Wedding Recap

After two weekends in Maui and then a weekend in DC I continued my busy May with a friend's wedding in Thousand Oaks over Memorial Day Weekend. This was actually my first friend wedding and a friend I have known since kindergarten! CCM and I went to school together from k-12 so she's one of my oldest friends!

The wedding was at Loyola Marymount University (where she met the groom) and the reception was at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. Fellow wedding guests M (who also went to school with CCM from k-12), CCG (knew CCM for the high school years), and I decided to make it a girls weekend. We stayed in Agoura Hills overnight (sleepover!). I forgot to take a photo of my wedding outfit but it was a striped dress from J.Crew. I changed into my trusty gold Kate Spade dress for the reception since it was a bit more formal.

At the reception, overlooking the golf course. Beautiful location!

CCG, M, me

I didn't bring my camera so I have to thank M for taking the above photos with her iphone!

Another photobooth!

Here's a (nautical) photo of the bride (stealing this from Facebook)

C. Wonder Nautical New Arrivals

There are so many nautical new arrivals at C. Wonder that I couldn't post them all! Scroll through the lookbook below and click through for product details

My top three favorites:

Nautical Flags "I Love You" Charm Bracelet

Whale sweater

Starfish sandal (already sold out in my size :(

ETA: Still having issues posting this! Dividing into categories

Clothing and shoes:

Jewelry:

Housewares/accessories:

this post contains affiliate links

DC Trip/Med School Graduation Recap

post-graduation

I still can't believe my sister is a doctor! It was a whirlwind weekend-I arrived in DC Friday night and left Monday (on a delayed flight). I almost thought I wouldn't make it back for work Tuesday morning. But I did and I am so glad I was able to see my sister graduate.

Friday night was the big gala that the students throw. My sister was on the planning committee and they did a great job. It was held at the recently renovated Fairmont. There was a fancy dinner, award ceremony, dancing and a photo booth. My other sister and I went as my sister's guests.

Saturday morning I was able to meet up with my friend H. She moved to DC shortly after I left so it was fun to see her place and visit in DC. We went to Lauriol Plaza for lunch (well we went mostly for their swirl margaritas!). Maybe one day we will actually live in the same city at the same time! ;)

Saturday night was our family dinner at Nora's. We had a big group (my mom, my dad, my stepmom, both of my sisters, my brother in law and his parents, and Baby Nautical) so we booked a private room (the Parlor Room was the perfect size, they even had a high chair for Baby Nautical). Our meal was delicious! Nora's jump started the farm-to-table movement and in 1999, Restaurant Nora became the first certified organic restaurant in the United States. Pretty impressive!

Sunday morning we had a group brunch at the Greenhouse at the Jefferson hotel. Again we had a private room which was perfect for our bigger group and Baby Nautical.

Sunday afternoon was the graduation ceremony. There was a reception after and then the sisters and my mom headed to Quill Bar at the Jefferson for appetizers and drinks with some of the graduate's local friends and my cousin and her husband who live in the area.

Baby Nautical says his aunt is #1!

So proud of my sister!

Blu Kicks

While I was in Maui I got an email from Will, co-founder of Blu Kicks. Inspired by their time in Hawaii, Will and his mother, Victoria, started their own shoe company, Blu Kicks. The shoe design is based on the classic boat shoe silhouette of the 1960s, but with sleeker lines and fun pops of color. The comfortable fit and easy-to wear construction make them perfect for a day at the beach, an afternoon on the boat, or just running errands around town. Their product line reflects designs inspired by fish, like the Hawaiian Humuhumunukunukuapua’a.

Blu Kicks donates a dollar from every pair of shoes sold to help protect threatened habitats. Blu Kicks is currently working with WildAid and For the Fishes.

Available in women's and men's styles

Some of the many designs you can choose from

Panama stripe

Fiji red

Belize blue

All Blu Kicks have an illustration of a fish on the bottom

Yellow Fin on the bottom of the panama stripe

Blu Kicks sent me the delta green pair. They are so comfortable! I have been looking for a new pair of slip on shoes and these are perfect. I wore them yesterday for a walk down to lunch at the beach with my family. No blisters! I hate having to break in shoes so that is big plus!

Love the polka dots on the back

Please note: I was sent a pair of shoes for free to review. All opinions are my own

Weekend Sales and Promotions

J.Crew: use code SHOPNOW for $30 off $150, $50 off $200, and $75 off $250 (exp 5/26)

C.Wonder: 25% off orders of $100+ in-store and online (Valid on full-price purchases only). Online discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Anchored Style: use code MEMORIAL25 for 25% off (exp 5/27)

Pottery Barn Teen: use code MAYSAVINGS for an extra 15% off sale items (exp 5/26)

Halsea: use code Spring30 for 30% off (exp 5/31)

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LA/Southern California Blogger Meetup this JUNE

I was so excited when Leeann and Meg announced the meetup they have planned for next month: a night at J.Crew Factory! The store will be closing for a private party. There will be drinks, appetizers, and of course shopping!

Date: Saturday, June 29
Time: 5-8pm
Location: J.Crew Factory
Ontario Mills, 1 Mills Cir #839D, Ontario, CA 91764 (about an hour from LA, depending on your location)
Special Discount: 20% off $125 or more

RSVP

Summer Totes for Every Budget

Under $25:

Barnes and Noble Navy French Stripe Canvas Summer Tote with Anchor Charm ($25)

Barnes and Noble Blue French Stripe Canvas Summer Tote with Seahorse Charm ($25)

Under $50:

Gap large striped tote ($40)

Under $100:

Lilly Pulitzer shoreline tote in bright navy raise the sails ($98)

Nordstrom stripe tote ($88)

Over $100:

Virginia Johnson for J.Crew tote (also available in shark print) ($148)

Milly lobster print canvas tote ($245)

And I am back

I will be doing a recap of my DC trip later this week but I just wanted to check in. I decided not to bring my computer with me to DC and I didn't schedule any blog posts while I was gone. We had a great weekend in DC celebrating my sister's medical school graduation. I was supposed to get back relatively early last night but due to weather our flight was delayed and I didn't get back until late last night. H is currently napping while I catch up on emails and take a quick breather.

The past few months have been super busy and I laugh when I think of my college self thinking I was "so busy" back then!

Pottery Barn nautical entertaining

Combine all of these nautical new arrivals from Pottery Barn together and you could have one fun nautical party this summer!

Anchor tiered stand

Seahorse drink dispenser stand

Bronson boat cooler

Whale cocktail shaker

Seahorse salt and pepper shakers

Whale bookend

Shell wreath

Wood buoys, set of 3

Even more inspiration from Pottery Barn for a nautical summer party:

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Maui recap

There wasn't going to be a big work trip this spring but then at the last minute my employers changed their minds and booked a trip to Maui. I had less than a week's notice (not ideal for my type A control freak) but I made it work. First trip post-potty training I was excited to ditch the diaper bag (separate post on the new system next week) and baby gear. Lots of beach and pool time (our hotel had a really fun kid pool with a pirate ship and water slide and a playground in the grass right next to it), fruity drinks, eating, and a little bit of shopping. We even went to a goat farm where I got to feed some adorable goats (highly recommend visiting this place if you have children with you). I had planned on doing more reading and tv watching in my downtime but never opened my book and only watched the finale of the Mentalist and an episode of Revenge on my computer. I did manage to draft some blog posts at least.

And a big thank you to the guest bloggers that filled in with little notice! coastal finds at Dillard's, nautical outfit ideas for work, the gym, and going out, summer movies, nautical summer camp, and Charleston

view from my hotel room

have to have at least one beach photo right?

And of course a sunset photo with a tiny sailboat in the background

Going to our special dinner together the night mommy and daddy went to their fancy dinner

Luau on our finale night

Lavender farm with the ocean/beach way in the background

sailboat salt and pepper shakers I brought back with me

Restaurants (keep in mind that I am a picky eater and not super into seafood so these are the ones we went to BUT I can't really say much about the food itself):
Gazebo
Duke's
Son'z at Swan Court (in the Hyatt Regency)
Haliimaile General Store (this is where I got the sailboat salt and pepper shakers)
Cheeseburger in Paradise (Hands down H's favorite. He loved getting his fruity drink in a giant pineapple)
Honu
Leilani's