Bomber Jacket: Zara, Army jacket: Jcrew, Booties: Joie

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! As I mentioned on Friday, I spent my weekend in Las Vegas with friends before going to San Francisco. With all the traveling, I didn’t have time to take some outfit pictures, so instead I want to show you how I am transitioning an outfit I wore earlier for fall’s cooler weather. This floral dress, (seen here), is easy to change for the cooler weather by adding this faux leather bomber jacket or this army jacket and switching out suede booties for heels finishes the look. Lastly,  if it is extra chilly a pair of black tights will help keep your legs warm.

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Last night, I flew out of New York for a weekend trip to Las Vegas before heading to San Francisco and Napa Valley for vacation. Having never been to Las Vegas or Napa Valley,  I am beyond excited to visit these new places. When preparing for my trip, I made sure to follow my travel rules. These rules come from years of travel and are key to having easy, stress free tavel on a plane.

1. Checkin online 24 hours before your flight to confirm your seat and print or send a boarding pass to your phone.

2. Put your ID in a colorful card holder to make it easy to find. You never know when they might ask for it.

3. Place your carry-on liquids in a quart size bag prior to arriving at the airport to make getting through security a breeze.

4. Pack a snack for the plane. It will be much tastier than airplane food.

5. Bring an extra set of clothes in your carry-on if you are checking luggage. You don't want to be without clothes if they lose your suitcase.

6. For long haul flights, bring a travel pillow to keep yourself comfortable.

7. Buy water after security in case you get extra thirsty on the flight.

8. At the gate, ask the gate agent if it would be possible to get an exit row seat. I have done this countless times and often end up with one.

While I love the idea of splurging on a designer item, it is not always practical or budget friendly. For this reason, I am a firm believer in mixing high and low end pieces and really only investing in items I know I will wear for years. Following this philosophy, I am starting a new series entitled Budget or Covet. For my first installment, let's talk purses. The Alexander Wang Rocco bag has been a popular bag for its textured leather and relaxed duffle style. This Rocco bag is stunning in its oxblood color and ideal for fall. At a fraction of the price though, Zara offers this bag with a similar color and duffle style. Whether you choose to budget or covet, you can’t go wrong.

Growing up, peanut butter cookies were my favorite cookie. I loved the peanut butter taste and the crunchy outside, but soft inside of the cookie. After a recent craving for peanut butter cookies, I made this recipe and learned the only way to make a peanut butter cookie better is to add some chocolate.

This past Sunday marked the first day of fall and I could not be more excited. After the summer heat, the idea of wearing cozy sweaters and boots could not be more appealing. In looking forward to the cooler weather and extras layers to come, here are ten items on my fall wishlist.

1. A cozy sweater
2. A dress with a touch of leather
3. A blouse with a little extra something
4. Coated denim pants
5. A structured moto like blazer
6. The perfect tweed baseball cap
7. A crisp off-white skirt
8. Suede booties to go with everything
9. The prefect satchel to hold all your necessities
10. Leather over-the-knee boots

Coat: Zara, Shirt: Old Navy, Jeans: Hudson, Shoes: Gap, Necklaces: Baublebar and Jcrew, Bracelets: David Yurman and Jcrew, Watch: Michele, Sunglasses: Yves Saint Laurent

After buying this red coat, I had some doubt with its bright color. I usually stick to more neutral tones, and this coat was a little out of my comfort zone. I was back and forth on keeping the coat for awhile, until my mother mentioned that everyone should have a statement coat. The words immediately resided with me, and I knew this red coat would be my statement coat, as it easily brightens up an outfit and brings that little extra bit of attention, in a good way.

The cooler weather this week has really put me in the mood for cozy sweaters, boots/booties, and deeper tone nail polishes. The new Essie fall nail polish collection is full of these deeper tone colors and I cannot wait to rock each one of these this fall. I am especially loving the iridescent color of Essie's For the Twill of It. To check out the full collection, click here. Have a great weekend!

Shirt: Old Navy + DIY, Shorts: Seven For All Mankind, Purse: Rebecca Minkoff, Shoes: Tory Burch, Watch: Michele, Sunglasses: Yves Saint Laurent

This outfit really incorporates a lot of big trends I have mentioned for fall (here, here, and here), without me making much effort to do so. When getting dressed, I often have one piece in mind that I want to wear and work on building an outfit around that piece. In this case, my newly embellished chambray was that piece. When going through my closet then, these leather like shorts seemed the perfect way to add a little edge along with this purse. Because of my black shorts and purse, I then wanted to stay away from black with my shoes, but keep it neutral, so I obviously chose my leopard flats (remember leopard works well as a neutral). And that is how, without me thinking about it, this outfit ended up incorporating three of falls big trends.

After my sister recently splurged on the ultimate smoothie maker, a Vitamix blender, smoothies have become a big part of our routine. Whether for breakfast, a snack, or whenever, this blueberry banana smoothie is my go-to. With only a handful of ingredients, it is easy to blend together and a great way to incorporate some fruit into your diet.

After falling in love with this chambray from Jcrew, I challenged myself to make my own that was a little more friendly on my bank account. I ended up making this embellished shirt with great results.  And, while it did take some time, the result was well worth it. Plus, you can easily follow the same steps to embellish a sweatshirt or t-shirt instead.

What you'll need:
-Chambray shirt (I got mine here)
-Medium sized gray metallic seed beads (like these)
-Grey metallic mother of pearl buttons
-Needle
-Scissors

Jacket: Forever 21, Shirt: Madewell, Pants: Citizens of Humanity, Purse: Rebecca Minkoff, Sunglasses: Yves Saint Laurent, Watch: Michele, Necklace: Jcrew

After a heat wave last week, the temperature in NYC has finally cooled down and is ideal for fall layering. I wore this outfit over the weekend and could not have been more excited to layer on a jacket over my shirt and necklace. With fall less than a week away, I am eager for all the layering to come.

Over the last couple years, I have become one of those people who makes lists. I am constantly making lists in my head and jotting them down when I find a sheet of paper. I love crossing off items and feeling that sense of accomplishment. While you can really write a list down on any piece of paper, having an adorable notepad really adds some fun to it. This zebra notepad I am loving, and makes making lists that much more enjoyable.

Jacket: Forever 21 (old, similar), Dress: Zara (old, similar), Necklace: Jcrew, Shoes: Sam Edelman, Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren

When someone asks me to describe my style, feminine is one of the words that come to mind. From time to time though, I love the idea of adding a little edge to my outfit. My favorite way to do that is to take one of my favorite feminine dresses and add my leather moto jacket. It creates the perfect contrast between my sweet and feminine side and inner edgy rock star.