Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Top Picks

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is probably the BIGGEST sale of the year for high-quality, name brand items. Since we don't have a Nordstrom in Orlando, I had to do all my shopping online... in my PJs... #firstworldproblems.

When I first saw what was on sale, I really had to tame myself because I WANTED EVERYTHING. Literally. We just booked a trip to Denver for New Years and I had to stop myself from buying every piece of winter wear I saw. After all, I do live in Florida where Christmas day is usually 75 degrees.

Below are my top picks for the sale. Everything is selling out VERY fast as this is the first day of the public access part of the sale. I would move quick before it's too late! Shop now.

Click links to shop:

Top Left: Tory Burch Leather Boots / Top Middle: Joe's Curvy Skinny Jeans / Top Right: Illesteva Mirrored Sunnies 

Top Left: Clarisonic Cleansing System / Middle: Hange Wool Hat / Middle Right: Faux Leather Moto Jacket

Middle Left: The North Face Rain Jacket /  Middle Right: Vince Camuto Suede Bootie

Bottom Left: Deborah Lippman Polish Set / Bottom Middle: Nordstrom Pajamas / Bottom Right: Tory Burch Crossbody Purse 

Reviews on the items I've purchased:

1. Nordstrom Pajamas - I ordered these in the Navy Blue and they are unbelievably SOFT. Since I work from home, I am always looking for the most comfortable pair of pajamas and THESE ARE IT. I actually just ordered another pair in Heather Grey last night because I loved them so much, and at $40 they are a steal.  

2. Clarisonic Cleansing System - If you don't have the Clarisonic, what are you doing in life? Just kidding! But really, this device makes your face feel SO SO smooth. It gets rid of all those dead skin cells that honestly even the best face wash in the world can't do. Sometimes I'll wash my face with my tried and true Purity Face Wash by Philosophy (also on sale) and then go back in with my Clarisonic, and I still see makeup on the brush head that I would have not been able to remove without it!

3. Joe's Curvy Skinny Jeans - I was first introduced to this brand when I bought a pair of their jean shorts about a month ago. OH MY GOD. The material is SO freaking soft. So, it was a no-brainer when I saw these skinny jeans on sale. They are for girls with a booty, so that's a bonus!

4. Hange Wool Hat - I have ALWAYS wanted one of these hats. It's perfect to wear with black boots this fall and it fits my big head perfectly! It's also pretty structured and isn't one of those floppy hats. It keeps its form nicely. 

5. Vince Camuto Suede Bootie - I needed to upgrade my black bootie game. The ones I had were not the best. I just received these in the mail and they are so luxurious! Very soft suede and it came in a beautiful box! So excited to wear these. 

6. Faux Leather Moto Jacket - I bought this in dark green (color no longer avail.), but I spent probably a good 20 minutes trying to decide between the green or black! This black jacket is a staple and for the price, it's a steal! It looks way more expensive than it is. 

There you have it, girls! Have fun shopping!

What are your favorite picks? What fashion finds did you pick out for the #NSALE? Let me know in the comments. Happy Friday!

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A Walk on Waikiki Beach

Last month, we stayed in Hawaii for 8 nights as I spoke about the planning process in a previous post, "How I Booked an 8 Night Hawaiian Vacation for $153.52". Let me tell you how much a DREAM it was. Hawaii was (as you can guess), absolutely beautiful! I was expecting it to be gorgeous, but this was on another level and now I totally get why people travel 13+ hours on a plane to get to this heavenly place. 

We waited to go out exploring on our 2nd day there since we were so jet lagged from the flight and the time change! On our first adventurous day (on the island of Oahu), we decided to take a walk on the famous Waikiki Beach! Our plans for the day included a hike, snorkeling, beach time and sight seeing. I wanted to wear something that was comfortable, light and tropical...so I chose this AMAZING romper by TulaRosa. 

This romper worked out perfectly! It was so easy to wear and was very breathable. I loved the ruffles and the gorgeous lavender/purple color. I typcially don't like wearing purple, but this was kind of a pastel, so I thought it would be okay :)

I rented it from Rent the Runway on their "Unlimited Plan". The plan gives you access to 3 designer pieces at a time (you can choose from thousands of items) and you can also swap them out for new items as often as you want. I typically do the unlimited plan if I have a bunch of events to go to because it is a lot cheaper than buying a bunch of designer dresses that I won't get much use out of later on. Plus it's free shipping both ways and they dry clean everything for you! You get 20% your first month using code: FIRSTRTR20P. It's actually a much better value to do the the plan compared to renting one time from Rent the Runway. They charge you for shipping if you rent one single item and sometimes, the shipping can be around $30 (depending when you need the item). I think it's fun to wear dresses and accessories you wouldn't normally purchase because of the high price tag!

This was our view while walking along Waikiki Beach! That's the famous Diamond Head volcanic crater in the background. It was so majestic to see in person!

I paired my Amethyst Pendant Necklace and Tiny CZ Gold Necklace with the romper. I thought the natural lavender and white colors of the Amethyst pendant matched nicely with the entire look. 

You can't have a day outside in Hawaii without sunglasses AND a hat (especially for this Irish girl!). I picked up these cute rose gold & black sunnies at LOFT (currently on sale for $15) and the straw hat is by Billabong.

This was shot was taken right outside of our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach. Overall, our 2nd day in Oahu was a BLAST. I plan to write about our adventures in details soon! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @wanderandblush for more travel photos!

One Simple Way to Get Jennifer Aniston's Hair

Having curly hair is a blessing and a curse. Sure, it's nice to have natural volume, curls & texture but sometimes you want to be able to run your fingers through your hair without it looking like Richard Simmons' fro.

I've had a love-hate relationship with straightening my hair ever since 8th grade. The thought of standing in my bathroom for literally hours, gliding a hot iron through my kinky curls seemed like a great idea at the time. It took me so long that my arms would cramp up and I had to take breaks. Side note: don't ever doubt the hair styling dedication of a middle schooler in the early 2000's. With hair goddesses to look up to like Rachel Green aka Jennifer Aniston and Cher Horowiz from the iconic 1995 film Clueless, no wonder I was so committed. These ladies were totally #hairgoals.

Jennifer Aniston's hair is sleek, yet voluminous, shiny & soft. I'm pretty sure everyone would love to have her gorgeous locks & I've found a tool to help me (somewhat) achieve her look! Over the years, I've tried many brands of straighteners...some good and mostly bad. This week I had the opportunity to use the Megastar by Nume. Let me tell you this one is a game changer. 

"I woke up like this...literally"

With the picture on the left, I had washed & conditioned my hair and added some leave in conditioner the night before... slept with my hair up and took it down to wake up to THAT. Yeah, not cute. 

The picture on the right was taken 20 minutes after the one on the left. I could not believe how QUICKLY this tool straightened my frizzy curls and how shiny it left my hair. 

The heat is adjustable and the max is 450 degrees (which is what I used). The Megastar heats up SUPER fast... I swear it got to 450 degrees in like 5 seconds. My favorite feature is that it automatically turns off after 30 minutes, so no more worrying if you left your straightener on! Genius. 

No need for this useless thing!

Overall, if you are looking for a new straightener, I highly recommend this tool. If it can get my hair shiny & straight in 20 minutes then it can help pretty much anyone. 

Wearing the Turquoise Arrowhead Necklace by Wander + Lust Jewelry

Nume is currently running a special deal for the Megastar for only $79 plus free shipping + a free argan oil. It's normally $169 just for straightener only, so this is an awesome deal! (deal ends 6/30)

Make sure to use promo code: GIFTS79 at checkout. Click HERE to buy. 

More deals:

Flash Sale Item: (ends 5/22)

$19.99 Classic Pearl Wand Use Promo Code: C19WANDS

Graduation Gift Ideas: (ends 6/30)

$39 Silhouette + Free Argan Oil + Free Shipping Use Promo Code: DUO39

$99 All Sets + Free Shipping Use Promo Code: ANYSET99

70% OFF ANY Curling Wand + Free Shipping Use Promo Code: ITSONLY70

Well, that's all for now! I'm working on my next post about our recent trip to Hawaii! 
Stay tuned. 

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How I Booked an 8 Night Hawaiian Vacation for $153.52

Hawaii has always been on my travel bucket list! From the bright blue ocean water, to the tropical drinks & the amazing views… not to mention you don’t need a passport to get there, it sounds like the perfect recipe for a fun, relaxing and eye-opening vacation!

Years ago, I thought the flights to Hawaii and the hotels at the various islands would result in thousands of dollars out of my pocket. I now know that if you do spend that much on plane tickets or hotel nights, you are not traveling smart and you must love to throw your money away! :) You don't need to be a millionaire or anywhere close to that to fulfill your dreams of a five-star Hawaiian vacation! All you need is dedication to planning your trip, some flexibility and hotel points & miles! Using points & miles saves you a TON of money and is completely worth it in the end. So, here’s how I booked 8 nights in Hawaii and saved myself almost $5,400:

The Flights

The flight is the first thing on my to-do list when planning a vacation. We booked our flights on United.com using United miles. James (my husband) and I both signed up for the United Mileage Plus credit card a while back which earned us each 50,000 miles after spending the minimum amount required. Since we earned these miles separately, we booked our reservations separately and just selected seats next to each other on the flights.

Our flights cost us 51,000 miles plus $11.20 in taxes each. Typically, you can get a round trip ticket to Hawaii for 45K miles on United; however we booked an extra flight between Oahu & Maui for an additional 6K miles. Without using miles, our flights would have cost over $1200 each, yikes!

Our Flight Schedule:

Orlando to Honolulu (22.5K miles)

Honolulu to Maui (6K miles)

Maui to Orlando (22.5K miles)

Total: 51K miles

TIP: If you book your flights using your United MileagePlus credit card to pay for the taxes (or paid flights) you get two free checked bags and free priority boarding. Something to keep in mind, because otherwise it's $25 for your first checked bag and $35 for your 2nd checked bag. Eeek! Now that we have the flights covered, we need to find amazing resorts to stay at...

The Hotels

There are so many beautiful resorts in Hawaii; however it was really easy to pick the ones we were going to stay at since we had free hotel nights at certain chains.

Three Nights in Oahu on Waikiki Beach:

I earned two free weekend nights at essentially any Hilton property (with the exception of a few high-end resorts) from my Citi Hilton Reserve Credit Card I had signed up for last year. We decided to book two nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort on Waikiki Beach located on the island of Oahu. I also had 36,888 Hilton points from various purchases from the Citi Hilton card that I knew I would probably never use since Hilton’s redemptions for free nights using points is super high. The Hawaiian Village costs 50,000 Hilton points for a free night, so I decided to purchase an additional 13,122 points for $131.12 to get one more free night at the resort. Since I have the Citi Hilton Reserve card, it automatically gives me Hilton Gold status which includes free Wi-Fi, free bottled water, an upgrade to the best available room on the day of arrival, and at this resort we'll get a $10 daily credit voucher for food & beverage at the resort. The credit is for me and one additional guest so since we are staying three nights, we get $60 in free food & beverage... not bad, huh? We would have spent $1040 for three nights if we didn't use points/free night certificates!

Five Nights in Maui:

Maui was super simple to book. We decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui as it comes highly recommended by friends and family and it only costs 20K points per night. James signed up for the Hyatt Chase credit card which gave us two free nights and we transferred 60K Chase points to Hyatt for the other three nights. Having the Hyatt Credit card automatically gives us Platinum status which gives you late checkout, free Wi-Fi, and a few other perks. We earned the 40K Chase points through a combo of credit card sign-up bonuses from the Chase Ink Card (60K points) and various purchases. The 5 night stay would have cost us roughly $1900 if we didn't use points!

Bonus!

We booked a Sunset Dinner Cruise in Maui for 16,488 Chase points (which normally would have cost $206) It’s a great way to use your Chase points since you get 20% discount for using your points and booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.  I love to use my points for activities that include a meal & drinks since you get more bang for your buck (in this case points).  

Overview:

• We booked our flights for 51K miles plus $11.20 each. We earned the miles from each signing up for the United MileagePlus Explorer Credit Card (however, the current sign-up bonus is only 30K points right now). I would recommend signing-up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card for the current 55K sign-up bonus or the Chase Ink Credit Card for the current 60K sign-up bonus and transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United miles at a 1:1 ratio. 
• We booked three nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu using our two free weekend night certificates we earned from the Citi Hilton Reserve credit card and one extra night using points (36,888 points earned plus 13,112 points purchased). 
• We booked 5 nights at the Hyatt Regency Maui using our two free Hyatt nights earned by signing up for the Hyatt Chase Credit Card. For the other three nights, we transferred 60K Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt at 1:1 ratio. We earned the 60K points by signing up for the Chase Ink Credit Card. 
• We booked a Sunset Dinner Cruise in Maui for 16,488 points using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. 

Total we WOULD HAVE spent:

$2400 on flights + $2940 on hotels +$206 on dinner cruise = $5546

Totals we actually spent:

$22.40 flight taxes + $131.12 hotel points = $153.52

We saved $5392.50!

So, there you have it everyone! Now... I need to go pack for our tropical trip of a lifetime! Check back for my next post which is going to be all about packing essentials for your next trip! For more Travel posts, check out the Travel section on my site!

 Do you have any travel advice for Hawaii? What are your favorite activities to do on the islands? Let me know in the comments. 

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Spring Fashion Essentials You Can't Live Without + GIVEAWAY!

Well, SPRING IS HERE and I have to say it's probably one of my favorite seasons (even though there's only ONE season in Florida: HOT!)

I love this season because of all the beautiful flowers blooming, spring forward daylight savings (I LOVE when the sun sets later) and all things spring fashion! Everything I naturally gravitate towards has a romantic, soft, & boho vibe and that's what spring is all about (at least in my book)!

From the exorbitant amount of pastels everyone wears (I think we have Easter to thank for that?), the gorgeous lace dresses, and the bohemian chic "festival" fashion...I just LIT-ER-ALLY can not deal. I want to buy everything, but I have to resist and purchase items I absolutely cannot pass up.

Here are a few pretties I picked up last week at the Bloomingdale's Friends & Family sale and I can't wait to wear them!

Now, let's get to the good stuff...

My 2016 Spring Fashion Essentials:

Top Left: Ombre Lace Romper | Top Middle: Free People Mini Dress | Top Right: Kate Spade bathing suit top | Bottom Left: Sam Edelman Yardley Heel | Bottom Middle: Kate Spade Sky Blue Tote | Middle Right: Mara Hoffman Bathing Suit | Bottom Right: Bell Sleeve Lace Dress

 Left: AQUA Lace Dress | Middle: Strapless Popover Maxi Dress | Top Right: Eyelet Lace Romper | Bottom Right: AQUA Lace Halter Romper

 If all of these items would magically appear in my closet, I would be one HAPPY girl! 

 I also wanted to introduce you all to my company, Wander + Lust Jewelry's Spring 2016 "Romance Collection". It's a special collection that includes all my favorite pieces to wear for spring! It's filled with blues, pinks, golds & neutrals. All the pieces included in the collection are PERFECT for Mother's Day gifts... just sayin'!

  

Below are some of my favorites from the collection. You can view and shop the entire collection here.

Top Left: Spike Ear Jacket | Middle Left: Ice Pink Earrings | Middle Left: Sky Blue & Gray Earrings Bottom Left: Double Strand Y Necklace | Top Right: Gold Layered Set | Bottom Right: Pink & Gray Drop Earrings

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open to U.S. residents 18+. The winner will be announced on our Twitter & Facebook page.

The giveaway is now closed and the winners have been contacted. Congrats to Kim Keithline & Kathy Hanley! 

Here are even more of my faves for the season! Click on YOUR favorites:

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed my faves for the season...did you have a favorite pick? 

Tell me in the comments!

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Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. 

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3 Ways to Incorporate 'Serenity' & 'Rose Quartz' Into Your Daily Looks

Kate Spade Tote in Pink Blush  |  Steve Madden Carrson Heel in Blue Suede  |  Rose Quartz Arrowhead Necklace from W+L Jewelry |  Sky Blue & Gray Earrings from W+L Jewelry

When Pantone named Serenity and Rose Quartz the 2016 Colors of the Year, I was a little taken a back! I feel as though they totally stole that color combo from me. My wedding colors were “dusty blue” and “blush pink” and I feel like they saw my wedding, loved it and decided to take credit for my idea... ;-)

My gorgeous bouquet! Photo: Tiffani Jones

The Sale of All Sales: NuMe's 5th Anniversary Sale + GIVEAWAY!

Starting TODAY 3/25/16 NuMe is officially celebrating their 5th Year Anniversary with a HUGE sale. They have the lowest prices I have ever seen for this weekend only!

The sale breakdown:

1. $89.99 ANY styling set (including the travel set from my product review) + Free shipping CODE: NUME5
2. $19.99 ANY Classic wand CODE:SALE19
3. $29.99 ANY Magic wand CODE:SALE29
4. $24.99 Silhouette CODE:SALE24

     
Updated sales for April:

     1. 50% Off Any Curling Wand + Free Shipping CODE: ITSONLY50

     2. Any Two Classic Wands $58 + Free Shipping CODE: DOUBLE58

     3. $79 Power Couple + Free Shipping CODE: COUPLE79

     4. $39 Silhouette + Free Argan Oil CODE: DUO39

As I have talked about these products before, they are super high-quality and WAY better than more expensive brands like CHI, in my experience. NuMe curling wands are the ONLY wands that will hold my curls all night. I LOVE the travel kit and also the classic wand. This is NuMe's most most popular sale of the year and it ends 3/27. Make sure to use the promo codes listed above to get the savings!

I have partnered up with NuMe and my jewelry brand, Wander + Lust Jewelry for a giveaway! There will be two winners and the giveaway only lasts until 3/27 at 5pm, so ENTER NOW!

About the prizes:

The NuMe Titan 3 Curling Wand Set  

Retail price: $159.00

The strong, 100% titanium barrel found in the Titan 3 is the top choice and most widely used styling tool of celebrity stylists and hair professionals world-wide. The pure titanium-infused barrels in 19mm, 25mm, and 32mm, are built for hair that has difficulty holding a curl, imparting the longest-lasting hold possible. For tight curls and waves, a beachy-texture or the perfect bounce – Titan 3 is your premiere choice. Heat-resistant glove included.

 

Agate Slice Necklace from Wander + Lust Jewelry

Retail price: $43.00 

Our Agate Slice Necklace is one-of-a-kind! The agate slice pendants are electroplated in 24K gold all around the edges giving a glamorous touch to this raw stone. The beautiful light grey pendant hangs from 24 inches of 14K gold filled chain. 

All winner have been contacted and announced on our twitter @wanderandblush. Thank you all for participating!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Which NuMe product is on your wish list? Let me know in the comments!

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