a dolltastic dream day.

today i made five-year-old's dreams come true...in the dream house. a five-year-old who is now 28, anyway. and in barbie: the dreamhouse experience, to be exact.

think pink. lots of it. plus 20 pounds of glitter, fluffy friends, long blonde hair and many mini shoes.

the trip to the giant pinktacular mansion was a girls' day out with my friend julie and her amazingly "awesome" daughter (as her shirt appropriately stated), plus their equally cool friends to sawgrass mills mall. i may have been flying solo without a little one by my side, but this kid at heart did not mind.

because with a closet that could be the size of my house, how could i not be in love? here's my peek at some of my favorite spots in barbie's world...

mattel barbie is so smart. the gift shop is practically the first thing little kids see when they walk in...either putting moms and dads (plenty of them, too!) in a place to purchase toys right then and there, or getting kids excited and ramped up to pick out their favorite on the way out. this would have been my pick...a mini replica of barbie's "glitterizer" closet.

rock n' roll barbie and little miss neon barbie "playing" the shimmering and sparkling piano.

 i want a jewelry box this size...with the gemstones too.

so there are dolls everywhere, which may have given me new ideas on what to do with my 100+ barbies sitting in my parents' garage (alex...you should be very nervous). while i'm a big fan of the vintage versions, my favorite single barbie of the house was this mermaid. doesn't hurt that she has rad dark hair with pink streaks, either.

 the "endless" closet - a.k.a. glitterizer. a mirror trick that actually works. this is just the beginning... 

now this is a barbie i can get on the same level with. if you didn't know this was a closeup taken of miniature pieces, you might think this was the real thing. the louboutins have the classic red soles and even come with an adorable shoebox and dust bag. barbie had plenty of big girl shoes around the closet too, but it's way more fun to photograph their teensy twins.

 

again, had to get a snapshot of these "dolltastic" dresses and shoes.

following a trip through barbie's closet and "private jet" the day ends with a megastar moment complete with a makeover and fashion show. blue eye shadow seems to be the hot color, as shown here on maddy.

 isa patiently awaiting her turn.

here is the big moment!

one of my favorite parts of the day came when the actual tour was over. there is a fun hands-on area where visitors can color, do barbie's hair and put together a kids' take on "project runway."

and here's a peek at what i wore behind the scenes. we made a point to all wear "barbie pink," but of course i had to put my own edgy skull spin on the look. i picked up this top from a thrift shop and the neon shorts and cut-out ballet flats are from gap.

 
all in all, it was a fabulous, fashion-filled day. if i were in charge, i'd add after-hours experiences for bachelorette parties and other big girls' nights out too...complete with cosmos. 

now that i've gotten this childhood dream out of the way, what's next up? well the american girl place at the falls in miami, of course. (and yes, i still own a felicity doll.)

weekend digs.

look all over the blogosphere, pinterest and magazine spreads and you'll see that mixing neon and neutral is the hot topic. i'm typically a neutral-only type of girl, but have been trying to vary it up this spring, and my weekend outfit didn't stray far from this trend.

i had to make a somewhat unexpected trip to see family in sarasota across the state today, so i recycled this outfit to wear for my drive time...and found out it also worked soaked in salt water during an impromptu kayak trip to the sandbar off long boat key with the cousins i hadn't seen in close to 15 years. my new, practically fluorescent pink, boyfriend roll-up shorts from gap paired nicely with an old gray and white plaid tank by forever 21's heritage 1981 for a relaxed look.

want to see other more interesting views of the outfit? check out the blog's instagram roll to see it - and me - in action looking like a fool on the kayak.

fab find: let it snow

with the stint of "cold" weather (60 degrees, if even) we experienced in south florida, i got excited because the change of season means i finally get to tap into that portion of my closet that only gets used about five days a year...or maybe eight if i choose to sweat it out a few times. but being a florida girl, i just can't bring myself to spend a ton of money on a winter wardrobe, which is why my eyes lit up when i stumbled into the sales at gap yesterday.

while searching for a tank to print my twilight slogan on for the opening of new moon last night (you bet your ass i was there!), i got a little distracted. i've been looking for the perfect black coat for a while now, but can never seem to find one that's inexpensive without looking cheap, and gap seemed to know just what i was looking for. all outerwear was 50 percent off, which is huge when you're shopping for jackets or blazers that are usually priced at more than $100.

i actually discovered my treasure in the sale section, in which all marked-down items were another 25 percent off. the shrunken peacoat, originally $110, purchased at $52 in the store or $89.99 online, was a comfortable fit for my petite frame, and i love the dramatic zippers on the pockets and sleeves that add an extra edge to the feminine cut.

if you're looking to take advantage of the 50 percent off rather than the sale though, let me suggest the ribbed sleeve wool jacket, originally priced at $118. it comes in gray or black and can easily be dressed up or worn casually with jeans. i'm not sure how long the discount lasts, so you better get over there soon!

if you can't get into a gap this week, you'll miss out on the in-store discounts, but gap.com also has a tempting offer...25 percent entire purchase of regularly priced items with the code GIFT123 at checkout. the promotion lasts through sunday, nov. 22. so grab your hot chocolate and throw on a pair of boots to get yourself in the mood to start cold weather shopping!