Artist Spotlight : Katie Evans, Caitlin McGauley, Virginia Johnson, and Ruben Toledo

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I am back and now writing from my brand new MacBook Air (thanks Mom and Dad!)!! I've been on Pinterest all day and started to find a bunch of fashion illustrations. Funnily enough, I was just discussing this subject with my family the other day when I gave The Perfectly Imperfect Home by Deborah Needleman (former editor of Domino Magazine) to a member of the family. I recognized the illustrations of The Perfectly Imperfect Home as those of Virginia Johnson from the Kate Spade books: Style, Occasions, and Manners. Naturallly on the subject, I decided to bring up those of Ruben Toledo, who does the Nordstrom and Louis Vuitton ads as well as the illustrations for Nina Garcia's book The One Hundred. As I was roaming around on Pinterest I found some gorgeous illustrations by Katie Evans and Caitlin McGauley who both also do illustrations for Kate Spade, as well as Tory Burch, Hermes, and many others.

Katie Evans for Matchbook Magazine

Caitlin McGauley for Tory Burch

Virginia Johnson for Kate Spade

Ruben Toledo for Nordstrom

xoxo

Sabrina

Today's Pedicure Mishap

Well I learned a valuable life lesson today. Don't wear skinny jeans when getting a pedicure! I rolled up my jeans before sticking them in the hot water and just left them that way until I got home and when I tried to pull them down, they wouldn't unroll! They got stuck on my calves and wouldn't come off! So, I had to cut a perfectly good pair of $200 jeans off my leg. Lesson learned? I think so! My new mantra? Always wear sweats to the nail salon. Here are some of my favorite pairs:

Lululemon Groove Pant

Juicy Couture Velour Pocket Pants

J.Crew Weekend Foldover Knit Pant

xoxo

Sabrina

My Latest Purchase: Hunter Wellies

In 1856 an American from Jersey, Henry Lee Norris, founded Norris&Co in Scotland. Norris&Co later became the North British Rubber Company and which became known as Hunter Boot Ltd. But back then instead of being worn around town by the hottest celebs and icons as a fashion statement, they were distributed to the soldiers in WWI and WWII and worn by all people ranging from the royal family to independent farmers of the region.

So Mom and I splurged. A fun early Christmas buy, but they're also a necessity because I'm guessing the ominous gray clouds will soon relinquish that rain! We bought ours at Madewell (<3) and decided to share.

Madewell, Madewell, Madwell...

One of my new favorite stores? Madewell! Owned by J.Crew, this fairly new branch is a less preppy version of its sister but still insanely cute! Here are some of my top picks from my wishlist:

Sunday Morning Tee

Daytripper Dot Tee

Denim Campsite Shirt

Warmnote Cardigan

Moondust Shimmer Tee

The Suede Sidewalk Skimmer

What are your Madewell favorites this season?

xoxo

Sabrina

New Beauty TestTube

Two words... Ah. Mazing. But let's back up and see how we stumbled upon this ingenious product...So of course my trip back home to LA was last weekend and it was the BEST! Thank you to all those who made it special! Unfortunately I didn't take a ton of pics :( but I can assure you all, I had an amazing time! Complete with family, friends, sushi, Starbucks, and of course a football game. But before I got driven over to La Canada, I spent Thursday with the family and had lunch with my Grandma Laws, Grandma Burlingame, and Aunt Carolyn at Fred Segal, which finally brings us to the TestTube! Before meeting the others for lunch at the FS Cafe, Grandma Laws and I had a poke around the store and came across a new shoppe called New Beauty! One of the lovely attendants in the store explained to us all about this new TestTube system:

1. Grab a TestTube
   
2. Pick 1 full sized object
3. Pick 5 smaller products
4. Grab a New Beauty Magazine
5. Pay & Enjoy!

It's really great because you can save a lot of money (you know I love that!) and it's a great way to try out new products! Besides choosing your own in stores, you can buy them pre-picked on QVC or online, or you can sign up for a year-long where you receive a new pre-picked TestTube every three months (great Christmas present! The gift that keeps on giving...literally!). So my advice? Get one! My products of choice? Supersmile Toothpaste, Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Balm, Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash, Mally Volumizing Mascara, Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Fame, and Chella Anti-Fatigue Eye Mask.

The Supersmile Toothpaste works amazingly well in whitening your teeth and is actually created by a dentist so it's safe on all types of dental work (it uses calcium to whiten/clean teeth instead of harsher chemicals). The Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Balm is also a fav of mine. The others I haven't used as much yet but will have a report if requested!

xoxo

Sabrina

I Have a Dilemma....

My dilemma? I'm a girl who LOVES all (almost all) things designer but as I've said before can't necessarily afford ANYTHING over $100 while living off of a babysitter's salary and a weekly allowance of $14. Well, my dilemma was partially solved today! One of my favorite places to find designer things at low prices is Nordstrom Rack! After buying some gifts at one of my new favorite Seattle places, Glassybaby, I went with my mom to Nordstrom Rack, looking for a winter coat, but instead I found this!

A gorgeous gold studded, jade green Rebecca Minkoff crossbody bag! Originally priced at $295, I paid $69!! Mind you, now I have no spending money so I can't buy anything else for my upcoming trip! But, I'll make it work :).

xoxo

Sabrina

My New Bedroom Tour: Before and After...

It has been quite a long process, and there are still a few finishing touches (which I will post about later) but my room is pretty much done!! Here's a look at the transformation...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(Notice: the DIY Union Jill-Jack-that's all over Pinterest.

Yes my mother did it all by herself, with a little help

from Yours Truly!-very little help-)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(DIY Closet: We removed all those wire racks that were there before and I was planning on putting IKEA built ins in there. But instead my mom came up with a more personalized system. We went to Home Depot and bought two 6' clothing rods and had the guy in the pipe department cut them-which he wasn't really supposed to do-and hung those at proper heights. The shoe/bag tower to the left is actually and IKEA Billy Bookcase! The white dresser is an antique, the mirror to the right was left in the house-and is yet to be painted-, and the thing in the frame is a Louis Vuitton shopping bag-I saw that idea and a blog and being me, I had to do it.)

Some of the best art, comes from the heart:

One last note: the photo collage above, that now hangs above my Union Jill, was given to me by all of my close friends back home. I wanna to take this chance to just thank them again for the amazing party, the amazing memories ;), this amazing collage, and the amazing plane ticket!!!

La Canada, I'll see you in exactly a week!!

Next post? Packing List!!

xoxo

Sabrina

Fall Neccessity: Irish Sweater

Well, the originals are a bit itchy, but I just absolutely love the look of these sweaters and the "American versions" are gorgeous (and a lot softer!).

Here's how I did it:

Gilly Hicks Caroline Street Plaid in Red Check

Gap Lambswool Cable Knit in Sloe Gin

(BTW New Arrivals at the Gap are 25% off online right now until 10/27!)

J.Crew Chainlink Cable Sweater in Natural

Land's End Canvas Aran Crewneck Sweater in Ivory

Land's End Canvas is a new, more fashion forward branch of Land's End. I just got the catalog for the first time the other day and I absolutely love the ENTIRE catalog! It's the perfect way to do cold weather chic!

So how do you do an Irish Sweater? Or cold weather chic entirely?

xoxo

Sabrina

Pin it!

If you haven't noticed there's a new button on the page! Follow Me on Pinterest! Pinterest is my latest obsession. I pin almost every single day, multiple times. I love being able to share all the things I love in pictures and getting to see all the other neat things that people find all over the Internet. Do you have a Pinterest? If so, follow me! If not, email me or comment for an invite!

xoxo

Sabrina

The Great Pumpkin

Yes, it's that time of year again. Oh come on! I know that you guys all watch that movie at least once every October. You're not fooling anyone! October is what I consider the beginning of fall, because of course I'm a SoCal girl so technically it is still summer in September... and part October :). But there are some great things that come with fall, besides leaves changing color and The Great Pumpkin...

Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Scones from Starbucks

Chevron Jack 'O' Lantern (so doing this, this year)

Wool Blazers

13 Nights of Halloween on ABC Family

and of course Candy Corn!!

xoxo

Sabrina

Oh H&M...

I love H&M because it's an easy way to keep on trend without breaking the bank. And it's especially good for me since I live off of $14 a week allowance and a little babysitting money here and there. Well, they've done it again! Almost never ceasing to impress. Here are some of my favorite pieces from their most recent line:

I'm really into caramel and camel tones this season, like this cardigan for example!

I absolutely j'adore these bracelets! They could work with so much and add just a little something extra to an outfit.

Tube scarfs or a snood as the Brits call them are easy because I love wrapping scarves instead of just leaving them hanging and these make it so much easier!

Cute coat with faux fur collar.

Leather leggings

Such a classic look

Didn't I tell you? Camel!

xoxo

Sabrina