You know that scene in the Devil Wears Prada, when Anne Hathaway is wearing the blue sweater, and Miranda explains (not so kindly) the origin of that color “cerulean” on the runways, and then the mass marketing, and all the way until it got to the sweater she was wearing.  It’s a crazy scene — I remember being sort of surprised and shocked the first time I saw it, long before I was connected to the fashion world in any way.  But it did make me think about how trends firter their way down into wider consumption.

And that’s exactly what these florals did.  A few seasons ago, I spent my days drooling over out-of-my-price-range options, and this past winter’s dark, moody florals were a close call.  But I wanted the real deal, and I wanted to not break the bank.

This spring’s florals are everything I hoped for — bold, bright, wearable, and totally chic.  If you’re updating one piece in your wardrobe this spring, I recommend these.

Parker dress (on Zappos! Free shipping and returns!), gifted Shoemnt heels and Jewelmint bracelet (old); Michael Kors watch, gifted NANNIS Italian Jewelry bracelet.

This past weekend, I was originally planning to go out of town but wound up cancelling the trip at the last minute (nothing’s wrong — just too much coming up at once for me to get away).  Chad was already planning to be gone for the weekend, so when faced with the somewhat unappealing prospect of being in our house for three days by myself, I came up with a plan: I threw a party!

Our pool wasn’t finished until November, which is getting chilly (even in Texas), so we haven’t had much time to really enjoy it in the last few months.  So I figured that now that the weather is in the 70s and 80s pretty regularly, I’d have some friends over to chill out poolside for some cocktails and light summery dishes. 

Sadly, I got married in the days before Pinterest, when I had to scour bridal magazines for little bits of inspiration — but now I channel all those lovely pictures into party ideas!  Lately I’ve been loving whimsical, eclectic pieces — so I wanted this party to have a soft, feminine feel.  For the tables, I tons of gorgeous pieces from BHLDN, which has pretty much the most beautiful, unique pieces I’ve ever found.  I fell completely in love with these mix-and-match plates and bud vases, and threw in basically every champagne glass I could muster up.  Fortunately, they all look great together! 

Since we had a big fashion blogger contingent, obviously we had to do a group pic!  I bought balloons with the idea that they’re be effortless and pretty, but they mostly just ended up in the pool.  Fortunately, we fished them out for at least one photo!

On the table: BHLDN bud vases (these are a steal at $8!), BHLDN votive candle holders (I mixed strawberry and gold, and filled them with flameless LED candles), Williams Sonoma serving dish, BHLDN cake platter, BHLDN petit four plates.  Champagne glasses: BHLDN coupes, Vera Wang Love Knots Toasting Flutes, Tiffany & Co. flutes, Noritake Rockford Goblets.