My Superbowl Sunday

Photo Credit// Stephanie Fantauzzi
Sweater// on Sale at all LF Stores 60% off (similar sweater here)
Skirt// LF  (similar skirt here)
Shoes// Matisse Footwear (similar boots here)

I imagine that most of you spent your Superbowl Sunday with an excessive amount of guacamole, 7 layer bean dip, and whatever other kind of wonderful food you are capable of cooking and for good measure some beer while you watch Katy Perry perform and more commercials in one sitting then you will watch the rest of the year (and I guess the game). I however am not a fan of the Superbowl, including the halftime show and commercials. I've tried to get into it a few times, went to some parties in college, occasionally watch the halftime show and commercials online so I know what the rest of the world is talking about the next day...but I couldn't really find it in myself to care this year. So I did what any non loving SuperBowl human would do, I brunched! I picked up Steph and we headed to Square One Dining in East Hollywood (fun fact it's across the street from the Scientology Center). I've been wanting to try this spot for a while, the last time my mom was in town visiting we attempted to go there for breakfast but after 30 minutes of searching for parking we gave up and headed to GRUB one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles. I will admit parking is quite difficult, and there was about a 25 to 30 minute wait for a table but it was absolutely worth it! The restaurant kinda looks like a whole in the wall but it has a very charming outdoor patio that we were lucky enough to be seated in. This place really cares about the quality and freshness of their ingredients. After debating between the pancakes with a bacon infused carmel sauce and breakfast tacos, I went with the tacos and a fruit salad that consisted of mangoes, apples, pears, oranges, and pomegranate seeds. It was easily the best fruit salad i've ever had, and I wasn't complaining about the tacos! I can't wait to go back and try the pancakes. 

 While very slowly cleaning out my closet the last few weeks I've discovered that I have too many pieces that I've either never worn or only worn once or twice. When I was getting dressed for brunch I decided to try to wear some of these neglected pieces. I honestly can't tell you the last time I wore the patterned skirt, and almost positive my Matisse shoes have never seen the light of day. I love the look of an oversized sweater thrown over a short dress or skirt, and this sweater is especially fun because of the low v back.

 What did you guys do for Superbowl Sunday?!

-Xoxo Becca

My Life In Yoga Pants

Photo Credit// Stephanie Fantasize
Top// Lorna Jane 
Yoga Pants//Lululemon
Shoes//Nike

Yoga pants are plentiful in my closet, and make me smile almost as much as cupcakes. While I clearly LOVE clothing, I almost never want to get dressed. I am an extremely lazy human being, I usually consider myself a lazy overachiever. I do just enough in life to be considered an over achiever...but really not a thing more. I love to sleep, I love to lay on my couch with my purple fuzzy Z Gallerie blanket, and I love to drink tea... those activities literally equal a perfect day in my mind (and i'll do this all while wearing yoga pants). I'm not the kind of girl that will do my hair and makeup and get all dressed up to make a trip to whole foods, go to a study group, or even to a movie.

Each time I buy a new pair of yoga pants, a sports bra, or a top I usually call my mom up on the phone as i'm walking out of the store with a renewed sense of excitement and commitment to my physical well-being. I just know as I'm handing over my credit card that I'll start making daily trips to Equinox and weekly trips to Runyon, I'll ask for a fitbit for my birthday and start keeping track of how many steps I take everyday. About an hour into wearing my new purchase...I know that none of that will happen. If you live in the LA area and you wanna drag me out to Runyon or a yoga class let me know! I've been walking a few miles a few days a week...so I'm starting to get there! I know i'm not going to have a fast metabolism forever. 

I became oddly obsessed with this bird while I was taking pictures and took like 50 of him

After I spent all day Saturday with Mallory from BadWolf Brunch I had a dinner date with my bestie Stephanie and a girlie sleepover at my apartment. We figured the only way to spend our Sunday was to head down to Malibu, grab a quick lunch at the Malibu Kitchen (their carmel apple bar is LITERALLY everything, I kid you not) and head to Zuma beach to take pictures and walk around. Obviously one of the best parts about being besties is sharing clothes and not caring what we look like around each other! So we decided it was a yoga pants kinda day, which worked out perfectly for me because i'd been wanting to do a post about this. She happened to not bring any clothes with her so I dressed her in a few of my favorites! 

 

Photo Credit//Me!

Top//Lorna Jane

Yoga Pants// Lululemon

Sports Bra// Lululemon

Shoes//Nike

Here are some of my favorite looks you can shop! 

Yoga Pants

  Sports Bras

Tank Tops

But really guys if you live in the LA area and you wanna take a yoga class with me or go to Runyon let me know!

-Xoxo Becca 

Girls Day

I can't think of a better way I could have spent my Saturday than with one of my besties at the ban.do pop up event in West Hollywood. Mallory from BadWolf Brunch ( a must read blog if you love all things geekychic) and I missed the popup event Ban.do had before the holidays, so when we saw on Instagram that they were having another one, we knew there was no way we could miss it! I also received my second grad school interview invite this week, so it was clearly time for me to celebrate and splurge a bit! I picked up a few coffee tumblers, some pens, a phone charger, and a key chain, and a goodie bag full of wonderful surprises! It's possible I went a little crazy...(oops...sorry not sorry).

Can I just move into the ban.do house? Cupcakes, confetti, and goodies?! What more can you ask for?

It's been on the warmer side lately in LA (80 degrees on Saturday), but I refuse to fully give into summer clothes. It's winter we should be wearing coats, and boots, and fun wintery things.  So I compromised and opted for a cozy slouchy MinkPink sweater I bought from Prism and a pair of Blank NYC faux leather shorts. Such a great look for day or night. 

Photographer// Mallory Thomasson
Sweater// MinkPink White Waffle 
Shorts// Blank NYC (on sale from $88 to $47!)
Bag// Marcy by Marc Jacobs

After splurging a bit at ban.do we walked over to Pinches Taco's for some nourishment (I was a newbie there and ordered a fish taco and chicken taco, so yummy!), and then the highlight of my entire week happened! As we were strolling back towards the car....I met Hamlet the Pig (@hamlet_the_piggy) from instagram!! If you know me at all you know I am obsessed with this pig. I show people pictures of her everyday. I dream of owning my own pig and naming him Thermopolis and getting him a sweet pup for a best friend....one day. 

Best Day Ever!!!

If anyone has an adorable pig in the LA area that needs a pig sitter... let me know. 

-Xoxo Becca 

Reflections

This post is a little different then my typical style posts.... because well I'm not in any of the pictures and it's not focused on fashion at all! I often feel like i'm missing one key thing that every other style blogger seems to have mastered, a handy dandy photographer. I don't have a boyfriend, husband, or friend who is a free lance photographer that can trot around the  globe with me taking pictures of me while I compensate them with brownies and cupcakes. I also haven't mastered (or remotely figured out) how to take my own style pictures using my camera or phone on a timer. As a result, I don't blog nearly as much as I'd like too. I also feel like I have so many other things besides fashion that i'd love to talk about and share that don't seem to blend in so well with my style posts. 

One of my absolute favorite things to do is go out to eat! Food makes me happy. It also gives me an excuse to get out of my yoga pants and into something cute, and it's a great way to socialize because we all need to eat at some point (I also don't really know how to cook...though i'm working on it). So I might start reviewing new places I try, especially dessert and coffee spots! Is that something you guys would be interested in?

I'm also really interested in topics of mental health and well being, so I'd love to talk about self-care, mental health issues, relationships, and if you guys want to email me questions or ask advice I could answer those questions weekly. 

I want Leather.Lace.&Cupcakes to be a platform I can consistently write on, be inspired by, and challenged by. I envision it slowly (very) turning into a lifestyle blog versus a purely personal style blog. We will see though! I just wanted to bring it up since it's been on my mind, and see what you guys think! Don't be shy I really want to know. You don't have to comment below, you can email me if you'd like instead! I would also love to meet some fellow bloggers in the area, so if you live in Los Angeles or near by and you'd love to grab brunch, lunch, coffee, or shop and take pictures also let me know that!

The last few days i've been taking early morning drives to Malibu to walk around on the beach and drink my coffee. I find driving to be extremely cathartic ( I don't even mind traffic, call me crazy) and the best place for me to gather my thoughts and make sense of what's going on in my life and the world. Every time I take the drive to Malibu I am suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude. In the midst of stress and chaos, school problems, job struggles, relationship issues, it's sooo easy to forget all of the wonderful things we DO have going for us. I absolutely was struggling with that issue earlier in the week, but now find myself smiling because I have sooo much to be thankful for! God has a wonderful plan for me, I don't have to worry about that at all, what I need to do is work on trusting in that. I can absolutely say that is plan is not always my plan, but it will always be better then my plan! 

Here are some of the pictures I took on my walks! 

-Xoxo Becca

January Necessities: Bags

Kate spade handbag
$298 revolveclothing.com

River Island beige shoulder bag
$38 - riverisland.com

Brown purse
$3295 piperlime.gap.com

Rebecca Minkoff envelope clutch bag
$130 - nordstrom.com

3 1 Phillip Lim satchel purse
 $3935 boutique1.com

Forever 21 black clutch
 $20 forever21.com 

Kelly katie bag
$50 dsw.com

Yves Saint Laurent monogrammed clutch
 $995 ysl.com

Rebecca Minkoff beige purse
 $195 rebeccaminkoff.com




The waiting game is very tough for me. I'm an absolute planner. I have backup plans for my backup backup backup plans. So not knowing where I'm going to be living next year, not knowing if i'm going to be in school, or really anything about how my life is going to look next year is a bit tough. I know that God has an amazing plan for me and I try my best to trust in that and to be attentive to what he is telling me, because his plan is not always my plan but it's ALWAYS better then my plan.

After purse shopping for my mom for Christmas, bags have constantly been on my mind. I don't buy bags very often at all and when I do they are usually very cheap bags. I've just never had the desire to spend so much money on one thing no matter how beautiful.  However, I decided that IF I get into a graduate school program, i'm gonna go a little crazy and make a big purse purchase! Maybe a Celine, or a 3.1 Phillip Lim? Anywho I put this little collage together of purses that have currently caught my eye. We don't always have tons of money to spend on something like this so I have bags under $100, mid-range bags, and ultra luxury bags to shop!

Do you guys like to set up rewards for your self after you've accomplished something big or challenging?! What's the last reward you treated your self to?

-Xoxo Becca

P.S. I finally added an About Me page!