200 Followers Giveaway!

*~* This Giveaway is now closed*~*

First of all, I want to thank Savvy Gal from Savvy Mode for being my 200th follower! If you haven't checked out her blog, I highly recommend you do! Her wardrobe is a thing of envy!

Second of all, for this giveaway, I'm going to do something a little different. Melissa from Oh, My Darling did a surprise ball giveaway not too long ago and it has inspired me to do my own surprise giveaway!

One lucky follower is going to win a surprise box of goodies! What kind of goodies you may ask? Well, keeping with what I love, this box of stuff could contain:

• Cosmetics
• Candy
• Bath items 
• Baking supplies
• Handmade crafts
• Stationary
• Jewelry
• A book

 If you think you want in on the surprise, here is how to enter:

1. For a mandatory entry, you must be a follower and tell me in a comment what your favorite color is.
2. For one extra entry, post about this giveaway on your blog and comment with the link.
3. For another extra entry, post about this giveaway on your Twitter and comment with the link.
4. For an additional entry, post about this giveaway on your Facebook and comment with the link.

The giveaway will end on September 7 and the winner will be announced on Sept. 8th. Good luck and thanks for following!

The Emmy's Best and Worst Dressed

I didn't get to watch the Red Carpet arrivals before the big show but I did see enough during the show to crown this year's Emmy best and worst dressed.


Best Dressed

I though Amy Poehler looked absolutely stunning in this light blue dress, especially since she just had a baby!

Claire Danes usually wears this style of dress but the color and cut look beautiful on her. 

You didn't see much of Dianna Agron but this lace gown is gorgeous!

I am a sucker for a one-shoulder and Elizabeth Moss pulls this one off beautifully.

The belle of the ball, Lea Michelle wowed in this navy blue number

Worst Dressed

Some people loved this dress but I am not a fan of the gold detailing and open front of Anna Paquin's dress

I love Christina Hendricks but this feather gown is not the most flattering or attractive dress I've seen her in.

Keri Russell's updo is gorgeous but this short, ill-fitting dress is not.

I feel like Mindy Kaling thought this was going to be a senior prom with that ruffly dress and unfortunate updo.

The shape of this dress on Tina Fey is great, but the symbols on her dress remind me too much of Lost

Bonus: Suprise Look of the Night

Kim Kardashian is usually well dressed but she really impressed with this gorgeous Grecian gown

So, who do you think was best and worst dressed?

Also, I am one follower away from 200 followers! As soon as I reach 200, I am going to host a giveaway so keep an eye out!

Images from JustJared.com

Science Sunday: Electricity From The Air in the Future?

Researchers have found that water droplets in the atmosphere carry a slight charge when attached to other air particulates, which could lead to pulling electricity out of thin air.

Depending on what the water vapors attached themselves to, they could become positively or negatively charged and could transfer their charges to other objects. That would make it easier to take the charges out of the air and convert into them electricity for houses and buildings.

Scientists call this quality "hygroelectricity" which means "humid electricity", and they believe it could be used in the future as another source of electricity.

Article and Photo: PopularScience.com

What Is Your Skincare Routine?

Everyone has issues with their face that they cater their skincare to. Either you have problems with acne, redness, fine lines or deeper wrinkles. There are so many products out today that say they can combat all of those things but other than reading opinions (Makeupalley.com is my personal favorite) or magazine reviews, you can't be sure they do what they say.

My personal skin problems are all of those things. I have mild rosacea that gives me redness and small acne. I also have started getting fine lines and even have some deeper wrinkles on my forehead thanks to sun damage (gotta love Florida!). This is my skincare routine right now:

AM

I wash my face with Neutrogena Acne Wash Redness Soothing Gel Cleanser.

Then I apply Olay Age Defying Anti-wrinkle Daily SPF 15 lotion

PM

I use Pond's Cold Cream to remove makeup, using cotton rounds to gently remove eye makeup.

I use Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Redness Soothing Gentle Scrub to exfoliate and cleanse my face.

I finally apply Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra-Lift Anti-wrinkle firming night cream to my face before bed.

For my eyes, I use C.O. Bigelow's Incredible Herbal Eye Cream Firming Formula.

Masks

Whenever I can get my hands on it, I love using Lush's Catastrophe Cosmetic mask to combat my redness and acne. I use it twice a week to use it up by the expiration date.

Any other time, I use Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque once a week (it has an amazing Makeupalley.com review).

So, what is your skincare routine?

A Fresh Herb Dinner

When my grandparents came over for dinner last week, they brought a little present; three fresh herb plants! She had asked me before what herbs I used the most and I told her but I didn't think it meant she was giving me some. I've always wanted my own herb plants but I didn't think I'd be able to keep them alive. The plants I have are:

Rosemary

Basil

Parsley

I decided to use two of these herbs for dinner last night so here are the recipes for what turned out to be an fresh, amazing dinner :)

Lemon-Rosemary Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 24 minutes
Yield: 6 Servings
Cost per Serving: $0.73

Ingredients

• 6  bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lb.), excess fat trimmed
• 3  tablespoons  lemon juice
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1  tablespoon  minced fresh rosemary or 2 tsp. dried
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler. Rinse chicken thighs; pat dry. Arrange thighs, skin side down, on a broiler pan. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary and garlic. Brush 1/3 of mixture over chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.
2. Using tongs, turn chicken thighs skin side up. Brush 1/3 of lemon-juice mixture over skin and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until thighs are browned, about 7 minutes.
3. Turn off broiler and set oven to 450°F. Brush final 1/3 of lemon-juice mixture over chicken (discard any leftover lemon-juice mixture) and return pan to oven. Bake until juices run clear when pricked with a fork and meat is no longer pink at the bone, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

From: All You Magazine

Grilled Asparagus with Parsley Sauce

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus

2 tbs olive oil

Salt

Parsley sauce

1 cup parsley leaves

Juice of 2 lemons

3 tbs olive oil

4-6 garlic cloves

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Toss the asparagus with the olive oil and salt, begin heating the grill.
2. Blend the parsley leaves, garlic cloves, and lemon juice until completely pureed.
3. Strain the parsley sauce and place the strained sauce in a jar with the olive oil and the salt, shake the jar until the sauce is well mixed, refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Grill the asparagus until tender and serve with the parsley sauce.

From: Laylita.com

A Look Inside My Closet

It's my day off today and it's also dreary outside for the 3rd straight day so the weather has kept me inside. Since I was home, I decided I would like to invite you into my closet. It's nothing special but I personally love seeing what other people's closets look like and how they are organized.

When we were looking around for houses, I told my husband how important it was that we had a nice sized master closet. I've collected quite a few shoes, purses, and clothes over the years and we needed something to fit all of our stuff. When we found our house, the closet was one of the most exciting parts. Not only was it a walk-in, but the previous owners had installed California Closet-style shelves, which looked amazing. It also had laminate wood floors just like the bedroom and living room, which I thought gave it a nice touch. We bought the house and the closet fit all of our stuff nice and neatly. Here is a tour of our closet :)

Our closet is situated inside our master bathroom. It originally had a closet door but when it was opened, it got in the way of the toilet so I just took the door out.

As you can see, I took over the entire right side and back wall for my stuff. I organize my shirts by type, not color, because I am more apt to pick out a shirt based on the style (sleeveless, 3/4 sleeve, etc) than color, so it works well for me. The bottom row is all of my shirts and the top row is everything else, also in order by dresses, skirts, capris, dress pants, and suits. That leaves...

... the smaller left side for the hubby. Good thing he didn't have a lot of clothes! I keep his shirts just in order from dress items in the front and casual shirts in the back. He doesn't care where they are.

The top 3 shelves are for my shoes. I don't think I have a lot but they do take up quite a bit of room. I have shoes I don't wear regularly on top and my regular shoes the next 2 rows down.

My fourth shelf has all my jeans, shorts, and casual skirts. I have them in piles by type, which makes them easier to get depending on what I want to wear. The next shelf is my totes and larger bags and the bottom holds all my boots and flip flops.

We keep our laundry baskets in the closet and I have two, one for darks and one for lights. On the left, my husband has his baseball caps, jeans, shorts, hoodies, beanies, and shoes in the shelves.

The top shelf is for my sweaters. That is what a Floridian's sweater collection looks like, haha. I have them in piles by thickness. The next shelf is my scrubs that I wear every day.

The third shelf is for my scarves, of which I have few because I live in Florida. I also own only 2 beanie hats and one pair of warm gloves. It's cold here for all of 2 months. The next shelf is a basket with all of our belts in them. The final two shelves are for my handbags, of which I don't feel I have enough :).

I hope you had fun going through my closet and I would love to see some of your closets as well!

I Think I Have A Problem...

These are the lipsticks and glosses I carry in my purse. Apparently, I want to be prepared for any situation.

Got Some Books You Want To Trade?

 A year ago, I wrote about how the hubby and I had to move in with my grandparents for a month while we waited to close on our house. In that month, we lived in a guest room with no tv so reading became a big hobby of ours. After I finished a bunch of my books, I found a website that I could trade books on and just pay a low shipping fee to get whatever books I wanted.

The site is called Swaptree and it has been a life saver! How it works is you list whatever books, movies, video games or cds you want to trade and then list what you want. If there is a trade available, they let you know, you pay around $2.50 and send the book off. In less than a week, you receive the book you wanted and have something new to read!

Joining the site is free, you just pay the postage to send the book off so it's like getting a new book for almost $3!

If you join and want to friend me on there, my username is Covergrl1124 :) Anyone else use a book trading site?

My Shoe Wish List; Nine West

I am a big Nine West fan. Ever since I bought a pair of NW camel slingbacks last winter and realized how comfortable I could be in 4 inch heels, I have gone back to drool over the latest styles they have for fall. It's not always in my price range but I know where to look if I have extra shoe money :) Here are some styles that would look great for fall:

Slick

Timepiece

Bonfire

Valanda

Alexa

Desine

Which one is your favorite?

Tastes of Tampa

This past weekend, I had an amazing experience trying new foods and drinks at restaurants around Tampa. Friday night, we ate at a nice little restaurant called Ella's

Ella's is an Americana Folk Art Cafe in Seminole Heights that is not your typical restaurant. I had a couple glasses of Urban Uco Malbec and the Chicken Spidini for dinner, which was one of the best entrees I've ever had. The decor in the restaurant was just as fun, with all sorts of eccentric art lining the walls (my favorite was a 50's style rusty refrigerator door hanging high on the wall.)

For drinks that night, we headed to The Independent, a popular watering hole for the Seminole Heights crowd that serves beer and wine.

I had an unknown glass of Malbec here and watched our guys play darts as we lounged on some cool wooden benches in the back. It was packed when we got there but not too bad in terms of price and selection.

Saturday night, we met some friends at The Tilted Kilt, which is a Celtic-themed chain of restaurants that offers lots of beer on tap and interesting types of food. We ordered some garlic fries, which were awesome but the service was less than desirable. It was also filled with women dressed in very small kilt attire.

We then moved on to Tank's Tap Room, a small hole-in-the-wall bar in Carrollwood.

Before I even got a beer, I ran into my 10th grade AP English teacher, who I hadn't seen since I graduated high school. She was one of my favorite teachers and I spent at least 30 minutes catching up with her. When I finally joined my group, I had a glass of Hacker Pschorr beer and watched the rest of the football game. It was an interesting bar but not my favorite in Tampa.

Sunday morning, we went to The Refinery for brunch.

We had previously been there for dinner and thought the food was amazing so I really wanted to try it for brunch. That, and the fact that mimosas were $3, haha. So I had 2 mimosas and some delicious pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon... all of which was freshly made.

I had a great experience trying new places and will continue this weekend when we go to Cafe Don Jose to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Have you tried any new places lately?

E-Readers in a Book-Filled World

I don't remember when e-readers first came out... I'm sure I had my head in a book at the time. What I do know is that e-readers are becoming increasingly popular and I'm starting to see them almost anywhere.

I completely get it; you can have an entire library at your fingertips. I have an Iphone, which can be used as an e-reader, so if I wanted to read a book, I could at any time. But, I am old school when it comes to reading. Some of my best memories are of being curled up or traveling with a book in my hand. There is something hard and cold about carrying around a computer with books on it and that being how I read.

I just love how books smell and feel. Walking into a library can be so relaxing and nostalgic. What will happen in 50 years if books are considered archaic like the record player or SLR cameras?

This is how I want my library to look:

Not this:

What about you...are you an e-reader fan or are you sticking with books?

Music Love: Broken Bells

I've always been a huge fan of The Shins. Their music is so unique and completely makes Garden State what it is.Well, the lead singer from The Shins, James Mercer, has teamed up with Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, to create a band called Broken Bells.

I downloaded their self-titled album last week and absolutely love it!  My favorites are their two singles so far, The High Road and The Ghost Inside.

A fun fact: Christina Hendricks, better known as Joan from "Mad Men", is in their music video for The Ghost Inside. Check it out:





Anyone else heard of Broken Bells?