Freeway Series

Welcome to Monday Morning Gossip! Join the fun with my co-host Kimberlee of I Have a Degree in This and me. Here's how it works:

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Saturday night I headed to the ballpark for a good old fashioned baseball game. It was the last game of the Freeway Series, Dodgers vs. Angels, and Angels won...duh. I may have lived in LA and happen to love the city, but I was born in Orange County. Anaheim all the way!

What about you? Did you do anything fun this weekend? Link up and make new friends!

Come back tomorrow for my recap of Grand Turk. It was my favorite stop and I'm excited to share!!

FIGat7th Speed Tasting

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a really fun event - FIGat7th Speed Tasting. Speed tasting? How is that not a brilliant idea?!

Located in Downtown Los Angeles, FIGat7th is a shopping center with loads of great stores and a stellar collection of restaurants in the most fabulous food court you've ever seen. With eateries including Loteria Grill (one of my favorite LA restaurants), Sprinkles Cupcakes, Morton's Steakhouse and many more - you get to eat really great food in a casual setting!

Kate of Nautical Nature brought me along for the tasting and we were presented with plates and drinks from 15 different restaurants. FIFTEEN! I wasn't able to taste everything, but you better believed I tried. Everything was so good! Because the eateries are upscale I felt like all of the entrees were fancy options similar to that you'd see at a cocktail party.



If you live in the LA area, check it out! You can park for just $5 every Monday-Friday night after 4pm and ALL DAY Saturday and Sunday with validation from a store or restaurant. Located near Staples Center and LA Live, the location is perfect before heading to a game or movie.

SoCal Blogger Society Spring Fling Brunch

On Sunday, SoCal Blogger Society hosted a Spring Fling Brunch for it's members and it was so much fun! I've been to several blogger events and this was by far the best I've experienced. Everyone was so friendly, the food was great, and the drinks were flowing. Hosted at the amazing Areal restaurant in Santa Monica, the setting was perfect for meeting new ladies and socializing with some I already know.

Me, Kate, Lauren (I kinda love myself in this picture and may cut you ladies out ;)

Kohl's Mixed Media Sweatshirt!

Group shot with our swag bag sunglasses

Whiskey infused with bacon and maple syrup. I hate bourbon but this was GOOD!

Me and Kate

Some delish Areal samplers

Sarah, Shirley, Stormi, Lauren, and me

Another group shot of our table

Bacon wrapped dates with goat cheese...amazing

If you live in Southern California, I highly recommend you join SoCal Blogger Society and come to the next event. And I also can't speak highly enough of Areal. The setting was charming, the staff was delightful, and the food and drinks were perfection!


Linking up for Treat Yo Self Thursday and Lovely Thursdays

Beautiful Bahamas

Jamaica, Bahama come on pretty mama! I sing the Beach Boys song every time...

On my cruise our first stop was Nassau, The Bahamas. To be honest, there wasn't that much to it. Don't get me wrong, it was gorgeous! But aside from the mega-resort, Atlantis, and mansions like Shakira's, there wasn't a lot to see and do. Not necessarily a bad thing if you're looking to escape, I just personally love visiting places where I can explore a lot.

We did take in all the sights we could, starting with the old town area, location to Fort Fincastle and Queen's Staircase - the 102-foot staircase was carved out of limestone. Quite an impressive feat!

After we got our history fix we headed to the world-famous Atlantis resort. It was definitely nice, but there were a ton of people. I felt like I was at a Vegas resort more than a Caribbean paradise.

To finish the day we hung out at the beach taking in the crystal teal water. Absolutely gorgeous!

Be sure to read my St. Thomas recap!

Vampires & Divergent

Another great weekend in the books full of fun activities with my blogger bestie, Kate of Nautical By Nature! Kate and I met four years ago at the very first Vampire Diaries Paleyfest panel in 2010. She had an extra ticket and invited me to join along and we became fast friends from that day on. Since Saturday was TVD Paleyfest, this weekend marked our friend-aniversary. Aww!

A little background on Paleyfest - it's a two-week event that takes place every year, where popular shows are featured. A panel of actors, directors, and the such talk about the show and answer audience questions. If you didn't catch my review of the Pretty Little Liars panel, check it out!

The Vampire Diaries

The Originals

Luckily, The Vampire Diaries has been featured a few years now. And this year TVD cast was joined by The Originals. Pretty much a double feature made in heaven! The actors are always charming, the panel is informational, and it's fun to stare at hot actors for a few hours.

Look who I got to meet at the event - Brianna of Heart of Life! I've read her blog for years and we have a lot in common so it was super exciting to finally meet her. She's so much fun!

Me and Brianna - I have no idea why it's impossible to fix iPhone eyes! Please ignore.

Me, some random dude, and Kate!

After the Paleyest fun Kate and I caught a showing of Divergent. Holy hell! It's official, I am in love with Theo James. Did you see my post about him last week? Read it now. You're welcome! Anyways, the movie was really good. It did stray from the book, as movies always do, but the film wasn't changed so much that it was upsetting. I LOVE the Hunger Games books and do not like the movies. I am really happy to say this was not the case with Divergent. Go see it!

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Lilly Pulitzer Estée Lauder Exclusive

Two names synonymous with classic beauty - Lilly Pulitzer and Estee Lauder - have teamed up to create the perfect spring campaign with Macy's! Here's how it works: purchase $35 worth of Estée Lauder products at Macys.com and choose a free 7-piece gift. That gift includes free makeup valued at $120 and a one-of-a-kind Lilly Pulitzer cosmetic bag available only through Macy’s! Seriously, how cute are those compacts?

You can even customize your free gift based on which color of cosmetics you prefer. Finding the products that are right for you is pretty easy thanks to Macy's interactive tools. Simply take the quizzes below and your perfect products will be revealed. It's actually really quick and easy to figure out!

Macy’s Estée Lauder Skincare Finder 

Macy’s Estée Lauder Foundation Finder

I, personally, have such a hard time selecting foundation to match my skin tone. Having a tool to guide me through the process is a huge help. After assessing my skin tone, I was pleased with the results. They products selected seem to be right for me. And the fact that my results brought up an Estee Lauder skincare product I already own, pretty satisfying!

Be sure to take advantage of this collab now before the offer ends on tomorrow, March 23!

And Then the World Fell in Love With Theo James

Ladies, let's talk about the world's favorite heartthrob right now - Mr. Theo James.

I'll give you a second to recuperate...I suspect you swooned, fainted, and/or kissed your computer screen after gazing at the picture of that incredible specimen on a man. I did all three, no shame. We're kinda dating. In mind, but whatever. Just go with it.

I joined the party late in the game. I got the Divergent box set (that includes the whole series: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant) for Christmas and didn't start reading until late January. Before I was finished with the first book the movie trailers were released, but luckily not played so frequently that I couldn't avoid them. I wanted to read the book without a picture of the cast. The second I finished reading, I jumped on the Divergent IMDB page to check out who was playing which characters. And then I saw Four, 29-year-old British actor, Theo James, and my heart skipped a beat.

God bless the casting director who made the genius move to select a relatively unknown, breathtakingly gorgeous man to play Tobias Easton who we all fell in love with while reading Divergent!

If you have yet to read Divergent, have no fear. I suspect you could watch the movie and understand the plot. But if you are like me and prefer to read the book first, you could easily get yourself a copy and read it in a few days. It's very similar to The Hunger Games in that it's a young adult novel with a strong heroin and supportive male at her side. Once you start reading you won't be able to put it down.

I cannot wait to see Divergent! Who else is going to see it? You should, that's for sure!

Photos courtesy of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 

Hart of Dixie Costume Designer, Cameron Dale

Hart of Dixie is moving to Friday, starting this week! To get you pumped up about the return I have a very special post today. Hart of Dixie Costume Designer, Cameron Dale, was so gracious to do an interview with me and I'm excited to share her insight with you. She gives us the scoop on styling fashionistas, Rachel Bilson and Jamie King, as well as her favorite spring trends. There's also tips on where to shop the show's trendy and preppy styles!

Whether you're a gal like Zoe who loves sexy shorts and the newest fads, or gravitate more toward Lemon's classic, Southern staples, you'll appreciate Dale's take on Hart of Dixie costume designing.


Which character do you enjoy dressing the most for HOD? 
Sal the fish guy! Just kidding. I love dressing Rachel and Jaime equally. Zoe is a New York transplant who has stayed true to her hometown, while Lemon is a Southern Belle through and through. As soon as I'm tired of shopping edgy New York looks, I get to shop girly pastels and bright colors, and vice versa.

With Bilson and King’s fashion backgrounds, do they have a lot of input when it comes to the things they wear? Do they like to get involved with picking items out? 
During fittings we will go through the rack and pick our favorites to try first since we're usually limited on time. It's very rare that we don't see eye to eye. If I find something amazing while I'm out shopping I'll text them out of sheer excitement. Jaime, Rachel and I all love clothes and it's so fun to have fittings and put the perfect look together. It's certainly a team effort.

Are the clothes picked out far in advance from the date they air or can fans watch the show then shop the looks? If they can’t, where can viewers shop to achieve the trendy Zoe Hart look and the preppy Lemon and Annabeth styles? 
The shows air about three to four weeks after we shoot, so absolutely! I love finding bargains on theoutnet.com and at Nordstrom Racks all over Los Angeles. Bloomingdales is always a go-to, especially for lines like Maje and Sandro for Zoe. J Crew is great for Lemon jewelry and Alice + Olivia has the cutest party dresses for our show. We visit Anthropologie weekly for Annabeth looks!

What are the upcoming spring trends that you’re most excited for?

I love the departure from slim and skinny pants to the wide leg trouser. You will see Lemon and Zoe in wide leg trousers in future episodes. They are so flattering and work on both tall and short girls. I continue to love crop tops with high waisted skirts- it shows off the most flattering part of your mid-section. I also love all of the pretty pastels for Spring.

I've been a huge fan of HOD since the beginning. A few years back I went to the Hart of Dixie set and got to meet Rachel Bilson and see the show's fashion up close and personal. So amazing!

Be sure to tune into Hart of Dixie this Friday at 9PM on The CW!



Photos courtesy of The CW

Soaking Up St. Thomas

It's been a week since I've returned from my Eastern Caribbean cruise and I've had time to digest the sights I saw. Of the four islands I visited, St. Thomas was my second favorite of the bunch. Beautiful views and clear blue waters surround the tiny island, that happens to only be 13 miles long and 4 miles wide. In addition to being pure paradise, St. Thomas was also refuge to many a pirate back in the day, including the infamous Blackbeard. I think it's safe to say I was crashing the pirates of the Caribbean's (not so) secret hideout. Yo ho, yo ho! 

Things to do in St. Thomas include checking out historical sites, such as Blackbeard's Castle, driving around the island to take in the sights, and hanging out at the beaches. Because time was limited, we stuck to the latter two.

Magens Bay, one of the most famous views on the island. Pictures don't do it justice.

Not as well know as Magens Bay, Coki Beach is off the beaten path and has crystal clear water.

Sailboats nestled in the island's harbor.

Obligatory destination picture. That background though!

Sailing away from the island at sunset was picture perfect.

Thanks for reading along. Up next, Nassau, San Juan, and Grand Turk. Stop by for the other recaps!