Basic Invite: Signed, Sealed & Styled, I'm Yours

Is it just me, or does it feel like there are weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, engagement parties, and the like every other weekend? I will answer that - it isn't just me (because if it was, the guest list would just be me and my imaginary friends). I love celebrating anything, so each snail mail invitation sent to my door is received with a happy leprechaun-type jig before being pinned to a bulletin board, where it enjoys its time in the sun and makes paper friends until its bell tolls.

Which leads me to Basic Invite, my newly discovered/favorite online stationary company. There are so many e-vite type websites, but Basic Invite is the only one that lets you truly customize your paper design. It's perfect for those (like moi) who obsess over each and every detail, since the website allows you to change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options. No, 180 is not a typo. Combine that with the ability to order a printed sample of the actual invitation before placing an order and to choose between 40 different envelope colors, and I am signed, sealed, delivered (pun intended). 

Although the hours I would have spent customizing every little part of any invitation would certainly have been many, I wish I knew Basic Invite was around while I was planning my wedding since it addresses two of my all time greatest pet-peeves when it came to my bride-to-be paper trail: finding addresses and licking envelopes. Not only does the website offer an address capturing service that allows users to simply share a link on any other form of social media to request addresses which are then stored in the customer’s account and selected during the design process, but their envelope options are peal and seal. Peal and seal, people! 

From casual birthday parties to more fancier shindigs to personalized stationary, Basic Invite offers it all, according to your taste (see below for a sample and discount!). Which means for all the aforementioned events, I will happily style it all, according to my taste (and yours too, hopefully, lolz). Hence today's post, which presents some outfit options to wear to baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, engagement fiestas, etc. In closing, words by Robert Earl Keen come to mind: the options on Basic Invite go on forever, and the party outfits never end. 

Turquoise Flower Earrings - Sylvia Toledano

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Here's a teaser pleaser of some Basic Invite designs. For 15% off, use discount code 15FF51.

NST: Cloisonné & Pearls are a Girl's Best Friend

Natalia Teran is a friend and fellow Miami native who recently launched NST, the name behind these handmade cloisonné & pearl beaded earrings. The idea was to design something that was beautiful, but not too trendy; something versatile, but not too run-of-the-mill. The result are earrings that look just as chic with a silk slip as they do with jeans and a tee. I could wear them in a bikini as easily as I could at the office (lolz isn't that the same thing? JK I wish). In other words, they've cracked the code.  

The cloisonné beads are hand painted - a process that takes months - and together with the authentic fresh water pearls, fit an aesthetic that goes hand in hand with the silk kimono-over jeans, cat eye sunglasses, red lips, cocktail-in-hand cool girl vibes that are dominating my 2018 air waves. 

I love them because although they have intricate detailing, they are uniquely simple; there's nothing quite like them out there. I also love them because they run $40-70, making them the most New Years-resolution-budget-friendly pair I own. Getcha' some. 

NST's website is currently under construction. To purchase a pair, send a direct message via Instagram to @_____nst______ or send me an email! 

Miron Crosby is Coming to Town

You don't have to be born in Texas - you just have to spend enough time in Texas - to know there are boots, and then there are boots. While there are the obvious differences in fit and style, the point at which a boot becomes a boot ultimately depends on the quality and craftsmanship. 

And now that you've allowed this Miami-Texas-transplant give you the very brief 101, lets skip a few chapters (we're quick learners over here) to the luxe boot. It's more than a boot - it's a bespoke, handcrafted cowboy boot that is as superb in quality as it is iconic in style. It's a rare breed, but the species can be found at Miron Crosby, the Dallas-based boot brand and Highland Park Village store spearheaded by sister duo Lizzie Means Duplantis and Sarah Means. By combining their Texan roots with the lingering influence of some years spent in New York City, Lizzie and Sarah have cemented their fashion-forward focus and are elevating boot-making into an art form. Their masterpieces have already harnessed a unique aesthetic, whose defining features include jumping stars (mis favoritos!), retro tassels, and chic stitching. 

Each pair of Miron Crosby boots - whether for women, men, or children - are made by master artisans in the 160-year old Rios of Mercedes Factory in Mercedes, Texas. But this month their boots are coming to Houston and you best believe where they go I will follow with bells on. I'm super excited to be one of the hosts of the January 25th and 26th trunk shows, which I'd also be super excited for you to attend (details below!). If we haven't met in person yet, you'll know it's me when you see the girl doing this in corner with some Miron Crosby on (intimidating? never; scary? always). 

Shop Miron Crosby's stock collection of women's boots here. 

Feel free to send me an email (upthegetup@gmail.com) or a message (@UpTheGetUp) for trunk show details! Would love to see you there! 

Feel free to send me an email (upthegetup@gmail.com) or a message (@UpTheGetUp) for trunk show details! Would love to see you there! 

Order Some Orderves

When you have genius friends you get to enjoy their genius ideas. And because it's Christmas and I'm feeling Santa-generous, I want to share this enjoyment with all the good little girls and boys out there. So allow me to introduce you to The Orderves Company. 

What is it? It's a concept turned reality by one of my very best friends, who saw a need for delicious and easy gourmet appetizers without the fuss that usually accompanies such things. Each ready-to-order small dish is made by hand and arrives at your door, ready to be placed in the freezer until it's hostess-with-the-mostess time. 

Why do I love it? Because ain't nobody (especially me) got time (or the know-how) to casually whip up things like spicy cheese crackers, ham biscuits, mini beef wellingtons, or lobster arancini risotto balls (my personal fav). And when you have friends over for a glass of wine, holiday pop-ins, or adult pre-games (do the cool kids still use that word?), you don't (always) want to serve string cheese sticks or microwavable taquitos on your wedding china.

Orderves is the graduated "apps" and the accessible hors d'oeuvres - casual, delicious, and very doable. Also very inspiring (hence today's collage) and very perfect as a Christmas gift for anyone who can already foreshadow feelings of social-wipe-out post-holidays.

'Getcha and 'gift-ya some here.