What's Your Scent?

I would love your help! I'm ready for a new perfume, and have been for a little while now, but I get SO overwhelmed visiting Sephora and department stores and smelling fifty different scents. I get frustrated and end up with a headache and just leave the store. The past two perfumes I've had, I have LOVED! But I've actually re-bought them both and used them again, so it's time for something new. What is your favorite? Any scent that is mentioned I will check out! Below are my two most recent staples, Juicy Couture and Chanel Chance Fresh. I've thought of trying Viva La Juicy, but I think it will be too sweet for me. Chanel Chance Fresh has been great, I reccomend it. FYI: it smells COMPLETELY different than regular Chanel Chance. It's very confusing because the only difference between the two bottles is Chance Fresh has pink on it, it doesn't even say "Fresh" on it. It's just pink! Both below have been good to me, but it's time for a new perfume. I know perfume scents are very personal, but I am pretty open-minded, or open-nosed I guess I should say.

What do you wear? Is there a scent that you 'swear by' and just absolutely love? I really appreciate your tips so I can get a head start - instead of smelling EVERY scent at Sephora this weekend. My nose and head thank you in advance!

XOXO,

NYC Fashion week 2009

NYC Fashion week has come and gone! Ohhh how I wish I could have been present at the fabulous runway shows and endless soirees. Instead, I had to rely on the trusty internet to satisfy my fashion cravings. Here are a few quick pictures to recap a few of the many amazing designers showcased. The blurbs are based on my internet findings.

First up, is Isaac Mizrahi who showed a vibrant, "sportswear" collection for his new line. I love how they called it sportswear. Not quite something I would go to the gym in, but casual nonetheless.

credits

Jill Stuart's collection was very sexy and used a lot of silk, leather and lace.

credits

Okay, so this picture is actually from Paris Couture week. I was dying to see Christian Dior's collection for NYC Fashion week and found this in my search, and had to still post about it. The dresses from his Dutch inspired collection take my breath away. I read that he purposely stayed on the path of couture and upscale instead of downplaying his designs in response to the hurting economy, like some would expect. He said something along the lines of that it is his job, regardless, to design and create the finest pieces. And he does!

credits

Tory Burch apparently used a lot of fur! Gosh, I just love her.

credits

Lastly, SheFindsRebekah at the shefinds site shared a tip on a hot, new nailpolish color for the season. This soft shade of gray from Rescue Beauty Lounge, called Concrete Jungle for $18, is quietly chic and sophisticated.

Oh, and the boyfriend look is still in! I read a lot about boyfriend blazers paired with large statement necklaces. So, we're still in the "wear your husbands and boyfriends" clothes stage. Ha!

~

Before I go, I want to let you know that I made the Shrimp Jambalaya below last night and it was DELIC! And super easy to make. I highly recommend it. :o)

Low "Fat" Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras! I wanted to make something for dinner tonight that goes along with the theme of today, but with less calories than the normal dishes. Here are two traditional recipes that allow for a fun Fat Tuesday without turning us into a full out Fat February!

Shrimp Jambalaya (pictured above) - using reduced-fat sausage and fat-free sour cream to make a healthier rendition!

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) jar roasted pepper and garlic chunky salsa

8 ounces reduced-fat smoked sausage, diced

1/2 pound peeled small shrimp

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 bunch green onions (scallions), sliced

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Directions:

Mix salsa, sausage, shrimp, thyme and 1/3 cup green onions in skillet. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cayenne and sour cream. Serve with an extra dollop of sour cream on top.

~

Crawfish fettuccini - made with whole wheat pasta and skim milk

Ingredients:

1 pound whole wheat fettuccine

1/4 cup margarine (Smart Balance butter for healthier alternative)

1 large onion, chopped

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded chopped

3 cloves garlice, minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups skim milk

2 pound light pasteurized cheese spread

2 pounds crawfish tails

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspooon cayenne

Directions:

Cook fettuccine according to directions on package, omitting oil and salt. Drain and set aside. In a large pot, melt Smart Balance butter and saute green pepper, red pepper, and garlic until tender. Add flour, stirring until mixed. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Add cheese, stirring until melted. Rinse crawfish tails and drain well. Add crawfish, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne. Toss with pasta, heat, and serve.

Recipes and picture from sheknows provided by Holly Clegg, author of Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific Home Entertaining The Easy Way

Bon Appetit!

XOXO,

Out with the Old.

Oprah was on the tv in front of the eliptical machine I was on last Thursday. The segment was "Clean Up Your Messy House Tour" with Peter Walsh, said to be an organizational expert. Not too sure how one becomes an expert at organization, but he is one nonetheless! This part of the segment caught my attention; I thought it was a fantastic idea and wanted to share it...

Peter was in Patty's home and showing off her newly organized and clean closet. I thought something was odd when the camera was panning over her newly hung clothes - the hangers were hung in the reverse direction as normal. Before I thought further, Peter said to Patty and the camera, "You wear 20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time. For the next six months, whenever you wear an article of clothing and hang it back in the closet, I want you to hang it the correct way. If you have stuff after six months that's still hanging from the back to the front, you have to ask yourself, 'Am I ever going to wear it again?' Hanging your clothes this way helps you identity pieces to clear out."

I am SO going to do this! It's almost time to rummage through the winter clothes that have hung in my closet for the past few months. While I'm switching things out and bringing in the summer stuff, I'll make sure to reverse every hanger in my closet. I'll keep an eye out over the summer and by next fall will be able to tell what items of clothing I have never worn. I know there will be quite a few that I can give to Goodwill. It really is a great way to donate the clothes that I never wear while also at the same time cleaning up and making space for new items that I hope to purchase.

Patty's Closet - Here it is. It's hard to see, but the clothes hung on the far right are reversed.

Now, time to get motivated for some organizing!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!

XOXO,

Can't get you out of my head.

Manolo Blahnik

with

Diane Von Furstenberg

with

Tory
I like to pretend I'm on a first name basis with her.

********sigh********

Ummm, please? I mean, really. It should be a necessity if your heart flutters when looking at it. We have a few weddings to attend this Spring. I think this ensemble would work well with me.

~

PS. Thank you for your feedback below! I will definitely be busting out my white attire with pride now. :o)

White after Labor Day?

Quick Question: Do you adhere to the whole "You are not supposed to wear white after Labor Day" rule?

I admittedly wear white after Labor Day. I have a pair of white dress pants that I love to wear and a pair of white heels that are too cute not to wear - both of which are part of the rule to NOT wear in the winter. I know this is not a heavily criticized issue any more, but every time I go to put these things on, the thought crosses my mind that I may offend someone. Mostly an elderly woman who thinks I am being disrespectful because she was brought up to adhere to the white rule. But really, after researching the roots of the whole idea, I don't see a paramount reason to have this rule in the first place. And to not wear white from Labor Day all the way until Easter (which is the said time frame) is an awfully long time!

Do you wear white freely in the winter? Does it ever cross your mind to hold back?

~

Before I go, about that Oatmeal Baked Chicken recipe below I was going to cook last night...I said I would provide a review today on how it turned out, but there won't be one. I came home last night to this...

Honey-hubby had dinner cooked and set on the table! How cute is that? And it was DELCIOUS! He's a keeper. I'll make the Oatmeal Baked Chicken soon and will let you know how it is!

What's for dinner tonight?

Thank you so much for your sweet comments on the post below! What girl doesn't want to hear nice things about her love story? They meant a lot, thank you.

Sooo, what's for dinner tonight? I really want fried chicken! But, I know better. I found this recipe (Submitted by Ena Quiggle) for a much healthier alternative and will try it out tonight. I'll let you know how it tastes!

Oatmeal Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 (3 1/2) pound broiler chicken, cut up

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons (Smart Balance) butter, melted

1. Coat a 13-inch x 9-inch x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a shallow bowl or large resealable plastic bag, combine oats, paprika, chili powder, salt if desired, garlic powder, cumin and pepper. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with oat mixture. Place in prepared baking dish. Drizzle with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until Juices run clear.

~

Before I go, I want to share one more recipe with you. My husband loves meatloaf, but I've never been a fan of it. I don't like the idea of it having a lot of "fillers", breadcrumbs, etc. I want to make it for him since he likes it, so I went on a hunt for a recipe that doesn't use "fillers". I found this recipe online and am actually pretty excited about making it. The member of RecipeZaar who submitted this recipe says it's from the Chez Melange Restaurant in Redondo Beach, CA. It's unusual in that it doesn't use bread crumbs as a filler and was done originally for the texture, years before the "low carb craze". At first I was a littler nervous about the length of ingredients, but if you notice, most of them are simple and don't require a lot of dicing or chopping. I plan on making this one Thursday evening. :o) I'll let you know how it goes!

Restaurant Style Meatloaf

(no breadcrumbs!)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (Smart Balance) butter

2 finely chopped green onions

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup half-and-half

2 lbs ground beef (or mix with part veal or pork or beef)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper sauce

1. Melt the butter in medium skillet over medium heat.

2. Add the green onions, regular onions, red pepper, celery, and garlic and cook until softened.
3. Stir in salt, cumin, peppers, nutmeg and bayleaves and cook 1 minute.
4. Stir in ketchup and half and half and simmer 2 minutes
5. Coll and remove bay leaves
6. Heat oven to 350 degrees
7. Combine meat, eggs (lightly beaten), worcestershire, red pepper sauce in large bowl.
8. Stir vegetable mixture into meat mixture until well blended.
9. Spoon mixture evenly into a 9x5 pan or freeform the mixture (author says she uses the 9x5 pan as the mold and then places on a rimmed cookie sheet.
10. Bake 70 minutes or until temperature of meat registers 160 degrees.
11. Cool in pan 5 minutes (at least) and drain and unmold onto serving platter.

Bon Appetite!

XOXO,

My Love, My Heart - part 2

I know, two pretty long posts for one day. But as stated in the post below, two years ago today I was proposed to by the most amazing and sexiest man in the world. Here's that story.

I was living in Chicago at the time and he was living in Pennsylvania. We met at Penn State and started dating our senior year. I knew he was a keeper by how supportive he was of my move to Chicago. I graduated a semester before him, and Chicago presented an amazing opportunity that we both knew I had to take. It was so hard moving away from him, but I knew that in the grand scheme of things it was just temporary. I knew he would either get a job in Chicago or eventually I would move back. It was important to me to take the opportunity and seize it, regardless of how hard we knew it would be to be apart. I knew it might be the last time in my life that I would be able to explore a new city, entirely on my own. I moved in August. Gosh it was hard. And yet some of the best times of my life were spent in Chicago. We visited each other at least once a month and were constantly on the phone together. When I wasn't on the phone with him I was out exploring my new city and developing incredible friendships that I still share today. I loved my job. I loved the city. I was having a blast, and of course I was antsy for the day that he would propose, but I "knew" it wouldn't happen for at least another year.

On February 15th, 2007 my boss called me into his office for a meeting. It went like this...

"Anna, we know you are in a serious relationship. Do you think you'll get engaged soon? We are concerned you will, and that you will 'up and leave' us. If you think there is a chance you will be getting married soon and will want to move back to Pennsylvania, we want to address it now. There is a position that opened up at the New Jersey office. Close to home. Talk it over with your boyfriend and think about it. You have a week." !!!!!!????!!!!!! I left his office and walked straight out to my car and started crying. What was he expecting? "Hi Robbie, could you please tell me if you're planning on asking me to marry you soon, because my boss really wants to know." I felt I was being put in an extremely awkward and unfair situation. I was all set to 'up and leave' if and when he did propose! But how BACKWARDS was it to take a job simply because I MAY or MAY NOT be getting married soon. I called my mom hysterical. I definitely wasn't going to talk this over with Robbie. I didn't want him to feel pushed into proposing. I was actually flying home the next day to visit him and my family. My mom listened to my hysterical crying over the phone after the meeting and did everything in her power to comfort me. At one point she said, "Anna, please trust me. It's going to be okay. Please, just trust me. God is in control." She knew what was happening the next day...

I flew home on Friday, February 16th. I was SO excited to see Robbie. I told myself I wouldn't even worry about the meeting and was just going to ENJOY my time with Robbie and my family. Valentine's Day was two days earlier and he had sent me beautiful flowers and the sweetest card. He also told me on the phone that he wanted to make me a special dinner over the weekend. He's a romantic guy and loves to cook! I was so excited for our weekend. After picking me up from the airport late at night (my flight was SO delayed due to snowstorms!) we drove straight to his house. We walked into the back door and immediately I stopped in my tracks. Inside the house were a milliion candles all aglow and a fire in the fireplace. My first thought was, this is so dangerous! All of these candles and no one has been home! But before I could think anything further I noticed that the romantic scene continued throughout the house. I walked over to pictures he had placed of us everywhere in the kitchen and all of the sudden our song started to play - seriously, like out of the sky. I turned and looked at him and thought to myself, "WOW...this is as good as a proposal". But he looked at me and said "I just want our dinner to be special". He really is SO romantic and creative, so I didn't think anything else of it. He led me into the dining room where the table was set with fine china, a platter of sushi, more candles, pictures, gorgeous flowers and a bottle of wine and champagne chilling. On my plate was a card. He said before we ate he wanted me to open my card.

I opened the envelope and read the front of the card: "Cupid is my homeboy."

I was thinking, "but you already got me a Valentine's Day card!". Then I opened the card and noticed right away that the card wasn't even signed. Apparently he wanted my full attention on what the type said inside. It read...

"After all, he hooked me up with you - the best wife ever."

As soon as I read the word WIFE, I swung around and saw him down on his knee!

It turned out to be one surprise after another. My sister was flown in and my whole family showed up at our engagement party he had planned - HUGE surprise. The whole weekend was surreal and beyond amazing. My mom told me she has never wanted to scream so loud in her life when she heard me tormenting myself after that meeting with my boss, all the while knowing Robbie was going to propose the NEXT DAY.

I took the job. :o) (and then found a new job a month later with a really nice boss)

First steps as his wife!

My Love, My Heart

Two years ago today I was proposed to by the most amazing and sexiest man in this world. I am still today as head over heels in love with this man as I was then. Every time I think back to how it began, I get an overwhelming reminder of how faithful God is and just how much He loves me. I mean, He loves me THIS much to hand pick and provide for me a soul mate far more perfect than anything I could have imagined for myself. Before I share our engagment story, I feel I should go back and share how it all began. How God changed my life forever and made me one of the luckiest women alive. I never saw it coming.

Our story starts a little differently in that it begins with a boy I'll call "L". "L" and I dated for four years starting when I was a sophomore in high school. It was during my sophomore year of college that God laid on my heart the distinct and severe feeling that "L" was not the man I was supposed to be with. But how do you just walk away from four years? We were comfortable. I tried to ignore the feelings God put on my heart. I spent several miserable months flat out ignoring God. But God, being the faithful and amazing God He is, never gave up on me.

My best girlfriends, and roommates through college, were friends with a goup of guys they met their freshmen year in the dorms. I only met these guys my sophomore year, and only on a few occasions. One evening, during my senior year of college, I was out with my girlfriends at a dance club near our house. It was getting late and I couldn't find my girls anywhere inside. I was about to just leave by myself when this incredibly tall, CUTE guy walked up to me. I knew he was part of the group of guys that my roommates were friends with, but I had never actually talked to him. He saw I was suddenly alone without my girlfriends and asked if he could walk me home. I thought it was sweet, and funny considering I lived right next door, and he knew this, but I smiled and said that would be great. On the walk home, I brought up the fact that I was starting this Bible study that Monday. We went on talking and figured out that it was the exact same study his parent's had done at their church back home. Monday comes and I arrive at Bible study. Guess who is there - The incredibly tall, CUTE guy who walked me home a few days earlier, AND "L". Awkward. I told myself not to focus on the elephant in the room and just enjoy the Bible study. At the very end of it, I said goodbye to both "L" and the incredibly tall, CUTE guy and then went to the ladies room. I was trying to escape! I came out of the ladies room a good solid 15 minutes later and there standing in front of the door waiting for me were both "L" and the incredibly, tall and CUTE guy. Again, AWKWARD.

Three weeks went by and the incredibly tall, CUTE guy kept coming. "L" faded. And the incredibly tall, CUTE guy started pursuing me like I have never been pursued before in my life. Apparently he had thought about pursuing me the year before, but at that point in my life I was still with "L" and the timing wasn't right. The night he walked me home from the dance club, he immediately went back to his apartment and told his roommates "I met an angel". I never heard this until we were engaged. His Best Man re-told the story during the toast at our wedding. I will NEVER grow tired of hearing that story!

I knew in my heart I wasn't supposed to be with "L". We both knew it. But it was comfortable and breaking up is a scary battle to face. I wanted to ignore the feelings God placed in my heart, but God brought upon me the distinct realization that He had something else in store for me. I was looking for "better" (ignoring a heartache and breakup) and God was wanting to give me what was "best". The ABSOLUTE BEST. My roommates always loved the incredibly tall, CUTE guy and couldn't have been happier when we started dating. They even said that back when they were freshmen they knew there was something special about him. They just never knew it was that he was going to be their best friend's husband. Throughout our whole relationship everything unfolded perfectly. I felt in every inch of my heart and soul that I was with the man God created for me. It was, and still is, the most amazing feeling in the world. God wrote a far more beatiful love story for me than I could have ever written for myself.

The week we started dating. Superbowl party.

Next up: The proposal. The day my heart never stopped singing.

Valentine's Day Breakfast

Hi lovely ladies! I found the perfect recipe for this weekend's Saturday Morning Breakfast, for my sweet Valentine. The plan is to make homemade French crepes filled with a sweet cream sauce over bananas and topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. YUM! And yes, fattening. But I know my honey will love it. I hope it turns out well!

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
6 bananas, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 cups whipped heavy cream
1 pinch ground cinnamon
fresh, cut up strawberries

1. Sift flour and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, butter, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly greased 6 inch skillet. Add about 3 tablespoons batter. Tilt skillet so that batter spreads to almost cover the bottom of the skillet. Cook until lightly browned; turn and brown the other side. Repeat process with remaining batter, grease skillet as needed.
3. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet. Stir in brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in cream and cook until slightly thickened. Add half the bananas at a time in a skillet; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, spooning sauce over them. Remove from heat.
4. Roll a crepe around each banana half and place on serving platter. Spoon sauve over crepes. Top with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and a pinch of cinnamon.

Bon Appetite!

Q&A

** Don't worry, it's still me. I've been doing a few blog layouts for some friends and thought I would use some that haven't been taken yet, on my own blog. I have a few others and will post them in case you or anyone you know wants one, for free of course. I'll put the link on my sidebar once I can get them gathered. :o)

Pink Julep tagged me for Q&A! Thank you, friend! So fun. Here it goes!

Rules: Post this list on your profile replacing my answers with yours. Tag people to do the same thing. If I tagged YOU, it's because I want to know more about YOU!

1. Where you named after anyone? My great-grandmothers on BOTH sides. Convenient!
2. When was the last time you cried? A movie we watched last night. It was sad.
3. Do you like your handwriting? I don't mind my print at all, but my cursive needs some improvement.
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Honey Turkey and BBQ Turkey, yummy.
5. Do you have kids? Not yet! But I'm so excited for when we do!
6.If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself? Goodness, I sure hope so! What a funny question!
7. Do you use sarcasm? Actually, not really! I hate hurting other people's feelings so I only bust it out on perfect and appropriate occasions.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yep!
9. Would you bungee jump? Funny you should ask - I've been skydiving THREE times, but I have absolutely no intentions on ever going bungee jumping. I think it's the whole hanging upside down thing that freaks me out.
10. Naked? Not quite sure what this means, but I'm definitely a fan of naked-ness when it comes to my hottie husband! **blushing**
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yes, unless I'm in a hurry...which seems to be the norm these days.
12. Apparently #12 was lost somewhere along the tag!
13. What is your favorite ice cream? Mint Chocolate Chip! My absolute fave. Mmmm, now I want some.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes and smile. And I always look at people's shoes, just because I really like shoes.
15. Red or pink? The blog says it all...
16. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I don't have a filter - I just say whatever comes into my head and it can get me into trouble. I've been kicked under the table a few times.
17. Who do you miss the most? Wow, this is hard! I have been blessed to have met so many amazing friends from the places I've lived and miss every one of them!
18. Do you want everyone to complete this list? Yes, that would be fun
19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? I'm in my pajamas - no shoes and a tanktop with undies. Scandalous, I know.
20. What are you listening to right now? Grey's Anatomy
21. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I think it would be fun to be turquoise.
22. Favorite smells? I'm really nostalgic so there's a ton! But my fave would have to be my husband and vanilla.
23. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom. She's the best.
24. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I've never met her, but I know I would absolutely like her!
25. Favorite sport to watch? Penn State football! Only the greatest school on earth...
26. Hair color? Light brown/blonde
27. Eye color? Blue
28. Do you wear contacts? I do not - last time I went to the eye doctor I had 20/20, but I think all of this computer business is taking a toll on my little eyeballs!
29. Favorite food? Steamed artichokes and macaroni & cheese, I know - random
30.Scary movies or happy endings? Oh my goodness, I can't watch scary movies. Definitely happy endings.
31. Last movie you watched? Honey hubby and I saw He's Just Not That Into You last Friday.
32. What color shirt are you wearing? Baby blue
33. Summer or winter? Gosh, I love them both - by the time one of them is over I'm ready for the next! And I loveee Fall.
34. Hugs or kisses? Both, please!
35. Most likely to respond? Hmmm...
36. Least likely to respond? Hmmmm...
37. What book are you reading now? Kristin Billerbeck: What a Girl Wants - I loveee her books, highly recommend them.
38. What is on your mouse pad? I'm on my macbook and not using a mouse, but at work it's one of our designers, Jordi Labanda's (European fashion designer) sketches.
39. What did you watch on tv last night? LOST
40.Favorite sound? Robbie's voice
41. Rolling Stones or Beatles? It depends on my mood, I love them both.
42.Where is the farthest you have been from home? I lived in Milan for a few months. AMAZING.
43. Do you have a special talent? I was a dancer and still love it.
44.Where were you born? Plano, TX.
45.Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? Everyone's!
46. How did you meet your significant other/spouse? Oooh good story. I'll post the specifics later. :o)

I tag:
Victoria at This English Girl's Life
Lis at Lis Loves
Pam at A Girl, Inspired
Carina at Carina the Blogarina
My new friend at Navigating the Quarterlife

Edible & Wearable

I love watching the food network for, well the yummy food they talk about, but my favorite shows are those about creative, edible masterpieces. It is amazing to me how talented these people are! Shows like Ace of Cakes leave me in a trance, because the designers apply their artistic skills and passions to create beautiful masterpieces that are entirely EDIBLE. One show I watched was about edible and WEARBLE art. Check these out!

This young bride was married in a wedding dress that is entirely edible! Her honey made the gown for her out of flour, eggs, sugar and caramel. They were maried in 2006 in the Western Ukranian city of Uuhhorod. It took him two months to make the dress and she said it was actually really comfortable!





This dress appeared at the Chocolate Dress Fashion Show at the Porte Versailles. The models wore edible chocolate attire. Exquisite!

This dress was made by pastry chef Zac Young and designer Nicole Romano. It is made with: 6 pounds of chocolate, 8 pounds of butter, 600 cookies and ZERO fabric.

And lastly, here is my favorite: Rieko Wada, a graduate of the French Pastry School and her daughter Kasumi Wada are launching a line Choclatines, "where chocolate meets couture". They will sell chocolate handbags, shoes and accessories. For example, you can have your wedding shoes re-created in chocolate! I'm already in love.

And if all of this yummy, wearable and edible art makes you in the mood for something fun, take a look at this "sweet" bra, it's $9.99 here. They even have a candy g-string! Oh my! :o)

PS. If you end up doing the "Love Story" scrap below, please remember to let me know so I can read it!

XOXO,

Consider yourself tagged!

Valentine's Day is almost here! If you are reading this...please consider yourself TAGGED!!! This little "scrap" is all about sharing your love story! I don't want to leave anyone out, so if you stumble upon this post and are reading this - YOU are tagged. Are you married? Engaged? How did your honey propose? Dating? How did you two meet? Post pictures! Give all the details! Please let me know after you post so I can be sure to read it! Oh, and if you hate Valentine's Day, feel free to just vent about it!

XOXO,

The Bag Game

Em from the Life and Times of Team Taylor and Jane from In the waiting line tagged me for a fun post all about your current bag. Thanks for the tag, ladies!

Here's how it goes:

1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. We want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house. No cheating!

2) Say how much it costs. This is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

3) Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why you’re showing everyone your bag.


My latest little buddy is this Marc by Marc Jacobs bag. Please excuse the bland backdrop for the pic, I'm at work (don't worry, I'm at "lunch") and am limited on creative photography settings. I love this bag, it holds it all! I always have to carry around a "bag", small purses just don't seem to cut it for me. This one has three main areas and smaller pockets within, so it's perfect for holding it all. I saw it at Nordstrom's in December when I was with the family one day doing Christmas shopping. I picked it up and walked around the department store for a while. We were a match made in heaven. I loved how it was blue. I always look for bags that are a fun color and aren't brown or black. It kind of drives me nuts if I have a brown purse and I'm wearing a black outfit for work, and vice versa - (I know, it's a little pathetic). I knew it wasn't an option to buy so I put it back down. When Christmas came, I recieved a nice sized Nordstrom's box from my parents - and inside was my new little love. How akward to mention the price, but since it's part of the game, it's here on Marc Jacob's website for around $300. They have some new colors out for Spring and Summer that are ADORABLE! Bright and fun. The leather is really soft and doesn't scratch easily. What an amazing gift! Thanks, mom and dad!


Oh I almost forgot, here's the inside snapshot. If you look closely you can see the inside has polka-dots, I love them! My bag necessities pictured: wristlet/wallet, lipgloss/chapsticks, sunglasses, bottle of water, phone, hand lotion, gum, and a notebook and pen for random musings and writings.
Who wants to play? Anyone can!! If you read this, you're tagged. :o) And specifically I'll tag...

Living in Dallas and Loving it

Quotes from the Queen

Jill

K-Love

Jules

Doing this post really reminds me how extremely blessed I am and how faithfully I have been provided for by God, my husband, family and friends - in all areas. I am a very lucky girl and feel overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you!

XOXO,

Homemady Hershey Kiss

Thank you for following me and leaving all of your sweet comments! It's so encouraging. I feel like I've been a little MIA! I have off work on Fridays (FABULOUS!) and tend to find myself wrapped up in the weekend shindig already by Thursdsay night. I think of my fellow bloggers often, and always plan on sitting down with the laptop, but somehow other things seem to find me, fun things none the less, so I consider it okay to postpone all writing actions. But then come Monday I find myself with the dire need to POST. So here we go!

Valentine's Day is this weekend! YAY! I'm so excited it falls on a Saturday. I'm still on the quest for the perfect V-Day, Saturday morning breakfast idea. I'll let you know what I find. We didn't have one this past weekend because we had a baby shower. It was a couples baby shower. Have you ever been to a couples baby shower? It was definitely a first for my husband and he really didn't know what to think about it, or what to expect. He and the guys ended up playing cricket (i know, cricket?? random) in the basement for a good, solid hour. Too funny. Speaking of V-day and my hubs...my honey-hubby is actually pretty romantic and gets MAJOR brownie points every year on V-Day for originality and creativity. This year I'm busting out the home-made gift theme. It's been hard thinking of things that aren't the usual home-made gift ideas: coupon book, decorated picture frame, etc. I was looking online for some fun ideas and found this one that I just have to share - it's so stink'n cute - a homemade 'Huge Hershey Kiss'. All credit goes to this little site I found, here.

This is how it's done...

Melt chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave until smooth. Use a clean funnel and a plate for the rest of the process - the funnel is how you get the Hershey Kiss shape. Put a little bit of aluminum foil in the neck of the funnel and then spray the inside of the funnel with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the funnel on its neck on the plate being careful not to tip it - the website where I found this says it will hold up if you're careful. Spoon the melted chocolate into the funnel. Wait overnight. Remove the dried chocolate from the funnel. If it's hard to get out, take a knife and run it around the perimeter of the funnel until it slides out. Wrap the kiss in tin foil and make a little message to stick out of the top. Too cute!

Do you have any good, home-made gift ideas?? Please share!

One can dream.

Um, how HOT are these Christian Louboutins??? I don't think my husband would mind if the shoe fairy wanted to fly on over and drop these in my closet. They're ONLY $1,295.00 :o)

Picture Credits

Hold that thought...

...in these CUTE and sassy notebooks! I am a complete and total sucker for notebooks and journals. I love how they can be so simple and beautiful at the same time. I love having my own haven for thoughts and creativity - a blog is awesome, but there is just something so special about good 'ol pen and paper. The creative possibilities of a journal are endless. And this time of year is perfect to bring out the fun and sassy prints. The ones above and below are on sale at Vera Bradley's website for $12 down from $15.

These cute little buttons of a notebook are only $11

I absolutely adore these "classic wallpaper" notebooks from Cole & Son. I love their wallpapers and I love this new line they have. They sell notebooks, addressbooks and notecards. You can find their stuff at retrotogo and a few pieces at Target!

Aren't these prints so fun?! Next up will have to be SHOESSS with fun and sassy prints. Ooohh exciting.

Happy Wednesday!

XOXO,

Steelers, furry Phil and an AWARD!

Man, there are a lot of Pennsylvanians ELATED about yesterday's game, including one happy husband of mine. I was a tad bit concerned there at the end, but our 'Stillers' pulled it off! And there were definitely a few commercials that got my approval. I always love the e-trade commercials. I just want to pick that little baby up and lay a big wet one on him! ADORABLE! But if I had to choose, the one below was my favorite. Which one was yours? Do tell!

So yes, the Steelers' win was a nice little perk. There were quite a few celebrations in PA 2day for the big event. But there was also another event in good 'ol PA, and this one isn't being celebrated quite as much. Oooohh Punxsutawney Phil, I need a word with you. Why oh why did you have to go and see your shadow? Six more weeks of winter? Really? But my flip flops are SO eager to come out from hiding!

It's a good thing you're cute, Phil.

Luckily, winter woes won't bring me down today, folks. Why? Because I received a friend award! WOO HOO! Seriously, what an awesome feeling to receive an award like this! I can't thank Em enought from The Life and Times of Team Taylor. You rocked my day! Here's the scoop:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to (eight) bloggers who must choose (eight) more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award." - What an awesome award!!

I would like to tag:
(PS. Even if you already have this award, you still deserve it again! Thank you for being a great blogging buddy!)

JLC
Michelle
Jill
Pink Loves Paris
Lindsey
Nantucket Karen
Ashley
Marie Reed

Happy Monday!
XOXO,