How I Spent My... Weekend

Lunch at The Porch on Friday- sipped a yummy Grapefruit Agave Gimlet.

One of my favorite places in Dallas: JD's Chippery. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Snickerdoodle cookies.

Watched people play a giant game of Jenga at the bar.

SMU vs. Houston Homecoming game- the rain was a major buzz kill.

Back home in LA! Took our engagement photos Monday and got coffee at my favorite place, Cafe Luxxe, in the Brentwood Country Mart.

Leaving On A Jet Plane... To Dallas!

Sneak peek mid-packing for my trip to Dallas!!! So excited to see everyone for SMU's Homecoming weekend (and for Mi Cocina, JD's Chippery, Northpark Mall...). Be back Sunday, have a great weekend!

Airport Outfit: T by Alexander Wang Tank, Love Quotes Scarf, Textile by Elizabeth & James "Jimi" Jeans, Celine "Luggage" Bag and Miu Miu Platforms.

How I Spent My... Wednesday & Thursday

Lattes with the fiance.

Monique Lhuillier for the third... and fourth time.

Vera Wang store... for the second time.

Peek a Boots!

Recent Weekend Activities

Toasted with Kir Royales at the Casa Del Mar Hotel.

Watched my fiance's brother play some high school football.

Tried on wedding dresses at Monique Lhuillier and Vera Wang.

Rode around Newport Beach in a "Duffy" boat.

Had a little too much fun on the boat :)

? Who knows...

Celebrated my bestie's 25th birthday a week early!

♥ Recent Outfits

Work: Kain Tank, Textile by Elizabeth & James "Jimmi" Jeans and Miu Miu Platforms.

Work: Joie Tank, Banana Republic Turquoise Earrings, COH Avedon Jeans and Lanvin Flats in Tan.

Fall splurge: Celine "Luggage" Bag from Barneys.

Drinks & Dinner With The Girls: Bird by Juicy Couture Coat, Rebecca Taylor Tank, J Brand 10 inch Jeans and Christian Louboutin "Rolando" Pumps.

Best Friend's 25th Birthday: Joie Leather Jacket, T By Alexander Wang Pocket Tank, Pucci Scarf (borrowed from my Mom), Celine "Luggage" bag and Christian Louboutin "Piros" Boots.

May 28, 2011!

The Langham Hotel.

The date is set! Sorry that I have been slacking lately... luckily I have been able to hammer out a bunch of wedding details for our big day on May 28, 2011! Only 222 days away...

Just received my wedding packet in the mail!

We are super excited to be getting married at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena, CA. Besides the venue, we have decided on a lot of the big details but I still have to find THE dress. Contemplating a few options... perhaps a wedding dress inspiration post coming up soon ?!

Stay tuned for a "Recent Outfit" post (loooonnnng overdue!). I missed blogging so I'm excited to get back in the groove of things!

First photo courtesy of http://pasadena.langhamhotels.com/

♥ Recent Outfit: Mad Men Party

My girlfriends threw a Mad Men (one of my favorite shows!) party at their house last night and it was amazing! Everyone went all out with their costumes: vintage 1960s dresses...martinis...fakes cigarettes and cigars...even the decor was from the 60s (borrowed by their g-ma).

The awesome bar set up complete with 1960s drink recipes- my drink of choice was a vodka gimlet.

All the drink necessities.

The amazing food spread- all 60s inspired!

My Outfit: a vintage dress paired with my Mom's opal and diamond ring, grey Louboutins and matching Essie Chinchilly nail polish.

I'm Back... And Engaged!

I said YES!

WOW, so so so so sorry for the m.i.a posts on guidetostyle! I have been enjoying the fact that I got engaged on 8-21-10 (the blog's 2 year bday!) and was thrown into wedding planning mode! I promise to return the blog back to it's normal posting schedule and to include you in the wedding planning process!

Night of the engagement out celebrating!

Thanks for checking in while I was gone and hopefully all the new readers got a chance to catch up on some past blog posts... wanted to share some engagement and ring pics!

The ring! Cushion cut solitaire with a pave eternity band.

And The Winner Is...

Congrats to Kelley who posted the above comment- you won (chosen at random) the CSN giftcard giveaway! Please email me at nicole.guidetostyle@gmail.com to claim your prize.

A big thank you to everyone who participated, it was fun to read what all of you would buy from the CSN websites! Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back soon with some fun posts!

Giveaway: CSN Stores Giftcard

CSN Stores has been kind enough to sponsor my first giveaway in celebration of guidetostyle's upcoming 2nd birthday! They have over 200 online stores, ranging from furniture to cookware (which features some awesome dinnerware sets) to health & fitness to outdoor living- the list goes on!

To enter, simply check out their online stores (link here) and leave me a comment in the comment section of this post telling me what you would put the giftcard towards if you won and become a follower of guidetostyle if you aren't already.

I will draw a name at random on Friday, August 20th so be sure to get your comment up before then. Only one comment per person please. Good luck!

photos from csnstores.com

Inspiration Of The Week: My Pre-Fall Inspiration Board

Updated my inspiration board which hangs right above my desk and thought it would be fun to share! I am so excited for fall and think these looks are the perfect pre-fall transitions. Click the above photo to enlarge.

The left side has some of my favorite things for fall: furs, lady-like outfits with funky details (love the short socks with shoes), bold texture and colors as seen on the gorgeous Jessica Stam and also some surprisingly soft colors thrown in the mix (seen in the upper left and on Mary Kate)... I am soooo overly obsessed with the shot of Georgina Chapman in her feathered Marchesa creation that you will see it twice on the board.

The middle of the board focuses on personal pics and two "Flash" tears from Vogue featuring some of my all time favs: nude and leopard.

Far right side of the board showcases the to-die-for feather Marchesa dress yet again on January Jones, a "Fashion Resume" tear from the September issue of Marie Claire featuring Dree Hemingway and more personal photos.

And the token flower shot- Switched it up with some daisies this week.

Hope that inspired some of you to go through magazines and figure out what looks you want to recreate for the upcoming season!