The Striped Tee You Need for the 4th of July
June 13, 2016
Top: J. Crew Factory. Jeans: J. Crew Factory (similar). Purse: Kate Spade. Sunglasses: Rayban's. Watch: Cartier. Sandals: Target (similar).
Just popping in to say a quick hello today and to tell you how much you need this top (it's on sale for $27!) for the 4th of July. It's seriously so cute and perfect for any day, not just patriotic holidays :) I plan to wear it with these firework shorts from last year.
My mom and sister are currently in town and I wore this outfit for a day at the beach and a little wine tasting with them and Mark on Saturday. Louie even came along! If you follow me on snapchat you may have seen how averse he was to the water. It was kind of sad but mostly entertaining😂 You may also have seen that now I'm in Yosemite with my mom and sister for a few days. I wouldn't call myself an outdoorsy person by any means, but I'm enjoying myself so far! You can follow along on social, as per usual: Instagram, Snapchat: myinnerfabulous
Hope your week gets off to a great start!
xo Catherine
Travel Diary: New York City
June 8, 2016
This NYC travel diary is pretty much all about amazing places to eat and drink in the city, which is my favorite kind of trip! Both Mark and I have been to the city several times and had done all of the touristy things, so this trip was mostly about spending time with his sister and her husband at their favorite places. I have got to tell you, going to New York (and pretty much anywhere else) and staying with locals is the way to go. They know all of the best places to take you and where to avoid :)
Mark's sister works at the XO Group and we were able to see her office when we got in on Thursday, which was so nice and had this stunning view. I don't know how you would get any work done!
On Friday I had my first ever lobster roll at Luke's Lobster! I have to say that I liked the delicious toasted bun a little better than the actual lobster (#allofthecarbs) but it was still good. Also, highly recommend the blueberry lemonade.
We started Friday night off at The Raines Law Room, which is a speakeasy, hence the poor lighting in the above photo. It was so cute and cozy, and the drinks were 👌
Dinner Friday was at Saxon and Parole where I had, no joke, the best bacon of my life. I made everyone try it because it was that good. If you go, order the burger and you'll see what I'm talking about!
Saturday was spent in Brooklyn, which I was really excited about because I hadn't spent much time there before. It's such a fun and unique part of the city. I knew that I wanted to go to Milk and get ice cream, because hello I'm a blogger and their stuff is so Instagrammable! Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, they have a location in Brooklyn we stopped by and I learned the hard way though that you have to specifically ask for cereal as a topping. Boo. I got the fruity flavored ice cream and it tasted exactly like Fruity Pebbles even without the cereal!
We spent a good part of the day on Saturday at Radegast Hall and Biergarten, which was so fun, and I'm not even a beer drinker! We pretty much parked ourself at a table for several hours and everyone ordered a liter of beer, or in my case a mini cider, and we sampled some excellent sausage. Can you tell in the above photo that it was like 90 degrees out? 😅 It was a pretty hot trip overall, but that's better than rain.
After the beer garden we headed over to the Wythe Hotel which has a rooftop bar that affords you the above view of Manhattan. I love me a good rooftop!
The highlight of Sunday was our brunch cruise around the Statue of Liberty. I'm pretty afraid of boats, but I really enjoyed it and it was a great way to get some beautiful views of the city. Mark's sister joked that she likes to show people the city from a boat so you don't have to deal with the crowds. Can you see that line of people in the picture above? Yikes.
Our last day, Memorial Day, we laid pretty low and hung out at their apartment with lots of food and games.
It was an amazing, and indulgent, trip. It was also just what the doctor ordered after some stress at work. Can't wait to plan our next trip back!
xo Catherine
p.s. you can read my New York Travel Diary from 2014 for a fun comparison if you'd like :)
I Did Not Like Drinking Warm Lemon Water Every Day
June 6, 2016
As part of The 2016 Project I started off my day with a glass of warm lemon water every morning for the month of May (okay only up until May 25th when we left for NYC). Today I wanted to share my honest opinion and experience. From what I've seen everyone loves starting their day off with warm lemon water. From other bloggers to my close friends, I only heard great things. I'll be honest: I kind of hated drinking warm lemon water. Let me preface this by saying that I am not at all a beverage person. I don't drink coffee, and I really only drink tea when I'm sick. I think that I maybe would have enjoyed it more if I had been someone who really liked hot drinks, but honestly I didn't like the taste or giving up the 5 extra minutes in the morning to make it and drink it. Haha that may sound ridiculous to you, but it just wasn't for me. I also didn't feel like it gave me any of the amazing health benefits that I'd read about. Maybe I just didn't do it for long enough, but here's what I found:
Clearing up acne: I wouldn't say that I have acne, but I have the occasional breakout like anyone else and I had my regular breakout during May despite drinking the lemon water. My skin cleared up just when I started to make the effort to drink more water about a year ago, so I think that's what works for me.
Helping with digestion: I have a lot of digestive issues as it is, and honestly they got worse during the month of May. I obviously can't say that it's because of the lemon water, but it didn't make it better either.
Gives you energy: I really didn't notice any uplift in energy. I think it would take something pretty major to give me a ton more energy haha.
Overall pros of my experience: I was drinking more water and starting my day off with a glass of water. I also got to use all of my cute mugs that normally just sit in the cabinets :)
Cons: I had to spend five minutes of my already limited time before work juicing a lemon and heating it up. This is a total first world problem, but I was always crabby during this part of the morning. I also didn't love the taste even when I added some honey to cancel out the acidity.
I think it's safe to say that I will not be continuing on with the daily warm lemon water. I just felt like I needed to share my experience because I wasn't able to find very many reviews from people who didn't actually like it and I think having someone talk about the other side of the coin is equally important and informative. There are a ton of people who love warm lemon water, but I am just not one of them, and that's okay! Different things work for different people.
If you've ever tried the whole warm lemon water thing I'd love to hear what your experience has been!
xo Catherine
The Perfect Summer Dress You Need
June 3, 2016
Dress: Gap Factory. Sandals: Sam and Libby via Target. Purse: Kate Spade (similar). Sunglasses: Illesteva. Earrings: Odette and Ophelia c/o.
Now, about this dress. You need it, simple as that. The fit and flare style is extremely flattering and it's lightweight which is perfect for summer. Plus it's only $29 right now! This was my outfit for exploring Brooklyn and I could not have picked a better (read: breezy) dress for the nearly 90 degree heat. I've been sheltered from humidity in California, so it was a shock😂
This weekend will be pretty low key after the craziness of last weekend. The only thing on the docket is a croissant making class with a girlfriend tomorrow morning. Should be très délicieux!
Hope you have an amazing weekend and thanks for stopping by!
xo Catherine
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