Carrie Bradshaw Lied

Rosa Picante Margarita

Thank you Patrón for sponsoring this post. Visit your local retailers to pick up your own bottle of Patrón to create the Margarita of the Year at home! Please drink responsibly –

With Cinco de Mayo only a few days a way, there’s no better time to share a delicious margarita recipe! The recipe I’m sharing today actually won Margarita of the Year, so you know it’s gotta be good. There are so many different ways to serve margs, but whenever I’m with girlfriends and we’re ordering them, almost all of them order theirs spicy. So it definitely doesn’t surprise me that the winning cocktail is spicy!

A little behind-the-scenes info – Patrón had seven of the best bartenders from across the U.S. and Mexico create recipes for seven different styles of margaritas – herbal, spicy, smoky, savory, modern, tropical and classic. Two months and over 50,000 votes later, the spicy Rosa Picante Margarita officially won. This recipe is a fresh take on the classic jalapeño margarita, so I think it’s the perfect choice for your Cinco de Mayo celebrations!

Rosa Picante Margarita

2 oz Patrón Silver

.5 oz Patrón Citrónge Lime

1 oz Fresh Lime Juice

.5 oz Ginger Syrup

Barspoon Jalapeño Oil

Dash rosewater

Rose petal sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice to chill. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe that has been half-rimmed with rose sea salt, and top with a dash of rose water. Garnish with a rose petal, if you have one!

AND, if you’re not necessarily a margarita lover, Patrón offers a little quiz that you can take to find your perfect tequila cocktail here! My result was the Jalisco Mule, which looks absolutely delicious.

I hope some of you will try this recipe at home for Cinco de Mayo, along with the mandatory items – like tacos and queso. I’m currently in Bermuda, and Christian warned me that this Patrón might be gone when I return… he loves it (it’s pretty much all we drank on our recent trip to Kauai).

Thanks so much for reading! XO –

Selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls, all content and opinions are my own.

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White Culotte Jumpsuit

You guys know I love white, and while they might not be the most flattering cut on me… I love a pair of culottes. It’s like… it could be a skirt but JK, IT’S PANTS. Which automatically makes me walk with a little extra sass (as if I need that, but still). Are y’all like that? Something about a great pair of pants – I call them power pants! A skirt is feminine, but pants, especially if they’re flowy, add something else. I love it.

Combine off the shoulder (which clearly I can’t get enough of this spring) and pockets you have this dreamy jumpsuit.

Thanks so much for reading! If you’re loving the culotte trend, please tell me how you like to style yours – I’d love to hear. Although I know I can’t pull off those denim ones, but I know so many girls are crazy about them! XO –

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Friday’s Five

– enjoying simple errand running before I leave CA again –

– Bailey letting me know that she approves of the new plant/pillow –

– paying my photographer (aka husband) in cake (yellow box cake with homemade frosting) –

– a new face cleansor that seriously feels like silk on my face, to say I love it is an understatement –

– lunch at the beach –

Ooohh Friday – you arrived a little too quickly this time! I had quite a to-do list this week before leaving town again today for a cruise to… Bermuda! I’ve shared a little bit here and there that I am heading out of town again, but I’ll be with some of my girlfriends on a cruise, and it’s my first time, so here’s to hoping there’s little motion sickness and a lot of fun ahead.

I intentionally tried to stay home a lot this week to get ahead of some work and enjoy the quiet. I had several mornings where I was sipping hot water with lemon, windows open, light and breeze pouring in – and I couldn’t help but stop and be so thankful for the chance to work from home. It’s still relatively new to me, but I have enjoyed it so much and am eternally grateful for all of you who check in every day and allow me to continue managing this blog. You have made my life so happy!

In other news, if you’re in the OC area, I can’t brag about Sessions Deli in NPB enough. Every now and then we’ll pick up some sandwiches after church and I try something new each time. I’ve yet to be disappointed!

I hope y’all have a beautiful weekend, and if you have any recommendations for a cruise newbie, I’d love to hear! We’ll be on the Royal Caribbean. Thanks so much for reading and sharing! XO –

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Pink Tulip Dress

On the tune of Mother’s Day from yesterday’s post, I think this would be such a sweet dress for church and brunch to celebrate mom! When I think Sunday best, I think of how I dressed for church in the South – dresses and heels, the whole nine yards. Of course, now we wear jeans and sandals in the oh-so-casual West Coast, but I have a closet full of pretty dresses that certainly don’t get enough wear. I’m always trying to find ways to dress them down so they still get plenty of love!

I love the tulip hemline of this dress. I find it so flattering and comfortable, plus it catches a little wind when you walk and flows so prettily.

Thanks so much for reading! XO –

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Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

1 | 2 | 3 comes in eight colors! | 4 | 5 comes in five colors! | 6 | 7 there’s a TX one too! | 8 | 9 | 10 comes in over twelve flavors

Mother’s Day is right around the corner (May 8th), and if you’re like me and mailing something home… the time to start brainstorming what you might want to get mom (and his mom, and your grandmother…) is now!

I’ve had this record player for a few years now and I really, really love it. Christian and I have so much fun picking up records here and there and listening to them while we cook dinner or play dominoes (yes… we do these things, ha!). If your mom is anything like mine, there are some records in the attic that I know she’d love to pull out. I also recently got these earrings and they are so fun and lightweight. I love that they are sunbursts and make such a statement, especially for short-haired girls or with hair pulled back.

I think a kitchen utensil or towel with a bottle of wine or cookbook is always charming, and who can say no to a beautiful bouquet of flowers or an orchid? My mom is very creative and prefers anything homemade over a store-bought gift, and she loves it when we write her “stories.” I think I’ve shared this with y’all before, but she keeps a book of all of these stories we’ve written over the years – some are sweet and most are pretty funny – but they are fun tokens of our lives growing up and she really loves them.

ALSO, I wanted to share some of this week’s sales:

Macy’s: 25% off + free shipping at $25 with code FRIEND (through 5/2)

Neiman Marcus: flash sale, save up to 65% off select items starting tomorrow!

Horchow: save up to 40% sitewide through 4/28

Did you hit a home run with a Mother’s Day gift last year? I’d love to hear about it! Thanks so much for reading, more gift ideas coming soon – XO –

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Bike Basket DIY

I have had this post in mind for months now, but I was waiting until spring (hello beach cruiser season!) to share a fun DIY with you guys!

If you’ve been reading CBL for a while, you might remember that two summers ago C gave me this ridiculously cute beach cruiser (the Tiffany’s blue bike of my dreams) for my birthday – some posts showing it here and here. We ride all over town on our bikes, and I wanted something a little more comfortable than the road bike I’ve had since college. He put a little bell on there for me, and I ride this baby with heels on, hair curled – anywhere, anytime.

Because of that, I realized I needed a little more storage than the small wire basket that came with it, and when Stella Artois sent me some fall goodies in this adorable crate, I thought it would be the perfect addition to the caboose on my bike. SO with a drill and some zip ties, we added the crate to the rear of the bike and I’ve gotta say – it’s real, real cute.

First Christian (let’s be honest, he didn’t trust me with his drill, #rude) measured out where we wanted the crate to sit (be sure to leave enough room for your tush as it will stick out past the seat), and marked where the zip tie holes would need to be.

Then, because the crate is pretty thin and we thought it could use some additional support, we pulled some old paint-stirring sticks and placed them in the crate over the metal crossbars of the rear storage support. You’ll see we tightened the zip ties around them so they’ll stay in place and offer some extra strength.

Boom. You’re cruisin’ and now have some extra space for your big purse, extra flip flops, your camera, your leftovers from dinner, you name it.

Do y’all have a bike that you think this could work for? Oh please, tell me you do!!

Thanks so much for reading – and of course a big shoutout to C for both helping me with this and of course, photographing it afterward (if you follow me on Snapchat: CBLied, you may have heard me singing to him about how much I loved it…). XO –

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Friday’s Five

– For any of you Oxford, MS people – my sister Sarah Thorne will have a booth at Double Decker near the telephone booth & William Faulkner statue on the square this weekend!! She’ll be selling both art and some jewelry (I’m wearing one of her necklaces in this photo)! –

– being welcomed back to California by this gorgeous sunset –

– the most fabulous white python pumps –

– when C goes to the grocery store knowing that I have a heavy week and even brings home flowers (talk about speaking my love language) –

– gladly taking on a one-day juice cleanse after almost three weeks of delicious Southern eating –

First week back in my normal surroundings and it feels good. Of course, that’s after I came home to a thick layer of dog hair covering the majority of our house and a stinky refrigerator + all those other fun things that accumulate when you leave for a long period of time, BUT I still love being back home.

AND if any of you plan to be in Oxford, MS this weekend, it must be said that my big sister will have her art booth by the red telephone booth and William Faulkner statue on the square for Double Decker! You can see a preview of her work here, and she’s adding some of her handmade necklaces to the lineup. If you do stop by, please tell her I sent you and I’ll get some cool sister points!

C has the weekend off (insert praise hands), but we’re both so wiped from going into overdrive this week in efforts to get life back on track. Even so, I can’t let a “golden weekend” go to waste – having the whole weekend off is pretty special for him, so we plan to take advantage of the pool, take some bike rides and maybe visit our favorite beach down in Dana Point. It’s supposed to be a beautiful weekend!

Tell me your weekend plans! Lately I’ve been wanting to go on a picnic, and I’m not exactly sure why… Thanks so much for reading – XO

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Blue Backless Romper

Laguna Beach always does you favors… when the scenery is this gorgeous, it’s next to impossible not to capture a beautiful photo! On Tuesday, a few of my girlfriends and I played in Laguna for the day in a bungalow at the Pacific Edge Hotel. I love this spot (you might remember our staycation post here), and whenever I’m in this beautiful area, it always blows my mind that I can drive a few miles and be in this vacation destination. Toto – we’re not in Kansas anymore!

This blue romper isn’t like anything I’ve had before – the bottom part is so flouncy with so much fabric, it looks more like a skirt than shorts. Plus, it has pockets, and who doesn’t love pockets? Don’t even get me started on the back… something about this blue baby makes it feel so retro to me and I love it!

photos by Nikki at the Pacific Edge Hotel

Thanks so much for reading! XO –

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CBL Tour de South

Back at it with round two after yesterday’s post with some of my Southern photos! These photos were snapped in my hometown of Columbus (more about that here), my parents hometown of Greenwood and a little from New Orleans in the beginning of the trip.

I think something I tend to forget about regarding the South is the incredible homes. I’m talking drop your jaw, breathtaking, The Notebook kind of homes. That is just a kind of charm you can’t deny!

jumper (so comfy and true to size!) | similar heels | bag

dress (sold out), love this one | chambray | booties | bag

jumper, also love this one | heels | bag

dress, also love this one | heels | bag

tunic | denim | booties | bag

similar sweater | denim | bag

dress | bag | watch

dress

Thank you guys so much for following along this super fun time! You guys know I’m the papparazzi taking so many photos all of the time, so it’s really fun to compile them together and share with y’all. I can’t thank my parents enough for taking so many photos for me during these past few weeks – seriously, I would have been lost without their help!

In the meantime, I’m coming at you guys with a super California post tomorrow (photographed by my friend Nikki), so talk about one vibe to another! Thanks again for reading – XO –

PS – be sure to check out my 2019 Tour de South coverage here!

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Oxford, Mississippi + Nashville, Tennessee

I had no idea how many photos I had to share with you guys – so I’m going to break my #CBLTourdeSouth into two posts! Today I wanted to share some of the photos I snapped while in Nashville, TN and Oxford, MS!

I was visiting my pregnant childhood best friend Kady in Nashville, and I loved seeing her gorgeous home and world in Tennessee. The nursery was fully decorated for little Miss Lela, and I can’t wait to meet this lucky baby girl! While in Nashville we cruised Belle Meade and 12South, and ate dinner at Prima, brunch at Husk and I stuffed my face with white queso at Taqueria del Sol. Dream.

Oxford… where do I even start? We have looked forward to our friends Michael and Brooke’s wedding for months. Not only do we absolutely adore them, but I also grew up coming to Ole Miss games with my family, so Oxford is a special place. I attended the University which is were I met Christian. My brother married my sister-in-law in Oxford, and my sister currently lives there while her husband finishes up his PhD, so her youngest was born there! My parents have a home in Oxford, so we are super grateful that there’s always a reason to visit and a place to stay. Maybe one day we’ll be a little closer so we can visit more often! And if we need to bring it back to food – I had to eat at Volta, City Grocery and Bouré while we were there… and we had brunch at McEwen’s (it wasn’t there when I was in college), and I think it was one of Christian’s favorite meals of the trip!

dress

dress | booties | bag

dress | bag

chambray | his top | booties | bag

top

similar black maxi | bag

I could share 193473487 photos from this little session I did with my sister’s family… but how precious are her two babes?

his top | his jeans | bag | denim | similar top here and here

sweater | similar denim | bag

top | denim | booties | bag

Thank you guys so much for reading and following along! It was so fun to be in the South for such a nice, long trip (and my jeans are a little tight from many meals involving fried food and queso). It feels good to be back in California, and I know I’ll find a reason to visit again soon! Another round of photos from the trip coming tomorrow – XO –

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Black Lace Off the Shoulder

When I was growing up in Columbus, Mississippi, I never appreciated the charm of the downtown area. When we first moved from Nashville, my parents rented a yellow house downtown we called “Old Yeller,” and it was right next door to the fire station and around the corner from our church. My hometown is known for all of the beautiful Antebellum homes (I’ll be posting a Southern roundup post tomorrow and will show you some more, sneak peek to some here), and these are all located in the downtown area.

This little alley perfectly captivates the charm of the historically preserved town, and I because I had not visited in three years, I could really appreciate its beauty during this trip. My mom snapped these photos for me (she kept getting nervous she was going to drop the camera, ha!), and I’ve loved sharing some blog posts from Columbus during this #tourdeSouth (you can see more on Instagram here!). I can’t wait to share more photos with y’all tomorrow!

photos by my Mom

Thanks so much for reading! XO –

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Friday’s Five in Tennessee + Mississippi

– visiting my pregnant bestie in Nashville for the weekend –

– the cutest truck transformed into a flower truck –

– a driving tour of some of the beautiful homes in Belle Meade –

– catching up with Miss Harper, my sister’s daughter and my sassy protégé –

– walking along the street in Greenwood Viola Davis walks down at the very end of The Help –

My second week in the South, and I think my pants are fitting a little bit tighter… but I’ll take care of that when I’m back in California! I loved playing in Nashville with my childhood best friend, Kady, and seeing a weekend in her life. We also realized the house I grew up in when I lived in Nashville was less than a mile from her house – what are the odds!?

I met Christian in Madison, Mississippi for a few days to catch up with his family, and we arrived in Oxford last Wednesday night. Christian is in a wedding of two of his high school best friends this weekend, and we are excited to see so many of our college friends this weekend! It’s actually pretty rare that Christian and I have two of our good friends marrying each other, usually we know the bride or groom, so this is a wedding we have looked forward to for months!

It has been so wonderful to be back in some of my favorite Southern places over the past few weeks, but I’m not going to lie, California (and my three and four legged children) are calling me back. I will always call myself Southern, but it’s even more special to visit now that we have made our home out West. Thankfully, we will always have lots of reasons to visit, no matter where we end up.

Thanks so much for reading – and I hope all of you have a beautiful weekend – XO –

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