Thursday, June 1, 2023

Grandmillenial Guide to London: Day 1 Itinerary

 


Hello everyone! Long time no post. Life has been crazy and to be honest I have been focusing most of my energy on TikTok. But, I feel like travel guides are so helpful and I love having a place where all of my recommendations can live. So many times I get asked what to do in London so here it is! Here is our itinerary for a week in London. You can edit this itinerary to fit your schedule and your hotel's location. We stayed at 100 Queens Gate hotel which is located in South Kensington. This is my preferred neighborhood when staying at London. I lived in South Kensington for a summer as a kid so it feels like home. I'm familiar with the area, restaurants, and tube stop so that is just my preference! It is very centrally located and walkable to a lot on our itinerary.

DAY 1 ITINERARY

10:3am- Land at London Heathrow Airport
10:30am-11:30am- De-board, go through U.K. customs
11:30am-12:15pm- Take taxi to hotel in South Kensington
12:15-1:15pm- Check into hotel or check bags with bell hop.
2:00pm- Eat late lunch in South Kensington near our hotel. We ate at Hoop & Toy (Greene King) which is a pub located near South Kensington Station.
3pm- Explore South Kensington & Knightsbridge. This includes Harrods and the Parent Trap House (23 Egerton Terrace). After you browse Harrods head to Hyde Park to explore. Be sure to checkout the Albert Memorial, Royal Albert Hall, Princess Diana memorial, Peter Pan statue, then walk around Kensington Palace & Kensington Gardens.
6/7pm- Early dinner near your hotel. We went to Byron Burger on Old Brompton Road.


This time around customs took no time. It was a very smooth process. We got off the plane, through customs, and had our checked bags within an hour. Maybe even less than that. It was nuts! But we didn't complain. After we got our bags we got into a taxi to get into the city. You can take the tube but I don't recommend that as it is hard to navigate with a lot of luggage. If you are a carry on queen then it might be okay! But we don't pack light and most tube stations have a lot of stairs and escalators and is very hard to navigate luggage with. So keep that in mind if you want to take the tube! I am in the point in my life I'd rather pay more for things to be easy. Hence the cab. 


Luckily when we got to the hotel they had a room available. So we unpacked a little bit and relaxed then hit the ground running. My biggest tip to help with jet lag is to keep moving. If you stop to rest too much you may fall asleep... so keep going as late as you can! We headed to lunch at a nearby pub. It is a great way to kick off a London trip with traditional pub food. 


The Parent Trap House- 23 Egerton Terrace
Located a few blocks away from Harrods!



After a bite to eat we walked around the area near our hotel. For us we headed to The Parent Trap house for some photos then to Harrods. Then after browsing the many floors of Harrods we headed to Hyde Park. I love walking around Hyde Park. It doesn't even feel like you're in the city! Some highlights include the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Peter Pan statue, Kensington Gardens, and Kensington Palace. If you aren't interested in browsing Harrods you could swap it out for going into Kensington Palace! 

After you are tired from walking head to an easy and early dinner. One of my favorite London places is Byron Burger! They have a ton of locations so odds are there is one near your hotel or the neighborhood you are staying in. 


Then it is off to bed! That was our full itinerary for day one. This is now my second time using a similar itinerary and it still worked out great. Key for your first day is to keep moving and get some fresh air. It'll feel nice after the long flight over. 

Stay tuned for the rest of our London itinerary! 
XOXO 
Miranda  


Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Sale of the Week: Black Friday Picks

 

BLACK FRIDAY SALE PICKS

Monday, November 21, 2022

Sale of the Week: Black Friday & Cyber Week Sales

 Happy almost Thanksgiving! It seems brands are starting sales earlier and earlier this year. Which I don't blame them because it is going to take a minute for all of these things to ship! But that means we can hopefully holiday shop before we even eat turkey this week. I will be updating this post all week with new sales and deals. Lots of things on sale and it is very overwhelming, so I am trying to share only the best of the best and things I am actually personally shopping. There are also a lot of things on sale from my wedding that I wanted to share in case you are a 2023 or even 2024 bride. It is never too early to start stocking up on things for your wedding. 

Anything marked with a * indicates it is a small business! 

SALES I AM SHOPPING 

LOVESHACKFANCY | Extra 25% off sale, up to 75% off 

*QUEEN OF SPARKLES | Waiting on sale details.

*PANTS STORE | Sale will be on 11/25 Black Friday and 11/28 Cyber Monday.

BUDDY LOVE | Expecting a 40% off sale for Black Friday.

BAUBLEBAR | 30% off Disney items + exclusive Black Friday promo items. 

SHOW ME YOUR MUMU | 10-30% off! Buy more save more.

SUSAN SHAW | 15% off orders $60+, 30% off orders $120+ 


OTHER SALES TO WATCH 

SARAH FLINT | Buy more save more sale! Use code HOLIDAY-FLINTFAMILY at checkout. You can always use my code SARAHFLINT-BAMIRANDAP if this is your first-time purchase! 

*DUDLEY STEPHENS | My favorite fleece popovers. I wear them for travel all the time! 40% off entire site with code DSDELIGHT. 

J. CREW | 50% off your purchase with code SHOPEARLY

J. CREW FACTORY | 50% off sale, extra 15% off 3+ accessories, and other deals throughout the week. 

KATE SPADE | Up to 50% off with code BFPREVIEW

NORDSTROM | Wide variety of deals and sales all week. 

BLOOMINGDALES | $25 off every $100 you spend. Get an extra $10 off with code EXTRA10

SHOPBOP | 25% off sitewide with code HOLIDAY

SHOPDISNEY | Sales sitewide!


WEDDING THINGS ON SALE 

JENNIFER BEHR | My wedding headband is 30% off $150 or more + other gorgeous accessories for your wedding or for special events 

*UNTAMED PETALS | My rehearsal dinner dress was from there + my mom's earrings she wore to the wedding. Extra 40% off sale with code FINAL40.

BELLA BELLE | My wedding heels will be discounted this week! 

THE MRS BOX | Last year I got my ring box for 20% off on Black Friday! I suspect the same deal this year so keep an eye on it. 

BHLDN | My bridal shower dress I got last Black Friday for my shower! Perfect time to find a great dress or piece for your wedding early. Waiting for sale details. 

*WEDDING FAVORITES | My denim MRS WEILAND jacket is from wedding favorites! Got on sale last year + a lot of my bridesmaid proposal gifts were from here. 

*SJ BAILEY CO | These earrings would be gorgeous as bridesmaid gifts or MOB/ MOG gifts. Use code BLACKFRIDAY for 30% off. 


Keep checking back for more sale finds and deals! I will update this post all week. 
XOXO 
Miranda

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Sew Engaged: Rehearsal Dinner OOTN

 


Having a Carrie Bradshaw moment! This dress was the perfect dress for my rehearsal dinner. I wanted to wear something super fun and this was the perfect dress. Everyone in the restaurant couldn't decide if I was going to prom or a bride but I genuinely didn't care. My advice: wear the dress! 


I found the cutest Amazon heels that were super affordable. They are a dupe for the Jimmy Choo heels that I for sure could not afford. Not going to lie they were not the most comfortable things on the planet, but we must sacrifice for the look. The bows were super fun and I opted for the blue color for something blue. They have a bunch of other colors available as well!


Accessories wise I of course had to wear my go-to Lele Sadoughi headband. This headband goes with legit everything. If you are a bride I highly recommend a fun Lele Sadoughi headband to complete your bridal looks. Plus you can wear it after the wedding as well. I wore this headband to my bridal shower + my rehearsal dinner. In addition I wore these fun drop pearl earrings. To create a waist line in the dress I added a satin belt from Amazon. It was super affordable but made a big impact on the dress. You could also make your own belt, but I did not have time for that lol!



Where it's from: 
Belt: Amazon 
Shoes: Amazon 
Headband: Lele Sadoughi 
Earrings: Nicola Bathie for Dillards 


More wedding content to come! I am playing catch up. Better 6 months late than never. 
XOXO 
Miranda 

Stoney Clover Lane x Juicy Couture

The Juicy Couture x Stoney Clover Lane collaboration of my dreams is now live! I only picked up the fanny pack for now but I may go back for things later. For sure added a few of these pieces to my Christmas list. They are just too cute and iconic. I was a HUGE Juicy Couture fan when I was in middle school and high school. I had everything Juicy from track suits, bags, jewelry, to even my school binder. I had a feeling this collab was coming because Juicy has been collaborating with other brands like Urban Outfitters and Emi Jay. Now we get to re-live our Y2K Juicy dreams! 

What are you picking up from the collection? Let me know! 
XOXO 
Miranda

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Weiland Wedding: My Wedding Florals

 

Flowers were one of my top priorities at my wedding. Well, let's be honest everything was a top priority. But, flowers were so important to me! My biggest ask was for peonies. Peonies are my favorite flower, also Blair Waldorf's if you were wondering. So I knew I had to incorporate them into my wedding. That is where my May wedding date came from. Peony season is May-June so I knew that was the best time to get married. Also I think my aesthetic lends to a spring wedding.


I wanted garden inspired vibes for my bouquet. Something that felt organic and had movement. Personally I am not a big fan of the super tight shaped bouquets. I asked for roses, peonies, paired with other blush and white blooms. Then of course some greenery! When it came to size I wanted it to be big but not overpowering. I'm 5ft after all so it couldn't be giant! To complete the bouquet I wanted a light blush ribbon tied around it. This really added a special touch to the whole bouquet look. My florist Willrette Flower Co. totally nailed my vision. I interviewed about 5-6 florists and Willrette totally understood what I was going for. It was a no brainer to work with them. 





 

For the ceremony I didn't want something too aggressive. Our venue was gorgeous on its own but I did want some florals incorporated. We decided on these floral columns that we then moved to the reception space to frame the head table. I 10/10 recommend something like this that can be repurposed later in the evening. It not only saves money, but they were so pretty I'm glad we got to enjoy them all night! The columns were mainly greenery, roses, and baby's breath. But, they also included some other white and blush blooms. 


For our head table we used a mix of baby's breath puffs and bud vases. Then of course we used my bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquets on the table as well. Re-using the bouquets as center pieces was also a no brainer for me. With the columns behind us it made for the perfect head table! 



Then our gorgeous staircase! Often times at our venue people put a ton of flowers on the staircase. But that first of all costs a lot of money + I liked the more simplistic look. The stairs are so pretty on their own they don't need much to dress them up! So we stuck with greenery and a lot of candles. They event added a little bit of baby's breath at the bottom. 


Centerpiece wise we had two different styles. The first was this gold compote vase with flowers incorporated into the rest of the florals. I personally don't love tall center pieces so we stuck with ones that were lower. Then we also did an arrangement of small bud vases with candles. Bud vase arrangements are a great cost effective center piece, that still incorporates flowers! 




Here is a general overview of the reception space with the florals. The room is gorgeous on its own so I knew we didn't have to go overkill with giant centerpieces. I loved how the tables turned out and I think everything was tied together perfectly. 


Willrette Flower Co. surprised me with this little baby's breath installation on the fireplace in the reception space! I loved it so much. Might I just add I had come up with the baby's breath idea before it was a big trend LOL. But regardless I loved how our baby's breath turned out. We did sprayed baby's breath so it gave an ombre effect from white to pink. I saw the idea on Pinterest and knew I had to incorporate it. 


Then probably my favorite part was this baby's breath fountain! It was something so simple but I was the most excited for it. We again did the sprayed baby's breath so it gave it that ombre look. Then we had our monogram projected onto the wall right above it. This was in the dance floor area and it made for the perfect backdrop for the evening. 


A major shout out to Willrette Flower Co. for our gorgeous flowers. If you are in the Chicagoland area I can't recommend them enough. They totally understood my vision and it turned out better then I ever could have imagined! As always the rest of my vendors are linked below! 
XOXO 
Miranda

Vendors: 
Hair and Makeup: Tamara Hair & Makeup 
Bride Dress: Bella Bianca, Haley Paige 
Bride Earrings: Loren Hope 
Bride Headband: Jennifer Behr 
Shoes: Bella Belle 
Photographer: Ben Ramos Photography
Invitations: Empress Stationery
Videographer: Flabio Doci
Orchestra: Innocenti Strings

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Sew Cute Holiday: Beauty Wishlist & Gift Guide


 

The Sephora Beauty sale is almost here for VIB members! I wanted to share things currently on my beauty wishlist. I have been dying for this One Size Mickey powder puff. How cute would this be to use at Disney? Or just everyday life to be honest. I've been loving my Dior Lip Oil in berry that I am eyeing it in other colors now. It really hydrates my lips but also gives a great color and shine. There are a few Rare Beauty sets I am eyeing as well. Everything I've tried from Rare Beauty I love so far. Their liquid blushes are next level. 


Be sure to shop the Sephora sale! The sale starts for VIB's on 11/1. What will you be picking up? 
XOXO 
Miranda