Lilly for RMHC

Happy Thursday readers!

Gotta love shortened holiday weeks!

I hope you had a great 4th of July and are enjoying summer thus far.

Those that follow along on Instagram, know that I've partnered with Ronald McDonald House of Richmond again this year to promote their Lilly Pulitzer Give Back event that is this Saturday, July 8 from 12:00 - 5:00 pm at the Lilly Pulitzer Short Pump store!

I'll be there at noon for styling tips if you want to shop with me!

Allison, their Director of Development and my friend, and I had a great time last weekend visiting the store and styling looks. I've put together a little preview for those of you that are in town and might be able to stop by.

First up, is my favorite look! I browsed online before meeting Allison and knew I HAD to try on this dress!

Rylan Silk Maxi Dress

The Rylan Silk Maxi Dress would be perfect for any summer soiree, especially one that involves dancing! The silk adds elegance to the bold print and the flowy cut makes this dress extra comfy! It runs true to size. 

Next, I wanted to find a look that would be appropriate for both work and play. Summertime is full of happy hours and fun events, and it's nice when you can go straight from work to a social outing without changing your clothes!

Marin Ombre Sweater Wrap / Kerry Silk Top / Kelly Dinner Pant

I love the versatility of the wrap above! It adds instant chic to an outfit and can be thrown over a tank when you're in the office and then ditched when you're ready for a night out! The Kelly Dinner Pants are perfect for when you want to wear white jeans, but the occasion calls for something just a bit more formal. They also have good stretch, which I find to be a key component to make any pair of white jeans or pants flattering. All pieces run true to size.

I also wanted to make sure you could see how super

cute the "Paradise Pink Bohemian Beach" print on the top is!

Last, but not least, I was sure to get a casual look styled. Shorts with a fun top and wedges are one of my go-to summer looks and Lilly shorts are my very favorite, so I knew where to start!

Lachelle Silk Top / Buttercup Short / Riviera Tote Bag

I am in love with these cobalt blue scalloped shorts! I might just have to get them as a part of this weekend's promotion! The scallops add both a dose of cute and a dose of sophistication! This big tote bag would also be perfect for a summer getaway. The shorts run true to size, but the top runs large. I am wearing a small in this picture, and would have sized down to an extra small, if they had it in store.

Bag Close Up

To browse some of my other favorites, scroll through below:

And last but not least, I wanted to take the chance to talk some staple accessories with you! You'll notice that I am wearing the same accessories with all 3 of these different looks. I actually packed a couple pair of earrings to switch things up while styling, but then felt no need. These pieces are tried and true and have been favorites for years now:

Lisi Lerch Holly Earrings

I am guaranteed to get compliments whenever I wear these 

and they are lightweight, which is even better!

David Yurman Buckle Bracelet

Bryce gave me this bracelet for my birthday 4 or 5 years ago and I have worn it non-stop since!

It is a timeless style and can be easily stacked with other bracelets or a watch.

Gorjana Elea Cuff

This cuff can be dressed up or dressed down and makes a statement while still being delicate! 

I wear mine multiple times a week.

Merona Indra Sandals

These sandals (which are under $30, by the way!) are my favorite!

I love them so much, I actually bought a second pair on sale at the end of last summer.

I  may even buy a 3rd since they brought them back again this summer. They literally go with everything and are incredibly comfortable. Can't recommend enough...I wear mine at least 3-4 times a week!

Have you bought any Lilly yet this summer?

Have a great weekend!

Lilly Pulitzer for RMHC

Happy Friday readers!

I hope you've had a great week! We are still adjusting to life as "puppy parents" so excuse my blogging absence!

Today I am excited to be sharing an upcoming event with my local readers: A Lilly Pulitzer shopping event to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond. Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 13th from 11 am - 4 pm. 10% of all sales will benefit RMHC of Richmond, AND, for those that aren't local, you can call in to place orders for the event at (804) 396-6139. I'll be there to shop alongside with you, and help you to style the pieces!

To prepare for the event, Allison, RMHC of Richmond's Director of Development, and I did a little "market research" earlier this week. It was so fun checking out Lilly's newest arrivals, before they even launched online...and let me tell you friends, they won't disappoint!

Here's a peek at some of my favorite pieces from the new line, with sizing details!

First up, I have been dying to try on a pair of Palazzo Pants for the longest time, but shied away from them, certain they'd look ridiculous on my petite frame. When I tried them on, I immediately wondered what I'd been waiting for...not to mention, isn't the Multi Garden Exotic print to die for!? They are so flattering! I styled them with a classic white Elsa Top, tucked in, the Coastal Tassel Necklace, the Knotty Clutch, and finally the Kristin Leather Wedge.

For sizing reference, I sized up to a medium in the Palazzo Pants. I had room in the waist, but needed some extra room for my rear. If you're a bit curvy like me, I'd recommend sizing up, but, if you have a straighter figure, trust them to be true to size! In the Elsa, I am wearing a small, and liked the bit of extra fabric to flounce. Elsas are pretty forgiving. I own both an XS and M and love them both! The XS I wear more for work, and the M, I love to wear with skinny jeans and boots for more of a loose, flowy vibe in cooler months!

Next up, was my favorite piece in the entire store: the Celyn Romper! I eyed it immediately on a mannequin and it was love at first sight! Needless to say, I couldn't resist bringing it home with me!

I thought the neon color paired best with flashy gold accessories like the Bask in Wicker Clutch and Kristin Leather Wedge. The Lexy Aviators with pink lenses give the look a very Miami vibe, right? Knowing that my other two Lilly rompers run on the small side, I grabbed the next size up in this romper. I am a pretty true size 6 right now, and am wearing an 8 in the romper.

Shorts with wedges and a fun top are another favorite look of mine in the summer months, so I couldn't resist styling an outfit with the Buttercup Shorts. The Pink Pout Too Much Bubbly print was speaking to me, and I thought they would go perfectly with the Fifer One Shoulder Top that Allison and I both spied when we first got into the store. I decided to switch to the Bridgette Wedge for this look and they turned out to be hands down my favorite shoes in the collection! So sweet and very me, with a pop of gold! Finishing touches for the look were the Lexy Aviators, Flamenco Pineapple Tassel Necklace (love, love, love!), and Tiki Palm iPhone Wristlet.

I loved this outfit and am thinking of getting the top when I am back for the event on the 13th. For sizing, the shorts are true to size. I am wearing a 6. Sizing of the top was a bit more ambiguous. I am wearing a small, but still had some extra room in the top elastic. I may try an XS when I am back. 

In hot weather, I always gravitate toward comfy "throw on" dresses, so I immediately eyed the Ophelia Swing Dress. It would be perfect for a day of errands or shopping, but is nice enough to dress up for a date night or work, as well.

With shopping in mind, I threw on some comfy McKim Sandals. I'd say this dress runs, true to size. I am wearing a small.

And last, but not least, you can't prepare for a Lilly shopping event, without trying on a classic shift dress. I picked the Lynn Shift Dress and absolutely loved it! The Multi Out to Sea print is gorgeous, and I love the lace detailing and flattering neckline. The sweet Bridgette Wedges were the perfect complement to the dress, as was the Bask in Wicker Clutch.

As is typical for me, I sized up in this shift dress. Even when I was a 2/4, I often wore a 6 in Lilly shifts, and am wearing an 8 here. 

Do you have a favorite look?

Have you shopped Lilly lately?

Don't forget to mark your calendars for August 13th at the Short Pump Lilly Pulitzer Store. You can see the Facebook event here.

Have a great weekend!

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Five on Friday

Happy Friday readers!

Just one week from today it will be May! I am SO ready!

It's been a while since I've done the Five on Friday so today I'm linking up with the sweet ladies, April, Christina, Natasha & Darci.

ONE

Last night, Bryce and I got to meet Little Miss Sullivan Louise. If you remember, I am great friends with Erin (of the blog Attention to Darling) and threw a baby shower for the little lady at the end of February (see here). We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival and she made her debut Sunday night! She is absolutely beautiful and holding her in my arms definitely gave me a case of baby fever!

TWO

Being a kindergarten teacher, it's probably no surprise to you that I love children's books. In fact, Bryce and I already have a growing collection and take turns picking and buying books on trips to Barnes & Noble. That being said, I wanted to find the perfect book for Sullivan's arrival. I spent a good hour searching for just the right book, and also ended up finding 3 books for our collection. They were all so wonderful that I couldn't resist sharing here today! The first is the one I got for baby girl.

Always by Emma Dodd

Fetch by Jorey Hurley

(also be sure to check out Nest  by this same author!)

You! by Sandra Magsamen

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

(I got this one for Bryce as he loves the similar I Want My Hat Back)

THREE

Tory Burch announced her big Spring Event yesterday, you can get up to 30% off with code SPRING. I was super bummed because I have been waiting patiently to order the Lexington wedge and by the time I had a chance to look at the sale, it was already sold out in my size. I am eyeing some other things you can see below, though...

FOUR

I am planning on doing a full review post on this next week, but couldn't wait to mention Rocksbox to y'all! I am an RB It Girl and started my subscription at the beginning of the month. For $19 a month, you get 3 piece jewelry rental sets. Anything you like from the set can be purchased at a reduced price and you can switch out your jewelry as often as you like with free shipping both ways! It was a great mail day yesterday, as my second set was delivered! I am so excited to play dress up with the new pieces. You can sign up for your first month FREE with code alexandrabeexoxo.

FIVE

Tonight is Ronald McDonald House of Richmond's First Annual Red Shoe BBQ! Since partnering with RMH on this post, I have gotten more involved and joined their Red Shoe Crew! We have spent the last several months planning this fun event, and I can't wait to pull out my cowboy boots, listen to some good country music, and chow down on some BBQ...all for a good cause! If you're from Richmond, online sales are now over, but they will be selling tickets at the door (while they last). All details can be found here!

So there you have it, my Friday Five! 

What's been going on for you lately?

Have a great weekend!

Red Velvet Brownies

Happy Friday readers!

This week has been a fun one, but a busy one! I am exhausted and we have a full weekend ahead...I have a feeling Monday is going to be tough!

Today I am excited to share a very meaningful collaboration with you. With the holiday season upon us, many collaboration opportunities arise; it is not often, however, that an opportunity like the one I am going to share comes along.

About a month ago, I was contacted by Richmond's Ronald McDonald House.  They offered me both a tour of the house and a complimentary copy of the Dillard's exclusive, special edition, Southern Living Christmas Cookbook. This special edition of the cookbook, which also includes a "Year-Round Celebrations" bonus section, features more than 200 recipes for the holiday season and beyond. It is only $10 and all proceeds from its sale go to the Ronald McDonald House. I already know of 4 or 5 people on my list that will be receiving a copy for Christmas! At such an affordable price and for such a deserving charity, the purchase is really a no brainer! So  now for the recipe, and then I'll conclude with a little more about Ronald McDonald House!

When choosing a recipe to share with y'all, the options were endless. The major contenders for this blog post were: Bacon-Wrapped Bourbon Figs, Fennel & Potato Gratin, a Tiramisu Layer Cake, and Red Velvet Brownies. The Red Velvet Brownies ultimately won out, one, because I'm a sucker for red velvet, and two because I thought they would be a festive option to take to holiday parties. Below you will see the recipe. My commentary is italicized, the rest is verbatim from the cookbook!

Red Velvet Brownies
Makes: About 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 (4 oz) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped (I used 4 oz Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips and they worked just fine!)
• 3/4 c butter
• 2 and 1/4 c sugar, divided
• 4 large eggs
• 1 (1 oz) bottle red liquid food coloring
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp table salt
• 1/2 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened 
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease. Micowave chocolate and butter in micwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. (I melted on the stovetop only because I have had bad luck burning chocolate in the microwave.) Whisk in 2 cups sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Add food coloring, peppermint extract, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Gently stir in 1 and 1/2 cups flour and salt. Pour into pan.
2. Beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg whites and remaining 1 tsp vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in 2 tbsp flour until smooth. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls over batter in pan; gently swirl with a knife. Bake at 350º for 30 to 32 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Lift from pan, using foil sides as handles. Remove foil; cut into squares.
3. Enjoy!

My favorite tip for cutting brownies is to use a small 

angled metal spatula (similar to this one) to get precise edges!

SO, I have a confession to make. It was very late last night when I was baking and I may have made a faux pas...I misread the recipe a bit. You see, when I first got to it, the oven started smoking while preheating! Some of the butter, from cornbread I made on Tuesday night for an oyster roast we hosted, must have spilled over into the oven. By the time we resolved that issue, it was even later than when I started and I was a bit frazzled to say the least. When I read 4 eggs at the top under ingredients, I misread as 4 eggs total (thus thinking 2 for the batter and then 2 for the egg whites in the cream cheese mixture). Oops! I will say, however, even with this mistake the recipe turned out to be absolutely, positively, amazingly deeeelicious! So while I can't speak for the end result of the recipe when followed perfectly to a T, I can say my recipe mishaps turned out to still be a success!

I'll also add that I really liked this recipe, because it was fairly simple and hands-on time was short. Bryce and I divided and conquered (I made the brownie batter and he made the cream cheese mixture) to speed up the process even more. I'm taking about half of this batch to share with teacher friends and school today, and we also have a few holiday parties and events this weekend which has me considering whipping up another batch or two!

And now for a little bit more about my experience at Richmond' s Ronald McDonald House. For those of you who aren't familiar with the organization, Ronald McDonald House "provides a home away from home for seriously ill children and their families." The Richmond location can house up to 9 families and also houses 5 family rooms at the Children's Hospital of Richmond and St. Mary's Hospital for those families whose circumstances dictate that they need to be just steps away from their hospitalized child. The house is in a gorgeous historic Monument Avenue home and lots of care is put into making the families feel as comfortable as possible. For example, rooms in the house are nicely furnished, children are provided a stocked playroom and planned activities, and dinner is prepared each night by volunteers. I left the house feeling exhilarated and knew this was an organization I wanted to become more involved in. Since then I have been brainstorming volunteer ideas and feel fortunate to have such a special organization located here in Richmond.

Families staying in the house are asked to contribute a $15 donation per night of their stay, but are never turned away because of an inability to pay. That being said, every dollar donated to the organization helps: Since 1994 Dillards has donated more than $11.4 million dollars to Ronald McDonald house charities through the sale of its special edition Southern Living Cookbooks!

Wellll...have you clicked over to Dillard's to order a book yet? 

If not, what are you waiting for!? For just $10 you can have a wonderful Christmas gift or more than 200 delicious recipes at your fingertips, all while helping the Ronald McDonald House closest to you! Click here to purchase!

What are some of your go-to recipes for the holidays?

Are you familiar with, or do you have a Ronald McDonald House in your community?

Do you give back during the holiday season? If so, how?

And, last, but certainly not least, have you entered my York River Traders Mariner Dog Collar giveaway yet!? It would be the perfect present for your pooch or a dog lover this holiday season! Click here to enter!

Have a great weekend!

#BloggersforBCA, Part Two

Happy Hump Day readers!

This week is going by at a sluggish rate.  It feels like it should be at least Thursday by now, if not Friday. Each day the kids are getting a little more wild with the excitement of Halloween coming as well. I'm excited too, though, so I can't really blame them.

I can't believe that the end of October and Halloween is already here. It seems like just yesterday I was scouring the internet for all things pink to share with you for the #BloggersforBCA project. Today I have one  more post and this one is near and dear to my heart, as it is in honor of my mom's best friend and my second mom, "Aunt Sue."  She is a person whose advice I value above others, especially in tough times. She is very wise, while also knowing that you can't take life too seriously....and, best of all, she makes a wicked grilled cheese- the best in the world, hands down! Aunt Sue is nearly a ten year survivor of breast cancer and I am incredibly grateful that she fought and overcame the disease, because I can't imagine life without her.

That being said, those of you who follow along on Instagram know that I've been on a spending freeze this month. The one exception I made to the freeze, however, was purchasing two pieces from Accessory Concierge as part of #BloggersforBCA. The first was the Tough as Nails Necklace for me and the second was the Here Comes a Fighter Bracelet for Aunt Sue.

This past weekend I paid her a special visit to give her the bracelet.

Here you can see a close up of the Tough as Nails Necklace; I also pulled out my prettiest pink nail polish for the occasion, Essie "Miami Nice"

A fighter indeed!

Have you shopped for the cause this month?

Has anyone near and dear to you survived breast cancer?

Have a great day!

#BloggersforBCA

Happy October friends!

I am so excited that my very favorite month of the year is here!

Today I am thrilled to announce a campaign you might see floating around the blog-world this month: Bloggers for BCA.  As many of y'all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. According to breastcancer.org, 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime and about 40,000 women in the U.S. are expected to die of breast cancer in 2014. And finally, about 85% of breast cancer incidences occur in women with no family history of the disease. Those statistics prove that each of us is likely to be impacted by breast cancer at some point in our life, either fighting through it personally or knowing someone who is.

That being said, Bloggers for BCA is all about spreading breast cancer awareness throughout the blog community.  Today I am excited to share some ways that you can give back and help support breast cancer research through one of my favorite hobbies:  SHOPPING!

Below you will find many products that work to raise BCA!

Accessory Concierge Tough As Nails Necklace

20% of Purchase Goes to breastcancerfund.org

Also, see their Fight Like A Girl Cuff and Here Comes A Fighter Cuff

Tory Burch Carnation Red York Small Buckle Tote

20% of Purchase goes to Breast Cancer Research Foundation, up to $35,000 total

See all TB SHOP FOR A CURE Styles here. 

Essie "Pinking About You" and "I Pink I Can"

A special curated collection to help raise awareness of the fight against breast cancer.

KitchenAid Raspberry Ice Susan G. Komen Artisan Stand Mixer

The purchase of this mixer helps KitchenAid to raise a minimum of $450,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Foundation

Enjoy 25% off select styles TODAY and TOMORROW only to help raise for the Pink Pony Foundation. Use code RLGIVE14. I think making a custom oxford (in pink, of course!) would be fitting:

Ralph Lauren Custom-Fit Oxford Shirt

Holst Lee for LOFT Earrings

70% of purchase goes to Breast Cancer Research Foundation

So there you have it, some fun ways to make a difference and raise BCA.

Have you, or someone close to you, suffered from breast cancer?

Have a PINK day!