Favorites Friday: May

 Ann's Top Ten

1. This was my favorite piece that we received in this month here at SYS. It would have made a great addition to my daughter's room after painting it a light purple. (It didn't make it that far though). Too cute!

2. The best meal I had all month was at a bed and breakfast, it was absolutely delicious.  Eggs benedict over an english muffin with hollandaise sauce and tomato with a pesto, pine nuts and cheese. The presentation of course was lovely.

 3. I stumbled across this quote and thought it was too cool not to share.  Enough said!

4. For May my color was  mint green. It's everywhere and it is too adorable, and can go anywhere just flawlessly.  Clothing, paint color, flowers, appliances, jewelry! Such a refreshing color.

P.S.  I LOVE the site where you can get these fun "swatches" Design Seeds.  I can spend way too much time there! Great for inspiration if you need a color scheme.

5. My husband shared this YouTube video by SoulPancake with me, it has a great message and is nice and motivating.  Check it out:

 

6. The best new recipe I tried last month was a Cajun chicken pasta.  I can do hot food, but not TOO hot and this was perfect.  Get the recipe here

7. I really enjoy Memorial Day, not for the sales but for all the sacrifices our country has made. I go visit my friends that gave their lives fighting for our freedom.  A freedom I will never take for granted.  My brother comes in to town since we share one of those friends and then head out to eat breakfast.  It's become a nice tradition and even though my husband and daughter never got a chance to meet these heroes it's an appreciation we can most definitely all share.

8. I love this room, clean and crisp. The frames on the artwork is incredible, they add texture and reflect light.  The coffee table has a great mixture of rustic and contemporary.  The pillows add some pattern and the rug fades away into the background yet bringing just a little more texture to the space. The wall mounted lamps with a rotating arm is the perfect solution to a small space and will add ambient light or task light for reading.  The stream lined sofa is nice and transitional for the space, only the color makes a statement... minty green.

9. Spoiler alert! I'm about to reveal my age, but never again will I mention it! Haha. My husband threw me a wonderful surprise birthday party with a little help I'm sure. (Thanks everyone)! It most defiantly makes the top ten for May. It was at a winery nearby and I was SURPRISED.  (And trendy Diana wearing mint green).

10. As I was on the hunt for a pair of shoes worthy to make the top ten, I wanted to go with a wedge since nothing says summer like a comfortable pair of wedges.  Ready for on the go, summer BBQs and relaxing poolside, here a few I'd be happy to have in my closet.

 

Allison's Top Ten

1.  My favorite sofa we received in Style Your Space this month was this grey-blue undertone contemporary armless sofa.  Well, we actually had 2 of them and I loved it so much that one might have ended up mine.  After all, I am getting ready to move, and what's a home without furniture?  My future roomie and I haven't found a place yet, but it's a smaller-scale sofa, so I figure we'll make it fit somewhere!

  



 2.  Well, since we're on the topic of armless furniture, there was a chair that we had in this month that I was pretty obsessed with (and this one did NOT go home with me, I swear!).  The brocade fabric, neutral color, and shape give it an elegant feel, so it would work in a fancy-pantsy room or you could go for the shabby-chic look.

 

3.  I'm in love with this glass artwork that came in.  The colors are flawless, bright and the piece is just gorgeous.  It can be hung on a wall or used as a centerpiece for a coffee table...incredible and not a piece you see everyday.

 

4.  And another extremely cool artwork that came through our door was this vintage-inspired OVERSIZED Contratto piece in a gorgeous gold frame.   (This thing was literally taller than me-which I'm not very tall, but still, it was enormous).

5.  We get a ton of unique and different stuff in the store, and considering 5 of my top ten were items from the store, that's proof I was a big fan of a bunch, but this is the last one for May.  The vibrant teal and shape on these large tin vases were to die for...I really wanted one but they didn't quite fit in to my future home theme, so I figured they should go to a better home and just enjoyed looking at them every day until that time came.

 

6.  This could very well quite possibly be one of the cutest kitchens I've ever seen.  I'm loving the color green, teal and orange on the white walls...the copper pans, the adorable wall decal...and SERIOUSLY green cabinets?!  Somebody, please...please do this to my kitchen.

 

7.   Quality family time.  My lovely Aunt Nancy, and two of my beautiful cousins, Marie and Miranda, made a long weekend trip from Cincinnati to STL.  One of my favorite things about having out of towners visit is going and doing all the touristy stuff-  it's almost like a mini vacation in your own city.  We did dinner at McGurk's (they have a great patio and awesome Irish food), shopping at Women's Closet Exchange, and some lounging around Laumeier Sculpture Park.

Mom and Dad with Aunt Nancy at McGurks.

Marie, Aunt Nancy, and Miranda with Diana from Resale Royalty.

 

Dinner at Bar Louie,  all three of us wore our WCE finds from earlier that day.

 

Brother/Sister snapshot.

 Miranda and I hung out in Laumeier's treetent for a little bit and then there were the eyeball pictures:

8.  Mother's Day.  We are big fans of Mexican food in this family, so typically most of our birthdays/holidays revolve around Mexican restaurants.  Mother's Day was no excuse.  We went to a family favorite,  Chava's in Soulard.  I'm a big fan of their jenas and pomegranate margaritas.

 



9.  Like stated,  I LOVE Mexican food, and obviously Cinco de Mayo always falls in May, so it was a very Mexican filled weekend.  Diablitos Cantina had been on my list of places to check out for a while, so my dear friend, Marti, and I had a date night. 

The atmosphere was adorable, the margaritas were tasty, and our favorite part: THE SALSA BAR!  Unlimited chips and salsa with at least 6 salsas prepared fresh daily...A salsa party was in demand.

 

10.  Imagine Dragons.  Less than 24 hours before the show,  I heard they were doing a free concert at The Pagaent for the Yahoo! Road Tour.  I really lucked out.  Going from having no tickets, no way to track any down, to finding a friend who had plenty of extras.  Our view was awesome, and they put on an amazing show.

 

On Top of The World is one of my faves:

Photo credits: rachelevents.com, Trip Advisor, Tobi Fairley Interior Design via Houzz, Adriaan Louw Photography, Fresh Hues Blog, Kelsidagger.com

Favorites Friday: January

Allison and Ann here! We're so, so excited about this first monthly blog post.  YAY!  We've decided to do something a little different this time and once a month, we'll post our top ten favorite things from the previous month.  Our favorites are whatever we choose, so topics include pieces we got in store, rooms we fell in love with, fashion, beauty, decorating, music, you get the point...basically whatever we wish.  So, for our first, here are both of our favorites from January!  We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

Ann's Top Ten

1. The most amazing furniture item we got in was this bright green, tufted and studded chair. I may or may not own it.

 

2. My favorite accessory item that came through the store was this large, red charger. It's a great piece but I don't have red anywhere in my home or a place to put it. :(

Modern Dining Room design by Boston Interior Designer Rachel Reider Interiors

3. My favorite room I found on Houzz.com this month is this dining room from Rachel Reider Interiors. I love the variety of color, the texture of the chandelier shade, the artwork, centerpiece, and the aysymmetry of the banquette and chairs. 

4. January's best piece of jewelry is this necklace. It is great, adding a little bling to your outfit and can be worn casual or formal.

 

5.  I will more than likely ALWAYS have a pair of shoes on my top ten.  I have always been a shoe girl and this month, these cobalt blue peep toes take the cake!

6.  This outfit I found on Pinterest is my favorite for January, very classy and no one would be surprised to find it in my closet.

7.  My favorite quote for the month is, "The creative adult is the child that survived".

8.  I was stuck on a color combination of purple and grey.  Here are some great examples:

9.  January's best event I attended was the Ice Festival in the Delmar Loop.  The weather was gorgeous and warm, although not good for the ice.  A great day to walk the Loop with family and friends, see the ice sculpures and live demos.

10. My best recipe that, yes, I did successfully make was this creamy tortellini soup. I pinned it on Pinterest and only omitted the mushrooms. :) Still yummy!


Allison's Top Ten

1. My favorite piece(s) of furniture that came in this January. Alright, so I loved the green chair Ann posted equally as much, but I can't get over these amazing detailed chairs. The curved/scroll back, the tufted arm, chenille fabric, vintage feel, just love, love, love.

2. My favorite home accessory that I came across this month is this handpainted Mexican tequila box. The details and colors are awesome and it is definitely a piece you don't come across every day.

 

 

3. Sequin wall wallpaper from Tracy Kendall. Enough said.

4. Alright, so they had my attention at "cake batter". If anything contains those two sweet words together, I'm more than likely going to attempt creating it. I made these Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies, and I must say they were deeee-lish. Nomz. Want now.

5. I am a bit of an OPI enthusiast and probably have more polishes than one should ever admit to owning...Throughout January, Russian Navy was my go-to color. This deep blue shimmery color makes a dark, bold statement without appearing too goth. Also, navy pairs well with just about any color so it makes for the perfect staple polish.

 

6. Sephora's Long-Lasting 12HR Wear Eye Liner in black. Honestly, this has been one of my makeup staples for years. In January, I made an attempt at being adventerous and tried out a few different eyeliners.  Bottom line, I ended up coming back to this one. It stays put ALL day, the shorter stick makes the application much easier than others and it is highly pigminted. I love trying new things, but some things are better left alone.
(A bit of advice for liquid newbies: Use a dampened q-tip to clean up the messy parts so that it creates a more precise, consistant line, and makes those pretty peepers pop)

 7.  Outfit Picks.  I'm loving the military-inspired look right now and this green is awesome.  It's looks stunning with the whites and metallics.  I can't wait for our chilly STL weather to go away so I can wear the casual-chic outfit on the right...perfection. 

Then this photo above...the girly white dress paired with the bow belt and oversized sunnies just makes me happy :)

8.  So if you know anything about Midwest weather, it's what most of us like to refer to as "bi-polar".  One January day may be 65 degrees and sunny then 2 days later, there's 4 inches of snow on the ground.  During those freezing, possibly snowy days, I would dream and wish for a tropical Mexican-inspired lounge pictured above.  Add in chips and salsa, delicious spicy chiptole fish tacos, and some margaritas and we'll be set.  Dream escape right there.

9.  One of my New Year's resolutions was to attempt at least one of my Pinterest pins per week.  A few weeks ago, the Victoria's Secret Model Ab Workout seemed like a great choice.  Boy, oh boy...Although it was a struggle to get through the entire workout (not to mention it hurt to laugh for a few days), it was well worth it...in the good kind of pain way.

10.  Music.  It was really difficult for limit it down to just 3 songs that I could listen to on repeat all day, every day, so picking choosing just one would have been impossible.  That being said, here are my top 3 music picks from January: