Email theblondeprep@gmail.com with questions, comments, or concerns. Powered by Blogger.

This Week's Top 10: Shopping, Books & NYC Restaurant Recs!

fran acciardo This Week's Top 10: Shopping, Books & NYC Restaurant Recs! nantucket beach house striped pool floats

image via pinterest


Happy Friday! Yet another month has flown by and, as always, I can't believe it! This weekend I'm looking forward to heading to the Yankees game tonight, brunch plans tomorrow, and then hopefully just reading and relaxing. I've gotten into a really good routine lately with my kindle (more on that below) and pilates classes, and I feel so at peace. Read on for 10 things I loved this week!


1. Ok, so the Kindle - I am so happy with it. I'll write a full blog post on it soon, but it solves my previous problems of (1) poor lighting while reading, (2) difficulty finding a position on my side that works with both sides of a book (like when I'm laying in bed), and (3) not having immediate access to the books I want to read. I could go on and on about it but I'll say if you're on the fence, you have to at least order and try one! I really didn't think I was going to love it, at least not as much as I do now, but I was completely converted after my first book!


2. Last week I read Every Summer After and Girls with Bright Futures, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed and gave 5/5 stars. Ok well actually, both of them I give 4.75 stars because I thought they should have been longer!!! 


Every Summer After is a pretty similar concept to The Summer I Turned Pretty, but with adults; a classic beach-read romance!


Girls with Bright Futures is about three moms whose daughters all want to get into Stanford, and all of the college admissions dramas and scandals that go on during their senior year after it's discovered there's only one spot! I feel like I'm always either reading a romance or a thriller, so I love it when I enjoy a book about something else. I absolutely loved this! So entertaining.


2. I found this gorgeous dress this week and can not believe it's barely $100! It's so comfortable and the colors & pattern are beautiful. I wore it the other night to happy hour and dinner in the city (it's been so hot here!) and it was perfect; I can't wait to wear it in Turkey in August, too!


3. Speaking of dinner, I have recently tried two spots in the city that I absolutely loved: Daddies, and Sel Rrose.

This Week's Top 10: Shopping Finds

This Week's Top 10: Shopping Finds emili sindlev cecilie bahnsen babet floral jacquard top instagram

 image via emili sindlev- love this outfit


1. This week has flown by; I flew back from Dallas on Tuesday morning and I am thrilled that it's already the weekend. It feels like a minute ago and a lifetime ago at the same time that I was flying down to Dallas for the Fourth of July weekend and now we are already halfway through the month! I'll likely do a full Dallas recap in the next few days because I have a handful of new-to-me Dallas spots to share. 


2. I am back in the city for the next five weeks, and I'm thrilled to finally just be home for a while. I started a 30-day pass at my favorite pilates studio on Wednesday, and I am so, so happy so far. Before with ClassPass it was great because I could go whenever I was in town and then also go to other studios in other cities, but now that I'm just going to be home for a while I'm thrilled to be able to go everyday if I choose! 


I kicked off the 30 days with a little trip to Bandier and bought this sports bra and these leggings, both of which I have already worn and couldn't be more in love with. The sports bra is surprisingly more supportive than it looks, and I absolutely love how easy it is to take on and off. Nothing drives me crazier than the frustration of pulling a sweaty sports bra over my head! The leggings are easily the most flattering I've ever worn. They're also buttery soft, and did I mention, on sale?


3. On a similar note, I am quaking over this hot pink, backless workout dress under $100!

July Moodboard (Desktop & iPhone Wallpaper)

 fran acciardo July 2022 mood board summer blue and white nantucket Martha’s vineyard oysters preppy nyc desktop wallpaper iphone wallpaper aesthetic download vibes red white and blue fourth of July


Happy July! I apologize for getting this up a week late; I've been in Dallas since Saturday and it has been quite a busy weekend/week. Three of my best friends came down to Dallas this past weekend for the Fourth and the four of us, along with Joe (who just moved to Dallas!) all went to a country concert, grilled, spent time by the pool... it was such a fun weekend!  

Unfortunately, however, celebrating the Fourth of July felt a little wrong this year given everything going on recently with Roe v Wade, as well as all of the shootings that took place this weekend, most prominently, the shooting in Highland Park, IL. I can't stop thinking about how sad and terrible the current state of our country is. Sending love to anyone and everyone impacted by these recent events.

This Week's Top 10: Fourth of July Weekend

ethan gulley calidad beer This Week's Top 10: Fourth of July Weekend

photo by ethan galley


 1. Hello and happy July!!!!! To be honest, I completely forgot about the mood board this month; I will work on that ASAP and hopefully get it up on Tuesday after the holiday! In the meantime, I have quite a busy weekend ahead as it's Fourth of July weekend and I am heading to Dallas tonight to celebrate. 


My best friends, Coco, Elizabeth, and Caroline are coming down as well and we are staying at my dad's house for the weekend! We are seeing Brother's Osborne tomorrow and I just can't wait for all of the yee-haw vibes. Plus, Joe lives in Dallas now, so that will only add to the fun! I've been fully planning my BBQ menu for our pool days on Sunday/Monday and I just can't wait to enjoy some time by the pool, a weekend with my besties, and warm weather.


2. Last night I stayed up until 1 AM finishing The Love Hypothesis, which was truly the most enjoyable book for me! At first, I thought it was going to be cheesy and dumb, but literally, after 5 pages, I was hooked. Unlike most books that require some ramp-up time, or feel slow in the middle, this romance/beach read was so enjoyable the whole way through; I was laughing out loud (like actually, haha) at so many points. It's about a grad student, Olive, who fake dates one of the faculty in another department... it's just really enjoyable, light, and easy to read. Although it's a bit predictable, there were quite a few twists and turns I didn't see coming. I give it 5 stars!!


3. On a similar note, if you're looking for some book recs to carry you through the rest of the summer/year, I rated and reviewed the 15 books I've read so far this year in this blog post earlier this week!


4. I also published a huge round-up of dresses under $200 in this blog post this week - so many good ones for anything you have coming up this summer or early fall!