I am so excited. For the first time ever, I have a dear friend guest blogging for me. Go check out her blog too...You'll love it!
Hello, everyone! I’m very excited to do my first ever guest post, especially on Tea Time With Tess! As all of you know, Tess is an extremely fun, friendly person with an incredible sense of personal style. And, of course – she’s one of the most genuine and funny people I know.
We first met as college dorm-mates at the University of Iowa. I transferred to Wisconsin after my freshman year (always missing the great girls I’d met in the dorms), but luckily ran into Tess again while working in the Tribune building in Chicago. As I would have suspected, we quickly reunited and became great friends over lunch-time shopping trips and a few delicious after-work dinners. It was like not a second had passed. We’d even discussed a mutual love for the lifestyle blog community, but never realized we were both active bloggers! I’m already a big fan of all she’s done here and am thrilled to share some of my own style inspirations with you, too.
Here’s a little background on me: I created my blog efrantz. in 2009 while interning for Teen Vogue and House Beautiful in New York City. Since then I’ve moved back to the Midwest, but continued to share my musings on interior design, shopping, wedding planning and life in the windy city. Please feel free to stop by E.Frantz for more info.
Tess, thank you so much for having me! This was such a fun and creative project, looking forward to our next blogger collaboration
Q: What most inspires you?
A: Flowers! I’ve always wanted to open my own flower shop, even when I was little. I love the way colors and texture combine in arrangements, and the colors I love in flowers (peonies & hydrangeas, tulips) are always the colors my eye is drawn to when it comes to fashion and interior design.
Q: Who is your style icon & why?
A: I have a couple. For hair, I always look to Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle. She had the most beautiful hair in that movie. Long, natural – and honestly I love those wispy eighties bangs (don’t tell!)
Number two is Ali McGraw in The Love Story. She’s the queen of camel wool coats, black turtlenecks and nautical stripes. They called her pioneering style ‘Preppy Chic’ in the 70s. And she reminds me of the photos I’ve seen of my mom in college – they had very similar looks. I ended up with the blonde hair and blue eyes from my dad, but am forever jealous of her classic all-American look.
Q: What combination of colors are you most drawn to?
A:I love neutrals, with the occasional bright accessory thrown in. My closet is full of navy, white, taupe and charcoal gray. And hunter green! I do wear some green occasionally. I find that if I purchase items that are all in the naturals family, everything goes together when I’m getting dressed in the morning! I also have my eye on a pair of red hunter boots ...
Q: Where would you most like to travel?
A: In high school I went on a trip to Europe with some classmates and didn’t appreciate it the way I should. I would enjoy it much more now than I did at 16 since I’ve discovered a love for art history (this started with a Visual Arts & Culture class at Iowa). I’d love to return to Florence and see all the places I studied and fell in love with during lecture. I’d also love to go to Norway and explore the small fijord village my family is from.
Q: What is on your bookmark list?
A: Right now: Coco + Kelly, This is Glamorous, NTY Home and Garden, Net-a-porter, JCrew, and Corepower Yoga.
Q What is your favorite place to shop?
A: I love to walk into Anthropologie and stay for hours. I like to imagine what I would buy if I had my dream kitchen, closet etc. And I love JCrew, of course – and Whole Foods on Saturday mornings.
My Top Ten:
- Barbara Berry designs the most beautiful interiors, fabrics, and wallpapers. This pillow is definitively Barbara, and one I’d love to bring it home.
- I wear J Brand jeans, and love them dearly. The 35’’ in seam is wonderful for tall gals like me!
- Oak trees surrounded my house growing up in Wisconsin. I have a few leaves framed in my room at home.
- I wear Crabtree and Evelyn’s Lilly of the Valley every day. Such a clean and fresh scent.
- Tory Burch can do no wrong in my book.
- Like I mentioned before, I love peonies. They’re by far my favorite flower.
- Roberto Coin makes very delicate jewelry. I wear this necklace (from my mom for my high school graduation) every single day.
- La Source hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn saves my hands in the wintertime.
- I love bright impressionism, and this particular shot comes from the wonderful Lilly Pulitzer. How can you not be happy looking at it?
- OPI’s Bubble Bath, Second Honeymoon, and Shorts Story are wearable and feminine. Short Story is always on my toes, Bubble Bath and Second Honeymoon for my fingers.
Liz, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with me here. You were the perfect person for my first-ever Guest Blogger. I hope to have more in the future, but they definitely have big shoes to fill!
I hope everyone is enjoying those last few minutes of the weekend. Back to reality tomorrow.
This was fun to read, I love the idea of having guest bloggers. Love the new layout too!
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