Avocado Chicken Salad

This is a super, super easy, and super delicious summer lunch, inspired by one of my favorite restaurant salads. 

Simplicity:

1.) Pile beautiful fresh greens on a plate. 

2.) Halve an avocado, and put one half on the plate. 

3.) Whip up some chicken salad with whatever you have on hand, and scoop it into the avocado half. 

4.) Grab some veggies if you have some (carrots, cherry toms, and cucumbers are perfect here), and throw those on (obviously I was low on veggies this time around, oops).

5.) Make or buy a delicious champagne vinaigrette, and serve alongside. 

6.) Eat all together--a bit of salad, a bit of chicken salad, and a bit of avocado, all dipped in dressing. Mmmmmmm!!!!

I should have made this again tonight. Instead, I decided in my brilliance to turn on the oven and bake a pizza. And then I burnt my $6 gluten-free pizza to a crisp, all while turning my house into more of a sauna than it is already. So take my advice: on a hot summer evening: make this chicken salad! It's perfect!

xo!

Happy & Skippy

{yet again, these shorts WERE ironed at the beginning of the day, fyi}

Screen-star style! Give me a touring car and let's hit the roads of Monaco!

Since I'm fresh off my "It's raining" kick, I won't go on a new, "It's hot" kick. But, just for the record: it's really, really hot outside. 

Aaaaaaand moving on. 

This outfit makes me happy and skippy. As in, wanting to skip instead of walk. 

I love this outfit because it's simple but punchy, and modern but retro. All of the pieces are new (ie. not vintage), and the colors are modern, but the whole look has a definite retro vibe.

Almost the weekend!

xo!

Weeknight Project: Chevron Weekly Planner

I love that Weeknight Projects are usually super cheap or free. This one? $1 or free if you happen to have a cork board laying around. I grabbed mine at the dollar store. 

Use masking tape to tape off some lines for your border. I made my border 1" all around. 

Then, I freehanded my chevrons with a simple white paint pen. It's a good idea to let this dry outside, as those paint pens aren't necessarily good for the brain cell count...y'know?

When it's dry, you can use it to pin up pictures, inspirations, or a calendar page. I love, love, love this perpetual calendar that was gifted to me, and thought it would be a perfect way to organize my week at a glance. 

"do something creative every day" ~ Great motto!

Cute flower thumb-tacks, with twine attached to my pink pen so I can keep track of all of my upcoming events!

And "all of my upcoming events" are a LOT, so it's a good thing I'll be organized!

Whatever happened to that whole "lazy summer" idea?! 

xo!

Little Heart

I felt like blogging a little something extra tonight, my dears. Some might call that procrastination; I prefer to think of it as generosity. #tomatotomahto

I had an empty, sad little spot under my calendar wall that needed a bit of cheer. This cherry-red enamel 

heart catch-all for 25 cents at a tag sale is just so spot-on, I couldn't have found anything better if I had an unlimited budget. It is so Swedish to me, which absolutely warms my little Swedish-heritage heart. Teeny tiny clothespins also warm my heart. I mean, hello? So cute, right? 

This song has been in my head!

Alright, alright, back to work now! 

This & These & That

This is my super-tired face. And sadly, this was the best of the batch of photos. Yowza. 

We're back to gray skies, too. I need some chai STAT.

But I think the rest of the week is supposed to skyrocket into the high-80s. Ew.

These are my stripes rolled up over the spring green.

These are my lavender fingernails.

These are my chevron socks in my cheetah flats. 

And that is my casual Monday outfit. 

xo!

Weekday to Workout

Laaaaaa-Teeeeeee-Daaaaaaa

More bows. I'm on such a bow kick. Bows in my hair, bows on my shirt, bows on my shoes...

Never enough bows! These newly thrifted Jeffrey Campbell shoes are my favorites as of late. 

Bows on my toes ;-)

And after the day, it's time for a workout. Keepin' that self healthy is so important! This same skirt is so cute for a modest workout bottom...it looks adorable and is feminine, athletic, and washable. A hard combination to find in a workout outfit! I kept the bow in my hair, too, just used it to sweep my bangs off my face. Bangs + workout can be a sweaty, breakout-causing combination, so keep them off your face with a clip or headband. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

Get out there and work it out!

Good Morning!

Gooooood Morning! It's Friday! 

Sooo...I'm wondering. How did donuts ever manage to get the "breakfast food" distinction, while just-as-sweet treats like cakes, cookies, etc. were snubbed and called "dessert only"? I'm not sure who decided that. Give me a banana, cheese stick, and piece of chocolate cake for breakfast, and I can power through the day. Granted, I do NOT indulge for breakfast very often, and do not think it is necessarily the best way to start my day, but being an adult does have its advantages. Like eating cake for breakfast.

 I just remembered: this was Kate Spade's adorable advertising/motto earlier this year! 

Amazing and so much fun. How cute are those outfits?!

Have a great day!

Birthday Celebrations

Birthday cakes are the picture of happiness. Sugar-overload, celebration-happiness baked in a pan and served with a smile. I just love to bake a cake, putting little touches here and there (such as handmade birthday bunting flags), and to offer it as a gift and celebration of friendship, of life, of good things that have been and good things that are to come.

Gluten-free chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting...with organic strawberry milk.

It makes me happy. 

How could it not?

Sending so many good wishes for the coming year to the birthday girl! 

Happy Birthday and Lots of Love!

xo!

Snack Time

So. 

There's this chance I have developed a bad habit. 

By bad I mean, utterly delicious. Watermelon sherbet with Cool Whip.

Nightly.

No, it's not a bad habit, really. 

It's sherbet! Less fat and fewer calories than ice cream!

Right? RIGHT? 

+++++

Oh, how we can rationalize to our hearts' content. See, here's the thing: God calls us to take every thought captive. Every word, every deed, everything in our hearts--to take it captive. To pass it through the sieve of the Holy Spirit, so that we can make every thought/word/deed obedient to Christ. 

But--well, we're really good at RATIONALIZING.

I'm equating my rationalizing a "bad habit" of sherbet with sin, just for effect.

Because the problem is, sometimes sin tastes delicious.

It feels good. 

It might make us feel alive for a minute, or dulls our pain for a minute, or maybe we think it's just plain fun. 

And that never hurt anyone, right?
Wrong.

It hurts God's heart. It hurts him because He is Holy. He detests sin and unrighteousness. And he LOVES us. He WANTS us. 

Next time you find yourself rationalizing sin, remember: God detests that. He loves you. And that is enough. 

That is always enough.

Bows and Bouffants

I'm a '60s girl at heart, I do believe. Give me a bow and a bouffant and I'm quite happy indeed. Touches of leopard (and more bows in my hair!) and a blouse covered in tiny bows...yes yes and more yes. Always yes to bows!

 I think it's so amusing how skinny jeans are such a modern trend right now, but they suit my '60s tendencies so very well. Everything old is new again.

xo!
Natalie

{P.S> Sorry my "Love, Natalie" graphic has gone missing...it will be back soon!}

Blue Skies

It's been getting a little too casual around here. So I wore my Jackie dress again.

My Jackie dress makes me feel happy. 

{Mom, where are you to give my dress a good yank down to smooth out those wrinkles when I need you?! }

I'm wearing the gold/seafoam cocktail ring, too, but you can't quite see it.

Seafoam + Sky Blue + Royal Blue. 

It has been so wonderful to see blue skies again! 

I hope you have a beautiful blue-sky week!

xo

Natalie

Sunny with a Chance of Preppy

It was a sunny weekend! Sunny with a chance of preppy ;-) 

I took that chance of preppy--not a style I do often, though I adore it. I just generally inch towards vintage-girly more so than the straight lines of preppy. 

Braided gold flats with a tiny wooden heel certainly feel preppy to me. Very nautical. 

I picked up these bright green bermuda shorts, thinking I could use them as a summer version of colored skinny jeans. Do you think colored shorts translate as well? 

The shirt is yellow gingham, but it's hard to tell in the photos above.

I got SO many compliments on this sunny yellow nail polish. 

I've been wanting to try the yellow nail polish trend for a few summers now, but kept telling myself I had plenty of nail polish to use up first. But when a perfectly yellow bottle of Sally Hansen showed up in the clearance bin for $1, who was I to argue with my deep-seated inner yellow-nail-polish love? 

It lived up to my expectations and I just adore it for summer. It will definitely be a regular part of my summer nail polish rotation. 

Don't worry, seafoam green...we're still friends, too. In fact, I think you and sunny yellow will play nicely together, like this:

{found online...anyone know which blogger this is?}

Because aside from the fact that she's wearing way too many accessories, those amazing polka-dot pants paired with yellow & sea foam green alternating nail polish are crazy-inspiring. 

Have a great week, my dears! You're looking lovely this Monday morning!

xo

Natalie

Sunshiney Morning

{azaleas, still a bit wet}

It's sunny this morning! It's sunny! I feel like harps and trumps and angels should sing!

I've already been up and inspired with this lovely sunshine streaming in---I potted some beautiful fuschias for my front step.

Fuschias are one of, if not totally, my ABSOLUTE favorite flowers. Well, they are my favorite non-bouquet flower...they are just so incredibly beautiful, fun, girly, and colorful. They come in all different color combos, some more fancy and layered/ruffled than others. 

I'm pretty sure they are just about the most perfect Natalie flower you could ever find---they are fairy flowers, ballet costumes, cupcake toppers, just flirty, girly, and FUN FUN FUN.

My favorites!

See! They match my pointe shoes!

Whenever I'm feeling happy and lovely, I put on my flat ballet shoes or pointe shoes. I haven't actually danced en pointe for many years, so I just dress-up in those :-) But my flat shoes...oh yes, I dance! Dancing makes my heart feel so much lighter, more beautiful...and expressed. How often do we get to feel that our hearts are fully expressed and poured out? I feel that dance can absolutely be worship too--I put on some praise music, and dance my heart out before God. Oh it is so beautiful. 

Well, those are the things for this happy Friday morning!

xo, my dears!

Natalie

Feminine Oxford

Sometimes I find oxfords are far too masculine for me, my shape, and my taste. This vintage button-up has enough detail to make it feminine...cute side vents, ruffled collar & sleeves, floral pattern, and it's the perfect blend of being ultra-soft and yet crisp.

A blue floral print and jeans with just enough detail to keep things interesting...perfect for a breezy summer day!

xo

Natalie