You know you’re a fashion addict when you wake up at 7:00 am on a Sunday morning to check out a new line at Target and end up spending almost half of your monthly grocery budget on a dress and a pair of shoes (my LearnVest financial planner will be so disappointed!). But it was all worth being able to check out the new Prabal Gurung line with my friend Meredith – and about seven other women waiting for Target to open at 8:00 this morning.

I picked out seven items to try out and wanted to take home almost every piece, but I couldn’t very well spend all of my grocery money so I ended up going home with only my absolutely favorite pieces. I’m hoping some of the items I liked won’t sell out and will eventually go on sale. Wishful thinking, I know!

I loved the sweatshirt in the First Date Print, but figured it wasn’t as versatile as a dress. It would look really cute with black shorts in the spring though. Hmmm…I suppose I could always go back to the store or buy it online…

I was convinced before trying on everything that this was the dress that I was going to purchase. While I really like the shape and design, the jersey dress (a few photos below) won out because it was so comfortable.

I’m really hoping this top and skirt don’t sell out. Both pieces would be perfect for work (worn separate, of course).

I loved the blues of this sweater, but it was slightly too long for me – it’s also pretty think so I wouldn’t buy it for layering over shirts.

So what did I end up with? This drop waist, jersey dress and heels below.

I was so excited about the shoes that I immediately came home and changed my outfit so I could wear them. It’s a little chilly and rainy in Atlanta to be wearing open-toed shoes, but why not?! It’s nice to have a little pop of color in the dead of winter.

Target stripped sweatshirt (old) | H&M belt | J.Crew outlet jeans | Prabal Gurung for Target heels

I’m going to wear my new Prabal Gurung dress to the Polish Me Pretty Party next week. Do you live in the Atlanta area? You should come! For details, check out the previous post.

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Dearest Lar,

After missing your twin sister, not having a Target in your country should be a top reason to not stay in the UK. Just saying True you have Primark, Selfridges, Office, etc. but there’s just something so wonderful about Target – and not just the designer collabs. It’s a big box chain store, but it has so many fun items and you can buy your groceries and designer (collaboration) clothes all under one roof. But you know all of that already

So glad we had a Skype date yesterday – I wish we could talk everyday!

xoxo, Cath

I’m so excited about this! Me and five other Atlanta fashion bloggers were invited by Coco Rae, CEO and founder of Coco Rae Cosmetics, to contribute to her spring/summer collection. We each got to pick and name a color and we’ll be celebrating the preview next Thursday evening at Fab’rik in Buckhead.

The event is free, but make sure to reserve your spot at Eventbrite. I hope to see you there!

Kisses by Tim Walker
Happy Friday, dear readers! Do you have any fun plans for this weekend? How about for Valentine’s Day next Thursday? I’ll be at a social media conference this weekend and have no idea what I’m doing for Valentine’s Day. Any thoughts?! I need some cheap and fun ideas!

A few links to get you through the weekend:

• Just purchased this dress for an upcoming photo shoot – details soon!

• It’s so refreshing to hear about modeling in such a real light.

• Want: a grouping of succulents in brightly colored pots.

• The perfect Valentine’s Day cardigan – if you can afford it.

• Five ways to tie a scarf.

• A great how-to: Fashion sketching for beginners.

• A sweet wallpaper for your computer.

• This is a real thing: a modern coffee table that doubles as a dollhouse

Cath and I used to gobble up magazines in our teens and early twenties (good fiber and whatnot), but about 3 years ago I noticed a definite decline in my reading of Vogue, InStyle, Elle, et. al. Instead of adding to my stacks-that-became-night-stands of magazines, more likely I’d be glued to a computer screen reading blogs. I thought, why pay for this stuff when there are all these great bloggerinos out there who share their wisdom and know-how for free?

Well, I’ve had a magazine rebirth* — a magazine renaissance, if you will! But this time around I’m not as interested in the hefty, glossy Condé Nast-ers. Instead I’m hoarding their less famous, independent cousins. And it’s not just fashion I want (or get), but magazines about food and travel and booze. I don’t plan to amass stacks of these guys, I just want to curate a neat little library of inky-perfumed goodness that I can delve into whenever I want to learn something new and tantalize my eyeballs.

I still love me my blog reading, but it’s nice to have something that slows you down a bit. On the internets when I read, I tend to be fairly fickle and distracted; clicking around different tabs constantly and scrolling down pages at a mad rate. Sitting down with a magazine and a cup of tea slows my brain down in a way intertube reading can’t.

How about you guys? Do you still read mags or has that gone by the wayside for you too? If you are reading mags, which ones still manage to pull you away from your computer? Or are you all faincy-pants and do all your reading on a mobile device? What does the future hold for us content-gobblers?

* I blame a massive part of my magazine rebirth on two things. 1) I’ve just started working as a designer for an agency that produces lovely magazines: see Hot Rum Cow (also in the pics above). 2) There is a great shop in Edinburgh called Analogue Books that carries a satisfying selection of these tomes — in Atlanta I never knew where to shop for really good independent magazines. If you guys have places in your cities that carry the indies, leave that in the comments as well!

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Dear Cath,

Remember our Seventeen magazine days? Or wait! Further back: American Girl, Girl’s Life — hah! Do you remember those? I forgot that we were magazine addicts before we turned 10. I still remember some of my favorite articles: that girl who illustrated that book about a clumsy ballerina (American Girl mag) and a blurp about Kirsten Dunst (at 11) doing Interview With a Vampire, and I remember thinking “kissing Brad Pitt? Eh.” 10-year old me was not impressed easily.

Do you have time to read anything other than case studies and work memos? If not, I’m going to make sure I hang on to all these guys so you can read them when you next come to visit!

MISS YOU GAHHHH!!!!

xoxoxox,

Lar

I’m a bit of a reluctant party-thrower. I usually get so overwhelmed thinking about how much I have to clean my house that I end up talking myself out of hosting. However, every year I’m overruled when it comes to throwing a Super Bowl party because Troy loves football and is the commissioner of his fantasy football league. Yes, for these reasons, we host a party once a year.

Troy and I spent all of Saturday and Sunday morning prepping, cleaning and cooking.

Troy made a ridiculous amount of food. If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen my post yesterday listing everything we ate prepared. On top of all that food, my mom made cupcakes, a cinnamon cake, a strawberry trifle, and wings – she’s amazing!

Everyone did their part in eating as much as possible and barely made a dent in the food. Troy and I now have enough food to last us for at least a month. Leftovers FTW!

While I didn’t get a chance to watch all of the commercials (or much of the game for that matter), I was super pumped that the locally made Doritos Goat commercial we mentioned in a recent Link Love made it on the air during the game. Did you see it? Which commercial was your favorite?

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Dearest Lar,

There is something so American about football and I think it has more to do with the type of food you consume while watching the game than the actual game. I mean, wings? Genius! And then you can never forget the Velveeta and Rotel dip – I don’t even think any of the ingredients are real food!

Was the game played anywhere in Edinburgh? I bet you were sound asleep by the time the game started. I don’t blame you. The Super Bowl won’t be worth watching until either the Redskins or Falcons are part of it

I don’t know why, but I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever – even though we just Skyped on Saturday. When can I “see” you next?!

xoxo, Cath

Happy Friday, Bloggerinos (that’s you)! We’re starting the weekend off with some goodies from our pinterest boards. It’s been a long week for me and I need some pinspiration to ease me out of a stressful week:

• You can follow AsianCajuns on Pinterest (and Cath here and Lar/me here) if you fancy some more pinspiration and puppies in swimming pools — awwwwww!

• Guess who traveled almost a million miles in the past four years? Hint: her initials are H.C.

• A sparkly make-up tutorial from one of our favorite bloggers.

• The necklace we get the most compliments on when we wear it (I say “we” cuz we share it)

• A SuperBowl make-up tutorial. Yes, you read that right.

• Your inspirational reading for the weekend.

• One of our guilty pleasures is following Kate Middleton’s style choices. We aren’t the only ones. In the latest British Vogue they chronicle everything from the size of her curls to the preferred angle of her fascinators in a six-page spread called Katepedia.

Photo Credits 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6

Apparently twins are trendy now because Marc Jacobs sent models down his Louis Vuitton runway in pairs. Phooey, I say. Twins are always in.

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Dear Cath,

Looking at these images makes me miss you so very, very much! I’m so jealous all these people get to sit/stand/walk next to their twinie. Do they know how good they have it?

Your Green-eyed Twin,

Lar

Troy and I have been itching to travel, but we currently don’t have the time or money for a full blown trip. Our solution? A day trip two hours north of Atlanta to Chattanooga! I put off my school work, Troy put off cleaning the kitchen, we dropped the dogs off at my parent’s house (thanks mom and dad!), texted our friends for some Chattanooga tips (thanks Greg and Alison!) and we headed north on I-75.

I’ve been to Chattanooga a couple of times – I’ve even stayed at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo twice! But it’s been a while since I’ve explored the city.

Chattanooga is divided by a river and there’s an amazing pedestrian bridge that connects the two sides. I love how many people were walking with their dogs even on a relatively gray day.

On me: hat • Target | coat • Tuelle | scarf • Echo (thrifted) | sweater • Target | cords • Blank NYC | boots • Frye | bag • Claire Vivier
On Troy: hat • Lowes | coat • some store on Melrose in LA | shirt • thrfited | jeans • H&M

Speaking of dogs, Troy and I were tempted to stop into Good Dog – a local hot dog place. It was written up in a couple of the local papers, but we had just eaten lunch. I’ve already made a mental note to stop by here next time we come up for a visit.

Chattanooga has a vibrant art scene and great public art. Troy and I couldn’t pass up taking cheesy photos with this guy (anyone else noticing a dog theme? Hmm…):

Look! It’s Harold and his purple crayon! Lar and I loved that book when we were little:

For the most part Troy and I spent the day walking around, taking breaks at coffee shops and eating (it’s what we do best). Here are a few places that we stopped in:

The sales woman at Bone Appetit was probably one of the nicest people we met today. She has ten dogs at home so she knows her stuff. She even gave us some samples of her new grain-free, meat-free treats for our golden doodle who seems to be allergic to almost everything.

Rembrandt’s Coffee House is right by the art museum and the perfect pit stop for an afternoon break. It’s located on the bottom floor of what looks like an old 1930s apartment building and has a European vibe to it. We also stopped into the New Moon Tea Room on the north side of town. I got a cup of vanilla and citris rooibos that was delicious.

We finished our day off at Easy Bistro & Bar, which ended up being such a treat. The bartender, Sarah, was super friendly and the drinks were delicious. Housemade cucumber gin? Don’t mind if I do!

All in all, it was a great mini road trip. My biggest Chattanooga tip: don’t go on a Sunday. A lot of the restaurants and shops either closed early or were closed for the whole day. We lucked out that places like Easy Bistro & Bar were open.

To finish off this post, here’s Troy showing off the only items we purchased the whole day (we spent most of our money on food and drinks):

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Dearest Lar,

Do you remember when we went to Chattanooga a few years ago with mom and dad? It’s built up a little more since then. The antique mall is still there (located on the north side near the Whole Foods). Troy and I went in there looking for a mid century end table for our living, but didn’t have any luck. In fact, apart from a dining set, there was no mid century furniture to be found! I’m determined to find the perfect piece, so the hunt continues!

Love and miss you as always,

Cath

Image via Visit Scotland

• Aren’t those wee shetland ponies so sweet?! If I were an animal, that’s what I would want to be: you can’t run fast or fly, but boy can you rock a sweater and stumpy legs. They are dressed up in their fancy cardies to celebrate The Year of Natural Scotland.

• Want to know what Google street views looked like 100 years ago?

• Kohl’s is collaborating with Derek Lam (YIPPEEE!) this spring. Want a cherry to put on top of that good-news sundae? Use promo code TENFORBLOG to get 10% off your Kohl’s purchases through March 9. Sweet!

• A delicious food blog written by siblings who live far apart, but blog together (sound familiar?)

• A heartwarming story about American Girl Doll Kirsten. Did you guys have an AGD growing up? Cath had Kirsten and I had Samantha.

• Have you seen Before Sunrise and Before Sunset? How can this movie not be wonderful?

• A twist on the denim button-up.

• What girl doesn’t want a pair of Valentino studded pumps? Too bad they’re so expensive! Now you can make your own!

Here’s a fun fact (that I made up): Edinburgh’s answer to the food truck is an old police box (the latter recognizable to Dr. Who fans around the world). If you are a long-time reader of AsianCajuns you’ve heard me wax lyrical about my friend’s Indian food police box: the Bollywood Coffee Box. But it doesn’t stop with mouth-watering curries and spicy chili pakoras. All around Edinburgh (and probably other British cities too), entrepreneurial  souls are selling hot drinks, ooey gooey chocolate-filled crepes and aromatic soups from a space no larger than a small American walk-in closet.

Take this guy, for instance:

Awesome, obviously. (He posed like this for the photo — I didn’t just mistakenly catch a fleeting smirk). This guy makes incredible brazilian food from his police box called Tipiniquim. Most days he whips up gluten-free crepes that he fills with your choosing of sweet or savory delights, but on Saturday, oh boy, you are in for a treat. If you haven’t been introduced already, let me tell you about Brazilian bean stew, or feijoada (pronounce fay-jah-dah):

It’s like this: black beans cooked down with sausage and ribs for hours with delicious spices. Serve over a bed of fluffy white rice, ground cassava root (adds a lovely texture and a very light nutty flavor), perfectly tender steamed greens, and a squeeze of orange. Shovel into mouth. Fall into blissed-out food coma.

Apparently feijoada is usually made on Saturdays in Brazil, kind of like red beans and rice Mondays in Louisiana. Have you guys ever had feijoada before? I seriously think Matt and I will be haunting Tipiniquim every Saturday afternoon (stew’s usually ready after 12:30 pm). Apart from the delicious food, standing by the vividly painted police box with tropical fruit hanging in baskets temporary transports me to some place that gets sun more than two days a year. Some people take vitamin D, we’ll just take our weekly dose of Brazilian bean stew.

I love small, independent food movements like these and really am curious what the different manifestations are around the world. Any food trucks or police-box-turned-cafes in your cities?

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Dear Cath,

Definitely on the list for when you next visit. And we’ll get gluten-free nutella crepes for dessert. Have you guys been food trucking lately? Not living in the States anymore I was wondering if that was just a trend or if they are still going strong. Matt and I will have to scope out the other police boxes in the center of town. I think most of them are sort of coffee and soup places — I feel completely spoiled by the Bollywood Box and Tupiniquim.

Miss you so very, very much!

Brazilian Bean Stewly Yours,

Lar