But I do love the color and these  pants that Bear found me at Sears. And because we bought our appliances from there and had signed up for the rewards program these were $12 free! I love when I find great staples or things I’ll wear a bunch (things that would have been worth splurging on) at great prices.

Top: Cotton On
Pants: Sears
Shoes: Nine West, thrifted
Purse: Michael Kors, gift
Bangle and Watch: India

I’ve also recently been obsessed with this super comfy skirt and top:

Top: Maurice’s
Pants: Old Navy, thrifted
Shoes: India
Watch: Citizen
Sunglasses: Kate Spade

And this leopard print jacket with fun structured shoulders:

Dress: H&M
Shoes: YSL, thrifted
Purse: Michael Kors, gift
Bracelets, Belt and Necklace: Thrifted
Jacket: Thrifted

Sandhya

We had our Housewarming this weekend and it was so much fun to show everyone around our new home. Since it was clean I took the opportunity to get some shots of the “finished” rooms. Of course, decorating is an iterative process but I finally feel as though most rooms in the house are at a good point.

Here is the living room before:

We pulled up the carpet, put down laminate, changed the fan/lighting, painted the walls and trim and redid the tile around the fireplace to match the Bianca Carrara marble in our kitchen and the tiles in the bathroom and laundry room. Bear and I loved this room in my Domino book and used the colors as inspiration:

And here is the living room now:

The coffee table, chairs, side tables and most decor pieces (candles, vases, books) were all thrifted or vintage. The sofa table is from World Market, the rug from West Elm as are some of the accessories on the tables and bookshelves and the loveseat is from Ikea. The bookshelves are the same from our old house as well as two more we bought off Craigslist and were just sanded/painted a neutral beige from their former black. The print above the fireplace is from Urban Outfitters.

Still trying to figure out what to do with this area….thoughts?

I still want to put canvas prints of the furbabies up on the staircase wall, put up some curtains and there will always be space for more knick-knacks in the future as well as more pillows for the loveseat, but for now it’s quickly become the center of our home. We’ve had many friends over and it’s perfect for late evenings spent chatting over cocktails.

Sandhya

Picking the blue for our dining room was pretty frustrating. I wish I could have taken my new car (very pretty midnight blue) into Home Depot and had them color match it. But even then I’m sure it wouldn’t have been perfect because we did try color matching for a few things and boy was it off.

Before (no idea what Bear is doing and I have no other shots so this will have to do!):

Anywho, we did try a million and settled on Behr’s Daring Indigo…the grey was a color match from Valspar’s Blind Date. We are giving it a few days to darken as the guy said and may change it if it doesn’t because sometimes it seems a little too blue for me and not dark enough. We shall see but either way I do love the combination and it’s definitely the look I was going for.

What do you guys think?

We are going to cover the walls with all the vintage gold mirrors we collect (every one is under $10, it’s a rule) and replacing the chandelier. Started to buy some of the furniture and are picking out the flooring this weekend. Again, we can’t wait!

Sandhya

Thank you all for your support with our loss and for understanding my break from the blog. The grief still punches me in the stomach many times a day and it takes me a moment (or hour) to recover but we are healing slowly. We miss him and love Trigger every moment of every day and we appreciate the love from you all.

Life however doesn’t take too kindly to breaks and while we gave ourselves a week or two, it came back at us full speed. My business is busier than ever (and it’s exciting!) and I’ve been spending a lot of my time volunteering at the shelter (we currently have 3 very cute foster kitties stinking up our guest bathroom in case anyone is interested) and then of course planning the wedding. The house hunt was on hold for awhile but we’re back at it and while we’re being picky, we know we’ll find the right one for us and all furbabies present and future.

I got an email the other day asking if I wanted to attend a special event at Blo Austin, the latest location of a very fun and practical concept of salons – no cut, no color. Just a shampoo and a fun style. I immediately said yes because I needed it to pull me out of my ponytail and smelly animal clothes funk and I’m so glad I did.

The salon is just plain adorable and all the ladies (and guys) are the sweetest. They gave me a ‘Hair Menu’ to look through and I chose the ‘Red Carpet’ look. Ashanti was sweet and did a great job on my blowout!

Before (forgive the unwashed, unstyled hobo look):

After…blown away! (sorry couldn’t resist):

Blo also gave me a bag full of goodies like yoga classes and coupons for future blowouts (in case anyone is interested!) and a trial of the hairspray they used, Aerogel, which is incredibly light and soft. And some fun pink cotton candy – I was tickled pink! Seriously, I must quit with the puns. I blame the champagne. Kidding. Don’t drink and drive, kids.

But DO go out and get your hair did at Blo – they are doing $21 blowouts tomorrow on their opening day! They also offer updos and birthday or bachelorette parties and even come out for events to you. They have locations all over Cali, Florida and TX.

This inspired some much delayed outfits posts:

Skirt, Shoes, Bangles, Belt, Purse: All thrifted and around a couple bucks or less each. Top: Old Navy, also a couple bucks. My whole outfit was like $8-10 I just realized. Score!

Have a blessed weekend!

Sandhya

My birthday is a couple days away and instead of presents (Bear wanted to get me an espresso machine to support my recent Starbucks addiction…thanks to my recent Gilmore Girls obsession. Thanks Andrea!) I asked for a morning of garage sales and thrifting. We found some amazing things including great clothes, a desk for Bear and children’s books. But my favorite was this beaded tunic (only $8 or so):

Then my parents gave me something in this pretty bag….

It was this pretty bag!

I am so incredibly spoiled. Speaking of beautiful things and being spoiled, here’s my engagement ring:

The sides aren’t diamonds – the four leaves are my birthstone (Aquamarine) and the ends are Bear’s birthstone (Alexandrite). The Alexandrite changes from light to dark green/red depending on the light…just like Bear’s personality. Damn Gemini.

My ring is gorgeous but I wouldn’t ever recommend Brilliant Earth to anyone. Stay tuned for my bitchfest on their horrible customer service and the awful experience we had.

But that’s for another entry. For now, let’s all just enjoy my birthday week.

Whee!

Sandhya

Oops. Looks like in all the craziness, I have missed the one-year anniversary of my blog. Just like me…I’m terrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries.

Just as well because I don’t have anything special to commemorate the day (which was way back at the beginning of January) but I am glad to have been around for that long. I”m grateful for the creative outlet and all the things this last year has brought me through my blog.

The Style Co-Op and so many like-minded ladies to thrift and love fashion alongside especially Elia, Andrea and Amy. All my great connections - I now know about a million photographers, stylists and make-up artists. All the sweet friends I’ve met from afar (Natira!) and being able to keep up with my friends (even if you don’t leave comments).

Thanks for letting me share my life with you all!

P.S. A new addition to my shoe collection (where else would this be appreciated), that I got at a thrift store yesterday for $7.50!:

Have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully next week will be less crazy and I can get some regular updates and pictures from the trip/of my ring up!

Sandhya

WE’RE ENGAGED!!

Bear proposed to me on Sunday in a very sweet and romantic spot – one of the very first places we ever met (and the first place we remember ever speaking to each other) on the UT campus. He even made sure I was looking my best and someone was there to capture the moment:

I get internal tickles everytime I hear the word fiance/fiancee. And I introduced him as my boyfriend today. Oops!

I couldn’t be happier.

Sandhya