Author: Brandy Saldana

Vegtable Garden Cupcakes

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

Finally showcasing the cupcakes I made for the June wedding. It was a simple backyard affair and I was given the creative freedom to run to decorate some garden-themed cupcakes since the couple enjoyed gardening. 
I made these cupcakes using the help of the Hello,Cupcake! book. The dirt is made up of crushed Oreo cookies and the signs, or seed packets, are made out of graham crackers. Most of the veggies in the garden are made up of Starbursts or Tootsie Roll chewable candies. While I am proud of how well the vegetables came out, I am especially proud of the signs I made out of graham crackers. I covered the front with melted white chocolate and drew all the pictures with frosting by free-hand. I added the “Just Married” sign and the “S+E” with rosebuds and vines as a last minute touch instead of the shovels and recommended in the book. 
I was lucky to have found the planter’s box at Target the weekend before and it matched the fence of the venue perfectly! My initial problem with it was that the bottom was too narrow and would not allow all of the cupcakes to fit. Armando cut out a piece of cardboard and wrapped it with brown paper and placed it in the planter’s box so that all 24 cupcakes could fit. More Oreo dirt was placed between the cupcakes during our set up. I placed my business cards next to my display and the order was complete. My clients were happy with what I created for them and I was glad that all of the cupcakes made it without any accidents. That is all thanks to Armando for driving carefully to the venue. I am especially grateful that he took photos of these cupcakes.
Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did and enjoy shopping my picks inspired from these cupcakes.

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.
Until next time,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More

Light Mint

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

Nude Blazer H&M | Mint Faux Wrap Top Dian Dian Meir Xin c/o Couture Sqd | Grey Skinny Jeans 7 For All Mankind | Ruffle Nude Bag Steve Madden | Bone Miminette 70 Patent Calf Kitten Heels Christian Louboutin | Ring Forever 21 | Watch Marc by Marc JacobsHere is my second outfit using an item I received from Couture Sqd’s rental service. The top featured today looks like a faux wrap and when I first took it out of the box, I admit I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The color seemed to be lighter than many of the clothes I have and not something I would normally purchase for myself. It definitely challenged me in deciding how to style it, and I am thoroughly pleased with the results! 
Based on the colors on the top, it looks like it was made to be worn with my nude blazer and grey skinny jeans. I fell in love with the asymmetrical look of the top and the pattern once I styled it. I like how this look worked for a day at the office and how it could have easily transitioned to an event afterwards.
I cannot wait to share my third outfit using Couture Sqd in my next post! I’ll be featuring a day and night look, so watch out for that.
Until next time,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More

Rue Atelier Personal Shopping Trip

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

On Monday I experienced a personal shopping trip at Rue Atelier that I won through Boutique Stroll’s Instagram. Rue Atelier is located on 2981 College Ave in Berkeley and I was very excited to have won a shopping trip in a local boutique in the East Bay.

Upon entering the boutique, Armando and I were met with the lovely shop owner Barbara Dryden long with her adorable Frenchie, Gracie. Barbara was an amazing host: she had a bottle of Chardonnay and a box with two gourmet chocolate cupcakes purchased from Elmwood’s Summer Kitchen & Bake Shop a few doors down. I thought it was so fitting to have cupcakes and shopping combined in one afternoon. Two of my favorite things in one afternoon!
Cupcakes and chardonnay aside,  I could tell this Boutique fit my style. The store felt like a walk-in closet, decorated with pretty artwork, a cute rug, and a nice love seat occupied by Armando during the trip. The clothing was contemporary with brands like Nanette Lepore, Trina Turk, Milly, and Paige filling the racks. What is most special about the boutique is that all of the items selected by Barbara to be sold in the store are made in the US.  

Barbara is also a big supporter of local brands such as Quiet Clothing, and has recently rented out her upstairs floor to be a pop-up shop for Belle, curated by Polly Simmons. Next week there should be more items filling the second floor of the shop so I encourage any of you in the East Bay to check it out.

Now this post would not be complete I didn’t share photos of items I tried on or if I shared any of the items I bought. When I entered the boutique my eyes immediately sighted the pink, orange, and tan patterned dress by Trina Turk. I just had to try it on! That was a big mistake because I decided it had to come home with me. 

I thought I was done but then my eyes spotted a royal blue dress on the mannequin, which I also proceeded to trying on. I was stuck deciding between the two, but then I decided to just take both. One is perfect for a day at the office, and the other is perfect for date night. I had 30% off as part of my personal shopping trip prize package, so I treated myself to the 2 dresses and also bought a butterfly print scarf for my mom as another birthday gift for her. 

I had a blast shopping with Barbara and appreciated how we both felt similar about supporting local brands and designers. It is really easy to feel like some clothes are so expensive when compared to items from Forever 21 and H&M, but at the end of the day it feels good to support local, budding designers and designers still making their clothes in the US. It was nice to also be introduced to Rue Atelier, and I know I’ll be back to browse the scarf collection and the dresses Barbara selects to display in her store. I cannot wait to share outfit photos of the dresses I purchased in upcoming posts, so stay tuned.
A big thank you to Barbara for taking the time to talk and shop with me as well as Boutique Stroll for putting up this contest and selecting me! And as always, thank you to Armando for coming along with me on this shopping adventure and taking photos.
 If you are interested in shopping at this boutique, but live too far away and can’t make it to Berkeley, fear not! Just check out Rue Atelier on Boutique Stroll. You can have access to the best boutiques in the bay area right at your fingertips! Just be prepared to see a bunch of things you want from there. 
Until next time,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More

Monarch Butterfly

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

Color Block Dress Have c/o Couture Sqd | Black Blazer 7 For All Mankind | Butterfly Ring Forever 21 | Nude Ulltra Pumps Steve MaddenI am excited to be sharing an outfit I styled with a dress from Couture Sqd.  What is Couture Sqd? It is a “netflix” service for clothes. For $35, you get to try 4 articles of clothing for one month. There is no monthly subscription fee and you can either buy clothes at a discount or send everything back using a prepaid label. The items in your box are selected based on style categories you pick when creating your box. For my box, I chose 2 items from Work Ready and 2 from Prints & Patterns. 
This dress is the first item that stood out to me because of its bright color and overall cut. I like that Couture Sqd helps you step out of your comfort zone a bit with the clothes it sends you. I don’t particularly like python print anything, but the belt that this dress came with is very thin that it allowed me to experiment with the print. This dress comes from the Work Ready category and it should be no surprise that I styled this for a day at the office. I paired the nude pumps with the dress to match with the nude/tan colors on the belt. I then added the blazer to tone down the bright color a little. My monarch butterfly ring was the perfect finishing touch to go with this dress. 
I received a ton of compliments at work for this dress, but what do you think? Have you/ would you try a clothing rental service? Let me know and stay-tuned for 3 more outfits that I’ll be styling thanks to Couture Sqd!
Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More

Thinking Green

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

Green Laurel Vintage Print Wrap Dress Diane von Furstenberg | Nude Ulltra Patent Heels Steve Madden
Simple outfit post of a DVF wrap dress in a vintage collection print and nude pumps. The dress speaks for itself which allows me to spend the rest of this post catching you up with what I’ve been up to lately.
As you saw in my last post, I attended the LE TOTE and Bonobos event in SF. I posted the details of the event a week after my last post. While I feel somewhat delinquent for not sharing an outfit post in the middle that week, I think the time off and not posting as frequently has helped prevent me from feeling burnt out from blogging. I do write and take photos because it is fun for me and I love being creative with my wardrobe, and I would not want it to become like too much of a chore.
But with that being said , I realized have a lot to share after just a short break! For starters, I am doing a collaboration with Couture Sqd in my next outfit post. While I will explain more about what the company is in its dedicated post,  it is basically a Netflix service for clothes.  For $35, you get 4 pieces of clothing mailed to you based on your style profile with the option to buy items at a discount or ship back by a certain date. I can’t wait to share my first post with a dress I wore to work.
Over the weekend Armando and I went on two movie dates and saw Despicable Me 2 on Friday and Pacific Rim on Sunday. We celebrated our 7 year anniversary at the end of June, and the way we’ve been acting these past few weeks reminds me of our relationship when we first started dating. We would go to the movies all the time and it is my favorite date to go on with him because or very first date was to see a movie together. I try not to discuss our relationship too much aside from the fact that he is awesome, but we had such a nice date in SF for our anniversary so I expect to do a post on that soon. It will feature his outfit of the day which is pretty exciting since I rarely showcase menswear.
I should come clean and admit that my lack of posting is also attributed to Netflix and Korean Dramas. I am a huge addict since I discovered the last year and when I start watching a new series and Netflix makes it difficult to not watch 4 hours of it at a time. (I watched 12 Signs of Love and luckily it was only 16 episodes!) I do try to be productive while watching these types of dramas by listing clothes on Poshmark. Since Wednesday I’ve sold quite a few items back-to-back. This success prompted me to list more items over the weekend so make sure to check out my closet for all the latest additions for sale.
And lastly, if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I won a personal hopping trip through Boutique Stroll at Rue Atelier in Berkeley. I went shopping yesterday and I am also really excited to share a post on what I bought, who the shop owner is, and the amazing photos Armando took. 
This post turned out to be really long, but I wanted to catch you up with what’s been going on in my life before just moving on to the next event or outfit post. Hope the beginning of your week is off to a good start!
Until next time,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More

Bonobos and Le Tote Fit and Sip Shopping Party

Posted on by Brandy Saldana

On Thursday I attended a happy hour event in SF hosted by LE TOTE and Bonobos. I sipped champagne and mingled, while browsing the clothes and jewelry available in LE TOTE’s summer collection.   

Laptops were set up so guests could sign up and for LE TOTE after browsing the clothing available  in their service. I loved the items I saw at their pop up shop and signed up to try their service. I’ll be getting 3 garments and 2 accessories delivered to me to try out. If I love an item I can buy it, but I can always send things back when I am done to receive my next tote. The items I get are based on my style profile and items I specifically like on their website. Here is a sneak peek at their summer collection:

LE TOTE runs for $49 a month, which is not too bad of a deal after seeing all the gorgeous clothes and accessories. We had a discount available at the party for 20% off, so I ended up paying only $42. I am very excited for my first tote to arrive!
I normally don’t share anything regarding men’s fashion, but I thought I should share the dapper clothing provided by Bonobos. What is surprising about the store is that it doesn’t sell any of the clothing there. It is an online store that has physical locations for men to try on their clothing and have it delivered to them after ordering it. (Unfortunately Armando was working during this event so he couldn’t join me to try on the clothing from Bonobos.)  

And last but not least, there needs to be a shout out for the lovely flowers supplied by BloomThat at the event.

Aren’t the blooms lovely? Their flower delivery service is a great alternative than other delivery services in SF because they source local florists/flowers and deliver in the city in under 90 minutes. This is the second event I’ve seen their work at, and I definitely recommend them!
This concludes my Thursday night in SF! Hope you liked the photos and let me know if you’ve tried any other clothing rental services before. I am excited to be trying out LE TOTE after seeing and feeling their items and sharing them on my blog! Be prepared for an overload of outfit posts and a cupcake post later this week. 
Until next time,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Read More