New Moon in Taurus May 2018

I have been posting about the new moon in Taurus for the past two days on my @cathclaire Instagram and I have gotten A LOT of questions about what this means.  I am no astrologist by any stretch of the imagination but I shall try to explain. The moon and the sun pull the tides of the ocean water and humans are 75% water. The way that the moon's effect on us makes the most sense to me is by thinking about the tides of the ocean. This perspective helps me to understand and ponder the effect that the lunar cycles have on us at an energetic/cellular level. I think this stuff is so interesting and I enjoy reading about it to say the least. I usually keep this mystical astrology stuff for my journal but with all the interest on my instagram, I figured I would share so let's get to it!!!!!

The new moon is in Taurus and while that is a personal cause for cathclaire celebration having the lunar cycle in my zodiac, there is much more to this particular moon than there has been in 84 years. Before I get into that aspect - let's go over the basics. As a rule of thumb, a new moon - 29 day lunar cycle - is a new wave of energy influencing the coming month. It is a great time to let go of old patterns of living to make space to create new and healthier experiences moving forward. The new moon being in the Earthly sign of Taurus will emphasize characteristics of this sun sign in our lives: values, worth, material world (as a fashion blogger, I sure do like this one), beauty, senses, and nature. Taurus is also associated with the throat chakra - this new moon is the perfect time to listen to your intuition, personal truth, and a time to voice how you feel courageously. The throat is the center of manifestation so pay attention to ideas that come to you and use your voice to make them come to life!

While a new moon is always exciting, what is so significant about this new moon in Taurus today (May 2018) is that the planet of Uranus will be entering into Taurus today as well for the first time in most of our lifetimes! Lagging behind 4 hours or so from the moon's path, this is notable because Uranus doesn't change paths as often, which is causing the Taurus New Moon energy to amplify and get shaken up.  The planet of Uranus carries it's own energy that can be categorized as revolutionary, innovative, metaphysical, surprising, awakening, liberating and insightful so combine that with the characteristics of the Taurus new moon I mentioned above and you can guarantee it is a time full of unpredictable and ALOT of energy.

Stylish Baseball Hats for Any Outfit

Hats are an easy way to add pizzaz to any outfit and to split your getting ready time in half. Because how much do you really have to do to your hair if you are just going to put a hat on your head? What a relief, am I right?

I don't know why I didn't get on the hat trend sooner given this time saving benefit however, I AM ON IT NOW. From LA Dodger baseball hats to beanies to (the now attached to my head) wide brim flat top hats, if you follow me on Instagram you know I am ALL about hats galore.

Are you looking for a way to elevate your outfit quickly while also cutting your getting ready time in half or more? Look no further than the hat trend, guys.  I get a lot of comments and questions about my hats so I figured I would make a blogpost about the subject and start off nice and easy with baseball caps. Today I am sharing with you my favorite LA dodgers baseball hats. Whether I am working out, running errands, or going out on the town - I love styling this baseball caps with all kinds of outfits and I hope you do too!

Shop these hats and let me know what you think:

Shop my entire outfit here: (These shorts are one of my favorites from Forever 21 and the exact ones are available!)

 

Embroidered Jean Shorts: Forever 21 / V-Neck White T-shirt: James Perse via Revolve Clothing / Black Leather Purse: Gucci / LA Dodgers Baseball Hat: Nordstrom / Black Heeled Booties: Alexander Wang (similar here) / Sunglasses: Ray Ban

DIY: Relaxing Flower Bath with Gillette Venus

This post was sponsored by Gillette Venus.

Self care is of the utmost importance these days ladies and while we don't always have the time or money to treat ourselves to a day at the spa, there are plenty of things we can do at home to keep us feeling our best. From a DIY relaxing bath at home to getting rid of unwanted hairs with Gillette, the options to feeling our best are endless! One of my favorite things to do when travel requirements and to-dos won't stop piling up on my calendar is to have a relaxing "self-care" evening at home. I usually carve out a full evening to do all the things for myself that I have been putting off because of lack of time. My self-care evening usually involves putting on a face mask, dry brushing, exfoliating, shaving any unwanted hair from my head to my toe with Gillette, and a herbal flower bath.

Is there anything better than smooth, clean skin? I love the new Gillette Venus Bikini trimmer guys. It is super cost effective and compact so that you can take it on the road with you to get rid of any unwanted hair.

I know a lot of you have been asking me about my flower baths and I am excited to share with you how simple my routine to create this bath is!

Here is how I create my flower bath: 

1.  Get a value pack of flowers and 5 pieces of various citrus fruit from from your local grocery store. 
2.  Cut the blooms off of each flower stem. If you leave the stem, keep in my that you will see it in your bath. 
3. Thinly slice each fruit down the middle. I usually use limes, lemons, grapefruits, and blood oranges if I can find them. 
4. Add Epsom Salt if you have any aches or pains from working out or an essential oil with a carrier oil such as almond oil. I chose to use a Rose essential oil with olive oil in this particular instance and it smelled divine! 
5. Enjoy your favorite book or beverage while soaking!

This is my reminder for you guys to take care of yourselves throughout your busy lives! I hope you take my advice loves! xo Cath

My Morning Routine with Bulletproof Coffee

I have implemented a lot of new habits in 2018 (yes, I know we are only 15 days in..) and I am so excited to share them with you guys.

First up: my new morning routine with bulletproof coffee. 

I have become addicted to this bulletproof coffee recipe...so much so that yesterday morning I woke up to make it (I look forward to it every morning) and realized my husband had used the last of the butter for it. Solution? Head to Saadia's Juicebox in Jackson Ward to grab some! She has it on the menu, along with all kinds of delicious concoctions. (I also ordered a wellness shot and it was the perfect addition to my Sunday morning!)

I have always been a person who considers their mornings sacred (working out, meditation, and journaling with coffee are a must) but adding bulletproof coffee to the dock has been a game changer that I am very excited to tell you guys about in hopes that it can be just as much of a game changer for you as well. 

If you're like me, you have probably heard the words bulletproof coffee tossed around over the past couple of years..but let me tell you - throwing MCT Oil, grass-fed unsalted butter, and your favorite coffee into a blender to start your morning is nothing short of magical. The crash that coffee usually comes with? Forget it. Starting your day off with pesky cravings that distract you from what you need to get done? Forget that ish as well. 

As if it can't get any better, bulletproof coffee is just as frothy as your favorite latte and it doesn't have the dairy that goes along with it! This frothy, energy igniting concoction is a must-try and something that I have really enjoyed adding to my daily routine.

How do you do it? Here are some directions I got from the BYRDIE website:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. filtered water

• 2 1/2 heaping tbsp. freshly ground Bulletproof Upgraded Coffee beans (or, if you don’t want to buy the Bulletproof brand of low-mold beans, just make an 8 oz. cup of regular coffee, ideally using fresh-roasted beans)

• 1 tsp. MCT Oil (coconut oil can work as a substitute)

• 1 tbsp. grass-fed, unsalted butter (or ghee)*

*Asprey recommends graduating to two tbsp. once you acquire the taste for it.  

Directions:

Combine the brewed hot coffee, teaspoon of MCT oil, and tablespoon of grass-fed, unsalted butter or ghee in a blender to get a frothy, creamy mixture like that of a latte. If you just stir the butter and oil into the hot coffee, the oil won’t blend and will sit on the surface of the drink. Then drink up! Just remember, due to the calories and fat content, bulletproof coffee is intended to be your breakfast, not to be consumed in addition to your usual breakfast.

P.S Can we talk about how hard it is to look fierce when it's freezing out? I am so excited about this Lovers + Friends coat from Revolve because it does the trick WHILE keeping you oh-so-warm. Also, silver goes with anything, like literally anything. I see myself wearing this coat constantly, especially with the way the forecast is looking. What do you guys think? xo

Zippered High-Waist Jeans: Forever 21 / Silver Ankle Boots: Saint Laurent (sold out, similar here) / Tommy Jeans Collegiate T-shirt: Tommy Hilfiger  / Calla Lily Belted Matte Silver Puffer: Lovers + Friends via Revolve / Cafe Racer Mirrored Sunglasses in White: Quay  / Belt: Gucci (backordered, similar here )

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Favorite Perfumes Right Now

Perfume: you either love it or hate it ... and Cathclaire loves it. 

I was looking at my perfume collection the other day and realized that I have collected a lot of perfume over the past few months. As I've gotten older, I've gotten less obsessed with having a signature scent (mine was Chloe for years and yes, I still always have a bottle on hand) and more into having perfumes for all the different versions of myself. 

If one day I wake up wanting to embrace my inner Beyonce, I spritz myself with Tom Ford "Fucking Fabulous,"if I wake up wanting to embrace my carefree spirit from college, I will spritz myself with Chloe, and if I wake up wanting to be reminded of the day I married my favorite person (wedding blog post here), I will spritz myself with Chanel "Beige." To be honest, the list goes on and on...and on and on.

With the style stage that I am in right now, it is just more fun to have a different perfume for my different moods versus sticking to one signature scent. Perfume is the invisible finishing touch of your look. It is a way to amplify your style and sometimes, even a way to make yourself stand out in a room full of people. Like I mentioned earlier, it is also a way to embrace different versions/aspects of yourself or memories. I wanted to share with you guys the scents that I have on rotation right now because it is probably one of the most common questions I get!

Shop my perfumes here:

Everything is Gucci (T-Shirt)

This is by far my favorite outfits thus far for Cathclaire: a sequin beret, a Gucci T-shirt, and a balloon sleeve red coat with my favorite jean shorts (the ones I've been wearing nonstop since Vegas here) and OTK boots. Yes, that is snow on the pond in the background but I braved the cold because: fashion and well I love these shorts. I have been continuously wearing these pieces ( you already know this if you follow @cathclaire on Instagram...)so I wanted to share them with you before they get sold out in every size! All of these items and similar ones are linked below from several different retailers.

These photos were taken at an Airbnb in Charlottesville, VA the weekend before New Years Eve. I spent this time in Charlottesville going to wineries, sitting by the fire (mostly out of neccesity because I was wearing shorts and it was snowing), and playing "What do You Meme?" It was such a lovely time to get away from the hustle and bustle of Richmond and it was extra lovely to see my best friend from college, whom I haven't seen since her wedding day in September. We chat every morning but you guys know, chatting on the phone is NOT the same as being with your BFF. 

 

The Best in Faux Fur Coats

What better time to share the best in faux fur (prints) fashion on cathclaire than in the winter season? If you are into the luxe, over-the-top style like me - I can guarantee you already have at least one faux fur in your closet. While adding more than one faux fur coat to your closet may seem like overkill to most, you and I know that faux fur can make an outfit in one punch and this is reason enough to have more than one. And by in one punch, I mean - in one statement piece.

As if faux fur could get anymore statement-y, today I am sharing my favorite faux furs with prints or multiple colors on cathclaire today. We are talking about a champion faux fur roundup friends.

I love this star green faux fur and I wear it all the time, not just to the laundromat in Richmond. This coat might as well be a neutral color with as much as I wear it. Everytime I wear my star coat it tends to start a conversation and who doesn't love chatting about clothes?

Hence my constant rambling about fashion on my fashion blog Cathclaire LOL

Indulge and pick yourself up a statement print faux fur for the next chilly (or not so chilly) day in your busy life!

Christmas in Kansas City

Growing up in a family full of 9 kids, traveling for Christmas was never an option. After all, how would Santa find all 9 of us if we were somewhere different every year? That being said, Christmas was always at our house. My Aunts and Uncles traveled to us, since it was usually easier for them to travel than the 11 of us that made up my family. Yes, if this is your first time on Cathclaire, I have 9 siblings, which makes for a total of a family of 11. Growing up in a big family left little old me always craving attention but now, having so many friends in my family (aka my brothers and sis) might be the best thing that ever happened to me. It doesn't get much better than big families. 

Wedding Wednesday: Striped Reception Decor

Happy Wedding Wednesday my little loves! I am so excited to start sharing tips and tricks I learned while planning and styling my wedding on Cathclaire. 

Do you guys create mood boards?One of my favorite things about creating visual content is the making the mood board for a project. I had tons of fun creating Pinterest boards for my inspiration and collaborating on them with my wedding planner, Lauren at For Love of Love, and my with wedding photographer, Kaytee Lauren. Fun fact: as a little girl outnumbered by seven brothers, scrapbooking and mood boarding with fashion magazines was my saving grace!

The common thread in all of the mood boards for the style aspects of my wedding day was bold black and white stripes. (In fact, bold stripes are a common thread in my home decor and my wardrobe also - more on that later.) From the ring bearers ring pillow to the table cloths, I wanted to juxtapose the vintage decor at my reception venue, Havanna 59 in Richmond, with a bold yet simple statement. One of my favorite parts of the decor were the letterboard signage, especially the one on the bar with one of my favorite quotes from Frida Kahlo:

"Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic."

To pay homage to the Cuban theme in Havanna 59, I chose to have clean palms as the florals, spray painted gold pineapples (yes, real pineapples..) and prayer candles as the minimal decor for the reception table tops. I love how these elements created the ultimate contrast to the somewhat busy decor of Havanna 59 and also created a Beverly Hills Hotel vibe. Can you tell I love California?

My Favorite Christmas Movies on Netflix for 2017

I am addicted to cheesy Christmas movies on Netflix this year, guys. I do not know what came over me this year like I mentioned in my 98 Degrees Christmas tour post, but I am feeling so cheesy and so festive and so INTO Christmas in EVERY way this year. TBH, I've never felt better.

I haven't posted anything on my blog in 6 days because guess what I have been doing? I have been watching every Christmas Netflix movie........what feels like nonstop. How am I supposed to do research for this blog post (aka watching Christmas rom-coms) AND work on my blog?

If you are like me and feel like cheesy and happy Christmas movies on Netflix are like a massage for your brain (kinda like a meditation...?) then this blog post today on Cathclaire is for you. Here are my top Christmas Movies on Netflix for your viewing pleasure. Get yourself a cup of hot cocoa (spike it for even more fun) and cuddle up on the couch with the remote and your favorite holiday candle to check em out!

98 Degrees at Christmas Tour Review with Cathclaire

If you all the sudden feel like you are the most obsessed-with-Christmas person in the room like me this season  (and by all the sudden I mean I didn't always used to be like this) - you have GOT to go see 98 Degrees on their Christmas tour.

Even if you aren't obsessed with holiday cheer and think you MIGHT enjoy this beautiful performance or are the least bit curious about how Nick Lachey's face looks lately IRL, don't think twice. Don't think twice and go get yourself a ticket if they are touring anywhere near you.  You will thank me later because the whole time you will feel like dancing (and you will dance) AND you will feel like you are drinking a cup of the best hot coco you have ever had (in reality, it's a Bud Light.) See the video proof below:

A little recap:

Last night I went to this concert with a bunch of my girlfriends and sister for the ideal night on the town during the holiday season: drinks + best friends + live Christmas pop music. We all met at Juleps on Grace Street in Richmond to catch some happy hour cocktails (yes, this lovely restaurant has happy hour from 5-7!) within walking distance of the Carpenter Center, where the 98 degrees concert was. I ordered the Champagne Julep that wasn't on happy hour because I couldn't resist it and I was very thrilled with my drink of choice. It was a concoction of mint, bubbles, and fresh berries. Highly recommend.

SALE: Workout and Beauty Picks for Cyber Monday with Cathclaire

Cyber Monday is here and I am sharing with you the two categories I am shopping this time around: workout clothes + beauty/treat yo-self products. While I thoroughly enjoy eating my weight in Turkey and whatever else I can get my hands while socializing with family and friend for a week straight, Cyber Monday is the perfect reminder to purchase some prods that will help get ourselves back on track before we do round two around Christmas! 

Whether you drank too much Brunello (like me) or neglected your workout regimen in honor of hanging with your favorite peeps (like me), here are some sale items to get you motivated to get in shape and treat yourself (or a loved one) this Cyber Monday. I especially LOVE the fact that Neiman Marcus is including BEAUTY PRODUCTS in their Cyber Monday gift card promotion..yes, even perfume. 

Yes, even Tom Ford "F***ing Fabulous" perfume. What better time to try new beauty products or to stock up on all of your beauty staples than when Neiman's is offering you a reward like a gift card? I have my eye on La Mer, Oui hairspray, and the RMS highlighter kit! RMS is all natural and one of my favorite highlighters for the dewy look that is popular now.

SO, don't wait too long because your size or favorite beauty product will sell out! Check out my workout picks from ASOS and my beauty picks from Neimans below!

ASOS Workout Gear: 30% off for Cyber Monday

Neiman Marcus Giftcard Promotion Cyber Monday Beauty Picks:

PS - Here is my hat from ASOS that you guys have been asking about from my Thanksgiving Insta-stories!

 

My Favorite High Waisted Jeans from ASOS

Whether you were blessed with Victoria Secret Angel long legs or blessed with shorter ones like myself (notice I called them both a blessing, it is Thanksgiving week after all..), the majority of people love a silhouette that elongates their legs. When it comes to dressing, I have found myself grabbing for my high-waisted jeans more than any other style lately! I can't get enough of how easy high waisted jeans are to lounge in and of course, I love how much length they give to my little legs.

Whether I am grabbing brunch with my husband for our 6 month anniversary around Richmond (yes it was yesterday, I can't believe it. Wedding photos here) or trying to hide how much food I will be eating this Thanksgiving week with family and friends, high-waisted jeans are your friend for all of the occasions!

Whether you need to add to your collection or get your first pair, I've got you covered with all kinds of price points from ASOS below in this blog post.

Fashionable Holiday Outfits with Forever 21

What do you have planned for the holidays? Any exciting events that you want some festive Forever 21 skirts and outfit ideas? I know you guys are super busy so I've teamed up with Forever 21 to give you some holiday options to shop that are quick and easy and covered in holiday-appropriate embelishments.

....AND you don't have to scroll through millions of pages on their site to find! 

As you guys have probably noticed, I love shopping at Forever 21. As a matter of fact, I can still remember the exact moment in middle school when I first was told that there was a Forever 21 within driving distance from my house. Some (my mom perhaps) would consider it a trek, but for me, it was an enjoyable driving distance. Most locations, in the name of shopping, are driving distance as long as it doesn't go over a "couple" of hours............and I'm sure my fellow shopaholics would agree with me, amiright?

Drift Riot + Stripes

If there is a piece of jewelry I can’t walk out of the house without these days, it’s this Drift Riot “When I think of You” knot collar. (sweet name, right?) We’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there are so many awesome companies based in Richmond and Drift Riot is one of them.

I met with the jewelry designer, Kristy Cotter, before NYFW to pick out some pieces and let me tell you: there is no shortage of beautiful pieces in her collection and this gal is a joy to be around. Did I mention that all of her designs are handmade?

It was so much fun getting to know Kristy and hearing about the exciting things happening with her company in the near future. If you ask me, there is nothing better than hearing a personal account of how someone has made their dream a reality. With press features galore and being picked up by Urban Outfitters and Need Supply Co, Kristy is the definition of a #girlboss. I even got to meet her Drift Riot partner/art director/husband, Evan Cotter, during the meeting as well. These two are a talented duo. Learn more about Drift Riot here