Style Chocolate Chip: April 2017

Our Visit to Florence

Sunday, April 30, 2017 •

So, I've been dying to share this post... mainly because Florence is my favorite city!

This past month has been a little bit of a scramble, but I'm finally getting some blog posts together to share a couple of my favorite snaps from our recent travels.

I actually studied abroad in Florence when I was a freshman in college, and visiting again brought back so many good memories. Walking through the cobble stone streets in Florence is a little bit majical. There is so much history there, and the beauty is on every street. I've always dreamed of living there- like permanently. Maybe one day I'll have the courage to.

This time I was able to go with my sister- so it was extra special. I took her to all my favorite spots, one of which was Piazza Michelangelo. The views from there are the best in the city! It is definitly a difficult hike up, but it is so worth it. We also got to pop some bubbly up there- we bought some small bottles of proseco from a food cart. It was the perfect way to hang out up there and enjoy the Florence views!

How to feel happy : Spring Dress Edition

Monday, April 17, 2017 •

Dress- Banana Republic c/o | Heels- Vince Camuto | Necklae- Gorjana c/o | Bag- Henri Bendel c/o

Happy Friday Loves!

So Spring is in the air.... this is by far my favoirte times of year (weather wise) in SoCal.

Today I am teaming up with Banana Republic for the "What Moves Us" campaing. So I wanted to share "How to be happy". Yeah, I know what you are thinking...and maybe you are rolling your eyes. But, today I wanted to share how I found I can turn my mood around.

It sounds crazy silly I know, but I have litterally typed this into my google search bar. There are just some days that are not all sunshine. For me I have found that just doing the simplest of things can help brighten my mood or just simply make me feel motivated to get out and get going.

For one, getting out of the uber casual clothing, like leggings, is key. Comfort is great but sometimes it can consume you and make you feel a little lazier. So my first tip is to get dressed. And, maybe on a Tuesday afternoon a dress isn't the answer, but even jeans and a nice blouse can make you feel more put together and happier. However, on the weekends you bet I will pull out a bright dress, like this cute orange one, and go out for dinner. I mean, why not?! We should celebrate everyday and make the most of it- so being overdressed should not be what is holding you back. YES, kick your heel up! Get motivated and get happy.

Another tip, is to put it simply...retail therapy. I mean it is cheaper than real therapy. But in all seriousness, just get out of the house and go shopping (or even window shopping). Honestly, just walking around and breathing a different kind of air will change your perspective. And, ya never know; you may find that what ever stressed you out before isn't even that big a deal anyways. I acutally even like to go to the grocery store, get some yummy snacks and some flowers. That way I have something nice to look at (which brightens the mood of my place), and something that makes my tummy happy ( #win).

So there ya have it. I am sharing the most inovative ideas on how to get happy. I know I shocked ya with the complexity of these, lol. Even though they seem like vein ideas, they are really just simple ideas that can easily and quickly be achieved. It is a lot harder and time consuming to fix lifes problems. However, chaninging your perspective can be easier than ya think.

So what moves you? Do you have any little pick me ups you swear by? Let me know!

Cheers loves!!

This post has been in collaboration with @BananaRepublic. All opinions are mine alone. #BRMovesYou #itsbanana and #sponsored

Spring Time in Italy: Palm Print Dress

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 •

I am so excited to finally share this look with you. I've been eyeing this dress since January! And, I finally got to wear it on our trip to Italy. I looked up the weather before we arrived and it was half chance of colder weather; luckily we got all the best weather. It has been nothing but sunshine!

We are staying in Montecatini Terme, which is the cutest city. It is so small and charming! Our hotel is right next to the city center... so we just spent the day walking around and visiting the near by parks and termal spa spots. We didn't actually go in any termal spas but we had fun walking around the beautiful parks.

New York Visit: Recap

Monday, April 3, 2017 •

Jacket | Boots | Hat |

Happy Monday Loves!

So today I wanted to sahre a recap of our trip to New York. It was definitly different than what I epected but nonetheless I loved every second of it.

If you follow along on Instagram (which you should), you may have seen many of these of these pics. However, I thought I might as well share them on here and share a little bit of our trip...some hightlights and pitfalls!

Before we even booked tickets I had looked at the weather, and was already skeptical and kind of scared at how cold it is during March. When we first got there I underestimated how cold it would be an how many more layers I needed to wear to stay warm. So I got sick on our first night.

We stayed at the Manhatan Hotel in Times Square which had a perfect location. Which meant we didn't have to walk or take taxis very much-everything was centrally located. But nonetheless,I got a cold and a fever the next day, but I didn't let that stop me from exploring the city. We got a late start our second day but we did make it to Central park. I had a fever while we walked through the park, and the wind started to pick up and half way through I literally wanted to give up- I was so cold! However somehow we still managed to explore and see all the pretty views.

We eventually stumbled across the Plaza Hotel and planned on eating there...but turns out we hadn't researched or planned it enough to know you need reservations. So we settled for the cute food court they have there...tons of food and desert options (it's amazing there). We snagged some macaroons from Francois Payard Patisserie and some coffee- best mid day snack ever.

The next day we decided we had to fit in the Statue of Liberty-it's a must see if you are in New York right?! So we thought it would be easier to get the passes from tour guides at Times Squares...the streets are filled with people that work with the tour guides to sell tour pass passes that also have a connection to the Liberty Cruise and sites. However, we only wanted to see the statue of liberty so we got a package to do a liberty cruise. Which we thought was the "common ticket". Little did we know this would be the biggest mistake of our life! Once we got to the harbor, the vouchers we had purchased were not accepted. They told us we bought the wrong vouchers and had to get to a different harbor on some other part of town. Long story short, we kept getting the run around but finally one of the guys from the company (took pitty on us) and secretly gave us the liberty ferry tickets we needed. Which was a god send, because we had already wasted to much time with the confusion and the island was about to close in a couple hours- so we didn't have any more time to waste. Also, turns out buying tickets in Times Square was a HUGE waste of money because you can get them directly from the harbor for like half the price we paid. So my advise is to not get anything from street tour vendors... it is not conveniant and you pay more for nothing.

On our last day we made our way out to Brooklyn. This was solely because we wanted to see the Yankee Stadium. We are big baseball fans and Yankees are our team. It was unfortunate that we didn't catch a game here, season doesn't start until later. But, that why people come back right?!

All in all, we had such a great time. I left with a cold but it was well worth it.