Natalie Wise Blog - Happiness is here.

Spring Style

Goodness I love me some Spring style. These are my most-favorite colors. Give me some pink and mint and I’m a happy girl.

What are your go-to colors?

I actually try not to make my outfits TOO perfect. A little imperfection is good for the soul. —> Click to Tweet!

In this case, we have unpainted nails and “hot mess hair”–that is to say, “my hair dryer conked out in great fanfare this morning and I’m lucky to still be alive.” I might be exaggerating that a slight bit but there was smoke involved, not gonna lie.

Tying the cardigan was a moment of inspiration since it’s a long cardigan and the proportions were off and I was in a hurry.

I love this look and am going to deploy it in the future for sure.

I love this outtake, it has a certain ethereally happy and unintentionally beautiful quality to it, if I may say so myself.

It just reminds me that I’m happy, and I think that’s a wonderful thing.

I hope you’re deep-heart-happy this beautiful Spring Monday.

Find the beauty.

Natalie

Shorts and Boots

First off: Don’t panic! We do NOT still have snow in New England (at least not this year!). These photos are from a few weeks ago. Now, it’s gloriously Spring-like and I’m taking advantage of it as much as I can. I hope you are, too!

Early Spring and Autumn are the only times shorts & knee-high suede boots make any sense paired together, but whenever I can make the combo happen, I love it. It’s a bit more of a fresh look and I think it has a bit of sass to it, too, don’t you think? I also love all of the texture here: linen jacket with lots of zippers, burn-out tee, wool shorts with leather buttons and suede boots. So rich!

Linen Moto Jacket: Charlotte Russe (similar one I’ve been eyeing )//Shirt: NY&Co//Tank: J.Jill//Shorts: tailor new york//Earrings: ??// Sunnies: local store//Boots: Steve Madden

xo
Natalie

Coral & Leopard

Goodness, love me some Spring weather. You can just dress perfectly when it’s 70 degrees with a light breeze and plenty of sunshine. A great pencil skirt, bare legs, and a nice little cardigan. #ideal

Sweater: Juicy Couture//Leopard Tank: Thrifted//Pencil Skirt: J.Crew//Heels: c/o Blowfish

Enjoy the day, friends!

Natalie

Lemon Bars with Almond Crust

Gooooooooooood Monday morning! How are you on this beautiful, fresh start to a new week? How about some cheerful, bright-yellow, deliciously summery lemon bars to whet your palate? (Also, I am in love with this photo. It looks like a snowglobe and I could look at it for hours. And yes, they really ARE that yellow in real life, thanks to the technique of using a baked lemon curd on top of the crust…more about that in the link below!)

You can find my delicious recipe for gluten-free lemon bars with an almond crust over on Big Girls, Small Kitchen today. Don’t mind me while I eat one with my tea for breakfast-dessert #duh.

Sunshine-y gluten-free lemon bars with an almond crust for breakfast? Yes, please! —–> Tweet This!

Bonus? You can use the topping as a plain-old lemon curd to slather on muffins, scones, waffles, crepes, a spoon straight out of the jar…#justsayin.

Easter Sunday 2014

Oh my goodness. If you know me, you know that Easter is when I am in my element. It is my absolute most favorite holiday of the year for so many reasons. Jesus #duh. EASTER COLORS are my favorites! Hats! Spring! The food! A year ago today I met the man of my dreams! It’s just the happiest holiday there ever was and I soak it up each year. It’s all of the most wonderful things and I beyond adore it.

I’ve had this dress for almost a year and I refused to wear it because I just knew it had to be my Easter 2014 dress. Lilly Pulitzer speaks Easter, don’t you think?

I don’t need an excuse to wear a hat or vintage items, but Easter sure is a good one. When you wear a lovely hat, people tend to say lovely things. Here are a few:

Like I said, lovely things (from both men and women!). Hats are one of my favorite things and I’ve got big plans to get you all in on the hat fun next Easter, so keep your eyes peeled for the perfect Spring-y topper. You’ve got a year to find one and plan it 🙂

My shoes are straw like an Easter basket because obviously I think of these things.

Ok I think I’ve hit my limit for how many pastels and happiness and vintage and loveliness I can fit into this one post, so I’ll wrap it up now.

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

Natalie

Why I Cover My Head on Good Friday

I love to cover my head on Good Friday with a veil or scarf.

See I’m a big fan of tradition. Tradition has roots. Tradition has meaning. It has heart, if you let it. All of that feeling is up to us, though…tradition itself holds little, which is why we can so easily forget. What we bring in our hearts to tradition is where the beauty lies. The remembrance of things past that have lead us to this day, the longing of things yet to be…it’s all rather poetic and my heart clings to that.

Covering my head helps me feel the mourning of my Savior’s death. For MY sins. How could I not cover my head then, in sorrow and reverence for this act that was for ME? Because of me? I put myself in the place of the followers of Jesus who were there, who saw the God of the universe clinging to a cross, barely recognizable. And YES, we know He rises. But they didn’t, you see. They couldn’t comprehend that Jesus crucified, would soon be Jesus risen. Still today, 2000 years later, it is hard to comprehend the agony and beauty mixed together, even though I know He rises, that He is alive.

But the fact remains that the price was paid. The sacrifice was made.

So I wear black.

And cover my head.

A woman in mourning. For my Savior’s death. For my sins.

For the bleak and hopeless outlook that would be ours had Jesus remained on the Cross.

But this isn’t the end of the story.

Tell me, do you cover your head for Good Friday?

Scarf: Burberry//Wool Bow Dress: Vintage//Cashmere Sweater: White + Warren//Heels: Ann Taylor

Natalie

Reese’s Eggs on Big Girls Small Kitchen

New recipe for Big Girls Small Kitchen (BGSK) today: Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs! Anyone would be more than lucky to get these tucked into an Easter basket (and I definitely just ate one for breakfast, so there’s that). Click here for the recipe!

Unless you follow me on Facebook, I haven’t been sharing these amazing recipes with you, and for that, I offer my apologies. Here are a few of my favorite delicious (gluten-free!) recipes I’ve had the pleasure of creating for Cara over at the wonderful BGSK.

Here are some of my favorites!

Starting from the top, going clockwise:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Frozen Hot Chocolate like Serendipity’s

Roasted Spiced Pears

Classic Chocolate Truffles

Stovetop Rice Pudding

Strawberry Mousse

Enjoy!

Natalie

Pinterest Faves from Jen @ Boone + Owl

Happy Monday, lovelies! Today I want to introduce you to my new friend Jen from Boone + Owl. She’s a kindred spirit for sure and you should go check out her fun blog! She loves Anthropologie, Chipotle, and Jesus, too, so if those are your jams you’re gonna love her! You can find my post featuring my favorites sunglasses & lipstick pairings for the summer, over on her blog today!

In the meantime, here’s Jen with one of my favorite series’ she does, her Pinterest Favorites:

Pinterest Favorites of the Week, DIY Sequin Blazer, Breakfast Smoothie, Photography Tips, Interviewing tips

Happiest of Mondays! I’m Jen and I blog over at Boone + Owl where I share fashion, beauty tips, recipes, a DIY or two, and a dash of all the other happy things in life! Every weekend I share nine of my favorite pins from my countless hours on Pinterest. Do you ever sit down to pin just a few things and then find yourself still pinning three hours later? Story of my life. Sigh. Anywho, I thought I would share a few of my recent Pinterest Favorites with all of you! I noticed something. There are always at least two favorites that are recipes in every Pinterest Favorites post. Look, I like to eat. Food is delicious! My favorite quote this week also has to do with food. I should really balance this out with a workout pin. Hey, there’s always next time.

All right, moving on to this week’s favorites..

Ham Lentil and Kale Soup. I love food. I particularly love food that is yummy and fresh! I’ve made kale soups in the past, but none quite like this one. The flavor paring sounds way too delectable!

“You Only Live Once, Lick The Bowl”. Yes. This is my quote for the week, and just YES. Food is delicious. Cake batter is even better. Lick the bowl. This is my ode to yolo. Don’t ever tell anyone I said yolo.

Lash Curling Extreme. I’m sure you’ve heard of heating your eyelash curler with a blow dryer to get a better curl. Well, I found this and gave it a try. I’m just going to be honest and tell you that I 100% burnt myself the first time. I was really gung-ho about it and didn’t check the curler to see how hot it was. The heated curler actually works very well and it is absolutely worth trying. Just make sure you check how hot it is first like the tutorial suggests!

How To Top Knot. Do you still struggle with the top knot? I do. At least when it comes to doing a top knot with straight hair. I can do it with curly hair no problem. If you have any issue with a straight hair top knot, this tutorial is nice and helpful!

Simple Breakfast Smoothie. I don’t know about the breakfast part. I’m more of an afternoon smoothie kind of person. There’s healthy + yumminess in this smoothie so it doesn’t count against your calories.. right? I mean it’s spinach. And bananas. And an orange. Blueberries.. Raspberries. Yeah, that does’t count!

9 Fashion Blog Photography Tips. This is such a helpful post! Yara shares some great tips. If you want to improve your photography skills this post is worth a read!

Career 101: Interviewing. This post was put together by Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere. She shares 8 tips and I thought they were quite helpful.

Stripes + Elbow Patch. I really really love elbow patches. I still don’t have a single top with elbow patches. It’s not okay. Do you know any shops that have some cute options to choose from? Let me know in the comments if you do! This pin is here because it’s so cute. That’s really it!

DIY Sequin Blazer. Blazers are fantastic. Sequin is sparkly and that’s a very good thing. This combination is so fun! It’s pretty easy to do and would add a spectacular pop to an old blazer that needs revamping.

All right, that’s all she wrote! I hope this brought you some pinspiration! What’s your yolo stance on cake batter bowl licking?

B L O G L O V I N | F A C E B O O K | T W I T T E R | P I N T E R E S T | I N S T A G R A M

Go give Jen some love ya’ll, and don’t forget I’ve got my favorite pairings of sunglasses & lipsticks on her blog today!

Come take a peek here!

Natalie
(and Jen!)

Spring Wardrobe Additions

It’s springtime! Ok, well, really, here in New England it’s mud season, but that’s nothing some Hunter wellies can’t conquer. I spent a bit of time hunting around my favorite consignment and thrifting spots for a few Spring Wardrobe additions, focusing mostly on neutral basics upon which to build with colorful accessories. Here’s what I picked up:

1.) Vince Black Leggings Perfect for everyday wear with any light sweater long enough to cover my bum. LOVE these tucked into my Hunter wellies on rainy days.

2.) Jill Stuart Cream Pea Coat A nice change of pace from my heavy down coat on the days I need it. I’ve only needed it a few times though!

3.) Catherine Melandrino Bell-Sleeve Openwork Sweater Oh my goodness I canNOT stop wearing this. I’m so in love with it. It’s baby alpaca so it’s warm but not bulky, and with a colored tank underneath it’s nice and cheery.

4.) Pink Gauze Star Scarf from American Eagle A colorful addition. I love my black/gray star scarf so much I had to grab this one when I spotted it.

5.) Adriano Goldschmied Brown Corduroy Pants I LOVE AG cords because they have the perfect amount of Spandex in them. I snagged these on ThredUp (review coming soon!).

6.) Gap Academy Blazer Adoring the neon pink lining on the cuffs & collar of this sweatshirt-material blazer.

7.) J.Crew Ankle-Zip Cords I already have these in seafoam, but gray is so versatile and looks great with all of my seafoam and light pink spring tops.

8.) Wool-blend shorts These are so cute and perfect for warm days in that almost-spring weather that’s warm with a cool breeze. I think these will look great with my light pink sweater.

Of course I also loaded up on some spring nail polish colors, which will be in a separate post 🙂 And a cute new polka-dot umbrella because it’s April, after all.

What have you added to your wardrobe for Spring? Are you loading up on bright things or sticking with neutrals like me?

Maple Latte

Ya’ll I live in New England, mmmkay? So I’m a pretty legit expert on all things maple syrup (fact: it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup #boom). So this maple latte thing is on lock over here. The basic proportions are the same, but fiddle with your version of “strong” coffee and your version of “sweet” until it’s your kind of awesomely-delicious. Here’s what I love:

Maple Latte
1/3 mug hot VANILLA flavored coffee
2/3 mug HOT milk, foamed/frothed
1 1/2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Really, all you have to do is stir these together. But here’s my more in-depth method: I actually use a two-mug method to do this…heating the milk in one mug while letting my coffee brew through my Melita pour-through coffee maker into another mug. I’ve found it’s best to add the coffee to the milk rather than the other way around, so I put the milk in the mug I want to drink from to microwave it. Then foam it directly in the mug using a tiny whisk, fork, or my favorite gadget: an Aerolatte. Then carefully pour in your hot coffee, add the maple syrup right on top of the foam, sneak a spoon in under the foam and stir. The last secret is to make sure this is served VERY hot. I am by no means a barista, so this is just what I make to enjoy at home: quick & easy!

And a verse to cheer your morning:

Natalie