All White

When my husband first saw me in this all-white outfit, he said that in all the 12 years we have been together he had never seen me wear head to toe white, and was not sure what he thought of it. It's tricky to pull off but I think I did a good job. He's just not used to it, but warmed up to it by the end of the day...or so he claimed.

What do you think about all-white ensembles? Easy or hard to pull off?

Top: Loft, White pants: My favorite skinny twill pants from Forever 21 that I've mentioned before that I own in 7 colors! My favorite pants by far! Sandals: H&M, Neon sunglasses and necklace: Forever 21, Watch: Target Men's watch, recently brought back to life. Mesh chain bracelet: Randolph Street Market

FIRST Bar and Grill in the Palazzo Hotel: Really great food and my favorite wine makes this our favorite new restaurant in Las Vegas! So good we went twice!

Even Andrew liked First Bar and Grill! And he's hard to please in the food department.

Tall Ceilings? No problem!

I have been in my apartment for seven years and I really do love it. And as much as I love the high ceilings in every room, it is always a challenge to figure out what to do with the top half of the wall (and how to get up there to paint it). So here are a few ways I decided to take advantage of having tons of blank wall space:

Above-the-mantle picture collage. Some are friends and family, some are pics I have taken from my various vacations around the world, and some are just random pieces of patterned paper from Paper Source that I put in cheap wooden Ikea frames that I painted white. All in all, fills up a good 8 1/2 by 5 foot wall pretty darn well!

On mantle from left to right, my grandmother's candle sticks, Yellow Crate & Barrel vase, my two little gargoyle friends that I've had since high school, silk flower arrangement that I put together myself in a silver bucket, Gardenia candle (my favorite scent), wedding picture.

By the way, why is a numeral "5" framed you might ask? This was actually my dad's first question when he saw it. The answer, it's my favorite number. Not lucky, just favorite. Do other people have those? Please tell me so I'm not alone in this.

My own bauble station hiding behind a door. And just for visual appeal I added a row of cute framed patterned paper above it.

A big swirly decal really adds interest to a big bare wall. Purchased from online store Dali Decals, who let me customize the size and color and also flip the design so it would work in our corner! Pretty accommodating! We have had it for 2 years now and it looks just as good as the day it went up.

 Our living room mini-collage of Prague pictures and mini Ikea mirrors.

As you can see I'm not afraid of color or prints... or the mixing of colors and prints. It's chaos with a purpose.

The "J" primping station above my vanity table.

So there you have it, a small peek into the tall walls of our home.

Smooch

Just something comfy I threw on to run to the grocery store. It was so nice out that I could actually wear a sleeve for once and not worry about being super hot! My kind of weather.

I grabbed this top on a whim in Vegas after seeing a girl in the changing room in it. I immediately loved it especially when I found out it was only $15! More pics to come from the trip and definitely more outfits.

Endless Nights top: H&M, Shorts: J Crew, Bag H&M(old), Cheetah sandals: Target, Pink wrap watch:La Mer, Pink sunglasses: Forever 21, Lip color: Smashbox Mandarin

(just about the most flattering color on everyone, seriously, I've never seen it look bad on anyone!)

Fade-Out/Ombre Mani

Finally home from Vegas and well rested. I didn't realize how tired I was until I woke up at 1 in the afternoon the day after our return flight! Yikes! Guess I needed some rest. I was not very productive for the rest of the day, but I did manage to go pick up a few items to fill up our bare refrigerator and take a few outfit pics.

The real highlight of my day was finding this new fade-out/ombre mani inspiration from Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere! Huge thanks to her for the inspiration and great taste.

So this time I copied her, but I can see this transitioning into so many different color combinations later this fall. I've been loving all the gold french tips I've been seeing around the blogger/Pintrest world, but it's just too hard for me to do the tips straight. This fade-out tip is a perfect compromise because imperfection is totally on your side.

I tried out a few different combinations (see below) before I decided on my final colors of Revlon, Dark Pleasures "Talk Dirty" & Essie "Steel-ing the Scene"

I used a make up sponge to put on the darker tips. The key is: less is more. Only put a small swipe of polish on one corner of the sponge. You can aways add more later. I went back and did an extra layer right at the tip to make the fade more strong. At the end I used a Q-tip dipped in remover to go around and clean up the edges.

And there you have it! Fade-out/ombre mani that will be perfect for all your fall events! Have fun creating your own color combinations. I'd love to hear all about them... and if you send me a picture I might use it in a future blog post!

 The finished product!

 "Dirty Talk" & "Steel-ing the Scene"

 All my trial combos, one on each nail. I decided on the ring finger combo, but I also like the pointer finger option too. Not so impressed with the light tip trial at all.

My work station.

Ready to go in minutes with my favorite and quite possibly the best quick-drying topcoat out there: Essie "Good to go." The best ten $10 you can put towards any at-home manicure, I promise! It's always dry before I even remember that I just painted them and start engaging in some sort of mani-damaging activity. I've been using it for years.

Roman Date

Ok, so its not faux leather this time, but somehow all my Friday posts involve me wearing an all-black ensemble. It just happens, without fail, at least once a week. I guess it's my dark side that needs to get out.

This was what I wore out to dinner one night. Then after dinner we went back to the hotel where I promptly changed shoes and put on some comfy flats. I know I'm a city girl who pretty much walks all over downtown Chicago at home, but man there is a whole lot of walking in Vegas! Thank goodness I brought a bunch of flats!

Have a happy weekend all!

Asymmetrical cut out dress: Heels: Nine West, Bag: H&M $13 bought here in Vegas, Necklace: Vintage, Bracelets: (from left to right) first 2: Forever 21, Arrow: eBay, Watch: Michael Kors, last bangle: Natasha Couture via Nordstrom

New clutch bought here in Vegas at H&M

Fun Louis Vuitton store windows