Dooley Noted Style: March 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

room to outfit

Second installment of room to outfit. I seriously can never get enough of anything that is featured in the fab home mag House Beautiful and when I came across this stunner of a room I knew I wanted to use if for an outfit inspiration. Even though this room was featured in 2008 I think it is still totally relevant to today's style. I may never be bold enough to have a room like this in my home but I still can appreciate the beautiful colors and rich look of this New Orleans formal living room. The soft pink colored walls with the gold accents on the chairs, chandelier and mirror were all antiques found locally in NOLA. I also adore the modern Lucite side table that mixes new with the old. Would you ever have a pink room in your home??? I think this fancy room deserves an elegant ensemble to wear within in it...queue the daydreaming of being fabulous drinking champagne and having friends over for dinner in this elegant environment!

image via

This pale pink Zac Posen gown is absolutely insane, I knew the second I laid eyes on it, it would be the focal point of my room to outfit design. I seriously wish I had the funds and a place to wear such a beauty. I paired the exquisite dress with the always stylish Miu Miu shoes that have a Lucite heel which reminded me of the chandelier & the clear side table. The black trim on the nude suede reminded me of the black dresser, back of the couch and black coffee table top. The aqua drop earrings are formal but organic in their shape while the color matches the couch and the stunning rug perfectly. The gold and diamond trim on the earrings reminded me of the trim on the mirror and chairs. The pillows shape inspired me to find a evening clutch to resemble the petite rectangle size and to use a shade a tad darker then the dress. I kept all the beauty products in the blush colored family as I didn't want anything too overpowering. The delicate bracelet is dainty enough to give your arm a little sparkle but not take away from the statement earnings. So what do you think, would you wear this look below???

Go Shopping

Zac Posen evening gown dress
$2,990 - net-a-porter.com

Miu miu shoes
$990 - barneys.com

Elie Saab gold handbag
$857 - boutique1.com

Irene Neuwirth yellow gold jewelry
$9,940 - ylang23.com

18k jewelry
£1,230 - net-a-porter.com

Bobbi brown cosmetic
$50 - neimanmarcus.com

Elizabeth Arden lip makeup
$23 - lordandtaylor.com

Dolce Gabbana nail polish
£18 - harrods.com

stylish easter eggs

I always loved Easter growing up. Since I am not religious it most meant getting a fab new dress from my wonderful god mom and a basket full of candy. But what I truly would go bat shit crazy for would be the Easter egg hunt that would always take place in our yard. It was always a mad dash to get to the neon plastic eggs that were filled with candy and money, it was especially intense for the few that had the $5 or $10 bills in them. Since I was the youngest in my family up until my teen years I would say that I had the disadvantage of finding the hidden plastic eggs the quickest but being the youngest also meant extra help from the family like my Uncle Jack would always "help" me find the eggs that were out of my eye sight and direct me to the goods. I also adored coloring eggs growing up, the smell was atrocious but usually I would think it was funny the house smelled like a big fart and would laugh my tuckus off blaming our three dogs that it was them and to control their behinds (I know I am a huge dork, but seriously why are farts so funny?). I would get so amped up to boil the eggs and start the dying process on our kitchen table covered in the NY times. Back then Paas was the only option for your egg coloring needs but today there are so many more fun ways to decorate - which leads me to this oh so stylish way to dye your eggs courtesy of Our Best Bites . All you will need is some eggs, old ties (has to be 100% silk), vinegar, rope, and basic white fabric.

step 1 - deconstruct the silk tie

(go to a thrift store to purchase an inexpensive tie or any silk blouse)

step 2 - wrap the eggs in the fabric securing with a string or twisty tie till fabric is smooth around egg

step 3 - use an old white sheet or pillowcase to wrap around the fabric & secure again with a tie

step 4 - put all the eggs in a pot & cover with water and 1/4 cup vinegar and bring to boil, remove after 20 minutes and let them dry - once cool you can remove fabric and see your very pretty egg

step 5 - Voila - The end result is a very stylish egg!

Check out these adorable eggs from not so attractive material

a basket full of these stylish eggs would make the prettiest table centerpiece

***For more detailed instructions visit Our Best Bites***

All images & content via Our Best Bites

what to do with all those eggs once you have dyed them??? Egg salad of course! how adorable is this recipe from Hungry Happenings

Happy Easter!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

nautical nuptials

Bridal blogs such as Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Wedding Cake and Grey Likes Weddings were a pure addiction during my wedding planning. I seriously checked them daily and before I logged onto my work email. I couldn't ever get enough of all the beautiful weddings that were featured and was always loving the inspiration from weddings all over the world. Recently I was cleaning out a file cabinet drawer of wedding invite samples, I found the below invitation suite that I was completely enamored with during my planning. The nautical and preppy design of this beautiful letterpress invite just blew me away and I was ready to drop my "beach chic" theme to a nautical elegance just so I could use the paper products below. With the help of my sister I realized it wasn't a good fit for me and I stayed with my originally plans but I couldn't resist to envision an entire wedding designed around the invite below. I just love everything nautical in fashion so why not have some fun and use it as your wedding theme. I did wind up using this vendor for my story book save the dates which they did an amazing job on so if you are in need of paper products - I highly recommend them.

Compass Rose Invitations

Bridal Gown

Cocktail Hour Flowers

Reception Flowers

Bridal Bouquet

table numbers

Make a whimsical beer bar with a sail boat

(i would prop on a long rectangle banquet table)

Grooms Attire

break tradition & have your guests sign an oar to later display in your home

buy them here

Ring Dish or Ring Pillow

Wedding Cake

anchor totes for guests

Striped Favor Boxes filled with Salt Water Taffy

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

fifty shades of grey trilogy

I was slightly obsessed reading this trilogy. I knew zero about it before I started but it was all over the Internet and blog-sphere that I gave it a go and when I did I seriously couldn't put it down. Some may think its a tad embarrassing to admit that they loved this book but the story really wasn't about the "erotica" for me. I loved the non stop drama, clever arguments between the two main characters and the suspense of each story line through the series. I would love to divulge into the story more but I also don't want to put out any spoilers out there for the people still reading the trilogy. To all the haters out there that said this was a mock of Twilight, I cant fight back. I have never read or seen any of the Twilight Trilogy. I also never read Hunger Games - GASP! Vampires and futuristic styles are not for this gal. I enjoyed this book simply because it was an easy read, a peak into the world of the rich and in each chapter I was left wanting to know what happens next can't things just be as simple as that. Why do we over analyze everything to pieces??? Perhaps the writing was a bit lackluster for descriptions of wardrobe and sometimes repetitive but it was purely entertaining. Since this story has been featured everywhere lately, naturally talks about it becoming a movie (Universal supposedly paid $5 million for the rights) are already in the works. I however can't decide if it would be better fitted for the big screen or a television serious like SATC on HBO. I almost prefer the series just because it can be extended to leave nothing from the trilogy out as what takes place in most book-movie adaptations. Every chapter could be an episode leaving us on cliffhangers each week! But seriously the most important part is who would play Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, never-mind the rest of the cast??? Or even better - who would play Mrs. Robinson!

these are my picks - who are yours???

Ryan Gosling - OBVI choice for Mr. Christian Grey

Lilly Collins - Gorgeous & innocent looking - perfect for Anastasia Steele

Ellen Barkin as Mrs. Robinson

Jay Hernandez as Jose

Shantel Vansanten as Kate

Amanda Segrfied as Leila

Wentworth Miller as Elliot

The Trilogy

slim gym

I loathe the gymnasium, my poor mother (and sister) were constantly writing me notes to get out of this horrible class through my adolescent years and I shamefully admit that I still to this day do not enjoy going. While I was athletic up until the end of my high school career but not so much after. I prefer to work out at home (even if my neighbor across the street gets a good laugh) I hate the mirrors in the gym, the body odor of the people who refuse to wipe their sweat or wear deodorant - GAG and the thought of the machines not being clean severely puts me over the edge (John's obsessive windexing has clearing affected me!). I cannot stand everyone staring at each other when they take a break on a machine and I especially dislike when I am working out on a step master or a elliptical and there are machines behind me - I feel like my rear is right up in the person behind me's face. So all of the above pretty much explain why is it so difficult to go for me but doesn't explain why I just don't work out more at home!? It seems next to impossible and uber tedious for me to simply devote an hour of my time each day to working out regardless of the post work out glow of feeling better because I always do but let's face it - it's just not as divine as sitting on the couch with a mag and a glass of vino. I have been thinking that perhaps a new exercise wardrobe will do the trick. It helps with work so why not the gym? I started my research and was shocked how much stylish work out gear was out there for this and just might give me the jump-start I needed - oh fashion, you always seem to be the answer!