Poppy Maxi

Let's be honest, maxi dresses are not a petite girl's best friend. However this poppy maxi dress from Show Me Your MuMu is a dream [with the right wedges of course.] This dress would be the perfect spring wedding or Easter Sunday outfit; and the slide slits make walking in this flowy number a piece of cake. I am a maxi dress convert. 

Dress: Show Me Your Mumu Choker: Shira Melody Wedges: Steve Madden

Five on Friday

1. 

The Maine released the music video for their single Bad Behavior this week.

Now I really can't wait for the full album to come out on April 7th!

2.
ICYMI: Big Little Lies premiered on HBO this past weekend.
I am furiously trying to finish the book before I watch any of the show, so keep the spoilers to yourself!

3.
March is right around the corner or should I say weekend.
Get your tech ready with this cute calendar wallpaper from Evelyn Henson!

4.
Ash Wednesday is next week.
Lent is always a great time to re-set and re-focus!

5.
The ADDYs are this weekend.
Advertising prom here we come!

Friday 2/24

Spring MuMu

I don't know about you, but this 70 degree weather in February has me craving spring bad. 

Luckily the new Show Me Your MuMu that launched this week over on My Kind of Lovely can fill your spring void until the weather catches up for good! We shot over eight pieces but this navy tunic was my favorite. And it might have come home with me afterwards...

Tunic: Show Me Your MuMu. Necklace: Shira Meldoy. Jeans: JCrew. Wedges: Target. 

Lately: February

Listening:

Ryan Adams finally released Prisoner on Friday after months of teasing with singles.
My current favorite?  Shiver and Shake. But give me another day or so and it'll change.

Reading:
Ash Wednesday is right around the corner on March 1st and I still haven't decided what I'm giving up for Lent. However, I am all set with my study for the 40 days thanks to She Reads Truth's Lent 2017 "You are Mine"

Loving:
Dr Teal's Pink Himalayan Foaming Bath.
Heaven in a blue bottle.

Watching: 

Riverdale [The CW Thursday 9/8pm CST]
I stumbled upon this show looking for when Reign was coming back on the CW website a couple weeks ago. Four episodes later, I'm hooked.

Wearing:

Tory Burch "Love Relentlessly"

Eating:

If you're like me and crave a good burrito bowl but can't drop $8 at Chipotle let me tell you about Red's Burrito Bowls. Publix, frozen entree aisle, $4.00, 3:15 minutes, delicious.

Going:

Friday night I was lucky enough to see Maren Morris in concert downtown at the Bijou.
She is so little with such a BIG voice. She absolutely killed it and definitely took us to her church.

Counting down to:
The 2017 AAF Advertising Awards next weekend

Ed Sheeran's new album on March 3rd

Thomas Rhett concert on March 23rd

Baby, baby

Last week My Kind of Lovely launched their new Friday x Saturday girl power themed line of tees. I was lucky enough to be part of the shoot downtown at Maple Hall. The recent weather this weekend, 78 degrees in February what?!, has had me craving Spring and bright colors. I absolutely love the pink and yellow combo in these shots. And the bowling shoes really complete the look don't you think? 

Galentine's Day with Evelyn Henson

I'm single and I love Valentine's Day.
I 100% blame my mom for this. Ever since I was young she always made Valentine's Day extra special for my brother and I. Whether it was a card, donuts for breakfast, or a special present after school I always felt extremely loved more than usual on that day. While it may just be me again this year I still always make a point to spread the love on Valentine's. This year I am celebrating Galentine's Day with the help of Evelyn Henson and her adorable fold-over valentines. Pair one of her precious cards with a face mask, champagne gummy bears, or my personal favorite...bath bombs and you'll make all your friends feel loved on V-Day this year.

Babes Support Babes

This past Wednesday My Kind of Lovely had a very special photo shoot to officially join the #celebratethebabes movement. We were feeling the girl power and even an occasional Spice Girl-esque peace sign was thrown. While I could go on an on about this awesome brand and hashtag

I think My Kind of Lovely's words say it all, 

"Our mission at My Kind of Lovely is to not only to provide the latest + greatest clothing + gift items and bring them all to our hometown, which is the heart of our brand, but even more so, we strive to empower women. We believe that you can do anything you set your mind to; that a dream doesn't have to be just a dream; and that with courage, grit, determination and a whole lotta passion, women can do business better than anyone out there. We are so proud to have 12 hard-working, beautiful, powerful, & ambitious women as a part of our #MKLGirlGang, and we love seeing what other women in the industry are doing when they're out conquering the world. That's why when one of our favorite girl brands at Friday x Saturday designed this new tshirt line, we were eager to jump on board. We think they said it best when they said: "as girls, we traditionally focus on one another's flaws, but what if we all chose to celebrate each other's victories!? it's not too late to start now...Now more than ever, we need to compliment rather than compete with our female counterparts." We can't wait to #CELEBRATETHEBABES and see how you all also support all the #girlbosses out there! Let's do big things bc together we are so much better!" 

The line went live at 2p EST so hurry and order one for yourself today!

And don't forget to #celebratethebabes!

Friday 2/10

Hanogram iPhone Case

My dad will be the first to tell you, I am a cell phone case junkie. Can you blame me? A cell phone case is really just an outfit for your phone. You can change it based on season, mood, or sports season. I received an Instagram ad last month for Hanogram cases and the case was so cute I couldn't help but click through to their page. Hanogram has cases for all versions of the iPhone along with Samsung phones in every color, font, and theme you could want. I went with the "Unique Name" clear case with white lettering and I could not be more pleased! Shipping was free, the case is even cuter in person, and just last night I had someone ask where I got it from. 

Check them out today!

Style Inspiration: Olivia Palermo

You may remember Olivia Palermo as Whitney Port's co-worker on MTV's reality series The City but in true reality Olivia is so much more than a mean girl in a cube at DVF. I first became a fan of Olivia outside of reality tv thanks to Tumblr. Her outfits were consistently appearing on my feed and in no time I had reblogged dozens. Her style is the perfect combination of classic East Coast prep with elegance and pops of color. I will openly admit I am not a fan of wedding dresses. Don't get me wrong, I have loved every single one of my friends in their big day dress. However I've never found a dress that I thought "I can see myself wearing that one day." Until I saw Olivia's wedding pictures. Even on her wedding day her individual style shined true. She was the perfect mix of classic [the cashmere sweater], elegance [the lace skirt] and color [her blue heels.] 

Olivia is a girl after my own heart and closet.

Five on Friday

Occasionally I get on a music kick and find a really great mix of songs that can get me through the work day, a workout, a shower, or simply driving to Publix. These five songs are a combination of covers, new releases, and some good finds. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have the past couple weeks. 

If you've got a song you're loving leave it in the comments!

1.

Body Like a Back Road- Sam Hunt

2.

We Do- LANco

3.

Somebody Else- VERITE

4.

Don't Give Up on "Us"- The Maine



5.
Doomsday- Ryan Adams

Friday 2/3

Ashley Brooke Designs 

Risk and Champagne

I began putting the phrase "Big hair, bigger mouth" on my social media in college and have strived to live up to it every day since. But if you really know me, it would come as no surprise that I often use my big hair or bigger mouth as a wall to keep my fears, emotions, and insecurities at bay. I started this blog when I was 21 years old and over the past six years it has seen many changes much like myself. The more I blogged the more blogs I discovered. I would sit in bed after work and scroll blogs such as The Sweetest Thing, Southern Curls & Pearls, Pink Peonies, and Sequins & Things for hours. I began to imitate their outfits with pieces I already had in my closet and eventually developed my own adult style. About two years ago I started posting #ootd Instagrams from the work parking lot and the likes and comments started rolling in. That was the first time I toyed with the idea of photographing my outfits and launching Monograms and Media into the world of fashion blogging. But I got scared and chickened out. The word FAILURE flashed before my eyes. What if no one looked at my posts? What if rude comments were left? What if, what if, what if. 

When I moved to Knoxville I turned one of my "social media" friendships into a real life friendship with Katie Lee from Pearls and Twirls [and Caroline Gillem too!] Katie is a co-owner of My Kind of Lovely and by total coincidence ended up being my downstairs neighbor.  This past July I was asked to join the My Kind of Lovely #girlgang handling the marketing for the Greek line they carried. I was over the moon! These are the kind of women that radiate confidence and success and in September I was in my first My Kind of Lovely photo shoot. As soon as the pictures went up the comments and texts started rolling in. I once again toyed with the idea of posting outfit pictures but work went into overdrive and took priority over passion projects. 

A couple weeks ago when I was home sick I received a text message from an old friend who said "The Sweetest Thing is you." For some reason this comment stuck with me for the whole next week. So, I took a night and scrolled my Tumblr and all my go-to blogs and pulled outfits from my closet that were similar to what they were posting. With momentum [and confidence] on my side, I texted Katie and asked if she would be willing to guide me on this adventure and take some pictures for me. And here we are. Am I nervous? Yes. Am I seeing FAILURE flash across my laptop screen? Maybe. Am I more excited than anything? Completely. 

There's a "catch all" dish that sits on my coffee table that reads "She who doesn't risk never gets to drink champagne." So in a sense, here's to risk and drinking champagne.

Dress- Peach Love CA, carried at My Kind of Lovely  Choker- Bourbon and Bowties