Bachelorette Weekend in LA

My bachelorette weekend was about two months ago and I figured I should start here before doing wedding posts. My maid of honor planned everything and kept me in the dark about everything but our destination (Los Angeles). She did an amazing job planning and organizing everything, from the car ride snacks to restaurants she knows I love or have always wanted to try. 

Here is the PG version of the weekend...

We stayed in the gorgeous Hollywood Glamour bungalow at Villa Delle Stelle in West Hollywood

Shoe shot before our first night out

Delicious Coconut Creme Brulee at Geisha House

Blowouts at blo

I asked for a combination of "Holly would" and "hugs, sex, and rock and roll"

Drinks and dinner at Lexington Social House

Poison Ivy-best drink ever! 

Dancing and an unexpected Maggie Berry fashion show at Supper Club

There was an amazing acrobat performing above us almost the whole night!

Miss J on the red carpet at Supper Club-pretty sure he was there for the fashion show

I met Jo from RHOC in the bathroom(!!) and she was super sweet. Please try to ignore the white rectangle, where I blocked the suggestive straw I had wedged in my dress :-/

Rooftop brunch at Barney Greengrass before heading back to the bay.

{Hair} Line I Love: Oribe

I fell in love with Oribe's hair products about a year ago, when I switched hair stylists. Surprisingly, I had never heard of Oribe, who is a world renowned hair stylist who has worked with countless celebrities and has styled several Vogue covers, Victoria's Secret fashion shows, Fall 2011 Runway shows, and famous Chanel and Louis Vuitton editorial campaigns. He has been in the hair biz for 30+ years, and is known to have made Jennifer Lopez's hair as famous as it is since her first album cover.

{Completely obsessed with this hair}

There are so many reasons why I love Oribe's products. What first caught my eye was the glamorous, rich looking, sleek packaging. I was surprised to hear from my stylist that all of the packaging is made from recycled materials, and Oribe's products are all vegan, made from plant extracts, vegetable proteins and vitamins.

The first Oribe product I purchased was the Signature Moisture Masque, after finishing Aveda's Damage Remedy which honestly seemed to dry out my hair. The Moisture Masque is so luxurious from the look of the jar to the smell. It makes my hair SO soft, like it naturally was when I was 5. I did have to talk myself into purchasing the 5.9 oz jar for $60, but it was well worth it.

Since then I also bought the Ultra Rich conditioner to prevent myself from using the moisture masque every day, which I love. It detangles my hair and smells just as good as the moisture masque.

And after using the Royal Blowout spray for my wedding hair trial (and wedding), I had to pick up a bottle. It's super light and doesn't weigh my hair down, which is great because I LOVE big hair.

I also have the Dry Texturizing spray and the 24k Gold Pomade sitting in my amazon cart. 

Read Rachel Zoe's review of the 24k Gold Pomade here.

Have any of you used Oribe's products? If so, which one(s) are your favorites?

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Review

These are my newest obsession. 

I'm not usually a fan of intricate nail art, but I found many of Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips to be wearable. The first ones I tried out were the multi-color glitter stickers in "Frock Star", which I wore during my Bachelorette weekend-they were perfectly appropriate for such an occasion.

Next I tried "Laced Up", the pattern I was most drawn to:

Today I applied "Bling It On":

Each box contains 16 nail strips with varying sizes to fit each nail, a mini file, buffer, and a cuticle stick. I ended up not needing the cuticle stick. The strips are very easy to apply and what's great about them is that you can shape them onto rounded or squared nails at almost any length.

Once applied to the nail, the remaining strip is easily filed off the nail with the mini file/buffer.

Ta Da!

The Salon Effects package claims that the nail strips last up to 10 days, which I've found to be true. I removed the "Frock Star" strips after 6 days since my wedding was one week after I had applied them but they would've held up at least another few days, and I kept the "Laced Up" strips on for almost two weeks!

I love that there is no dry time (also stated on the box), the strips are easy to remove with nail polish remover, and they do not contain any DPB, Toluene or Formaldehyde.

The one con for me is the price ($8.99 at Target), however they are significantly cheaper than Minx and last about as long.

Up next I'll be trying "Misbehaved"

What are your thoughts on Sally Hansen's Salon Effects? Which is your favorite Pattern?

Workout Playlist

I go to the gym at least four days a week and always listen to music while I work out on my own (I go to group exercise classes a few times a week as well). Naturally my workout playlists get old after about two weeks, so I'm constantly removing and adding songs. Below is my current playlist {click to enlarge}. While it is certainly not all appropriate, it does keep me motivated! I am always looking for new workout music, so I would love to hear what's on your list. Please share in the comments!

Versace for H&M!

Donatella Versace announced this morning that she'll be collaborating with H&M for not one but two separate collections, one to launch on November 17 of this year, and the next to debut as a pre-spring collection that will be available on January 19, 2012. Included in the collection(s) are menswear, womenswear, and homeware, which I'm REALLY excited about! If the homeware items are anything like the luxurious duds in Donatella's home (see photos below), they'll be sure to go fast. 

As for the clothes, Vogue UK says to "expect leather and colourful prints for the girls; sharp tailoring and plenty of bling for the boys."

Sneak peek photos of the clothing collection:

Photo credit: huffingtonpost

I'm back...and MARRIED!

I wanted to give you all a little peak of my wedding from Sunday. I am planning a huge wedding recap with all of the details + DIY projects once I get the professional photos, so look out for that in the near future!

Here we go...

Bridesmaid's bouquets

Chuppah flowers

Something blue

The cake-our vows were written on the top and bottom tiers

Alice in Wonderland Themed Baby Shower

I'm so excited to share with you all a baby shower I planned and designed last month for a wonderful friend. I had endless creative freedom, and knew that I didn't want to use any pastels or muted colors. Instead I aimed for whimsical touches, bright colors with an Alice in Wonderland/Mad Hatter theme.

My inspiration:

Photo Credit: http://www.hostessblog.com/

The below photos are from Taylor Armstrong's daughter's (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) birthday party, so they may look familiar to some of you!

I fell in love with the look of the stacked teacups and set out to find some at Goodwill. Luckily my local Goodwill had a ton, and I think I bought every single teacup in the store. Stacking and gluing them together was surprisingly very easy to do with a hot glue gun. Next up was the moss covered teapot. I desperately wanted to make one similar to the one pictured above, pouring rose petals into another moss covered teacup but I figured hanging fishing line or constructing something to hold the teapot up would be too difficult for a novice party planner...

Instead I used two teapots that I bought at Goodwill, foam balls cut in half from Michaels, and moss sheets from Michaels to create a similar look:

After cutting the foam balls in half, I simply applied glue from the glue gun to the ball and stuck pieces of the moss sheets to each half dome. From there, I hot glued the flat side of the dome to the teapots.

The finished Result of the teacup stack and moss covered teapot:

{Please ignore the mess in the background!}

I made several teacup "stacks" and placed them down the center of the table along with vases I covered in wrapping paper and ribbon from the Container Store, topped with silk roses. 

The finished Result:

Next Up...my Bridal Shower! The same lovely friend whose baby shower I put together co-planned my Bridal Shower and I can't wait to show off what they did!