gem cleaner that is as easy to use on the go as it is in your own home.
When the pen is twisted, a potent solution is dispensed through the soft bristle-tip. The brush can easily work from the front or behind to get the brightest shine from all angles.
I have found that regular upkeep [especially after a jewelers clean] helps to really ward off the impending dull.
Be sure to throw this in your make-up kit for your honeymoon so both you and your rock continue to sport that remarkable afterglow!
Perhaps you’ve pinned adorable photos of picturesque picnic scenes and promised that you and your love would make this the spring to pack up a basket of your own and head to the park…
That’s when you realize that the only basket you seem have is the one that still contains plastic eggs once filled with jelly beans and dollar bills from last year’s Easter…and that the only supplies you can uncover are paper plates and warped, mismatched tupperware…and that these ugly accessories are not fit for Your Perfect Picnic!
I recently came across the solution to it all with this Picnic Basket for four.
A large woven tote comes filled with seriously stylish necessities including bamboo plates and utensils, a generous carafe for lemonade or mimosas, storage jars for sides and salads, a cutting board and knife for an indulgent spread, cotton napkins and darling French brasserie style goblets for sipping between bites.
And now your perfect picnic is closer than you ever thought.
While I know I’m not the only girl in the world that has an absolute obsessive crush on Kate Middleton, I can’t help but think she has such a classic, sophisticated style, poise and beauty that few modern girls possess.
I have often thought that her understated shoe selection always seem perfectly suited for her subtly elegant ensambs and recently learned that her secret for stylishly simple shoes is London boutique L.K. Bennett.
L.K. Bennett has a fairly new boutique at the shops at 900 N. Michigan, here in Chicago, and I popped in recently feeling defeated after the months-long hunt for a perfect black patent pump. L.K. Bennett’s Sledge pump was a quick and easy winner. [Happens to be the same style of Kate’s often worn nude pumps.]
And how could I pass up these cuties [on sale, no less]!
While I am a mere commoner, I must say I feel a bit like royalty in my new pumps, thanks to L.K. Bennett!
My baby brother was able to pop by for lunch recently. I love an excuse to catch up as much as I love fixin’ the boy a hearty lunch – one that I know he appreciates.
Unfortunately, this visit, I didn’t have a spare minute to plan anything fancy or fussy and completely winged the creation. But, with a quick trip to the grocery you can pack a picnic lunch, like we did, [or a simple weeknight dinner] in no time!
Turkey Club with Sweet Herbed Aioli
For the Spread:
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
3 tablespoons peach preserves
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
The other fixins’:
2 slices of italian artisan bread
2 tablespoons delish olive oil
1/4 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
1/4 fugi apple, very thinly sliced
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
2 strips bacon (I like oscar meyer’s pre-cooked bacon because it is super thin, always crispy and ready in seconds)
1 red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon brown sugar (I use splenda brown sugar)
1 slice provolone cheese
1/4 lb deli turkey, very thinly sliced or shaved
And here’s what to do!
To make the aioli, mix ingredients, set aside
Drizzle the bread with olive oil and throw on the grill for a quick toast, leaving lovely char marks
Drizzle the sliced red onions with a little olive oil and add to a hot non-stick skillet
Sprinkle with a dusting of brown sugar. Flip onions. Onions are done when there is a slight char and caramelization
Spread 2 slices of grilled bread with the herbed aioli
Building from the bottom:
Add the spinach leaves
Apple slices
Bacon
Avocado
Turkey
Onions
Provolone cheese
Throw the open-faced sandwich on foil and add to the still-warm grill to allow the cheese to melt
Top with second piece of bread, slice sandwich on a diagonal
For a picnic, I wrap each sandwich half in parchment paper, pack with a side of pretzels, crisp grapes and a cookie. For dinner, I serve with a side salad and ice cream for dessert!
We loved this sandwich – I will for sure add it to the ‘in a pinch‘ rotation!
The dreamy midwest weather has left my heart aching for more than a 4×8′ balcony with a city view – longing for a yard to create a verdant, green landscape of lush loveliness.
Perhaps a ‘lil something like one of these will do:
Clients are often looking for something special for their girls [and something to look fantastic in photos!]. Thankfully, we’ve made it through the matching rhinestone velour sweatsuit stage and have embarked on prettier, more sophisticated ways of dressing our bridesmaids in loungewear.
I was turned onto Plum Pretty Sugar by the lovely Katie Kozlowski and think their incredibly feminine patterns are just darling!
Much of the country is experiencing significant signs of an early spring. Fresh warmer-than-expected breezes, the subtle hope of an emerging crocus, buds growing fat in anticipation of steadily warmer temps, the shedding of layers for doubly long walks.
And baby lambs, frolicking on the snowless lawn, of course.
Along with daylight savings comes longer days and wishful thinking of a winter that uneventfully transitions into a smashing success of a spring.
Some of my favorite early spring flowers are now more readily available in flower markets and bucket shops and I can’t help but come home with arm-fulls of the beauties every now and again. Some flowers are quintessentially spring, iconic in their sweet scents.
Fresh lilac has an understated fragrance, hardy woody stems and hues varying from pale white to dusty pink to grape or periwinkle. Make sure your water is crystal clear and after giving the branches a fresh horizontal cut, snip the end with a vertical slice to allow maximum hydration. This is a great trick to help with the longevity of your blooms, but if your vase is not perfectly clean it allows bacteria to attack the flowers quicker.
There is nothing subtle about the intoxicating scent of blooming hyacinth. The wonderfully potent aroma can add life and hope to any room. These hardy bulb flowers have petite bell-shapped blossoms gathered along each fatty and spongy stem. Cluster them together in an old trophy or singly in a vintage jar.
I am not quite foolish enough to think that winter has left us Chicagoans for good, but even a simple vase of fragrant spring flowers gives me the courage to dream of what’s [hopefully] just around the corner.
[image credits] lilac clockwise from top left: 1, 2, 3, 4, perfume, hyacinth from top left 1, 2, 3, 4
Love love LOVING the rose flavored macarons at my favorite cafe/bakery/coffee shop, Floriole, right now!
They have honestly perfected quite a few flavors (salted caramel, coffee, lavender), but my favorite to date is hands down the subtle rose. The menu changes every couple of days so I hope you’re able to sample these beauties sometime soon!
I simply can’t get enough of the stunning [visually and musically] 3+ minute commercial that takes viewers on an international fantasy journey of Cartier’s 165 year history of royalty and luxury. The short film starts with the iconic panther in Paris and visits places such as India, China and Russia.
…I haven’t fallen as hard for a commercial since Miss Dior Cherie’s ad by Sofia Coppola…