Equestrian Chic, with Head Over Heels with Melanie!

I'm so excited for this post! I collaborated with my friend (and in this case, stylist and photographer!) Melanie, of Head Over Heels with Melanie, to create wearable, modern equestrian chic looks. The inspiration came from an amazing Kate Spade purse (no longer available in this color), and when I got it, I immediately texted Melanie to say "we have to do an equestrian photo shoot!" 

She excitedly agreed, we set a date, and started planning! 

We scoured my closet, and with the help of some of Melanie's amazing scarves (and style sense of course) and my variety of Stella and Dot Jewelry we styled a few looks we both loved! 

(and would wear any day!)

Of course, the boots are a must, and skinny jeans are the best for them. I die for my leather gloves, blazers and button downs. I think I lived the equestrian lifestyle in a previous life!

For another, more classic style, we added Melanie's vintage scarf that she has had and loves dearly. It was perfect for the look and the scenery! It couldn't have been better!

For the 3rd look, we changed it up with my statement blazer, beautiful hunter green scarf and a classic white button up. The hair came down for a casual feel.

And finally, to go full equestrian... we added Melanie's favorite "New York, I wore it all the time and loved it dearly" hat. Perfect!

All images courtesy of Melanie 

Shopping:

(Jeans: JBrand similar; Blue Button up: Gap; Blue Blazer, H&M old similar; Orange Blazer: Gap; Boots: Franco Sarto old similar; Bag: Kate Spade no longer available similar; Scarves, vintage; Gloves: Banana Republic similar; All Jewelry: My Stella and Dot Site)

Engagement Photos featured on Head Over Heals With Melanie!

Today, my lovely friend Melanie, of Head Over Heels with Melanie featured my engagement photos by Melinda Bunker on her website! 

Check it out here!

 Melanie is a bridal stylist- she will make you (and your bridesmaids, MOB, flower girl, ring bearer, groom, groomsmen etc. etc. etc.) feel like a million bucks for your big day and days leading up to your big day. She's also just an all around stylish gal! Do you remember the nautical bridal shoot post I did a while back? That was all her hard work! See the whole styled shoot here on her site.

Engagement Photos

I'm thrilled to be able to post pictures that my husband-to-be and I took with our Wedding Photographer, Melinda Bunker Photography, for our "e-session" or engagement session a few weeks ago! I'm so incredibly happy with the pictures and these are just a few of our favorites. (There were a lot of favorites, out of 175 pictures that she gave us, uhm... amazing much!?) We are so lucky to have Melinda as our photographer!- she is so talented and we love these pictures so much. (did I say that already?) Aside from the gorgeous pictures, Melinda is so fun and we had such a great time with her! She made us so comfortable and we are really looking forward to the wedding pictures with her! Visit her site and blog to see how amazing she is! 

www.melindabunker.com

Here is a link to more pictures from our session with Melinda on her blog! 

Kara and Matt are Tying the Knot!

M.I.A.

Yep. That's me in a nutshell, blogging world. Missing in Action. I apologize for my serious lapse in blogging. I have a new job, a side job, a part time job, wedding planning and a tiny tiny tiny bit of time to see friends and family. I'm barely sleeping. I've never been so busy in my entire life! I don't want to complain about any of it, because mostly it's good stuff. But many, I'm tired. 

I will do my best to take even 5 minutes every few days to check in and be a blogger again. I love it so much, and I miss it. 

Must. Find. Time.

In the meantime, please understand that I miss it, and miss my fellow blogging friends!

Have a wonderful Sunday! Hope to talk to you all soon! :)

Sincerely,

A very tired Kara. 

High Five for Friday!

It's Friday! It's my day off this week! That deserves a high five in itself! :)

I'm linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk to celebrate my 5 favorite things from this week! Happy Friday to all of you!

:::one:::

I ordered a wedding dress online this week and it's suppose to arrive today! How crazy would it be if this was the dress I say "yes" to!? Ahh! I'm excited!

:::two:::

My adorable nephew had his first "little kickers" soccer practice this week. It was hilarious and adorable and super cute. Clearly he enjoyed it. When did he get so big!?

 :::three:::

Going shopping with my friend in Berkeley today for a job I'm working on and I'm super excited to go and shop/buy gorgeous things for someone else! So fun!

 :::four:::

Phase 1 of the move has happened, which means the cats have moved in with me. We are starting to get along just fine...

:::five:::

This nugget. Watchin' her big brother play soccer, so happy and so cute! Check out that hair!

If you haven't noticed...

I'm a fan of stripes. Lots of them, as often as possible.

These pics were taken pre-engagement, while we were hanging out at the beach. It was windy- Made for great hair though! :)

 Real Beach hair! 

 (this is me saying, "hang on, wait for the wind to die down"... !)

(Striped top: old, Jcrew; Pants: Sexy Boyfriend, Gap; Watch: Nixon; Bracelets and rings: My Stella and Dot Site, foundation bracelet and nugget wrap bracelet, stacking ring set)

Oh, How Pinteresting!

Linking up with The Vintage Apple for my favorite pins of the week. I sifted through all the wedding pins for these ones... enjoy and happy Wednesday!

:::one:::

 pinned here

:::two::

the face says is all...

 pinned here

:::three:::

have to remember this...

 pinned here

:::four:::

truth.

pinned here

:::five:::

Love this look.

pinned here

 :::six:::

Love this idea

pinned here

:::seven:::

I have to get this asap!

pinned here

:::eight:::

Love this metaphor.

pinned here

I said "Yes!"... see it in pictures!

My man is amazing. In so many ways. 

One of them, is the fact that he arranged for his sister to be hiding out on the beach, taking pictures of him asking me to marry him. I feel so blessed to have these pictures that I will always be able to look at to remember such an amazing moment in my life. I was completely unaware that this was going to happen, was so shocked and on top of it all, was so happy to see his sister immediately after! It was so great to see a family member and share the moment with her. 

Here are the pics!

Here we are... as far as I know, just walkin on the beach- one of my favorite things in life!

Still walking... right about now, Matt is telling me to check out tide pools in the rocks to our right. I didn't believe him that they were there, but climbed onto the rocks for fun anyway.

He "tricked" me by giving me an anniversary card, which really was a "will you marry me?" card! I was shocked, literally said "No!" in complete confusion...to which I then said, "I MEAN YES! Is this really happening?" Then he got on one knee and asked me to marry him!

This is me saying "Yes" again, and crying (sobbing), and "oh my God!" and "holy sh*t!" 

(classy I know). It was honestly an out of body experience!

 Big hug, lots of tears! (happy tears of course!)

More hugs, more tears!

 The kiss!

Then we saw his sister and she took this picture... we can't stay serious for TOO long! :)

And finally... a celebratory dinner with his sister/our secret photographer!

So amazing! Such a wonderful day that I will never forget!

High Five for Friday!

Linking up with Lauren to celebrate my 5 favorite things from this week!

I'm house sitting/ doggie sitting my favorite girl Lola this week so most of my favs are moments with her! Have a great weekend everyone!

:::one:::

I was heading out with my fiance and mom to check out wedding sites on Sunday morning, grabbing coffee first, and these were my parking lot neighbors! My man and I are dying to have a Corgi someday so it was only fitting that they were there for this big day for us! A look into the future perhaps? 

I think yes. ;)

:::two:::

Lola and I had a play date with my dear friend Emily and her adorable Libby. Everyone had fun and everyone was exhausted by the end! I loved spending time with Emily and the girls had a great time playing too!

 :::three:::

Lola and I took a field trip to my sister's house to play with my nephew and the hose. It was fun, and I think Lola enjoyed the ride. Rough life she's got!

 :::four:::

She might be the cutest when she's sleepy. Puppy cuddles are good for the soul.

 :::five:::

I snuck time in this week for a manicure. Fun and girly. :)

Oh, how Pinteresting! (and I'm back!)

I haven't blogged since my engagement! So much going on! So much happiness and I can't wait to share the details with you soon! There are pictures of the engagement itself and pics from the weekend that I will post soon! In the meantime I will jump back on board with the linkup with The Vintage Apple for my favorite pins. (and yes, they are mostly wedding centered!) ;)

:::one:::

Exactly.

 pinned here

:::two:::

Fun wedding pic poses. I'm taking note.

 pinned here

:::three:::

Love this idea for a guest book. So convenient!

 pinned here

:::four:::

So cute.

 pinned here

:::five:::

Great idea. Will probably have to do this!

 pinned here

:::six:::

Found him! :)

 pinned here

:::seven:::

Sparkler sendoff! This will happen! Already in the plan and the budget! :)

pinned here

:::seven:::

So pretty. Love the honesty and beauty of this picture. Such a moment!

pinned here