Apart from a purple iMac in high school, this bag is by far the nicest thing I’ve ever won – ever! If you follow AsianCajuns on Twitter, Vine or Instagram – or if you’ve seen me this past week at all – you probably already know about this. Seriously, ever since this beautiful bag was shipped to my house, it hasn’t left my sight and if anyone comments on it, I blurt out, “It’saPhillipLimbag! Iwonit!!!!!” It’s buttery soft and super versatile.

New York & Co cardi • Michael Stars shirt • J Brand pants • Mia clogs • 3.1 Phillip Lim bag

Marc by Marc Jacobs sunnies • Target blazer • H&M V-neck • necklace from Sq/Ft • The Limited skirt • TOMs wedges

Fab’rik cardi • American Apparel V-neck • necklace from Mingei World Arts • The Limited skirt • heels from Kohl’s

H&M jacket • Forever21 top • Club Monaco skirt • Mettle necklace • BCBG heels

So how did I get so lucky? I took part in a Keep.com contest a few weeks ago where I created a spring inspiration board around the Phillip Lim bag. I entitled it Spring is Bright! and posted everything that I would purchase for the spring if I had all the money in the world. The board is all about neutrals with pops of color. See the whole board here. Are you on Keep? If so, follow me and I’ll follow you back! If not, get on it already!

If you do happen to have all the money in the world, or at least $750 to spend on a bag, you can purchase it here on Shopbop.com.

I feel like now that I have a Phillip Lim bag, the designer and I are basically on a first name basis And yes, I have a cellphone charm!

On an unrelated note, I spent Friday evening on a Google hangout hosted by Snapshop Fashion and Seven Autumn Leaves – it was so much fun! You can watch the hangout here.

Also, check out Pocket of Presh’s coverage on last week’s Rent the Runway event at the W in Buckhead that I attended. It was so great to see so many Atlanta style bloggers!

Have you ever used Rent the Runway? I’m thinking about renting a dress for an upcoming wedding. I’ll keep you all posted!

_____________________

Dearest Lar,

I wish you could see my new bag in person! My only complaint? It’s so large that now I have an excuse to put everything but the kitchen sink in my purse. The other day it got so heavy that it left a giant indentation on my arm! I know, I know, first world problems.

I’m so glad we got to Skype twice this weekend. It always makes my day so much better when I get to “see” you!

xoxo, Cath

Troy and I flew out to Denver for a few nights last week for his cousin’s wedding. It was nice to take a mini vacation and get away from work and school for a little bit.

It’s all about the outdoors in Denver, but being a self-proclaimed city girl I love grabbing a map and exploring downtowns. We spent a long day in Boulder and the other three days bouncing around Denver.Usually before I visit a city I read up on it and make notes on all the places I want to go. I’m a planner. Troy is the complete opposite – he’ll talk to anyone and everyone. So, this trip, we got a lot of great tips from the locals. Combined, our different travel techniques usually make for an awesome vacation.

Below are some of our vacation highlights (note that we don’t have any photos from our last day in Denver because it snowed all day – not a highlight).

I love all of the independent shops in Atlanta, so that’s exactly what I look for when I travel to other cities. The candy and soda shop we visited was on Pearl Street in Boulder. Troy and I agreed that the next time we go out to Colorado, we want to spend a few nights in Boulder. It has a college town vibe, but it’s bigger than Athens, GA and a bit more polished. The other two shops in the photos were in the Highland neighborhood of Denver: Starlet and The Perfect Petal.

For this trip we left Toby with my parents and Wheatie with our friends, Alison and Greg (thank you guys!). We always miss our dogs so much that whenever we’re on a trip, we will run up to any dog we see on the street and pet it – not the smartest thing to do. Luckily Denver and Boulder are filled with dog lovers and dog owners. The owner of the pup in the first photo was giving out treats to strangers to help socialize her dog – he loved the treats we gave him us!

About 85% of all our trips – no matter where we go – are focused on food. Whether it’s eating delicious food, talking about food, planning out where we’re going to get our next meal, our main focus is food. Food, food, food, food, food. We love food, we love alcohol and we love food and alcohol together. How are we not both 400 pounds? Well, we try to cut back on eating when we’re not traveling – more on that in a few weeks (read: I’m going on a juice cleanse soon). From top to bottom, the food photos are from Oak at Fourteenth (our absolute favorite restaurant in Boulder), Uncle (Denver’s version of Momofuku) and True Food Kitchen (delicious, low-inflammatory food).

Other restaurants that we visited:

• Colt and Gray: Troy and I stumbled upon this restaurant last year and have been dreaming about our drinks and meal there ever since. This year, we landed in Denver at 8 p.m. and were sitting at the Colt and Gray bar by 9:30 p.m. The bartender, Kevin, is fantastic and was the one who told us to try Oak at Fourteenth in Boulder.
• Pizzeria Locale: a sophisticated, hipster-ish neopolitan style pizza place. Think gray walls, lots of subway tile, blown up photos of Italy and gorgeous fresh flowers. . . oh and the pizza is yummy.
• Abo’s Pizza: What this pizza chain lacks in decor, it makes up for with its perfectly, thin-crust pizza.
• Jack n Grill: Largest. Most delicious. Breakfast burrito. Ever.

Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglass • H&M faux fur stole • Etsy jacket (unfortunately the Etsy shop no longer exists) • Derek Lam for Kohls dress • Frye boots

The wedding was at Red Rocks, an amazing outdoor concert venue. All of the Denver natives at the wedding were fine in one layer of clothing, but I had to bundle up. I switched into heels for the indoor reception and totally forgot to take a full outfit photo of my Derek Lam dress – fashion blogger fail!

 Penfield shirt • Gap jean • Longchamp bag • TOMs flats

I packed pretty light for the trip: 2 pairs of jeans, 3 v-necks, 1 button-up, 1 dress, 1 pair of boots (I wore on the plane), 1 pair of TOMs, 1 pair of heels, 1 fur stole, and 1 light-weight coat.

We’ve lucked out that for the past two years we’ve had a good excuse to travel to Denver. I hope it won’t be long before we visit again!

________________________________
Dearest Lar,

I’m a little envious that you and Matt were in France the same time we were in Colorado, but that jealousy is lessened by the fact that Denver is such a great city. I think if you had been my travel partner, I would have done less eating and more shopping. There were tons of items at Starlet that you would have loved. When it started snowing on the last day of our trip, I would start to complain and then remember that you’ve been dealing with the same type weather for six months. At least the next trip we’re all go on will be sunny, beautiful Italy!

Love you! xoxo, Cath

Hello lovelies! First things first, thank you for your feedback from the last post. Just because we’ll be posting once a week doesn’t mean we’ll be any less dedicated to AsianCajuns. In fact, you’ll be seeing us more on other outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And keep in mind, we’re just testing things out and feedback is always welcome!

So, I haven’t had a lot of free time this spring and feel like I’ve spent the past few weeks either working or studying. But looking back through my photos on my iPhone and point and shoot, I realized that I haven’t been as deprived of breaks and fun things as I made myself to believe.

For example? I’ve been to two Hawks games in the past three weeks, which is a record for me considering I’d never been to a NBA game before.
 

Lar and I aren’t sporty people (we always hated gym class), but watching a basketball game live is so much fun! Plus, all of those sport/Olympics-inspired Vogue editorials, like the one below, have warmed me up to sports a bit.

I was in Mingei, one of my favorite local boutiques, the other day and fell in love with these pom pom necklaces from Thailand. I ended up getting the mauve colored one all the way to the right. It reminds me of this summery JADEtribe straw tote.

Last Monday I took a few hours off of work to go to K. Logan Hair Salon and get a gloss treatment and blow-out. I’m totally in love with the glossiness. It lasts for a few weeks and I feel like a Pantene commercial model. See my front curly-dos? Akia, the salon owner, created those with a hair straightener. Amazing, no? She said she’ll be hosting a class soon on how to create those curls yourself so I’ll let you know as soon as a date is set – for you local readers.

On Saturday, I hung out with some friends and listened to Troy play in downtown Decatur for Sidewalk Saturdays. Doesn’t he look so dashing? I have a couple of Vine videos of his songs so if you have an iPhone, follow me at AsianCajuns.

Nothing beats a work-break like hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies sprinkled with sea salt (the ones above are from Victory in Decatur). Kind of wishing I had a whole plateful of those in front of me right now!

After compiling this post I’m thinking I should get the Refinery 29 tote. What do you think? Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Let me know what you’ve been up to!

________________

Dear Lar,

I hope you have a little more free time now that your stressful work week is in the past. You know how we were chatting about the Brit’s obsession with tea and cake? I was thinking you should start an herbal tea and gluten-free cake club in Edinburgh! I know it sounds a bit silly, but I’m sure you’re not the only one eating gluten free in Auld Reekie. Just a thought

Here’s another random thought, Before Midnight is coming out this summer and the trailer is finally here! What do you think? I can’t wait to see it, but I also would rather just wait and see it with you. If you were in town we could have a Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight day and watch all three in a row. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Hope you have a stress-free week and can treat yourself to some gluten-free yummies!

xoxo, Cath

I headed over to my nearby Kohl’s after work last Friday to check out the newly released Derek Lam collab. I’d been looking forward to this collaboration for a while since I’ve always loved the clean lines and Americanness of Lam’s designs (you can see his Fall Ready to Wear collection here). While I still think the ongoing Simply Vera line is still Kohl’s strongest designer collab, I loved the colors and easy fits of the Derek Lam DesigNation collection.

I first tried on the striped drop-waist dress because I’m always on the hunt for machine washable, jersey dresses that look pulled together enough to wear to work. The fit was a little tight on the bottom half, but that’s probably more due to my shape than the cut – at least it looks more relaxed on the model online. If I had had more time, I would have tried a larger size. I might go back and try it out when the prices have even been cut down more.

I tried on two of the pants that were at the store, the pleated crepe crop pants and the crop pants in Nightshade. I loved the fit of the pleated crop pants and almost brought them home with me, but I only had enough money for one item. The colorful crop pants didn’t fit nearly as well and actually hit below my ankle (I’m 5’3″ on a good day) so they looked more like high-water pants than cropped pants.

What did I end up buying? This bubble-hem dress in St. Teresa Atlantic:

I love how comfortable this dress is. I’ll be able to wear it to work if I belt it and pair it with a blazer and pumps and I can dress it down in the summer with flat, strappy sandals. The main reason I decided on the dress instead of the crepe pants was because I’ll be able to wear it to the two weddings that I have to go to this spring (expect a future blog post on that).

A lot of the pieces that I wanted to try on, like this chambray jacket and this tank, weren’t at the store. If the prices drop even more, I might save up some money and purchase those items online even if I can’t try them on.

Have you checked out the line yet? What are your thoughts? I’ll be keeping an eye on the collection online since Kohl’s usually has great sales.

______________________________

Dearest Lar,

Too bad the Rhianna’s collaboration with River Island isn’t as cheap as the Kohl’s and Target collections! I know you said you weren’t crazy about the Rhianna line, but I bet you’d like the Derek Lam collaboration. There’s a mesh top and skirt in the collection online that I could totally see you wearing. Let me know if you want anything and I’ll ship it to you – something tells me Kohl’s doesn’t ship internationally.

I hope your week ends up being less stressful than you anticipate. Can’t wait to Skype you again next weekend!

xoxo, Cath

Clockwise from the top: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Happy Friday! I’m keeping it simple today with some black and white inspiration (above) and a few links (below). What are you up to this weekend? I’ve got a lot of work and school work to do unfortunately, but Troy and I are going back to the General Muir and I can’t wait!

• Kate Mid is in Scotland this week (has she stopped by your flat for tea, Lar?) and naturally she wore a plaid coat.

• Life is Gouda – such a cute desktop wallpaper. Oh, and here’s another awesome wallpaper.

• Maddie was in Decatur this week! I wish I had gotten to see her in person.

• The perfect summer sandal.

• Have you heard about this? I can’t even imagine Lar and I being separated at birth.

• Love Audrey Hepburn’s ping pong style.

Does that title sound too saccharine? Apologies if it does. My Saturday wasn’t pink princess/magic unicorns/rainbows perfect – I did have a meltdown for about an hour in the afternoon – but it was all around a pretty great, perfectly lovely Saturday.

One of the main reasons it was a perfect Saturday: it was warm enough outside for me to go frolicking about in a t-shirt without a jacket (recognize the t-shirt design?).

Hipster dog t-shirt c/o Skip N’ Whistle • The Limited skirt (ancient) • Feiyue sneakers • Claire Vivier Messenger Bag • Marc by Marc Jacobs cat eye sunnies • Nail color is Butter London Jasper c/o Buff in Inman Park

Because of the warm weather I didn’t have to blow dry my hair. Instead, I slicked it back into a braid clump. . . thing. . . I’ve got to think of a better name for this hair style. . .

Troy and I slept in so late that we had to call around and see who was still serving breakfast. Huzzah for Oakhurst Market! Troy begged them to make us two breakfast sandwiches even though it was well past breakfast/brunch time. So our first real activity of the day consisted of us walking the dogs over to the market, sitting outside and stuffing our faces with croissant, cheese, bacon and egg deliciousness.

Next up: taking the dogs to the dog park. Somehow taking the dogs to the park makes us feel like we’re good, responsible dog owners – and then we feel like complete failures when our dogs won’t go play with the other dogs and just prefer to hang out near us.

Not pictured here is our second half of the day (except for this IG). We ended the evening with a trip to the General Muir, a local delicatessen/restaurant that is amazing! Troy and I must have spent at least three hours there chatting up the bartender, ordering drinks and munching on so much food that we had to roll ourselves back to our car. Needless to say, our walk to and from the dog park and market in the morning was not nearly enough to balance out the thousands of calories we consumed at dinner, but it was worth it. If you live in or near Atlanta and haven’t been to the General Muir, what are you thinking?!?! Get over there now! I wish someone had told me how amazing it was weeks ago (it’s only been open for about a month or two)!

_________________________

Dearest Lar,

I can’t decide at which moment I missed you the most on Saturday. It was either during my trip to General Muir because I know how much you would have loved the atmosphere and amazing food (four words: homemade ice cream sandwiches) or maybe it was during my meltdown. I think you would have been able to talk some sense into me during my, uh, minor temper tantrum. Do you want to know what it was about? It’s actually embarrassing to type it out. I spent an hour pouting because Troy pointed out that we wouldn’t have enough time that evening to do everything we wanted/needed to do and also go to Old Navy. Yes, I wanted to go to Old Navy – don’t judge. There are a couple of things I’ve seen online that I’ve wanted to try in person and figured I’d have plenty of time to make a trip out to the store on Saturday. When I realized I wasn’t going to be able to do so, I did what every 29 year old does, I pouted – like a little brat. If you had been around you would have been able to talk some sense into me – or maybe you would have just whisked me away to Old Navy. *sigh* we’ll never know! Either way, it was definitely not one of my proudest moments.

I’m so glad we all got to talk as a family on Easter and you got to virtually knock eggs with us. Perhaps we’ll all be living closer to each other by next Easter? I hope so!

xoxo, Cath

I just realized that almost all of my outfit shots for the past few months have included these cobalt jeans. I either:

a.) really like them
b.) haven’t bought a new pair of pants in months (maybe a year?)
c.) am stuck in a fashion rut
d.) all of the above

If you chose D, you’re right! Option C might be a bit of a stretch (they aren’t yoga pants after all), but they’re more comfortable than most jeans. So there you have it, I need new pants. At least my consistency has proven how versatile these ankle jeans are. I’ve paired them with navy and white stripes, leopard print and chambray. In the following photos, I’m wearing them with shades of blue and black and white accents:

J.Crew jacket • Club Monaco blouse • necklace from Shopbop a few years ago • Target belt • J.Crew Outlet jeans • Office loafers • Saddleback Leather bag

I wore this outfit at the Coco Rae Madewell event on Saturday. These photos were taken before the event, so my nails aren’t painted with the new AsianCajuns Double Mint polish (seen here).  Speaking of which, you can now order AsianCajuns Double Mint online! I purchased a few bottles this weekend to send to Lar so she can paint her finger nails a cheery, spring color (something that’s very much needed in a cold, gray location like Edinburgh).

Money is tight, so if I’m going to buy new pants it has to be on the cheap. Here are a couple feasible options:

• Ponte Knit Skinnies (in Cobalt of course) – $17.80
• Brightly colored skinny jeans - $22
• Easy Tuck Tapered Pants – $19.90
• Peg pants – $30.52
• Grey Snake Print Skinny Pants – $25.60

Do you know of any other cheap, online stores? If so, send them my way. I need to get out of my cobalt jean rut obsession!

* I realize that our British readers might have a little chuckle at this title. Just know that I’m talking about trousers – not pants! I don’t ever want to say never, but it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll ever have a blog post titled, “I Need New Underwear.”

____________

Dearest Lar,

I think it’s so funny that you’ve been living in the UK for over a year and already think “pants” means underwear. “Trousers” sound way too formal. What do you call yoga pants? Yoga trousers?

I’m putting together a package for you with mom and I’ll make sure to include a bottle of AsianCajuns Double Mint. Is there anything else that you would like me to include? Burt’s Bees lip balm? Corn tortillas? American mags? Just let me know!

Always thinking of you,

Cath
xoxo

Images found on my mom’s Pink Friday Pinterest board

Lar will be spending her weekend shivering in Munich while I shiver in Atlanta (where is spring?!). What are your plans for the weekend? I hope a nice warm trip to the beach – at least that’s what I’ll be yearning for, plus a few of the items I have linked below.

• If only this Doo.Ri skirt was $1,250 cheaper.

• Reading this post on boyfriend jeans makes me want buy these.

• I fell in love with this leather, laser cut Club Monaco skirt when I saw Jessica wearing it on her blog, then I found this vegan version. So tempted to get it!

• I’m currently watching this on Netflix. Lar and I are huge fans of the show, because we’re giant, anglophile nerds.

• Thanks to Miso Izakaya’s amazing seasonal salad, I’m now on a kale salad kick. I’m going to try making this salad on Saturday – I just got back from the farmer’s market with kale and swiss chard, nom.

• Dogs who just can’t handle it – #19 is my favorite. Thanks for the laugh, Katie!

• H&M has Beyonce and sustainability in the bag.

• Follow me on Keep.com, if you’d like.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! Did you celebrate? Troy played at a local pub and then we stuffed ourselves with corned beef and cabbage. Instead of showing you pics of me wearing green and slobbering over corned beef, I figured I’d blog about some things that I’m loving at the moment:

1.) I got these Crate and Barrel bookends at the Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House Bargainanza on Saturday for $6.

2.) A few beauty items I’ve been using nonstop: Eos lip balm in Sweet Mint (it’s 95% organic and paraben-free), Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, and L’Oreal BB Cream – it works just as well as more expensive primers.

3.) If you follow AsianCajuns on Facebook, you would know that I was debating about getting this pouch on Mikkat Market. Troy surprised me the other day by ordering it for me

4.) At $28, this BKR bottle was a big splurge for me, but I use it everyday and love it. It’s glass – so there’s no worries about BPAs and it’s diswasher safe. Also, it says, “It’d be really great if you had your shit together a little more” right next to a giant heart. What’s not to love?

5.) I bought this wooden try from the same charity sale as the Crate and Barrel bookends – it was only $2! I’ve placed it by my front door so I can drop my phone and keys (and AsianCajuns name necklace) in there as soon as I walk inside.

So there you have it, some consumerism on the cheap!

I hope you all are having a great Monday!

__________________

Dearest Lar,

I never thought to ask you yesterday while we were skyping, but I assume St. Patrick’s Day isn’t celebrated in Scotland. Is that right? Do the local pubs have a run on Guinness?  Probably not!

I was at a restaurant on Saturday and there was a woman wearing an Edinburgh Castle shirt at the table near us. I wanted to run up to her and say, “My sister lives very close to the castle!” But I thought better of it, which is probably for the best.

Have fun in Munich. I can’t wait to hear all about it!

xoxo, Cath

Thrifted top (from Lar) • J.Crew Outlet jeans • Kate Spade bag • new! BC wedges

One of my main new year’s resolutions is to stick to a strict budget so I can save up enough money to see Lar again as soon as possible. For the past couple of months, that’s meant buying very little apart from necessities. I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard. I never thought I was a huge clotheshorse to begin with – especially compared to all the other amazingly prolific fashion bloggers out there – but now I realize I use to spend a fair share of my budget on clothes and accessories. So for the past few months, I’ve only purchased one dress(Prabal Gurung for Target dress) and a handful of jewelry from Forever 21. . . until last week, that is. Sq/Ft, one of my favorite local boutiques, was not only having a sale, they were also offering a deal on Scoutmob!

My inner non-saving, clotheshorse got the best of me and I purchased these black BC wedges. I was in luck though because they were marked down from $80 to $36. Not bad, right? They’re very comfortable and like a spring version of this winter’s ubiquitous wedge sneaker. I’d add a link to them online, but I can’t find them on the BC website. If you live locally and you want to purchase them, Sq/Ft still had quite a few pairs left.

Update: My cousin found the shoes on Amazon.com here. They’re around $70 and there are four colors to choose from. I think the mint version is gorgeous. Thanks for the link, Kelly!

The weather this weekend was gorgeous and definitely warm enough for me to try out my new kicks. Troy and I walked the dogs to the local market and it was marvelous. If I didn’t have so much school work, I would have wanted to go on a picnic and stuffed myself with wine and cheese.

Wheatie would have preferred a picnic too.

Hope you all are having a good Monday!

_________

Dearest Lar,

I wish you could have flown home for this weekend so you could have enjoyed the warm weather! I can’t believe I was frolicking about in 60 degree weather and you had snow this morning in Edinburgh. At least it was the start of daylight savings today so now we’re only four hours apart – woohoo!

Love, Cath