Spring awakening

Has it really been JANUARY since my last post?! Honestly, I don't know where the time goes these days. In a couple weeks, I'll be done with my junior year at the University of Minnesota - how crazy! I don't think I'm ready for senior year, the thought of graduating is absolutely terrifying. So not ready to leave college but it's a good thing I'm going to law school so I'll have another 3 years to avoid the real world. Anyway, after what feels like an eternity spring has finally decided to hit Minnesota! Mind you we had snow on Monday...but the forecasts show the warmish weather is here to stay and I couldn't be more thrilled! Summer actually can't get here soon enough. I thought I would post a list of all my spring essentials.

1) Self tanner! I'm so over the winter whiteness of my skin and this lotion makes you look like you just vacationed in some tropical paradise. It is by far the best I've ever tried! It comes out dark so you can see where you've already applied it and it lasts a while! Also smells pretty good :)

2) Sperrys. It's definitely Sperry season by now but I've been wearing mine since mid March - oops! I've never been happier to put away my Uggs and riding boots. Just picked up this pair from Nordstrom and I'm anxiously waiting to break them in :)

3) Jacks! I'm preparing for summer a little early by getting a new pair of Jack Rogers right now. I got this pair from Last Call by Neiman Marcus 30% off! The sale is still going on so if you click on the link it'll take you right to the website!

3) LILLY. This is an obvious one but it's finally season appropriate (in Minnesota) to wear Lilly, yay! I got the most amazing Lilly dress that I'm wearing for formal and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. 

4) Colored jeans. Just like last year, I'm still equally obsessed with all of my neon and pastel colored jeans. 

5) Lighter hair! This mostly applies to ladies who color their hair (I love dying mine) but with the summer months quickly approaching I had my stylist add a bunch of highlights in my hair and I've never been happier with how my hair looks. I tend to keep it a chestnut or dark brown during the fall and winter but I'm loving how light it is right now. Who knows, maybe I'll be blonde soon? ;)

6) A good pedicure. This is something every girl needs to treat herself too before summer comes! Pretty toes are an essential since I'm going to be breaking out sandals and wedges soon. Plus who doesn't like getting pampered?

Even writing this is getting me so excited for the upcoming spring and summer months! I hope you all are as excited as I am :)

xoxo,

rFe

Travel Essentials: Part 1

So I know I've been relatively absent lately but I've been traveling so much! I figured this presented a great opportunity for me to do a post about all of my travel essentials. There's way too many things I love for traveling to put into one post so I'll be doing two! Part 1 will be all essential suitcases/bags/totes that make my trips a little less stressful and are just all around life savers.

1. Vera Bradley Large Duffel Bag - this duffel is the perfect weekend bag. I don't like to use large rolling suitcases when I'm only going somewhere for a weekend, they're just inconvenient and heavy. What I love about the duffel (besides the obvious - it's adorable) it that it fits SO much stuff in it. I'm a notorious over-packer so having a lot of space is ideal for me. It's also easy to carry around, it has large straps that easily go over your shoulder. Lastly, it's bright, cute, and looks great in the backseat of my car :) I'll make a note that I use this duffel for weekend road trips only. The website says it's carry-on compliant but I don't believe that's the case, there's no way you'd be able to carry this large of a duffel on a plane. I would also never check this bag because I've seen Vera duffels get ruined (the handle got detached from the bag) because of the not so gentle handling from airline employees. However, I make weekend trips much more often than I do week long vacations so I definitely have gotten my money's worth out of this bag. This is the exact size and print that I have :)

2. Lilly Pulitzer Insulated Cooler - this is another essential bag I like to bring on trips with me, plus it's Lilly so I already adore it. What I really love is the insulation, you can use it in multiple scenarios. The first one is obvious, for any type of beach/lake trip the cooler is ideal for holding drinks, refrigerated snacks, and such. So easy to pack up and throw it in the boat. Another practical use I've found is for carrying cosmetics and hair products. It's so nice to have them separate from my clothes because all too often something spills and ruins whatever it's next to in the suitcase. Any spillage in the cooler though can be easily wiped off and nothing gets ruined! I also enjoy the bottle opener that comes attached to the bag, how convenient... :)

3. Longchamp Le Pliage Tote - okay I'm obsessed with my Longchamp. Before I purchased one, I didn't really understand the hype but I've had mine for almost a year now and I'm so in love. I use it for school, work, traveling, running errands, you can use this bag for literally any ocassion. The size is absolutely perfect and the material of the bag lets you easily wash off stains. I made the mistake of bringing mine to a party once and some drunk idiot spilt beer all over it (I know right, so annoying) however, I used a washcloth and water to clean it the next day and it looked like brand new! Anyway, it's perfect for traveling because I can fit my magazines, Nook, water bottle, and anything I forgot to put in my other suitcase in there. My Longchamp is always my carry on bag when I fly. 

This is the exact Longchamp I have :) I'm in love with the color because it's so different - it's discontinued now so I rarely see ladies with the same one! Also, if you're looking to buy a Longchamp but don't want to shell out $125 keep an eye out at big department stores' outlets. I got mine from Off Saks Fifth Avenue (one of my favorite stores) for $98! They definitely don't carry them often but that's where you should look if you want to find them on sale. 

Alright, so I've covered all essential bags and duffels for traveling - stay tuned for Part 2 which will cover essential clothes and cosmetics for traveling! And let me know what you think of my picks :)

xoxo,

rFe

Yes, I'm still alive

Hello lovebugs! Sorry I've been so M.I.A lately but with my trip down to Summerfest and the 4th of July I've hardly had time to get to a computer (I'm doing this post from my phone - hopefully it works ok!) Unfortunately, you don't get all the perks of posting links and such but that's alright, I just wanted to update y'all on what's going on with me lately :) So I got to spend 3 days with my little last week, we attended Summerfest which is a music festival in Milwaukee and had such a good time! We saw Lupe Fiasco and the band Fun (they sing We Are Young) I couldn't have asked for a better time, we also got to meet up with a couple sisters that were in town. Since then I've been at my cottage with all of my family, boating and hanging on the lake! It's the perfect place to come and relax, I'm so happy I have this week off work. Anyway, here's a couple pics (bear with me, they're from my phone) of what I've been doing. The first is one of my sisters and I at Summerfest, second is our lovely Lake Emily, and last is my little and I! Happy late 4th everyone :)

Xoxo,

rFe

What I'm loving!

I couldn't choose which link-up I wanted to do today soo I just decided to do both! This post I'll be linking up with Jaime at This Kind of Love. Here's a list of everything I'm loving this week!

I'm loving link-ups! Haha obviously...but it's a great way for me to discover some great blogs and get mine out there as well.

I'm loving summer clothes! Pretty sure I wear my white and all my pastel skinny jeans like 3 or 4 days out of the week!

I'm loving that I got to have a date night with my lovely mother on Monday, getting pedi's and watching a movie was exactly what I needed to start the week off right.

I'm loving the blog world! It still amazes me that people actually read (and like!) my blog. I'm so excited to continue doing this and meet some amazing people along the way. Everyone's been so sweet, it really means a lot to me so for anyone that reads/follows/comments thank you! And please continue :)

I'm loving having summer drinks on the patio!

And lastly I'm loving that Donald Driver won Dancing with the Stars! He's one of my favorite Packer players and such an all around great guy. Let's hope the football season goes just as well as the show did! Side note: why don't I have Peta's abs? So jealous!

What are some things you're loving this week?!

xoxo,

rFe

OHP Wednesday

 

Yay! It's my favorite time of the week again, linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday. I have lots of good pins for y'all this week :)

Summer anthem 

A little obsessed with everything neon...

...and majorly obsessed with Luke Bryan

Haha indeed :)

Missing GCB 

I always try to abide by this!

Drink holders on the beach - such a good idea!

I loooove caprese 

 This is genius...wondering how well it would work?

Basically my life...

I'm thinking this dog is my soulmate

The French Open is almost here!

I'm still holding out for Harry :)  

How'd you like them?! Happy Wednesday and happy pinning :)

xoxo,

rFe

Summer wish list

Now that school is over for the semester and I'll be working full time, I'm thrilled to have a little extra spending money in my wallet. Now there is really only one logical use for this money and that is for shopping. Carrie sums it up perfectly when she says "I like my money right where I can see it...hanging in my closet." Fashion is a big passion of mine and I'm a firm believer that when you look good, you feel good. I'm that girl that dresses up for test days because I feel better and perform better when I'm confident in how I look. What can I say, it works!

I'm also a teensy bit obsessed with online shopping - it's such a good procrastination tool! I also find it to be a little more effective before I go shopping to know what I want to look for when I'm there. Every summer before school starts again my mom, aunt, grandma, and I get together and take a weekend shopping trip. I'm originally from Green Bay (also where I live in the summers) and let me tell you, the shopping here is not ideal. We don't even have a J. Crew...the closest is 120 miles away. I know...it's horrible. Needless to say, I don't do too much shopping while I'm here so that's why we leave for a weekend to go somewhere else that has more stores suited to our taste. Sometimes we'll go out to Minneapolis (I've gotten pretty familiar with the malls there) but most times we make our way down to Schaumburg, Illinois. This might seem random but there's some logic to it! On the way to Illinois, there are two pretty nice outlet malls near Milwaukee. This is about two hours into the trip so they're nice places to stop and hit some of the outlets that we like (J. Crew, Banana, Off Saks, etc). After that it's only an hour or so to Schaumburg where Woodfield Mall is located. This is definitely my favorite mall within the Midwest (of the malls I've been to), it is just huge and the store selection is great. They also have a Off Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom Rack, and Bloomingdales outlet across the street! Okay my shopping rant is getting a little too long :) moving on...so I've started a summer wish list of things I really want since our weekend shopping trip is coming up soon and it's gotten me in the shopping mood!

1.) Literally anything Lilly - I think this goes without saying but Lilly is definitely at the top of my wish list. I'd like to pick up a Lilly dress for summer, thankfully there are a couple boutiques in Wisconsin that carry it and I can always order online :) here are some of my favorite dresses!

I also want to get one of the planners before school starts again, I love that there's a jumbo agenda available this year! 

2. A statement necklace - I don't have the biggest jewelry collection but what I do have is pretty simple, everyday types of jewelry. I've been seeing big statement necklaces everywhere and I think it's time for me to invest in one. I own a lot of dresses and I can think of four or five off the top of my head that would just look great with these necklaces from Banana Republic and J. Crew respectively. The first picture doesn't do the necklace justice at all, I've been eying it up in stores for a while now and it's gorgeous, as are the other two!

3. Everyday flip-flops - these J. Crew Factory flip-flops are my favorite for just running errands and such everyday. They're comfortable and I love the little bit thicker sole, mine are getting worn down so it's time for some new ones. Plus they're $14.50! Reason enough to buy them! I also prefer to bring these up to my cabin in the summer just in case they get ruined instead of my Jacks! 

4. Wedges - they are such a staple for summer but I've yet to find a pair that I absolutely love. Here are a couple pairs from Nordstrom that I really like, especially because they're so easy to dress up or dress down if need be!

5. Pocket tees - right now I'm obsessed with The Frat Collection's pocket tees! I love how many options there are for both the pockets and the tees. These are so great for everyday and way too adorable not to get! I've finally limited my favorites down to the following...

What's on your summer wish list? And let me know what you think of my picks :)

xoxo,

rFe

Book Club!

 

Today I'll be linking up with Heather at Blonde...Undercover Blonde for my very first Book Club Friday. I was just thinking to myself I should start blogging about books because 1.) I absolutely LOVE reading and 2.) now that school is finally over I actually have the time to do it! 

Much to my despair, I recently found out that one of my new favorite TV shows, GCB, has been cancelled by ABC. I was pretty surprised by this because I know a lot of people that love and watch the show religiously...no pun intended :) On the other hand, some people think the show is a little controversial and offensive but personally, I think it's supposed to be taken with a grain of salt and enjoyed for it's entertainment value. Anyway, I'm really hoping a different channel will pick it up because it's such hilarious show and the entire cast is sheer perfection. So why you might ask does this have anything to do with Book Club Friday? Well because I decided since I can't watch GCB anymore, I'll read it! The show on ABC was inspired by Kim Gatlin's novel, Good Christian Bitches. I'm only a couple chapters in but it seems like the show followed the book pretty closely, most of the characters have the same names too! I'm SO excited to read the rest of the book and I'll definitely let y'all know what I think about it.

Has anyone read Good Christian Bitches? If so, let me know if you liked it or not!

xoxo,

rFe