babies got bikes

Today was the best weather I've experienced yet in Dallas. It was perfect and what made it even better were our new little bikes. One of our favorite things to do in Provo was bike around in the summer. Nothing made me happier than an evening bike ride and inevitably running into friends on the streets. After scouring Craigslist, we both found some nice, almost-matching Schwinns. Preston found his a few weeks ago and I bought mine last week and now we can bike around our new city.

These pictures were taken in a pretty neighborhood in Uptown. We biked all morning before I had to go to work and it was glorious. I had the biggest grin on my face going down hills. I'm so excited for the fall and winter in Dallas, which is super unusual because normally I never want summer to end, but I can't wait for it to be cool enough to play outside. And wear sweaters. How cute is baby Preston on his little red bike? I like his better than mine but I still love mine. All it needs is a basket.

I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip flops (ballet flats) so I bought army pants and flip flops.

j.crew ss14

Now for a show that's close to my heart (and budget). I've said it before, but J.Crew has evolved into this incredible brand that everyone from Reese Witherspoon to your girl crush in that one class can wear and look fabulous. Jenna Lyons and Mickey Drexler are geniuses and my not-so-secret dream job is to take Jenna's place on the J.Crew throne. One of the most fun parts about working at J.Crew is seeing the pieces from fall Fashion Week arrive at our stores and realistically seeing myself wearing and affording them. As much as I die for Alex Wang's overalls this spring, I doubt I'll ever wear, much less spend the $800 on them. I guess J.Crew is for the poors. Whatever, I'll own it til I die.   Show started with this fun piece. Evidenced by my wedding and home decor prior to marriage, pink and green and all shades of the two colors are my favorite. The sandals this spring were bawwwmb and reminded me of Balenciaga 4 years ago in a good way. I predict this Oui Mon Cheri shirt will sell out once it hits the stores. I think it's the one piece of this collection I hope to incorporate in my spring wardrobe.   The Aloha shirt is less cool but the pretty party skirt is exactly what I would expect J.Crew to pair with a t-shirt and I love it. I think J.Crew does the best with pairing evening and daytime wear in the same outfit and making it look chic. Next we have the toggle coat of my dreams. Why does every spring collection have to contain a coat of my dreams?? The saddest part about moving to Dallas is I will have little use for my collection of outerwear. Every Christmas while at school I always ended up asking for a new coat of some sort, but talking to locals, I hear it's only supposed to drop to the 40's around here which was BALMY in Provo. So. Bye stadium cloth. Also let's bring back the Bermuda short please? Modest is hotttest? (Mormons love J.Crew because it is colorful and modest. That's why you have to be careful if you decide to wear a J.Crew dress to a wedding or party in Utah because there's a 90% chance 2 other girls will have it cuz that thing has sleeves. No hatin' on my J.Crew Mormies. I am one of you.)   Can't forget the men! We are getting a men's shop next month in Dallas and transforming our current store into all women's and BRIDAL. But back to da boyz. I just really liked the floral print of this hat and shorts. The printed men's shirt has been done a lot but I think it looks very sharp with this suit. Baby Preston, do you see this? Jk, he's always looking fly. Actually I remember after our first couple dates I wrote Blythe a letter while she was on her mission and described him as looking like he was in a J.Crew catalog. Aw!   Thanks for reading any of these. I really love clothes and I really love talking about them and you're the sweetest for caring a little bit.

burberry prorsum ss14

I've been so busy lately all I've gotten to do is swipe through New York Fashion Week and a little bit of London on my Style.com app. But I could hardly contain myself after seeing the Burberry Prorsum spring/summer 2014 line yesterday. Easily my favorite collection I've seen, far surpassing anything I saw in New York. If you've read my blog at all, you know I am always highly anticipating the Burberry show and worship Christopher Bailey. He has yet to disappoint me, and this season all he did was make me fall even more in love with one of my favorite fashion houses in the world.   The show began with pretty pastels and lace. I know Marc Jacobs decided dark colors were the way to go for spring, but I am a traditionalist and supremely girly, so bring on the soft Easter egg colors. Chris Bailey proved the collared shirt is here to stay and thank goodness. I love me a good shirt buttoned to the top and even more when it's pink lace. Die for the sheer periwinkle blouse. Reminds me of J.Crew's Blythe blouse and every other blouse ever made in the past 2 years. It's still cool and it's still chic. Love this pretty pink coat, even if it looks a little like something Dolores Umbridge would wear. Nonetheless, I love it's kind of rounded shape paired with a straigh tpencil skirt. Such gorgeous hues at Burberry this season. Dolores coat in a pretty Tiffany blue and then my favorite coat of the collection. There's the utility blouse again. What I love about Burberry's utility blouses this season is their initial masculine shape and style, but the sexy femininity of the sheer fabric. These knotted skirts are a perfect twist (get it) on the traditional pencil skirt. Love the colorpalette in the second look. Another fabulous coat from the brand that created the best coat. Who doesn't love a good polka dot? By the way, I'm still not over polka dots, whoever said they're done. I recently bought a giant polka dot blouse with dots the same size as these from Topshop and I feel infinitely cooler owning it now. Oh sorry we haven't talked the neon fab shoes. I am very into even though sandals are not my favorite shoe in any season. Die for this whole sweater/skirt combo. Super wearable and fun. Jourdan Dunn is wowowow in this yellow dress. She's wowowow in anything, but that dress was made to be worn by her. Finally, my fashion goal is to be cool enough to wear a sheer medallion skirt with nothing underneath. Just kidding but not kidding but look at the skirt.  Thanks for indulging with me. In summary, Burberry is still my favorite brand, Christopher Bailey is still the designer love of my life and I am still holding onto the dream that someday I will be sitting among these rows in London.

saturday is a special day

homemade brunch // nasher sculpture center // panda chair // flower chair
Saturday has always been my favorite day of the week, but Sunday has become a fierce competitor. Ever since I've started working, the weekends are reserved for play dates and exploring, but I usually have to work on Saturdays now at J.Crew. Today we still managed to have a fun morning and afternoon before I sold clothes from 5-10. 
Brunch is my absolute favorite meal and I always order eggs benedict if it's on the menu. Today we tried to make it and it was successful. Poached eggs have always been a culinary fear of mine, but I conquered them with the help of Preston making everything else. Here's the recipe for our mostly homemade eggs benedict:
Ingredients: -eggs -deli ham -avocado -english muffins -instant hollandaise sauce (oops)
1. Poach da eggies. This is tricky. First bring about 2 in of water to a boil in a pot. Crack eggs in separate bowls. Once the water is boiling, pour a little bit of vinegar (maybe a half a tablespoon?) and bring the water to a simmer. Carefully pour eggs into water and cover and cook on gentle heat for 4 mins. Using a slotted spoon remove from water and place on paper towels.
2. Cook ham. Not hard. Just put em on a pan. 2 slices per muffin is good. We just got the cheapest deli ham meat and it worked perfectly.
3. Slice avocados or whatever other vegetable you want. I've only ever had eggs benedict with avocado or asparagus. 
4. Make the hollandaise sauce. You can get instant packets in the same aisle as gravy. This is a major cheat, but it worked well and tasted good.
5. Toast the english muffins.
6. Assemble muffins. Muffin, then ham, then avocado, then egg, then hollandaise.
After brunch we walked to the Nasher Sculpture Center. It was a little disappointing, but admission was free so we went to check it out. One cool thing was a yoga class they had in the outdoor area of the sculpture center. Last Saturday we started going through the Dallas Museum of Art and after the sculpture center, we finished at DMA. 
The Neiman Marcus flagship store is right in downtown Dallas, a 4 minute walk from our apartment. It's always closed by the the time Preston is done with work so today we decided to venture inside. I experienced shortness of breath walking into the women's eveningwear and bridal boutiques because I've never been so close to so much Oscar, Chanel and Lanvin at the same time. After pretending to be glam at Neiman's, we went home, made burgers and swam and then I went to work. Now we are home celebrating BYU's win against TEXAS. Hehehe.