Time to Get Crafty

Last year, I had a few friends over the night before Thanksgiving to make wreathes. I am going to make that night a yearly tradition. It would also be fun to do this for Xmas in July. I found a wreath at Pottery Barn (on the right) that I used for my inspiration. I am now looking around for inspiration for this year's craft. I am liking what I am seeing! Ann and Mir, I've found some projects for you!!

Craft Idea for Ann:
Ann's whole house has a beach theme and I LOVE how she's incorporated that into her Christmas tree. I love your beach tree, Ann!! I found these shell Christmas trees at Neiman Marcus that would be really easy to make. Click here to see a bigger picture.






Craft Ideas for Miriam:
Two things: since you know how to sew (right?!?!) , pillows like these would be cute. However, they are only $20 so it's probably cheaper to buy them. They are from Neiman Marcus and so are the cute red trees. These trees reminded me of your decor. Here is a link for the trees.



Ideas for Me (Laura) :

These are both from Pottery Barn. The one to the left is a grouping of oversized ornaments, hung outdoors. The retro ornament trees would be easy to make too.

90% Off at Restaurant.com

There are only a few more hours left on this great deal from Restaurant.com. They sell discounted gift certificates to restaurants. For example, a $25 gift certificate usually goes for $10.

But for the rest of the day, their gift certificates are NINETY PERCENT OFF! That means you can get a $25 gift certificate for $1!

Each restaurant sets their own terms--some require that your bill total at least $35 to use a $25 certificate. Others set restrictions on dates the certificate can be used. Most are good for one year after purchase.

So check it out and see what's available near you!

Don't Have to Pay Full Price @...

Several months ago, I was in Express, buying a lot of clothes. I know they send out coupons but I didn't have one with me. I went to the check out and asked if I could get a discount without having the coupon in hand and she said she'd give me 20% off!! SCORE! I was in there tonight and found these jeans (to the left)that I really liked. My friend had a $30 off a $75 purchase coupon. I asked at checkout if they could give me a coupon deal on the jeans even though I didn't have one. He asked me if I had seen any discounts in particular. I told him my friend had a $30 off coupon and he said he'd give it to me too. SCORE AGAIN. Express has EXCELLENT customer service in my book. Stores usually won't give discounts without a coupon but Express will!

Never Too Early

It's never too early to start thinking about fall. It's my favorite time of year! I am so excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm already scoping out the the Halloween decorations and costumes for this year. I haven't seen anything in stores yet but Pottery Barn Kids has stuff online. I take that back. The grocery stores have Halloween candy. I think Children's Place is coming out with their costumes this week. Here is my post from last year. I can't wait to get out my Halloween decorations!!

Pearl Swimwear

I have found a fantastic line of swimwear! Everybody may already know about this...but I just discovered it! I was invited over to a friend's house for a private showing with the designer herself! We are so lucky that she lives in Laguna Beach! :) I tried on all her suits and she adjusted them on me, critiqued them, and then chose the best! Her suits are modest yet not frumpy!!! They are classic and incredibly flattering with a great style.

The suit I bought is like wearing a girdle underneath a swimsuit. I have a heck of a time getting it on but then it sucks it all in and looks fabulous! At first, I was a little skeptical of the lower cut legs, but I am sold! They are so flattering. Her suits have a 40's feel to me. I wore one to the beach and received so many compliments. What more can you ask for? :) The suits are different and so cute! Unlike anything else out there on the market. And very well made. Check them out...

http://www.pearlswimwear.com/

She is starting to get a celebrity following too!

Garden Party Jewelry

I am so in love with "garden party" rings right now. I love the big bold look and I think garden party is the prefect description. Here are a few of the fabulous rings that I found. They first came on the scene last year during Chanel and Dior runway shows. They can be found in every price range and I've seen them at Aldo Accessories & Forever 21.

LOVE my Pods

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Ipod. It is one thing I cannot live without. It plays all my favorite music, tv shows and movies and the best part is that it matches my kitchen :o) The only think I hate is wearing it on my arm when I workout. For Mother's Day, Nathan bought me an IPod Shuffle. I think I love it more than my Nano! I can just clip it to my shirt and it's weightless. I highly recommend it for workouts.

Max Rave at Wal-Mart

Max Rave of BCBG Max Azria now has a line of shoes for sale at Wal-Mart! I love these cute little ballet flats--and for $13 you just can't beat it!

Only problem is that they were pretty well cleared out at my store. Not to fear--you can order them online and have them shipped to your store for FREE or pay 97 cents for shipping to your house!

I got them in black and pink. If I like them enough, I may get the blue as well. They also come in white and gold.

A Glimpse Into Why My Husband Won't Shop With Me

Spring is just around the corner, and I was thinking I could hurry it along with a new, flirty skirt. My friend has this darling denim pencil skirt that I covet and I've been searching all over for the perfect version. My vision of the perfect denim pencil skirt:

1. Dressy enough to be dressed up for church, but casual enough for weekend wear with sandals.
2. Long enough so that I can gracefully bend to pick up a screaming baby without flashing passerbys on the sidewalk or congregants in church.
   
3. Fitted so it's cute; not so fitted that I look like a bloated mermaid.
4. A bargain is always nice--come on, it's not like I really need a denim pencil skirt.

Have you ever gone shopping with this kind of a perfect wish list in your head, only to realize after about the 20th store that this may take a while?

Well, I found a great help: glimpse.com. Just type whatever you're looking for in the search engine and it will show you all the retailers selling that particular item online. It's like I just walked into the Denim Pencil Skirt Boutique!

So, I've narrowed it down to the following options:

1. Old Navy High-Rise Denim Pencil Skirt, $29.50
Cute, but is it too casual? And is it long enough?

2. Target Black Denim Pencil Skirt, $19.99
Dressy, but is it long enough? Gotta love a bargain. I love Target.

3. Denim Pencil Skirt, Newport News, $29.00
It's long--but is it too long? Or maybe I need it that long. Good deal.

4. J. Crew Denim Pencil Skirt, $69.50

Probably more than I need to spend--is the wash a little weird?

5. Victoria's Secret High-Waist Denim Pencil Skirt, $49.50

What are the chances I look like this when I put on this skirt? Setting myself up for disappointment!

OK--are they all starting to run together now? Have you started going cross-eyed yet? Now you know why my husband hasn't gone shopping with me since we went ring shopping.

Clearly I need your help! Which is your favorite?

Cake Mix Recipes

Ann, Miriam and I are all advocates for healthy eating BUT if you have nothing left in your pantry except a box of cake mix, this little book is GREAT! It has fast and east recipes for cookies, cakes, brownies, fruity cakes, bundt cakes, muffins, breads: all using a box of cake mix. I've had the peanut butter cookies (which uses a box of yellow cake mix) and they were delicious. The author has other cookbooks such as, "101 Things to do with a Slow Cooker." Click here to see a complete list. Here is the recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup soft butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 choc chips
Preheat oven to 350* Mix half the cake mix with butter, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Stir in choc chips. Stir in rest of cake mix until absorbed. Bake 10-12 min on ungreased cookie sheet.

Calling all Mean Moms

Any mean mom's out there? You know, mom's that make their kids eat vegetables? That have fixed bedtimes for their kids? That monitor their kid's television watching? I am proud to say that I have earned this title and then some!!!! Each time Kate tells me that we "are different", I pat myself on the back and smile. I know I am doing a good job!!!!! I have stumbled upon the funniest blog. I relate so well to each post that I wonder if she is writing about my family! I spent a good hour the other night reading and reading and reading this blog and LAUGHING MY GUTS OUT!!!!! I will warn you however, I think it is funnier the more kids you have and the older they are.

So, the next time you have a big chunk of free-time (ha ha), and really want a good laugh check out this blog.....

http://www.themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

She is even running a contest to see who the meanest mom out there is. HILARIOUS! One mom wrote in that she was trying to keep her kid from running into the busy street but her arms were full, so she did the only thing she could. She swung her purse as hard as she could at her child, knocking her to the ground!!!! Love that mean mom!

Enjoy!!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

It all started with shoes! Where else would it start with me :o} My sister Ann had the cutest espadrille wedges from Charlotte Russe and I bought a pair too about a year ago. I don't shop there often since C.R. is about 10 miles from us. I was shoe shopping on SteveMadden.com the other night and came across this shoe to the left and fell in love with it. Of course, it was a clearance shoe and only left in size 10. I looked at Nordstorm.com and other sites and couldn't find them. I checked to see if Charlotte Russe had something similar and I found the exact shoe! Fraction of the price and quality but I couldn't pass it up. I went there yesterday and found TONS of cute tops, accessories and shoes. I will post some of the cute finds. I bought these shoes and this pink top.

Here are some other cute finds. Yes, you have to dig since they have a lot of "barely there" clothing items :o) I think C.R. does a REALLY good job of including all the designer elements and details in their accessories.
These look just like Chanel sunglasses

These look like Ray Ban sunglasses

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Here are a few tops that I thought were really cute (my taste may not be yours!)

Few Household Helps

I just bought some Snack Traps at Babies R Us. They are a great alternative to snack bags or cups with lids. The snacks don't fall out and it's easy for little kids to get their fingers in them.

I've blogged about these hangers before. These are the kid hangers and I bought them at Target. I threw away all the pastic hangers in Brooke's closet and put everything on these velvet hangers. Gymboree shirts used to always fall off hangers. Not anymore! Click on this link to see if the pink ones are available at your Target; or this one for the blue ones. They also come in yellow. Click here to see.

My friend Ashley gave me a set of these dryer balls. I still use Downy because I love the smell but I also use these for extra softness. Here are the claims:

Save money and energy when you use Dryer Balls with your laundry. Tumbling in the dryer, the Dryer Balls lift and separate laundry allowing efficient airflow and cutting your drying time. Their soft tips massage fabrics giving you softer and fluffier clothes without using chemicals found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets. They also significantly reduce lines and wrinkles. And Dryer Balls last for years so you can use them over and over. Includes 2 Dryer Balls.