What to wear to a wedding...

Spring brings the promise of so many beautiful things: flowers, warmer weather, brightly colored clothes and WEDDINGS!!! As I have mentioned countless times, I am obsessed with weddings. I always cry, I always dance and I always have one too many sips of champagne :-)

The other weekend was no exception, when my cousin tied the knot.  It's was a weekend of many events and many outfit changes. I've already revealed my bridal shower attire, but let's recap shall we...

Jacket: Target, Tights: Hand-me-down

Dress, Belt, Booties: Forever 21

Next up we had the bachelorette party. I'm happy to report it was one of the classy type parties, where you can sip on a cocktail without having a secret anxiety attack over when the strippers are going to bust into the room. We had food and wine at Bardenay on the Basque Block in Downtown Boise. I'm sorry to report I did not get any pictures from this night, but my ensemble was a repeat of my Carrie Underwood concert attire back in February. I originally planned to wear my ivory lace dress from H&M, but sadly it shrunk in the dryer to a length much too revealing even for a bachelorette party.

What I actually wore...Top: Tracy Reese @ Taregt, Jeans: Banana, Boots: Big R


What I originally wanted to wear (except now it's 3 inches shorter, yeah that wouldn't work, especially without tights...yikes!)

RIP my one time H&M Dress (serves me right for spending $24.95 on a dress and expecting it to last forever, stupid girl...)

Now for the main event: the wedding. When it comes to weddings I always go formal, unless the bride urges for casual attire, which I have yet to encounter a bride like that, but hey you never know. I stick to the cardinal rule of not wearing a white or ivory dress, I feel it's just off limits. For this wedding I busted out my one of a kind tea length dress. I bought it in Boise back in 2009 (I forget the name of the store, since it's now turned into Goldy's coffee shop on the corner of Main & Capitol). Prior to this wedding, I've only worn it once. I felt it was too long, so my co-worker's mom altered it for me (thanks Miss Vickie, you're a saint!). I love this dress bombshells and I hope you do too.

Necklace: Custom gift from Molenarr (thanks to my husband, the pearl is actually one he fished out of a clam in Hawaii years ago, he's such a romantic), Shoes: Kenneth Cole, Dress: Custom

Apparently, I should've worn green... From left: Makayla (little sister), Me, Jacqueline (older sister), Aimee (cousin) 

Grandma and my little sister checking out my dress :-)

The dress is actually pretty comfortable for a strapless. I love it so much!!! I'm not sure where else I'm going to wear it now though, since pretty much all my friends are married. Maybe I'll start hosting formal attire baby showers for everyone haha

The hair was of my own design. The gold chain head band was a recent purchase at Urban Outfitters. I was going for a whimsical look and it worked out perfectly. I sectioned my hair into 3's (top, middle, bottom). I twisted each section into a mini-ballerina bun and pinned. My hair is pretty short right now for an up-do, but nothing a million bobby pins and tons of hairspray can't handle!

Headband: Urban Outfitters ($12)

The wedding was beautiful. A traditional ceremony was held at a local church in SE Boise (literally a 2 minute drive from my house, so convenient  followed by a reception at the Stueckle Sky Center at Boise State University. The colors were purple and silver.

CEREMONY DECOR

The ceremony decor was simple and elegant 

love, love, loved these pieces!  

RECEPTION DECOR

Berry flavored lollipops for a party favor (they were delicious!) 

The center looked out over our infamous "smurf turf" as well as the city of Boise, great views!!!

 Following the wedding, we had a post-wedding lunch the next day which featured a margarita machine, a taco truck and yard games (HECK YES!). I didn't get any stand alone shots of my ensemble, so meet my family:

From Left: Jacqueline (older sister), Mom, Me & Makayla (little sister) 

*The Landry Family Five*

My dress and necklace are Forever 21, my belt is Banana, and the metallic gladiator sandals you can't see are from Target :-)

All in all it was a fun weekend of outfit creations and family time. For more ideas on what to wear to a wedding check out this post by Harper's Bazaar. They went a little edgier than I think is appropriate for Boise, but hey if you have the confidence to rock one of these modern wedding looks, I say go for it bombshell!

Be Bold,

Be Brave,

Be Beautiful,

The BoiseBombshell

Bobbi Brown Ad Campaign

I would like to preface this post with the following: I try not to write bitter diatribes about others...too often. My plan was to just avoid this subject all together, but I just can't hold it in anymore...it's everywhere. Staring at me when I walk through Sephora, Dillards, Macy's, just taunting me to say something, so here it goes:

Katie Holmes is the new face of Bobbi Brown makeup.  Great, fabulous, love it.

Bobbi Brown Ad Campaign

Now don't get me wrong, Katie Holmes looks flawless. Her hair, her skin, her makeup, it's stunning everything looks perfect...until you get to her elbows. WHY?!? The arms are so distracting. They look disproportionate to the rest of her body and it takes away from the focus of the makeup. All I see in this ad is Tina Fey's book cover. Fey's book cove also starts with a flawless face  and ends with not so subtle arms.  At least the elbows aren't showing.

Tina Fey Book Cover

Well, I feel better getting that off my chest. Again, my apologies for the negative post but I felt like it needed to be said. I can't be the only who thinks this. Now that I've put the comparison out there maybe I won't be te only one irritated by this campaign.

In other news, today is wedding day. YAY! The family event starts at 3:30pm, with a reception to follow at the Stueckle Sky Center, which I have never been to, but I here it's amazing. Pictures to follow soon.

Enjoy your weekend bombshells!!!

Be Bold,

Be Brave,

Be Beautiful,

The BoiseBombshell

April Showers...(the bridal kind)

Spring has FINALLY made its appearance here in Boise...and you know what that means bombshells? Showers. Lots of showers. I am not talking rain ladies, although we've seen some of that too, I am talking bridal showers.

With my cousin's upcoming wedding, I've been going on all kinds of wedding adventures. From the Boise Bridal Show back in January, to shopping gift registries, picking out my wedding attire and attending the bridal shower, this BoiseBombshell is in full wedding mode. As I have previously mentioned, I-LOVE-WEDDINGS (seriously, a lot...no really you have no idea)!!! I'd get married every year (to the same man of course)...if it wasn't so expensive and time consuming :-) I guess one wedding is enough, I shouldn't be so greedy, but I totally would if I could.

Not only doing weddings mean you get to drink mimosas on Saturday mornings and swoon over being in love, they also mean you get to showcase a variety of ensembles for all types of wedding-related events. You have engagement parties, bridal showers, bachelorette parties...the list goes on.

Here is my bridal shower attire for last Saturday's event:

Jacket: Target (it's starting to fall apart, but I just love it so much, I am not ready to part with it yet) 

Dress: Forever21 Tights: Hand-me-down

Belt: Forever21 (Side Note: I did have a super-cute brown clutch, but it missed its photo op)

Cuff: Forever21

Fringe Boots: Forever21

I'll admit that I was a little nervous about purchasing this dress, in the beginning. I was worried it was too trendy and much too short in the front, but I;ve'grown to love it. By customizing it with different accessories, I even pulled it off for Easter Sunday last month:

Belt & Cardigan: Banana Republic

Telling Oscar to stop stealing my spotlight

Shoes: Target

Stay tuned bombshells. I still have a bachelorette party, the actual wedding itself and a post-wedding lunch to attend. Lots of outfits to wear, lots of love to soak in. Aren't April Showers the best!?!

Be Bold,

Be Brave,

Be Beautiful,

The BoiseBombshell

Coastal Crazed Fashion

Recently, my husband and I were lucky enough to head to Santa Cruz, California for a weekend getaway. The trip was through my work. Every 2 years, the owners pay for all the employees to go on a weekend trip and participate in a race, AMAZING! Previous trips include British Columbia, Arizona and Napa Valley...really bummed I wasn't there for the last one ;-)

It wasn't all play thought. We participated in a 1/2 marathon (well, Corey did...I did a 10K which is 6.2miles).  Even though I only did the 10k, I am definitely proud of myself, since I can never run over 3 miles at a time (regardless of how hard I train). I finished the race in barely over one hour (I would've finished in less than an hour, but I got a little confused at the finish line haha).

More important than my minute athletic accomplishments, is the fashion that came with my Santa Cruz trip. The ocean, the boardwalk, the endless palm trees were just what I needed to inspire my spring wardrobe. Lots of pastels, whites and bold accessories.

Departure Outfit: Pants (Banana),  Flats (Urban Outfitters), Top/Jacket (DownEast Basics), Necklace (Forever21) 

Necklace: Forever21 (about $8)

On the plan (finally). It only took 1 cancelled flight,  5 hours stuck in the Boise airport, a rerouted delayed flight to San Fran, a poker game and drinks before 11am and a final boarding...yikes!

As soon as we arrived at the hotel we rushed and got ready for a semi-formal dinner.  No time for showering ladies, it was a makeup touch-up and outfit change only. After seeing the pictures, I am a little disappointed by the fit of the dress. I now call it the "saggy-boob-dress" (sad, but true). My apologies for my horrific posture. Oy-Vay!

Dress: Forever21 (about $20), Necklace: gift from my sister-in-law

 Our office picture, post-race. Don't mind the sweaty, tired looks and the treacherous green tops. :-) I love this group. I'm so blessed to work for such an incredible office!

Downtown Santa Cruz

Hotel Pool

My boardwalk attire:

Pants: Gap, Sandals: Target, Top: Forever21 ($10) 

Necklace: "Bombshell" a gift from Silverado (from my older sister and her boyfriend), Watch: Target (gift from my mother-in-law), Ring: Forever21

LOVE the buttons up the back!!!

Our Hotel 

Spring is alive in CA - Birds of Paradise were everywhere

I want a backyard full of palm trees!

Hotel View

On the way back to Boise, I bundled up because it was freezing at home. My airport arrival attire:

Hat: Wet Seal, Glasses: Kate Spade, Jacket: Target, Jeans: Banana, Shoes: Sloan Boutique in Portland ($12) 

Sweater: DownEast Basics

Hope these pictures leave you inspired and ready to dress for spring. Hopefully it'll warm up soon!

Be Bold,

Be Brave,

Be Beautiful,

The BoiseBombshell