The Bonus of Doing It Yourself
Pinning and Pining
Yes, I've joined the rest of the world in pinning my favorite images on Pinterest. If you're over there, please stop by my little lemonade stand. I'm just getting started, but I'm planning on stirring up my own brand of visual ruckus alongside the mason jars and DIY goodness already found on that site. ;)
Adele on the Cover of Vogue
British singer Adele has always been known for her outspokeness and flawless style. Now, she is gracing the cover of the March 2012 edition of Vogue. I love what I've seen so far. What do you think?
Vintage Inspiration: Diahann Carroll
As the saying goes, trends may come and go but elegance never goes out of style. Take a look at these pictures of actress/singer Diahann Carroll in the fifties.
Birthday Tea Party, Anyone?
I love showing off creations by my talented readers. Take a look at the 100% edible (but-almost-too-pretty-to-eat!) pastries Utica Gray made for her daughter's 6th birthday tea party. 
This takes talent, folks. Have something you want to show off? Let us know!
Father-Daughter Surprise Dance Medley
Here's a great example of what you can do when you put your mind to it. Today's Youtube find has apparently been making the rounds for almost two months (even though we just spotted it this week on Yahoo). It's a great father-daughter dance number - with a twist! Take a look:
Awww, sure do miss my dad.
Halloween: The Saga
The office costume party sort of sneaked up on me this year. But I'm not going to run out to the mall in a panic. Nope, that was the old me. I'm thinking that with my quirky background, surely I already own more Halloween-y things than the average chick. So I'm going to "shop my closet" for the perfect pirate get-up. And if I need anything else, I'll make it with my own widdle hands. I've spent the last couple of days doing research on (OK, googling) female pirates and the one with the best swag in my opinion is whatever character Penelope Cruz played in that movie. 
I'd like my attire to be something like that, but a little more fancy. I've already started decorating a crushed velvet hat I bought a few years back and I've added a felt flower blossom to a plain eye-patch. I have a tiered lolita skirt, striped bloomers and some big lace-y shirts (one of them will surely work, right?). I think if I pile on enough seaworthy jewelry and accessories after that, I'll be all set.
Top left picture from Hostess with the Mostess
Just When You Think No One is Watching
WEEKS ago, the lovely Sabrina over at Pinkytopia gave me The Versatile Blogger Award for my work on Beautiful Brown Babies. I'm just getting around to blogging about it, and now that I'm finally back on the blogging bandwagon, I honestly think it means more to me at this time than it did when I first received it. I'm SO happy to be versatile. Many many thanks, Sabrina!!! I will be following the rules that accompany the award, which means sharing 7 things about myself. So here goes:
* I only eat the red skittles
* I love the beach
* Fall is my favorite season
* I like (slightly) burned popcorn
* I can’t draw to save my life
* I'm from the Deep South
* Music gets me through the work day
Thanks, again!
Happy Anniversary to the First Couple
Happy Anniversary to the President and the First Lady. Today marks 19 years of marriage for Michelle and Barack Obama. May they enjoy many more. Do you consider the Obamas an inspiration in your life?
Sayonara, August!
What a weird and wacky month. Exhaustion, earthquakes, hurricanes, and power outages. If I haven't been blogging as much as usual, it's because we've sort of been through the wringer. On top of that, my little one started Kindergarten on Monday and turned five on Tuesday. (Happy Birthday, Pumpkin!) His party is planned for Sunday, but everyone around us is so fatigued (is that a word?) it's hard to tell if anyone is going to show. We're going to make the best of it anyway, though. And do you know why? It's because in spite of all the weather/seismic/electrical activity, we're still here. Plugging away, barreling through, grinding it out, making headway. I don't know where we're going, but dammit we're getting there. As for you, August 2011. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
A New Favorite
August is no time to get caught with dry skin, amirite? The higher temperatures mean we have to bare more, so we have to stay moisturized. Plus, it's just good grooming. I don't think I'm the only woman who has a choice of creams, lotions, salves, oils, and butters to slather on when she gets out of the shower. But recently my collection had been seriously lacking and I know from experience that having products you're excited about makes you more likely to actually use them. So I decided to buy one of the items I'd bookmarked on Etsy. It was the Whipped Satin Luxury Cream by PinkDandy. I had contacted the seller ahead of time to make sure the fragrance I wanted - OK Sugar - was available. She was friendly and very open to customizing my order in just about any way possible, which means a lot to a very picky person like me.
My order arrived a few days later, well-packaged and with a generous sample of a second body cream labelled "birthday cake". I dove right in to the full-size body cream and - what a treat! It was very thick, but also light and creamy. The scent was divine. It reminded me of Jones Cream Soda, but with the tiniest twist of lemon. Very crisp and summer-y. I will definitely be using this cream for the rest of the season and beyond. And as for the sample, it is entirely too yummy. Since the Birthday Cake scent layers well (see what I did there?) with the OK Sugar fragrance, I keep the sample on my desk at work for little touch ups throughout the day. Here's a picture of my little haul today at the office.
Mom Jeans?
We've been talking a lot about children's clothing recently. But what about clothes for mommies? Do any of the mothers out there get concerned about falling off the fashion chart? I will step up to say that I do. When I hear someone joking about "mom jeans" I usually laugh right along because I assume that I don't wear them. But over the weekend, it hit me: "What if I do wear them and I don't know?" After all, I have no idea what they would look like and I'm years behind in finding out, so there was at least a slim chance that I might be sporting these obviously offensive garments without my knowledge. And that would be horrible. So like any modern mom, I hit up Google images to make 100% sure I owned nothing resembling such rags. What I found was a hilarious Saturday Night Live video from a couple of years ago which featured a "new" product called Mom Jeans. Please enjoy.
Mom Jeans - watch more funny videos
Angel Secret Review
So, I was looking for a season-less blazer. If this year's Spring cleaning taught me anything it's that there is almost no point to having so many clothes that can only be worn for a few months out of the year. I was looking for something out of the ordinary and slightly punk-y when I spotted this plaid power-shoulder blazer at a store called Angel Secret on eBay:
Don't worry - I had no intention of wearing it the same way as the model. That would be a bit much, even for me. No, I saw myself toning it down with a plain white shirt underneath, a well-worn denim skirt, and my strappy Aldo wedge thingees. I saw that the seller Angel Secret was locatedin Hong Kong, which meant the jacket could take a long time to arrive, but I took a chance and bought it anyway. A couple of weeks later it arrived in good condition. Here's my experience: The jacket is made in several sizes, but I was surprised that it fit as well as it did. I thought the sleeves might have been a tad too long. I'm not sure that's actually the case or if it has to do with my personal preference, but I rolled them up. This turned out to be just fine since the entire jacket is lined with a satiny dotted material. It has cute brass-y buttons down the front but they don't actually button; instead a super-strong hook-and-eye mechanism holds the blazer closed in the front. I thought this was a well thought-out detail because it's the same way that my favorite military blazer works. Anyway, here's the final result. (Forgive the blogger-at-work pics and the flat hair and the leggings- it's very cool in my office.)
I could definitely see myself buying again from Angel Secret. For $49 and free shipping I received a lightweight blazer that could be dressed up or down. In fact, I recently ordered this jacket from there...
...and I'll have a review of it very soon. As you can probably tell I'm a hard core fan of blazers because they help me to get out of the door in a hurry. There are lots of mornings when I'll just throw on a pair of jeans, a random top and a blazer. Regardless of the season, the blazer pulls it all together. Do you have your own secrets for looking "pulled together" in a hurry? If so, please share! Also, where do you get your blazers? I'm always on the lookout.
DIY Almond Rosewater Facial Scrub
I've been playing around with this for a few weeks, but I think I now have the perfect all-natural facial scrub. My skin is pretty clear right now and I think I owe it all to my new creation. I've been using it every night and I made it with four really simple ingredients. Here's what I used:
1/2 cup of almond meal (I got mine from Trader Joe's but there are lots of sources online, too.)
A generous amount of rosewater
2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil or almond oil
1 teaspoon of natural witch hazel (different from the kind at the corner drugstore)
Optional: capful of gin or vodka
I added the almond meal to a bowl and mixed in enough rosewater to make a very thick paste. (Feel free to experiment with the consistency, though, and make it the way you want!) Then, I whisked in the oil and followed with the natural witch hazel. I used a whisk or fork each time I've made it, though I supposed you gourmet-types could get a smoother concoction using a hand-mixer or blender. Any way you mix it, it's a great little scrub that isn't too rough and won't leave your skin all red and angry. In fact, it's pretty soothing. As with all natural products you'll need to think about how to keep it fresh. I've been either refrigerating mine or adding a capful of gin. With the gin it will last 3 or 4 days in a cool/dry place, but it'll keep for more than a week if you shove it in the refrigerator when you're done.
I'm really pleased with the results (obviously, right?) so I just had to share. But I'm still fiddling with other creations, so I'm pretty sure I'll have more of these projects to share down the road. Do you make any of your own skin care products? If so, which ones?
