Lilly Pulitzer Fall 2012

It isn't even officially August yet, there are still five weeks until Labor Day, and the Summer Olympics have just started. However, Lilly Pulitzer just released the first shipment of their Fall 2012 collection on their website this past Saturday, and pieces had already made their way to stores by the end of last week. Although I am in no hurry for summer to end and dread putting away my seersucker and white jeans, it is always exciting to see a new Lilly collection! Here are my favorites from the first installment of Fall 2012:

Mara Dress in Passion Pink About Face Lace

This would make a great cocktail/party dress for fall. I love the solid pink with lace overlay detail and the scalloped hem.

Elsa Top True Navy Colorblocked

The Elsa Top is one of my favorite styles and this is a great way to wear the popular colorblocked trend. It would also look really good with white jeans up until Labor Day.

Charleston Skirt in Hollyhock Gigi

I think this giraffe print is so precious and this skirt would look super cute with cowgirl boots.

Davie Dress in Bright Navy Railroad Stripe

Love this classic striped shirt dress with a contrasting sash!

Delila Dress in Multi Race for This Lace Combo

Another great cocktail/party dress option with solid lace overlay from the fall collection. I like any dress that gives the illusion of a skirt and top tucked-in.

Somerset Dress in Worth Blue

An easy cotton slub dress with ruffled sleeves. This is close enough to Carolina blue that it would make a great game day dress!

Elsa Top Cameo White Fancy Fest

Another Elsa top. I love the geometric black and white cat print!

What are your thoughts about the Fall 2012 Lilly collection? I have heard mixed opinions from different bloggers and commenters-some have said they feel that Lilly is straying too far from their original designs and target audience. Since I have only been wearing Lilly for about two and a half years I don't have super strong feelings about this. In my opinion, the Fall collection is always a little less traditionally Lilly-like. Colors and patterns are darker and toned down to be more seasonally appropriate. Anyways, I'd be curious to hear other opinions on the Fall collection as a whole, especially from those who have been Lilly lovers for longer than I have. Also, what are y'alls favorite pieces from the Fall collection thus far?

-L

xoxo

Friday Favorites

Hope y'all have had a great Friday! I'm a little late getting this post up, but at least it's still Friday. Today is an especially great Friday because the 2012 Summer Olympics kick-off with the Opening Ceremonies! I'm watching the Parade of Nations right now. Germany has the best uniforms so far-I love the women's pink jackets! But of course Team USA is number one in my heart! I am so looking forward to the next two weeks of competition, especially gymnastics, swimming, and diving!

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Aside from the excitement of the Olympics, here are a few more favorites:

Skirt:

Lilly Pulitzer Whitley Skirt in Starfruit Yellow Burnout (from Summer 2011)

I love how this mini skirt appears solid yellow, but has a floral print incorporated in it.

 Photo Album:

Lilly Pulitzer Limeade Floaters print

I am a big picture taker-my friends can also count on me to have my camera! I do like to print out my favorites and put them in albums, and this Lilly album is a great coffee table fixture. This particular print is discontinued, but you can find this Lilly album in a different print here.

Snack Food:

my image

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Trader Joe's Joe-Joe's

These are the Trader Joe's version of Oreos. To be honest the first time I tried them I did not like them but when I tried them again I thought they were so good! Plus the all-natural flavors and lack of hydrogenated oils make them somewhat better for you. Both the chocolate cream and vanilla cream varieties are good, but I especially love that the vanilla cream contains real vanilla bean flecks!

TV Show:

Make It Or Break It

The start of the Olympics reminds me of how much I love this show, and how much I wish they would have filmed at least one more season. The plot of this series features four elite gymnasts training in hopes of making the national team, world championship team, and then finally the Olympic team. Drama from outside the gym with family and boyfriends is also a prominent part of the story line. Sadly, the series final was this past May. Three volumes of episodes are currently available on DVD and I'm anxious for them to release the rest!

Have a great weekend and enjoy watching the Olympics!

-L

xoxo

We All Scream for Ice Cream

In case y'all didn't know already, ice cream is my absolute favorite dessert. Even in the dead of winter I still eat ice cream on an almost daily basis. The summer heat makes this frozen treat even more delectable however. My favorite places to go out for ice cream are Dairy Queen, where I can enjoy a Blizzard, or a self-serve frozen yogurt place.

Delicious M&M Blizzard

Self-serve fro yo creation

As fun as it is to go out for ice cream, it can get expensive if you are a regular ice cream consumer like myself. Plus it's nice to be able to enjoy ice cream with just a quick trip to the freezer if you don't feel like going out. Here are some of my favorite flavors available from the grocery store. Since I eat ice cream so frequently I choose to buy the light or reduced fat varieties so it's at least a little bit healthier. And for portion control I serve it in these cute little Pyrex dishes. All things in moderation!

Breyers Blasts Chocolate Oreo

This is actually a frozen dairy dessert so it's lower in fat than regular ice cream. Chocolate with Oreo pieces=delicious!

Harris Teeter Brand Reduced Fat Take the Cake

I love this birthday cake flavored ice cream with sprinkles and ribbons of icing mixed in. If you don't have a Harris Teeter in your part of the country Mayfield has a good birthday cake ice cream, but it's not reduced fat.

Edy's Slow Churned Light Rocky Road

This is a newer variety of Edy's low fat ice cream. I like the fact that it has a lot of marshmallows and the almond pieces are small.

Harris Teeter Cookies & Cream Frozen Yogurt

Edy's Slow Churned Light Chocolate

Sometimes I'm just in the mood for plain chocolate and this is a great choice!

Breyer's Smooth & Dreamy low fat Vanilla Bean

Breyer's does vanilla ice cream the best- no doubt about it! I love the real vanilla bean specks!

These Pyrex Custard Cups are what I like to eat my ice cream out of. I also like to put the bowl in the freezer and let it sit for a little bit before serving my ice cream to keep it from melting as quickly.

Are you an ice cream eater? What are your favorite flavors?

-L

xoxo

Wish List Wednesday

Happy Hump Day y'all! Here are a few things currently on my wish list:

Tory Burch Logo Cut-out Earrings

Yes please! I have wanted dangly earrings similar to this (metallic disk with cut-outs) for awhile. And the Tory Burch logo as the cut-out detail hits the spot!

Lilly Pulitzer Calculator

Absolutely adorable and will definitely make math a lot more fun!

Kate Spade Skinny Mini Bow Studs

These are precious and will go with everything. Kate Spade knows how to do earrings!

Lilly Pulitzer Esmeralda Dress in Starfruit Yellow Sucker for Plaid

I love how this Lilly dress from the Summer 2012 collection gives the illusion of a skirt and tube top, when in actuality it is a one-piece dress. I have a difficult time pulling off the "shirt tucked-in to skirt" look so this would be a great dress for me. And I am definitely a sucker for anything seersucker! And there's still more than a month of seersucker season left to enjoy!

Jack Rogers Pink Navajos

I have been wanting a pair of pink Jacks for awhile! And they would coordinate with so many things in my closet! Plus seeing people incorporate them into their Outfit of the Day (OOTD) pics on Instagram makes me want a pair even more!

What items are y'all currently pining for?

-L

xoxo

I Love Tervis Tumblers!

A couple weeks ago I featured Tervis Tumbler in my Stay Hydrated post and was inspired to do a follow-up post dedicated exclusively to these amazing cups. I strongly believe that you can never have too many Tervis Tumblers! They keep hot drinks hot, cold drinks cold, they're "sweatproof," and they come with a lifetime guarantee. Plus you can get a travel lid and it becomes an "adult sippy cup" (as I like to call it). What's not to love? Here are my favorites from my collection:

UNC 

(I know I featured this in my earlier post but I had to show it again)

Pink John Deere

Pink and Green SC Palmetto

Southern Belle

Pink Initial

Black and white cat. This is a discontinued style.

And here are a few I would like to add to my collection:

Panda Bear

Minnie Mouse

Vineyard Vines

Do you like Tervis Tumblers too? What are your favorites?

-L

xoxo

Gold Medal Style

If you know me, regularly read this blog, or follow me on Twitter then you probably know by now that I am super excited about the Summer Olympics and especially love watching gymnastics. So I was quite tickled today when Jack Rogers posted this Olympic-themed photo on their Facebook page, advertising that USA gymnast Alexandra (Aly) Raisman wears their famous metallic Navajo sandals. Which happen to be my favorite shoes ever! (But y'all probably knew that already). So in addition to being a world-class athlete who will hopefully help Team USA bring home the gold in the women's gymnastics team competition, Aly Raisman definitely has gold medal taste in shoes!

Gold Jack Rogers

Aly Raisman gold medal hopeful 

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Aly Raisman (in middle) with gold medal style. You can see her Jacks directly to the left of that water fountain or whatever that is she's standing by.

Image via Coolspotters

-L

xoxo

Amazing Must-Read Book Series!

My newest literary obsession is the Bailey Flanigan series by Karen Kingsbury, best-selling Christian fiction author. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I read Leaving-the first book in this series-during my week at the beach. In just the past week I have read the remaining three books in the series: Learning, Longing, and finally Loving. I won't share a whole lot about the plot synopsis of each book because a)they are so amazing it's hard to put into words how wonderful they are and b)the best way to find out is read them for yourself, which I highly recommend! They are so good you won't want to put them down and will fly right through them. I wanted to get through each book as quickly as possible while still absorbing the story so that I could move on to the next one and find out what happens next in Bailey's life. In short, the series chronicles Bailey Flanigan's life as she auditions for a role in Hairspray on Broadway, prepares to move to New York City to pursue a lifelong dream of dancing on Broadway, and learns lots of valuable lessons about God, life, and love as she journeys along in this next chapter of her life in New York City and beyond. At the center of the series are Bailey's conflicting feelings about her old friend and first love Cody Coleman and the new guy pursuing her-Brandon Paul. The series takes readers on multiple twists and turns regarding Bailey's relationship with both of these young men. That's all I'm going to say about plot-y'all will have to read them for yourself to find out who Bailey ends up with.
Karen Kingsbury has such a gift for writing and I am so glad one of my Bible Study leaders raved about how much she enjoys her books and how they help her grow in her faith. I love a sappy chick flick, gushy Nicholas Sparks novel, and Disney princess "happily ever after" just as much as the next girl. However, the love story told in the Bailey Flanigan series is a thousand times sweeter than all of those things combined because a love for Christ is at the center of the relationship.
There some earlier Karen Kingsbury series that include Bailey as a character and now I am definitely going to read those as well. However, while I recommend reading the four actual Bailey Flanigan series books in order, it does not matter whether or not you have read any of the earlier series with Bailey. If you are new to Karen Kingsbury books like me then you can definitely start out with the Bailey Flanigan series. Here are the four books:

Book One

Leaving

Book Two

Learning

Book Three

Longing

Book Four

Loving

Have you read any of the Bailey Flanigan series? Or any other Karen Kingsbury books? If so which ones? She is definitely one of my new favorite authors!

-L

xoxo

Another Recent Outfit of the Day

Here is a Diptic of an outfit I wore one day the week before last:

Top: Lilly Pulitzer cotton Elsa; Scarf: Lilly Pulitzer Murfee in Amani Children's Foundation print; White Jeans: Joe's Jeans; Earrings: Kate Spade; Shoes: Jack Rogers silver Navajos; Nails: OPI "If You Moust You Moust" (from vintage Minnie Mouse collection)

The day I wore this outfit it was cooler and very overcast. As much as I love my Lilly Pulitzer Murfee scarves I rarely wear the silk/cashmere ones in the summer because they are just a little too warm to wear when it's over 80 degrees outside. So I took advantage of the relatively cooler temperatures and wore one of my favorite Murfees that looks super cute with the pink Elsa top.

What are some your favorite outfits for slightly cooler summer days?
-L
xoxo

Friday Favorites

Nail Polish:

OPI Hawaiian Orchid

I love this versatile shade of pink. It is more neutral and toned down than hot pink or pale pink and thus great to wear for an occasion where one of those more flamboyant shades may not be appropriate. It is definitely wearable year round as well and just pretty to look at.

Summer Snack:

Fresh peaches

Few things beat a ripe juicy local peach. Right now is peak season! 

Skort:

Lilly Pulitzer Jarvey Skort in Multi Minnie Zinnie (from Spring 2011)

Bright printed Lilly skorts are another summer wardrobe staple. This is basically a mini skirt with built in bloomers underneath. I love this particular print and the bow detail on the front.

Bathing Suit:

Mossimo by Target Striped Two-piece

After reading Katie at Let's Be Preppy rave about Target swimsuits here, I had to go check them out for myself, plus I had a Target gift card! I picked out this striped triangle halter top and tie-bottoms in a pretty coral pink color. It looked very flattering on and I'm super excited to wear it to the pool this weekend. None of my other current bathing suits are pink or striped so this adds some nice diversity to my collection. The bottoms are available online here and a similar style to the top is available online here.

Sunscreen:

Coppertone wet 'n clear continuous spray SPF 30

This is my favorite sunscreen to wear on my body. I like the easy application of the continuous spray varieties and I just love the way Coppertone sunscreen smells (I know I'm weird). Plus this particular formula sprays clear on wet skin! 

Quote:

A great reminder!

From Pinterest, original source via

Have a great weekend y'all!

-L

xoxo