No Shop September

Throughout August I have shopped way too much and spent a ridiculous amount of money. I pretty much own half of the J. Crew Factory fall collection seeing as I have been to the outlets twice and made three online purchases, plus the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale just happened. I am putting a stop to my shopping habbits during the month of September. I think that September is a great month to put a ban on the shopping because I know I have plenty of clothes for the type of weather it has to offer. I have stocked up on fall clothing and can still sport some of my summer clothes during the next month, meaning I really don't NEED anything. I hope this little experiment is successful, as I think that it will be a really great way to save this month!  Leave a comment below if you are going to try and make it through "No Shop September"!

xoxo,

Catherine

Preppy by the Sea 

The Parent Trap

The other night I was browsing through Netflix and really just didn't feel like watching a show. Typically, Netflix does not have the best variety of movies, however the Parent Trap came up. Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I LOVE this movie, even after a few years have passed I still remember almost every line. When I was little I was kind of weird when it came to movies. I would only watch ones with real people, my first obsession was Marry Poppins, then the Sound of Music and finally the Parent Trap! I have spent so many summers at sleep away camp and my mom still thinks that I originally wanted to go because of this movie. I still get the chills when they count to three and show their pictures that match up- it's so cute and exiting! One of my favorite scenes is the hiking trip with Meredith, the lizard and the mattress floating out on the lake are highly entertaining:) Also, Annie and Hallie taught me the art of eating Oreos with peanut butter- seriously if you haven't tried it you are really missing out! The next time you are really bored or are having a lazy rainy day go on Netflix and watch the Parent Trap, you will NOT regret it! This movie is great for all ages and will provide many laughs!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes: 

"I have class and you don't" 

"So if your Mom is my Mom and my Dad is your Dad...and we're both born on October 11th then you and I are...like sisters"

"Sisters? Hallie, we're like twins!"

"You're going to adopt Meredith. That is so sweet, Dad!"

"No, I'm not going to adopt her. I'm going to marry her."

"Marry her? That's insane! How can you marry a woman young enough to be my big sister?"

Do you love the Parent Trap too?

xoxo,

Catherine 

Preppy by the Sea

Lilly Pulitzer Binder Covers

Throughout my years at school I have learned many things, and not just what they teach you in class. After years of back to school shopping I think I have finally figured out what works and what doesn't- at least for me. I'm kind of a sucker for cute school supplies and I really have tried everything, but every year all of my cute binders always end up breaking. I remember in 6th grade I must have replaced every binder at least 5 times and my mom became a regular at staples, this drove her crazy. Last year I didn't have to replace a single binder - so, I would consider myself a seasoned pro. Here are my tips and tricks! 

I have found that the plastic Staples "Better Binder" is the most durable and will survive a year of high school, carpools, sports bags or where ever it may end up. The plastic cover does not get flimsy throughout the course of the year and the rings do not break (one of my major pet peeves is when binder rings get all uneven)! Although these binders are not the worlds ugliest thing they are also not the cutest, so for the past two years I have made Lilly Pulitzer binder covers to spice them up! They are super simple to make, so I thought I would share how it's done in five simple steps! Honestly you could most likely figure this out on your own, but hey if you get an idea for a blog post you have to take it and run with it! Just for reference these directions are created using Word, however if you have pages I think it is fairly similar. 

 Step One: Go to Google and type in Lilly Pulitzer Patterns (or a specific pattern) and then save the one you like to your desktop 

Step Two: Drag the photo from your desktop to the Word document. After you have done this right-click the photo, go to "Wrap Text" and select "None". Now you can stretch the picture out to be the same size as the page. 

Step Three: Add and text box. Once you have done this right-click on the text box and select "Format Shape".

 Step Four: After selecting "Format Shape" in the previous step this box will pop up. Select the color that you want the fill of the text box to be. 

Step Five: Now that your text box is filled in type in the name of your class and play around with the text size and fonts!  You're done! You now have some adorable binder covers for the upcoming school year! 

xoxo,

Catherine

Preppy by the Sea

First Day of School

As always, the Tuesday after Labor Day rolls around quickly and all of the sudden it's time to head back to school. I am not going to complain because I would consider myself (and Julianna) pretty lucky to go back in September, seeing as many schools head back in August! Obviously, I am never thrilled to get out of bed at 7 O'clock in the morning, but the first day of school is always somewhat fun. It's nice to see all the friends that you haven't seen since June due to busy summer schedules and meet all your new teachers. Today was of the hottest days of the summer (in the high 90's) and our school is not air conditioned, you can imagine what that was like- pretty sure I sweat more during school than at cross country practice... So with the heat, I tried to keep my outfit cute and simple- navy and white with a few pops of pink! 

  Pink, navy and white is my all time favorite color combination, plus I LOVE my Lilly Pulitzer bow belt that I score from the After Party Sale! 

Obviously it would not be back to school without my Lilly agenda, monograms and a fresh manicure :)

 shirt- Old Navy | shorts- J. Crew Factory | bow belt- Lilly Pulitzer | shoes- Jack Rogers | monogrammed necklace- Etsy | earrings- Hazel & Marie

What did you wear on your first day of school?

xoxo,

Catherine

Preppy by the Sea 

Laid Back on Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! When this holiday comes every year I just can't believe summer is really ending. I woke up this morning and honestly was in disbelief that today is the first day of September. Both Catherine and I go back to school tomorrow (gasp) and I've still yet to finish my summer reading. But no worries, I made time to blog and get a pedicure today. It's a good thing I have my priorities straight. Anyways, after Labor Day it's an unwritten rule that its time to pack the white jeans away until next summer. But, I totally think its okay to wear white jeans into September; if the weather still feels like summer, you may as well dress like it. I recently made a purchase form J. Crew Factory after one of their "take an addition 30% off" sales, and scored this peplum. Believe it or not, its a kids (I get so excited when they make size 16) and it fits perfectly. Plus, who does't love the bargains you get from shopping at Crew Cuts Factory?

Finally, I bought a neutral crystal necklace and I couldn't be more happy with my purchase.

I love these J. Crew earrings I got on sale a few months ago!

Top: Crew Cuts Factory | Pants: Madewell | Necklace: J. Crew Factory | Earrings: J. Crew (similar) | Shoes: Jack Rogers

Enjoy the holiday!

xoxo,

Julianna 

Preppy by the Sea