Magnolias in Bloom

Dress- Urban Outfitters '09

Boots- Steve Madden

The magnolia tree in front of my house is stunning this time of year. It usually blooms later in April, but the weather has been slightly warmer than usual, for the most part. I love how the color of the blooms just pop against the dark green hedges. This past Saturday, I had a bachelorette party to attend (my first ever!). My friends Brian and Kristin will be getting married this weekend, and I can't wait for the wedding! My boyfriend, Michael, will be standing up in the wedding. It's going to be held at a garden, and from what I hear it's a gorgeous, magical place...I can't wait. Back to this past weekend, I decided that the warm sunny weather called for a dress. This dress made its first appearance at another wedding, Mike's best friend Kevin's wedding in August, and I've been dying to wear it casually with these boots ever since. I wanted to keep it simple so I went without any jewelry. I'm really glad that it was still mild at night, otherwise I would have been freezing! I did bring a sweater though, my mother taught me well.

I love all the pretty details in this dress, it really doesn't need jewelry! It's hard to tell from the top picture, but it has alot of hand-drawn looking tree branches and splashes of pink and white leaves. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the back, it has a lot more of the little details.

an ode to everything red velvet

My love for red velvet cake/cupcakes is pretty obvious.  Anytime I'm out to dinner, if there's red velvet on the dessert menu, I have to try it.  I've also tried practically every recipe for red velvet cupcakes in order to find the perfect one (thankfully I found it, I'll share it if you'd like!). I was over the moon when I found out that The Cheesecake Factory started making a red velvet cake/cheesecake combo last year, which is probably the most calorie-laden thing I've ever consumed. It's not easy to be a health-conscious person when you've got red velvet on the brain, let me tell you. BUT! Yoplait has answered my prayers with a fat free red velvet cake yogurt! I'm not usually a fan of anything light or fat free, I think artificial sweeteners are just gross. Suprisingly, I didn't notice too much of an aftertaste and the flavor is pretty darn close. It's no Claim Jumper's red velvet cupcake, but I guess at 100 calories I can get used to it. Now I'm in no way a dieter, I eat what I like but in moderation. So I'm sure the next time a red velvet cake comes along, I'll probably still splurge.

Now I don't limit myself to just eating red velvet cake/cupcakes, of course not. I actually feel the need to smell like it from time to time.  At least that seems to be the reason for me buying this from Ulta today-

ultra-rich 3-in-1 shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath

It smelled so delicious that I just couldn't put it down. It even has a recipe for red velvet cake on it (I might have to try that one...) 

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I also like my art of the Red Velvet variety. One of my absolute favorite bloggers, Elsie Flannigan, has a store (both physically and online) called Red Velvet Art. It's a company she started with a few friends a while back and it has grown into something amazing, definitely check it out! Elsie is also super sweet and so so inspiring, so go check out her blog if you haven't yet.

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