Happy Weekend, Spring Chicks!

Lovelies, it's Friday and you know what that means, don't you? I'm sharing with you my favorite recent "internet finds" in order to give you reason to stay in your pajamas, with your coffee, for a few extra minutes this weekend, and catch up on some Lovely reading. What are you all doing this weekend? Eric and I are seeing not one, but two bluegrass concerts (perks of dating a bluegrass musician, eh?). On Saturday night we're seeing Tony Rice (Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot is one of my favorite albums), and on Sunday afternoon, Miller's Crossing. I'm super excited for Miller's Crossing because we met the band recently and they're not only beyond amazing musicians, but cool people, as well. Not only is today a Friday, but it's the start of Spring Break for me! Do you have any plans for the break? Eric's parents are coming to visit, which I cannot wait for, but other than that, I'll be Lovely-ing, walking in the park, and enjoying the start to Spring. Have a great weekend, beauts!

Did you see the Mad Men Barbie Doll collection? Their eyes sort of scare me, but it's a fun concept.

Speaking of dolls, a few students tipped me off to this very odd Cabbage Patch Doll website...and what's weirder is that I sort of want to visit this place.

Some other students (they were a wealth of knowledge this week!), who apparently know my style pretty well, introduced me to Sweetiepie restaurant in Manhattan. Man, this place is adorable, gorgeous, and delicious looking. Has anyone ever been there? I can't wait to go!

Have any of you heard of "24 hour bridal showers"? What an odd and interesting concept! What would you get for someone for "4am"?

And last, but not least, I'm loving that Jordan from Ramshackleglam made Glamour's Engagement Chicken...hers looks delicious!

Also, don't forget to check out these Lovely posts you may have missed!

Learn how to dress like Eloise!

Check out photographs from my 1900s Boardwalk party.

Are American Idol style flowers in the hair your thing? These would be gorgeous on anyone!

Lovely Wedding Friday!

One of my lovely friends Sarah, from college, is getting married. Sarah and her very cute fiance are trying to win a wedding through Crate&Barrel (go vote for them here! Their story is totally adorable). So, this morning while voting for them, I had weddings on my mind. I noticed that her fiance's last name started with a P, and Sarah's with a G, so her initials would be changing when they married (assuming she takes his name). I remember once my mother said to me, "never marry a man with the same last initial as yours...it's bad luck to not change your initials!" At the time I didn't think much of it, because my parents both had the same last initial (D) and were in the process of getting divorced (also starts with a D), so I thought it was just something she was saying. However, I decided this morning to look it up and see if my mother was making things up, or this was an actual superstition. (My parents were my age when they got married. See how excited they are to be married? Enthralling.)

Well, according to Brideandgroom.com, "It was also believed to be bad luck to marry someone who shared the same last initial." So perhaps mommy dearest wasn't making this up? Has anyone ever heard of this superstition/tradition before? I think it had something to do with starting a new life (and in older days, being under the "ownership" of a husband instead of a father...isn't being a woman simply lovely? ha!) and becoming a new person, with new initials. I'm just excited for getting married someday to get all new tote bags with new initials...is that wrong of me to say?

Some other odd and interesting traditions I came across:

• On the bridal shower: "Originally intended to strengthen friendships between the bride and her female friends, in the 1890's, it evolved into an occasion for friends to present the bride-to be with small gifts. In fact, the gifts were placed in a parasol, which was opened above the bride's head, allowing the gifts to "shower" down upon her." Ahhh, now everything makes sense!


• On the wedding attendants/party: "This tradition stems from the Anglo-Saxon tradition of a groom using 'Brides knights' to ensure that the bride got to the wedding and got to his home after the ceremony without being attacked and the dowry stolen. As weddings became more elaborate affairs, the use of bridesmaids became more common. They were responsible for helping the bride get dressed and to help decorate for the ceremony."


• Something Old, New, Borrowed, Blue: "A Victorian rhyme that recognizes the importance of old friends, new beginnings, happiness, fidelity, and prosperity. "Old" stands for old friends; "new" represents the beginning of a new family; carrying something "borrowed" from a happily married friend represent borrowed happiness, the carrying of something "blue" represents purity and modesty. The sixpence in the shoe was worn to bring prosperity to the couple."

Did you change your initials when you got married? Will you change your name? Does your family have any wedding traditions of their own? Remember to vote for Sarah and Jed so they can have the wedding of their dreams! (And, really because I want to know someone who wins one of these contests.)

Lovely 10th Aniversary!

Real Simple Magazine turns 10 this month. And that means good things for you. For example, the magazine is filled with tons of amazing tips on this luscious paper you just want to sit down with and leaf through for hours, and there's enough in the magazine where you can leaf through for hours.

Then you remember they have an amazing website, and click on over and there are lists such as "10 Smart Uses For Old Plastic Bags" and "Trench Coats for Every Figure" and "10 Easy, Cheesy Recipes" (um, yes please).

Lovely Liberty-Like Dresses

So, yesterday I displayed my dislike for Target's Liberty line, which I am sure left you standing there, speechless, thinking, "But, Olivia, where can I get pretty floral dresses for the Spring and Summer?" Right? Of course, right. Don't fret, beauts, here are some of my favorite stylish, sexy, and "Liberty-like" dresses which would be perfect for Spring (which starts in three days!). Which of these dresses would you wear to a garden party? Carnival? Graduation ceremony? I love all of these, as they are gorgeous, modern, yet classic, and flatter all the beautiful curves of a woman's body.

1. Floral Pleated Linen Dress; 2. Flutter Capsleeve Floral Dress; 3. Eve Floral Knit Dress; 4. Gwen Floral Dress; 5. Maggie Printed Dress; 6. Went To A Garden Party Dress; 7. Cotton Pink Maribou Halter Dress; 8. Printed Short Jumpsuit

The (Now) Lovely Maya

The always Lovely Maya emailed me this great picture of her from high school. She writes: "Here is a sweet picture from senior year I believe at Pancho Villa. Gotta love the matching jacket and hat. Hey, I grew up at FA (our high school) and didn't know how to dress down.... that's my excuse..."All I can see in this picture is a girl having a great time! Okay, okay, the hat isn't great, but Maya is just being so Maya in that picture--happy, excited, smile-inspiring! Keep those pictures coming lovelies, we want more!

P.S. I had no idea how to dress down either, Maya. You're not the only one. I wore loafers on the weekend until...well, come to think of it, I wear boat shoes now...I still don't know how to dress down!

More Lovely (?) High School Shots.

Olivia and I on my first day of high school, her first day of Junior year. I loved those Steve Madden's so, so much.

Send yours along, Lovelies. We all know you're stylin' chic ladies now, let's see how far we've all come!

Lovely High School Wardrobe.

I've thrown together a few wardrobe pieces for my past high school experience. I'm totally over high school, why are you looking at me like that?

Paisley Floral Skirt, Flounce Ruffle Wrap Skirt, Pleated Skirt, Bowtie Pencil Skirt.

Women's Envelope-Neck Jersey Dresses , A-Line Floral Dress, Vertical Pleat Knit Dress w/ Belt, Livia Floral Dress, Nicolette Plaid Tube Dress

Lovely Morning!

I just stepped outside to fight with the dog about coming inside, long story short she's like to stay outside and I'd like her not to bark at 7:45 AM, and it is so familiar outside. Yes, familiar. This is just the type of morning I remember from high school, when you know it will be warmer by the time you get to school (40 minutes later) but when you get on the bus its freezing, so you walk across the yard with bare legs. And it's so cold, but so beautiful out too.

My high school dress code required a button down shirt (or a turtle neck), a nice "modest length" skirt or slacks, dresses with covered arms and no denim. Heels had to be under 3 or so inches and we had to have backs (no clogs). The dress code was difficult to work with because from 2001-2004 Office Chic was not in. Skirts were not in, dresses were not in. In 2005 these items trickled onto the scene, and I'm sort of jealous of the girls who are there now because they have a ton of trendy options.

Man, unfortunately for you guys I can't find many pictures of my ill-advised, frustrating early high school outfits. Fit was always, always a problem for me and it wasn't until I lost some weight and grew up a bit senior year that I started dressing nicely. But I can't find many pictures of that either.Best Friend, Audie, and I during Junior year of high school. It's quite an outfit. Also, check out the jousting occurring behind us, classic.

And two of this outfit, because...uh...I look good. Dress was from Express, has since been given away, and the sweater is J. Crew, I think Olivia stole it. What a difference a year makes, right?

What about you lovelies, any high school fashion horror stories? I'm going to keep looking for pictures to embarrass myself/amuse you all with. In the mean time, share, share!

On Why I Do Not Find Target's Liberty Line Lovely!

You know those moments in life when you were really, really excited about something and then whatever it was occurs and it falls flat on it's face and doesn't live up to what it should have been? That pretty much sums up my feelings about Target's new line of Liberty of London clothing. Let me backtrack here: I love Liberty of London. Growing up, it was practically all we wore. My grandmother sewed us dresses upon dresses of the gorgeous material. So, when I saw that Liberty was coming to the masses at Target, I literally fell out of my seat (ask Eric, I really did). I couldn't wait to buy new dresses, bags, whatever...I was out of my mind excited. To me, Liberty represents beauty, my childhood, class, and tradition. However, I just think Target missed the mark on this one. Like I said, Liberty is tea parties, white gloves, and pastel pumps; it's sunny days, and sweet cardigans, and Springtime. Here's my issues with this new line: the prints are outdated...they look retro, instead of traditional and classic. I'm not even feeling that they are Liberty as much as Old Navy circa 1994. And the styles of the dresses...oh, man. All I get is "blah" from them. They are baggy, unflattering, poorly designed, and simply, in my opinion, sort of cheesy.

What this line should have consisted of is dresses in styles and cuts such as The Kellie Eyelet Dress, or the Nadine Eyelet Dress, or the Madeline Dress, or even the Livia Floral Dress (all Delias). These are form-fitting, classic, sexy and adorable dresses. They could all easily be made out of Liberty material and still look fantastic. When it comes down to it, when one thinks of Liberty, they think "pretty" and the Target dresses are simply not that. They're boring. The whole line from Liberty at Target wasn't done correctly, it feels like everything was made as an afterthought. What do you think, lovelies? Would you buy any of these Liberty dresses? Have you? Do share!

Lovely Dress of the Day

It's almost Spring here, Lovelies! In Russia and a number of other European countries it is already Spring! Lucky them. What's more Springy-Summery than a white eyelet dress? Uhm, not much. I wore a white eyelet dress to my high school graduation, actually. They are perfectly spring, look amazing with a pair of gold sandals, or a stacked wedge in a pretty brown suede. Match it with a jean jacket, a sweet sweater or leave your pretty arms bare to catch the lovely rays of the sun. I love the Belted Eyelet Dress's pretty neckline and smart cinched waist. The straps are thick enough to cover bra straps (often a problem with floaty summer sun dresses) and the dress can be dressed up or dressed down to go from your five year reunion (yes, that's coming up, see you June 5th fellow Quakers) all the way to a casual barn blue grass jam with Eric on the banjo and cowboy boots on my feet!

For more information, pictures and to buy the Belted Eyelet Dress, click here!