Lucky No. 13: What I Wore To Cook With Carson Daly and Why

The shoes! Very blurry shoes. My sweet dad caught me in action as I was starting to move.

Wardrobe check. A very blurry wardrobe check.

My awesome Dream Team; Talking to my baby brother after the show.

My MAMI!

Did you read this post about the 13 things I AM going to do this summer? I wrote that right after a quick trip to NY I felt was a wash and came back to DC slightly frustrated and a little discouraged. I stopped to think about what I really wanted to accomplish this summer --- mostly things that are the essence of me and personify my spirit. But no.13 as stated had just been a dream I was confident could happen eventually but didn't know how. I simply made a bold statement; a very confident statement without any strategy, plan, inside contact, method or real plan. I just made a bold assertion, threw caution to the wind, and carried on.

11 days later I got an email inviting me to do lucky no. 13.

It really did happen. And I invite you to read all about cooking with Carson Daly on the TODAY show Plaza last Wednesday.

As per usual with my life, I work really well under pressure. You already know that means I didn't pack for NY until midnight, just 6 hours before. I had NO time to really put my look together. Are we serious right now! I literally had no time to process what was really going on, let alone focus on a proper but perfect look. Or two. Who does that?

I was going to be on the Today show, in front of 5 million people on TV all over the world and whole bunch of faithful Plaza fans that hug those security rails every day. And this girl here did not plan for a great outfit. I did want to be effortless chic, but I could have spent a bit more time, no?

So I did what I do best and throw caution to the wind, again. I threw three tops, 2 jeans, 5 shoes and a whole bunch of jewelry in my checked suitcase. I had my essentials tho: toiletries and hair products. I thought I'd be fine.

Until Wed. morning at 4 am when I looked at my options, dropped my jaw and panicked for all of 8 minutes.  I had a horribly blous-y green top which looked like a baby doll top gone way wrong, a white top with happy lettering on it, and we already know that's not advisable... and this orange silk top. Orange. Yes, orange. Yes, that's it. I was gonna be cooking with Carson in his virtual 'Orange Room' but outside. How cliché.

But it's the only thing that worked with my other options. The jeans. The only jeans. So I had no choice.

That's why shoes are so key! I steamed my top, threw on my $6 skinny floral patterned jeans from Target and my tan stilettos... which happen to be one of my favorite summer sandals. They're perfect. Open toe, 5", double ankle strap with a lovely and exotic leather floret with a stone center bud. Gwen Stefani's shoe collection used to be fierce made of great quality. Not so much anymore. These are from about 5 years ago. And I'm so glad I wore them and not the other options.

So I ended up with this look because while I was going to be on the biggest morning platform ever, I was still working. And I wanted to be casual and still be the real me. And I was still going to get dirty, potentially, and I had to look comfortable but sassy.

And this simple look did the job!

And the accessories just pulled it all together. The arm candy, really.

A long gold chain from the 40s and my arm candy -- the most important element for me when I cook on TV. Contrast metals and textures with some color to complement the bright orange top nicely popped great on camera.

And at the end of the morning, I was happy! My shoes suffered a slither of butter and oil from the mess Carson and I made. But it was worth it!

Had I stained my silk blouse, it still would have been worth it.

I learned that in the middle of all that action, the outfit is important, but people are really looking at my cooking and what I made. I just made sure to give viewers something else to talk about. And in last week's case, it was the shoes! Go figure!

I'm not crazy. It's ALWAYS about the shoes! Always.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Wearing:

Top from H&M
Jeans via Target
Shoes by L.A.M.B via Nordstrom
Bag: From Italy
Sunglasses: Vintage Versace, worn here.
Scarf: Paisley print from Old Navy
Accessories: 
Tag Heuer diamond watch; C.B. Herrera crystal and pearl cluster cocktail ring and Swarovski bracelet; blue and gold studded bracelet via Neiman Marcus; Lucky Brand bee motif charm bracelet; chunky stone ring; BE stackable rings via Nordstrom;  "Dream Big" leather and metal bracelet.

Follow the sexy & delicious fun on TWITTER| FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | GOOGLE + :) 

Read More

Best of My Arm Candy in 2013

I came to realize how much I love my mother's jewelry, C.B. Herrera Designs, more and more. In actuality, she started it 5 years ago to placate my love for bangles, "gangarias," as we Cubans call any and all kind of costume jewelry, and anything I fancied in accessories. It's been great. At first, I was super hype and committed to blowing up her jewelry line and placing her in all the style magazines and in over 500 stores nationwide. But then Flanboyant Eats (my food and travel blog) and my private chef business took off, and as you can imagine, I put all my energy into that.

As this year started shaping into a wildly successful one with TV appearances just about everywhere, being hired to do on air work for a wine brands, my excitement for my mother's jewelry was reignited. And so with the love affair and borderline addiction I have with Pinterest, I started obsessing with this notion of  having a party of pretty arm jewelry -- otherwise known as "arm candy" and swag -- stacks and stack of brackets, bangles, and your watch. I realized how much I love bows (whew knew?!), leather, studs,  lots of simply crystal stretch bracelets, mixing media, and vintage intermixed with modern pieces.

I quickly got hip to the attractive and super easy way to accessorize beyond a  stack of ring and my two tone Marc Jacobs watch, which makes it everywhere. And then it hit me: Have my mother start making jewelry again, but this time with a more streamlined look and purpose. I'm certain the arm candy (and if you're in Instagram, then you know you can find thousands of looks by searching #armcandy and many derivatives of that) trend explains the abundance of new bracelet designers, some of which I'm in love with.

I love stacking, playing around with combinations, sometimes going light, others going way overboard where I looked at a picture later and wondered 'what in the world!' -- but all with a lot of fun and definitely inviting a great conversation among both chicas and the fellas.

2013 was particularly fun in exploring how I love to stack and have arm candy parties. These are some of my faves as shared in Instagram. There are still so many I never shared and pieces I never shared b/c there they were too dear to my heart that sharing publicly wasn't necessary. Sometimes, some things just need to stay between you and the gifter ;)

I hope you love my stacks and I'd love to see some of yours!


Wearing:
Rose gold and silver two tone MJ watch via Nordstrom; Rose gold and gray rubber MJ watch via Neiman Marcus; Vintage Seiko watch, gifted; BCBG watch via Loehmann's; Cocktail rings by Lucky Brand; Ghandi bracelet by my mother's jewelry line; All the crystal stretch bracelets and rings by my mom's jewelry line; Chain bracelet c/o L. George Designs; Silver bangles c/o IB Designs in St. Croix; Sterling vintage bangles from Mexico; String-y bracelets gifted; Variety of others.

Follow the sexy fun on TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | GOOGLE + :) 

Read More

Travel Vibes: A Chic Week on Instagram

Keswick Hall

So much going on, so little time to share it all, or at least the fun part, so I've been resorting to quick Instagrams to depict the current haps. 

I took a quick two hour drive to Central Virginia where I went to college to visit an enigmatic place called Keswick Hall. Look it up! Pretty interesting piece of lush property formerly owned by Laura Ashley's ex husband, and as such, the entire boutique hotel, with only 48 suites, has a lot of LA influence. I like that my room was pretty simple in décor but still muy luxe. 

For  a three day regional trip, this is how low-key I try to keep it, though, I think there's room for more editing. 

I think I wore all the jewelry. The watch for sure and one the wood ring, one of my faves I picked up off a street cart in St. Thomas about 5 years ago.

I stuck to light makeup because it was still super hot in Charlottesville. The eyeliner was just for nighttime. I'm loving the Shiseido powder/foundation... it's everything. I first mentioned it here. 

This was my look on the the 1st day which I kept all day, even after 2 hours of driving through the countryside and a lovely al fresco dinner. 

My look via Instagram.

I couldn't help to Instagram my arm candy on the 2nd day, which I'm becoming slightly infatuated with. 

And then there's nothing like sitting at the infinity pool and actually making your faulty iPhone 4s work to take this picture of a pretty purple flower.

Or just sitting there and staring at this view. 

I even made time to catch up with some childhood family friends and enjoyed a nice dinner at the "Downtown Mall". 

And no trip could be full of awesomeness if I didn't have a shot of espresso to share with you. This triple shot cappuccino while I enjoyed my favorite newspaper... this before I went to a local farm for my first ever private horseback riding lesson... and that my friends was amazing! 

Especially because this 5 year old Western girl named Santana was so friendly and welcomed me very graciously.

And that was my week on Instagram! Now off to curate another one, though it's not going to be as exciting!

I wrote a sister post on my food blog, Flanboyant Eats, on the delish bites I had while there! Check it out.

Smooches!

Wearing:
Levi's jeans
Old Navy striped top
Theory jean jacket
Zara pumps
Marc Jacobs iPad sleeve as clutch
Varied arm candy

Follow the sexy fun on TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | GOOGLE + :) 

Read More