the red bungalow

Zov's Salmon Burger with Avocado-Lime Guacamole

2011-03-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a lighter and more refreshing version of a burger, or just want to try something different from the standard beef patty, I'd definitely recommend these Salmon Burgers. This post here is courtesy of the Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart cookbook by Zov Karamardian. I've had this book for about a year now; Dan slipped it in my suitcase as a surprise read when I went out of town on a business trip last April. He knows I LOVE LOVE our local Zov's Bistro and thought I'd love having the book with some of her recipes. I honestly have to say that this is one of the only cookbooks I own where I truly LOVE every dish I've made from it and this was no exception (by the way, the Lentil Soup recipe alone is to die for - I make it about once a month and it reheats very well for lunch leftovers).

Salmon Burger with Avocado-Lime Guacamole (serves 6)

1 1/2 pound boneless skinless salmon fillet, minced by hand (DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR OR THE MEAT CAN GET STRINGY AND MUSHY)

1/2 C. mayonnaise (I used a light version, and it turned out just fine)

1/4 C. minced shallots

3 T. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

3 T. finely chopped fresh chives

3 T. finely chopped fresh dill

3 T. minced lemongrass (I omitted this since I didn't have it around my house)

3 T. minced peeled fresh ginger

3 T. thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

2 T. hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1 1/2 C. panko

1/2 C. raw sesame seeds

2 T. vegetable oil (or more if needed)

6 hamburger buns, split

Avocado-Lime Guac (I didn't follow her recipe, instead I used my own below).

1) Stir the first 15 ingredients in a large bowl just until blended (do not overwork the fish). Stir in 1 cup of panko. Form the salmon mixture into six 4.5 inch diameter patties that are 1/2 inch thick. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

2) Stir the sesame seeds with the remaining 1/2 cup of panko in a shallow bowl. Generously coat the patties with the sesame mixture. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on a large nonstick griddle over medium-high heat. Working in batches, grill the patties until golden brown on the outside and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side, adding more oil to the griddle as needed.

3) Generously spread the Avocado-Lime Guacamole over the bun bottoms. Top with the cabbage or lettuce shreddings.

Avocado-Lime Guac

3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed

3 T. chopped cilantro

3 T. chopped shallots or red onion (or some combination of both)

juice from 1-2 limes (depending on how juicy the limes are, and how lime-y you like your guac)

1-2 cloves of minced garlic

dash of red pepper flakes for kick

healthy dash of black pepper and salt to taste

*mash all ingredients together until you've reached your desired consistency. I like my guac semi-smooth, but still like to have chunks of avocado in it.*

Enjoy!

Bre

Lemon & Berry Trifle

2011-03-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

As a big citrus lover, I've been itching to make lemon curd since I read about it on Gillian's blog (HERE). I searched around online and decided to try out Ina Garten's Lemon Curd recipe (shown here). I was pretty happy with the outcome until I realized it made 3 cups of lemon curd....what in the world am I going to do with 3 CUPS of lemon curd? I had originally thought I would keep it around in the fridge (lemon curd has a refrigeration life of approximately 3 weeks) to use on toast in lieu of jam, but I knew there was no way I'd use it up before it expired.

So I looked in my fridge, saw some fresh berries (thank you Henry's!) and decided I would make a lemon & berry trifle and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. If you are a citrus lover, this is a nice refreshing dessert. Here's what I did:

1 C. Lemon Curd

3/4 C. Heavy Whipping Cream

Shortcakes (the kind you find at the store for strawberry shortcakes)

Berries (I used blackberries & strawberries, because this is what I had at home, but I think blueberries would pair really well with the lemony flavor).

1) Whip the Heavy Cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Note: Usually when I make whip cream I like to add in a little sugar. Trust me on this one that no extra sugar is necessary, because the lemon curd itself is super sweet.

2) Fold the prepared whipped cream into the 1 C. Lemon Curd until you have a smooth custard consistency. This proportion of lemon curd mousse was almost the perfect amount for these two large trifles.

3) Chop berries to desired size (I halved the blackberries, and cut the strawberries into 4 to 6 pieces depending on the size of the strawberry).

4) Slice up short bread, so you can easily fit it into the width of the glasses or bowls, you are using for your trifles.

4) Start layering you trifles! First arrange slices of shortbread to make a base layer, then proceed with the curd mousse, and then a layer of berries. Continue in the order until you reach the top (it will look best if you end on a berry layer). Note: It's important to layer the mousse directly on top of the shortcakes, so the cakes can soak up some of that mousse!

And there you have it. Fresh mint on top would also be a nice garnish, although I didn't have any around at home. Now what to do with the other 2 cups of lemon curd? =)

xox,

Bre

Honduras

2011-03-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some long overdue pictures from our stopover in Honduras last December. We barely took pictures while we were there (mostly just spent time enjoying ourselves on the beach and in the water), but we both were pleasantly surprised with the beauty of those beaches. I think we also decided that this was one of our all-time top snorkel spots.

Someday we will be back! I'm starting to get the itch for another vacation with sand between my toes.

xox,

Bre

DIY hairbows (with instructions)

2011-03-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

My sister Tiffany loves the hairbows at Anthropologie. She asked me if I knew how to make some at home (and if I could show her), so I thought I'd give it a try. I was surprised with how easily, and quickly, I was able to turn these out on my first try. For my first DIY hairbows I used a purplish-blue ribbon because purple is Tiffany's favorite color. What was exceptionally great about these was that I didn't have to go buy anything for them. I made these with scrapbooking goodies that I already had on hand at home and since I haven't scrapbooked in ages, I was glad to put them back into use! I'm going to try a few different types of ribbons and hairbows (and I may post more as I go), but here are my steps for the one shown above.

1) Cut four ribbons of equal length. For my bows I cut 1/2 inch thick ribbons into 3 inch strips. I wanted to keep the size small, because I was making a pair of bows and didn't want to have them totally overwhelming once placed in the hair.

2) Criss-cross the ribbons into a star shape as shown below, making sure that the cross right at the center of each strip. Using thread of a matching color, insert threaded needle down through the center of all ribbons. Run the needle back and forth once or twice to hold all ribbons in place.

3) Flip ribbons over and fold the end of one ribbon in toward the center to form a loop; sew it in place. Repeat to form remaining petals.

4) After all of the "petals" have been sewn in place, I added two more stitches through the center just to make sure everything was held in securely.

5) Then I placed a floral petal and jewel on top of the completed "flower" (from steps 1-4) and sewed them in place. Depending on what embellishments you use, it may be easier for you to glue it in place. From the backside, I also sewed the hairbow onto a bobby pin, but again if you prefer to use hot glue or superglue then go for it.

And there you go! It couldn't be easier. If you're a crafty gal and already have these items at home, you can make a pair of hairbows in less than 20 minutes. Tiffany, I'm saving this pair for you! I'll try to make some more sophisticated hairbows next time around (I'm already getting more ideas).

xox,

Bre

Canning your own marinara

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Using pre-made marinara, or meatsauce, has always been a big no-no in my family. Not to say I've NEVER done it, but we grew up eating mom's homemade sauce and nothing else quite measures up. As I grew up and moved out, I started making my own version of mom's sauce. I remember trying to call my mom for the recipe once and she told me she didn't have one. I guess I really knew she didn't, she made it by taste, so I have attempted to do the same thing (trying my best to remember the details from when I was a little girl standing on a chair so I could reach the counter and "help" mom make it).

Making the sauce is time consuming no doubt, but I enjoy every bit of it. As the sauce simmers all day in our small apartment, it reminds me of being a kid and having the aroma fill every nook and cranny of the house. We kids never had the patience to wait for dinner time; so we'd take turns slicing off a chunk of cheese and sneaking a big dip into the sauce. If we got caught, we claimed we were just "taste testing" you know, just trying to help out. Although we knew mom didn't really mind as long as we didn't spoil our dinner.

For the past several years I've been making batches of sauce for my husband and me and portioning off the sauce in meal-sized portions and throwing them in the freezer to use for later dinners. The problem with freezing homemade sauce is that the flavors can diminish over time and I get really disappointed if ice-crystals build up on my sauce. It makes it feel....just not the same. And after hours of simmering on the stove (with me taste testing in between like mom did, fiddling with the herbs and spices along the way) I want it to taste the same as it did the first day I made it. How to solve the problem? Enter in, the pressure canner.

Now I know my family is no exception, many families have their own special variety of marinara, so if you want to can sauce, I recommend you stick with what you love and just slightly over season the recipe, because the flavors will slightly diminish in the canning process. So without forcing you to use any particular recipe, here are my steps to canning your own marinara:

1) Fresh ingredients. For me, making sauce is all about fresh ingredients. I use as many fresh ingredients as possible (as shown above). Now of course, the more fresh ingredients, the more time consuming the process. So if you aren't up to chopping your own tomatoes, herbs, garlic, onions, shallots, etc...then by all means use as many pre-diced methods as you wish.

2) Adjust simmer time. When canning your own marinara, you don't need as much simmer time as normal (the pressure cooker will do the bulk of that work for you). Instead of mixing my sauce and letting it sit all day, I only let it simmer for 30 or 40 minutes (after getting all the ingredients up to a normal simmer temperature).

3) Funnel time. Use clean jars (here I used 12 oz. jars, because they are the perfect size for a meal for two). I use a funnel to help me pour the sauce without making a mess.

4) Under pressure. Follow the directions from your pressure cooker to determine how much boiling water you should use for canning. My pressure cooker calls for approximately 3 quarts of boiling water so that is what I use. The goal is to cook the cans at 15 psi for 30 minutes. I start my 30 minute timer as the pressure is rising around 12 psi and after it reaches 15 psi I turn down the heat on my stove and monitor it every few minutes or so to make sure it is staying within the 13-17 range.

5) Cool and label. Allow plenty of time to cool before you even consider opening your pressure cooker (I let mine sit for an hour or so). Then throw on your labels and voila! You have your own homemade sauce, that will not be subject to freezer burn!

Enjoy!

Bre

Rustic recipes

2011-03-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

*homemade blackberry & strawberry birthday pie*

Last night was my husband's birthday; while, we'll be mostly celebrating this weekend, I still wanted to make him a special dinner at home. He requested a rustic dinner & pie, which happen to be very easy (and I LOVE to make this kind of food). I made a stuffed roasted chicken with potatoes and veggies (so simple, yet so delicious - you can really use whatever veggies and spices your heart desires, and the cast iron skillet makes it that much more amazing). Here's a pic of it before going in the oven. I made a quick stuffing with shallots, onions, celery & mushroom to put inside the bird.

Then I used plenty of garlic cloves, red potatoes, carrots, beets, mushrooms, fresh basil, butter and spices in the pan. There's really no hard recipe for this, just pick the veggies & seasoning of your choice (and of course add some slices of butter and bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hr or more, depending on the size of your bird).

Danny requested a pie, instead of a cake for his bday, so I made him a rustic blackberry & strawberry pie. The crust was pre-made (it's a weekday afterall, didn't really have time to make my own crust) and I bought fresh ripe berries at my local farmers' market grocer. Here's the somewhat recipe we've come up with over the years to make berry pies (you can substitute the blackberries & strawberries for whatever looks nice and ripe at the store, and remember if you use pre-made pie crust to follow the directions if you need to pre-bake the crust):

1 lb. Blackberries, chopped

1/2 lb. Strawberries, chopped

1/3 - 1/2 C. sugar

2-4 T. cornstarch

pinch of salt

2 pinches of cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients shown above. You can add more sugar if you wish, but if you have ripe berries you really don't need much. I only add sugar to help the juices come out of the berries, which helps the pie meld together better. Combine all the ingredients and cook the pie at 340 degrees for 1 hr. I typically cover the edges of the pie with foil for the first 40 minutes, and then remove the foil for the last 20 minutes (this helps prevent the edges from burning).

And of course, I always top the pie with fresh homemade whip.

Sometimes the simple things in life, are simply...the best. =)

xox,

Bre

We Love LA! (we love it!)

2011-03-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Danny and me at a few Kings games over the years

This past weekend Dan and I ran a Kings' sponsored 5K and stayed afterwards for the Kings vs. Canucks game. We didn't take the run very seriously, in fact the extent of our "training" was that each of us went outside and ran 1 mile and decided that if we could run 1 mile then we'd be ok to jog 3.1 miles. Dan hasn't run that distance in 9 or 10 years, and I have never run more than 1 mile in my whole life (side note: I used to "run" 5 or 6 miles on the elliptical as part of my normal workout routine. Now I know I should have never really called that running, because it's WAY different, but you know, live and learn.)

When we got to the event, I was actually surprised at how intensely many of the participants were preparing themselves for the race. I saw several people with games faces on, doing crazy stretches, and running down the street doing high-knees and butt-kicks. I sat there people watching while I ate the rest of Dan's chocolate-filled croissant and sipped on my Starbucks concoction, feeling maybe halfway guilty that I wasn’t stretching (but not guilty enough to put down the croissant).

Since I’d never run 3 miles before, Danny let me set the pace and we jogged the race together. I was actually somewhat surprised that we came in at the finish line around the 26 minute mark, because I felt like we were going slower than that. In my head I thought we were probably jogging a 10 min/mile pace, but it just goes to show that since I'm not a runner I really have no concept of "feeling my pace". All in all, it was pretty fun and I'm glad that we did it. Although I have zero interest in running regularly (I personally feel like that would be too hard on my body) or training for races, at least now I know that I am capable of running that distance if there are any causes that I want to support, or if friends or family ask me to join them.

Ok – signing off with a picture of Bailey (the Kings mascot)!

xox,

Bre

DIY: Bungalow Bag

2011-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

This adorable weekend tote was on my mom's project to-do list. For whatever reason, and however silly it is, I feel the need to complete some of her crafty projects that she was never able to finish. When I saw her notes for this bag, I immediately knew I wanted this to be the first of her projects. Well last weekend (after being out on loan for over 7 months) I finally got my sewing machine back and went to town. I thought it'd be fitting to use some of the leftover fabrics my momma gave me from the beautiful quilt she made for Dan and me (seen HERE). I love how it turned out, I love the ruching effect, and of course I love that it feels like it partly came from my mom too.

I'm look forward to carrying this around on weekends during Spring & Summer running to-and-fro. Now on to my next sewing project (I have so many it's hard to count, and hard to decide which to do next).

xox,

Bre

Desert Scene

2011-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

*taking a break & admiring the wind tunnels at Split Mountain*

THIS is where I spent my weekend - Enjoying the beautiful desert scenery while camping out with great friends. I just got home and am catching up on life, but more pictures will soon follow.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend also!

xox,

Bre

From my needles: DIY Knit Bench

2011-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is something that I actually finished quite some time ago. It's no secret I'm obsessed with knit furniture, so I came up with the idea of knitting a tweed-like bench to add to my etsy shop (it's not in my shop yet, still figuring out shipping methods/options). This bench turned out even more beautiful than I had imagined. I'm completely and utterly in love with it (and so is Dan) - so much so that I am making a longer 6 foot version (this bench here is 4 feet long) in different colors for our dining room. I'm a big fan of the rustic family-style dining look, and with the beautiful antiqued (i.e. passed down from generations) table we have from Dan's great-great something-or-other it should be a winning combination. Very excited to start my new project.

xox,

Bre

My Valentine

2011-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

*after our 53 mile Valentine's ride*

When asked what I wanted to do for Valentine's Day, I told my husband that I wanted to ride a 53 mile out-and-back beach ride (and of course have an excellent seafood dinner while sharing a bottle of wine!). Sometimes it amazes me that he goes along with my hair-brained ideas (it's not like we've every ridden anything close to that in one day before, I just figured we could handle it), but he did, and I'm so glad because it was so much fun. We bike 26.5 miles from Yorba Linda park to Huntington Beach and found a nice little spot to grab a beer and have lunch before heading back. Although this might not be the typical Valentine's, it's very us, and I wouldn't have changed a minute of the weekend.

Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's too!

xox,

Bre

Spring N Boots

2011-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

*BCBG boots & Forever 21 dress*

As mentioned in my post yesterday, I'm just craving for it to be Spring already. Flouncy florals, lighter-than-air blouses & frilly happy dresses - they are all screaming for me to wear them right now. So yesterday I caved in. I wore aflouncy floral dress with some little green suede boots - I figured it was a happy medium between the Winter and Spring. =)

xox,

Bre

My favorite polishes for Spring

2011-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

When it comes to nail polish, I'm an OPI addict. I love their colors (especially the matte ones) and I think the quality of the polish is excellent. During the past year I've sported insane bright colors during the Summer and dark moody tones for Fall/Winter (still one of my all time favorites is "You Don't Know Jacques" - it's my go-to color when I don't know what else to wear). I have about 12 different OPI bottles right now, but I can tell I'm in the mood for Spring because I'm really into soft, muted, blushes, tans, and creamy colors right now. Out of my little nail polish drawer, here are my top 5 colors I'm loving (in order from left-to-right, as shown above):

You Don't Know Jacques (like I said, I just love this color and I wear it year-round)

Tickle Me Francy

Grand Canyon Sunset (what I'm currently wearing this week)

Dulce de Leche

San Tan-tonio (part of OPI's newest Spring/Summer 2011 line of Texas-inspired polishes)

Got any favorites of your own that you just can't stop wearing?

xox,

Bre

Fluffy Philly Pretzels

2011-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

I pulled this recipe out of my binder a couple weeks ago to satisfy a salty/bready craving. I haven’t made these in a couple years, but boy oh boy did they do the trick. Just remember when making these that it is fresh bread without preservatives, meaning they really need to be gobbled up within one-day of making them (at my home, that was not a problem). This recipe yields about 2 dozen medium-sized pretzels, or 18 large pretzels.

Ingredients:

1 C. milk (I used 1% organic milk because this is what I keep around at home)

¼ C. brown sugar

¼ C. warm water

1 ½ tsp. yeast

3 C. flour (I used high-gluten flour to help my dough get even fluffier, but they will still turn out yummy with regular all-purpose flour).

3/8 tsp. baking powder

¾ T. salt

1 egg

1 T. water

1 T. coarse salt

Directions:

In a saucepan, heat milk just until bubbles form around the edge; remove from the heat and stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Meanwhile, combine warm water and yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes then add the cooled milk mixture. Add in ½ of the flour (creating a smooth, wet dough) and cover and set aside for 1 hour to rise.

Stir down the dough then gradually add the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt. Place on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Roll into a large rectangle (approx. 10” x 16”) and cut into ½” wide strips. Roll each strip into a rope and twist into large pretzels. Let rise another 1 hour.

Bring a large kettle of salted water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lower the pretzels gently into the boiling water for about 5 seconds. Then remove and place 2” apart on a greased baking sheet.

Beat egg and water and lightly brush the pretzel tops. Sprinkle with coarse salt (to taste) and bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Now Enjoy!

Bre

black tights

2011-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

American Apparel top, Lucca Couture skirt, Hue tights, unknown jewelry

In the Fall & Winter black tights are a serious wardrobe staple for me. I wear them to work at least once or twice a week, so needless to say I have several solid & patterned pairs. I love how opaque tights really expand my wardrobe (like this outfit I wore last week, shown above). Bare-legged I wouldn't quite feel comfortable wearing this skirt to work (I might worry that it is a little too short), but with tights it pulls together a more modest ensemble that I feel just fine wearing during 8 to 5. And even more so, the tights give a little extra edge to an otherwise ho-hum outfit.

xox,

Bre

Happy Friday!

2011-01-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm excited for it to be the weekend again. Last weekend was SO gorgeous I spent every minute outside. I spent Saturday at the beach (here), Sunday at a flea market (here), and Monday riding my bike around Newport Back Bay. While at the beach we spent a little time checking out the tide pools, and I managed to capture a funny moment of Mr. Crab coming out of his shell to say hello (see above). I can't wait to see what this weekend has in store - hope you enjoy yourself too!

Happy Friday!

Bre

Kitchen Experiments

2011-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Having a job where I now only work about 45 hours a week, has given me a new burst of energy to start doing all those things I never felt like I had time to do before. The past month or so I have been cooking and playing in the kitchen much more than my normal tired self (the past 3 years I've alwaysput together weekly dinner lists, but I've been trying new things more often now). I typically do not post food on my blog, because I don't really use recipes (I just cook what I want to cook - semi-mad scientist style), but I thought the colors from our canning project this weekend were so beautiful I wanted to share. So here's a couple snapshots of the peppers, carrots & onion mixture we canned this weekend (which we spiced up with the habaneros that we grew on our back patio).

xox,

Bre

Boy Meets Girl

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

wearing: thrifted sweater, bcbg maxazria skirt, anthropologie belt, nine west heels, vintage lace top & jewelry (the necklace was inherited from my grams).

When I go to flea markets I peruse BOTH the women's and little boys' clothing racks. Maybe I should be semi-ashamed to admit this, but hey, if the clothes fit and I like them then isn't that what vintage shopping/thrifting is all about? I'm just a unique kind of girl :)

This past weekend I found a fun little boys yellow sweater at the Melrose Trading Post and I fell in love with the buttons on it. I swooped it up (for a STEAL) and wore it to work yesterday, giving new life to my old duds. I loved the way the structured cable-knits contrast with this fun girly (and flouncy - something I hardly ever wear) skirt.

xox,

Bre

A little dark sparkle

2011-01-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got this beautiful ASOS top as an Xmas gift from one of my sisters-in-law. At first sight I instantly imagined myself wearing it with dark skinny pants (cropped right above the ankle), sky-high platforms, and my regular load of vintage jewelry. Now, I still think this would be a great look (if you see something and put an outfit together in your head in five seconds, you KNOW it’s good) - but I thought that look might be a little too va-va-voom for a regular work day. So as a more work-friendly option, I paired it yesterday with my high-waisted Theory pants and funky Isabella Fiore snakeskin pumps for a more sophisticated vibe.

xox,

Bre

Ode to the Chicago Dog...

2011-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

(pic taken by yours truly during my most recent trip to Chi-town)

Dear Chicago Dog,

You are absolutely UH-mazing! And what is with the way Chicago puts those tasty pickled peppers on everything? We like spicy in LA, why didn’t WE think of this? I think it’s time I come out and say it: I love you more than the LA Ghetto Dog. Now trust me...that means a lot. Yes, you’re both equally wrapped in glorious bacon, but the spicy peppers and mustard win me over everytime. But shhhh, please please, don’t tell LA.

xox,

Bre

Camel Love

2011-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have a soft spot for all animals, and a HUGE soft spot for silly ones. This usually translates into me not being able to say no when it comes to picking up crazy little animal curiosities for my home. Case in point - this adorable camel cookie jar. I spotted him at a flea market recently and knew he had to be in our home (Dan always tells me he wants a camel right?). Now he sits on our wine shelves and provides a great holding place for Dan’s collection of corks, until he decides what he actually wants to do with all of them.

xox,

Bre

Operation: Bring Desk to Life!

2011-01-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Brocade Magnetic Bulletin Board, $39.99 @ The Container Store

I decided today that my desk at my new job needs a dramatic makeover. At my last gig I never spent anytime in my office (because I was always out at clients) so my office pathetically consisted of just a desk and chair and one picture...just ONE lonely picture! Now that I will actually be sitting at the same desk for five days a week, I think it's time for that space to resemble me.

Of course, I need to decide on some pictures to hang up, but I've found the perfect place to put them already. I'm 100% loving the Brocade line of desk accessories at the Container Store, as evidenced above.

This Brocade Magentic Board is not only whimsical, but it serves a great purpose. I hate using thumbtacks and putting holes in pictures, so I love being able to use magnets when hanging up photos (I have a magnetic inspiration board at home for this reason).

See & Store Containers, $1.99 each @ The Container Store

I also think these See & Store Containers (which are magnetic) would be cool to put up on this board as well. It's a great fun way to keep paper clips (which my new Company LOVES - they don't staple anything) and binder clips within reach.

Brocade Pencil Cup, $4.99 @ The Container Store

I like the idea of the matching Brocade Pencil Holder too, but I also I think it's good to not go overboard on the matchy-matchy so I'll stop here. If you like these designs, there are plenty of other great Brocade desktop accessories (bins, magazine racks, etc) there too.

Also, a calendar is a must! I found a couple of cute mini-desk versions on Etsy as shown below (side note: Btw Amie, why don't you sell a calendar on your etsy shop? I'd think you could put together a really cute one with all the prints you've made in the past year. And this time of year is so perfect for selling them too!). I think I like the first one the most; that little hedgehog in August is just too cute.

Little Forest 2011 Mini Wall Calendar Limited Edition, $15 on Stephanie Fizer's Etsy Shop

2011 Winifred Studios Calendar, $24 on winifredStudios Etsy Shop

Now I need to find a couple of picture frames, and possibly decide on some cute bookends (I have some at home already that may workout).

xox,

Bre

Moving on from Skinnies

2010-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Spring 2011 looks from ADAM, Derek Lam, & Cynthia Rowley

I think today I almost quit skinny pants....well not completely. I'm not 100% over skinnies (I never will be), although this trend HAS been going for a long time, but right now I'm finding flared or loose pants to be so totally refreshing.

My epiphany started when I tried to go buy new work slacks todays (I was looking for skinnies and unfortunately they were all out of my size at the store). I ALWAYS feel like I need new pants, so I headed home and scoured through my closet to see what I could possibly find to hold me over until I could manage to find some skinnies in my size. To my surprise (and I'm a little embarrassed to admit) I found 6 pairs of flared/loose slacks that I've purchased over the past few years sitting in my closet with tags still on them. I guess over the years I've bought them (knowing that I totally needed them) and forgot/never-had-the-time to take them to get tailored. I couldn't believe it! So I tried them on (and yes they all need hemming because I'm only 5'3") but I'm totally feeling this silhouette again.

So off to the tailor I'll be heading and anxiously awaiting the return of my pants. To hold me over while I wait, I pulled up a couple of pictures from Spring 2011 collections shown above. Aren't these images totally refreshing compared to the squeezed-in pants we're so used to seeing everywhere right now?

I think I'm in love.

xox,

Bre

Ear Muffs??! Yes Please!

2010-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

When I think back to Winter time as a child I remember waiting for the school bus in the snow. My mom always made sure I was plenty bundled up, and in addition to the normal scarf, snow boots, and coat, she had me wear earmuffs too. I HATED those things!! I thought they were ridiculously nerdy and as soon as I got out of sight I would take them off and stuff them in my bookbag. But now, somehow (maybe since I'm not an awkward little girl with glasses anymore) I seem to kind of love them! I wouldn't wear them around So Cal, but I'm thinking of finding a pair to wear for skiing. My hats never really seem to keep my ears warm when I hit the slopes, but these adorable heart-shaped muffs would definitely do the trick!

Faux Fur Heart Shaped Earmuffs,£14.00Urban Outfitters (in Black)

Faux Fur Heart Shaped Earmuffs,£14.00Urban Outfitters (in Purple)

Heart Shaped Ear Muffs, $5.50 @ Forever 21

UGG Cardy Earmuffs, $86.20 @ ASOS (ok - now these ones are pretty pricey for earmuffs, but I like the cable-knit look and would just use this picture as inspiration to help me find something more affordable)

Hope you are bundling up this week! It's been raining constantly where I live!!

xox,

Bre

Belize in Black & White

2010-12-16T18:56:00.001-08:00

A picture speaks a thousand words - unfortunately I forgot to take TONS and TONS of pictures on our last trip (I'm still working on remembering to break out the camera more often). So the only pictures I really have from Belize are from us fishing, eating (of course!), and a couple of us being cheesy too (you have to do that every once in awhile you know!). So here's some of my favs, enjoy!

xox,

Bre

And.....we're back!

2010-12-13T20:35:00.001-08:00

*a pic of us from our recent travels*

The past month has been a whirlwind to say the least. I spent a week and a half in Chicago (one of my favorite cities) and then turned around and had a very very white Thanksgiving in Salt Lake City. Then I quit my job of 4.5 years and traveled with my husband to the Caribbean for some in-between-job adventure. We snorkeled the Caymans and enjoyed the beautiful white-sand beaches off the coast of Honduras (Honduras had some of the BEST snorkeling I've ever done). We tasted the local beers in Belize & Yucutan Peninsula (there's something about having the local beer & food that makes me feel connected to new cultures) and also went reef fishing with the locals and visited some gorgeous Mayan Ruins with an AWESOME AWESOME guide named Angel (I'll have to do a separate post for that one).

And now, we've FINALLY come back home to stay for a while. I'm totally exhausted, but incredibly satisfied and ready to start my new job and enjoy the holidays with good friends and family. Hopefully over the next few days I can post up some pics from my travels and get back to more regular postings.

For now the pic above is of my husband and me while in Belize. I'm so grateful to have added four more countries to our list of places that we have traveled together. It slightly satisfied my desire to travel, but of course, it also left me wanting more :)

Hope you all had a fabulous Turkey Day and that you're enjoying the holiday season.

xox,

Bre

The LONG Black Dress

2010-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Simple, elegant, and amazing. Olivia Wilde looks stunning in this floor-length (but not over the top) black gown. I'm totally in love with this look and would totally wear this...if I had some place to wear it to. :)

xox,

Bre

photos courtesy of J!-ENT

Vote: Crazy or Cool?

2010-11-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Spotted via Planet Blue's blog (click here). They are socks, but kind of like shoes on the bottom too? I have to say I kind of adore them for lounging at home. Maybe I will treat myself to some of these as stocking stuffers for Xmas. :)

What do you think?

xox,

Bre

photos via Planet Blue (as linked above)

Yosemite Fall v. Summer

2010-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

*us with Half Dome in the back - Fall 2010*

I mentioned in a post last week that the colors in Yosemite this time of year were really beautiful. I was browsing through some of my pictures from our trip today and thought I'd share this one as a perfect example. It's a classic "us in front of Half Dome" picture, but the colors are far different from the photos I took of Half Dome three years ago in the Summer time (see below). Both equally beautiful, but I wouldn't have missed out on either experience (Fall vs Summer)!

*Half Dome - same meadow in Yosemite as shown above but from Summer 2007*

Hope you had a great weekend! I spent mine catching up with some great friends - it had just been far too long.

xox,

Bre

My Favs from Lanvins for H&M

2010-11-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

*coat love - on a side note I have a serious obsession with coats and jackets that probably isn't healthy*

*j'adore these dresses and those red red shoes!*

These are some of my favorites from the Lanvin for H&M collection launching November 20th. The women's pieces range from $149 to $349 (dresses at the lower end, with coats at the higher end) and shoes all being $99. Very fun collection and the video is quirky too (google it, you won't be disappointed). A few of those coats I could wear repeatedly; however, I'm not sure I'll be spluring for any of those dresses. They are wonderful - but so unique that I wouldn't feel like I couldn't wear them very often. If I could score shoes or that tee paired with the fur (faux?) coat in the first picture, I'd consider myself one lucky girl (even luckier if I scored the coats but I don't see myself actually buying them - if I bought everything I drooled over I'd be living in a cardboard box. lol.).

Have any favorites of your own?

xox,

Bre

photos courtesy of H&M

Mirror Lake

2010-11-03T17:50:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween weekend we did something totally different; instead of heading to the usual costume party extravaganza, Danny surprised me by booking a camping trip to Yosemite National Park (one of our favorite places!). This time of year Yosemite was much much less crowded than usual and the oak leaves were starting to turn golden colors. All in all, it was pretty beautiful, but also pretty chilly! We were bundled up all weekend, but after biking up a really steep hill to Mirror Lake on Saturday we actually got hot enough to take off our heavy duty ski jackets for a few minutes and take some pictures.

We tent camped, which not many people were doing this time of year because of the cold (had it been 10 or 15 degrees colder we wouldn't have been tent camping either), but if you have ever thought about going to Yosemite during the off season I would highly reccomend it. If you're worried about being too cold, RV camping is always an option and there are plenty of cabins available too.

Here are the first couple of pictures from my trip. Hope you enjoy!

xox,

Bre

Jackets I'm Craving

2010-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Levi's Ribbed Faux Leather Bomber Jacket, $138 via Urban Outfitters*

1) Dying for a motorcycle jacket. Every Fall for the past few years I've tried one on but it hasn't fit JUST right so I pass it up. I saw this one in the store at Urban while Xmas shopping the other day and was dying to try it on and see if I would fit better in the XS or S...but since I was shopping for others and I'm trying to save money I passed it on by.

*Golden Fleece Bolero, $158 via Anthropologie*

2) Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle. For quite some time, I've been on the hunt for a beautiful sequin jacket that doesn't look too over-the-top tacky - a hard balance to find. Instead of sequins, I also so this puppy while xmas shopping and just about fell over and died (looks much better in person, and the texture is soft and like a crushed velvet almost). So GORGEOUS SO GORGEOUS - and I'm not usually a HUGE Anthro kind of girl (I'm more of the Urban type). I would die for this and could see myself wearing it a million different ways, but I think you get the point...moving on.

3) Balmain Brocade. This one is still on my DIY list and I actually have the fabric for it. Just with my weekends being so overloaded and so many projects for my shop, I haven't had time to get to it. I won't forget about you Balmain, I'm still super obsessed (as blogged HERE).

I'll leave it at that for now...someday maybe one or two of these will sit in my closet?

xox,

Bre

One Word: AWESOME

2010-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

I love everything about this photo: The bike, the outfit, and the fact that this woman fearlessly rides that little bike in extra high, baby blue, wedge booties. I don't know you, but something tells me we'd get along just fine. :)

xox,

Bre

p.s. - If you haven't noticed I have a MAJOR thing for bicycles as blogged HERE and HERE.

Image found via thevoguediaries.com

Slouchy Crop Tops

2010-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

*As Is American Flag Crop Top, $48 from Planet Blue*

I often wish I could wear more casual clothes on a daily basis - especially when cold weather rolls around it just seems extra nice to be in comfy clothes. Lately on my weekends I've been living in slouchy tees like some of these featured from Planet Blue. Slouchy tees are just so comfortable and freeing compared to my everyday clothes; I just can't get enough of it right now so don't be surprised if you see me wearing a lot of slouchy tees and jeans this season as a stark contrast to all of the dresses I wore this past Summer. Toning it down and bundling up!

*Patterson J. Kincaid Barbara Top, $88 via Planet Blue*

*Stylestalker Jellyfish Top, $70 via Planet Blue*

xox,

Bre

p.s. This post reminds me it's been a LONG time since I've thrown in an outfit post - will have to post something soon.

images courtesy of Planet Blue

Bungalow Mondays: Tromp L'oeil Leather Tufted Walls

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Kapyton Pure White Leather Wallpaper, $59 per roll via Couture Decor*

I love tufted furniture and walls, so when my husband sent me a link to this tromp l'oeil wallpaper the other day I thought it was super cool. The wallpaper looks exactly like tufted leather, and apparently (per the website) itis made "with superior-quality paper, with a grain leather touch & feel." So it even FEELS like leather? How awesome is that? It comes in a few different colors (white, grey, chocolate, red, and pink), but I think I'm partial to the white (super modern but traditional at the same time). What do you think?

*Kapyton Grey Leather Wallpaper, $69 per roll viaCouture Decor*

*close-up of grey*

*Kapyton Chocolate Leather Wallpaper, $69 per roll via Couture Decor*

Hope you had a great weekend!

xox,

Bre

all images courtesy of Couture Decor

Three Generations in a Jacket

2010-10-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Beth, Sandi, and Breanna (me) - all in our mid-to-late twenties*

Here's my grandma, mom, and me all around the same age. I don't know where Grams was going in that awesome coat, but I know the picture of my mom was taken while she was working at NBC studios. When I look at pictures of my mom or grandma when they were my age, I'm always so amazed at how much older they looked than I do now. Not in a "wow they are old" way, but in a "wow - they were just so much more sophisticated and refined" way. Sometimes I wonder if my generation has lost that touch. Casual is good, but sometimes I think our over-casualness has made us lose part of our voice as a generation (a lost source to express ourselves). Or maybe it's actually really just more proof of the general apathy we feel these days.

Either way though, I'm pretty sure even if I looked more put together like they did, it still somehow wouldn't be as wonderful. Big shoes to fill and little tiny feet, lol. Maybe someday, but for now I just take who I am in stride.

Thinking of you always Momma & Grams,

Bre

Team Mondo 100%

2010-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

With the first part of the Project Runway finale coming up this week I have to confess that I'm 100% team Mondo this year. So far I've really enjoyed this season and it's been one of the best in a long while (maybe it's the new 1.5hr format or the fact that they are back in New York...who knows). Mondo is certainly a quirky one when it comes to his own style (who knows where he gets the ideas for some of his little outfits), but I love love how it translates on the runway.

I think Mondo is fun and colorful and has a young/fresh perspective. No boring GRAMPA sweaters here! And while he might not have the most refined and sophisticated style (a la Gretchen - I confess her velvet-feather haute couture dress was AMAZING! I just wish she would work on that attitude!), he is certainly fashion-forward all the way! And as if we didn't love him enough, I also found his HIV "positive" print and confession to be genuine and touching. Glad to see you feeling free Mondo! Can't wait to see what you've come up with for the big show (I've been avoiding all photos of the Project Runway finalists from Fashion Week).

Who are you cheering on for the finale?

xox,

Bre

photos courtesy of mylifetime.com

Lanvin for H&M: photo leaked

2010-10-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

I know many fashionista around the world have been waiting to see a glimpse of the Lanvin for H&M collection (in stores next month). One of the photos for the ads was leaked by thefashionspot.com (see above) and it's just not enough for me to decide how I feel yet. I need to see more please!

I will just have to wait and see the lookbook when it is officially released, but this little teaser has me wanting to see the full line-up so I can decide if it will be a fabulous spin-off or not. Any thoughts on it yourself?

xox,

Bre

The poufs have arrived!

2010-10-17T21:34:00.001-07:00

*redBaby pouf & redMomma pouf, $32 and $185, respectively*

I've been pretty excited about these sculptural poufs and couldn't help but share. Those of you who have followed my blog from the very beginning may remember THIS post where I talk about my inspiration for opening my own etsy shop. My first shop item was my square ottomans, but I finally FINALLY made my prototypes for my round POUF version! When I decided to make round poufs, I started with a small prototype (just to get my proportions) but I ended up falling in love with the mini version. It's just so darn cute! So I decided to include both the large (redMomma) version of the pouf and the small (redBaby pouf) version to my shop. The names for the poufs have sort of a double meaning. I wanted to call the larger one momma and the smaller one baby, but after I named them I realized that all of my friends growing up used to call my mom "Red Momma" and it just sort of fit perfectly. She was so proud of me for starting my little knit shop and I think she would have loved to have been around to see these too. This ones for you cute lil momma; you are the inspiration for all my creativeness.

I'm very excited and hope you enjoy them too. I'm offering them in all my standard colors (shown here). Happy Bungalow Monday!

xox,

Bre

denimocracy

2010-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

I found a new love: denimocracy. Their clothes are hot rock n' roll meets totally comfy pants...seriously you may not believe me but it's true. While these aren't the "everyday" kind of jeans, they are fun for weekends and nights out. The price range is pretty decent too at approx. $80 a pop. So if you're looking for some fun rocker jeans and want to support what appears to be a small-up-and-coming business, check them out HERE!

xox,

Bre

pictures courtesy of denimocracyusa.com

Wedding Photo Booth

2010-10-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

*us in the photo booth at Stephen & Lindsey's wedding. I'm in the center and Dan is next to me with the goggles*

Photo booths at weddings were definitely not a "thing" back when I got married 6 years ago. They are super popular right now and I can totally see why. The wedding I went to this weekend had one and it was so much fun. A lot of candid shots....of course a lot of them are courtesy of excess beer and champagne, but fun nonetheless. If anyone is planning a wedding in the near future (or maybe just dreaming about one far off) and you are considering a photo booth I would definitely say "DO IT!".

*he's crazy, but I love him. lol.*

xox,

Bre

Wedding Weekend

2010-10-11T11:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! I had an unexpectedly awesome and fun weekend, and am still a little tired from it all. We went to a wedding in Redlands, CA this weekend and here's a quick picture of what I wore. Marc Jacobs dress, velvet platforms, amethyst earrings, and a vintage clock ring. The wedding was tons of fun...will post a few more pics later.

What did you to this weekend?

xox,

Bre

Malibu-bu Part Two-two

2010-10-07T07:39:00.001-07:00

*during our hike to the MASH site*

*Century Lake*

*us with our deer friends in the background*

While in Malibu we also camped at Malibu Creek State Park and went for some beautiful day hikes. I have tons of great pictures but unfortunately I just didn't have time to resize a bunch of them for my blog (it's pretty time consuming), but I thought I'd just post a couple from our longest day hike and a couple of us hanging out with our deer friends. :)

*those deers almost look like they are givingEskimokisses!*

Enjoy!

Bre

Malibu-bu Beach

2010-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember that TV show Mailbu Shores with Keri Russel? I mean I don't think it even lasted a full season before it got pulled off the air, but ever since my sisters and I saw those few episodes we can't just say "Malibu". Everytime we say the word it's "Malibu-bu". Anyway, a little while back the man and I spent the weekend in Malibu-bu and here's a couple pics from the beach. It was beautiful weather and overall a perfect way to spend the weekend with our toes in the sand.

Maybe someday Danny I'll find enough money to buy you that boat!

*I thought this was funny. After I uploaded the picture of Dan, I noticed you could totally see me taking the picture of him in his very reflective sunglasses.*

xox,

Bre

DIY (Faux) Fur Vest

2010-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Several posts back I ranted and raved over Chanel's 2010 Fall/Winter collection. I immediately became obsessed with the fur vibe and decided I needed to make a fur coat for myself. Well, seeing as I live in Southern California, it just never gets cold enough to need a full-on fur coat (just a little overkill), so instead I decided to make a vest.

While fur is a little bit of a challenge to work with, I'm pretty happy with how the vest turned out. Now the only thing is I have leftover faux fur and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Maybe make a small fur capelet? A crazy shaggy handbag? I don't think anyone else I know would actually wear faux fur so I don't think I could make something for somebody else...Any suggestions?

xox,

Bre

p.s. - Since I've been making clothing without using patterns, I've decided I need an adjustable dress form. I spend too much time trying to pin fabric together and then try it on, when it would be WAY easier to drape the fabric over a dress form that has been adjusted to my measurements. Something else to add to the list of things I want to buy, but since I'm in "saving for a house" mode I don't think I'll get around to it any time soon.

Summer is Officially Over

2010-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well it came and went just like that. I kept waiting for some kind of Indian Summer, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. Time to pack up the swimsuits (that hardly went to the beach this summer) and bring on the faux fur, booties, and perfectly tailored jackets. Bring it on Fall - I'm ready for you!

xox,

Bre

Love Love Luca Luca

2010-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of words necessary here, I think the clothes speak for themselves. Luca Luca Spring 2011 = GORGEOUS. I would wear anything from that top row any day of the week.

xox,

Bre

Hello Gorgeous!

2010-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Meet what could possibly be one of my favorite love affairs this Fall...It's not totally done yet (a work in process on the sewing machine as we speak) but I'm oooo-ing and awww-ing over the fabric so I thought I'd share. Just a sneak peek (was too excited to wait for the final product), but results to come later. :)

xox,

Bre

Fashion Week Favs Part 2: Jenny Packham

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jenny Packham was the ultimate in fresh Spring metallics. A constant theme in the show was dashes of silver and shimmer laid on top of nude fabrics (keeping the look sophisticated and light instead of bedazzled and heavy). Kind of hard not to fall in love with these floor-length gowns don't you think? Oh, and don't even get me started on the jumpsuit, like I said yesterday I've got a serious craving for one now. Do you think 5'3" is too short to be able to pull one off?

Happy Friday ladies!

xox,

Bre

photos courtesy of Imaxtree

Fashion Week Favs Part 1: Cynthia Steffe & Rebecca Taylor

2010-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

*from the Cynthia Steffe Spring 2011 collection*

I know it will take me a few separate posts to show some of my favorites from the Spring 2011 New York Fashion Week, but here goes my first round to Rebecca Taylor and Cynthia Steffe (from Day 3 or 4). Rebecca Taylor just has a talent for dressing women in the most feminine and beautiful way (see below for the proof: the gorgeous floral prints, that green belted dress, and I adore that flowing red dress because somehow it reminds me of my momma). I've always adored her collections and only own two pieces from her, but they are classics that will never leave my closet (you've seen one of them HERE).

*Rebecca Taylor Spring 2011*

Oh! And did I mention Rebecca Taylor opened her show with that amazing floral jumpsuit? God help me but these jumpsuits are really really growing on me and I'm starting to crave the ability to wear these in my day-to-day life (as a CPA, rest assured I could NEVER show up to work in this *sigh* but I can still dream).

I really enjoyed Cynthia Steffe's collection this year as well for the beautiful fabrics and feminine feel, but I also enjoyed her use of color. A lot of the Spring shows I looked through had very mild palettes, and it was a joy to see her use such strong color (I loved Marc Jacobs for the same reason).

*Cynthia Steffe Spring 2011*

xox,

Bre

photos courtesy of Imaxtree

confessions from the dressing room...

2010-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok. So not the best picture ever but I totally stalked this dress and was too excited about it! I snapped this pic from my blackberry to send to my good buddy Tracy who helped me hunt this thing down.

The backstory: Have you ever had a moment where you saw a dress in a store and you suddenly knew that dress is oh so you and you HAD to have it? That's how the stalking of this dress started. I saw it in the store front at H&M on themannequinand immediately walked inside looking for the dress. They were all of out my size on the rack so I asked a sales associate about it. Apparently this dress is part of the very hard to get H&M Trend line (if you haven't heard of it, the Trend line is H&M's higher quality, higher priced, but also more amazing line). Most H&M Trend items are hard to get ahold of and they don't even sell them at a lot of the H&M stores. The sales associate told me that out of all the H&M's in So. Cal this dress was only being sold at my local store (South Coast Plaza), Beverly Hills, and Glendale. He called around and they happened to be out of my size at all of those locations. In a moment of desparation I looked at the tag from the dress on the mannequinn: SIZE 2!

Yes! It's my size!...but not so fast, they told me they aren't allowed to take anything off the mannequinns until H&M has told them they can change the front windows (something about a very strict policy on what needs to be displayed in the store front). I was basically told: Sorry you're out of options right now, but that they would be changing the displays soon so check back again later. So I came back to the store later in the week to see if they had switched out the front display, hoping this dress would have been placed back on the regular racks...nope, not yet.

Then I went back the following week and they still hadn't switched it out. I asked one of the sales associates about it again and she told me they could reserve the dress for me and I would be given a call once they took it off the mannequin (apparently this is a standard practice! they even had a specific binder at the register for this to reserve clothing on the mannequins, why hadn't the guy mentioned it to me before? Obviously I was in LOVE with this dress!). Anyway, long story short...too late....she looked in the book and somebody else had already reserved it, but she told me to call back the next day at 1pm and if the other person hadn't picked it up yet they would give it to me (wink, wink).

So I called the next day right at 1pm and they had it available! yes! With all this effort I was really hoping the dress would fit me right, I ran over to the store and here's the result! Sorry, such a long story but I really love this dress. It has the tiniest shoulder pad to give a little pouf on the sleeves, and it's perfectly tailored (I love the paneling on the sides), and I even like the zipper up the back.

This dress totally turned me into a stalker, but it was well worth it. I'm sure I will wear this with every chance I get. :)

Now please tell me I'm not totally crazy and you've seriously obsessed over something like this before too. Well ok, yeah I know I was a women obsessed...I couldn't even enjoy looking at any other dress until I knew I had this one. We all have our moments right?

xox,

Bre

Tucker for Target

2010-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another round of a designer collaboration with Target, and so far I'm liking what I see. Gaby Basora's new Tucker for Target lookbook has a little safari-girl-meets-gorgeous-prints feel and I can only hope the construction is good enough to justify a few purchases here or there (we all know sometimes these designer collabs have great lookbooks and then we are disappointed by poor construction when we see the garments in the store).

I love the full-on grey jumpsuit as an editorial piece (don't think I could wear it in real life) and that adorable orange shirt dress screams SUMMER! The herringbone coat looks amazing too, but I think this collection looks mostly like great inexpensive pieces to pick up for resort wear...any great vacations coming up? Might want to stop on by and check it out in person - it will be at Target until October 17th. I'll keep my fingers crossed that these look great in person too. :)

xox,

Bre

pictures courtesy of Target

Bowler hats are the new fedoras

2010-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since I saw the Zac Posen for Target line (as blogged about HERE) I've had quite a crush on darling little bowler hats. While I still adore fedoras (I have 2 of them at home and still wear them on weekends on a regular basis), I think mixing in my little red bowler hat is a nice and refreshing option. Plus this thing is a vintage beauty (from the 1940's) and everyone knows I'm such a sucker for vintage. :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

xox,

Bre

Current Obsession: Sparkle sparkle sparkle

2010-09-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in love with hints of sparkle here and there to shake things up a bit for Fall. I especially love the way metallic nails offset the somber colors of Fall to give the perfect combo of sophisticated and fun. I've been sporting super metallic nails all week (see above, I'm wearing Milani Disco Lights) and I've been loving it, so I thought I'd share a couple quick tips on how to wear them:

1) If you're going to have crazy sparkly nails you should probably have a relatively monochromatic or simple outfit. This week I've been sporting all black, off-white, and camel colored ensembles with the Disco nails above. Let the nails be the star of the show here!

2) Keep the nails short. If you want to avoid being too over-the-top (and looking like you get paid by the hour on the street corner) then keep your nails trimmed nice and neat too. Super long nails can take this look from sophisticated fun to drag queen in an instant.

And Voila! There you have it. Some beautiful sparkle to add a bit of fab to the somber colors of Fall and Winter. Now of course I have a lot of pink in my complexion so I steer clear of the super golden metallics, but if that suits your skin tone better than rock that as often as possible. :)

xox,

Bre

Enter in the Food Porn

2010-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA for awhile, but this weekend was well worth it. I spent most of my time stuffing my face with unbelievable homemade food and laying by the pool while drinking and swimming like a fish. I thought I'd spare you having to see a pic of me in a bikini and give you a glimpse of food porn instead. Among the many wonderful things we ate this holiday weekend (homemade meatsauce & meatballs, sliders, sumac coated bbq chicken, homemade ice cream, etc) here is the only thing I actually took a photo of: rustic pizza made with fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato....simple but amazing. Did I mention we made the dough with the starter we've had in the fridge for over 1 year now? It's definitely nice and sour, and oh so delectable. My husband has become quite the fabulous bread maker with this yummy starter...I realize every time he makes bread, just how lucky I am to have a man that's great in the kitchen.

What did you do with your holiday weekend? Whatever it was, I hope you had a great time and aren't having too much trouble getting back to the grind.

xox,

Bre

Bungalow Mondays: LIME GREEN Moment

2010-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back my husband and I randomly decided to stop in a local thrift store. The shop had a huge 30% off EVERYTHING sign, so we figured we might as well check it out. Well it didn't take long for us to both fall in love with this incredibly amazing (and completely unnecessary) lime green Queen Anne chair.

We both wanted it, and started contemplating whether or not we could really justify the purchase. We don't have room for it where we live right now, but it's just an amazing piece and is in really great shape and is accompanied by a great price tag (sounds like a triple threat to me!). We finally just said "We want this! Even if we can't use it until we move into a house we are going to buy it and figure it out later!!"

So now we have this gorgeous chair sitting at home (which reminds me it still needs a good cleaning from me). At first we had talked about getting the chair reupholstered, but now the more and more we look at it the more bitchin we find the lime green. We have all the time in the world to figure out what we are going to do, and realstically can't even decide before we actually move, but what do you think? Are you smitten with the lime green too? :)

xox,

Bre

Flashback + Confession: Who Wears Bike Shorts?

2010-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Where to start with this one...I guess with the confession part: I have been seeing cycling shorts on some European runways for Spring 2011 and I really must admit I adore this look to pieces. The reason you might ask? It reminds me of all the bike shorts my mom used to sew for me when I was a little girl. When I was about 4 years old I remember having these wonderful turquoise bike shorts with black polka dots (and my two sisters had matching ones too) and I wore them constantly. I loved them and wish I could find pictures of me in them, but unfortunately my parents had a flooding incident awhile back and a lot of my childhood pictures went out with the water; however, the memories remain ingrained in my mind. Maybe the lack of photos from my childhood increases the nostalgia I feel from fashion itself, but I just can't help but look at bike shorts and smile and think of my beautiful momma and the many things she used to sew for me.

So hate the bike shorts if you must, but don't shun me for loving them because I will most certainly be wearing them as street wear in the months to come. I already workout in bike shorts so it's not a huge stretch for me to incorporate them into my normal weekend wear. I guess I should say right here that the right styling is incredibly important to pull off bike shorts so it's not sooo "just coming back from the gym". The use of these shorts throughout Stylein's Spring 2011 collection is the perfect example. The show was sprinkled with beautiful flowy blouses with delicate (even sheer) bike shorts. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

What do you think?

xox,

Bre

All photos from Stylein's Spring 2011 show. First and last photo courtesy of Mercedes Benz Fashion & middle photo credit to Andy Torres from Style Scrapbook

A Short Story About a Shoe

2010-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

*my version*

*Balmain version*

Do you ever find a shoe so amazing you know you'll just love it forever? A couple years ago I found these beautiful black-ruffled pumps a la Carrie Bradshaw (remember the episode when Miranda's water breaks on Carrie's sexy shoes?). I've been smitten with these shoes and to say I wear them often might be an understatement. Well a couple weeks back I saw a peek at one of the shoes from Balmain's line this Fall and what do you know, it certainly looks like my black-ruffled shoes. And you can bet I did NOT pay a Balmain price for these beauties, which makes it ever more exciting.

One of those rare moments of extreme shoe-phoria. :)

Any great looks for less of your own lately?

xox,

Bre

Bungalow Mondays

2010-08-23T08:13:00.001-07:00

Every year around this time I start cruising online (usually on redfin) looking for homes in the area. I tell myself maybe NEXT Summer we will actually be buying a house. Well this year, I actually believe myself that next Summer we will start looking for a home. We won't be in any rush, we want to make sure we buy exactly what we want, but since I'm re-excited about the prospects of a house within the next year or two I've started adding photos again to my "future home" folder I keep on my computer.

So this is just a little warning, that you may start seeing more home-inspired posts on this blog (like you used to when I first started this thing). I think I will start a weekly post called Bungalow Mondays to put the "bungalow" back in redBungalow. Hopefully you won't mind. :)

For today I'm leaving you with one of my favorite tablescapes to get my mind rolling on all things that I LOVE about a home. Hopefully you will find this inspiring too.

Hope you had a great weekend!

xox,

Bre

image courtesy of Skona Hem

To see a post of how I recreated this look for less, click through to THIS POST HERE!

Closet Series: Hat Corner

2010-08-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

Several posts back I promised to show you my closet "solution". For many of us that live in teeny tiny apartments or urban spaces, our closets just aren't big enough for everything we need to shove in there. So in addition to my built-in closet, a month ago or so, my husband and I finally added on to our closet space by putting up a closet system along two of the walls in our bedroom. I have to say it has been quite a success. Although my shoe racks are full to the max (if I get one more pair I will be out of room again), it is nice to have a lot of our belongings out in a well-lit (thanks to my hubby's industrial light DIY!) and organized space.

Instead of making one large post of my closet, I thought it best to show it in pieces (a mini-series, if you will) so it's not so overwhelming for me to take pictures. Today I'm starting off my closet series with my hat racks. If you know me personally, or have seen my outfit posts, you know I'm a little bit quirky and I love myself a fabulous hat (especially if it is vintage). Instead of having my hats piled on top of each other in a bin (that was my old solution) we added racks so I can see them and reach them easily. I still keep my knit hats in a bin, but these hooks work wonderfully for my bulkier hats.

What do you think?

Stay tuned for the next piece, although I haven't decided yet what it will be. :)

*lace fedora*

*vintage Sonni of California hat - this is from the 1950's and I bought it in pristine condition with the original price tags still on it*

*top hooks: vintage 1940's red Neumann Endler wool bowler hat & brown Panama-style hat.

bottom hooks: fuzzy black beret & pinstripe cap (this one reminds me of my gramps because he used to wear caps like this every single day with suspenders too!)*

xox,

Bre

Wild Child

2010-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Dolce & Gabbana Fur Miss Sicily bag*

*Balenciaga Crocodile large papier tote*

*Christian Dior Faux-Fur and Lambskin Libertine*

*VBH Pellicano bag in tiger-printed Cavallino*

*Versace crocodile hinge bag*

Lately I've been having a bit of an animal moment. While I don't own any fur (and I'm talking FAUX fur here) and not THAT much animal print...I'm really having a Faux Fur moment and have an itch to satisfy it.

Oh! And on top of the faux fur craving, if somebody could get me that gorgeous Balenciaga bag I'd think I've died and gone to heaven.

Somebody help me :)

xox,

Bre

Dim Sum Plum + Readers' Input

2010-08-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

This stripey dress gets some major mileage. I've worn it a million times in about a million different ways (worn here as a top but also seen HERE as a full dress). I'm pretty sure I'll wear this dress to the ground long before my love for it dies.

On other topics I have a question for my readers. I've been thinking about doing a little blog makeover and had thought of adding an "outfits" tab on the top toolbar so readers can click through to browse through some of the outfits I've posted. My question to you as my reader: Is this something you would like? Do you even like my outfit posts or do you skip over them? Would you like to see them more often? As a fashion-lover, I like the idea of having a style journal with pictures of my day-to-day style and how it evolves over time (instead of just snapshots of me at parties and events). Since I like the idea of seeing my daily wear, I'd be up to post more outfit photos (maybe a few times a week), but I'm not sure if that would bore my readers (and it's still something I'm getting used to, so it feels a bit vain posting pictures of myself everyday unless other people actually want to see it). So what do you think? Your thoughts are welcome (even if you don't like the outfit posts that's fine too, just don't be TOO mean about it please). :)

Thanks for your input!

xox,

Bre

outfit credit:

Dress worn as top - H&M

Skirt - Diane Von Furstenburg

Shoes - ASOS

Sunglasses - RayBan

Handbag - vintage

Jewelry - Peugeot watch, vintage Seiko watch, and others unknown.

Nails - OPI Dim Sum Plum. I included this one just in case you were wondering where I got the name for today's post. :)

Sequoia 2010

2010-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

*View from the trail to Mist Falls*

On this blog I'm usually swooning and babbling about girlie stuff: dresses, boots, shoes of all sorts, jackets I'd kill for, the perfect denim leggings, to-die-for handbags....but on this occasion I'd like to take a moment to remind you that I'm not all glam all the time. Although I love fashion and clothes to no end, I am also a big outdoor junkie at heart. So instead of fashion-talk today, I thought I'd post a few pictures from my trip to Sequoia National Park last weekend.

We had a great time relaxing with some great friends and even squeezed in a 9 mile hike one day to Mist Falls. And *wow shocker* I'm in sneakers and DIY cutoff shorts and a dirty old tank... :) Just something you'll have to deal with in these photos; I'm allowed to have my off days. So excuse my down and dirty self, and enjoy the beautiful nature pics.

Have any exciting plans coming up this weekend yourself? Have fun and be safe wherever your adventures take you.

*Laina, Nick, me, and Dan about 5 miles in to the hike*

*Mist Falls*

*My love and me*

*Back at camp*

*mmmmmm bacon!*

*Burgers are extra tasty over real mesquite charcoal*

xox,

Bre

Fall Bootie Call

2010-08-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

*Balmain lace-up ankle boots*

UH-MAZING! I'll keep this short and just let the shoes do the talking. My little tootsies are dying for to wear some boots. I wore THESE wonderfully-priced, gray ankle booties this week and it's got my feet in an uproar for more! Ready to forego flat sandals for awhile and stomp around town in boots! Unfortunately I don't really own any heeled boots (just booties because I'm so picky about BOOTS boots) so these are my little inspiration pieces to give me the courage to hunt down some real BOOTS boots this Fall.

*Balmain Panther Suede Boot - a little on the wild side but with minimalist clothing, I think something like this could be worn wonderfully*

*Reed Krakoff Lace-Up Canvas Boots with Crocodile Trim - a bit masculine/military but I still dig them*

xox,

Bre

Fall Fever: Currently in LOVE with Balmain

2010-08-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

*Balmain Fall 2010*

I know it's not Fall yet, but I can't help myself from perusing through the Fall collections in hopes of the months to come. It started with my excitement over the Artic women in Chanel's collection (blogged HERE) and now I'm really swooning over Balmain's collection full of metallics, exuberant detailing (I adore the brocade and beautiful prints on these jackets...reminds me of the Christian Weber blazer I adore so much worn HERE) and of course I'm a HUGE lover of all things blazers and jackets so I was spellbound by the gorgeous coats in this collection!

Designer Christophe Decarnin definitely went "Baroque 'n' roll" this season and I'm head over heels about it. I adore the strong shoulders in this collection and it reminds me that I have a couple of 80's blouses from my mom with sharp shoulders that I'm itching to throw into my Fall rotation (I'm so sentimental about everything from my mom and it feels wonderful to be able to wear a little piece of her with me).

There are a couple months to go before it actually gets chilly at all here in So Cal, but I just can't help myself I have Fall Fever. :)

Any Fall items your craving?

xox,

Bre

p.s. Oh! And of course I love the long-sleeved mini dresses for Fall! That is a great happy medium for us So. Cal girls. :) I obviously cannot afford Balmain, but I may have to attempt a DIY of these mini dresses. Now of course this means I need a place/occasion to wear it this Winter. Any suggestions?

all images courtesy of Firstview.com

Touch of (Rose) Gold

2010-08-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

During Winter I tend to haul around an oversized bag on a day-to-day basis. The only time I seem to switch it out for a smaller bag is for a night out (for some reason a large bag just seems to agree with the somber mood of Winter). But in the Summer I've notice more often than not, I'll snatch the most important items out of my big bag (wallet, blackberry, sunglasses, chapstick) and slip them into a smaller, more playful, bag. This is one of the many whimsical bags I've been sporting around this Summer. I'm on a rose gold kick, and this bag seems to be the perfect accessory to fit that craving.

xox,

Bre

p.s. You may notice this is hanging off the post from my new closet system. I promise one day I'll take full pictures. :)

Leavin' This Town: Black & White Edition

2010-08-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

*ready to hike on out of here!*

Here's my take on my most beloved & classic combo: Black & White. Simple and amazing, all at the same time. :)

I have a fun-filled weekend planned to get back in touch with nature! What could be more exciting than some outdoor play with some great friends? Any exciting plans of your own this weekend?

xox,

Bre

p.s. The detailing on that jacket is superb! I really wish you could see it in person to truly appreciate the fine craftsmanship. It feels like butter on my skin. :)

outfit credit

Blazer - Christian Weber

Dress - Kenneth Cole

Shoes - Michael Kors

Belt - unknown

necklace - my mother's 80's locket.

sunglasses - Anon

Men's Watches + Closet Update

2010-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Peugeot men's watch*

Last week in THIS post, I promised you pictures this week of my newly revamped closet. Well unfortunately I've barely been home, and just haven't had time to take pictures of everything. So I apologize, this will be postponed to next week. Instead, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of one of the collections in my closet. My tiny, but lovable collection of men's watches. I mentioned yesterday in THIS post that I really adore men's accessories (men's sunglasses & men's watches). I feel sometimes they are higher quality and more timeless than women's pieces.

*Giorgio Milano - I bought this for my husband right before rose gold became the new THING for men's watches. Got Lucky with that one.*

My obsession with men's watches started last Christmas when I bought this beautiful rose gold Giorgio Milano watch for my husband. Since then I've borrowed it a handful of times and I've purchased another two men's watches. The greatest thing about these is that these are accessories that I can actually share with my husband! The Peugeot watch isn't really his style, but he loves the blue Invicta. Who doesn't love an Invicta watch? The pictures here certainly don't do it justice, but in person the mother of pearl face on it is gorgeous!

*Invicta Mother of Pearl watch with blue leather bands*

So there's my thought for the day. If you have a man at home, men's accessories are a great little investment for you both. :)

xox,

Bre

Hello Yellow!

2010-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was feeling a bit casual and retro today (and a little spunky too!). I threw on a bright yellow tee, stole my man's watch (I have a thing for men's accessories, they are just somehow more timeless than women's) and hopped on out for another day at the grind. I didn't even bother to straighten out my sometimes curly, sometimes wavy mane.

I can't take myself too seriously in these super cool/retro Anon shades, which is probably why I love them to pieces. And somedays being a little spunky helps make the day go by a little smoother no? Because if all else fails, I can at least smile at my purple nails furiously typing away on my laptop.

Happy Hump Day!

xox,

Bre

outfit credit

yellow tee - BDG

skirt - Pins and Needles

sash - random piece from my closet, no clue where it came from.

watch - temporarily stolen from my hubby.

shades - Anon (I seriously so LOVE these!)

necklace & shoes - my daily reminder of my momma. These shoes are actually too big for me (unfortunately I didn't have the same size foot as my mom), but my sisters that do have the same size didn't want these shoes. Seriously!? How could you not want them? They are so cool...and oh so MOM. So although I have to add an extra hole to make the buckle tight enough, they are worth it. Here's to you mom and your incredible knack for finding the greatest things ever.

Blue Tuesday

2010-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Blue Floral Broadhurst Plate Clock, $15 via TheRedBungalow Etsy shop*

Lately I've been on a blue kick, whether it's blue nails, blue dresses, or blue home goods. So I compiled a little bit of blue for you, including my newest addition to my etsy shop shown in the photo above. Enjoy!

*Birder Dish Towel $24 at Anthropologie*

Blue Kitchen (source unkown. maybe Domino?)

*Louisa Sette, $2,498 at Anthropologie*

*Olivia Palermo via ASOS*

*Sea Fall Tote, $218 at Anthropologie*

xox,

Bre

Channeling Chanel: Fall 2010 coats

2010-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

*a look from Chanel's Fall/Winter 2010 line, all images via ImaxTree*

Chanel's Fall/Winter 2010 line brings visions of nomadic women traveling straight out of the Artic. Stomping it out in dramatic fur boots (that would only work on the runway and not what I call the "real"way), tights, and fabulous coats. While I don't think I'll be wearing those boots around this Winter (seriously so theatrical no?), this does remind me that I could use some beautiful long winter coats in the few months to come.

Oh, and of course, I do like the stark black and white combos all over this collection. I know I have mentioned it a million times on my blog, but I can't help but swoon over black and white. These dark contrasts in this collection (with little to no other colors sharing the spotlight) certainly added to the drama snowqueen vibe of it all. So here's to dreaming of beautiful Winter coats, even when it's Summer. :)

*now this one's not a coat, but this dress is kind of fabulous right?*

Have a favorite?

xox,

Bre

What's in Your Bag? Challenge

2010-07-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly amused by the random things my girlfriends pull out of their handbags. You can learn so much about somebody by what they have in there! We tend to keep a big part of our lives stored away in there, and I thought it would be a fun post idea to show what's been hiding in my handbag. I thought it would be even more fun, if you all joined in the challenge by snapping a photo or two of the contents of your handbag and posting it on your blog too! What do you think? You game for the redBungalow What's in Your Bag Challenge?

Here's my random assortment of goodies hiding in my handbag today:

*bobby pins and hair ties - 80% of the time when I leave the house with my hair down, it is somehow pinned up and tied back by the time I get home from work.

*wallet and keys - essential for obvious reasons :)

*chapstick - can't leave home without it! I have tons of different chapsticks all over my apartment.

*pen - because you can never find one when you need one.

* Blackberry - I don't think you can see it in the pictures, but it's a very important tool for me and it hardly leaves my side! I am however, thinking of switching to a Droid...or at least a touch screen. It's time to get with 2010!

*work badge and old hotel keycards - as a testament to the fact i travel way too much for work

*Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - This is the book I'm currently reading. I really loved the section when she traveled through Italy, but I am having a harder time getting through the India portion. I also have to admit I'm sad they are making a movie out of this because the author has soo much internal monologue in the book and I know it will all get lost in the film. I just know if I try to watch the movie I will be thinking of all the great tidbits of info they are leaving out.

*Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Digital Elph - My handy little point and shoot camera. It's great that I always carry my camera with me, but I have to admit it usually stays right inside my bag. I REALLY need to work on that.

*random thumbdrive - Because you never know when you'll need to transfer some pics from friends or work documents or whatever. I'm aware this may make me a geek. I'll accept that.

*ipod - yay!

*a few pair of sunglasses - Two of these are vintage and the Black ones are Valentino. Sunglasses are one of my many random obsessions. I like having a couple on hand so I don't have too worry about matching my outfit when I'm running out the door in the morning.

*Smart Water - I tote water bottles back and forth to work everyday since they started charging us for drinks in the kitchen.

Now what am I missing? I should probably carry around bandaids and lotion, but meh...I've got so much stuff already. :) Sometimes I have an extra Special K protein bar in my bag too to help me not hit the very unhealthy snack drawer when I get the afternoon munchies in the office.

OK. Now that I've exposed what's in mine, I'm excited to see what you have hiding in yours! Have a great weekend, and hopefully I can peek into your bag next week too!

xox,

Bre

My Closet: Grey Day

2010-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

*just a grey kind of day*

The past few days the weather has been cloudy and moody, and my clothing naturally followed suit. It was just one of those grey kind of days, so here I am in grey head-to-toe (sorry it has been so long since I did an outfit post, I will get better I promise).

Hopefully the weekend will be nice and sunny.

xox,

Bre

outfit credit

dress - haute hippie

tank - BDG

blazer - H&M

shoes - Nine West

pearl bracelets - gift from Dan a few years back

ring - vintage

necklace - unknown. I've had this one a long, long time and simply don't remember.

Found these on my doorstep...

2010-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

*Knotted Ankle Booties, $27.80 at Forever 21*

Last night when I got home from work I had a nice little package on my doorstep. I took a chance and bought these online from Forever 21 and I am pleasantly surprised with how they look in person. They are a little bit large, but not a big enough deal for me to return them, and now I know next time to order a half size down.

I've been impressed with some of the shoes they've been turning out lately (although it always seems really hard to find them actually in stores), so kudos to Forever 21 for your great little finds at such great prices (I'm mean seriously who would think these were only $27.80?!).

Any great little steals of your own lately?

xox,

Bre

p.s. Yes I know I have a serious shoe problem, but in my defense I still haven't bought those wonderful Steve Madden booties I blogged about a few weeks back here. I still want them, and I will eventually get them, but maybe next payday since I think I've hit my spending limit this time around (I really treated myself this week with a little something I might show in another post soon).

Swimwear Search 2010

2010-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

*LSpace Girl's Best Friend Halter and Scanty Bottom, $68 & $70 each at Molly Brown's Swimwear.*

I'm a little late in the game, but I'm finally starting my Swimwear Search 2010. The dreaded search for the perfect suit that almost always ends in frustration and compromise. Well this year Dan and I have a trip planned to Belize, Cozumel, Honduras, and a couple Caribbean islands....so I know it's getting very late in the Summer but I'll be damned if I can't find SOMETHING that will look halfway great on me since I'm bound to spend 80% of our trip in swimwear. That also reminds me that it's been over 3 months now since I've done any exercise and I should seriously start thinking about getting back to that.

Here are some options that I'm thinking about trying on. The problem with waiting until it's almost August to look for a swimsuit, is that a lot of places are very sold out. I might have to buy online and just return it if it doesn't work out (I really really don't like the thought of not trying on a suit before I purchase it, but most online sites have such great return policies these days I suppose it's not that big of deal). Luckily I have a couple/few months to find a couple/few suits, but since I'm picky and self-conscious about how these might fit...I don't want to be stuck at the last minute with boring old suits in beautiful exotic places. What do you think? Any favorites or other suggestions?

*LSpace Porsha Top and Foxy Bottom in Ashore Thing, $70 & $64 each at Molly Brown's*

*L Space Twister Top and Taboo Bottom in Milano, $65 & $60 each at Molly Brown's*

*L Space Twister Top in Katmandu and Taboo Bottom in Black, $64 and $65 at Molly Brown's*

*L Space Porsha Bikini in Ladoccia, $150 at Butterflies and Bikinis*

*Vitamin A Signature Collection - Bianca Halter and Jade Bottom in White, approx. $144 each at Molly Brown's*

*Vitamin A Silver - Topanga Halter and Doheny Bottoms in Big Love Pattern, $49.50 each at Molly Brown's*

I think I like this one better than the one just above, but not quite sure yet. Vitamin A Silver - Original Twist Top and Le Blon Bottoms in Big Love Pattern, $49.50 each at Molly Brown's*

xox,

Bre

DIY Industrial Lights

2010-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Remember my post awhile back about needing to find a new closet solution (HERE)? Well, we finally came up with a solution, and I will do a post for it later, but in the process it was one of those “if you give a mouse a cookie” situations. We realized that with the new closet, we had to move our bed, and we had to get rid of our old nightstands, and old lamps, and suddenly needed new lighting for our bedroom. Our bedroom doesn’t have ANY ceiling fixtures, or other hard-wired lighting. So here’s when a trip to Home Depot became a necessity. We wanted lighting that looked somewhat industrial to match our industrial closet system (I promise I will post pics later), but we didn’t want to pay a fortune for lights. Since we live in an apartment, we also couldn’t do any electrical wiring in our bedroom so this creates quite a challenge (To find lighting that we could mount to the wall and/or ceiling without hard-wiring and not costing too much money).

We came up with a solution, eventually, but I have to say this one was really all my husband. He found these great lights at Home Depot and instantly figured that we could spray them to give them a galvanized steel look, but there was one tiny problem….these lights are meant for hard-wired fixtures. Well with Dan the Man as my husband, this didn’t mean we couldn’t have these, this just meant a little bit of DIY work. And he was up for the challenge. So here is the DIY (courtesy of Dan) on how to take hard-wired fixtures and turn them into mounted non-wired lights.

1) Here is one of the lights straight out of the box. Purchased at Home Depot for $11 a piece (not too shabby).

2) Here’s the beginning of the deconstruction. The insulation needed to be removed to make way for the these LED lights we would be using from IKEA. Since we didn’t have hard-wired lighting in our room, we found some super bright LED’s at IKEA that we wanted to place inside of these fixtures. We put two LED’s in each fixture, which provides plenty of light.

3) Note the gloves. Very important. Dan wore gloves, eye goggles, and a face mask during the deconstruction. You don’t want to get fiberglass in your fingers, eyes, or throat. Saftey first people. Dan was able to remove the majority of the insulation just by pulling it out with his glove-covered hands.

4) Here’s the light fixture disassembled from the front. You can see where the old hard-wired fixture is that Dan will be cutting out.

5) The insulation was glued on to the fixtures, so it left a bit of sticky residue on the back. No worries here, we can fix this on step 7.

6) Dan cut out the old fixture (the front view of this fixture is shown on step #4 above). He used a Dremel tool with a reinforced cut-off disk. He made the opening wide enough so we could slide in the alternate LED lighting that we purchased from IKEA (seriously these babies are bright! And Eco-friendly, we will basically never need to replace them).

7) Next Dan removed the excess insulation & glue (and cleaned up the cut area from step #6) with a wire brush. The cut-off disks don’t leave the cleanest lines, so the wire brush really helps smooth out the edges.

8) Here are the lights insolation free and ready for primer.

9) Here are the lights primed….

10) Here’s the paint we used for our light fixtures. We seriously LOVE this paint. If you are looking to spray paint ANYTHING where you want a metallic effect this is the stuff to use. The spray seems uneven, but not to worry, it gives a great hammered texture (which is the idea).

11) Here’s everything painted and drying.

12) The end result. Notice the texture on the fixtures from that spray paint? Really awesome effect.

OK OK. I know you want to see them mounted now right? It's just not the same without seeing them in action! What a tease this post is…well you will just have to stay tuned. Next week I will post pictures of these babies mounted in our closet/bedroom (considering our bedroom is basically a closet with a bed now, lol).

I also noticed we didn’t show how we put the LEDs inside the light fixtures, but it’s fairly simple and we couldn’t really put the lights in until we were ready to mount the fixtures. You will see the end result when I post the pictures of the new closet system. Intrigued? Stay tuned.

Have a great weekend! Maybe you'll do a little DIY-ing yourself. :)

xox,

Bre

I'm Featured on HGTV!

2010-07-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

*my knitted ottoman featured on HGTV*

I can't believe it! I can't believe it! This was back on July 2nd, but somehow I missed it until someone sent me the link yesterday. I'm overjoyed that my little knit ottoman (and my Etsy shop: The Red Bungalow) was featured on HGTV's site this month. It's fascinating, and oh so exciting, to see a crazy little vision of mine featured on such a renowed site. I guess I'm not the only person seriously obsessed with thick, textural knits :)

For the full article click HERE.

I hope a great little surprise comes your way this week too!

xox,

Bre

New LA Flea Market: The Good, The Bad, & The Crazy

2010-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

*me at the Grand Opening*

This past weekend was the Grand Opening of the new LA Flea Market at Dodger's Stadium. There was a lot of hype surrounding this new flea market, and at a general admission price of only $5, the man and I thought we'd definitely give this one a try. Well needless to say, if you've talked to anybody who went, it started off on the wrong foot. We sat trapped in the car for over an hour because they weren't ready to open on time and they wouldn't even let people in the parking lot (if you live anywhere near LA you know this is the type of thing that would cause a riot...a lot of very unhappy people standing outside of their cars yelling...). Then once again, after we bought our tickets they made us wait AGAIN, because vendors were still driving around inside frantically trying to set up.

I felt very bad for the vendors. I talked to one of them that told me she had to wait for 2 hours before she could get in to even set up her booth! 2 hours!! That is crazy compared to how well run the next closest flea market is run (Rose Bowl Flea Market and Swap Meet). Now with that said, yes this was the very first time they had run anything like this here, so I'm pretty sure it would improve next time. Well they basically HAVE to improve the management aspect of the flea market or people will simply not go.

*waiting in the car*

Now on to the Good: While there weren't as many vendors as I expected, and it certainly wasn't as large as the Rosebowl Flea Market, I managed to score some great finds. In fact I spent at least an hour at just one of the booths and scored some beautifully constructed clothing for a really great price. A designer got into a legal battle with his backer and wasn't able to sell his collection. It is a really long story (I will share in another post some time with some of the items that I snagged), but he was basically forced to donate his collection and have the proceeds go to charity. The price tags were still on these babies, I literally bought $1,200 jackets for less than one-tenth that price. The attention to detail, craftsmanship and vision in these clothing were just amazing. I was really sad to hear the story behind it, but was glad that I was lucky enough to randomly fall upon it.

This flea market also has a great view of downtown LA. That's always a plus when you get a chance to see the "pretty" side of the city, and somewhere way in the background you could see the famous "Hollywood" sign up on the hill. Oh yes, and another plus was that they had PLENTY of food trucks and some large Shark thing? Couldn't quite figure out what that was, lol.

me and the man in front of the LA skyline

my shopping bag full of great little gems!

Dan with his new found friend :)

Food vendors and some Shark Attack!

After a tough morning of waiting, and hunting the Mr. and I stopped at one of our all time favorite Mexican joints (El Farolito) for a tasty margarita (did I already mention it was SUPER hot this weekend?) and amazing grub.

Did anybody else go to the new flea market this weekend? I'm curious to hear what other people thought too. Whatever you did, I hope you had a great time.

xox,

Bre

Hildee's Wedding

2010-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to a wedding for a dear friend of mine, and she looked GORGEOUS and oh so happy. Her hair and dress were fabulous, and she even surprised her (now) husband by hiring a bagpiper to play as they exited the church (his family is very Irish, so I'm pretty sure it was a big deal)! While it was almost 100 degrees outside that afternoon (and the AC was NOT working in the church) it was a great day anyhow. Here are a few pictures from the wedding and celebration.

*the happy couple*

*me, Michelle & Ann*

*Michelle & Me*

*Me & Dan the Man*

*me & Michelle*

*Dan + me*

*the bride, Michelle, and me*

*Dennis & Me*

*Michelle, me, Hilda, Dennis, Ann, and Diana*

Congrats again Hildee & Kevin!

xox,

Bre

Concrete Floors at Home

2010-07-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

I know it sounds odd at first, but I'm totally smitten by concrete floors. About a year ago (one of those many times when Dan and I talked about what we want in our future home) we got on the topic of flooring. I adore the look of hardwood floors. Seriously they are hands down fabulous, and I'd take that over carpet ANY DAY! Now the only problem is that we have quite an active, and hobby-filled, lifestyle and we worry that hardwood wouldn't work for us and all our gear. We also want some big puppies (and by puppies I mean BEASTS) and think they would scratch it to pieces! We would also want consistent flooring throughout our kitchen and adjoining rooms and think hardwood in our kitchen would be a very bad idea (we cook A LOT and host A LOT and inevitably we would drop some heavy something-or-other and bang them up to shreds). So I was at a loss for what kind of flooring we could have with all this in mind. And Dan said: "it's simple. concrete" At first I thought he was crazy (I don't want my house to look like Costco!), but I did some googling, and I've been smitten ever since.

The polished concrete is perfectly modern (especially when the concrete has a lot of natural cracks or speckling) and I would warm them up with big shaggy rugs (think sheepskin throws). It's kind of perfect for us, because I think we are a little bit modern/industrial meets traditional/cozy.

So I know that was a long-winded story, but I thought I'd share some beautiful inspiration pictures I have been saving. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Cheers to finding the perfect solution (even though a home purchase is far off into the future)! Any obsessions for you current or future home?

xox,

Bre

p.s. all images courtesy of House Beautiful. These are pictures of Amy Neunsinger's home featured in that magazine. If you want to see more of Neunsinger's photography click through to HERE.

Dear Side Bang,

2010-07-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

(image via glammed blog)

Oh how I've missed you. I don't know why I ever decided to grow you out and abandon you. I think we had just been together for 4 years and I just wanted to try something new...but now I've been suffering from the blah's for quite some time and I know we were meant to be. Please forgive me.

This Friday when I get off the plane, I'll be running (not walking) to my cute little hair lady to bring you back! I can't wait! Until then, forgive this hot mess I've been calling my hair. ;)

xox,

Bre

p.s. Hi readers! I'll be in Chicago all week, and while it is a "work trip", I would still like to try and get out into the city a couple nights while I'm there. Anyone have any must-do's or great local spots? Last time I went we ended up at a place that sold $8 pitchers of Captain and Diet! $8!!! That is UNHEARD of where I'm from. So if you're a local and have some great advice, please feel free to fill me in.

Take care and Happy Monday!

out sick

2010-07-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

I thought I was mostly better this weekend, but the ear aches started back up late Sunday night and I've been a dizzy mess today (my sinuses are throwing me out of equilibrium big time). Heading to the doc this afternoon, and hopefully will be back to blogland soon. For now, I'm too nauseous to stare at the computer screen.

Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. Talk to you soon!

xox,

Bre

image via weheartit

The Bootie That (Almost) Got Away

2010-07-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

(via Zappos.com) Steven Brinda, by Steve Madden $179

I Know it's Summer, but a few weeks ago I dreamt up a PERFECT bootie and I've been on the hunt for it ever since. My criteria for the Perfect Bootie you might ask? Taupe/Tan-ish in color, Suede, no laces, rounded toe, I kind of like the idea of a platform but nothing over the top, HIGH HIGH HEEL or maybe even a wedge (or a pair of both, it is a dream after all).

I think this color is beautiful and would go with so many things, and I could see myself wearing it with shorter dresses in late Summer and early Fall (it's still pretty warm here in So Cal in September). Maybe odd criteria, but I've had this vision in my head and off to searching I went. I finally found said perfect Bootie (well, this one doesn't have a platform, but I wasn't expecting to meet ALL my criteria): Brinda by Steven Steve Madden! Yes, it's (almost) everything I was looking for! Sadly, it is only left in size 6 & 9.5. I can't seem to find a 7 in this color to save my life. So there it is folks, the beautiful bootie that got away.

HOWEVER, while I was searching for this picture for this post I found what might be an even MORE perfect bootie! The color is a little off from what I wanted (but this actually matches my skin coloring better anyway), this has a higher heel and a platform too and I actually think I love the shape of this one even more (it's more what I had envisioned in my head).

Chelsey Blush Suede Bootie, by Steven Steve Madden $129.95

So what do you think? I'm over-joyed at the thought of these babies on my tootsies. I will most certainly be trying this on within the next couple of weeks and will be anxious to add this to my little shoe collection (and maybe even the grey version too, it's gorgeous as well). It just goes to show that persistence pays off!

Have any shoe dreams lately?

xox,

Bre

Casual Friday

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday a miracle happened, for the first time in a LONG time I had a Friday where I didn't have to go see clients, which meant (WAIT FOR IT)...I could hide out at my desk and wear jeans. :) Simply Lovely. I was elated to show up in my comfy jeans (well, denim leggings) and the minute I showed up one of my cube-farm buddies really loved my outfit and told me I should put it on my blog. Well...OK. So here it is (sorry not the best photos after a long day of work and happy hour). And today is kind of the perfect day for a red, white, & blue post with Independence Day right around the corner.

This vintage clutch is my daily reminder of my momma. I can so remember you momma as a fashionable working woman sporting this clutch when I was a little girl. I found a receipt inside from 1993, which means you probably didn't use it much after that, and this clutch is SOOOO early 90's. It puts visions of super tight body con dresses in my head, which makes me adore this even more.

outfit credit:

Blouse - I don't know who made my blouse. I bought it a few years back at Nordstrom and took the tag off because it was too itchy. Sorry.

Denim Leggings - BDG (I'm really loving these bad boys)

Shoes - Christian Lacroix (so delicate and fun!)

vintage clutch - inherited from momma

Ring - vintage find. I wish I had taken a better close up of this one, will have to use it in another post. I've been wearing it A LOT lately so I don't think that will be a problem :)

Have a wonderful weekend! And if you're here in the States, then Happy 4th of July to you too! Have any great plans?

xox,

Bre

Stepping Out in Little Italy

2010-06-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, Little Italy how I love you so. I would have to say hands down, that Little Italy holds the greatest nostalgia for me out of all the downtown San Diego neighborhoods. I hadn't been there in quite awhile, and was worried that a lot would have changed, but to my pleasant surprise it is much still the same. There is still the great little gelato cafe on India Street, which is within walking distance to the National Comedy Theatre. My husband and I started going to this theater and gelato shop 8 years ago and the gelato is just as tasty now as it was then. The only sad thing to me, is that I remembered this cafe having tons of paintings from local artists on the walls, but they aren't there anymore (I guess I can't expect everything to stay status quo for 8 years).

Once a month the National Comedy Theatre has a Midnight Improv Show for adults only where anything goes. We went to the show this last weekend and it was still just as entertaining as it was when we first started dating. In some weird way, this little neighborhood feels like a piece of my relationship between my husband and me...and I was glad to feel like I still knew my way around it.

outfit credit:

Necklace & Seiko Watch - vintage flea market purchases

Tassel bracelet and vintage gold clutch - my daily little pieces of my momma. The clutch I used to play with when I was a little girl ALL the time! I loved it because it has a little zipper on the bottom that opens a super secret pocket.

Yellow blazer - Sparkle and Fade

Denim Leggings - BDG

Platforms - Michael Kors

Hope you aren't getting sick of my San Diego week! Stay tuned for more.

xox,

Bre

Oh - and P.S. The one thing I certainly do NOT miss about San Diego is that it makes my hair out of control! I should have known better than to try and straighten while I was down there because it just starts puffing up and waving out. :/

Clogging Old Town

2010-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

(me in Old Town holding a couple bags of super fresh saltwater taffy...mm mmm mmm)

I spent this past weekend down in the heart of San Diego and it refreshed my memory as to why I love that place. So many flashbacks from when my husband and I first started dating over 8 years ago. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make this San Diego week on my blog, with a little bit of info on the different neighborhoods of SD(and some outfits of course, this blog has after all evolved into some sort of style journal too).

Starting out the day - amazingly bright-eyed and bushy tailed!

Breakfast burrito time at your standard "fill in the blank" - Berto's (i.e. Alberto's, Filiberto's, etc). If you live in So. Cal you know what I'm talking about. :)

First neighborhood here is Old Town. Per the State Park website (here), "Old Town recreates life in the Mexican and early American periods of 1821 to 1872." Basically it's a small neighborhood with some good San Diego style Mexican food, colorful pottery, and a little history. Oh yes, and my favorite of all: an old-fashioned candy store where you can find the best and freshest salt water taffy around. Now that's what I'm talking about.

Love the colorful tiles. Everything around here has a wonderful little pop of color.

Honestly, I probably couldn't spend ALL day in Old Town, because it really isn't that large at all, but it's a nice little stop if you're going to or from downtown San Diego.

outfit credit (head-to-toe):

Panama hat - unknown (This is one of those random street vendor purchases that I made awhile back and never made note of the name. All I remember is that the stand had hats and baskets made from all natural fibers.)

Sunglasses - Versace

Jumper - Xhilaration

Belt - Betsey Johnson

Vintage Clutch - a treasured piece I inherited from my momma

Jewelry - Vintage

Shoes - Michael Kors

Opinions Needed: The Crowded Closet

2010-06-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Don't we all have a little too much stuff for how small our closets are, and still somehow we never have enough clothes? This is my current dilemma. The reality is, however ashamed I should be to admit it, that if my laundry bin is 100% empty, that would mean I would have a few piles of clean clothes without hangers or drawers to put them in. A few months ago I desperately tried to "fix" my situation by boxing up all my strictly "winter only" clothing items so I could have enough space for the things in my closet that I will wear more regularly.

A part of my problem is that I'm really not a big fan of drawers (except for the things you don't want hanging out of course). I like to be able to see all my options at the same time, which is why I have shoe shelves and handbag shelving in my room (well really that was my awesome husband who found those and installed them for me). We have been contemplating adding more wardrobe units into our bedroom (since we live in an apartment with tiny tiny closets) but I'm really not sure we have space for them. If we squeeze them in, then we might end up basically having our room BE a closet (i.e. the walls lined with shoes shelves, wardrobe units, and then BAM! squeezed in between would be our bed and our nightstands). We would literally be sleeping in one big closet, lol. Which I don't think would be too fun for my husband, but bless his heart it was his idea to get more wardrobe units.

So what to do, what to do? However silly or superficial it may seem, my sense of style is really a big source of my self-expression (and lately it has also been an homage to my mother) so I really would love to have a more peaceful closet routine and a little zen when sorting through whatever seems to suit my mood. Does anyone have any marvelous closet/storage/organization tips or tricks that you have used in a similar situation? We have already put our bed up on risers so we could have storage under our bed, but that stores our skis and camping gear and wrapping paper.....lol...not much space for any clothing.

Lovely ideas or links to wonderful closets are always welcome.

I'm leaving you with some drool-worthy closets to get your gears cranking! Have a wonderful weekend!

A CLASSIC closet. Who doesn't recognize Carrie's closet? And seriously how did she get such a large closet living in a small apartment?

I really LOVE this wallpaper. A beautiful paisley damask print (and since we all know I'm obsessed with black'n'white, this is just lovely). Oh and did I add I really love the chandelier in here too? As well as the vintage cases. *swoon*

Everyone needs a place to sit to try on all those fabulous shoes. And what could be better than a second chair for your sister or best friend? :)

I just love the color combo in here. Very cheery! Now this would certainly add that zen I'm looking for in my own closet. And I love how the clothes aren't too smooshed and you can actually see what is in there.

Mariah Carey's closet. If you saw that MTV Cribs episode a long, long time ago then I think this is enough said here, lol.

Uhmmm. I don't know who you belong to, but I'm sure I would love whoever you are. A woman after my own heart. I would die for this shoe situation.

I think this is Christina Ricci's closet. How fabulous is it that she has a wall just for her handbags?!

xox,

Bre

all images courtesy of weheartit

my he{art}

2010-06-23T08:09:00.001-07:00

It has been 24 days since I lost you mom and this morning it weighs so heavy on my heart. Last night, like so many nights, I just couldn't sleep. I still have a tight feeling in my chest and a lump in my throat; it's always like I've had the wind knocked out of me and I can't catch my breath.

Everyday I try to do SOMETHING to let you know how much I love you, and miss you. I wish there was more I could do, but I am not an artist of the drawing kind, and I cannot paint a picture to show you how much you mean to me. I'm not good enough with words to write a beautiful poem or passage that could possibly describe everything you have meant and continue to mean to me (how could I possibly put into words your strength, your friendship, unconditional love, and your laughter...you always had a way to put a smile on everyone's face)...

Although I can't do any of those things, I literally wear my he{art} on my sleeve and try to show you all this by carrying little pieces of you on me everyday, like

Your oversized sweater, that still holds your smell

Your locket that you wore constantly when I was a little girl

And the sky high platforms you insisted I buy for myself because you said they were just too hot to pass up (you were always pure genius with shoes momma).

I'm putting this out there, so somewhere you can read it and when you see those little pieces you know what it means.

I love you momma,

Beans Baxter/Breanna Lynne/your daughter and friend.