Pattern Play

Dress: Gifted Kohls, Tee: Old Forever 21, Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

 Me and Chris like to do our grocery shopping on Sundays and I had been lazying it up all day in this dress. To feel a little dressed up, I knotted up this tee and threw on my litas. I decided to pair up stripes and polka dots together for the first time for this grocery store outfit. I've mixed other patterns before but I'm not sure why I've never tried this combination before? I loved the fun mix...it might be one of my favorite!

What's your favorite pattern combination to wear? 

xoxo erica

Life Lately

1. We are always so busy with family on the weekends, we decided to make Wednesdays date night. Wednesday are now my favorite day of the week!! This was the latest date night outfit.

 2. Shopping...love these shoes

3. Me and my birthday cake! Chris had a blue ombre one made for me by the same lady that did our wedding cake. It was sooooo good.

4. Two of the things that make me incredibly happy...the husband and ice cream :)

5. The prettiest roses for my birthday

 6. My sister's birthday is only three days after mine...this is her birthday cake.

7. First drink of the night while celebrating my birthday.

8. Early morning runs have the prettiest views.

9. Fresh painted nails. This look isn't my usual style but it's good to change things up...I loved them.

10. Me and my love on my birthday.

xoxo erica

follow me @ericamarie04

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my 28th birthday!! I'll be spending the day wearing sequins and stuffing my face with cake. lol Chris has something special planned for me tonight and I'm so excited...I can't wait to see what he put together. Anyway I just wanted to share these photos I took last night...something a little different but I like it ;)

Hope you all have a lovely day. Have a piece of cake to celebrate, ok?

xoxo erica

Just Like Magic

Dress worn as a blouse: Kohls, Skirt: Kohls, Heels: Nine West, Clutch: Jenny Packham

 It's funny how sometimes when you've been living in one place for so long and then out of nowhere you discover something magical. That's kind of the way this building is for me. I'm in l.o.v.e. with it...there's something about the color that is stunning to me. For mother's day my siblings and I decided to take a photo of all of us for my mom as a surprise gift. That whole week we had been trying to get together but bad weather kept getting in the way...pouring rains, awful winds, and gloomy skies but then Saturday morning everything just fell into place. The sun came out and we found this place and everything was perfect.

Do you ever discover new places in your city?

xoxo erica

Hair Tutorial // Snake Braid

I'm not sure what it is about braids but I can't help but love trying out new ones. There are always so many variations to try that it's never boring. I really love this hairstyle because it allows me to wear my hair down while still adding some interest to an everyday look. Doesn't this snake braid look so interesting?? Try it and let me know how it works for you!

1. Start with your hair parted to one side.

2. Take a small section from the top and braid it.

3. From the 3 strands of your braid, grab the middle one and pull up the outer two to the top.

4. It should start to create a "snake" look as you pull up.

5. Pin back and it's ready to wear!

xoxo erica

Girly Girl Rebel

Dress: Ross, Shoes: Bamboo, Sunnies: Old Rue 21, Bobbi Pin: Ban.do

 Most days you'll find me in a dress or skirt with heels...anything that will give me some extra height. But I'll be honest sometimes I'm a bit of a rebel...gasp! and dare I say...wear flats. These are my go to favorite. They are gold and sparkly and that's all a pair of flats needs to make a girl like me happy. 

Do you ever "rebel" against your everyday wardrobe?? Do tell!

xoxo erica

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Banana Bites

 I have a major sweet tooth and since I'm trying to eat better I was really excited to try banana bites out. Even if it is dipped in chocolate and I added sprinkles...I mean the banana makes it so much healthier than eating a cupcake or ice cream right? These were soooo good and refreshing!! I gave these to Chris too and he loved them. We will be making more of these around here.

 Banana, peanut butter, chocolate bar

1. Slice banana

2. Spread peanut butter on one side.

3. Break chocolate into pieces and heat up...I did mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

4. Place toothpick in banana slice and dip into chocolate.

5. Place your dipped bananas onto parchment paper and add sprinkles then put them in the freezer.

6. Once chocolate has hardened these are ready to eat!!!

yum yum!!

xoxo erica

Dressing Room Diaries

 When I was going through the process of moving out of my home and cleaning out the closet, I realized that I had so many clothes that were just taking up space. You know the ones from the last cleaning that you decide to keep because you think you will start wearing again but you don't. Do any of you have that habit too? I only brought what I still love to wear along with me but I wanted to add a few new pieces. So over the weekend I went to the mall...Yay! for shopping trips!! I decided to go to Forever 21...they always have the cutest things right? Here's a little bit of what I took into the dressing room with me.

Did you get around to doing any shopping this weekend?

xoxo erica

Margarita Gummy Bears

Every time Cinco de Mayo comes around, I find myself in the mood for a good margarita. For some reason i associate Cinco de Mayo with margaritas, just like I do s'mores with the Fourth of July, or pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving. Do you do that with holidays? Anyway for our wedding me and Chris had vodka gummy bears that we handed out to family and friends during the dance. I thought it would be interesting to try them with a margarita flavor. Yup, these were pretty great. I'll be making more for the weekend.

 I used a pre-made margarita mix but if you want to make your own fresh margaritas check this one out.

Put your gummy bears in a small container and fill with margarita until they are immersed.

Put them in the freezer for a few hours until they have frozen.

Once frozen, remove them in place them in the fridge. 

I let mine sit in the fridge for a whole day, stirring them around every once in a while.

There was just a bit of the margarita left at the bottom and that can be just strained that out.

It's really that easy, now go makes these for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta this weekend!

xoxo erica