Love Always Hannah Blog Tour

Love Always Hannah Blog Tour

Via Love Always Hannah

Last week, I shared a bit about my blog and introduced you to Love Always Hannah's exciting new re-launch of Piccadilly, a Washington, D.C. based boutique firm specializing in event styling & coordination; prop & product styling & creative consulting.. Today, she posted her own blog tour! Here's a sneak peek at what she wrote, and I encourage you to go read the rest but only if you love fun.

Via Love Always Hannah

Note: Not only did Hannah make that beautiful bow and arrow from a pink plastic farmer's market one that same morning, she's so much fun that I carried it and a million other props over the river and through the woods with her to get the perfect shots. We have so much fun!

Touring Through Blogland: The B Farm, Love Always Hannah, and Me

Touring Through Blogland

I was recently asked by my dear client-friend Cecilia of The B Farm if I would like to participate in the Blogland Tour.  I was so honored to be asked by this incredible artist and woman! I "met" Cecilia virtually as a client via FaceTime when she hired me to do a closet session. Cecilia is currently working on a giveaway for this blog, and I can't wait to show off her amazing artwork!

Here are some of her beautiful projects that she's been working on lately! She's from Texas, and proud of it! I love all things Americana, don't you?

She painted this gorgeous poppy painting-can you believe it? I have a hard time hanging art made by anyone outside of my family in my home, but this? This I could get behind! Plus, Cecilia feels a bit like family now.

Speaking of homes, she posted this before and after of her kitchen...

Wow! What a difference! And I love the little B Farm above the sink, don't you?

Now I'm supposed to answer four questions about myself!

Sneak Peek: Unquiet Riot

Sneak Peek: Unquiet Riot

I can't wait to show you more of the shots from the recent photo shoot I helped style. It started as a celebration of redheads and became so much more. Here's a little taste.

Photos provided courtesy of Lauren Modny Photography.  Creative direction and styling provided by StartCloseIn Styling and Piccadilly.

Unleash Your Inner Wild Child

Unleash Your Inner Wild Child

On Saturday, I had the joy of styling the fashion for a photo shoot with my dear friends Hannah, Lauren, and Ashlynn. You see, every now and then we decide to get together with creative friends in the area for a collaboration we call You Sparkle to make some beauty together. (We hadn't done a shoot together since Valentine's Day!)

Here are some behind-the-scenes shots from Hannah and my iPhones. I can't wait to share the professional shots from Lauren's camera with you! I absolutely loved the wild woman in the woods vibe we created.

Happy Love Yourself Love Others Love Life Day!

Happy Love Yourself Love Others Love Life Day!

A few weeks ago, I was honored to help Love Always Hannah in styling a Valentine's Day shoot as part of the YouSparkle collaboration she started in the DC metro area. Hannah had the most beautiful vision for a feminine, fun, sugar-sweet shoot that would also incorporate making handmade cards for victims of human trafficking. Hannah has this innate ability to combine beauty with meaningful action that rubs off on everyone around her. She's contagious. I can't believe my good luck in meeting Hannah so many years ago in Spain and that we have the chance to collaborate on shoots like this today!

Today's post is mostly pictures from our fun, feminine looks, which was a pleasure for me since I don't tend to wear a lot or style a lot of pink! Hannah encouraged me to embrace the pink-and I'm so glad that I did! We had a lot of fun working with creative women from around DC on this one-from florals to makeup, cakes to models and cards and photography, these women were a blast to hang out with and collaborate with! So enjoy. Enjoy today-enjoy being a woman. Maybe even wear a little pink!

And here we are-the women behind the scenes of the shoot!

Photography : Lauren Modny Photography (@modnyphoto)
Personal Styling : Start Close In Styling

Floral Design : LeRoy French Flowers

Handmade Valentines : Birch+Honey 

Cake : Colleen Delawder

Makeup : Melissa Taylor

Model : Destiny Decker

Creative Direction & Party Styling : Piccadilly (@piccadillydc and @lovehannxoxo)

Spring Sales are Here!

Spring Sales are Here!

 

Get excited. Today I'm sharing my top picks from all of the (we wish it were) spring sales that have popped up! Pun intended.

Dresses

Right now is a great time to buy dresses because they're the easiest thing to wear now with layers over (blazers, cardigans, sweaters) and under them (tights, boots, leggings, white button downs or long-sleeved shirts) and later with bare legs and sandals or flats. Here are a few favorites on deep sale. 

Asos Curve

Asos

Gap

Gap

Asos Curve (add some tights if the length is too short for you!)

Madewell

I love the idea of a neutral dress right now that you can make wintery with deep jewel tones or black and then transition into spring with brights, coral, mint, or white.  Madewell has more universally flattering shapes that are timeless, too. Like this and this.

Pants-especially cropped ones

For now, wear these bad boys with low boots, flats, heels, etc. I love a good cropped pant for spring, too, though, making these a great buy to wear now and later. 

Jcrew's come in petite and tall and are on sale.

JCrew

Madewell

Versatile Weekend Tops

When stores come out with new t-shirts, they often put the not-so-new ones on sale. This is your moment to swoop in and grab a few! I love a t-shirt that has modal as well as cotton since it''ll be softer. JCrew does this well, and the designs are not too young. Ignore the styling here since the vibe is far too high school. Imagine instead with a dark wash jean and a blazer or leather moto jacket on top. Divine. 

Add caption

Madewell

So whether you're shopping a sale or shopping your closet, I recommend taking stock now of things you have that you haven't worn lately because you consider them to be "off season." Now is a great time to pull some of those items out of the shadows to enjoy them! It might help us all feel like spring is just around the corner!


Top Photo Credits:

Photography : Lauren Modny Photography (@modnyphoto)
Personal Styling : Start Close In Styling

Floral Design : LeRoy French Flowers

Handmade Valentines : Birch+Honey 

Cake : Colleen Delawder

Makeup : Melissa Taylor

Model : Destiny Decker

Creative Direction & Party Styling : Piccadilly (@piccadillydc and @lovehannxoxo)

Be sure to take a look at the gorgeous valentines from our shoot on Love Always Hannah today-and send someone a reminder that you value them, too!

Be Mine Valentine

Inspired By: Be Mine Valentine

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of working with an incredible team of creative women from around the DC area (including party styling and creative direction by Love Always Hannah, photography by Lauren Modny Photography, the most beautiful cake and cookies by Faith, Hope, Love & Luck, and valentines and florals by Leroy French Florals, oh my!) on a shoot that turned out to be stunning. Hannah and I will be sharing more images from it in the coming weeks so be sure to check out her blog, too!

Today, I wanted to share two of the incredible Valentines from our shoot. I was so inspired by them that I put together an entire outfit based on one today! Pardon the iPhone selfies, but my husband wasn't able to snap any better pictures this morning.

I loved how the Valentine used a bold red with black and white and gold so I let that guide my color choices today with plaid under a thicker striped boat neck from The Loft. It would also be cute to switch the stripes with a striped pencil skirt instead! This shirt was an unusual find by my mom at TJMaxx-it's a sheer, silky plaid shirt. Very unique!

I likely won't keep the leopard print on all day and wished that my sparkly gold scarf had been clean to wear instead, but it was chilly this morning so I needed something! I liked the little nod to the center heart that this blue watch added, and it stacked up nicely with my Jawbone and two other bracelets that my husband bought for me awhile ago. Since the pattern is so loud in the outfit, I just wore gold square studs and let the bracelets be the main accessories and just wore cropped ponte pants.

Here's another gorgeous one that would be beautiful inspiration for a monochromatic metallic outfit, maybe with a winter white pant or skirt, a cashmere infinity scarf, or even a delicate, lace-inspired scarf? This origami collar shirt is on sale and to-die-for, but I'm also in love with the over-the-top femininity of this bow top, also on sale. 

Valentine's Day Photo Shoot Credits:

Photography : Lauren Modny Photography (@modnyphoto)
Personal Styling : Start Close In Styling

Floral Design : LeRoy French Flowers

Handmade Valentines : Birch+Honey 

Cake : Colleen Delawder

Makeup : Melissa Taylor

Model : Destiny Decker

Creative Direction & Party Styling : Piccadilly (@piccadillydc and @lovehannxoxo)

Guest Post: The Girl with the Curl

Guest Post: The Girl with the Curl

I'm so thrilled on this snowy evening to bring you a guest post from the one and only Love Always Hannah. And if you visit her site, you'll see a sneak peek of the Valentine's Day shoot that we did together this weekend with some incredibly creative women from around DC. Here's Hannah (who I've proud to call my own close girlfriend for about ten years now)! UPDATE: Enter Hannah's giveaway to win the curlers that created this gorgeous look! And read my true feelings about my hair in the comment section.

Having girlfriends is the best.thing.ever.  Someone with whom you can swap stories, giggle and share life’s wonderful moments. There’s so much wisdom that I have gained from the amazing women in my life; whether about the best product to get rid of dreaded frizz or advice on how to live my life with passion.  My life is better because of the girlfriends in it.  That’s why I started “Girl Talk“.

This is my beautiful friend, Ashlynn.  You probably know her from here, here and here (ok so maybe she’s something of a celebrity around here).

She has amazing hair.  I mean, clearly.  I asked her to share how she gets her drool-worthy curls on today’s “Girl Talk”.  Take it away Ashlynn! Read the rest here.

You Sparkle Holiday Shoot

Our You Sparkle Holiday Shoot

Recently I had the most fun day hosting a photo shoot at my house. Love Always Hannah did all of the party styling, and the incredible Lauren Modny shot the film.  We were also lucky enough to get to put the models in holiday jewelry from Lou Lou Boutiques! The theme for this shoot was all about the parts of the holidays that make this time of year special-from time with friends to baking cookies, to the obligatory holiday part photo booth, we captured it all.

Here's Hannah's take on what she accurately called "more fun than should be allowed."

Easy Holiday Sparkle: Part I

Easy Holiday Sparkle: Part I

Today I'm running around prepping for a holiday photo shoot that I'm styling the clothes for (at my house!). Love Always Hannah is styling the shoot, which means that my house will look gorgeous-I can't wait to see it through Hannah's eyes! And Lauren Modny is taking the photos. If you haven't visited her site before, I highly recommend that you do.

She shoots in a candid documentary style, which enables her to get the most beautiful, authentic shots. She shot our Fall Fashion shoot, and I would love for her to shoot something personal for me, too. I've thought of doing anniversary photos with my husband-wouldn't it be fun to recreate a pose from a past photo? Like this one from 2009 when we were "just friends" but secretly in love with each other? Love that tinkle in our eyes.

I'm really excited about this shoot because we have three incredible women as our models, and we're using their clothes! As you know, I don't really buy into the idea that you have to buy something new to wear once or just because it's the holidays. I'm all for setting aside money if you want to spend it, but I'm also excited about re-imagining and re-styling what you already own in ways that help you feel confident and, yes, even sparkly!

Stay tuned! And check out a sneak peek shared by one of our models!