Handmade jewelry from Michael's?

I must confess that I go to Michael's every other Saturday...Yes! So true.

I have no idea why but I always stop there and end up buying something even if I don't need it. And they always have fantastic fake flowers!

So this time I got fascinated by the color of the following pendants:

Turquoise and Emerald green are very "summery colors" and I always manage to wear them in one way or the other.

So for under $5.00 dollars each I bought 2 thin swede strings and created these minimalist necklaces; perfect for summer time. 

Another thing that I loved about them is the fact that they have a casual look that allows me to wear them during the day or dress them up at night.

Loving them! and wishing I could find different pendants along the year. 

Simple but striking!

And you would not believe this...People asked me twice where did I get those necklaces. And I felt proud enough to say: "I made them!"

Once again, thank you Michael's for always giving me a new chance to be creative.

Easy right? 

Xoxo...

Pretty in Pink!

I know that probably pink is the last color you would chose when you are thinking of dressing up for work.

Obviously, it's a matter of where do you work?

I love pink. I think that if you find the right pink shade that matches perfectly with your skin and hair type then you can enjoy wearing pink as much as you could.

Sometimes women think that pink is "too childish" as every little girl loves pink for absolutely everything but grown up women can also enjoy pink in so many different ways.

Let me just remind you that the "Pink Dior" color was a tone created by the very famous French designer, Christian Dior that was really embraced by many chic women in Paris a long time ago...

I work in a corporate formal environment so incorporating pink on my wardrobe it's a challenge. Though I always find ways of bringing pink to the job...

I found this super formal shirt from Ralph Lauren that happens to have "pink" in it!

I can wear it with a neutral black pencil skirt or black dressy pants and it's a great way of bringing new colors to the corporate world.

Another way of incorporating pink is by means of choosing a skirt that somehow has some pink on it. I managed to cheat the working code by finding this amazing skirt at Banana Republic.

I know that it looks like is more of a purple color rather than pink, but actually it is pink. 

A very bright intense pink almost "orchid pink" color. Check it out: 

Pink & Blue pattern

So how often do you wear pink? Do you feel pretty in pink?...

Xoxo.

I love simple healthy food

Hey y'all!

I love to cook but I love to keep it simple and healthy. I believe that each time that you cook you are not simply eating you are "nurturing" yourself.

So my rule is:

simple

healthy

under 30 minutes

and ready to go!

I've been very fortunate to have the chance to travel the world and definitely Mediterranean food is my favorite type of food ever!

I can't live without my Italian and Greek food.  I simply LOVE them! I'm sure you have a Greek food store just around the corner...

I live in Atlanta, and we have the International Bakery on Cheshire Bridge Road which is a Greek store where you can find lots of imported products from Greece. They also cook their own Greek food and you can take it home, freeze it and have it any night at home. So convenient! 

This weekend my husband and me felt very "Greek like" so we drove to the Greek store and bought some basics that we will be using in our daily dinner salads.

Check out these amazing simple items:

Extra virgin olive oil, Kalamata olives and feta cheese

This feta cheese looks out of this world!...

Also every Sunday I cook my weekly meals that I will be having at work. I like to rotate the menus but they are always super simple and obviously super healthy too.

Last week it was Greek salad, hard boiled eggs, grapes and non fat natural flavor yogurt.

This week as I was running out of options I decided to make up the following pasta salad that turned out to be kind of an "Asian" pasta salad as I decided to use soba noodles as the base of my recipe.

I added some extra olive oil, salt, pepper and ready to go! I'm also taking a ripe avocado to add some more of the good fat to my weekly lunch.

So what do you cook for your daily lunch?

Let me know if you have any other simple recipe so that I could incorporate to my Sunday routine.

Have a great week!

Xoxo...

Coral & Turquoise

Loving the coral & turquoise colors for this spring time!

Banana Republic is selling them at very affordable prices.

I have always loved coral and turquoise tones as they bring me back memories from summer times.

If you add some chunky jewelry and match them with a neutral color skirt and nude high heel shoes you will immediately look elegant and fancy.

You could also dress them down by matching them with white capris or just regular jeans. They are super easy to wear them and they also bring an inside white silky camisole too.

Coral & turquoise, the perfect pair for spring & summer time!

Xoxo...

Dark blue is the new black

Picture 1: Bloomingdales - Blue dresses by Bassler.

Picture 2: Banana Republic - Dark blue pencil tweed skirt. Love my skirt!

Picture 3: Ann Taylor dark blue & black pumps. I'm so happy with my new shoes...

Picture 4: Bassler catalogue. Cover page. 
(the original picture belongs to Bassler. I took a picture of the cover of their catalogue).


Have a great week!

Xo Xo...

Valentine's Decor

I hope that you have enjoyed your Valentine's Day. 

Nothing is more important than love!

My husband and me decided to stay home and just had dinner together but I always manage to take the chance to make my own Valentine's decor.

It's simple and you could easily use it for any other romantic night...

Just a couple of candles and some color theme and you are ready to transform any table. I love to change my table according to the occasion. It's easy, affordable and most of the time it really looks very cute!

This was our first Valentine's Day as husband & wife...

Lots of love to you all.

Xo Xo...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a blessed loving day tomorrow!

Loving the new "Merona" shoes!

I know it might be too early but guess what?...

Target has already started selling their new summer shoes. Yeah!!!

Check them out :

And the best part...

Totally affordable and super cute.

Don't think twice, they are usually sold very quickly. Good luck!

Xo Xo.

Beautiful words from God!

My sister in law Jen is an amazing beautiful woman and her heart is full of God.

She has great taste for home decor and usually her house looks like a "Pottery Barn" ad. 

She likes to play with pastels and calm neutral colors. Her house always remind me of a house by the sea... 

Today I want to share with you her very personal "decor touch" that I like to call: "God's decor touch!" 

Why? Because she finds interesting ways to incorporate God's words in each room and she always does it in a very subtle and inviting way.

Let's see what she has done so far:

This is her daughter's bedroom. A super cute pink bedroom!

If you pay attention to the details, she placed a Hawaiian dancer on top of the desk that brings that "beach & fun" feeling to an already feminine bedroom, but  she also managed to incorporate some beautiful God's words.

Check it out:

Isn't it cute?

So these are some ways of incorporating your spiritual believes in your house.

If any spiritual or religious phrase inspire you or your family, don't be afraid to place it in some precious spaces in your home where every one can appreciate it too.


HALLWAYS

HEADBOARDS

FRAMES

But by far, this one is my favorite for any girl's room:

It's a great reminder that we are all beautiful women because our hearts are beautiful. 

It's all about who we are inside. 

As simple as that!...

Xo.Xo.

Mexican Chicken Tacos recipe by Coco

My good friend Coco who lives in Miami was generous enough to share with us one of her favorite family recipes. 

Coco is a very fun and loving woman who loves to cook for her beautiful family.

I asked her about an easy recipe that busy working women could incorporate to their routines and she picked her beloved "Mexican Chicken Tacos in Salsa Verde".

Take down notes of her recipe:

Ingredients

Chicken breast

Corn Oil

Flour Tortillas

Queso Fresco

Garlic cloves

Green tomatoes

Sour Cream

Lettuce (finely chopped)

Onion

1 Bay leaf

Garlic

Salt & Pepper

Radishes (sliced)

Natural Jalapenos

Coco recommends that the exact amount of ingredients depend on the amount of tacos you would like to cook as the whole recipe is basically based on your own discretion and resistance to the “chile” and how hot you like the salsa.

Instructions

• Boil the chicken breast with salt, pepper, one bay leaf, onion and garlic. (Keep the broth to prepare your green salsa)

• Once chicken is cooked shred it and make the tacos. Close them with a toothpick to avoid them opening when frying.  

• Wash and boil the green peeled tomatoes and the jalapeños in a little bit of water. Once they are soft, blend them with salt. 

• Fry this salsa in a bit of oil and add the chicken broth – depending on how thick you like the salsa is the amount of broth you should use. Let it cook for some minutes.

• Fry the tacos in low fire to avoid they get burn (flour tortilla fries faster than corn).   

• Once fried, soak them in your hot salsa for some seconds and serve.

Xoxo.

It snowed in Atlanta!

Strangely enough, it snowed in Atlanta.

Say no more...

I always manage to tell my husband how much I love him...

A red purse for winter can make the difference!

I've seen that most of us are pretty much traditional when buying a purse. Specially in winter, we always try to buy a pair of black and brown purse.

Can we think of a more bright color this winter? Let me show you how a red purse can make the difference.  

I picked this Tommy Hilfiger red purse as an example. It's a bright happy color to cheer up winter times.

Now let's see how can we match a red purse with our usual winter color palette...

Match a red purse with warm or neutral colors.

I took pictures of different purses all together only to demonstrate that a red purse combined with clothes in different colors will match perfectly without the need of having to wear a brown or black purse.

Check out the following examples:

CLOTHES & COLORS

A dark orange blouse

A dark orange scarf.

Taupe pants or taupe ankle boots.

Dark or light brown pants.

Golden jewelry, as the perfect accessory.

Dressy black pants

Black jeans

Black shirt. (Banana Republic have the best ones as they totally fit your body and they are not "boxy"...)

Black boots

Dark olive cargo pants

Dark olive denim jacket

Dark safari scarf

Light and dark brown boots

Dark deep blue tweed skirt

Cranberry leather boots

Cranberry silk blouse

Dark orange, black or deep brown turtle neck

See? It's really super easy to incorporate a red purse to your winter wardrobe. Sometimes we get caught up in our own shopping routine. 

It's time for change. Go for it!

XoXo.

A design idea - Table Decoration

I love to host dinners at home and nothing makes me more happy than a good dinner with friends and great wine...

But I'm also a control freak so I have to have everything organized way ahead.

Once I chose the guests and type of food, I immediately start creating the color palette for that specific night. I like to change and always offer something new and different.

People love the unexpected and I think that it totally set up the tone for the night.

This time I wanted to create a warm space with a touch of bright colors. Winter is really monochromatic so I thought that a variety of flowers could cheer up the cold spirit...

Red place mats and flowers
Trader Joe's usually has great variety of flowers at very affordable prices and this time I only bought one bouquet that I split in two different vases. 

For the table flower arrangement I used a tall and thin cylindrical vase that I usually use for floating candles. I thought that they would look more modern in this type of tall vase.

Hurricane vase, white candle and cut flowers
Following my new obsession of bringing some "spring spirit" during winter times, I decided to cover the bottom of the hurricane vase with flowers.

I cut the smallest flowers and only added two big bright pink daisy's on top.

Kitchen counter
I like guests to feel comfortable and be able to move around and pick what they prefer.

Opening your kitchen counter and placing glasses, plates, condiments, drinks, etc, give your guests the opportunity to easily mingle with other guests and it's a great way of keep things moving.

I always like to end up the night with some kind of small souvenir. This time I created a small pink box with some daily beauty products. The kind of gift that will always suit any kind of woman.

It's all about giving and showing your love!

Xoxo.