National "Wear Your Lilly Day"

How did I miss the memo? The first day of summer is apparently Wear Your Lilly Day! Too bad too, I have a brand spankin' new Lilly dress in waiting at home ... just need some cute Jack Rogers wedges to complete my uber prep summer look!

Ban.do

I first got wind of Ban.do a little over 2 years ago when I was in the midst of wedding planning and carefully coordinating my look. I didn't end up purchasing anything but have been lusting after their creations ever since. Today, Swirl is having a Ban.do sale and the prices are great! As usual, I have some top picks:

The one below I was O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D with for my wedding look but didn't end up buying it. My dress was heavily embroidered silk organza and I thought the design might conflict with it. It would've been kind of a lot going on. Mr. K didn't care for this piece because he thought it looked like spiders. Whatever. Men!

Did this one look familiar? Because Taylor Swift was photographed in it practically everywhere she went in spring 2009. Here is Taylor pictured below in the Ban.do design.

Project: Living Room Remodel 2011 (Update)

Last week I wrote about our newest throw pillow to cover our sorry looking sofas. This week our newest living room addition arrived - a new 8x10 area rug! Since I am terrified of decorating in color, this is the perfect rug for me. It is a black rug with tones of beige and taupe accenting. We barely had it rolled out before Piper dragged her Nylabone over and set up shop in the middle of it. Sweet girl!

Once she finally moved (or we forced her to move), we were able to put the room back together. Leave it to Mr. K to kick up his feet while I finished up with all the details. We're still waiting on 3 more custom throw pillows which also have a black background and a pattern in the same color scheme as the rug. I think it will really pull it all together. Next up: new coffee table!

And another mini-makeover project: our office. I did some decorating, cleaned, shredded tons of mail and did some touch up painting. We just need a new chair and it'll be all set!

Kors Vail Wedge

'Memba the Kors Vivan Wedge? Similar to pictured below except a little different? Well I bought them, I wore them 3 times, and they served as a reminder of why I HATE sling backs! I will chock it up to a $195 mistake. The elastic on the sling back stretched out so much I can't really wear them without the left shoe flopping around behind me. Awful! But I do love the shoes so decided to replace them with the d'orsay version - the Kors Vail Wedge - which I probably should've just bought in the first place!

Project: Living Room Remodel 2011

After a little over 3 years in our townhouse, Mr. K and I are ready to upgrade to something with our own yard. We started our big sprucing-up projects last year ('memba the kitchen before & after pics?). In March I started my overhaul of the living room. It's still underway but this is where it's at right now. Mr. K won't let me replace the sofas even though they are completely pathetic and sorry looking so I resorted to covering them with a bazillion throw pillows. The latest addition (center) is from Ballard Designs. In the online description and photo, the bows are on the sides of the pillow but when I received it, the bows were on the top and bottom. I think the monogram might have been stitched on sideways but it's not worth complaining about since now this pillow is on backorder. (Side note: Ballard Designs has worse back orders than Pottery Barn! Simply terrible).

My new area rug will arrive sometime next week so more pics coming soon!

BCBG Max Azria

The thing I love about BCBG is that sometimes they have pieces that bridge well from work to going out directly after work without a wardrobe change. The thing that makes me cringe about BCBG is the full prices. Today I happened to check the website and hundreds of new items have been added to the sale.

These are my top picks for the office and beyond ... I think the middle one is my fave. I do love me some stripes!

Lands' End Canvas

I've managed so far to overlook the fact that Lands' End Canvas items are sold at Sears which is a store I think of for lawn mowers and washers. I went as far as to purchase a sweater dress from Lands' End Canvas. Last week I received the new catalog in the mail and started making a mental wish list of items I'd love to have for our New England summers. But then I received this email and ... I just can't even. Who would style a MAN like this? Seriously?

Piper - June 2011

We've finally been blessed with some pleasant weather here! Not too hot & humid and not cool & rainy either. We were able to prop our windows open and let in some fresh air! Sweet Piper, the nosy neighbor, loves to look out the window and check out what goes on in the neighborhood. So stinkin' cute!

Shoe Lust

Oh how I do love me some Burberry plaid! Espadrilles for now, pumps for later.

Banana Republic

This morning Banana Republic was having a "sun rise" sale of 40% off all regular price items until 10:00 AM. I scored this cute little number below - the Claire Sheath. This was in the new arrivals section, originally $130 but I paid less than $100 for it!

I would like to wear it to a July wedding but not sure if the white background makes it off limits for weddings. Feel free to comment or email me with thoughts!