launching the Popsicles and Pool Days Necklace and the Maui Sunset Necklace!! In case you missed it, for these two necklaces we posted the picture on Instagram and had all of you comment your name suggestions. I absolutely LOVE when you guys help us come up with names for new pieces for our collection! I am so grateful you are a part of the process and it is so fun to look through all of your suggestions. Click here to read through yourself!
When I think about Popsicles and Pool Days, all the memories of being a kid, summer camp, playing at the neighborhood pool, riding my bike, and just laughing and day dreaming about life and summertime. As an adult, I still try to capture those moments and this necklace reminds me of those feelings and memories. When you wear it, I hope you remember to take a deep breath, breathe in the warm air, and take a moment to have a popsicles by the edge of the pool and dangle your feet in the water.
Our Cherry bomb Gemstone Necklace is one of our most popular gemstone necklaces! The Maui Sunsetnecklace is all-about-fun & we took the elements from the Cherry Bomb and added some of our favorite colors! A must have for summer!!
Mother's Day and Graduation are coming up...
and we've opened up the studio for appointment shopping! While we are no longer hosting events in our studio, we would love to have you for a private shopping appointment for you and a friend. Not local to Charlotte? We are now offering virtual appointments too! We will facetime you from the studio to shop the latest from our collection. Click here to email us for dates and availability.
I get a ton of questions...
about how to pair jewelry with a patterned or floral blouse for summer so I did a quick styling session on Instagram stories this week! I always go for a fun statement earring instead of a necklace. It's always fun to pull out a color from the piece that you are wearing and represent it in your bracelets or earrings. These pieces I chose are a fun pop, but could also match almost any colored, patterned, or floral print blouse or dress. First up, The Ivy Earrings, they go with EVERYTHING!! I paired them with the Austin Bracelets. The Monroe Earrings are also so fun - I love a hoop - they are actually tied with a really delicate thread around and around a matte hoop to give them an awesome texture. They are about 1 3/4 inch - which to me, is the perfect size! Next up, the Vacation Mode earrings - they are so lightweight - they look like turquoise stone but are actually clay! The Ocean Palm Earrings are also a great statement but are so airy and easy to wear - they would be great if you're looking for a fun earring but don't want to add anymore color. The final pair are the Austin Earrings! They are also super lightweight and delicate but have a lot of color so they would go with everything!
Last Sunday
Georgia, Coco, Bryan and I participated in the Tower to Tower Climb! We woke the girls up at 6am to walk almost 800 stairs in honor of the first responders from 9-11. It was a really special experience and I'm so glad I could get the girls involved. There were SO many people there climbing in honor of a loved one. They had pictures of these heroes hanging everywhere outside. There were also quotes all along the climb and one of my favorites was "If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate." Sandy Dahl (wife of Jason Dahl, pilot of Flight 93)
I promised I would share all about..
our trip to Disney!! I've rounded up all the tips and tricks from our own trip as well as some awesome info from some friends and followers that are Disney experts! When we were preparing for our trip, I also did a deep dive onMadi Nelson's Disney highlights on Instagram - she has tons of tips on Disney and traveling with kids!! She is the Disney guru and covers everything you’ll need to know!
We spent 3 days on the Disney properties and hit the ground running the second we landed. We were non-stop from morning to night and were able to visit all four parks. Because we were there for such a short time and knew that we wanted to cover a lot of ground, we worked with Lisa Ko fromMagic Managedto help plan the trip. She suggested to look into the Disney tourshere- and we spend two days with the most magical tour guide, Annie!! Feel free toemail medirectly with any questions about the tour or planning the trip! Below, you’ll find a few questions I’ve been meaning to answer for you and I’m finally getting around to it!
Where did you stay?We stayed at theGrand Floridian. It was close to all the parks and transportation was easy! We would either hop on the monorail or shuttle (depending on where we were going) and you could see the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom from our room!
What was one thing that you weren’t planning on bringing and so glad that you did?A double stroller!! The girls all took turns riding in the stroller (ages 4, 6, 8) and it was also a great place to keep snacks, water, rain jackets, etc.
What did the girls like doing the most?Gwynnie (4): The Bippity Boppity Boutique. Georgia (6): The Buzz Lightyear Ride and Tomorrowland Speedway. Coco (8): Tower of Terror. The all also loved the Festival of the Lion King show at the Animal Kingdom.
What’s one thing not to miss?The fireworks at Magic Kingdom (if you can manage to stay awake for them). They really are so special and we loved the music that they play throughout the show.
Did you plan your meals?Going into the trip, we had every meal planned. We ended up canceling most reservations because the girls wanted to ride the rides and didn’t want to sit down for long meals. We also had a 8am “meet the characters” breakfast planned and we were all so exhausted that we decided to just grab something quick at the hotel and have a slower morning by the pool. When we arrived at the hotel, we ordered a big grocery delivery from Amazon and made sure to order plenty of water, snacks, and quick breakfast items. I’m so glad that we did, this made things much easier!
Most importantly, just try to go with the flow and be flexible! It’s best to have a plan, but (at least for us) the plan usually changes 100 times! It truly is a special place!
Below, you’ll find an email from a friend of mine- I’m pasting the email that Colleen sent me because I thought that she had so many awesome suggestions!!
"Each day I let the kids pick out one special thing (this helped with fights), except on the first day they got to pick out three things ,"ears" and an autograph book and pen for all the characters to sign for them.
When you first walk into Magic Kingdom, on the right there is a huge store in the building and a little aisle area/gazebo that princesses stop by, we lucked out and were able to meet Snow White, Elena of Avalor and Mulan right there on the right, and the lines were never that long!
I highly recommend getting the photo pass - it is $160 (I think) for the whole week and every time you have a professional photographer in the park they scan your magic band and all of the pictures from your whole trip get tied to your app and you have 90 days after the park to download all of them to your phone. The pictures of your family with the castle in the background (go to the ones who are midway to the castle; these are the best pics and the best photographers and less people in the way). There is a store across from the Bibbidi Boppidi salon called Sir Mickey, they have professional photographers that can do full photo shoots with the kids, props and photoshop virtual animals etc. - there is no extra cost for this when you have the photo pass.
Another item to not miss is an artist who cuts out silhouettes of your kids out of paper, it's in the alleyway on the right near uptown jewelers, definitely worth it and a great keepsake!
Lighting Lanes -I grouped them in colors of what do to each day based on the map, but obviously if the kids really want one thing or another then you can repeat or eliminate.
1) Meeting Mickey Mouse - you can lightning lane this one and it is in the big house to the right when you first walk in.
2) Peter Pan's Flight - were able to book this ride along the same time that Peter Pan was there meeting kids - you can check the character times on your app at the map of Magic Kingdom, just filter characters.
3) Princess Storybook - Tiana & Rapunzel are together - Cinderella & Elena of Avalor are together.
4) Small World
5) Winnie the Pooh ride - Winnie the Pooh and Tiger show up next to the ride, that line is pretty long to meet them and you cannot use lightening lane.
6) Mad Tea Party
7) Dumbo Flying elephant - perfect for younger kids!
8) Under the Sea - Ariel ride :) never had a line but unsure why because I love it!
9) Tomorrowland Speedway - similar to the old cars in Busch Gardens the kids can drive them with the steering wheel and you can do the gas - very fun!
10) Buzz Lightyear - near Tomorrowland and so much fun to shoot the aliens and they keep score.
11) Monster Laugh Floor
12) Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.
13) Jungle Cruise - it does have a huge wait time, so if you want to do it book it early.
14) Pirates of the Caribbean - the adults wanted to do this more than the kids but the kids had fun too!
15) Magic Carpets of Aladdin - very fun and the similar to Dumbo they can go up and down.
We skipped the baby rollercoasters of Barnstormer and the 7 Dwarfs train, but people love the 7 Dwarfs train so you might want to book that one early if you want to do it.
My older kid and husband did the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain alone while we watched our youngest.
Additional Character meetings - You can meet Merida, Belle, Jasmine, Aladdin, and Stitch in separate lines throughout the park, but you will just have to see where they are and if it works for you guys - the Jasmine at Epcot is pretty great so I recommend that.
Dining - we did Be our Guest and the Plaza Restaurant. Other times we just picked up snacks where we could. I heard the restaurant at the top of the Contemporary is the BEST, if there is a night you could do date night that would be amazing!
Shows and Fireworks - the show in front of the castle during the day that ends with fireworks happens several times a day so do not feel like you have to stand to see it. The one at night is the one you do not want to miss at least once, there is an earlier showing and a later one at night so you will not have to stay so late. -There are two parades with the floats so you will see them at some point, because you will hear the music, you can take a little break and sit down to watch as well but we just caught them as they went by.
EPCOT:
Minnie Mouse and Goofy - are both right on the right of the big statue when you enter the park, you can see the times on your app when you filter characters, the lines were the lightest, no lightening lane required or offered.
Rides to do for the kids, you can use lightning lanes!
1) Remy's Ratatouille Adventure - book this one first thing in the morning - it's in France.
2) Frozen Ever After - in Norway.
3) The Seas with Nemo & Friends - cute ride and is inside of an aquarium, so give yourself time to walk around here!
4) Turtle Talk with Crush - this not a ride but more of a show and it is adorable - in the same building as Nemo.
5) Spaceship Earth - is inside the big ball statue, it was a bit slow but more fun than I remembered and I was glad we did it but not necessarily a MUST do.
6) Journey into Imagination with Figment - it was sort of boring but the kids loved the song and after the ride you go into a sort of child's museum where they can play with stuff.
The Map - Remy's and Frozen are on complete opposite sides of the park - so depending on what time you get a reservation for Remy you might want to stay on that side and then work your way around the countries and end at Frozen. When you see the map you will see what I am talking about. Also depending on when you do the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall you might want to book Frozen Ever After and plan to wait in line for Elsa and Anna because they are on that side in Norway.
Character Meetings - At the Akershus Royal banquet, you will meet Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. The only way to meet Elsa and Anna is waiting in line at Epcot. You will meet Snow White and the Dwarfs whendining at the Wilderness.So other than Elsa and Anna at Epcot I recommend meeting Jasmine in Morocco and possibly Mary Poppins in the UK. You can split up and wait in line at different places if that makes things easier for the kids waiting in all the lines to see characters. While walking around Epcot you might see Aurora and Belle in France, Snow White in Germany and Mulan in China.
Food - We had a reservation at Chef de France for lunch and it was good but we were not in the mood to sit and eat that much so it was sort of a waste for us but I have heard the food in Epcot you cant really go wrong, between the Italian and French restaurants. We had a character dining at the Garden Grill for dinner with Chip & Dale, Mickey & Pluto and the food was good! I will say with the character dining reservations and really all the dining reservations they are not on time, you will wait past your reservation, so be prepared for that in terms of booking rides.
Harmonious Light show and fireworks - it's a long day for the kids, but it is a fun show to watch and I wont have a bad seat since it is in the middle of the water." I mean wasn't that the BEST round up? She was so sweet to share it!!
Stay tuned for next Sunday... I'll have my round up from my trip to Austin!
