My Favorite Blogs!

When I love something, that is usually all I: can, want, and, need to talk about with my friends {as some of them have reiterated to me over and over again} ;) So in the spirit of me sharing things I'm enjoying right now, I wanted to share out the blogs that I absolutely love! They are a part of my daily reading routine you know along with the serious stuff that I read on People.com and PerezHilton.com cough cough...ANYWAY I have followed these bloggers for a few years now and really enjoy getting a peek into their worlds. Check them out if you'd like!

Oh Joy! is graphic designer Joy Cho's blog and it's full of fashion, lifestyle, hosting, advice, and lots of cheery colors!

Love Taza / Rockstar Diaries is Naomi and Josh's blog that follow their life journey full of adorable pictures of their three kids and their adventures as entrepreneurs. 

Cupcakes and Cashmere puts Emily's creative mind on full display. Her blog is full of modern day beauty tips, great fashion editorials, and her journey as a new mom. Love her. 

Lauren Conrad's blog focuses on women. All of her content is about fashion, love, healthy, etc and she recently banned the word "skinny" on her page...#GirlBoss

DESIGNLOVEFEST is just that! Bri's life is so whimsical, romantic, and cheery. I just love reading her diy posts or just staring at her eclectic picture for hours. 

Apartment 34 helps me get my design fix. I love their apartment tours I always get so many ideas!

A Cup of Jo belongs to Joanna Goddard, her blog is full of honest, funny, sad, romantic, and inspiring moments from her life or women around the world. She also always has great recipes and travel posts. 

Apartment Therapy has the most eclectic and exquisite design and home tours. They  also featured my friend's nursery, so bonus points! 

Happy Friday + Some Fun Links

This week flew by because there wasn't any school on Monday and then Wednesday my students were taking the PSATs all day so needless to say it's been a pretty smooth week. It's starting to get colder in NYC and I'm loving this fall weather. This weekend I'm traveling to Philly {one of my favorite places} to celebrate a close friend's birthday {one of my favorite peeps}. We decided that the weekend will be filled with a lot of fall related activities: apple picking, drinking a lots of apple cider, and pumpkin anything. What are you plans this weekend? Whatever they are I hope it's a good one! P.s. when is a picture of Justin Timberlake not appropriate? :)

+ Some Fun Links

*Cat cafes!!!!!....in London.

*A new date idea, dinner and a massage.

*My friend Lindsey's nursery for her daughter Ruby was featured in Apartment Therapy, it's beyond adorable.

*First glimpse of Zac Posen for David's Bridal...dying.

*I love this show. 

*Funny key tags.

*Made me laugh.

*Self breast exam: a step by step guide

Holla-day Party Prep!

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'Tis the season for holla-day parties...I mean holiday parties ;) and I just threw my first adult dinner party with my roommate! So in preparation for it I scoured the internet and found some really helpful tips for how to put it all together. At first I stressed about every detail (the music playlist, the photo booth, the invitations - paper or evite?) Well needless to say after reading all of these guides I found what really worked for me and here's the advice that I'd love to pass along for the planning of your own fab soiree! 

3-4 Weeks before:

1. Finalize your guest list and send out evites. Honestly just choosing these snazzy Kate Spade (yes she has evites now!) from Paperless Post made everything so much easier, plus it's eco-friendly. Also keep in mind the size of number of guests in relation to your home, I'd say more than 15  isn't intimate, so consider how much attention you'd like to give all of your guests and what your space can afford.

2.  Think about what you'd wear, I bought my dress at a boutique about 3 weeks before the dinner to make sure I had enough time to plan my outfit for the night. Here are some great ideas.

1 Week Before:

1. Plan what kind of food and drinks you'll be serving so you can decide where and when you'll buy said items (keep in mind prep time, does it need to be marinated overnight?)

2. Decide on what you want your table top to look like and what things you need to purchase such as: paper napkins, silverware, glassware, floral arrangements, napkin rings, runners, etc. 

3. Consider sending your guests home with a little memento or party favor, so decide if and what you'll get. Purchase all the necessary items, wrapping paper or party bags, twine, gift tags, washi tape, etc. 

4. Check-up on the RSVP list! The great thing about Paperless Post is that it tracks: who's opened your evite, who has rsvp'ed, who's declined, who has yet to open the evite. If guests have not responded, sending a polite text or making a phone call should be the next step to finalize the guest list. 

1 Day before:

1. Go out and buy all of the food and drink items and prepare anything that needs to rest or marinate for extended periods of time.

2. Create a music playlist, since we had a holiday party, it was X-mas music central but if you have a different theme/occasion then I suggest some softer music such as Bon Iver, Coldplay, or Michael Buble.

3. A great tip I read on Goop is to eat out/order in the night before so you don't have to worry about cooking 2 meals in a row and so you can just relax after all of your planning and prep. 

2 Hours Before:

1. Put the ipod on the music deck, make sure your wine and drinks are in the fridge chilling, and set out the table and hor d’oeuvres.

2. Finish getting ready and DON'T put shoes on. I read that whenever Nora Ephron had dinner parties she'd go barefoot to make her guests feel comfortable in her home. Well I took that advice and many of my friends took off their heels in their sparkly dresses and just enjoyed the party, great advice indeed!

3. Dim the lights, get the candles going, pour yourself a drink, and enjoy the night ahead; it's going to be fab! 

*Here are the links to all of the holla-day entertaining/prep guides I read to help me come up with this post, I took a little advice from each of them, so find what works best for you!

- Goop
-Glitter Guide 1, 2
- A Cup of Jo
-And a great NY Times article on dinner parties

*P.S. I just kind of want this "Happy Holladays" doormat like now! Hehe. 

 **P.P.S. Here's a preview of tomorrow's post of the actual dinner party. We had a photo booth and it was just awesome! Can't wait to share.