beans4fashion

Motivational Mondays

2012-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Stud!

2012-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

The search ended when I finally laid my eyes on the vest that I have been on the hunt for quite some time. A studded detail one from no other than forever 21 on the streets of Seattle! I felt ultra rocker on my night on the town with my best friend!!

top & vest: forever 21. pants: Topshop. shoes: Jessica Simpson. clutch: vintage find

*I'll be in Washington, DC the rest of the week with lots of goodness to share with you so stay tuned!!!

Spicy Monkey :)

2012-09-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I blogged about this amazing organization, The Ronan Thompson Foundation. I wanted to help and bring awareness to this terrible thing called cancer. I have been spreading the Ro love and my mom has been giving out bracelets to our family/ friends! I have followed along the blog of Maya Thompson and heard about her for quite some time (thanks to my madre who has followed her since she was in NYC with Ronan some years ago). You may have heard more about Ronan in the news lately, two weeks ago the Stand up to Cancer televised special which brings entertainment celebs together featured a song for Ronan by Taylor Swift. A beautiful yet emotional song about a blue eyed boy who dies from cancer and the lyrics stem from his momma Maya's blog! You can download the song via Itunes and the proceeds support the Rockstar Ronan foundation! (The song sky rocketed to #1 on itunes-- go download it!!!!) Last Thursday, Maya held a small trunk show to showcases her newest hobby to keep her mind busy - jewelry making!!(and all proceeds also go to her foundation). Her dreams of building a research center downtown Phoenix are amazing and inspirational. She recently won a Chase Community Giving grant of $50K by fellow supporters who voted daily on facebook and that award will go towards her foundation.

Spread the word and order your bracelets and tee-shirts online and watch this video below! Dell will donate $1 to every view to pediatric cancer ( click here )

Here are some I picked up from the trunk show!

Sometimes you just need a little home

2012-09-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was home in San Diego and enjoyed the sunshine, beach and some good old SD food :) Here is Saturdays styled look while walking through our backyard canyon!

top: Mens Obey. shorts: Target Mossimo. sunglasses: a small boutique at Banbridge Island. shoes: Toms. bracelets: Rockstar Ronan!

Penny Talk !

2012-09-24T10:14:00.001-07:00

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and great start to your Monday! I have been obsessed with cheetah print nail designs for quite some time now. I have tried to perfect the print and even visited the ladies at the nail salon, but no one can compete with what Pinterest had to offer. For my anniversary in July my hubby- to-be came home with some fun nail art supplies ( still a kid at heart). I decided to take a whim at the print, which turns out not to be that hard after all! I think you just need to actually be more messy than neat! Here is my easy take at the print.

I start with this awesome Deborah Lippman fast track kit that I picked up at Barney s a couple month's ago. I begin with the '2 second nail primer'. Then apply the 'fast girls quick dry base coat'. Follow up with 2 coats of Essie's Penny Talk. Allow this to dry and use the 'addicted to speed top coat'. I wait for this to set and dry then start on my design. I love how the top coat feels almost like gel top coats from the salon!

I'm using a simple black nail art polish pen by Sally Hansen! Create easy thick dots of penny talk and surround them with black circles. I cant say have perfected it but I'm still working on my fun cheetah print!

the finished product!

Touring Seattle !

2012-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Its Friday and Im excited to share more from touring the beautiful yet sometimes smelly city of Seattle. If you have not had the chance to visit, it is a mix (in my opinion) of New York meets San Francisco! I loved the market near the pier and the small boutique shops! Here are my top 5 favorite places while visiting- and a wrap of my trip!!! If you ever have the chance I think its worth a trip to visit the city!

1. The Seattle Great Wheel: Newly built, this ferris wheel resembles the London Eye. The line was short and we enjoyed a moment to relax and kick up our feet in an air conditioned compartment for about 30 minutes. You get great views as if you are in a helicopter and touring the city!

2. Pike Street and Public Market: I mentioned previously about the amazing foods down at the market. The market has all local vendors selling food, jewelry, fish and my favorite part --- beautiful flower arrangments. If i lived closer I would visit this market on the weekends because the bundles of flowers are only $5!

3. Seattle Duck Tours: This hilarious adventure starts out in a truck shaped like the mouth of duck. The bus then turns into a boat as you embark onto lake Union. A fun tour that shows you most all of Seattle even where Sleepless and Seattle was filmed!

4. Pine Street - We stayed at the corner of 8th and Pine at the Hyatt Olive 8 hotel. An eco- friendly resort. At the bottom of the hill we enjoyed pine street stores like Nordstroms, Barneys, Forever 21 and Tiffanys.

5. Banbridge Island: A short ferry ride to a small island off the coast of Seattle. We landed on the island after reading this beautiful novel by author Sarah Jio - The Violets of March. A quite, quaint town that had super cute antique shops!

Sleepless in Seattle was filmed here!

Beechers Cheese =]

If you have read 50 Shades of Grey :)

Duck Tour

Gum Wall

Ferry ride to Banbridge Island

Neat Building

Fall must have: Boots!

2012-09-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

I love that Arizona is still facing 90 degree weather as we embark on fall. I'm excited to have a bit of cooler weather here in the valley in the upcoming months (hopefully by the end of next month)! To me, you know fall is approaching when the pumpkins are out at the grocery store and Starbucks brings back their famous, pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin loaf bread!!! I'm excited to break out the chunky sweaters, layer on the pieces and score some new boots!!! Here are some of my favorite steve madden boot finds -- I'll have to add a pair to my fall wardrobe soon!

Steve Madden boots found here

Taste of Seattle!

2012-09-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

As a foodie I have to share with you my top 5 favorite places I tried this past weekend! I flew up Thursday with the madre to meet up with my bff from New York V, who was in Seattle on business and my older sister Erin, who lives a short distance from the city. We all agreed that we wanted to steer clear of any chain restaurants that we could enjoy at home.

1. Pikes Place Chowder: Holy bread bowl, this place is located in the public market and is nestled between a bunch of little stores. The long line outside had us all excited to try the best chowder in town!!

2. Beecher's Handmade Cheese: The mouse in me who loves cheese could not get enough of this place! They have tons of home made cheeses with a mini factory! They even serve home made mac & cheese!

3. Mistral Kitchen: Our waiter at Vessel bar told us to check out this place for dessert! Best dessert and the most delicious moscato I have ever tasted!!!

4. Cafe Nola: We stumbled upon this little cafe while on Banbridge Island. A must try is the Crab Sandwich melt!! So tasty and fresh!!

5. Elliot's Oyster House: This spot is located on the pier near the new ferris wheel! We opted for outside seating since it was a beautiful sunny day. We enjoyed the crab cakes and lobster corn chowder!!!

Where have you been?

2012-09-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

Its been about a month since my last post. I decided to update the face of the blog and give it a new little look! I've been super busy -- from house hunting to moving in, to dress shopping and life in between, I've lost touch with this blog! I wanted to come back to it and share some of the highlights from this past month and begin posting more!!

Top 5 from the past month...

1. My sister came to visit for labor day weekend! It was amazing to spend quality sister time together, catch up and lay in bed like we were little girls!

2.We rented a boat for labor day and spent the day out on the lake! It was such a great way to end summer!!

3.We found THE dress while my sister was in town. Can I just say how much work it is trying on dress after dress. As an avid "say yes to the dress" fan I can say my experience had no such drama. It was easy to pick out what I wanted and Im glad my MOH of mom agreed!

4. I attended my first COUNTRY concert in Phoenix! Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town and Edens Edge performed and I loved every minute of it! The hubby-to-be enjoyed and sang along too!

5. I took a girls trip up to Seattle to see two of my bridesmaids!! We all met up in the city and enjoyed a relaxing weekend!! I'll be sharing more about my amazing trip to Seattle this week!!!

Think outside the shoe box!

2012-07-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wedding planning is not in full effect as I have just a little over a year to go, but I still love to browse the net in search of thee shoe and dress... Im more of a shoe girl and love how creative brides are now a days with their choice of wedding shoes. Here are my top favorites that are thinking outside of the box this season with Christain Louboutin!

This would look beautiful if your bridesmaids had on black!

Loving a pop of color!

Summer wedding!

Elegance instead of the usual white

Smaller heels and love the bow detail

Something blue?

xo,

beans

5 things from this weekend!

2012-07-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

I saw a post from a fellow blogger sharing 5 things she encountered this weekend, and I wanted to share some of the high lights from my weekend!

Side note: My little cousin is visiting this month from New Jersey so thus why I have been uber busy and not posting. Keeping a 5 year old busy is a lot harder than I thought and pretty exhausting.

This weekend..

I went to the ball game with my daddy! The Mets vs Diamondbacks and rooted for the NY Mets of course!

I sat in the backyard and listened as the rain fell and the storm blew in. Its monsoon season here in Arizona and might just be my favorite season! The temperature drops down to 80s and listening to the wind chimes and lightening is actually peaceful.

I bounced around like a 13 year old at Jump street indoor trampolines with my cousin and enjoyed seeing the laughter of a child!

I played a good old game of monopoly with my parents and fiance! Man, the game never gets shorter but it was a good laugh and fun time! Of course it was the Marine Corp edition!

I received my doodle graphics from Etsy ( visit this amazing shop owner and graphic designer for your own custom design) of my Subway art with my love story with my hunny!

How was your weekend?

xo,

Beans

Guest Posting: Very.co.uk !

2012-07-13T22:50:00.002-07:00

I'm excited to share a special guest posting from very.co.uk an online catalog site based out of the UK that offers a wide variety of home goods and apparel. Today we are talking about hitting the beach and accessorizing! Shop the entire site at http://www.very.co.uk/ and check out their great clearance sale with savings up to 75% off!!!

Dressing for the beach is no longer as simple as chucking a bikini in your suitcase. The beach is as much a fashion competition as anywhere else, and choosing your bikini is only the beginning.

If you’re tanning – with sun cream, of course – a bikini is a must. And the skimpier the better to avoid awkward tan lines. If you’re merely posing by the pool, consider a cut-out swim suit for something much more striking. Metallics are really in this season, but if the gold wet-look is going a bit too far, opt for a bold print instead.

Kate Beckinsale once admitted that the reason she wore five inch wedge sandals whilst walking along the beach was because it made her legs look much slimmer and longer, not just because the sand was so hot. It might be high maintenance for the beach, but for cocktails by the pool there’s no shame in slipping on a pair of wedges to glamorise your beach look.

Chunky, wooden jewelry works best for the beach, and can make a plain bikini look a whole lot more stylish. Gold hoops and a big cocktail ring also look effortlessly beach chic. With your feet on display too, make the most of them with an anklet or a toe ring.

A lot of looking beach-ready is all in the preparation. Before you head off on holiday, make sure you get a manicure and pedicure, a salt scrub for a longer lasting tan, and the all-important Fake Bake. It’ll make sure you’re not ice white when you first arrive, and you’ll be less tempted to overdo it in the sun. You can do all of this at home, so there’s no need to splash out on salon treatments. When it comes to the essential waxing session, though, we’d always leave it to the professionals.

A pair of oversized sunnies and a kaftan will finish off your beach look. A sarong also works just as well as a kaftan – simply cross two corners over your chest and tie behind your neck à la Kate Moss – and doubles up as something for you to lie on.

We’ve said it before, but do not forget the sun cream! A sun burn will render all your hard work null and void.

How do you get beach ready? I couldn't agree more - sun screen, sunnies and a little fake and bake before hand. Especially if your on vacation and haven't enjoyed the sun previously.

Until next time,

Beans

Dressing your age- Mix & Match

2012-07-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

How easy is to mix splurge and frugal pieces? The answer is pretty simple and this is the perfect example. Mom picked up this striped summer dress at Marshalls not too long ago. Its so much easier to throw on a dress then wear jeans with the temperature rising to 115! When shopping for dresses I like to use the rule of thumb that if when you drop your arms your fingers past the ending length then the dress is so short. Just because you are 40+ doesn't mean you need to wear dresses past your knee but just remember that you shouldn't look like your borrowing your child's clothes also! She paired this dress with James Franco wedges from Macys and Burberry tote! Mixing and matching is by far my favorite because is it really necessary to be decked out in designer brands to look like a million bucks!

2012-07-02T17:18:00.001-07:00

Its Monday and I have the blues - I've had cobalt blue on mind actually! Returning from our weekend trip to San Diego & back to this desert and I cant believe Im saying this but I kind of might have missed this heat? Growing up in San Diego I enjoyed the breezy summers but since when did it become so humid? I had a great weekend resting and relaxing and visiting one of my best friends from High School, who will be a bridesmaid in my wedding! I surprised her with a little box of details about things for the wedding(who, what , where, colors, dresses, hair, makeup - the works). We snuck away Sunday to take a few engagement pictures with my resident photographer - she photos me for the blog as well -- my amazing mama! She's become quite the pho-tog if I do say so myself! We took pictures at our high school and at the beach because its our favorite part of SD!

My good friend from college, best friend started a wedding blog that I love and you all should go check it out, from details on how to create the wedding of your dreams to engagement stories! My hubby to be and I were featured on her blog not too long ago about how we met and how he popped the question!

My sweetie and I met in HS :)

Here my bff slim, reading the details - she started crying!

How was your weekend?

xoxo

Dressing your age- Mama's have style too!

2012-07-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Heres the latest from my moms style diaries ! As things here have been extremely hot its been a bit hard to capture her amazing looks! We sneaked away and caught up on some 'Dressing your age' pieces! I love styling mom and having fun behind the lens! We paired this deep green crochet top with nude wedges! They are comfortable and easy to rock. I think as we get older we choose comfort over fashion, something thats easy to walk in, these nude peeps are by far one of my favorites that are comfortable yet chic! Mom has on a BCBG top, Arden B dark wash jeans and Tory Burch wedges.

a little shoots before the sun sets!

xoxox

Wedding Chronicles - First Step

2012-06-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

So from time to time I want to share the wedding experience I've been having. I didn't really grow up dreaming about a grand wedding, so when life brought me to Arizona's heat all I knew was that my big day was not happening outdoors! The first thing we did after the bf proposed was pick a date which took some time to discuss our options and what would work best for both our families.

In college I minored in event planning because weddings and organizing events had always peaked my interest! I think with my background experience I will be a much calmer bride to be (hopefully)! I do recommend you hop online - search around theknot.com or pick up a book! My mom picked this one up for us which tells you step by step what to do, as well the knot keeps track of a monthly and weekly to do list!!!

You can pick up a copy at most book stores or Target

xo,

Janel

Red White and Blue

2012-06-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

A little red, white and blue action for the day. Although its 110 degrees here nothing beats a clean white collar and colorful jeans!

Im wearing white top from Express, Rock & Republic Jean, Steve Madden flats and LV bag, F21 cross ring and Fossil boyfriend watch

Re - Use !

2012-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Blogging the past couple of months has allowed me to share my passion and my take on styles, trends, whats hot and what I love! I've found so many others bloggers who share my same passion across the country! I am one of many around the world who shares online their take an I love to see fellow bloggies and how they mix up their style.

I haven't noticed many repeat offenders and lets face it, if you spend a good amount of money on a piece and you love it you should re wear it. Unless of course you are a celebrity and buying a new outfit every other day, but hey we even see celebs having repeat offenders! This top is one of those pieces, Its my favorite 7 for all man kind top. Its comfortable and thin, which is needed here in the desert. I added my favorite frugal target sandals because they tie in the gray tones of the top and forever 21 trousers!

xxx

Insta- good

2012-06-27T10:46:00.001-07:00

Hi all- just a few instagram pictures from this past week! I've been uber busy working and wedding planning! But will be posting a couple of new outfit post this week!

love arm candy

beans

Saturday with the boys!

2012-06-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hope you all are having an amazing weekend! Last night I attended my first Diamondback game! I must say Im still a YANKEE fan and that will never change!! It was a little weird because it was an indoor arena but a cool experience! I went out with my 3 favorite boys and had fun being the only girl! Growing up it was always just my brother and I (we are 3 years apart)! We have always had a close relationship and he's always let me hang out with the boys: from wrestling with me like I was a boy to dressing me like one!

silly boys!

my favorite beer - root beer that is!

a little throw back action!

Have a great Sunday! Im enjoying it pool side with the familia!

xo,
beans

Insta- Goood

2012-06-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Heres a couple of faves from this weeks instagram post!!

Fathers Day- The man that taught me how to be successful!

Starbucks Passion tea Lemonade our Fav!

Lunch!!

Polka dots!

Cali <3

A beautiful day in the grand canyon state!

~ beans!

TGIF!

2012-06-22T14:32:00.002-07:00

Lately on pinterest, I've found myself almost crying from laughing soo hard! Do you ever laugh out loud with people around and they look at you like you're crazy? This happens often when looking at what I like to call the funnies section on pinterest! The other day I was at my desk and having a convo with my girlfriends, I didn't even realize I was laughing out loud from what we were talking about! I love those moments & a good laugh or two!

So, here to give you a good laugh at some of my favorite pins this past week just to kick off the weekend!

I work out!!!

I know we all have one of these friends!

Isnt this so true?

Excuse the french ! But this goes back to working out + eating everythin =]

Happy Friday!

~Beans

Summer Essential- White pants!

2012-06-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

Happy mid week hump day! I have been obsessed with these white pants! I picked them up at a deal at Nordstroms Last Chance ! I think white pants stand out so nicely in the summer!! I'm loving these mix of colors!

My lens had a smudge I think?! LOL!

This look: Top: H&M, Pants: Vince Camuto, Sandals: Target, Sunglasses: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lipstick: Mac a new color from Nikki Minaj!

xo,
Beans

Color me happy!

2012-06-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Green is my happy color ! My favorite color the money color and these are my favorite neon skinnys!
A easy look for a Saturday running errands!!! I've been reading wedding blogs and hear that green is a big no no for bridesmaid dresses. Of course I would never put my maids in a green grass or neon but I am seriously considering a shade of green!

The Look: I found this top at Marshalls!! I love the back zipper detail. These jeans are Fire from Nordstrom and I have on Sperry Top Sliders!

June 14th 2012 !

2012-06-15T00:00:00.001-07:00

I would like to start by sharing and expressing my thoughts on Karma! I tend to stay as positive as possible with life, outlooks and feelings. Yet when it comes to the word karma, I have always seen this word in particular in such a negative light [ "Ohh karma will get them" ] or on the flip side ["karma will come back around']! Its weird to say I've always believed in karma but have never seen the positive aspect of it until last night!

Other sayings I feel hold true: "life is a full circle" ( I have experienced this feeling countless times) another one I love is "everything happens for a reason" I know this one is so cliche but I can honestly say its the truth!

Anyways, last week was a pretty rough, emotional, exciting and a huge change for me personally and I wasn't as positive as I generally am. I will always stand by my saying of "no I'm not lucky I'm blessed " but sometimes when it rains it pours. I knew in the back of my mind that when it rains it pours and when the sun is shinning you are on top! Well exactly one week later I feel that someone was watching over me (my lucky angles as I still like to think ) and made me a very lucky girl, because after 4 years of dating my boyfriend-- popped the question!!! The past month leading up to this will definitely be one for the records and June will now be a memory of one of the craziest, happiest months to remember.

So beware my of the bridezilla that may take over this blog and share all of my favorite bride to be finds =]

xo,

beans