A Day at Magen's Bay

Ahhh it's even harder writing this post after yesterday's warm weather tricked me into thinking that it might be sticking around ... this morning confirmed that yesterday was a cruel trick. Oh well, at least I can look back & enjoy the memories from these pictures we took while in Magen's Bay, St. Thomas. After hearing from a local that Magen's Bay had been rated as one of the top ten most beautiful beaches by National Geographic we were pretty much sold on spending our day there. Let me tell you this beach did not disappoint, from the beautiful water to the gorgeous mountains & greenery it was pretty spectacular! They also have the cutest little beach bar & cafe where you can get the BEST banana daiquiri & a delicious BLT :) 

Dress-ONE & ONLY, Bikini-WALMART, Sunnies-MARC JACOBS via THRIFTED

I decided that St. Thomas would be the ideal spot to debut my floral high-low dress that I scored on sale for $7!! Seven continues to be the lucky/magic number for this post because I scored these Marc Jacobs sunglasses for $7 at a thrift store in Ohio. My little sister & I were joking around trying on all the different sunglasses until I saw the "Marc" on a pair of aviators & started freaking out. After my breathing returned to normal I explained to my sister why I was so giddy & who Marc Jacobs is. Anyways, I hope that you're not all sick of my vacation outfit posts .. it's a nice break from the "in-front-of-my-hall-closet" outfit posts .. right :) Stay tuned because tomorrow I'm going to post the first of three "looks" wearing my new booties I wrote about here!

Tasty Tuesdays: Miami Vacation Eats

I know it's been so long since I've done a Tasty Tuesdays post, but wait no longer because here it is folks!! These are some of the restaurants that we dined at while vacationing in South Beach <3

We spent our first day off of the boat back in South Beach laying out at the beach & shopping on Lincoln Road (their H&M is killer!!). There is never a dull moment in South Beach & Lincoln Road is the prime spot for people watching, so we made ourselves comfortable at D'Vine. One of my favorite things about Miami is that there are so many cute options for outside dining. We settled on a little Turkish Hookah bar right in the middle of Lincoln Road where we enjoyed a chicken & steak kabobs with fries, pita bread, & a yummy salad :) It was around $14 for the plate that David & I shared which was a decent price since both of us were pretty content after finishing it. The steak kabob was absolutely deeeelish & the yogurt dressing was also scrumptious! I really enjoyed our relaxed afternoon at D'Vine & definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for people watching [creeper status].

To start off David's Birthday festivities I wanted to take him to the "Best Italian Coffee Spot" in the South Beach area [Pinocchio] since he's a bit of a coffee aficionado. We had to walk about 10 blocks to get there, but the quaint cafe was well worth the little trek because the coffee was delicious & the staff was super friendly :) I don't drink coffee very often, but I was excited to celebrate his B-day morning with a hot frothy cappuccino. David ordered their specialty cappuccino the "Pinocchio" which had a bit of cinnamon & I had the regular .. we both agreed that it was a great success!  

After a fun day on the beach sunbathing & jet skiing we were very ready for lunch! Prior to the trip I "Yelp'd" nearly every single restaurant in South Beach, & was happy to find the easy winner for authentic Cuban food :) Puerto Sagua is walking distance from the beach & was packed for lunch which made me even more excited to get my grub on! I ordered the large Cuban Sandwich with a side of plantains & the sandwich was pretty good (a little fry in my opinion) but the plantains were on POOOOOOINT!! Seriously so scrumptious & sweet .. I gobbled all of them up aside from the half of one that I shared with David. He got the fish of the day which was a fried Grouper Filet ... BOMB DOT COM .. it was so moist & flaky. I wouldn't typically go for a dish like that, but I'm glad that he did because I liked it way more than my sandwich & the portion of fish was huge. Our server was so sweet & brought a delicious tres leches cake out since we were celebrating David's birthday .. lets just say that I probably  ate way more than he did. Overall it was a fun experience with good food at a good price, but next time I'm definitely going to skip the sandwich & go for the Ropa Vieja instead :)

I hope that you enjoyed this little foodie trip through South Beach! 

New In: Michael Kors Lace-Up Booties

I know that you're expecting a "Tasty Tuesday" post since after all it is Tuesday! Don't worry I will have a foodie post this evening featuring places that we ate at in Miami as well as some of my favorite foods from the cruise :) Now on to these booties, I'm usually the one that buys WAYYYY more quantity than quality but I'm trying to change that in 2013! I scored these babies [originally like $160 I paid $50] at Macy's 1 Day Sale back when I was in Ohio a couple of days before Christmas. Why I haven't shared them with you I don't know, but it may have a small thing to do with the fact that I wasn't quite sure how to style them. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!! I wore these two days in a row over the weekend, once to a concert Saturday night & to brunch Sunday morning .. can you say versatile?! Stay tuned to the blog later in the week to see how I styled these boots 2 different ways <3

Mermaid Ombre

One of my favorite parts of "cruising" is dressing up for the formal dinners. I love having an excuse to get all glammed up,wear a fancy dress, & have fun with my makeup! Several weeks ago before the cruise I went shopping with my friend Nicole to pick out the perfect bridesmaid dress for her April wedding :) We ended up deciding on this beautiful turquoise ombre dress from Lord & Taylor. I'm so glad that Nicole picked out such a gorgeous dress that I can wear elsewhere other than just at the wedding. Case in point, I debuted the dress while on our cruise for the first formal dinner & fell in love with it all over again!

JS Boutique Dress-LORD & TAYLOR, Heels-NINE WEST

I love one shoulder dresses & wore a zebra printed one on the last cruise. To see some of my outfits I wore on the last cruise click here. My other favorite one shoulder dress is an olive colored beauty from Violet Boutique last seen here on the blog. Below are some other cute options for one shouldered dresses! (Click the image to see where you can get all these fabulous dresses)

Name Around My Neck

I hope all of you are staying warm & toasty on this chilly afternoon, I'm bundled under a million blankets on the couch writing this post :) I am so excited to share with all of you one of my newest pieces of jewelry! I was so lucky to win this adorable customized Carmen LeFleur necklace on my friend Kate's blog a couple of weeks ago & was thrilled that it came just in time for my vacation. I love how versatile & delicate it is .. not to mention it's a definite conversation starter. If you need a unique gift for a friend I would definitely suggest checking here site out because she has so many different options for jewelry. Below are a couple of shots from one night on the cruise where I attempted to "gamble" for the first time haha. The $20 lasted about 20 minutes, but it was a fun experience & I sipped on the BEST pina colada of my life :)

Myself & Kelly after a fun night at the casino & dancing! I'm so glad that we were assigned to the same table for dinner on the cruise because she is such a sweet heart <3 Next up, I need to start planning a trip to visit her in Holland & eat all the different cheeses she told me about :)

Pink & Palm Trees

It only makes sense that there's an inch of snow outside & it's 19 degrees as I write this post :( Oh well at least I can look back on the warm weather I got to experience in these photos! These pictures were taken our second day of the cruise on the beyond gorgeous island of Nassau, Bahamas. This was my second time visiting Nassau & it looked just as beautiful as I had remembered it. We spent the day on the public beach listening to island music & splashing in the waves .. I know such a hard life :) We also got to do a bit of exploring/David take my picture inside the Atlantis which was a nice break after a long day in the sun.

Shirt-F21, Skirt-PAC SUN, Sunnies-ALDO

I HAVE to tell you how obsessed I am with this maxi skirt!!!!! I got it for $7 at Pac Sun in the Leesburg Outlet Mall the day before we left & it was so perfect for walking around the islands. It's sheer with a mini skirt underneath & a slit on the side that always catches in the wind & makes you feel like you're in a music video .. or something maybe not :) I paired it with an old tank from Forever 21 & my favorite "bug" glasses for an easy no-fuss look. If you are in the Caribbean & have a chance to go to the Bahamas you have to go to Nassau to see the beautiful waters & blue skies for yourself!! Below is a shirt little impromptu video I made while sitting on the beach in Nassau <3

              

I'm on a BOAT!

Oh how I've missed blogging & my wonderful readers!!!!! As I'm sure most of you know I left for vacation two Sundays ago to cruise the Caribbean & relax in South Beach with David .. sadly that time has come to an end :( We came home to the harsh reality of frigid temperatures & the coldest wind everrr, I seriously think I got mild frost bite yesterday while pumping gas. Back to reliving my tropical vacation, we were so blessed to have wonderful weather and got to stock up on plenty of sunshine to last us through to the Spring.  I have to send a HUGE SHOUT OUT to David for being my lovely photographer throughout the entire cruise :) These pictures are from the first day of the cruise before he got really sick of taking outfit posts lol.

Dress-F21 via Dew Drop Swap, Belt-THRIFTED, Necklace-KOHLS, 

Sunnies- MARC JACOBS via THRIFTED, Earrings-F21

This dress is so versatile & is one of my favorite pieces that I scored at the last Dew Drop Swap Event. It's a simple cotton high-low dress with a gathered waist that allows for many different ways of styling aka you will DEFINITELY be seeing it again on the blog :) I'm so excited to share with all of you the other outfit posts, especially the one from when we were in San Juan so stay tuned! 

Traveling With: Fashion According to the Menu

-My favorite vacation (recently) has got to be my trip to Germany.

- I went this past Christmas to visit my boyfriend who plays basketball there.

-My favorite outfit of the trip was a baroque skirt, cream top and fur stole.

-One traveling secret I live by is to try to experience a new place like the locals. You'll have a much better experience and get to see more than you would if you just stuck to the touristy stuff. 

-One of my favorite memories from the trip was driving to Amsterdam and spending two days there. Amsterdam is such a wonderful city.