Fabulous Bachelorette Party Invites!

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a place to get some custom invitations made. Taylor over at The Undomestic Momma told me about Deliverable Designs. I emailed them and asked if they could make a custom invitation for the Sex and the City themed Bachelorette party I was planning. Not only did they offer great options but they custom made everything and were really affordable. The best part was they turned out fabulous!

 She had them ready within a week and they were delivered extremely fast! Please go check them out if you need any custom invitations made!

Green Kitchens

When we moved into our house, the best room was the kitchen. The fabulous black granite countertops were such a contrast to the blond cabinets and it was painted a gorgeous green color. This is what it looked like before we moved in:

Unfortunately, we were duped into thinking we were going to keep the stainless steel appliances so there are cream-colored ones there instead (I slightly shuddered when I wrote that). Then, you look over at the other wall of the kitchen and see this green color:

Yes, that is a light, lime green on that wall. It's even brighter in person and is the only thing (besides the hideous appliances) that I don't like about the kitchen. I've been racking my brain to find a green color that is still light but complements the darker green.

This search for color inspired me to look up other green kitchens and I noticed green fits in every style, from country to modern.

 

  

  

  

 

How do you feel about green rooms or kitchens?

Tragedy At Sea World

An unfortunate incident occurred at Sea World Orlando yesterday. During a live Shamu show, a trainer was killed by one of the whales, whose name is Tillikum. Witnesses in the crowd said the whale came up and grabbed the trainer, taking her under water and thrashing her around, which resulted in her death. The trainer was 40-year old Dawn Brancheau, one of the more experienced trainers at Sea World.

Stories report that Tillikum was considered one of the more dangerous whales at Sea World, due to previous injuries and deaths that have occurred with him. Sea World officials are discrediting these reports, saying Tilly was fine up until yesterday's events and they had no way to know this was going to happen.

When I was little, I wanted to be a whale trainer. It seemed like such a fun and exciting job; swimming with whales for a living. When I got older, I realized how impractical and hard it was to have that job, since so many people aspire to do the same. This is the first time in awhile that I recall a death to a trainer happening during a live show, and it's scary, especially if you were in attendance and watched it unfold.

People are wondering if Tilly should be put to sleep because of this incident. I do not believe so, since this is a wild killer whale who really doesn't know better. They should simply remove the whale from Sea World and take it to another facility that does not allow human contact. There is no reason a whale should die because he might have mistaken the trainer for something or got triggered by an emotion and reacted naturally. Trainers know that death and injury can be a risk of their job.

What is your reaction to this tragedy?

Products I Am Loving Now!

Thanks to everyone for their outfit suggestions on my last post. I think I am going to go with a dress from my closet, some thick tights or leggings (whatever I can find), a colorful cardigan and my fabulous trench coat to top it off. I'll make sure to take pictures so you can see the completed look!

I have been trying some new products lately and I really wanted to share them with you! First, my new favorite nail polish color; Dancing Nails by Sinful Colors

 

It's a beautiful, rosy, metallic pink that I found at Walgreens for $2! It is perfect for spring and would look good on everyone.

 

I'm really late on discovering this brand but I just had my first experience with Lush products. My friend bought me a Lush Bath Bomb in California last year and I stored it in my cabinet and completely forgot about it! When I decided to take a bath the other day, I discovered it and thought I would give it a try. It was amazing! It smelled great and I loved that it had fruits and oils in it to make my skin feel soft and smooth. Now that I know there is a store close by, I will be trying more of their products!

One of the products in my free birthday gift from Sephora was their Colorful Mono Eyeshadow in Aspen Summit. I was kind of hesitant to try it because it looked so white but I was pleasantly surprised! It's a sheer, shimmery white that is great for the brow bone and inside of the eyes. It works excellent as a brightener and makes me look fresh and awake. 

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday! I'm going to take it easy on my day off and stay inside while it rains :)

Outfit Help!

I am attending a wedding in 10 days in my hubby's hometown of Panama City. Here's the problem: The ceremony and reception are both outdoors at night, which means it will probably be 40 something degrees. I've never been to an outdoor wedding in the cold before and have no idea how to dress.

In my closet, all I really have are spaghetti strap or strapless dresses. I own one cardigan, which is black, but I do own a dressy trench coat. I would hate to wear dress pants to a wedding but I know those would keep me warm.

I saw these at Forever 21 and wondered if one of them, paired with leggings or thick tights, would do the trick:

 

  

Anyone been in this situation before? What would you recommend? I'll try anything (within my budget).

100 Followers Giveaway!

Wow, I can't believe I have finally reached 100 followers! It seems like yesterday I was contemplating starting a blog just to put down my thoughts and things I liked into words and pictures. I never imagined 100 people would be interested in what I had to say! Thanks to everyone for stopping by, commenting and following!

To show my appreciation (and spread my love of makeup), I am giving away a $25 Sephora Gift Card!

  

Here is how to enter:

• For one entry, you must be a follower and tell me in a comment what you would purchase with the gift card.
• For one additional entry, post this giveaway in your blog and comment with the link.
• For another additional entry, tweet about this giveaway and comment with the link.
• For a 4th entry, facebook this giveaway and comment with the link.

You have until Monday, March 1st to enter. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, March 2nd. Good luck everyone!

**Giveaway Closed**

Science Sunday: Sea Urchin's Genetics Help Study Human Diseases

 

One of the last creatures you would ever think shares a commonality with humans is the sea urchin. Not only are they echinoderms, but they are completely different in look, composition, and family. However, scientists have discovered that humans and sea urchins share some 7,000 genes, and are more closely related than we are to fruit flies and worms. 

Scientists discovered that sea urchins have several genes that involve Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and other human diseases and are using these genes to uncover details about the genetic compositions and details. Sea urchins can be reproduced quickly and can supply unlimited amounts of DNA for reasearchers to analyze. 

Scientists also discovered that despite the fact sea urchins do not have ears, eyes, or noses, they contain the same genes humans use for seeing, smelling, and hearing. So, next time you see a sea urchin, you are looking at a creature with a lot more in common with you than you think. 

Article: Science Daily

Project Runway Season 7 Ep 6 Review

***Spoiler Alert*** I am doing a short, to the point review but I am revealing the winner and loser :)

 

The designers challenge was to create an age-appropriate, fashionable look for little girls, who were going to be their models. They had 1 day and $50 to complete this look. The next day, once they had completed their kid's outfits, Tim comes in to inform them that they have to create an accompanying look for an adult, which throws them all into frantic mode. They are given another day and $100 to complete the second look.

The guest judge was designer Tory Burch and each model walked the runway with their kid model. The highest rated designers were Jay, Seth, and Jesse while the lowest rated designers were Amy, Johnathan and Janeane. The judges liked Jay's style and elegance, Seth's great tailoring and point of view, and Jesse's use of colors and matching style. The judges did not like Amy's horrible color combination and pants, Johnathan's toilet-paper inspired adult dress, or Janeane's simplicity and lack of talent. The judges chat. The winner is... Seth, who gets immunity. The loser is... Janeane. 

Seth's winning looks

 

Janeane's losing looks

I thought this was definitely a challenging thing for the designers to do. I don't think a single one of them has ever had to make a full children's outfit before, then match it with an adult look. For not doing it before, I was impressed at how great some of the outfits were. I'm not crazy about Seth's style but that jacket he made was amazing and tailored perfectly, so I understand him winning. I knew Janeane was gone because she is not in the same boat as everyone else. I also liked Jesse's look, which I am showing below. I give this episode a C because it was challenging but just okay. 

 

No Motivation to Work Out

 

I have never been athletic. I've never liked working out or playing sports, I don't know why. The truth is, and please don't hate me, that I've never had to work because I have a killer metabolism that keeps me naturally thin. I can tell it is slowly going down because I'm starting to see some areas that need some work (love handles, stomach, glutes). My problem is that I can never muster up any motivation to workout. I've tried printing out pictures of fit women and keeping track of my progress but something happens and I get off track and then stop completely. 

My motivation now should be that I am in 2 weddings in 2 months and I need to look good (those pictures will last forever!). It's also getting closer to bikini time and living in Florida, that means I should be prepared and get my butt off the couch. I know why I don't workout; I'm lazy and I always feel like there are better things to do. I am not apart of a gym because I believe I can save my money and between magazine workout moves, online videos, outdoors, and exercise on demand channels, I have all the tools I need for free.

I know I follow a lot of blogs full of women who run and workout on a regular basis and that especially makes me feel lazy, haha. My question to all of you is this; what is your workout motivation? What gets you off the couch and running or working out to fitness videos? I need help!

Charlotte Russe Has Gone Nautical!

I went to Charlotte Russe yesterday to look for a floral dress to wear to a wedding in 2 weeks. They had some great dresses but unfortunately, they were a little too short to wear to a wedding. Something else totally caught my eye; an entire section dedicated to nautical inspired clothing. I love nautical stripes so I could have spent all day trying on these great looks.

 

 

 

  

 

Will you be rocking the nautical look this spring?

My Crush Wins Gold!

A couple of days ago, I wrote about my new Olympic crush, Evan Lysacek, and how he was the United States' best chance at gold in figure skating. Well, last night he skated his heart out and beat the Russian for the gold medal!

 

Now, there is a lot of controversy on whether he deserved it or not. The biggest argument was because he didn't attempt a quad jump, which is the hardest move to do, it lessened the quality of his win. The loudest voice on that is the silver medalist, Russian Evgeni Plushenko, who landed his quad jump but faltered in other landings. Elvis Stojko also wrote online that he doesn't think anyone can be an Olympic champion if they don't take risks and try the hardest move. He says Evan's win killed figure skating, which is a bit harsh.

In Evan's defense, he said the reason he didn't attempt it was because when he tried it a month ago at championships, but it put too much stress on the left foot he broke previously. He decided to not risk getting hurt and work on the rest of his moves instead. 

I personally don't care if he didn't do a quad jump, it's better to do everything almost flawlessy than to attempt something big and do the little things mediocre. The Russian is upset he lost because he came in overconfident and arrogant and his ego got bruised. I saw all the performances and I think Evan definitely deserved the gold.

Oh, and he looks way cuter now with a gold medal around his neck :) 

Newly Purchased Books

I was bad yesterday. Instead of saving my money to pay for all the weddings coming up, I walked into Barnes and Noble and got lost in the wonderful world of books. Books are a weakness for me but I can't read them fast enough. First book I put my hands on?

 

I've heard this book is great and I know the movie is coming out later this year, so I wanted to read it before it came out. 

Before I went to the register, I swung by the bargain books section and saw two words that grabbed my attention: Jane Austen. I also saw something else that grabbed my attention: "On sale for $5.95". It turned out to be this: 

Considering that I am also a Jane Austen addict, I'm intrigued by this book and what it's about.

Has anyone read these books and, if so, what did you think? (no spoilers please)

Photos of the Day

 

  

  

  

 *Dolphins surfing off the coast of South Africa*

Photographs: Telegraph.co.uk

My New Olympic Crush

So I was sitting at home, drinking some wine and painting my nails with a friend while we watched the Men's Figure Skating short program. We saw the favored Russian perform as well as the flamboyant Johnny Weir do his thing. I was starting to think there weren't going to be any good-looking figure skaters performing until I saw him:

 

Evan Lysacek, my new Olympic crush :)

It's funny, the first time my friend and I saw him, she said "Whoa, self tan much?" I admit, against his black outfit, his coloring did seem relatively fake, but then we learned he was from LA, which made complete sense. 

His performance was so absolutely outstanding that I forgave him for the feathers he had on his outfit cuffs. Then I learned Vera Wang designed all his Olympic costumes and I apologized to Vera for thinking ill of her creation. It's not everyday you see a man in feathers so it caught me off guard.

Turns out, he is the reigning World Champion skater and has done remarkably well in his career. He is probably the United State's best chance for gold in men's figure skating. The long program comes on tomorrow and I really hope he does well.

Here are more pictures of my crush :)

 

  

  

Diane von Furstenberg Fall 2010 RTW

I added the Style.com app to my Iphone and think that it's so neat they show every collection a day after it takes place. All I have to do is click on it and zip through each look! As I was browsing the shows, I came across Diane von Furstenberg's collection. I've always been a fan of DVF's bold prints and beautiful dresses so I wasn't surprised that I absolutely loved her collection. Here are some of my favorite looks:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos from Style.com 

End to a Great Weekend

This past weekend was one of those that was so busy and fun, it just went by way too fast! Saturday, we attended a Mardi Gras party and we had so much fun! I made bread pudding and we got to wear some fun masks.

 

We decided to have a low key Valentine's Day but that didn't keep my husband from sending me a beautiful bouquet of roses :)

We stayed in and watched "Couples Retreat", which was pretty good, and we decided to grill some ribs.

 

These were the ribs pre-grill with the rub on them

  

Fresh off the grill

Being in Florida, we had to take advantage of the local crop and decided that for dessert, we would make chocolate covered strawberries :)

   

We had a great weekend overall and I hope everyone else's weekend was great as well!