Blackberry and Peach Galette

Hi everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday :)
Yesterday, we gathered at our friends Brandy and Myles' place for a BBQ. No particular occasion, just wanted to catch up and enjoy each others company. I was in charge of dessert so opted for something very easy. That's when I remembered Emily's post and thought it would be perfect. It turned out to be a very effortless recipe that was equally as easy to scarf down. We even topped ours off with vanilla ice cream! I can't wait to re-create this recipe with other in-season fruits, its so versatile.
xx,
Andrea

THE PEAKS and the pits

THE PEAKS...
-Donut Shop
Has anyone ever tasted the coffee Donut Shop? Best ever! -Andrea

-The Company You Keep
Knowing the people around you have your back at anytime & will listen to you whenever you need to vent or just talk things thru. -Rebecca

...and the pits

Give Them an Inch & They Take a Yard-
I can never tell if I am happy to please someone when they ask for a favor or annoyed that they are taking advantage. -Andrea

Cough Drop Drama-

-Chewing on a cough drop and all of a sudden your tooth breaks off! Just greaaaaaaat, not only do I still have this cough but now I get to visit the dentist too! -Rebecca

Swimsuit Guide

Hello there ladies! Yes, I know the most dreaded time of the year is coming up, bathing suit season. We all hate it, but we got to do it. If your summer plans consist of hanging out by the pool with friends or going on vacation to somewhere exotic, make sure you have fun with your bathing suit choice. I always say that your bathing suit should always have a little bit of fun to it like option #1, its print is made up with tiny apples, so cute! What's great is you can buy them online and try them on at home, no need to go to the store :)
xx,
Andrea

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Work the Wedge

I love a good pair of wedge sandals especially during this time of year. I'm seeing so many great pairs out there in all colors and styles that will look great with a pair of jeans, a dress or shorts. Plus they are really comfortable and very easy to walk in which definitely helps if you're on your feet quite a bit. So as usual I was doing a little window shopping online at all my favorite shoes sites to see which ones would make it to my shopping bag. I found so many cute pairs it was hard to narrow them down but here are my top five favorites.

...Rebecca...

Target-Mossimo Espadrille Wedge

Nordstrom-Steve Madden Wedge

DSW-Steve Madden Sandal Wedge

Macys-Chinese Laundry Wedge

Macys-INC Wedge

What to Wear: Wedding Season

If your anything like me, your summer is fulfilled with lots and lots of weddings. Its already starting for me this weekend as a friend of Alex's is getting hitched. Since I am always scrambling to figure out what to wear (at the last minute), I picked out some options below. Whether its a black tie wedding or an outdoor wedding at a winery, I've got you covered below.
xx,
Andrea

Outdoor wedding: 1, 2, 3, 4

Black Tie Wedding: 1, 2, 3, 4

Color Me Pink

This weekend was filled fun in the sun and laughter surrounded by great friends enjoying this California weather! I couldn't have asked for better weather with the sun shining, the roses blooming and the fruity cocktails flowing it was overall an awesome weekend! With lots of color around me I was inspired by the beautiful color of the pink roses in my backyard that it made we want to change my pale pink polish to a color just as bright and pink as the roses. This is the season of keeping up with the Mani's & Pedi's so my polish is frequently changing. During winter or fall I wear dark polishes and then in the spring or summer it's all about color, the brighter the better! In this case for Spring, it's going to be a bright pink for me from OPI called I'm Indi-a Mood for Love. I'm sure next week I'll be inspired by something else and be Indi-a Mood for another color.

...Rebecca...

Pink Rose Inspiration

OPI Polish: I'm Indi-a Mood for Love

THE PEAKS and the pits...

THE PEAKS...
-Fun in the Sun
Looking forward to a fun filled weekend in the sun and working on my tan by the pool. -Rebecca
-Got to Give it Up
Spending my Friday giving back to my community as part of my works Viacommunity day! -Andrea

the pits...

-Time Flies

Having too many errands to run and not enough time to do them all in one day. I just need a couple of more hours in my day to check off the things on my list. Grrrr -Rebecca

-Back to Reality

Why do you always need a vacation from your vacation? -Andrea

-Clutter upon Clutter

Cleaning up a pile of clutter only to discover another pile lurking right behind it and the best part it's not even my stuff so why am I cleaning it?!? -Rebecca 

Funky Town

I was feeling a bit funky yesterday so I thought I would put on something bright to get me out of my funk. You know the saying of dressing by how you feel, well I did the opposite and it worked! I put on my new teal skinny pants and leopard flats from Target and snapped out of it. I'm fortunate to have some mornings where I can take some time to relax before starting my day and today was one of those days. It was so nice outside I could not let it go to waste by staying indoors so I grabbed my cup of coffee, a couple of magazines and sat in my backyard to hang out. It was so refreshing and relaxing that I didn't really want to move buttttttt I had to get a move on with the rest of my day filled with errands, work and more errands. My little backyard "me" time and outfit was just the pick me up I needed. It put me into a "just go with it" attitude for the rest of the day which I liked and realized I should do more often.

...Rebecca...

Happy Feet!

Target Mossimo Skinny Pants

Target Mossimo Leopard Flats
(shown from March's Welcome to the Jungle post)

Oh Joy! at Kate Spade

Last Thursday, The Americana hosted another blogger event at Kate Spade with blogger Joy from, Oh Joy! I am just a little bit obsessed with Joy. I follow her blog on a daily basis and look up to her as a fellow blogger, so I was really excited to meet her. Of course, she was just delightful to meet in person and gave awesome summer entertaining tips at the event. The store was stocked with so many wonderful items that exude what Kate Spade is all about: fun, quirky, fashion! I would rock any of those pieces on a hot summer night.
xx,
Andrea

Once of the staff members at Kate Spade totally photo bombed me and it worked. Such a fun guy! I need this hat for my Palm Springs trip.

Yes, I will take those gold kitten heels in a size 7 1/2! Please and thank you!

Rebecca and I with Joy.

Mellow Yellow

H&M Top

I'm so fascinated on the whole neon color movement and the fabulous colors I'm seeing in stores right now so much so that I purchased a bright yellow top! It's a big step for me to buy anything other than black so it was definitely a moment. The bright neon colors will be awesome for Spring and Summer so I can't wait to get a few more pieces to add to my closet. The purchase of this H&M yellow top (above), I think will be just the beginning of a neon color overload for me so watch out! A little neon here and there can really take an outfit to another level and right now yellow is just the first of many colors to catch my eye so it will definitely be continued onto more colors. Check out my other picks of mellow yellow pieces...

...Rebecca...

Target Xhilaration

Forever 21 Top

H&M Skinny Pants

Old Navy Sandals

Ojai

My boyfriend, Alex, and I spent this past weekend at the lovely Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Thankfully the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a lovely weekend. Our days were filled with spa treatments, trying to master our golf swing, checking out the local farmers market, and enjoying what the quaint town has to offer us.
Xx,
Andrea

THE PEAKS...and the pits

THE PEAKS...
Happy Hour:
Getting to spend time with the bestie before she leaves for her weekend getaway! -Rebecca
Relax, Don't don't it!:
Weekend getaways are the best! Can't wait for some spa and relaxation in Ojai. - Andrea

...and the pits.

Catching to many Zzzzzz's:

Hitting the snooze on my alarm for an extra 5 minutes that turned into 20 minutes! Not a good way to start the day but luckily I still make it to work on time. - Rebecca

Walk Like a Man, Talk Like a Man:

Being sick has left me with a voice that sounds like a man. Sexy, much? I don't think so!! - Andrea

Spring Must Haves with Sincerely, Jules at Madewell

Last Thursday, Rebecca and I had the opportunity to attend a special blogger event at Madewell located at the Americana at Brand. This particular event was hosted by blogger Julie of Sincerely, Jules, such a stylish girl. What a great night it was! Got to hang out with the bestie and look at all the beautiful pieces Madewell has to offer for spring. Peep the picks below. Since this was one of a series of blogger events that The Americana is offering, we will be reporting back with another round next week :)
xx,
Andrea

LEFT: Rebecca and I with Julie. RIGHT: Madewell storefront at The Americana.

The lovely drinks they were serving up, pink lemonade and vodka. The perfect amount of "girly".

LEFT: This DJ (didn't catch her name) was playing all the old school jams :) RIGHT: Some of the decadent sweets that were served.

Rebecca and I showing some of the spring looks that were highlighted at the event.

 *Images via The Americana's Facebook.

On Display

Over my long long life (kidding!), I've collected quite a bit of jewelry which has become quite of an obsession and hobby for me now. I love all kinds of jewelry especially rings, bracelets, necklaces, and watches. Now with having so much jewelry it was really starting to clutter. I was losing pieces because I would leave them in random places and then some pieces would be forgotten about because they were hidden behind others. I had been using a small jewelry case which was overflowing and could barely even close after trying to fit all my pieces in a few drawers. Overall it was just a big mess! So I knew I wanted something more visual for my jewelry so I could see what I had but I wasn't sure what I was looking for until I was browsing at Joann's one day. They had some great jewelry organizers and stands which were just want I needed! Yay! So I started off by purchasing a ring tray and a couple of bracelet stands. Each were really affordable like less than $10 affordable which is great plus I could now see all my rings and bracelets! Now if I could only figure out what to do with my necklaces and watches. To be continued...

...Rebecca...

Ring Tray before...

Ring Tray after...Voila!

Bracelet Stands before...

Bracelet Stands after...Voila!

Garlic Hummus and Spicy Black Bean Hummus

To say that I like hummus would be an understatement because I LOVE hummus! Its such a healthy and flavorful snack. Since I always buy my hummus at Trader Joe's, I thought that I would try making it. I settled on this recipe just because it came from such a trusty source like, Ina. While browsing around, I also came across this recipe that looked interesting (and yummy) so I thought I'd try it out. Turns out both recipes were equally as good.
xx,
Andrea

Image via Andrea

Image via Andrea

Image via Andrea

Image via Andrea

Celebration!

This weekend was all about celebration...We started off the weekend by celebrating my mom's life on the day of her birthday by having a great dinner with the whole family at her favorite sushi restaurant Katsu-ya. We laughed, reminisced, cried and ate way too much but it was all so worth it just for her. Whenever we're together as a family it's always a good time plus there's never a dull moment that's for sure, we are a family full of characters. We then attended Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night with our family and friends which certainly got us into the spirit for Easter Sunday which turned out to be a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and the Easter eggs were hiding waiting to be found. We began the day with Sunday brunch at Ca Del Sole then moved the party over to my sisters house for a fun Easter egg hunt. Now I can't help but gush over my nephew and niece all the time! They are just so cute, funny and bring such joy to our family. I LOVE spending time with them and with the rest of my family, I really couldn't ask for a better family I'm extremely blessed.
Here are a few pictures of our great weekend...

...Rebecca...

Lukas, Annika and Me...

Lukas found the golden egg...

Annika posing with her bunny basket...

My beautiful mom...

THE PEAKS...and the pits

THE PEAKS...
Laughter is the best medicine!
-Even though I'm feeling under the weather being surrounded by people who can make you laugh really does make for great medicine! -Rebecca
That Good Stuff:
- When you get good news that puts a smile on your face. Proof that good things really do happen. - Andrea

...and the pits

Sniff Sniff!!!

-Getting sick with a cold again! I'm over the tissues, not being able to breath and sounding like I'm talking thru a drive thru speaker. Not a good way to start Spring. -Rebecca
Waaaa....Waaaa...Waaa:
You know, just on my way to work when I notice that I have a FLAT TIRE!! The worst! - Andrea

We hope you and your families have a wonderful Spring holiday!!!! Easter or Passover, whatever floats your boat :)

- Rebecca and Andrea