Tuesday, April 30, 2019

OOTD: Beach Wedding


Today I'm sharing what I wore for a casual beach wedding! The wedding took place right on the beach in Cancun, Mexico and was a rather casual affair. I opted for a super cute ruffle sun dress with lots of pretty details. Not a bad find from the Red Dress Boutique sale section! 

I got a size small and I will say it was a little too big on me. To make sure the straps didn't fall down I created a little tie in the back to make it more of a razor back. So, if you are a true XS I would stay away from the small size dresses from Red Dress as they are a little on the bigger side although that is their smallest size in most items. Not to worry though because we made it work!


I wore my trusty Tory Burch wedges with the dress and they worked out great. As I said before I had no issues walking in the sand with them. Plus they were comfortable all night between walking around, standing at cocktail hour, and at the reception. I also used this great straw bag from Amazon! Originally I bought it last summer as the straw bag trend was just picking up speed. Now almost a year later and it is still going strong. The best part is this bag is available on Prime for under $30! 

You can't tell very well but I'm also wearing some gorgeous palm leaf statement earrings from Ban.do. They are acrylic and are a big statement!  


Where it's from: 
Dress: Red Dress Boutique 
Wedges: Tory Burch 
Bag: Amazon 
Earrings: Ban.do


What is your go-to wedding look? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda

Monday, April 29, 2019

OOTD: Slouchy Summer Sweater


I think I found the perfect slouchy summer sweater! This sweater would be ideal for a cozy campfire during the spring or summer. It is a little cropped so I will say high waisted shorts or jeans are a must. I'd also recommend wearing a little bralette underneath for extra coverage. 


On my way to Mexico I wore this sweater with high waisted jeans on the plane. But, it can easily be worn as a fun summer look with shorts and sandals! There are so many ways you can style this sweater which makes it a great buy. Not to mention it is under $25 on Amazon prime and comes in a bunch of colors! 


I kept the accessories simple in this look by just adding a fun hair scarf and tassel earrings. By adding pops of green to the look it broke up the otherwise bland color palette. I'm always about adding color! I've never been one to wear super neutral outfits. 



Who else is so on board with the hair accessory trend? I know I am! I don't think there was a day in elementary school that I didn't have some sort of scrunchie or hair clip in. So to say I am loving all of the hair scarves, pearl clips, and barrettes is an understatement. This hair scarf is connected to a little scrunchie which makes it super easy to wear! Plus, I love all of the colors in it. It works for spring summer or even fall. 


Where it's from: 
Sweater: Amazon 
Hair tie: Anthropologie (similar)
Shorts: Red Dress Boutique 
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 
Sandals: Jack Rogers 


Do you want to see more looks featuring Amazon Prime items? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda 



Saturday, April 27, 2019

OOTD: Polka Dot Skirt


It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini.... well not quite! Instead it's a super cute flowy green polka dot skirt perfect for spring and summer. Amazon strikes again with this great pastel green polka dot skirt. For under $16 this skirt is a steal, and is on Prime. 


I got so many compliments on this skirt when I first posted in on Instagram! It's such a cute casual piece for spring or summer. Pairing it with a basic white tee makes it super casual and easy. But, you could easily dress it up with a fancier top, wedges, and a a pair of statement earrings!


Wearing this to a breakfast at the resort was perfect. Until someone dropped a papaya on the back of the skirt and stained it. But, minor details here people. 




Where it's from: 
Skirt: Amazon 
Tee: J. Crew 
Sandals: Jack Rogers 
Sunglasses: Ray Ban


I'm loving all of these Amazon finds! Let me know your favorite Amazon fashion picks you've scored. 
XOXO 
Miranda

Friday, April 26, 2019

OOTD: Looking Sharp



Looking sharp in my cactus top! Did you enjoy my cheesy cactus puns? Hopefully you did and hopefully you love this shirt just as much as I do! I picked this top up a while at Nordstrom Rack but it is still so perfect for spring or summer. 


It has a great gathered detail in the front and adorable flutter sleeves. Plus the cactus print is subtle enough that it isn't too overpowering. I mixed this print with my palm print platform sneakers to create the ultimate Mexico style look. I had been waiting to break out these sneakers for some time and this was the trip to do it. 


This fun clutch is an old pouch from my favorite Stoney Clover Lane. They have a ton of new options available but I still love this little Mexican inspired pouch! It's obviously perfect for Mexico or even a taco Tuesday. I love the pom pom detailing and how it is two sided. 


I wore this look to an easy breakfast before we left the resort for the airport. Simple outfits like this are really a daily outfit for me during the summer. Just a pair of shorts with a cute top! As much as I love dressing up this is a great casual look for vacation or an easy summer day. 



Where it's from: 
Shirt: Nordstrom Rack 
Shorts: Red Dress Boutique 
Earrings: J. Crew Factory 
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 
Bracelet: Hermes 
Shoes: Keds x Rifle Paper Co. (similar)
Clutch: Stoney Clover Lane (similar)


What is your go-to summer look? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda


Thursday, April 25, 2019

Stationery Favorites featuring Paperless Post

It's no secret I love a good stationery find. There is something about planners, cards, pens, you name it that I just love. I mean who doesn't love receiving a beautiful card in the mail or a fresh new planner? Today I am rounding up some of my favorite stationery items and some new services I think you will all love! 

Paperless Post | First up is Paperless Post, this is a new service to me that lets you send digital cards, invitations, flyers, you name it all online! They have a ton of different card designers including some of my favorites like Kate Spade, Rifle Paper Co., Jonathan Adler, and more. Paperless Post reached out to me to test out their service, and I do have to say it is a great way to send digital invitations or cards! I sent my friends a congratulations card for their wedding and I love how it turned out. You can customize practically everything from the font, envelope color, background of the card when it gets sent, anything. If you are looking to save money on invitations for your wedding, a grad party, or if you want to send out fun invites for your Easter brunch this is a great option that is for sure worth looking into! The best part is you don't have to pay for stamps or shipping because it is all electronic. Who knew digital stationery could be so fun! Below is the design I customized on their site. It is a Kate Spade card which I added this fun gold confetti background too. So cute right? 
Designs I love.... 


image via Paperless Post 

The Simplified Planner | I've been using Emily Ley's Simplified Planner since college! It has time and time again been my favorite practical planner. I do plan as a hobby with stickers and the whole nine yards. But, this planner is by far the most practical and keeps me organized. This year I opted for the daily planner with the Garden Party cover. Last year I had the weekly planner, which I liked, but I think for scheduling purposes the daily works better. If you don't have a super strict schedule the weekly is awesome! But, I found myself wanting more room to write down appointments when my schedule was busier. She even has little dot stickers to help color code everything. Her new academic planners were recently released which include August 2019-July 2020. This is the month range I usually pick up. I highly recommend this planner whether you are a student, mom, or working gal it works for really anyone! 

Dong-A Fine Tech Pens | I picked up this black Dong-A Fine Tech pen a while ago from Riley Rose and quickly became obsessed. It is a think pen, which I prefer, and is also gel. Someone stole my pen while I was at a work convention and I was so sad! Until, I found out they sell them in a huge set on Amazon. Game changer people. You can pick up a 12 pack of these guys for under $10 on Amazon! If you love thin gel ink pens look no further than these guys. 

Daiso Japan Stores | Sadly I do not live on the West Coast, so I can't frequent Daiso stores. BUT I was recently in LA and was able to go to my first Daiso store and it was amazing. All of the Japanese stationery was almost all under $5! Some of my favorite Friction pens and highlighters were $1 each. Craziness I'm telling you. If you are a stationery fan you have to go to Daiso if you ever stumble upon one.

What are your favorite stationery or paper products? Let me know in the comments below! 
XOXO
Miranda

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

OOTD: It's not easy being green



I am a loyal Aerie fan through and through. So, for this trip I only packed Aerie swimsuits! This is one of three swim suits that I packed for my trip. Can we talk about this gorgeous silhouette? It is super flattering, not to cheeky, and has some really cute details. 


I'm a big fan of underwire swimsuits. They give you support, not that I need all that much, but also give me some vintage kind of vibes. This style isn't a push up, but Aerie does offer some styles that are. Overall, I have loved every Aerie swim suit I have purchased! Plus they are always on sale which is great. This girl does not pay full price let me tell you. 


I styled the swimsuit with a simple pair of pearl studs plus this super cute Liberty print headband from J. Crew. This trip I was really stepping up my pool style. I added more accessories and didn't just run down to the pool. Honestly it was kind of fun to dress up my swimsuits more then usual! 


Had to include these shots of me with my giant coconut drink. This drink was 99% for the photos and 1% for the taste. It actually didn't taste terrible, but it was super heavy and I didn't want to carry it around! 



Where it's from: 
Swimsuit: Aerie 
Headband: J. Crew 
Sunglasses: Ray Ban


Where is your favorite place to buy swimsuits? Let me know your favorites in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda 

Monday, April 22, 2019

OOTD: Leaf Lady


Hola from Mexico! Well, I'm back from Mexico but I just spent the weekend in Cancun celebrating a friends wedding. So, there are a ton of tropical looks coming to Instagram and the blog soon. I wanted to share this top today because it is currently on sale for under $10! Such a good deal! 


The top is cropped, but not super cropped, and has a fun tie front. With an off the shoulder fit it's perfect for summer or for a tropical vacay like mine. I wore it a more casual dinner at night and it worked out so well! Being in jeans at night is key to avoid getting a million mosquito bites since the night before I got about 18 of them. Yikes! None the less I loved this look for an evening at the resort. 


I also have to talk about these wedges! These Tory Burch wedges are so comfortable and flattering. I've worn them with jeans, dresses, skirts, really anything. They aren't super tall which makes them super comfortable. I even walked in the sand in them and had no issues. This style is available at Bloomingdales still so be sure to scoop them up. These are my go-to neutral wedge for the summer. 


I accessorized the look with this fun straw bag which was the perfect size. It also has a detachable crossbody for more comfort. Adding a fun glitter pink hoop earring was a fun touch! I love adding a good statement earring. They have been my favorite recent accessory. 


Where it's from: 
Jeans: Paige Denim 
Earrings: J. Crew 
Wedges: Tory Burch
Sunglasses: Ray Bans 


There will be a ton of new Mexico posts coming soon! Let me know if there is anything in particular you want to see in the comments below. 
XOXO 
Miranda 

Monday, April 8, 2019

How I edit & plan my Instagram photos!


This year I am doing my Instagram a little differently. If you couldn't tell I am focusing on a different color each month! So far, I did red in January, pink in February, and blue in March. I thought this would be a fun challenge to make me think of different outfits using pieces focusing on a certain color. Also, it would challenge me to wear new colors and colors I normally don't wear all year. Creating a color coded Instagram has forced me to also plan content a little more carefully. There are a few ways I do this which ties into how I edit my photos. 
      
Planning | My first step to create this color coding idea was to establish a color for each month. In my notes section on my phone I thought about what color I saw representing each month. Some of them were obvious like pink being for February. But, other months I had to get a little more creative. After I established each month's color I went back through my old photos and started collecting pictures that would fit into each month. I created folders on my computer to keep each month's photos. This has kept me super organized, plus it helps me visualize how each month's feed will look. 

Another part of planning is scheduling out my feed. I use the AColorStory app's Grid feature to do this. I used to use Later, but I found AColorStory is much more flexible and has a lot more features! AColorStory lets you shuffle your pictures around to create your feed, plus lets you set a time to remind you to post. This helps me plan out my feed and remind me to post content! In addition, you can edit your photos through AColorStory and they have some great filters and effects. Unlike Later AColorStory doesn't limit how many photos you can plan out. So, I can see how my feed will look months at a time. 

Content Creating | Along with planning comes creating my content! I have a running notes page in my phone of photo ideas I want to do. This can include outfit ideas, photo locations, whatever! Particularly, if I am going on a trip I like to plan out my outfits and photo ideas. For example, when I was planning my outfits for Disney I had all of the colors for each month in mind when outfit planning. I had a wide range of outfits so I had content for months to come. I go to Disney often, but not every month or week like some. So, I have to be a little more strategic when outfit planning so I have Disney content all year round. Then for a trip like Mexico, I knew what color I was planning for April. So, I bought some new pieces in this color story to wear for my trip. Then also planned on wearing older pieces in new ways for the trip. Like I said, its really challenged me to be creative and come up with new combinations for old pieces in my featured colors.  

Editing | In a world full of bloggers selling pre-sets it can be hard to decide which one works for you, or what you want your Instagram theme to look like. A while back I found some free pre-sets through Pinterest and I've been tweaking and using them ever since. You can find pre-sets on Pinterest simply by searching free LightRoom presents. In a way I create my own pre-sets based off of existing pre-sets. So, they aren't completely mine but I tailor them to make them exactly what I want. For example I start with a free preset then adjust the brightness, change it to be cooler or warmer, and change the exposure to customize it! From there I save my own "customized" pre-set through Lightroom through the create pre-set tool. This way I can save it and automatically apply it to all of my photos. I bounce around from a darker pre-set to a lighter and brighter pre-set depending on the time of year. Currently I am using a pre-set I made from my Hawaii trip. It's much brighter and happier, which is perfect for spring. Another Adobe app I use is Adobe Sketch which allows you to draw fun paint strokes onto your photos. You may see this affect on some of my photos. 

Just goes to show you don't have to spend $100+ to have pre-sets or a cohesive feed. All of this is done in LightRoom which is an Adobe program for editing photos. LightRoom does cost money, which I know not everyone wants to spend on a photo editing program. So, there are a few free editing tools I would recommend. 

I love the AColorStory filters available through their app. Some are free and others you pay for. You can get filter packs for around $2.99 which includes multiple filters you can use! I particularly like the new Noelle Downing filter pack I AM. It has the similar look to a lot of the big blogger's pre-set packs but doesn't require LightRoom and are under $5. This is a great option if you don't want to spend a ton of money but still get warm toned filters for your photos. Other free apps I like to use are A Design Kit and PicsArt to add fun affects and decorations to my photos! There are a ton of free resources to use out there so don't feel pressured to use expensive presets to create your feed. 

One thing I think people loose sight of on Instagram is that it is a creative outlet first. Be creative and be unique! Don't use the same preset everyone uses, stand out and create your own unique way of editing. I've slowly come to the attitude of doing whatever I want on Instagram. Likes don't matter, what matters is you are having fun and creating content that makes you happy. Having people like it is just a cherry on top of the cake. I remember having Instagram back in 2010 and nobody was on it. I just posted random photos using Instagram's filters. I still have those photos on my feed (if you really want to scroll through all of my pictures you can see them!). I'm not someone who deletes all of my photos to start over. It's fun to look back and see how far I've come and how much the app has evolved. Plus, someone has to document all of my hilarious #ootd photos from high school right? 

I hope this post has helped you gain some new tips and ideas for Instagram! What are your favorite editing tips? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda

Friday, April 5, 2019

What I'm Packing for Mexico


straw handbag | green dress (sold out) | floral off the shoulder top 
olive skirt | tropical wrap dress (sold out) | white denim shorts (sold out) 

It's almost time to head to Mexico! I'll be in Cancun for a long weekend trip for a friends wedding and I am so excited to celebrate them all weekend. I'm also excited to wear all of the tropical print things and I'll be serving some major tropical vibes. 

If you've been following my Instagram, I'm picking a new color to focus on each month and April will be green *spoiler alert*. So, all of my Mexico outfits have a green theme. I'm planning on wearing this eyelet green dress to the wedding, then wearing this fun palm dress for dinner one night. I picked up two new swimsuits from Aerie for the occasion, and plan on wearing some old suits as well. P.S. these swim suits are on major sale, so you should go pick them up too! 

For accessories, I'm focusing on straw bags like this super affordable bag from Red Dress Boutique. I got it on crazy sale, and it is super cute! When it comes to a beach bag I'm bringing my clear Stoney Clover Lane tote bag with some fun pouches to go with it. Then for jewelry I'm bringing all of the palm leaf earrings, tassel statement pieces, and stackable bracelets. 

What are your go-to pieces for a tropical getaway? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda

Monday, April 1, 2019

Sew Cute Travels: LA Snapshots


Last month I went to LA for work and found some time to explore around the city! I headed to The Beverly Hills Hotel and Rodeo Drive to get a dose of Hollywood glamour. Let me tell you, just when you think you are doing well you go to a place like this. Although underdressed, I had a relaxing afternoon strolling down the streets looking into high end boutiques and people watching. Here are a few of my snapshots from my trip to Beverly Hills.... 




Stopped at Alfred Coffee in Beverly Hills for a tea and to sit and relax. I roasted in the sun, but the tea was very good! Plus they had cute little Band.o drink covers with some inspiring quotes on them. 



One of my main reasons for venturing out into Beverly Hills was to see the The Beverly Hills Hotel. They have an exclusive collection with Stoney Clover Lane, so naturally I had to make the trip to pick up a few pieces. You can only get these Stoney Clover Lane items at the hotel gift shop, which is located downstairs. They have a whole range featuring lots of pink, green, and palm leaves. 



The only bad thing about traveling alone is that you don't have anyone to snap a photo of you in front of the famous hotel. But, I was still happy I could see this gorgeous place! Now only if I could afford a night at the hotel... maybe some day! 



What is your favorite place to visit in LA? Let me know in the comments! 
XOXO 
Miranda