Basic Invite: Signed, Sealed & Styled, I'm Yours

Is it just me, or does it feel like there are weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, engagement parties, and the like every other weekend? I will answer that - it isn't just me (because if it was, the guest list would just be me and my imaginary friends). I love celebrating anything, so each snail mail invitation sent to my door is received with a happy leprechaun-type jig before being pinned to a bulletin board, where it enjoys its time in the sun and makes paper friends until its bell tolls.

Which leads me to Basic Invite, my newly discovered/favorite online stationary company. There are so many e-vite type websites, but Basic Invite is the only one that lets you truly customize your paper design. It's perfect for those (like moi) who obsess over each and every detail, since the website allows you to change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options. No, 180 is not a typo. Combine that with the ability to order a printed sample of the actual invitation before placing an order and to choose between 40 different envelope colors, and I am signed, sealed, delivered (pun intended). 

Although the hours I would have spent customizing every little part of any invitation would certainly have been many, I wish I knew Basic Invite was around while I was planning my wedding since it addresses two of my all time greatest pet-peeves when it came to my bride-to-be paper trail: finding addresses and licking envelopes. Not only does the website offer an address capturing service that allows users to simply share a link on any other form of social media to request addresses which are then stored in the customer’s account and selected during the design process, but their envelope options are peal and seal. Peal and seal, people! 

From casual birthday parties to more fancier shindigs to personalized stationary, Basic Invite offers it all, according to your taste (see below for a sample and discount!). Which means for all the aforementioned events, I will happily style it all, according to my taste (and yours too, hopefully, lolz). Hence today's post, which presents some outfit options to wear to baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, engagement fiestas, etc. In closing, words by Robert Earl Keen come to mind: the options on Basic Invite go on forever, and the party outfits never end. 

Turquoise Flower Earrings - Sylvia Toledano

BasicInvite.jpg

Here's a teaser pleaser of some Basic Invite designs. For 15% off, use discount code 15FF51.

All I Want Is a Resort Somewhere

Oh, wouldn't it be lovely? Yes, yes it would  - and it seems like you all are feeling the same way, since lately all the messages I've been getting (and social media accounts I've been stalking) revolve around what to wear to some kind of event in some kind of tropical, resort destination. Partly inspired by this and partly by my cousin's upcoming nuptials in Palm Bizzle, I put together these looks that will take you from nada to cha cha 'real quick. 

Leaf Heels - Schutz// Pink Fringe Heels - Schutz// Leopard Heels - Schutz// Vinyl Heel - Schutz// Ruffled Bodysuit - Andres Otalora// Printed Pants - Andres Otalora

NST: Cloisonné & Pearls are a Girl's Best Friend

Natalia Teran is a friend and fellow Miami native who recently launched NST, the name behind these handmade cloisonné & pearl beaded earrings. The idea was to design something that was beautiful, but not too trendy; something versatile, but not too run-of-the-mill. The result are earrings that look just as chic with a silk slip as they do with jeans and a tee. I could wear them in a bikini as easily as I could at the office (lolz isn't that the same thing? JK I wish). In other words, they've cracked the code.  

The cloisonné beads are hand painted - a process that takes months - and together with the authentic fresh water pearls, fit an aesthetic that goes hand in hand with the silk kimono-over jeans, cat eye sunglasses, red lips, cocktail-in-hand cool girl vibes that are dominating my 2018 air waves. 

I love them because although they have intricate detailing, they are uniquely simple; there's nothing quite like them out there. I also love them because they run $40-70, making them the most New Years-resolution-budget-friendly pair I own. Getcha' some. 

NST's website is currently under construction. To purchase a pair, send a direct message via Instagram to @_____nst______ or send me an email! 

In My Head: Kelly O'Connor

Today's a big day because my collage models have... heads! And they're not just heads - they're heads borrowed from artist Kelly O'Connor. She's the ultimate collage artist and is my version of clip, cut & paste #goals. What? Who? What? you ask - allow me to backtrack. 

I've been blessed with a sister-in-law who is as fabulous as she is inviting and as hilarious as she is inspiring. But on top of all that fun stuff, she's not only the best life resource but also is an amazing art resource. She works as an art consultant (follow IG Art if you don't already!) and has the best eye for pieces that fit perfectly in your space/taste/budget.

Through IG Art, I've learned of more than a handful of talented artists, but my favorite is Kelly O'Connor. Her work is what my psychedelic, mid-century-inclined dreams are made of.  In fact, I think I told her as much when I met her at an Art Pace event last year and did the signature fan girl move of creepily grabbing her hand and saying "oh ma gawd I loooove you" (I'm telling you, I keeps it cool). And because my stream of consciousness words won't do her justice, I'll leave it to the professionals and direct you to this article Illa wrote a few months ago to give you a better sense of O'Connor's style (warning: you'll find yourself in lurve with Kelly after reading it, too). Here's a snippet:

"O’Connor’s melding of glamour and affliction carries through in the real wasp nests that she has hung from the ceiling of the gallery. Texans can relate to the anxiety that comes with spotting paper wasp nests under eaves, but O’Connor’s vespine nests are painted luminescent gold and contain vividly colored and glittered eggs." 

An O'Connor wasp nest (see upper right corner of collage) hangs in my living room, and today some of the heads from her 2016 Hypnotic Void exhibition adorn my collage models. I tried to find fashion as candy-colored and fantastical as they are. Kelly says today's collage gave her bride-of-Frankenstein vibes, while I can't help but think of my late paternal grandmother and her floral applique swimcap. Either way, today's a big day. 

Zig Zag Dress - La Double J

Hopelessly de-voted to De Gournay

If you're anything like yours truly, you spent a nice chunk of your weekend stalking your interior decorator insta-crushes who were attending Paris Deco Off, the yearly five-day event where the best labels and designers from the interior world showcase their stuff and unveil new products in exhibitions that will make you (or at least me) drool (I know, that's so French-girl-cool of moi). 

It's no surprise that one of the must-see showrooms was De Gournay's, the name behind those beautiful hand-painted Chinese wallpapers that provide the backdrop to what seems like anyone and anything extra-chic (see, e.g., more of my insta crushes, Alice Naylor-Leyland, Poppy Delevingne, and Caroline Sieber). The whimsical silk chinoiserie of De Gournay has also recently taken a much-welcome field trip from the walls to the closet, thanks to collaborations with Moda Operandi and Aquazzura. 

So it's really no surprise that other designers have caught on to the floral and bird motif-craze, which inspired today's post. Because (perhaps for the first time ever), it's now very in-vogue to have your clothes match the drapes. 

Bridge Score Pad - Caspari// Floral Dress - Massimo Dutti// Tassel Clutch - Serpui// Tutu Earrings - Nicola Bathie// Bird Clutch - Serpui