no wear. cake.

baroque sunnies and neon accents

denim, white, and coral are great "neutrals" to all the neon accents

one dartmouth inspired bangle.

no wear.

shirt: f21 {similar here}, vest: old navy {similar here}, pants: target, shoes: old navy, clutch: francesca's, sunglasses: prada, bracelets: chan luu & bangles made by cake.

no wear. valley.

coming from nowhere.

lots of pops of different patterns, colors & textures.

loving the skirt's movement in this picture.

chambray shirt knotted over a dress= an instant new skirt & great look.

coral, blue, and paisley.

leopard pointy flats.

no wear.

top: madewell, dress worn as skirt: liberty of london for target {similar here & here}, shoes: talbots {similar here}, bag: deux lux {similar here}, sunglasses: ray-ban, rings: gorjana.

alley cat. cake.

an evening autumn stroll.

plaid & stripes.

initial necklace.

criss cross & twisted.

pastels & burgundy.

alley cat.

button down: old navy, sweater: j. crew {similar here}, jeans: j. brand, bag: marc jacobs {similar here}, necklace: chan luu {similar here}, bracelets: j.crew.

alley cat. valley

dancing in the alley.

dying for a new pair of pants this fall? try a whole new shape of pants all together- the palazzo pants. they are the extreme opposite of all the skinny pants you probably already own.  this style offers a great alternative for your fall wardrobe.  palazzo pants are easy to wear with either flats or heels, great for a day of brunch & shopping or a date night. they are comfy, fun, and a great way to mix-up your wardrobe.

a few tips for selecting & buying the perfect pair of palazzo pants.

1) when shopping for these pants wear, or take a pair of shoes, you'll probably end up wearing with the pants when you get them home.
2) head to either target, F21, urban outfitters . . . etc to buy a pair that won't break the bank {these pants won't be the foundation to your fall wardrobe, rather they'll end up being a great accent to your fall wardrobe.}
3) buy the pants in a neutral color or small single-color print. can you imagine these pants in huge bold print? hello 1990!

and the last most important tip . . .
4) when you're trying on palazzo pants and none of them are fitting or looking like you would like. don't. buy. them.

if you need more help when shopping for palazzo pants, we're here to help!

xo. cake & valley

close up on the print.

you can see a sliver of the beautiful fall sunset colors in the reflection of the sunglasses.

red, white, blue, and gold.

looking good!

alley cat.

top: michael stars, pants: target {similar pair here}, bag: gucci {similar here}, ring: ysl {similar here}, sunglasses: ray-ban.

cake. chronicle eight.

happy monday!!! sorry i didn't get this posted yesterday, i had a weird 24 hour bug and felt funny all day. happy to report it's gone today :)

here are a few pictures from my great trip to the wild wild west, new mexico! my mother-in-law and i made the long trek out there to watch mr. coffee's soccer team play in a soccer tournament. lucky for us when you head to a soccer tournament, as a fan, there isn't much to do between the friday night & sunday game except hang out, shop, eat-out, and sight see. so, we did just that!!! our hotel was right across the street from a huge new outdoor shopping center. score. we spent a few hours there each day grabbing some caffeine,  dropping a few dollars on some new clothes, and getting grub!

we also made the one hour drive from albuquerque to santa fe.  what. a. beautiful. drive. unfortunately, this was the day i got the worst of my altitude sickness. not fun. thankfully i pushed through, with the help of some drugs & lots of water. i was not missing out on my own vacation!

okay take a look at some of the high-light pictures from the trip.
hope you enjoy.

xo. cake

in the wild west. a donkey welcomes us to santa fe.

mr. coffee coaching.

we took a gondola ride 2.7 miles up into the mountains. the ride & the views took my breath away.

one of the amazing views.

here are my two favorite looks from the weekend out west. we had beautiful sunny days and cooler nights. i want to make sure i thank my amazing mother-in-law for snapping some great photos for me & for also going on an amazing, starbucks filled, shopping-till-we-drop, driving around in a 2012 red ss camaro, beautiful trip out west :)

valley. volume eight.

this post is going to be short and sweet. over the last two weekends i have had the time to go home and see my parents AND host my sister in chicago. its been wonderful to be around family and to spend time in two great cities. the pictures below are some of the visual highlights.

xoxo
valley

spending time with grandpa mooney. he's 91 folks.

tailgating with half of the itty bitty party committee...not sure if she'd prefer to be the itty bitty part or the party committee part? either way she was the perfect tailgate host.

view from our bleacher seats at the cubs game last weekend. the cubs lost...

friends in the city. this is my sister liz (on the right, remember her from here) and one of her besties from college. i still feel like the "little" sister around liz and her friends. they are still SO much cooler than i will ever be.

finally as a follow up and because i've gotten a few requests to see what i wore to my friend's wedding, here's the one crappy photo i have of myself. dress: elizabeth and james. shoes: topshop. bag: asos.

terrible picture, sorry. but FABULOUS wedding!

these boots were made for walking. cake & valley.

a few months ago we both bought summer wedges from target; and we love them. with bootie season here, we both ended up buying these boots. they seem to have been really popular since according to target dot com these boots are no longer available? 'scuuuuuse me? we hope that's not true! these boots are majorly comfortable and versatile. they could be worn with black pants and a chambray shirt or jeans and chunky sweater or you could even wear them with a cute fall dress. versatile boots, right?!?!? smiley face. both of us plan on getting plenty of use out of them. so if you're interested in them, run {don't walk} to your closest target.

however, if the target near you is all sold out, here are a few other western inspired boots we love that also have this same look! enjoy.

the expensive pair
replica pair

another target pair 

a classic pair 

xoxo

cake & valley

ps we swear to post photos when we wear these boots together for the first time. we like being twins like that.

pps there are seven links in the above post. did you find them all? HA!

sailing away. cake.

another day, another look!

did a little shopping.  good things come in small bags :)

sailing away.

dress worn as skirt: tjmaxx {similar here}, chambray shirt: target, shoes: tory burch {similar here}, bag: longchamp, necklace: ily couture, watch: michele.

sailing away. valley.

striped sweater & and an almost empty outdoor shopping center. fall has arrived. 

sorry that we missed a post yesterday, 1/2 of cake & valley was still traveling back from new mexico! {and what a long trip that is!!!} we thought we'd do a little tuesday styling inspiration and show you all that you can still wear white even after labor day. just take your favorite white pants* and pair them with anything that has a great fall color; deep red, mustard & burnt yellow, any type of brown, or even a great orange! basically any color green leaves would change too! HA!

add some fun accessories in brassy hues or dark rich colors & you'll be all set to wear white after labor day. hope this gets you all inspired & helps you break those silly old-fashioned fashion rules!!

xo. cake & valley

*make sure your favorite white pants are not linen, this is really the only fabric you should not wear after labor day {in any color!!}

torn knees. 

chunky fall wedge. can't you just see these with colored tights & skirts?!?! we're in love!

red lips & brown nails. a great fall combination.

sailing away.

sweater: j.crew {this one would look amazing with white pants!}, tank: wet seal, jeans: j.crew, shoes: target {similar here}, bag: deux lux {similar here}, rings: gorjana, bracelets: charming charlie, earrings: kenneth jay lane.

'cation time. cake & valley.

this weekend is a weekend of vacation time for the two of us. one is a weekend get away, and the other is stay-cation. cake is off to new mexico to support her hubby in a college soccer tournament and valley is hosting another sister in chicago. we'll be sure to share pictures in the upcoming week or so. its hard to travel without one another. sitting in the airport, giggling on the plane, and waiting for your baggage to come down the carousel is much more enjoyable when you have your best friend next to you.soon enough we'll be in the same city and craziness will ensue.

if you're vacationing this weekend (and we hope you are) we wish you safe travels and a fun adventure. we'll "see" you all on the flip-side.

xoxo
cake & valley

valley's has a guest coming in for the weekend

cake trying to travel on her own