Royal Stork Has Landed

The day all Brits (and Americans) have been waiting for since April 29, 2011 has finally arrived! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, otherwise known as Will and Kate, welcomed their first born into the world today.

If you’re anything like me (obsessed with the royal family) you we’re refreshing the BBC Twitter account and googling “Royal Baby Watch” every minute of every hour today! When I first saw the news via Twitter, I couldn’t believe Kate delivered a boy! I was hoping (along with William) that the couple would have a little girl. I know that the blue little bundle of joy will be loved immensely!

 

Because the media constantly compared Kate’s pregnancy to that of Kim Kardashian, I’m very happy that Kate delivered a boy. Hopefully, it will be harder to compare Kim’s baby girl to Kate’s baby boy, because we all know there’s truly no comparison between a true classy family and a shallow, media-obessed one. Although, I’m sure Kris Jenner is already concocting a plan to have them married one day (as if)!

Because Prince Charles’ name was not released for a month after his birth and Prince William’s name for a week after, I’m restlessly awaiting the release the new little prince’s name! Several speculations have been made about the possible name for the precious baby boy. I certainly know that the name will be full of class and very traditional, but here are my “Top 10 Royal Baby Name Predictions:”

1) George

2) James

3) Alexander

4) Henry

5) Richard

6) Charles

7) Edward

8) David

9) Albert

10) Stephen

Regardless of what The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge decide to name their son, I know that he will grow up with amazing, loving, and nurturing parents. I’m certainly looking forward to watching him grow up! Congrats to the happy couple and their new bundle of joy!

© Tim Rooke

 

 

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Monogram Alert: My Bedding

For my 15th birthday, my mother and I decided that it was time for me to ditch my Lilly Pulitzer bedding, bunk beds and lime green walls. In order to make my room more sophisticated, it entailed a complete re-do! After much consideration and decision-making, we settled on the ever-so refined combination of black and white. Because I’m still adore color, I knew that a simply black and white design would not cut it!

Being the prep that I naturally am, the only solution to adding color into my lifeless room was through monograms and a lot of pink! It’s simply amazing what an accent color can do to a room.

© Mary Kate Donahue, 2012

As you can see, I have added several splashes of pink and a monogram on my bedding as well as my pillows!

Overdressed and Underpaid

I’m fortunate enough to escape from my home and the craziness of Washington, DC and its surrounding Maryland suburbs during the summer months. My family vacations in a quaint beach town in Delaware, which is mostly inhabited from May until October.

This summer, while living on the coast, I decided to get a job to keep myself busy and fund my online shopping expeditions! So, I’m  a hostess at a bistro down the street from my beach house. It’s a fabulous job and it has so many perks- I get to wear my own clothing, I don’t have to stay late, and the list goes on. Because hostessing simply entails no more than showing guests to their tables, I make minimum wage.

I have no problems with my salary, but because of my fashionable tendencies my family has nicknamed me “The Best-Dressed, Minimum-Wage Worker in the State of Delaware.” Who knows- maybe it’s true! My hero Lilly Pulitzer taught me that “life is a party, dress like it.” Why not take the party into the workplace!!! You always have to dress to impress! I mean, come on, your future husband could be waiting just around the corner!

Some of my favorite work ensembles:

© Mary Kate Donahue, 2013

© Mary Kate Donahue, 2013

 

P.S. My only fashion pet-peeve about my job is that I have to wear closed-toed shoes! Otherwise, every single one of these outfits would be worn with an adorable pair of Jack Rogers!!

DIY Canvases

It’s that time…put your hair in a ponytail, change into your grubby old clothes, and channel your inner artist. Let’s craft!!!

I’m not the most artistic person, but I do consider myself a pretty creative thinker. I can imagine these elaborate and super creative ideas in my mind, but when it comes to executing them perfectly (because there is simply no other way), I get frustrated. This time, I was patient and came up with simple yet adorable ideas.

Welcome to craft city!

© Mary Kate Donahue, 2013

© Mary Kate Donahue, 2013

From left to right, the following is a brief description of each canvas.

Lilly Pulitzer canvas: I printed out several Lilly Pulitzer prints and cut them into small squares. Using ModPodge, I glued them in a patchwork fashion onto the canvas. Once dry, I took a paint pen and wrote this amazing Lilly quote!

Anchor canvas: First, I painted the background of the canvas turquoise. Then, I printed out a large anchor and taped it onto the canvas. Using a Sharpie, I traced the anchor onto the canvas. Taking a periwinkle paint, I filled in my tracing of the anchor. To finish it off, I took deep blue paint (and a steady hand) to write the quote.

Chevron canvas: Taking 2 inch pieces on masking tape, I arranged them in a chevron pattern 1 inch away from each other. Once the taping was done, I simply painted the canvas green. Then removing the tape, I had a pretty nice version of chevron. To complete the canvas, I took neon pink paint to the edges.

Monogram canvas: Again using tape, I sectioned off three equal parts of the canvas and painted each one a different color- blue, orange and pink. Then, I generated my monogram on MicrosoftWord, printed it out, and cut it to be a nice circle. Then, using ModPodge, I secured my monogram to the canvas.

Viola!

Monograms on Monograms!

If you knew me in person, one thing that would always signify “Mary Kate” is her monogram. I have my monogram everywhere- from my bedding to my bathing suits and beyond!

The beautiful and poised Reese Witherspoon once said, “My rule is, if it’s not moving- monogram it!” These words are my absolute favorite and I live by them each and every day. It’s a rarity for me to leave the house wearing or carrying an item without a monogram.

Some ask me why I love monograms so much. They say, “Why are you so obsessed with your initials?” or “Do you forget your name or something?” To answer their questions is hard. I don’t quite have a concrete answer to why I adore monograms other than the fact that I think they are adorable. Monograms add flare to a dull baseball hat or backpack.

From script to block and the wide assortment of thread choices, monograms can make decision making seem like an impossible feat. I, myself, am a TERRIBLE decision maker (I can barely decide on what I want to eat for breakfast most mornings). Choosing “the perfect monogram” for any given items is sometimes the hardest decision of my day.

As you can see from my rambling about a mere three letter insignia, I find joy in something as small as seeing MY initials on my iPhone case. Those three letters are MINE. And I love that!! Monograms are so unique and personal (which also means your sister can’t steal all your clothing)!

From now on, don’t be surprised if you see a ridiculous amount of posts dedicated to monograms! Trust me, I will NEVER run out of monogram items to feature on Confessions of a Preppy Fashionista. So get ready, because you’ll be seeing a lot of this…