Nautical Photo of the Week: Beachy Garage Storage

This week I am featuring a nautical garage makeover from Andy of A Mile in Mom's Manolos. Andy had a nautical 40th birthday party that I featured on the blog here.

The towels are a great Walmart find from Linda

Andy and her husband updated their garage last fall. The renovation included painting the stairs red and adding the built in storage. You can see how she did that in this post. With summer around the corner Andy updated the garage for pool trips, beach days, and other warm weather activities. She writes, "We cleaned out...school backpacks...finally took down all the winter coats... washed and stored them, boxed up boots, and replaced bins with flip flops, and stored away hats and mittens replacing them with sunblock and bug spray."

To deal with the issue of wet towels Andy's husband painted the garage and put up bead board and sturdy hooks

Pacific Northwest Trip: Seattle Day 2/Portland Day 1

This was our rainy day in Seattle so I didn't take many photos. We started the day with a delicious breakfast at Lola and then walked around Pike Place Market.

Had to take a photo of this bakery since my family is three girls

We had lunch at Serious Pie. We devoured every last crumb of our pizza. One of the best I have ever had!

We stopped to pick up warm drinks at Moore Coffee on our way to Seattle Art Museum.

my hot chocolate

cars hanging from the ceiling in SAM

Next we walked down to the Seattle Aquarium and ate our mini donuts from Daily Dozen Donut Co (inside Pike Place Market) as our snack. How we waited that long to eat them I don't know!

Enjoying the rain

Our cousin, who lives in Tacoma, came to visit for dinner. We had drinks/appetizers at Palace Kitchen, dinner at La Fontana Siciliana, and then headed to Bathtub Gin after. All were within walking distance of each other and our hotel. It was such a fun night. I just wish we could have spent more time with family on this trip!

The next day we were on the road to Portland. Before we left Seattle we stopped to get breakfast for the road at Top Pot Doughnut. Definitely my favorite donuts of the whole trip (with the mini donuts from Pike Place Market a close second). 

We arrived in Portland around lunchtime. After we checked into our hotel we walked to get sandwiches at Bunk. BEST grilled cheese I have ever had! A rainy afternoon seems like the perfect time to do some shopping! We stopped at Powell's Books, Alder and Co, Frances May, Animal Traffic, Canoe, and Tender Loving Empire.

This is the shirt I bought at Animal Traffic

Canoe had the cutest set of nautical flag blocks (second shelf, second box)

We had a quick snack at Brunch Box and then headed to Portland Art Museum. We basically had the museum to ourselves since it was pretty late.

We had dinner at Apizza Scholls. Can you tell I never get tired of eating pizza?! This pizza did not disappoint either!

I loved our hotel, the Paramount, in Portland. The location was perfect for us-walking distance to all of the places above (minus Apizza Scholls). The hotel restaurant was under construction (fine with us!) so we got a really great deal on a very nice room.

Restaurants: Lola (breakfast), Serious Pie (lunch), Moore Coffee, Palace Kitchen (appetizers), La Fontana Siciliana (dinner), Bathtub Gin (bar), Top Pot Doughnut (breakfast), Bunk (lunch), Brunch Box (snack), Apizza Scholls (dinner)
Sightseeing: Pike Place Market, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Aquarium , Portland Art Museum
Hotel: Hotel Five (Seattle), Paramount Hotel (Portland)

Sur la Table Seaside Collection

Tiffany forwarded me an email about the Sur la Table seaside collection. I want everything! I ended up ordering the anchor and captain's wheel appetizer plates, the paring knives (I only had one sort of sharp knife before so this was fate!), and the nautical cocktail napkins.

Anchor appetizer plates, $7

Nautical cocktail napkins (set of 4), $10

Captain's wheel appetizer plates, $7

Nautical paring knives, $10-12

Lobster stripe kitchen apron, $25

Rowboat stoneware ramekin, $8

Lobster striped oven mitt, $10

Sailboat jacquard kitchen towel, $7

Lobster stripe table runner, $30

Crab jacquard kitchen towel, $7

Whitewashed Nantucket whale tray, $50

Whale jacquard kitchen towel, $7

Anchor jacquard kitchen towel, $7

There are even more nautical items in the seaside collection. Here are my other favorites:

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Boden $150 Giftcard GIVEAWAY!

I am thrilled to be partnering with Boden to bring one lucky reader a $150 gift card! Plus receive 25% off AND free shipping when you use code: N6W5 or this link (exp 6/28)

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Boden! Here are my favorite items from Spring/Summer 2014

Nancy dress | Hoop detail swimsuit

Summer jersey blazer | Boho top

French knot sweater | Bistro short

Boho printed dress | Grosgrain espadrille

And don't even get me started on my Mini Boden obsession! H lives in the jersey baggies in spring and summer and the lined cargos during the cooler months! I love both because they do not have buttons or zippers so H can put them on himself and they hold up really well-I put everything in the dryer and no issues with shrinking. On our recent vacation he wore the towelling throw on for post-pool/beach and both parents gave it two thumbs up.

Clockwise: Big applique shirt, Jersey baggies | Lined cargo pants | Sweatpants | Stripy sweatshorts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Bungalow360 Giveaway WINNER!

Congratulations to MMS of Preppy Girl Meets World! She won the whale wallet and whale tote from the new Bungalow360 vegan leather collection!

Here some other fun things you can find at Bungalow360

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Nautical Sandals

It is pretty easy to find nautical flip flops during the summer (stay tuned for a post on my favorite ones next week) but sandals are a bit tougher to find. Here are eight nautical sandals that will be perfect for this summer!

1. Red anchor sandals, Step in Style Boutique, $36 (also available in white and black) | 2. Seashell belle sandal, Modcloth, $35 | 3. Beach chlub, Aerosoles, $40 (available in multiple colors) | 4. Be my anchor sandals, Cherrymod, $29 | 5. Questions and anchors sandal, Modcloth, $115 | 6. Tideway rope sandal, Nautica, $35 (also available in black and red) | 7. Lacie sandal, Sperry Top-Sider, $75 | 8. Fresh jelly bow sandal, Kate Spade, $78 (Shopbop and Saks still have some left)

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Lilly: The Lilly Pulitzer biography

I was sent a copy of the book Lilly: Palm Beach, Tropical Glamour, and the Birth of a Fashion Legend by Kathryn Livingston. This book did not disappoint! Add it to your summer reading list.

I have actually been on a work trip for the past week and this was the perfect poolside read. I am about halfway through the book and will be finished by this weekend. The book is written by Kathryn Livingston, who started as a staff writer at Harper's Bazaar and then became an editor at Town & Country. More recently she has worked at Time Inc and Tiffany & Co.

In the middle of the book there are several pages of photos from throughout Lilly's life: her childhood, her first marriage, her children, her second marriage, her business, and all of her famous customers like Jacqueline Kennedy.

The book takes you from the very beginning of Lilly's fashion business (the juice stand days when she was a mother to three young children) to the brand's revival in recent years. I am interested to read that last chapter as I met James Bradbeer and Scott Beaumont when I went to the Lilly Pulitzer Martha Stewart special in New York back in 2009. Relaunching a brand is never easy so I applaud them for bringing Lilly back!

I highly recommend picking up this book. If you are looking for something fun to read at the beach or pool this definitely fits the bill! Lilly Pulitzer truly lived a colorful life!

Please note: I was sent a copy of the book to review. All opinions and words are my own

Beach Simple

BeachSimple is a lifestyle brand featuring fun, preppy, vibrant colored products, that inspire a relaxing day at the beach! All products are designed, manufactured, and printed in the United States. Cape Cod beaches are what inspired BeachSimple so for this reason it is important for the company to aid in the preservation of the National Seashore by donating a percentage of profits to beach and wildlife conservation.

Each design is available in multiple colors such as seafoam, watermelon, and salmon.

I love Cape Cod shirt:

Paddle board shirt:

On the half shell pocket tee:

Beachfront pocket tee:

Croakies:

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Pacific Northwest Trip: Seattle Day 1 (PM) Ballard neighborhood

To see what we did our first morning in Seattle check out this post here

After The Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass we headed to the Ballard neighborhood for shopping and lunch. We had lunch at La Carta de Oaxaca. One of the BEST quesadillas I have ever had! They are fried and so delicious!

Love the anchor in the Ketch logo

I never wanted to leave Anchored Ship Coffee Bar and I don't even drink coffee!

With my hot chocolate (in an anchor cup!)

The inside of the coffee bar

Nautical storefront

This nautical bar, Anchors Down, wasn't open (too early) but how fun does it look?

On our way back to our hotel we stopped to see the Fremont Troll 

For dinner we met up with one of my sister's med school friends that now lives in Seattle. We ate at Quinn's Pub. I highly recommend getting a pretzel and/or the cheese plate to start. Yum!

Sightseeing: shopping in Ballard neighborhood, Fremont Troll
Restaurants: La Carta de Oaxaca (lunch), Quinn's Pub (dinner)
Hotel: Hotel Five

Bungalow360 Whale Wallet + Tote GIVEAWAY

Today I am partnering with Bungalow360 again to give away two pieces from the new vegan faux leather collection: a green whale wallet and a green whale tote! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below

The Bungalow360 vegan faux is made of high end, stain resistant polyurethane. It is naturally soft. Unlike PVC or genuine leather, the softening of polyurethane leather does not require harsh chemicals. The bags contain no animal parts and no lead.

Both bags feature peace pull zipper closures and white polkadot on hot pink cotton lining.

The tote features an outer back pocket and three interior pockets. 

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