Happy 40th MBP

My uncle MBP recently celebrated his 40th birthday (although you'd never be able to tell). He is such an amazing loving hilarious human being. I feel so lucky to not only be apart of his modern family but also to be so close to him. We are able to share everything, which I love! We spent the day shopping as a family, because would you expect us to do anything else? We hit up a few vintage shops and a few modern shops. My favorite was our new discovery, Native Citizen. This store sells mid century modern furniture and art pieces that are used to decorate the owner's retail stores Langford Market and Duo. We happened to get our new dining room chairs from the same owner at a modern market art show a while back and this time we acquired a new computer desk. 

After a bit of shopping and a mid day Starbucks pick me up we drove around neighborhoods looking at homes, which is one of my favorite things to do around Houston. I love discovering new neighborhoods and looking at all the different homes. I'm glad my uncles love to do that as much as I do. We made our way back home where his husband surprised us both with a catered dinner in the comfort of our own home. Bravo Matt, bravo...This dinner was delicious! And what was even better was to have it in the comfort of our own home surrounded by family. Overall Michael had an amazing birthday and I'm so glad to be able to spend another year with him. Cheers Michael!

Matt and I

 Outfit

Dress: Off Fifth

Shoes (not shown): Bakers (old)

Jewelry: Christine Bowden necklace, Betsey Johnson ring (old), Marc Jacobs watch

Glasses: Penguin The Gondorff

Birthday gift

I received this beautiful custom wood jewelry box a bit ago for my birthday. Some of you might know that it was my birthday about a week ago. The funny thing is this wasn't my birthday present this year, it was last years present. It all started when my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday last year and I couldn't think of anything I really wanted, so we decided to put it on our "list". I guess I should tell you what this infamous list is. Well it started when my mom had planned a trip to New York for my 13th birthday but after moving to California it was canceled. She said she would make it up to me sometime and made a mental note of it. Then, it came to college graduation and the trip to Greece we wanted to go on had to be put on the list because of the job I was offered. In between there have been other miscellaneous gifts put on the list and taken off, but the "list" now resides on our fridge reminding my mom of the trips we need to take. Okay now back to the jewelry box...I've always been envious of my mom's wood jewelry box that had all these compartments and could hold a lot of jewelry, although she still had too much to fit in it. One day I looked at the sad plastic baggie filled with all of my bangles, the gift boxes jewelry came in, old Tiffany's bags that I had stuffed necklaces into and it hit me...I wanted a jewelry box for my birthday!

Now how did I go about finding this amazing jewelry box I wanted...Well I happened to be home in Orange County for 2 weeks before I moved to Houston and it was also during the time of the Sawdust festival, which is an art festival with local Laguna Beach artists. I found nothing. So I searched Etsy and came across a user ScribeSF. He didn't have a jewelry box on his Etsy shop, but I thought I would message him and see if he did any custom work. Sure enough he did! We had many many emails back and forth with details I wanted and sketches he would send. If any of you are in need of anything made out of wood I highly recommend this guy. He was really friendly to work with and priced fairly. Finally a bit ago a huge package arrived and this beauty was inside. It fits my entire jewelry collection with room to spare, which I take as a sign that I need more jewelry! I didn't think pictures could do this justice so here's a little video I made.

Birthday Celebrations

This past Sunday was my 24th birthday...I know, I know...I'm getting so old! The day before my Great Aunt Dagi came to visit. It was so great seeing her and hearing old family stories while flipping through photo albums. I got to see my dad as a baby with super curly hair! That evening we all went out to dinner to celebrate her being here and my birthday. We went to Sorrel Urban Bistro and it was amazing! The food is all locally sourced and the menu changes daily. My uncle Matt did a great job picking this place out. Afterwards I went out to the bars with my friends to celebrate in my amazing birthday dress.

Now let me just tell you about this dress...I got compliments on it all night because it was just THE perfect birthday dress. When I walked into New for the Night looking for a dress Shireen asked me what my plans were. I told her just dinner with the family and then out with my friends, but I wanted something fun and flashy. This dress was the first one we picked out. Not appropriate at all for either of those two things, but who cares, it's my birthday! And the best part was I was renting it so I wasn't spending a fortune on a dress I was only going to wear once. The whole concept of renting a dress is awesome and I don't think enough people know about it. I like this store because I can come in and try on the dresses before I rent them and not have to worry if what I ordered online is going to fit or look right. Their prices are really reasonable and I even got a coupon for $20 off since it was my birthday. This was my first dress rental from here but I'm definitely going back!

Outfit:

Dress: Parker from New for the Night

Shoes: ShoeMint

Jewelry: Carey Hill blue necklace worn as a bracelet, Carey Hill blue bracelet, Tiffany bead bracelet, Tiffany charm bracelet (similar here)