Friday, February 28, 2014

brighten the blues

Thank goodness this week is over. I had three midterms this week and then got a nasty cold on top of that. So ready for the weekend! My outfit planning didn't have much success this week, since I basically wanted to live in my sweatshirt and leggings, but I made myself put on a cute outfit yesterday. It didn't really make me feel better, but I loved looking more put together and not like I just fell out of bed!




sweater: Gap (similar) // shirt: Polo // necklace: J. Crew (similar) // jeans: Lucky // shoes: Steve Madden // watch: Tag // bow: Always Anchors 
(although, in total and complete honesty, I ended up putting on my UGGs before leaving for class. it was cold!!)

-Kylie

Thursday, February 27, 2014

the written word

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to write more letters. There is something so fantastic about receiving mail that isn't a bill! So far, I'm doing pretty okay with my resolution. I've been sending letters, and I even have a cute box to store all my stationary in! Obviously the most important part, right?



It seems like most of my cards actually came from my parents. The cupcake ones were in my Valentine's Day care package (and from Home Goods, where they have really cute cards for cheap!) and the bird ones are Papyrus from my Dad!

Plus, look at how cute these Christmas cards are that I snagged at Target in their Christmas sale! I can't wait to use them next year.

Here are some of my favorites from my favorite places:
one // two // three // four // five // six

Do you guys like writing letters and getting mail? 
-Kylie




Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Sew Glam Gifts!

Sew Glam Gifts is an Etsy store I found recently, and it is filled with so many cute and fun products! The store is run by Kelley (who is amazing at embroidering) and almost everything in the store is embroidered with the Chanel logo. Perfect for all of us fashionistas who are on a budget. ;)
Kelley sent me the Monogrammed Black and White Infinity Scarf, and I have to say, I'm completely in love! It is SO soft (an absolute must in a fleece scarf) and the Chanel monogram takes it up a notch from just being a boring black scarf! It just became my go to scarf for this cold weather. 

And for the lucky Dress in Sparkles readers, Sew Glam Gifts is offering 10% off your purchase with the code DRESSINSPARKLES! No minimum purchase necessary! Make sure to check out the Travel Mug and the Knit Headband (I think I might have to get those for myself)! 


It came in such a cute package! Plus, we found out that she's an alumni from my college! Crazy coincidences! 


(Ignore my face, I was really excited ;))


Don't forget to use the special DRESSINSPARKLES code at Sew Glam Gifts to get 10% off your order!

-Kylie

The scarf was provided by Sew Glam Gifts. All pictures and opinions are my own.
If you would like to work with me, or become a sponsor of Dress in Sparkles, feel free to email me at kyliemavrakis@gmail.com. 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

marigold & black

It's cold again. Excuse for while I go hide under all my blankets and pretend that it's still the lovely warm weather we had last week. (Obviously I can be a tad dramatic at times.)
So, this week I am trying something new. If you follow me on instagram, then you probably already saw, but I planned out my outfits for the week ahead of time! I figure that if I plan it ahead of time, I won't have an excuse to throw on a sweatshirt and leggings. Plus, taking outfit pictures for the blog has definitely been giving me some extra incentive!



shirt: J.Crew Factory // skirt: ModCloth (similar) // scarf: Urban Outfitters // tights: Target // bracelet: Oh So Bow // shoes: Steve Madden c/o DSW // jacket: Steve Madden // sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Monday, February 24, 2014

wishlist wanting: saving up

I think we all have this list. The list of things we would love to have, but are very far out of the budget. I'll be the first to admit that my list is quite long, and very unattainable, especially since I am a high impulse buyer. But I'm making it my goal this summer to save up for at least one thing on my list! Like a reward for graduating college and starting my accelerated nursing program. So here is a couple items on that long list of mine:


2 park avenue beau bag: $498. Oh, the beau bag. This is the most perfect bag in my eyes. It's big to hold everything, comes in lots of beautiful colors, and has a bow on the front. I don't think it could get any better. This is my absolute dream bag, and I vow to own it one day!

Lily Pulitzer shift dress: $188+. This one is probably a little more attainable than the beau bag. Lily shift dresses are just such a classic, and they never seem to go out of style. I love the two dresses above, but there isn't really one that I don't like! And you can totally justify the price with that logic, and thinking of it as an investment that you can wear forever! (I could win an Olympic medal in justifying a purchase!)

J.Crew Factory harper double bow flats: $108. Life motto- put a bow on it! I'm officially jealous of everyone who has a pair of J.Crew bow flats. They're classic and perfect and can you tell I love them a lot? Hopefully they'll stay on the factory website until I can buy them, considering the factory pieces are always cheaper!

Polaroid camera: $245. There is something that is just so much fun about a polariod camera. You can take fun pictures and have them instantly, and you definitely become an instant hipster with it as well. My next goal after getting one would be taking it to Coachella (still hoping I get to do that in my life)!

What's on your saving up wishlist?
-Kylie




Sunday, February 23, 2014

weekly roundup: spring fever

We had spring temperatures here this week, and I officially have spring fever. Too bad it's supposed to go back down into the 20's again this week. Doesn't it feel like this winter is never ending?? I am so ready to bring out my spring clothes and ditch the heavy sweaters. So this weekly roundup is going to consist of some spring inspiration, while I pretend that it did not snow a little bit last night! (All pictures taken from my pinterest.)








Here's hoping for warmer weather!
-Kylie

Saturday, February 22, 2014

stripes and sales

If you like J.Crew, and don't check the J.Crew Factory website constantly for sales, you're doing something wrong! It seems like they're having some sort of sale every day, and they're actually pretty great! I found one a couple weeks ago that was 40% off everything, plus free shipping! Win! I got two shirts, a scarf and earrings for $40. Pretty much started bouncing off the walls. The shirt and earrings featured in this post were part of that sale. (Also, yay still having warm weather!)





(bonus: enjoy the most amazing coffee cup ever that my sister got me for Christmas! It's designed by Alice & Olivia for Starbucks!)

shirt: J.Crew Factory // jeans: Lucky // earrings: J.Crew Factory (similar) // necklace: gift // boots: Jessica Simpson (similar)

-Kylie

Friday, February 21, 2014

light it up

I think I'm behind on this trend, but I love the idea of a little tray of matchbooks! I actually first saw it in a house I babysit at, and thought it was kind of cute. But now I'm seeing them pop up all over the place. They are definitely so much cuter than having those big lighters around, especially when you're like me and like having a candle lit all the time.


What do you think about having a tray of cute matchboxes?
-Kylie


Thursday, February 20, 2014

pink & pearls

It finally got a little bit warmer here! We had our first taste of spring on Tuesday with 50 degree weather, and I officially have spring fever. Can the weather please be this nice every single day?? In complete honesty, I started my day off in leggings and a sweatshirt. An 8 AM really is not conducive for cute outfits. But, with the warmer weather setting in, I had motivation for the second half of my day!







sweater: Charter Club (similar) // skirt: J.Crew Factory (similar) // belt: J.Crew Factory // necklace: Forever 21 (similar) // tights: Target // watch: Tag // boots: Hunter (similar) // jacket: Steve Madden

-Kylie

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

nutella banana coconut pockets

The amount of recipes I have saved as bookmarks on my computer is probably a little bit insane. I even have them organized into categories. Yeah. But it does give me lots of options to chose from when I want to bake! :)
So, this time, I made nutella banana coconut pockets. I know, it sounds a little crazy, and you're probably unsure about how it tastes. Well, let me tell you. They're AMAZNG! Its warm banana and nutella goodness, with a little crunch of coconut. Heaven! 







Nutella Banana Coconut Pockets (recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff!)

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 banana, sliced
4 heaping teaspoons Nutella
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 egg
1 teaspoon water
Dash of sugar
1 tablespoon roughly chopped chocolate bar
Nutella to drizzle on top
(although to be honest, I just piled bananas, nutella and coconut into mine! I wanted to make them chock full!) 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out puff pastry dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough into four large squares.
Place two slices of banana on one side of each square and then top with 1 heaping teaspoon of Nutella. Sprinkle a dash of coconut over the Nutella.
Mix together the egg and water. Brush this mixture along the edges of each square. Flip the other side of the square over the banana, Nutella and coconut. Seal the pocket using the tines of fork.
Repeat with the remaining three squares.
Brush the tops of each square with the egg mixture and sprinkle the top with sugar.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the puff pastry is puffed and browned. (Highly recommend baking on parchment paper!!)
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once cool, drizzle warmed Nutella over the pockets, chopped chocolate bar, coconut and sugar.

Go and enjoy the yumminess! 
-Kylie

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

missing new york city

Back in January, I had the amazing experience of going to New York with my best friend for a weekend! I didn't have my blog back then, so I figured now would be as good as time as any to share! Especially since she'll be coming to visit me in a couple weeks :)
We ended up going a day earlier than we had planned, because it was the first weekend of January, aka the first big snowstorm! It's lucky we did too, or else neither of us would have made it into the city. We both knew that the main thing we both wanted to do was see Broadway shows. And oh boy did we see Broadway shows! 
The first night, we saw Cinderella, with tickets via TKTS. Basically the TKTS booths offer same day tickets for a discounted price. They have a booth in Times Square, but it doesn't open until three for night shows, and the wait is insane! So we took the subway down to the South Street booth (thanks to handy dandy mapquest subway directions), waited in no line at all, and got twentieth row center section seats for half off!

Cher and I!

Santino Fontana (the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen!) who played the prince, and Ann Harada (she was on Smash!) who played a stepsister. 

Laura Osnes! She played Cinderella, and is on of my absolute favorite Broadway actresses. You may remember her from that Grease reality show a couple years back where they picked the cast for the Broadway revival! We unfortunately didn't get pictures with her because it was snowing so hard at this point, and security was rushing her through the line.

The next day, we knew we wanted to student rush for First Date. If you haven't heard of student rush, jump over here and check it out! Basically you can get same day, really cheap tickets with your student ID! And sometimes, they even have just a general rush! So we headed over to the First Date box office, and ended up getting fifth row seats for the matinee for only $30! Epic win! We then decided, in about .1 seconds, that this meant we should also student rush for a night show. Hence how we ended up getting great seats to see Beautiful: the Carole King musical!

Krysta Rodriguez (she was on Smash) who played Casey, the main girl, and Zachary Levi (Chuck and the voice of Flynn Ryder!) who played Aaron, the main guy. I look like I'm frozen because I was. Completely an ice cube. But waiting the forty-five minutes for these pictures were worth it. 

We didn't end up staying for pictures with the Beautiful cast, mainly because we were a tad bitter over the fact that we didn't get to see Jake Epstein (he was on Degrassi) in the part of Gerry Goffin (last minute sub by the understudy). I also wasn't feeling very well at this point and was cranky, so props to Cher for dealing with me.

And on our last day, we hit up two places we were dying to go. Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West side and Laduree on the Upper East side (aka the place with the macarons!).
Both places were fabulous and surpassed my expectations, and I would highly recommend trips to both!

All in all, it was such an amazing weekend! I can't wait for our next adventure in March!

If you have any questions about the trip, feel free to ask!
-Kylie



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