Fresh Produce

If case you haven't heard of Fresh Produce, it is a great company co-founded and still run by a mom entrepreneur, Mary Ellen Veron and is primarily made in the USA.  You can find their clothing sold in Fresh Produce stores’ and more than 500 specialty retailers throughout the US and Caribbean. 

I was lucky enough to have them contact me to see if I wanted to try out of of their new spring styles. {Spring Dresses}Umm, yes of course I do! The funny part is that a day earlier I had been eyeing some of there clothing in a store in Sanibel, Florida {see my trip to Sanibel here}. Which is also the name of one of their colors. Everything is named after a tropical locale, from the clothing to the colors. It makes it so fun to pick stuff out. 

I swear I went  back and forth between the Maxi dress in Catalina  and the Impromptu dress in Fiji like a hundred times! {I mean how could I ever decide there were so many options basic dresses: http://freshproduceclothes.com/fp/basic-dresses} 

The names of all their clothing is so perfect for the locals. I can see my self with a tropical drink with a pineapple in it on some fabulous beach in Fiji in the Fiji dress! Unfortunately a trip like that is not in the budget, so I went with the choice that better fit my life. Catalina is after all just off the coast of California. I think this means we will just have to take a little trip off the coast to Catalina soon!

I just love my Catalina Maxi Dress in oyster. I paired it with my J Crew Cardigan and flip flops and my favorite Stella and Dot necklace.

 Can I say another thing, I love being a medium! I hate the trend that seems to be plaguing the lower end stores where I can barely fit into an XL. I mean I'm not that big ;) There size chart was right on and the dress fits me perfect. {size chart} Another great thing is that they also have plus sizes that actually look like they would be flattering. I will have to get my mom into one of their stores next time she visits. {FYI They sell it at the exchange! There is also a fresh produce store in La Jolla and they sell it at many retailers throughout the county, see here}

In case your not lucky enough to be near a store like I am, don't despair.  Fresh Produce now ships to over 200 countries, so women outside the US can enjoy the colorful styles, too. 

If your taking a fabulous vacation this summer you should check out there clothes, they would be perfect for any summer getaway! {awesome beach & summer favorites}

Seriously though I love this dress it fits great and is super flattering {I'm not just saying it because they sent it to me!} My next purchase is one of their great scarves or this awesome cardigan- and it's on sale! 

Do you love Fresh Produce too?

How would you pair the Fresh Produce spring styles? 

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Julian, California- Apple Pies and Buffalo Burgers

Julian is a cute little town about an hour east of San Diego. This  historic and charming town is full of bakeries with apple pies, antique stores and cute shops. They also have great buffalo burgers and some wineries around the area. 

We stopped at a little antique shop just outside of Julian

I really wanted one of these old sinks to use as a planter

These old crates would also make amazing planters

The town of Julian

The hardware store sold Minnetonka boots, so cute and comfy! I want some!

Do you have a cute little antique town near you?

XOXO,

Annie

Furniture Revamp: Goodwill Dresser

Most of my furniture is painted in the same way {similar to my nightstands here and trunk here}. I usually strip, sand, add two coats of primer and two coats of paint. If I am being lazy {like I was here} or it's a piece that isn't wooden, I won't strip it. I still have to sand it to get the old paint off and make the new paint stick.

First I sanded the entire piece, I used a little bit of paint thinner to get the gold paint out of the creases. Somewhere between Goodwill and my house the dresser got a large deep scratch down the top of it. For step by step instruction head over to Our Military Home and see my guest post{here} on how to fix blemished wood furniture.

The Before

It was a pretty easy fix, basically you just fill the crack with wood putty and wipe it smooth. You may have to do this several times. Once dry you sand it smooth with sandpaper or a small sander {like the Black & Decker Mouse, which is what I used}.

Recently I have been using my Rustoleum 2x cover  spray primer even on furniture, though I painted it on this particular piece. I rolled on the primer then a few days later the paint. It took a couple of hours, but I think the dresser turned out wonderfully.

For the handles I spray primed them with one coat of Rustoleum 2x primer than two coats of Rustoleum glossy black spray paint. The middle drawers were missing two of the draws pulls, but luckily for me the Alameda Flea Market always has drawer pulls in every color so I bought three small black crystal nobs {$5 each}.

The dresser was $40 and everything else besides the drawer pulls I already had in my shed. So I have a great wooden white dresser and it only cost $55!

What do you think?

How to you re-finish furniture?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Sanibel, Florida

We headed to Sanibel for some beach time and a little shopping. We collected shells for my cousins daughters girl scout troop and walked along the water. 

We walked to the lighthouse. On the way to the lighthouse we spotted an osprey nest with a momma osprey and her little birdie. 

We got super hot and hungry so we were on to our next adventure. lunch at the purple giraffe and a bit of shopping.There are so many amazing birds in Florida, while shopping we came across this one.

On the way back to the house we spotted these Sandhill Whooping Crane in the neighbors yard. 

What's your favorite thing about the beach?

XOXO,

Annie

Happy Easter!

We had my cousin, her husband and their three kids at our house for Easter and had an wonderful day {you may remember them from our trip to Salt Lake City, here & here}. It was my first holiday meal that I made on my own {well, without my mom, my husband is actually pretty helpful! He would like me to state that he cooked the Ham, with a little help from princess Abby} 

As with any holiday I love to decorate, pretty much anywhere in the house that I can. This probably has a bit to do with my compulsive shopping and need to craft! A few weeks ago I went to the La Mesa Antique Street Faire. It was great, not amazing like Alameda {see here} but it was worth the drive. La Mesa village is a quant little street with cute shops and tons of antiques stores, including an antique mall. I had no idea and I will definitely be checking out the area again soon. My husband and I had a great little breakfast at Por Favor Restaurant before he headed off to golf and I walked around for about four hours... yup I really enjoyed the day there! I got some really great holiday decorations for not very much. 

The lambs and little basket are from La Mesa

The blue mason jars are from Alameda

The spring sign is from Dollar Tree

Glitter eggs I made {see tutorial here} 

The big blue egg is from TJ Maxx

I made the giant bunny, it was the Valentine's Day card from my husband and our Doghter {yes, he got me an Easter card for Valentine's day and signed our dogs name!} I just painted some cheap Walmart canvas and Mod Podged it on.

Aren't the little $5 lambs so cute?!?

I printed out this great banner over at Cakes Like A Party, check her out here!

Even my front porch needed some Easter cheer {see tutorial here}

We had such a great day, there were Easter baskets

  and yummy treats

{for colored rice krispies, just add food coloring to the marshmallows before you add the krispies}

BB had so much fun running around with the kids that she is passed out

How cute is she? Just like my lil lambs

Hope you had a wonderful Easter like we did!

We're off to Sea World tomorrow.

XOXO,

Annie