China Glaze 2010 Holiday Collection

I love nail polish but I must confess that one brand I've never used before is China Glaze. I've heard so many good things about them but I've never really seen a color from them that I had to have... until now.

This year's China Glaze Holiday Collection is called "Tis the Season to be Naughty & Nice" and the colors they are offering are definitely nice!

Here are the ones that I'm grabbing this holiday season:

Frosty

Jolly Holly

Party Hearty

They are also offering gift sets and this one looks amazing:

The collection hits stores at the end of October. You can check out all 16 colors at the China Glaze Blog. Which colors will you be wearing this holiday season?

Lady Gaga Coming to Tampa!

Just got some exciting news yesterday... Lady Gaga is bringing her Monster Ball tour to Tampa next year! I've been wanting to see Lady Gaga live forever because I hear she gives a fierce show (who hasn't seen her many award show performances?) The cheapest tickets are $50 for the nosebleeds so I might have to watch a mini-Lady Gaga from way up there but a live dance party still sounds awesome!

Have any of you seen her live or are planning on it?

Willow House Catalog

Are you familiar with Willow House?

Formerly known as Southern Living At Home, Willow House sells wonderful items for all the rooms in your house and features some great holidays things too!

I own several Southern Living products and love that they can be used in many different ways. For example, look at this adorable metal spiral stand:

Great to hang ornaments on for Christmas but also could be used to hang earrings or other beautiful mementos year round!

Click here to view their catalog and see if there's anything you need to add to your Christmas list :)

Scientific Housewife Giveaway at Project You!

Hey everyone, I am honored to have Project You giving away one of my custom origami mobiles during their last week of Etsy giveaways! If you'd like to enter to win a mobile by me or other great Etsy items, please go here and check them out!

Loving Old Navy's Coats

I have a love-hate relationship with Old Navy. I love their prices but I hate how some of their clothes fit on me. Their tees are my favorite but I have yet to find a dress from there that flatters. Since fall is coming around, I've been browsing their sweaters and outerwear and have fallen in love with their coats! They have such great styles and colors to choose from, I want them all!

 Double-breasted Wool Blend Coat - $89.50

 Sueded Fleece Moto Jacket - $25.00

 Ruffled Wool-blend Coat - $89.50

 Long Button Front Trench - $49.50

 Wool-Blend Peacoat - $59.50

My personal favorite: Wool-Blend Trench Coat - $99.50

The last coat is the perfect blend of trench and wool peacoat... and the faux fur is removable if you don't like that look. This is definitely going on my Christmas list!

Which coat is your favorite?

What I Wish I Could Wear

As some of you may know, I work at a hospital and therefore wear scrubs everyday. It can have it's pros, like not having to pick out what to wear in the morning and always being comfortable at work, but for a fashion-obsessed person like myself, it's no fun! The day that science and stylish clothing can be together would be a great day indeed.
 

So, today I decided to try my hand at Polyvore to see what kind of outfit I could make if I could wear stylish, dressy clothes to work. Also, if I had thousands of dollars to spend on an outfit given that this one is quite expensive. Can't a girl dream?? :) 

Somarta Roll Blouse - $495 Yves Saint Laurent Cashmere and wool-blend pants - $990 Christian Louboutin Madame Butterfly pump 120 crepe satin - $865 Marc Jacobs Garbo Camille Satchel - $1850 Betsey Johnson - Betsey Paris Eiffel Drop Earrings (Antique Gold) - $51 Jane Norman mock pearl and bead stretch bracelet set - $12 For the ladies who dress up for work, enjoy your chance to showcase your style!

Can You Guess My Costume: Part 2

Last week, I posted the first clue to what my Halloween Costume will be this year:

A bunch of you guessed Catwoman, which given those shoes, is a great guess. Am I going to tell? Nope! :)

Here is your second clue for my costume:

Anyone think they know yet?

Books, Books, and More Books!

My grandmother was kind enough to give me her Borders $25 gift card, since she doesn't usually buy books. I'm in a huge book phase right now and have been using Swaptree.com almost weekly to send off books I didn't want to keep to get new ones.

Browsing the website, it was easy to see that books have gotten expensive lately. Even if they are on sale online, you still have to pay shipping so it almost cancels out. I decided whatever books I bought were ones I wanted to keep... so I went to the classics.

Did you know you could get classic books for as cheap as $3.00 brand new? I found that out and was able to get 7 books with my gift card and not have to pay for shipping! How awesome is that! Here are the classics I bought:

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Jane Eyre

The Scarlet Letter

A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

Little Women

Les Miserables

Siddhartha

Some of these books I read a long time ago and some I have never read before. Did you like any of these books?

Designer I Love: Diane von Furstenberg

Diane Von Furstenberg was born in Belgium in 1946 and married Prince Egon of Furstenberg at the age of 18. She had two children with the Prince; Prince Alexander and Princess Tatiana. She began designing women's clothing in 1970 and soon divorced the Prince in 1972. In 1973, she designed her now iconic wrap dress and started rising to popularity.

Since then, she has started a number of other businesses and has been given the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, she married her long-time love Barry Diller and became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

I watched the Martha Stewart special on the women that dress America last night and she interviewed DVF. She is such an interesting woman and so confident and brilliant. She talked about how she draws most of her ideas from nature and how her husband gave her 26 wedding bands for the 26 years they had been together before they got married. How sweet is that??

It would be amazing to own one of her signature wrap dresses so I will continue to keep an eye out :)

Questions For Friday

I'm having a bit of a mind blank so I am turning the tables and asking you questions!

1. What is your outfit for today?
2. What is your favorite movie?
3. What are your weekend plans?
4. Do you believe in love at first sight?
5. Are you working on any projects right now?
6. What is your favorite makeup brand?

Ebay Listings

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you guys know that I've listed some dresses on Ebay. If you would like to purchase any of them, please go here.

The dresses I have up are:

A beautiful strapless Lillie Rubin gown that is brand new with tags and was never worn. Size S and listed at $75.

One of my favorite gowns (that I wore to my Senior Prom), it's a black strapless Lillie Rubin gown with a gorgeous detailed back that includes a train. It's a size 2 and listed at $75.

I am selling my wedding dress! It's a gorgeous, strapless, mermaid-style dress with a sweetheart neckline from David's Bridal. It has a train that was altered to bustle and was dry cleaned to perfection. It is a size 4 and listed at $200. (If you know any soon-to-be brides, please refer them to my listing!)

Finally, I am selling my bridesmaids dress from this beautiful wedding. It's an Alfred Angelo style 7014 in Robin's Egg Blue and Pistachio  (still available on Alfredangelo.com). It is strapless with a satin sash and white flower with an organza underlay. It's a size 6 and listed at $75.

Please let me know if you are interested in any of these dresses or just stop by my Ebay. Thanks!

P.S - I noticed a trend in sizing as I got older... 2 to 4 to 6, haha :)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Earlier this year, I wrote about Henrietta Lacks and the book written about her and her contribution to science. I just finished the book and it's one of the greatest science non-fiction books I've ever read.

I never realized until last night when I closed the last page that the book related so much to my work. I work at a cancer hospital and my entire job revolves around informed consent. Informed consent is presenting patients with a document asking their permission for use of their tissue and letting them know what it's being used for. My job is to collect the tissue from consented patients and make it available to researchers, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies for cancer research. If Henrietta's cells had never been taken without her knowledge and debate didn't arise on whether the patient should give consent, my job might have never existed. It's because of Henrietta that I have a job and we have cancer research.

If you want to learn anything about cancer, genes, basic science, or a good old history lesson, I highly recommend you read this book. It will change the way you view any scientific research and it's also powerfully endearing to see her family's struggle through the years after finding out about their mother's immortal cells.

I found out the author is coming near me at the end of the month for a lecture and book signing and I would love to meet her and tell her how much the book meant to me.

If you have read it, please let me know what you thought about it :)

Here is a link to purchase the book: Amazon.com

This or That

MAKEUP

blusher or bronzer - blusher
lip gloss or lip stick - lipstick
eye liner or mascara - mascara
foundation or concealer - concealer
neutral or color eye shadow - Color for sure!
pressed or loose eye shadow - Pressed
brushes or sponges - brushes

NAILS

opi or china glaze - OPI all the way!
long or short - in the middle
acrylic or natural - natural
brights or darks - brights

BODY

perfume or body splash - perfume
lotion or body butter - lotion
body wash or soap - body wash
lush or other bath company - LUSH!

FASHION

jeans or sweat pants - jeans
long sleeve or short - short
dresses or skirts - dresses
stripes or plaid - stripes
flip flops or sandals - flip flops (it is Florida after all)
scarves or hats - scarves
studs or dangly earrings - dangly
 necklaces or bracelets - necklaces
heels or flats - heels
cowboy boots or riding boots - riding boots
jacket or hoodie - jacket

HAIR

curly or straight - both :)
bun or ponytail - ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips - butterfly clips
hair spray or gel - hairspray
long or short - long
light or dark - dark
side sweep bands or full bands - sideswept
up or down - down

RANDOM

rain or shine - sunshine!
summer or winter - winter
autumn or spring - spring is my favorite!
chocolate or vanilla - Chocolate without question!

I tag everyone to answer! :)

Lipstick For Fall; Plums

Every fall invokes the colors of reds, purples, and browns. This year, a big color that will be found on lips is Plum. It was a popular color last year thanks to Yves Saint Laurent and Nars but this year it's coming back! Luckily, you don't have to spend a lot to rock the hottest shade. Here are plums for every budget:

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipcolor in Plum Paradise

Chanel Hydrabase Lipstick in Fantastic Plum

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Plum

MAC Lustre Lipstick in Plumful

YSL Rouge Volupte in Exquisite Plum 

L'Oreal Colour Riche in Sugar Plum

Will you be wearing plum lips this fall?

Need An Afternoon Snack?

I was reading Glamour.com at work today and came across this delicious recipe for a quick, afternoon snack. Enjoy!

Cucumber-Feta Toast

Ingredients: 

1/2 baguette

2 teaspoons plus 4 more teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 ounces feta

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 small English cucumber, thinly sliced crosswise

Directions: 

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 450 degrees. Split baguette lengthwise and lightly brush cut sides with 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil. Bake until golden around edges, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash together feta, 4 teaspoons oil, and lemon juice with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Spread feta mixture evenly over toasted baguette and top with cucumber. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a drizzle of oil. Cut into pieces to serve.

Can You Guess My Costume? Part 1

A friend of mine is having a Halloween Party this year and I am way excited. I love Halloween and I'm pretty sure I tried to continue trick-or-treating well into my high school years against my grandparents wishes. Who wants to stop dressing up and getting free candy? Not this girl!

Last year, I had an awesome costume idea but never got to go through with it because no one had a party. This year, I am ready! Until Halloween gets here, I am going to show one aspect of my costume each week and see if you can guess what I am dressing up as this year. The first aspect was purchased last Friday and I love that it not only works for my costume but works for night's out as well.

Can you guess what/who I'm going to be yet?

Roll-Up Flats = Genius!

A new trend has been emerging for months and it is helping women save their feet from hours of uncomfortable shoes. Roll-up flats are now a mainstream item and whoever thought of them are geniuses! What is a roll-up flat you might ask? I will use this illustration from FootzyRolls to explain:

Basically, you have a pouch of roll-up flats that you put in your purse. Once your heels start hurting your feet, you change them out for the flats that roll out and you put your heels in the expandable tote that was in the pouch. Great idea, right?

Here are the websites that are selling roll-up flats:

CitySlips.com

City Slips offers 3 colors of flats (black, silver and gold) for $24.95 that also come with a cute skyline tote.

FootzyRolls.com

Footzy Rolls offers many different colors and patterns (snakeskin is their fall/winter collection) for prices ranging from $19.99 to $30.

SoleilShoeCo.com

Soleil Shoe Co. offers four different colors (black, silver, white, and pink) for $19.95.


Does this product appeal to any of you ladies that live in big cities or work in heels?

Blog Spotlight: Townhome Happy Hour

I am happy to showcase a dear friend of mine's new blog; Townhome Happy Hour!

Carmen happens to be one of my best friends in real life and she is so much fun! In her blog, she writes about her puppy, Joni, her love of gardening (and the delicious things she makes from her vegetables), as well as trying new dishes from around the world.

One thing Carmen absolutely loves is LUSH. In fact, she just happens to have a LUSH giveaway going on right now! If you are a fan of LUSH or have wanted to try it, it's your lucky day. Enter here and you can win some of her favorite products.

She also has a great Etsy shop called Pom Flair where she makes beautiful poms, pom flowers, and napkin rings for parties, weddings, and more. I personally bought 4 of her napkin rings and they are gorgeous on my dining room table.

I highly recommend you follow this amazing girl on her blog and Twitter and tell her that the Scientific Housewife sent ya :)