Welcome to My New Blog Dear D’Arcy

January 26, 2017

Welcome To My New personal Blog Dear D’Arcy

I have Been blogging for our shop Chic Style www.chicstyleutah.com On and off for many years. I found our customers wanted to know more about my personal life, Fashion Tips, personal style, health & beauty Tricks. Knowing I am over 40 (people never guess my age!) I get questions daily what do I do for My skincare, weight, what was that recipe? How to style something & dress for my body, make something or even how to stay organized as a mom and business owner, do I have blank to barrow….(I collect stuff) I promise I am not a hoarder. I am always Happy to Share my experience or what knowledge I might have. I have a decorating background, Pretty crafty and enjoy entertaining. I can throw a party at a given moment…and found I was sharing this part of my life on my boutiques blog… Today Dear D’Arcy is born! My place to share with you My Personal style, My tips and tricks for how I Take care of myself, live my life,Tricks to getting things done, how I decorate, Stay organized and what inspires me. I hope I can share Things that work for me to help you out in some small way.

Little pleasures in life are important and I can’t wait to start sharing mine with you! OX, D’Arcy

How to make a pomegranate cocktail for Cocktail Hour

January 7, 2017

Friday cocktail hour

How to make an easy pomegranate cocktail for Cocktail Hour. Always a hit & perfect for the Holidays.

Cocktail Party

One of My Favorite Cocktails… An excellent signature cocktail I made years ago for one of our Holiday Parties, and It’s been a big hit ever since.

The Vanilla Pom

I get more calls and messages about this drink, “How do you make or what was that signature cocktail you served?” This yummy drink is easy to create, tastes as if you go to a lot of work, and has so much flavor it will be a hit for you too! I love that it makes for a great pitcher drink as well. Use a Large drink decanter if you want to create a large batch. This does help make parties go even smoother. (just in case you don’t want to play bartender all night.)

The Vanilla Pom cocktail is super easy to make, and your guest will call you for the recipe.😘
You’ll want…to make a pomegranate cocktail for Cocktail Hour:

Recipe:

Pom 100% pomegranate Juice
Vanilla Vodka (this is KEY) This is our Favorite’s HERE HERE HERE
San Pellegrino or Club Soda (San Pellegrino is the first choice and makes a difference)
Ice
And lime or pomegranate seeds for garnish.

Two parts Pom, one shot of Vodka (vanilla Vodka is the key), ice & stir
Add 1 part Pellegrino, which gives it the right amount of sparkle. ✨
Garnish and serve

Bar Style

Do you need some excellent pieces for entertaining, maybe add to your bar or bar cart? I have picked out some of my favorite serving pieces, glassware, and needed parts to help you entertain with style and ease. Take a look below at some great finds.

I hope you enjoy your Friday night and remember to drink responsibly. OX ❤D’Arcy

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like these.

Blood Orange Cocktail

Perfect Moscow Mule

Sangria Recipe

Spinach & Tortellini Soup

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. I only promote brands that I genuinely love and believe in! Thank you for your support!

Tuesday’s Tip=White teeth …BOOM

January 3, 2017

I often get asked how I keep my teeth so white? My tip is these little toothpaste tablets ” Boom toothy tabs” it’s charcoal & chili blend help keep teeth white. Don’t worry the chili part doesn’t make them spicy! Although the charcoal part makes you unattractive for a couple minutes, it’s worth it! These baby’s don’t harm your enamel and keep your teeth sparkling white. $9.99 a bottle, available at Lush shops. For those of you who know me know I am a huge Iced Tea drinker , Yes you can still have White teeth. Now I do use Crest White stripes for 1 week every year at the beginning of summer these little tablets are my white smile maintainers. Hope you enjoyed my Tuesday’s tip ❤️D’Arcy

Let me know if you try them and how you liked them. ( This post is not sponsored in anyway)

Toothy tabs by Lush

So sorry for the unattractive photo… But I thought it’s very important to know your tooth brush and foam will be black! It’s ok it doesn’t stain and washes out.

Another photo I am sorry about, post so visual… But I was worried the first time I tried these and had a black mouth❤️ It’s ok and washes right off without staining😘

White teeth without harming your enamel

2016 Recap… Favorite’s and Life changing ,A look back💕

January 2, 2017

2016 Recap.. Favorite’s and Life Changing… A look back💕

NYFW Red carpet event @ Inglot Studio

NYFW a bucket list dream and being able to share with my sister

One of Our Boutiques that I carefully designed and created!

Fox 13 News A Fashion Segment on “The Place”

Ritz Carlton St.Thomas ,20 year wedding anniversary

Getting Back to my Bikini body…

My men on a Family Trip to Santa Barbara

Homeless bags, giving more and accomplishing more random act of kindness

Becoming the Model for the shop

As 2016 came to a end I needed to Share some of my greatest memories, Accomplishments and life changers… 2016 was a big year of change for me in Many ways from health, business and lifestyle.

I have loved Fashion & interior design since I was a little girl Designing Barbies Dream house and Building her wardrobe. So of course I have dreamed of going to New York Fashion Week since I was a little girl. It was a dream come true to experience this & being able to share with my sister made it icing on the cake. ( read about our Trip here)

Making Changes in business….my husband and I have owned Chic Style clothing boutique for 7 years. It’s been a dream, Hard work, reaching goals, long Hours, lost family time, big learning lessons (good & bad) building wonderful relationship and helping woman look and feel good…. We built to 3 stores a website and a monthly Subscription business in this time with a goal of 5 shops… Lots of Prayers and some bumps,we were on our way to the 5 and along the way (and more prayers) our goals changed…. We realized Bigger isn’t better, Work smarter not harder and Our family was growing up to Fast and were missing it! We downsized Now to Our 1 South Ogden shop a website and our subscription box. We have other dreams we are wanting to accomplish (which we will share soon) we are Happy with our decisions (don’t think tears weren’t shed and some heartache felt, even some failure thought) But as time went on we knew we made the right choices. Because of the choices we made in 2016 we were able to spend more time with Our boys, go on vacations, devote more time with God and I believe where on the right path for 2017 in business and life. Thank you for supporting us and sharing us on our journey as small business owners💕 (more one our Business story here)

A business goal achieved…. Making it on Fox 13 News with a fashion segment on (The Place) was a big goal achieved with the help of my friend Jen Berns I got a call to do my first tv spot and was lucky enough for it to have gone well that I got asked back In November and looking forward to two more segments in January and February. I know God had his had in this and believe me I am counting my blessings🙏🏻

20 years of Marriage is My biggest accomplishment of 2016, I am Lucky to be Married to a man I adore , My best friend, who shares the same values and supports my goals. Being married 20 years has been truly easy to this loving & easy going man. We celebrated with a first class Trip and our First ever vacation without our kids (our trip post here) to The Ritz Carlton St. Thomas and then off with 8 of our friends on a private yacht to tour the BVI’s truly a trip of a lifetime. Wishing I was planning this trip again it was so fabulous! Almost a “pinch me” is it real kind of trip!

I shared my Health, Hormone and weight challenge with you several post back (read here) I finally got answers, felt better and got my bikini body back, not perfect in any way and still working on it but at least I feel like I can be seen in a bathing suit again😘 ( this is a big deal to a girl who loves the beach and her Sunday lake day’s)

My men❤️ What I live for …. I couldn’t imagine my life without them! Because of our Business choices this year we were able to have more time to share as a family and go on some much needed vacations. 2016 was the First time I ever made a list of resolution (I will share my 2016 list with you & the results in the next week) 1 of my resolutions was to getaway more & travel. I really wanted to go somewhere every month, even if it was a little weekend getaway ! Resolution achieved✔️ It made the year so enjoyable I made it be a 2017 resolution as well! It is life changing and really is worth taking the time to make a break a priority. Fun family bonding and great memories made.

My Family and I try to give back and help others. 2016 I made another Resolution to Give back more, help more and come up with more Random acts of kindness. We were able with the help of Many Family & friends to reach our Goal of 200 Homeless giving bags (we achieved 212) Next year our goal is 500. I will be doing a post on our details of what’s in our bags and our process this month so stay tuned. As for our Random Acts of Kindness … I am a Junior league Member and this year one of the members came up with a challenge, which was perfect because I was already thinking of ideas to put into play… With a their challenge I was given 50 cards to attach Random acts too and pass out…. What a joy to see the look on people’s faces. It really does make your life better to be able to GIVE❤️ If you want to see what I did check out my Instagram @darcyvandenberg to see the post.

Owning a Boutique, selling clothes is the main part of our Business. I realized what ever I wear in our shops I sell out of. A light went on (yes it only took 6 years) I need to Model the clothing and post the new arrivals. I did think of it Earlier but honest I didn’t have the time to model and set up shoots with 3 shops. One of the positive things to come out of downsizing and boy has it helped sales. People having been loving it and comment how much they love the change. Happy I could use some tips from my old modeling days and my hubby is a decent photographer.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of 2016, I love sharing with you my Top 9 OX, D’Arcy

New Year’s Eve Bringing in 2017

December 31, 2016

Tonight we’re saying good bye to 2016 and Ringing in 2017 …. Are you having a party, Hosting friends , heading to a big shindig or staying at home watching the Ball drop? Any way you choose to celebrate I hope your New year brings you blessings, love, dreams achieved and a healthy 2017.

Here’s a little peek into our Space, My Hubby built our Bar for my Birthday last year and I really do need to do a post just about it! I love to entertain and it has brought us much enjoyment. This is where we spend or Sunday’s With family and friends❤️

For Tonight We are still deciding if we’re heading to our close Family friends for a party or staying home and chilling… We’ve had a crazy season in Retail and our Boys are not feeling so hot ( one has a concussion from a ski accident….. And the other caught my nephews cold over Christmas) so we’ll see what their wanting to do. We always spend New Years with our boys and lucky to have Friends that love to throw Family parties not just adults so tonight our plans our up to our boys….So your Thinking Why is our bar decorated? Well if you know me you know I love a chance to decorate & I found some cute New things this year & mixed with some old Things, I think I came up with a cute New Years Eve display to celebrate 2017 No matter what we decide to do🎉🍾

View of our Bar room, set up for Bringing in the New Year.

Festive decor garland purchased on etsy, cheers light available at Target, disco balls Ti pan, sip & cheers bottles anthropology, DIY champagne bottle , stir sticks and other accessories Target! Sequins runner Homegoods

New Year’s Eve 2017 a little peek at our festivities happening in our Bar

Champagne toast DIY glitter Champagne bottle , see prior post on how to make🍾

Every closet should have a little Black dress this one I purchased at Nordstrom over the summer just to have on hand

if I was ever in need of a cocktail dress.

Perfect little black dress & accessories

Accessories statement Bracelet , Rhinstone earring's and Yves St Lauren lipstick

Cocktail dress by Adrianna Papell @ Nordstrom

Badgley Mischka Silver wedge with Rhinstone detail

With out knowing our plans for this evening I put together some outfit choice’s just in case… A girl needs opptions and I like to be ready 😘 I really do suggest having a couple of little black dresses and some fancy not practical shoes in your closet, you never know when you might need! As for the shoes this could be cute on a date night with Jeans and a tee with a leather jacket…. Or in the summer with shorts and a tank❤️ Always thinking ahead…. I consider this one of the basic’s Every girl should own. I post a couple days ago some cute top options that would be cute with leather pants and heels for a festive look with out being so dressy. So do your self a favor and be on the look out for both…. I hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into our Home & my closet.

No matter what your doing to ring in the New Year I hope you look smashing and Make it a Great and festive night! Be safe and responsible ❤️D’Arcy

Getting ready for New Years Eve ….Nails, Champagne & clothes

December 29, 2016

New Year’s Eve nail and Diy Glitter Champagne bottle

Sparkle and Glitz

2016 is coming to an end…. Later this week All post My 2016 resolutions and how it turned out

(It was the first year I made any Resolution’s) As we get closer to New Years Eve I thought I would share a couple things I did to get ready for the night. First thing was I had my cute nail girl do my nails In a fun champagne toast theme… I hadn’t decided what I was wearing so we went with a mix of things. Red on 3, 1 white with rose gold & silver glitter over white and a black nail with a hand painted silver flute….. Now I can pick any outfit and it will work knowing my festive clothes are All in those tones….

2nd was to create a DIY project with a bottle of Champagne ….. Everything looks better with glitter 💕 You’ll need a bottle, mod podge, a brush and glitter of your choice ( I did gold , rose gold and silver) spray sealer . cover bottle in mod podge roll or sprinkle fitter on and let dry… Repeat if layering colors , let dry then spray with sealant or cover with mod podge again let dry… Voilà a pretty Bottle for your New Year’s festivities 🎉🍾

3rd. Finding a festive outfit in your closet…. Funny thing, I went into my closet and pulled all my sparkle or festive tops, any thing with beading, sequins or flash…. It all happened to be in the same blush, gold, white, cream family…. I am drawn to sparkles, beading and metallic so I had a few good choices to pick from out of my years of collecting. TIP it’s good to save classic dressy pieces. I was only pulling tops or vest to see what I could come up with. I found some cute items that would go perfectly with Black leather pants and heals…. Add some fun accessories and your set. Knowing we are probably going to a house party , Where you want to look festive but not overdressed. (we were invited to a black tie cocktail party as well and will show that outfit tomorrow) hope you find inspiration in this post and can dig up some great treasures in your closet.

Happy Last week of 2016 ❤️D’Arcy

Way to do the Holiday’s in Pink

December 2, 2016

Holiday in PINK

Re-thinking the Traditional Holiday red & green for this years Holiday Color💕 it’s ok not to do the traditional colors and decorate & wear colors that make you happy. Pale pink is my favorite color, I think it makes for a fun Holiday color, Soft, looks pretty with fresh greenery and perfect in Snow. Nothing like a big cozy sweater in your favorite color to help you enjoy the cooler weather and enjoy the Holiday festivities . Branch out and choose a color that makes you look and feel good😘

Sweater by Leith, jeans by Edyson, shoes Badgley Mischka, large pink ring Zenzii, eyeliner Teddy by Mac and Lipstick and liner Chanel 05 mordore nude liner / 54 boy lipstick

Enjoy your Holiday season ❤️D’Arcy

Wardrobe Stylist…. A service You just might NEED

November 10, 2016

Do you have a unorganized closet?
Do you love to shop and don’t know what to wear?
Do you need someone to tell you what to keep and what to toss?
Do you need outfits created from what you own?
Do you need a wardrobe facelift?
I Am your Style Girl… I will come to your home and Redo Your closet with what you have!

Style your wardrobe & closet Organization includes

10-20 organized & styled outfits created

Closet organized … What to keep & toss tips

Tips on what should be on your list for your next shopping Trip

Fee add ons to your Closet Styling & organizing

decorating your closet

shopping for organizing storage solutions

additional outfits styled & created

fee’s start at $500 and go up from there…. This is a time consuming process.

Owning a Boutique and having a interior design background I often get asked can you come and dress me or come redo my closet!!! Yes Yes I can! In the shop we help people put together outfits all day long.. Even if they bring in something they bought else

where, we make a outfit out of it! It’s a free service we love to help customers look good. We knew this has been an issue with as many people over the years that say “I just need help or I just don’t know what to put with what!” And ” can you just come home with me?” Well Now I am happy to come to YOU and help you get organized!

A organized closed with pre styled outfits helps you start your day out right! How happy would you be walking into a closet knowing you have stylish, put together outfits ready no matter what your day has in store. (no closet to small or too big)

Interested? Contact me via email , leave a comment here or contact me 951-313-1297

This is a by appointment only service and can take a day to a week to have a Wardrobe styled closet….I have limited space each month, get on my calendar:) Makes a great Christmas gift

Get Styled D’Arcy

For outfit inspirations and to see what we can do …. Visit our Instagram page

@B&Dproperties @darcyvandenberg

Here is some of our latest outfit post……

Winter Bedding to cozy up the Master Bedroom

November 6, 2016

Winter bedding black and white demask with Stripe , finished with Fur pillow's and A Minky Couture blanket.

Winter bedding black and white damask with Stripe , finished with Fur pillow’s and A Minky Couture blanket.

Changing of the season….As the Days get shorter and Nights get Colder, Our Master Bedroom gets cozier❤️ Do you change your Bedding seasonally? Add More Blankets or completely change your look? I love the opportunity for change, add layers and give our room a NEW look..

To get our look I change out the curtain’s from the light summer lace to the raw Lined Silk drapes (pottery barn) The heavier Curtain also helps keep the heat in. I add Rug’s to each side of the Bed to add texture and warmth (Tj max) Our Bedding set I purchase a couple years ago I saw on Pintrest from Macy’s. The comforter is thicker then our (Summer bedding duvet from anthropology ) and reversible for yet another option . The Set included a comforter, dust ruffle, 2 pillow shams. I added on the European Chevron Pillow….because I am pillow obsessed (I am always buying pillows) I purchased the 2 fur pillows and the sequined deer from Homegoods at different times. I do find it easy to change out pillows when I get board or need a new look… Hence a reason I am alway purchasing NEW ones. I am lucky I have a great storage room to store all my props and interior Season decor items. I Am in love with the Over sized dust ruffle that flares out of t he sides of the bed. It just adds that special touch! Black and white is just a classic color scheme that works with our Grey walls (Benjamin Moore) And easy to accent with any other pop of color if you wish. I love adding a pop of light pink around Valentine’s Day 💕 Another way I add a touch of warmth and luxury for the cooler months is a fur blanket our families favorite (Minky couture) Looks beautiful thrown on the bed and cozy warm to snuggle up with. The last detail is I add a spruce Wreath around a glittered dear head above our headboard. (growing up in California we had earthquakes, you don’t put Heavy object above your sleeping head!)

I often get asked about my choice for night stands…..I am not a fan of Matchy Matchy bedroom sets… Yes my dressers match our bed but to add a special touch I got two different desk and painted both of them in silver spray paint and topped with mirror to give them a chic look and I love having the space a desk has to offer over a small night stand. Thinking out of the Box to create a space that works for you:)

Hope you enjoyed your little Bedroom tour:) and inspired you to add winter warmth to your room.

❤️ D’Arcy

Vintage desk diy nightstand, My Side of the Bed💕

Our reading nook💕

Why I Love Dry Bar Blowouts

November 1, 2016

Dry Bar NYC

My Sister and I after Our First Blow out & Style In NYC at the Parker Meridien Dry Bar (no Make up😬)

My personal Dry Bar products…. I have been using for 2 years❤️

Dry Bar Las Vegas

The New Bag and just launched Dry bar Book!

Oh My… Have you been to a dry Bar? If you haven’t it’s a must do when your in a town that has one❤️

What is a dry Bar you ask? It’s a “Happy Place ” for woman, to Have Great hair at a affordable price in a fun and Chic Salon with Fabulous smelling products and serves a yummy drink! This is just a place for a Wash, blow out that gives you body and shine , finishing it off with great Styling! No other services are preformed here which means no yucky smells and is spotless from hair and dust from nails! It’s a pure delight!

Let’s talk Hair… My Hair I am a natural blond with Silky straight thin hair but I have a decent amount for hair for it being fine….. My mom has been a hairdresser for over 40 years and has never felt hair like mine…. Yes it’s tricky hair! (a huge reason I haven’t changed my hair since elementary school) Really… This is the first Year without bangs!!! We did try a perm once my senior year in High school… I want BIG 90’s hair and well let’s just say the perm didn’t take… When I washed my hair 2 days later it when back to stick straight!!! No Big hair for this girl… But Boy I tried with Hot rollers , sponge rollers, teasing and tons of Aqua Net! My mom always cut my hair dry and I never got a hair wash in the Shampoo bowl…. Because it would be a nightmare of tangles!!!! I am very tender headed as well !

Years later I moved to Utah.. I found Nume Curling wands…. A curling Iron that actually curls my hair and stays for a whole day!! (more on Numa wands in Next week’s post) Mom wasn’t close anymore but we see each other almost every other month, which she’ll give me a trim and about once a year gives me some highlights (I didn’t need until my late 30’s and moving to Utah…the California Sun worked in my favor) So I realized I need to find someone I could trust My hair too that wouldn’t kill me or ruin my delicate hair! My cute nail girl Sheridan was just finishing hair school and works at an Aveda salon. We talked about my hair at several nail appointments and I decided she listened to my concerns and really thought she could do a good job with my hair:). So Yes my First Hair appointment was in MY 40’s….. I booked for some highlights, a cut and a blow out….. I loved it and she helped me to Trust someone besides my mama with my hair! I needed to give you this little background to help you understand why Blowouts are Special to Me….

The Dry Bar experience ….. My First time was with My Sister Tiana (who has fab Hair, thick, curly and is not tender headed . She’s a natural brunette and can do anything to her hair) We were in NYC for Fashion Week and it was a Bucket list to go to a dry Bar…. I bought a Dry Bar blow dryer a couple years ago and some of their product and I was in LOVE❤️ I started looking into what is this Dry Bar…A place that Just Blows out your Hair swears they give you body to all types of hair and Style that last a couple of Days??? (I am lucky if mine last the day!). So this was something I was intrigued by. Is this true could they give me a style that last even for 2 days… Not kill my head or rip out my hair from tangling it into a mess…. Why yes .. YES they could!!!!

Dry Bar NYC, We arrived to be treated with a mimosa and met our cute Stylist… Who asked us what we wanted…the Straight, Manhattan, Cosmo, Mai Tai, dirty Martini, southern comfort, Etc I opted for The Southern Comfort Big Hair , lots of Volume with curls❤️❤️ It was such a great experience and our hair lasted 3 days..(mine stayed curled 2 but still had body) We went again While in New York!! It was such a treat not to have to worry about hair on our Trip!

On My Birthday we were in Las Vegas, The Dry bar Opened here in July so of course it was a must do with my mom…..when we arrived Home from our Trip The New Book & bag was on my doorstep (Can’t wait to read it ALL) I’ll keep you posted😘

This has become a favorite & something I will experience when I am in any City that has a Dry Bar ( I keep asking for them to put one at Farmington station in Utah) so please do yourself a favor and make an appointment for a blow out at The Dry Bar….. www.thedrybarcom. For cities near you….. Can’t get to one…. Order their products on their website or online at Nordstrom.com The smell of their Products are amazing and have changed my hair! Dry Bar lover❤️

Hope your hair has great style this week😘 D’Arcy