WISHING YOU THE HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS

{PHOTO BY ME}

Hoping you all had a wonderful holiday! Have a glamourous evening and here's to a fantastic New Year!

HOLIDAY FAVORITE: MAC LUSTREGLASS

buy it here

This is the perfect holiday time lipgloss - glossy with an added shimmer - it's like little flecks of crystals on your lips.  And the best part?  It isn't very sticky at all.  

My go to shade is the Flashmode but I may have to give this Venetian a try and get even more holiday flare. 

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

PALETTE: HOLIDAYS BASICS

image via coast to coast challenge

So I loved this image from the second I saw and instantly pinned it on my pinterest page.  I think it's all that gorgeous light coming in from behind her.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it exactly until I thought of doing a holiday party apparel post.  And what's better during the holiday than basic black with a little shimmer.  Using this color palette you can create an array of looks and still avoid the obvious LBD or LGD (little gold dress):

- black high waist pants with a gold sequin top
- silk black blouse with a gold skirt
- nude maxi pleat skirt with black tank and gold belt

(just to name a few...)

So what are your holiday party go to looks?  Do you keep it simple or go all out?
And when you arrive at your party - don't forget your hostess gift - perhaps one wrapped in a little shimmer all its own?

HOW TO THROW A KICK ASS HOLIDAY PARTY WITH MRS. LILIEN + SITTING IN A TREE

photo by me for joielala

Remember that epic photo shoot I was telling you about? Well it's live on 100 Layer Cake today!  This is the kinda party you would definitely want to score an invite too.  Check it out!
Special thanks to Mrs. Lilien, Sitting in a Tree, Austin Hendrix and The Hostess Haven. xo

GLITTER YOUR GIFTS

Happy Monday to all of you! Christmas Eve is in ONE WEEK!! I don't know about you but I'm ready for some down time with the fam.

So last week I showed you how to easily glitterize a plain gift box.  And today I'm showing you how to easily add a little extra goodness to said gift box.

I'm big on repurposing around here - mostly because going to a craft store this time of year is a living nightmare.  So I gathered some basic items: branches from my tree, twine, ribbon, feathers, some glitter and a snowflake ornament.  Use whatever you have around the house to add some personalize pop to your presents.

Most are pretty self explanatory but the glittery feather idea came from this tutorial.

Happy Wrapping!

HAVE A FESTIVE WEEKEND

Happy Friday Everyone! I just finished editing the.most.amazing.wedding.EVER.  I'm so excited to share this one with the world - though you'll have to wait a bit....but you can see a peek of this couple (who are both incredibly gorgeous inside and out) right here.

Not to freak you out but there are only 18 days left until Christmas!  I finally feel like I'm ready for the holidays after the Mister and I decorated the tree and house last night while polishing off a bottle of champagne and watching Elf. (it's the only way I can get him to participate - booze and Will Ferrell)

I still need to wrap up my Christmas shopping and I may brave the mall this weekend.  Any San Diegans out there who have been to the new UTC? I'm kind of excited to check it out.

To add to my festive weekend we have a fabulous holiday inspired shoot planned with the incredible (total understatement) Mrs. Lilien and the ever-sparkly genius Tori from Sitting in a Tree.  I couldn't be more excited or honored to be working with these two.  We've been super lucky to work with Tori on several projects including our Holiday Sparkles shoot above - you can see more of that on our blog and on 100 Layer Cake.

I hope you have a festive weekend! see you next week xoxo

MERRY CITRUS!

We picked up our tree today and I'm itching to decorate it but we're saving that for our Thursday date night (my idea.)  And speaking of decorating....would you dare ditch the traditional red and green and go for a citrus theme this holiday season?  I'm kind of loving this especially since around here the citrus trees heavily out-number the pine trees.  Merry Citrus!

give this, wear this, wrap this, bake this, serve this, hang this, make this

HOLIDAY TUNES

1. // 2. // 3. // 4. //

FESTIVE FROCKS

It's that time of year and those holiday fetés are just around the corner.  I've pulled together a few festive looks that are sure to get you in the yuletide spirit.

motel long sleeve playsuit, headband,  heels,  clutch

clutch, sweater, necklace, maxi skirt, heels

plaid skirt, blouse, tights, heels

HALLOWEEN

(photo by me)