Orla Kiely for Clarks Shoes

Great news! Orla Kiely recently released a shoe line collaboration with Clarks...but only in Europe :( I'd been excitedly awaiting this release for months now so I was delighted when Orla Kiely released a statement on Instagram to announce its arrival. I was a bit thrown off because I'd heard the line wasn't going to come out until February, but I was excited nonetheless. So I took to the internet immediately...but found that the shoes were not available on the US Orla Kiely site, nor the US Clarks site. So I tried the UK Orla Kiely site, but stock was quickly sold out in my size. The UK Clarks site had my size, but they don't ship worldwide. It was maddening! I'd been eyeing these oh-so-adorable maryjanes and I knew they had to be mine. 

Orla Kiely Milly Shoe in Mustard & Cream

About $150

Oh my gosh, even the soles are to-die-for. I've heard of people taking their Louboutins to a cobbler to put a protective cover on the bottom to help preserve the signature red soles. I might have to do the same with these.

Over the years, I've been able to accumulate quite a collection of Orla Kiely purses, wallets, makeup bags, and even clothing now, and shoes would make my collection seem complete. Not wanting to miss out on owning a pair of Orla Kiely shoes, I emailed customer service to inquire when/if the shoe line would be available in the US. Here's the response I got:

So US Orla Kiely fans, rejoice! There's hope after all. We just have to wait patiently for these adorable shoes to arrive, and I'm sure they'll be worth the wait :)

For now, let's take a closer look at each one. Admittedly, the rest of the collection is not really my style, but I can still appreciate the cuteness of each one.

Orla Kiely Maggy Shoe in Navy

About $165

Orla Kiely Marianne Shoe in Mustard & Cream

About $200 (the most expensive shoe in the collection)

Orla Kiely Matilda Shoe in Natural

About $165

Orla Kiely Mary Shoe in Natural & Green

About $165

Orla Kiely Muriel Shoe in Navy & Coral

About $165

Once I get my hands on a pair, I'll be sure to post a review on the craftsmanship, comfort, and fit, as well as some photos of how I would style them with outfit-of-the-day shots.

Outfit Of The Day: Penguin Haul

What I'm Wearing:

(Left)

American Eagle Cute Animal Sweater

Joe's Jeans

Ugg Bailey Button Triplet Boots in Grey

(Right)

Monogram Emperor Kiss Sweater

Joe's Jeans

Dr. Scholl's Boots

Dogeared Pearls of Friendship Necklace

I decided to do a special double edition of my Outfit Of The Day since both are pretty similar. It's still been cold here in Florida, which is fine by me because that means I get to wear my penguin sweaters! I'd been looking for the American Eagle sweater (left) at all my local malls, but didn't have any luck so I was thrilled when a friend of mine got this for me for my birthday. The Anthropologie sweater (right) had been on my wish list for months and finally went on sale so I bought it right away as a birthday gift for myself. All the details are completely adorable, especially the elbow patches.

I hardly ever wear my hair curly. It's actually naturally wavy, but I always blow-dry it straight. However, this weekend I was in the mood to curl it. When it comes to using a curling iron however, I'm terrible. So again, I resorted to YouTube. Whenever I search for tutorials I try to find one that's short and simple. This is the one that I found that I really liked and helped me to achieve the type of waves I wanted.

Last week was my birthday and I got a pretty nice penguin haul from friends.

I bought these boots from Belk because they reminded me of the Valentino Ruffle-Top Tall Motorcycle Boots that I wanted a couple years ago. Those boots were about $1400. These were about $50. I love how they have a similar ruffle detail and that the front is a little higher than the back, just like the Valentino boots. Plus, they are the most comfortable boots I have ever worn! Which is surprising since they have a heel. But they're Dr. Scholl's and there's a special cushion inside that molds to your feet. They felt so good the first time I tried them on that I just had to get them. The first time I wore these, I spent the entire day running errands and they didn't hurt my feet at all. I usually prefer flat boots, but the heel is fine on these since the insides are so comfortable!

The cutest photo-bomber ever.

My son also joined me, wearing his adorable penguin hat :)

Orla Kiely Birthday Party

What I'm Wearing:

Orla Kiely Seaview Print Ottoman Dress

BCBG Heels

J. Crew Factory necklace and bracelet

I turned 30 this week and for my birthday, my parents got me this Orla Kiely dress and a purse (upcoming post on that later!). My parents know me far too well :)

Not only is the print on this dress unique and gorgeous, but the back has a cutout detail that I definitely wanted to show off. So I decided to attempt the high bun that's pretty popular right now. After several attempts, YouTube views, hairpins, hairspray, and cutting up an old sock, I finally achieved the look I wanted. After watching several YouTube videos, this was the one I found to be the easiest to use and yielded the best results:

This birthday was made even more special by my husband, who thew me a surprise ORLA KIELY themed birthday party. 

Just look at these awesome Orla Kiely cupcakes he had made!

My little boy got in on the action early and devoured one right away (look at some of the remnants at the corner of his mouth :)

This was definitely so special to me and I was beyond excited that my husband did this for me. 

And by the way, the cupcakes were delicious :)

Some of the most special and important people in my life.

And here's the man who made it all happen. I love you so much! By the way, he's started a blog, too. It's definitely different from mine to say the least, but if you're interested in the Bible, Quran, or Torah, please check it out here!

Orla Kiely Towels at Home Goods

I was recently on a hunt at Home Goods for some new bath mats when I stumbled upon a stack of Orla Kiely towels.

Needless to say, I was thrilled!

You would think that I snatched them all up. But I was good. I only left with one beach towel, four bath towels, two hand towels, and one face towel (for me, this is considered "good"). 

The prices were really good for Orla Kiely. The beach towel (actually a Christmas present from my mother-in-law) was $24.99 (retail $58), the bath towels were $14.99 each (retail $38 each), the hand towels were $7.99 each (retail $20 each), and the face towel was $3.99 (retail $6).

Each one came attached with an Orla Kiely House tag (and yes, I did keep each one. Not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I could see them in a scrapbook somewhere).

Made in Portugal!

There's honestly really nothing remarkable about these towels, except the Orla Kiely print. They're not particularly plush or soft - they feel like your standard towel. But standard towels cost the same, so might as well get something with an Orla Kiely print!

Again, this towel was a gift from my mother-in-law. She was so excited to find this at Marshall's, so these towels are not only available at Home Goods. Check out your local T.J. Maxx and Marshalls as well!

My only negative about these towels is that some of them had snags in them already. In fact, I think all of them did. I had to inspect each one to find the ones that had the least snags in them. Not noticeable from afar, but definitely up close. Simply cutting them should be fine, but only time will tell if more will show up. So far they seem to be holding up well after about a week.

These towels also came in orange, but I opted for the gray ones as I thought they paired better with the color scheme in my bathroom. 

I've recently been trying to redo my bathroom. I'm going for a calming palette of grays, blues, and browns (I'm eventually going to paint the walls a light taupe color). The shower curtain seen here is the Lucianna Medallion Shower Curtain from Pottery Barn, which I purchased on sale from the store for about $30 (originally $59).

Now my other bathroom is a little...louder.  I love penguins, so obviously that's the theme going on here. And although the Orla Kiely towels don't exactly match, I just couldn't see myself tucking them away in a linen closet. So here they are.

As for the orange stem hand towel and face towel, I decided to put them on display in my cabinet since these are the only two towels I bought in this print and color. 

I think they look nice next to my Orla Kiely perfume, which I still have yet to use (and I've had it for about three years!)