♥ the unbearable lightness of being.

my bff, marykate, refuses to get a smart phone.

how she has the strength to resist having the world at

her fingertips is beyond me (!!) and i give her props for

staying as disconnected as possible.

but! the light phone makes her simple cell phone

(which allows texting and picture sending, thank goodness) 

look super advanced in comparison.

meant only for phone calls, and small enough to slip inside your wallet or

pocket, the light phone is definitely a phone away from phone!

i want one!

♥ geek chic with gucci.

gucci's newest creative director, alessandro michele, is taking the brand 

in a decidedly different direction than predecessor, frida giannini.

the newest incarnation of gucci is a quirky/ seventies/ wes-anderson-looking

amalgam of pussy bows, berets, chevron prints, oversized glasses and

clashing colors that i am just loving. 

is it just me or could these models be characters from 

a film adaptation of scooby doo??!!

fall 2015 ready to wear

resort 2016

menswear 2016

these collections are definitely a great example

of clothing that is so ugly, it's beautiful.

i can't wait to see what's next.

♥ there ain't no such thing as time; it's our time.

with very full work schedules for both nick and i,

there has been very little time for enjoying "summer vacation"

in the elementary school sense of the word. instead, we have been finding a way 

to soak up the end of a summer's day by getting out with henry 

every chance we get. 

one of the our favorite places to visit is castle island.

at a fifteen minute drive from our home, we can walk along the water,

peep beautiful views of the city skyline,  watch larger than life airplanes float 

majestically over head, and even go for a dip if the temperatures

 get too high!

this week, we took advantage of a gorgeous evening by heading out

to the water. i wore one of my favorite summer outfits-- a vintage 80's frock 

in a brilliant cobalt blue, paired with a bright orange j crew bauble necklace, 

a straw hat from forever 21, and my latest favorite accessory- a wooden

  JORD watch. 

(this one is called the fieldcrest in maple.)

 made entirely out of light wood, and custom-sized to fit my wrist straight 

 out of the box (!!), i have found that this watch is neutral enough to go with

every. single. thing. in. my. closet.

hooray!

while chunky metal watches or leather banded watches require

 certain ensembles to go along with them, this wooden watch

works with every thing, every time.

and for someone with very little free time, that's amazing.

check out how other people wore their #JORDWATCH! 

Unique Watches

♥ an easy summer salsa.

i love birthday parties- especially ones where you can come

and eat and eat and eat and no one notices because there are

so many guests and so much food to choose from.

last weekend, the boys and i attended a fabulous one year old's birthday party

and we fell head over heels in love with this delicious strawberry jalapeno salsa!

spicy and flavorful, this salsa proves that not everything with strawberries

has to necessarily be sweet. i wanted to dip a chip in it, slather it across a

veggie burger or even put it in a bowl and eat it all by itself! yum!

as soon as i got home, i had to re-create it.

here's the recipe i found- make it for your next summer party,

or if you're like me- for a party of one ;)

ingredients:

1 pint of strawberries, hulled and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (keep seeds for more spice!)

1/2 small red onion, diced

zest from juice of one medium lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

directions:

1) add all ingredients into a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste

2) keep refrigerated or serve fresh with lime tortilla chips

3) i dare you not to eat it all in one sitting ;)

♥ books are a uniquely portable magic ~ stephen king.

while driving home the other day, 

i noticed the coolest looking bird-house/mail-box 

and had to pull over for a closer look.

upon closer inspection, i discovered it wasn't a mail box or a 

bird-sanctuary, but rather a...

.......

little free library!

i can't believe i found a murakami book in there :)

have you ever heard of this before?? i am OBSESSED!!

i need one for my front yard asap! 

check out the cute diy options on pinterest!

♥ i scream, you scream.

thirty years ago, president ronald reagan declared that july should be

national ice cream month, with the third sunday in july being national ice-

cream day (yum!) 

in his proclamation, reagan "call[ed] upon the people of the united 

states to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities."  

done & done :)

♥ smile brilliant results & a giveaway!!!!

it has been about a month since i posted my first impressions of smile brilliant

 and i am excited to share the rest of my teeth-whitening journey with you today!

after walking you through the quick yet awkward process of making the

dental molds for my custom-fitted trays, they arrived promptly in the mail

 about a week later :)

i was impressed with the lightness of the material that the trays are made of

as well as the way they perfectly glided over my smile. 

it is the custom fitted tray, which cost upwards of $500 at a dentist office, 

that makes all the difference in the teeth whitening process because of the

closeness with which it adheres the teeth whitening gel to your teeth.

i have tried whitening strips, whitening gels, whitening tooth paste and

chewed whitening gum, but nothing compares to whitening your teeth

with a tray that was meant for you and only you.

it's like cinderella's proverbial glass slipper- but for your smile.

the trays come in an simple black case that make it convenient for storage and travel.

the whitening and desensitizing gels will have already arrived in the box that contained

the dental mold kit. they come in neat little syringes that are pre-filled with the clear gel.

these syringes can be stored in the refrigerator and hold up to three sessions worth

of gel in them, so be sure not to use them all up in one sitting!

first, you will need to use the tasty desensitizing gel to prep your teeth for whitening.

 it is easy to squeeze out a thin ribbon of this gel into the tray and takes only minutes to

 go into effect. i left it in for 10-15 minutes at a time. my teeth are not sensitive to cold,

(hello, ice cream, i love you. i bite you) so i haven't had much issue with my

teeth being extra sensitive after whitening, but this could be a

side effect for some.

lastly, you rinse the desensitizing gel out of your mouth and off of the trays and

dry your smile off. squeeze out a similarly thin ribbon of teeth whitening gel into trays and 

leave in your mouth anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours. some people sleep in them!

be sure to rinse afterwards because it isn't quite as yummy as the first gel!

i have tried to keep it in the 15-20 minutes and have loved the ease and convenience of 

whitening my teeth while watching tv  at home or taking a car ride. it definitely beats sitting

in a dentist office or even worse- sitting in the middle of the mall-with a paper towel clipped 

around your neck and a big blue light in your face.

the results for my almost-white smile are not as dramatic as some of the testimonials 

i have seen on smile brilliant's page, but i am still very happy with my brighter

whiter smile and would recommend it to anyone looking to give their

teeth a boost!!

and now for the giveaway!

click here for a chance to win $139.90 store credit to smile brilliant!!

this is equivalent to teeth whitening trays + 3 whitening gel syringes and 3

desensitizing gel syringes! :D :D

Tooth Whitening by Smile Brilliant

♥ fresh ink.

i am not a big tattoo lover, but i do appreciate some good ink-

which is why i must share the work of cheyenne randall,

a seattle-based artist who has added ink to just about

every pop cultural icon. check out his

& website, shopped tattoos!