Valentine's Day Gifts for Him and Her

Valentine's Day is only four days away! Whether you're celebrating with a loved one, friends, or just treatin' yoself, these gifts are sure to do the trick!

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I hope everybody has a great weekend!!

must have items for a living room

My boyfriend just moved into a new house so I'm helping him figure out what he needs for each room :) His old house came furnished so he's had to buy a lot of new stuff. Decorating a new place can be fun but it's definitely time consuming and can be a little overwhelming. Hopefully this will help him and some of you, too.

 I love white with gold accents, so I'm super into this faux marble table lamp and this gold painted side table. I really like rooms to be bright and well-lit, so I'm all about lamps, lamps, lamps. Mirrors are also good to have on the walls because they open up a room and make it brighter.

 Another item that brightens and livens up a space is a plant. I really like how big green leafy plants look in rooms, but in case you're not a plant person, you could always just get a print like the one I linked above. Isn't it nice? I'm big into gallery walls and Lulu and Georgia has a lot of bright, beautiful prints that would be perfect for a girly office or a super cute living space.

It's important to stay organized in your space, so make sure you have a place for your stuff. If you're anything like me you have a lot of books and candles. I have so many and not enough places to put them. I'm planning to get a bookcase like this one for my room for my books, candles, makeup and jewelry. That's the great thing about bookcases, you can put your stuff on display on them and make it look artistic and pretty.

The last important thing about setting up a living space is to pick out a good color scheme that reflects your personality and/or how you want to feel in your home. I recommend browsing pinterest for some color pairing ideas, or you could always head to your local home depot and pick up some paint swatches. It's a good idea to look at what you already own to determine what color scheme you might already have going on, and then build off of that when you go to buy more stuff.

So, what do you think of my picks? Also in case you need it, here is a helpful article of 33 places to shop for home decor online. It has a lot of really good links including some places I had never heard of. Thanks as always for reading!

Shop the post: mirror | side table | table lamp | accent pillows | plant print | rug | bookcase | couch

The 4 Best Ted Talks You'll Hear All Year

1. Robb Willer: How to Have Better Political Conversations - listen here
2. Deeyah Khan: What We Don't Know About Europe's Muslim Kids - listen here
3. Eduardo Briceno: How to Get Better at the Things You Care About - listen here
4. Sisonke Msimang: If a Story Moves You, Act On It - listen here

Because everyone loves a good Ted Talk, right? Most of these are right around the 12 minute mark, so you can listen on the treadmill, on the walk to your car or on your lunch break. They are in order (so if you can only listen to one, listen to number one.)

Designer Dupes

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Ah, how satisfying it is to find dupes for YSL Espadrilles, Prada Mules, Prada Espadrille Wedges and Valentino Rockstud Sandals! Aren't the price differences AMAZING?! Any of these would be perfect for a Valentine's Day outfit, just saying... source: onetrend.info

Lace Up Top and OTK Boots

TOP: You can get a very similar short sleeve tshirt version on my top here for less than $30 and all sizes and colors are still available! If you want a long sleeve version that looks more like mine I'd say go for this one which is $45. I love the lace up trend I think it is so cute. I've also seen a number of cute lace up sweatshirts which I've linked below!

JEANS: I've had these for a while and you all know I preach Joe's Jeans all day everyday so here are some more Joe's Jeans picks (you can almost ALWAYS find them on sale at Nordstrom Rack.) A lot of Joe's Jeans are on sale right now >> these (were $179, now they are 50% off!!!) these are 40% off (sizes 29 and up available) and last but not least, these are 40% off with limited sizes available. 

BOOTS: Okay over the knee boots are still selling out like crazy so I couldn't find this exact pair I'm wearing but these are very similar (lighter shade of brown.)

This pair is more like the black ones I own that I'm wearing in this post but I wanted to share them because they're too cute to pass up and lots of sizes are still available! Oh and did I mention they're on sale?? (Less than $90 which is a STEAL for boots!)

SUNNIES: I got these c/o from ZeroUV and honestly I thought they were a little weird looking when I first took them out of the package, but they totally grew on me and now I just LOVE wearing them!! You know how some things look bad off but look great on?? These are that type of item. My boyfriend calls them my bug eye glasses :) They are HUGE and they make me feel like a movie star! Anyway these are similar and you can check out ZeroUV sunnies here

BAG: Louis Vuitton Monogram Palermo PM Bag and my babyyy

EARRINGS: my favorite every day studs

NECKLACE: the large circular one is from Tahiti and is made out of shell with a Tahitian black pearl on it. The one on the gold chain is from my boyfriend and you can shop it here. People always ask me about it because you can't read what it says until you spin it and then it displays a secret message :) How cool is that?

Hope you all have a fab Monday!!! Thanks for reading!

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Custom iPhone Case

Phone Case: c/o Caseapp | Sweatshirt: Etsy | Beanie: Gap (similar here) | 

Ring: David Yurman | Bag: Louis Vuitton

Eee how cute is my phone case you guys?! Wanna hear the best part?? I created it!! 

That's right! I created a hand lettered sign, took a picture of it, uploaded it to Caseapp and had it made into a phone case. Once I was finished lettering, I took a picture of my art, uploaded the photo to the Caseapp website, used their site to center it on the case in the way that I wanted, (they also have lots of fun stickers, colors, fonts, phrases, etc. to choose from when you're designing your case) placed the order and poof! It arrived on my doorstep shortly after that! 

I absolutely love my Caseapp custom iPhone case. I love carrying around something I created with me everyday! I'm so proud of it :) If you are an artist you can also have your design printed on your own custom iPhone case. Use the code MAPLEAND20 for 20% off your caseapp.com order. They also do laptop skins. And if you don't want to create your own, you don't have to. They have tons of cute case and skin designs to choose from! 

Do you love this case as much as I do? Leave a comment below if you want to see this case sold on the Caseapp.com website!

Thank you to PC-Mind for sponsoring this post. 

Fair Trade Sashka Co. Bracelets

Bracelets: c/o Sashka Co.  use code MAPLEANDMINT25 for 25% off and free shipping!

Bracelets: David Yurman cuff, old chain link bracelet

Hey everyone!! Happy Thursday! Man this week is flying by isn't it? My boyfriend comes to visit tomorrow which I'm super excited about. We are going camping this weekend (hopefully it doesn't rain too much!) and then I think I'm finally done being out of town for a little while? I have been nonstop on the go since right after Christmas! 

Ok so I am a huge jewelry person -- the items I wear daily have significant sentimental value. I really love bracelets because I feel like they can complete an outfit and speak volumes of your personality and what's important to you just by sitting pretty on your wrist. 

Today I want to introduce you to a brand I'm very happy to collaborate with called Sashka Co. which sells beautiful glass beaded bracelets handcrafted by artisans in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, and these bracelets actually have a powerful message. Your purchases support a great cause: human rights, equality, transparency in business and the breaking of the cycle of poverty- all because they are fair trade bracelets. When you purchase a Sashka Co. bracelet, proceeds from your purchase empower artisans in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal to rise above poverty through fair trade. 

What is fair trade? 

Fair trade means that workers are paid a livable income covering their basic needs (food, shelter, education, health care) and they are paid promptly, too. Fair trade is invested in building direct, long-term, stable relationships between product producers and product importers, thereby providing artisans with consistent work and job security. Fair trade also empowers women by providing equal pay for equal work done by men and women. 70% of fair trade artisans are women, according to the Fair Trade Federation. Often these women are the sole wage earners in their home. Fair trade allows women to earn a living and have safe, healthy employment conditions without discrimination. Fair trade means no forced or exploited child labor. Fair trade terms are transparent. For more information about fair trade go to the Word Fair Trade Organization: http://www.wfto.com/ or the Fair Trade Federation http://www.fairtradefederation.org

This is a social movement to get behind and support. 

What are the bracelets made out of? 

Sashka Co. bracelets are handmade with the world's finest glass beads imported from Japan and the Czech Republic and cotton thread. They do not contain nickel and they roll onto your wrist to accommodate varying wrist sizes. The bracelets do not contain elastic - they are hand crocheted and will shrink to their original size when you put them in hot water.

I don't normally go into such heavy detail about the products I'm wearing but Sashka Co.'s mission really struck a cord with me! Anyway I hope you like the bracelets, they are seriously perfect for stacking. I love the message of empowerment, equality, human rights and breaking the cycle of poverty that they support. I am about to order a whole set (I really love the abstract nepal set.)

I know you're gonna love them! Don't forget to use code MAPLEANDMINT25 for 25% off and free shipping. Thanks as always for reading! 

Thank you to Sashka Co. for sponsoring this post.