Cold and flu season is officially here! I’m excited for them to try out the new humidifer from Vicks. It is cool mist so I don’t have to worry about them putting their hands near it and getting burned. It has little packets that will emit scents to help get them to sleep or congestion. But the real plus is the cute animals it projects on the ceiling. So cute!
Rocksbox is this great jewelry service that will send you three pieces of jewelry based on a style survey you complete. Each box is curated specifically towards you and what you like to wear. You wear them, return them when you’re done and they’ll send you three more pieces out. You also have your own personal wishlist that you can add items to, so they know exactly what you’d like to try out. I’ve kept boxes they’ve sent me for four weeks and some four days. I’ve received some amazing Kendra Scott pieces in my Rocksbox at discount prices. So if you like what you receive they will sell it to you at a discounted price. They also give you a $10 credit each month to go towards the jewelry you want to keep in addition to the discount. So keep it or wear it and return it.
I think the best thing is that it gives you a chance to change up your jewelry without committing to buying it. Sometimes I buy jewelry thinking it’s a great piece and wear it a few times and then I’m bored and it never really sees daylight again. So this way I can wear my Rocksbox jewelry a week or whatever and then send it back for a whole different set of options.
Rocksbox has been kind enough to extend a free month to all my readers! Just use code “cocoforbeautyxoxo” to get a free month of jewelry.
Here are a few pictures of boxes I’ve received and also how I styled a few of the pieces.
This Lauren Hope necklace was such a beautiful color! I didn’t keep it but it was fun to “borrow” it for a couple of weeks.
This CC Skye necklace I kept and I wear it almost daily. CC Skye is this amazing edgy jewelry designer. I have a pair of her earrings on my wishlist right now.
They try to taper each box so the pieces work together. In this picture I was sent the earrings, necklace and cuff in one box and it all worked beautifully together. This Lauren Hope cuff I ended up keeping.
After launching a successful nail polish line last year, the world famous shoe designer, Christian Louboutin is launching a line of lipsticks this fall. The line features 36 shades in three different textures – Silky Satin, Velvet Matte, and Sheer Voile – all which are inspired by Louboutin handbags and shoes.
The problem? They’re $90 a lipstick! Ouch! This will certainly hurt my wallet. I love high end beauty products and have been known to have quite a few $35 Yves Saint Laurent lippies, but $90 may be too steep for my blood. I did fall victim to the $50 nail polish in classic Louboutin red and it’s nice, but I don’t think it was worth $50. The bottle is pretty bulky and doubles as a self-defense weapon.
The lipstick cases do look like little works of art. I love the one that looks like a mermaid tail. The cap comes with a small ring at the top through which a ribbon is threaded, so you can turn it into a necklace. Well, I guess there’s justification to the price….it doubles as a necklace.
Christian Louboutin says “This precious object will be coveted by others. Suggesting a purse full of rare and precious stones that could have been discovered in Ali Baba’s cave, it will arouse lust and desire…and is made to be stolen.” Made to be stolen? Great! Now I have to take out insurance on my lipsticks too? This lipstick is getting more and more expensive by the minute. Lol
There are 20 shades in the Silky Satin collection, which offers a medium-to-full-coverage lip color with a satin finish and hint of shine. Velvet Matte features nine colors, is highly pigmented, and has a soft, matte finish. Sheer Voile also comes in nine shades, with a sheer finish for a veil of color with “luminous shine.”
And, because no color collection would be complete without it, each collection contains a signature Rouge Louboutin shade as one of its offerings. Those signature shades will be housed in a black lacquer case, unlike the rest of the line’s golden packaging.
The colors do look amazing! Hopefully Sephora will be quick to follow and you can demo them there. But for now, the lipsticks will be available in September at Saks.
It’s Anthropologie Summer Sale Time! Today is the last day to use promo code “saleaway” for an added 20% off all markdowns. There is a dress that I have been stalking at Anthropologie for a few weeks now but the $169 price tag gave me pause. It was one of those times where I added it to ‘my cart’ several times, saw the total and still didn’t buy. Even when it went on sale once, I still didn’t pull the trigger. My waiting paid off! Anthropologie is having their big summer mark down prices. It brought my coveted dress down from $169 to $39!!! And they keep torturing me by adding more dresses. Every time I went back writing this blog to insert links and images, there would be more cute dresses. So now I have a few more bookmarked to replace the one I had been waiting….lol…so it goes.
So here is my coveted dress – The Inkdrop Midi – lots of sizes left and such a steal!
I grabbed this cute ombré top from $68 down to $14! I like it for fall to pair with a denim jacket or black cardi.
This is the ultimate little party dress and for such a deal! Originally $648 – ouch!
Quintana Maxi Dress down from $179 to $80.
Embroidered Canaria Maxi Dress down from $298 to $119. I love this one. It’s like such a perfect brunch dress.
Ynez Maxi Dress – has a cute little tulip hem. Originally $168 to $80
Embroidered Bluebell Dress – Originally $178 down to $80
Racerback Silk Dress – Originally $328 down to $159
Happy Shopping! Hope you get something you’ve been coveting!
I just wipped up some yummy white wine sangria that I wanted to share with you. I love these 1 quart Ball Mason jars from Hobby Lobby. They cost about $4 and they’re great for this recipe.
Make sure to make this 24 hours in advance so the fruit has time to mix in the wine. You can change the fruit out to suit your tastes. You can’t really mess this up.
2 bottles semi-sweet or dry white wine
5 cherries chopped in half
1 peach chopped
12 strawberries
1/2 cup orangecello (lemoncello recipe in separate post)
Refrigerate overnight. Add 1/4 cup sprite, ginger ale or club soda to each glass. It should be about 1 part sprite to 3 parts sangria. I wouldn’t suggest adding it to the full mixture since it will go flat. Enjoy!
Update: I have been in my Target since writing this to buy a couple of things I was interested in. I found it all quite disappointing even down to the tacky cardboard display it was on. The clutch that I thought was cute was very cheap looking and feeling. Honestly, I wouldn’t use that clutch as a makeup bag much less a handbag. It felt like plastic. And the jewelry looked like it came from one of those jewelry kits you buy for little girls who are aged 7 And up. So I pass on this collection.
Eddie Borgo is the latest luxury brand to collaborate with Target. The Eddie Borgo for Target collection features more than 100 items including jewelry, accessories and wall art. The line launched yesterday, July 12th.
The collection features necklaces, bracelets and bags that can be customized by adding studs, totems and charms. Influenced by the craft culture of the 60s and 70s, the line gives the customer the opportunity to get creative and make one-of-a-kind accessories.
Be edgy. Be bold. Be charming and sophisticated. All in your own unique way. The Eddie Borgo for Target collection mixes stones, metals, shapes and shine in jewels, charms, bags and belts that you customize, mix, and match for a design that makes a statement: yours.
“We created components that all come apart and go back together – everything’s convertible,” said designer Eddie Borgo. “I’ve never seen this type of collaboration in the marketplace. It’s the first of its kind.”
It’s a very cool concept to create something your own. If you’re like me, I hate having the same anything as everyone else. So this gives you a little creative freedom to create something that’s all your own. These clutches appeal to me the most. I love that it’s classic with some edge.
This necklace comes as empty rings that you then buy the studs to add to it. Unfortunately, it’s sold out online. This a cute little chain mail necklace that you can also add the studs or different charms to. It retails for $32.99.
The Eddie Borgo for Target Padlock Bracelet in gold. Includes 14 gold “padlock” loop beads that you can use for hanging any clip charms that fit with your style, mood or outfit of the day. Online only. $24.99 – as of right now it’s still available online.
Most items seem to still be available online with only a few pieces being sold out. And there is still availability at my local Targets, so I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding it in yours. Happy Shopping!
Disney World is expensive, like really, really expensive. But I’ve learned a LOT of tips and tricks over the years to make it affordable. We have four children and we’ve been able to take them every year for four years. I recently decided to start a DISNEY category to my blog so I can share some of the tips that I’ve gathered through the years, and also share some of the special events we’ve done and what it was like, so check back.
So the first thing I want to share is some of my tips and tricks for saving money.
1. This is going to be an obvious one that I’m sure you’ve heard of before but Undercovertourist.com is a great place to get your Disney World tickets. You can save a little bit of money versus buying them at Disneyworld.com or at the gate. And I would suggest you do that as soon as possible. I buy mine usually 8-10 months in advance because you never know when Disney will do a ticket increase so it’s best to get them before that could potentially happen.
2. We ALWAYS stay off Disney property. It is way cheaper and so much better! We usually stay either at the Sheraton Vistana Resort or the Sheraton Vistana Villages. They are the same except about a 1-2 miles apart and sometimes the Villages is a little cheaper. I pay $150 a night for a 2 bedroom villa. It has a washer/dryer, full kitchen, living room, dining room, two bathrooms, whirlpool tub and a great patio that overlooks a fountain. So after an exhausting day at Disney, we put the kids to bed, take a soak in the whirlpool tub and have a glass of wine on the patio. So it is a family vacation but with great moments of relaxing time as parents. I don’t think we’d enjoy our trip quite as much if we were in one of those “family” rooms at Disney with a couple of beds and a pull out all bunked together. I like being able to go into a bedroom and shut the door. We are staying at a new resort this year that is three bedrooms and allows dogs and it’s $160 a night. I’ll do a separate blog about the resort because I have a lot of tips of tricks for saving money on that. And also great pictures of the room and resort.
3. Costumes – little girls LOVE dressing up in costume at the parks and I usually have a whole suitcase dedicated to costumes. My two youngest are 4 and 6 and they dress up as a different character every day we’re there. Never, ever, ever, ever buy costumes at Disney World. They cost about $80-125 just for the dress, no accessories. It is ridiculous. You can buy the same princess dress on disneystore.com and shop for them when they’re on sale. I usually scoop up a bunch right after Halloween when they’re 40% off but they also have them at other parts of the year for 40% as well. So you can get that beautiful Cinderella dress for $30 versus $100. I like the Disney Store costumes over the ones they sell at Target or Wal-Mart. I just feel like the Disney Store ones are really good quality and wash well. They hold up for lots of wear. This dress was a sale Cinderella dress and I even got her the ring and shoes.
3. Bibbidy Bobbity Bootique – This a little girl’s dream to have her hair and makeup done. They offer packages for $300+ to get the dress and makeup and everything done. BUT if you buy the dress like I said above then you can bring that in and she can change into that and have her hair, makeup and nails painted for $55. They give you a cute little backpack too for that price. For $55 it is totally worth it. You get everything you get with the $300 package minus the dress. We took our then 4 year old on the day of her birthday and you get the birthday sash and button all included in the $55 which makes some incredible pictures.
4. Park treats – I go to the Dollar Store and buy packages of Disney Princess ring pops and lollipops for $1 for a package of 5. They even had Frozen ones last time. I pack them and load them into my bag so when we’re at the park, I can pull out a lollipop or ring pop and they feel like they’re having a disney treat instead of buying the ones in the store that sell for $3 EACH.
5. Disney shirts – I’ll do a whole other blog post about that. But simply put, you can search Etsy for Disney decals that are iron on with names for $4-5 each and then iron them on a cheap shirt and you have your shirts. It’s totally inexpensive versus trying to have them made. I’ve made them every time and it’s not expensive. I’ll share photos of that later. We have done photos not in shirts and it just doesn’t look as cute. This year when we went for Halloween I used one of our photos to make Christmas cards. Put a cute little border around it and Christmas cards were done.
6. Food – since we stay off property we go to Wal-Mart and buy groceries….breakfast foods, water, drinks, snacks and pack our kitchen. Our kids have breakfast in the morning and then I load a cooler with water, soda, juice and a bag of all kinds of protein bars, goldfish, cheez-its and maybe one sweet treat. I have my little girls Disney Store cups that I buy in store or online beforehand ($4 for any character with screw on lid and straw) and I bring MIO or Kool-Aid water flavorings. Pour in my bottled water or use the water fountain, add water flavoring and they’re all set. I also bring a box of Capri-Suns. You can’t beat $1.90 for a box of 10. If you want a soda or water at Disney, $3. That’s so expensive and when you’ve got 6 people that will add up to a fortune in drinks for one day.
So that’s probably my biggest savings. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON DRINKS AT DISNEY! Bring them in a cooler and you will easily save $50+ a day!
7. Eat before you get the park. We usually stop at Golden Corral at about 11:00am and just bulk up. It’s an all you can eat buffet and they have everything, including an incredible salad bar. They have ice cream and a chocolate fountain and the kids can eat and have their ice cream and they can go to the park full. And they’re not going to ask for the expensive Disney ice cream because they just had ice cream and treats. We have tried some quick service dining at the park and I’ll do a separate post about that. There are some good affordable places I’d like to share.
8. Drive or Fly – this really depends on where you live. We’ve done both. Living in upstate NY we drove the first time and it was 19 hours straight so we had to do it in two days. It was a looooonnng drive. We flew twice after that but it’s expensive and you have to factor in a rental car. This year we are driving because we live in Texas now so the drive is 13 hours and we can do that in a day without having to stop over. And we can save money not having to rent a car. I have rented a mini-van for $250 for 5 days and last year for $400 for 8 days. Shop expedia.com for the best prices. Make a reservation and then keep checking. I reserved at $500 and then found somewhere cheaper a couple days before our trip for $380. It seems to be cheaper the closer you get. If you drive, bring lots of electronics and your sense of humor because you’ll need it! lol
9. Buying – Now I won’t lie, we do buy stuff there. I love to get a new ornament at the ornament shop in Magic Kingdom. And I love finding cute kitchen things like a Mickey spatula. But little things like Disney princess stickers, coloring books, a disney swimsuit or shirts, I buy those beforehand and pack them as little gifts during the trip. Disney stickers and activity books I buy at the dollar store. Those are great surprises when you’re on the car ride or plane ride. Swimsuits or shirts on sale at Disneystore.com or at Target. You also can create some great Disney shirts with those $4 decals I mentioned earlier. I’ve also done Disney flip flops and sunglasses for the girls. Lots of cute little pre-Disney gift buying you can do to save a fortune so your little ones are not wanting everything they see since they already have that special gift you had packed. Last year I bought Anna and Elsa dolls for $10 and packed them and gave them right before we went to the park. They carried them around all day and didn’t ask me to buy them the same doll that was selling for $25. So think ahead and buy ahead. It will save you at least 50%.
10. Disney Pin Collecting – my two oldest have done this a couple of times. It hasn’t been something they’ve wanted to do every time but here’s a great trick if your child wants to do it. Go on amazon and buy Disney pins. You can get 12 pins for like $6. They have listings for 30 pins for $15. So depending on how many kids you have wanting to do this it can save a ton of money. They are authenticate Disney pins! Otherwise you’re paying $4-8 for ONE pin at Disney World. Amazon doesn’t have them listed specifically so you don’t know what you’re getting other than authenticate Disney pins. But who cares which ones you’re getting because they’re just trading them for better pins anyway! So save money and buy them beforehand and then have them trade them at Disney for the ones they really want! The pins on my son’s lanyard was from amazon.
11. Plan Ahead! Plan Ahead! Plan Ahead! – I think I’ve probably said this a million times but if you plan ahead for things then you’re not hemorrhaging money. We have had one trip where it rained A LOT and it was miserable. Pack umbrellas and buy ponchos at the dollar store. Trust me. You don’t want to be stuck in one of those horrible rains Florida can have out of nowhere and have to either wait it out or buy the $12 crappy Disney poncho. It was definitely a lesson learned and I plan ahead in case of this now. So on one trip, me and my older two went alone late one night when the little girls were too tired to stay any longer and I had our umbrellas and ponchos in a backpack and thank god for that because we came out of an indoor ride to torrential rain. People were huddled under awnings just waiting. I covered us in our ponchos and umbrellas and we walked to the next ride. You could tell what people were thinking seeing us “Why didn’t I think of that?!”
Let me also add that I have stayed on property with my daughter a couple of years ago when she went for cheer. We stayed on property and didn’t have a car so we had to buy EVERYTHING at Disney. I hemorrhaged so much money just between the two of us and was shocked. It also confirmed how affordable you can make this trip with what I’ve learned, especially with a large family.
I’ll elaborate through other posts on dining, the bootique, the special events, Halloween, Christmas, and hotels. 🙂 Hope this helped you plan your Disney vacay! It really is the happiest place on earth!
The brand Lilly Pulitzer just keeps taking hit after hit and this new information will certainly not help the brand. First with the Target + Lilly brand collab and then with epic fail of that collaboration ending with a lot of upset women over an entire host of issues. And now this…New York’s The Cut Magazine was inside the company’s headquarters at King of Prussia, PA to do a story about the brand entitled “Inside Lilly Pulitzer’s Pink-and-green Headquarters”.
Well, apparently, pink and green and bright summer prints are not the only things that decorate the walls of Lilly Pulitzer. Posted on the fridge, surrounded by Lilly prints and other images were some pretty disgusting pictures of overweight women with equally shocking captions:
“Just another day of fat, white, and hideous,” one drawing lining the fridge reads. “You should probably just kill yourself.” The accompanying image features an overweight blonde woman wearing jeans and an unflattering top.
The second drawing depicts another overweight woman with a saggy stomach and sad expression wearing a bikini. “Put it down carb face,” the caption reads.
Clearly whoever drew these probably was not thrilled that Target + Lilly offered a plus size line.
Jane Schoenborn, a spokesperson for Lilly Pulitzer, issued a statement on Tuesday, May 26. “These illustrations were the work of one individual and were posted in her personal work area,” the rep told the news outlet. “While we are an employer that does encourage people to decorate their own space, we are a female-dominated company and these images do not reflect our values. We apologize for any harm this may have caused.”
I think regardless of personal workspace, I couldn’t imagine posting something like this within the office and it being construed as “decoration”. And if it is on a fridge, wouldn’t that be a public location? Regardless of location, it was clear and visible to the magazine, which means and it’s clear and visible to any and all female employees. And then these employees are the ones developing “classy” dresses for the southern elite. Encouraging women to hate themselves for being overweight that they should just kill themselves? I think it’s disgusting. And I think the statement just doesn’t really own up to the responsibility of the company. I think a company that is based on hating oneself for not fitting into “their” ideal of the perfect body is not a company built on class.
I came…I saw….I conquered??
I’ve been up ALL night, so bare with me. My grammar may be off, my attitude may be poor, but I wanted to share my trials and tribulations of the EPIC FAIL that is Lilly Pulitzer for Target.
I stalked the lookbook, I had my items written down, categorized by want and….then….all hell breaks loose. I’m sitting, tired, at 1am looking on my Instagram account (cocoforbeauty) when I see people are shopping online. How is that possible?? It hasn’t launched yet! Well, there was a glitch that allowed people to start buying items on their phone at midnight central time. That “glitch” pretty much wiped out all the most coveted items. At 2am, central it launched only to have it crash immediately.
I most wanted the Nosie Posey maxi dress so I went for that first, added to my cart and everything crashed a mere two minutes after it launched. Yes, Lilly broke the internet! The site was down more than it was up. It would pop up for brief stretches, and when I say brief I mean 60 seconds. And when it did come back, you found your cart was emptied and almost all the women’s clothing is sold out. How is that possible that a site is down at official launch and when it does come back it’s sold out?? That’s a question a lot of people have.
Between the hours of 2am and 5am I was able to make three separate orders, which contained only a couple items that I originally intended on buying. I ended up focusing on my 4 and 5 year old daughters and got them things since they were in stock and everything I wanted was now gone. I bought four dresses for my girls and two bikinis. For me I got the fan dance beach towel, a pair of flip flops, and a pair of the palazzo pants. These were my online purchases from staying up all night.
So I decided to head into the store and see if I could get any of the things I wanted. At 8:05, my Super Target was wiped. I scored one fan dance scarf. So I headed to another target. Shelves were wiped and peoples carts were overflowing. I aimlessly circled the aisles hoping for something. Who knows! I was delirious from sleep deprivation! I saw a lady with a weekender bag, not the one I wanted, but still something I would like. It looked like she was questioning it. She set it on a display and left. So I got lucky and grabbed it. I scored two items of LP at two Targets.
Since she put it in the wrong area, I think that’s why the vultures didn’t descend and rip it to shreds. I’m just NOT that girl. I wanted LP but not enough to push, shove and just generally be mean to get it. I was shocked by the carts of overflowing items. I felt it was really ridiculous. And I guess what bothers me the most is these will probably be on ebay for triple the price. And they are. Ebay is flooded with it. My beach towel that I got for $25 is going for $75. One of the dresses I spent $20 on for my daughter is going for $70. The scarf for $20 is going for over a $100! That is crazy! And so not the point.
The whole point was to get Lilly at a more affordable price. I felt scammed by Target. And I know some people think thats a little overboard. Like, get over it, it’s materialistic. And yes, I understand that. But you build something up for months, stay up all night, have some loophole that allows shoppers in early, people selling on ebay, buying all of one dress and leaving nothing for anyone else, and you walk in the store to find the SMALLEST racks of merchandise I’ve ever seen in my life!! So Target created this nightmare. You give this tiny rack for all these southern women to then become the worst versions of themselves, all in the name of Lilly Pulitzer. Lilly Pulitzer is supposed to be about Southern Chic, Southern manners and class. I saw none of that today.
What did I learn? How about one of the largest lessons to Target, limit to ONE of any item, not FIVE. Especially if you only have five of any one size. If there’s enough product then there wouldn’t be a need for people to grab all the merchandise and sell it three times its original price. I spent $300 and most have to be shipped, but from what I do have, I love. I really love. BUT….and it’s a big but, because was it really worth it? No, it wasn’t. I wasted my Sunday and I’m exhausted and saw the worst side of Target ever. I think the moral of the story is to save your money and just buy the $200 dress. Buy it online, with a glass of wine, buy it in the store where you won’t get an elbow to the eye. And buy it with a smile because you had fun. Shopping is supposed to be fun, not war.
We’ve waited patiently for months and the time is here! We are mere hours away from The Lilly Pulitzer for Target launch. But how do you score those items you most covet? Here is a game plan to help you nab those must have items before they sell out.
1. If you are planning a large haul of LP (meaning you nearly want every piece) then I suggest both online AND in-store shopping. Insiders are saying it will launch online sometime between midnight and 2am central time. Stores open at 8:00am and EVERY Target WILL have LP but they will not have all pieces.
2. If you’re only doing in-store shopping then get up early and check online the pieces you most want because then you can check to see what Target will have those items by clicking the “check in store” button. Once it launches online that function will be available. Because even though all Targets will have LP, you don’t want to show up hoping for a maxi and wind up with some bobby pins.
3. If you’re shopping online, go ahead and sign in, grab a glass of wine and wait patiently for the collection to launch. When I say “Sign in” I mean actually sign in to your Target.com account. Don’t have one? Then sign up beforehand, make sure your address is current, your credit card is saved and you’re ready to go.
4. Shopping online – narrow down your MUST HAVE pieces and write them down beforehand so you can go directly to them, put them in your basket and purchase. Go back for the second round of purchases or three or four, but don’t have them sit in your cart only to disappear as soon as you’re ready to checkout because you’re still casually cruising the collection. Cruise the collection now and get ready to be quick.
5. LP for Target is supposed to be available until May 31st but we all know it will be gone quick.
6. Stores open at 8am but I suggest being there an hour before to get the items you want the most. Please be aware that unlike previous launches, all the items will not be lumped together but spread throughout the store in their appropriate area. So if you want the hammock then you should be in the outdoor section.
7. Plus Sizes will be online only.
8. Online shoppers will be limited to five of any one item.
Good luck! Have fun! And I hope you score your most coveted Lilly Pulitzer items!
COCO for Beauty Blog 