Friday, September 28, 2012

High Five For Friday

Friday, Friday, Friday! Give someone a high five because we came to the end of another week! Woohoo!

As always, I’m linking up with Lauren over at From My GreyDesk for this High Five For Friday post.

1.)  Even though I’m not the most tech savvy person out there, my husband sure tops the list. Sweet Tolar got up super early to stand in line at the Apple store and score us both the new iphone 5. Ah, the benefits of having a husband who loves new gadgets. J Thank you sweetie!


2.) My awesome church, DC Metro Church (yes I talk about the church a lot – because it rocks!) held a Vision Partner's dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House to discuss where the church is heading in the next five years. The night was packed full of awesome people, amazing stories, a beautiful view of D.C., an incredible vision for the D.C. area and of course, yummy steak! I love going to a church where the Pastor has such a heart for furthering God’s kingdom.


3.) My super awesome friend Nicole had a birthday this week so my co-workers and I decided to celebrate her. She is the usual treat fairy bringing in delectable (fun word!) goodies for us to try all the time; it’s about time we returned the favor. I made these cat cupcakes to wish her a Happy Birthday.


4.) I finally figured out that you can assign labels to the alarms on your iphone. I had a little fun with mine, hoping the labels would entice me to get up. They haven’t really worked thus far, but I still have hope!


5.) Fall shows are back! And even though my new favorite show, Revenge, doesn’t start again until Sunday, ABC gave us a little treat by playing a special episode that catches you up from the whole first season. Yes, I’ve seen all of season one, but I still watched the special – the show is just too good!
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Tell me about your week in the comments section below. Have a terrific weekend!
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Current Crush: Gallery Walls

I realize I am extremely late to this trend, but I'm currently crushing on gallery walls. They are just so pretty, eye catching and unique.

[found on Pinterest here]

Tolar and I have collected some awesome prints from our travels and we want to display them in a distinctive way, that doesn't look cluttered. I'm searching for the right arrangement for our prints and trusty Pinterest is definitely helping. Here are a few groupings that I like:

[found on Pinterest here]
[found on Pinterest here]

[found on Pinterest here]

I love that gallery walls can include anything; photos of people you actually know, design prints, maps, letters, the possibilities are endless. They definitely give you the chance to display your personality in your house (or apartment – wherever you live!).

Once I complete my gallery wall, trust me, there will be a before and after blog post. I can't wait to finish!


(I’m linking up with Kristen over at The Wright Stuff for this post. Go check her blog out and maybe find a new blog or two to enjoy!)
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Everyone Needs A Laugh

Happy Wednesday everyone!

This week has totally turned crazy pants on me; there is so much to do and not enough hours in the day. But I have found that in order to maintain some sanity and keep a smile on your face, you just need to laugh. Life is too serious all too often, let’s take a few minutes and just laugh.

So I give you, Shocantelle Brown:


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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Very Jane

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In today’s economy, many people are looking for a good deal, yours truly included. Which is why I’m super glad that I discovered this awesome boutique deal site called Very Jane. I compare Very Jane to Living Social and Groupon, it’s a daily discount site just like those two, but the deals are for awesome products or gifts instead of restaurants or events. Most of the deals offer 50% or more off of the products.

I have bought some great things through Very Jane. I got my first bubble necklace from a vendor who worked with Very Jane to sell her products. These bubble necklaces have been EVERYWHERE, so when I saw a deal for one, I jumped at the chance to purchase the necklace.

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I [unfortunately for my bank account] have bought a lot of other things too:

-this awesome white jelly watch

-super cute stickers for my sister to use when taking photos of my nephew
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-an adorable pillow cover (I bought the one with the “&”)
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-plus some great items that I am saving to give as Christmas presents (sorry I don’t want to list them on here so they will still be a surprise come Christmastime)

Very Jane is simple, go to their website and sign up for an account and wait for the daily deals to arrive in your email inbox. The hard part is not buying every single deal you see.

Happy Shopping!

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Seattle Bound

Tolar and I are getting ready to travel to Seattle for an extended weekend trip and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve never been to Seattle or even Washington State, so I’m ready to check another state off my list and take in all that Seattle has to offer, with the man I love by my side.

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We are in desperate need of some time away just the two of us. Yes, we do get to spend time together here in D.C., but so often my OCD brain fills our time with cleaning and organizing the house and working on projects that we don’t get a chance to just relax and enjoy each other’s company (I definitely plan to work on that!) With our anniversary being at the end of March, we didn’t get to take a nice summer vacation this year. Yes, we did get to take an AWESOME anniversary trip to Hawaii in April, but we still need a break after working all summer long.

Me and Tolar at a luau in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Being OCD, I’m making a list of all of the places and restaurants we need to check out while we are in Seattle. Of course, visiting Pike’s Place Market, the Space Needle and taking a ferry to Puget Sound are on the list, but we also love to check out the hidden gems when we travel to new cities. Have you ever been to Seattle and do you have any travel tips/awesome places to share? If so, leave a note in the comment section and I’ll add it to my list. Thanks in advance for your fabulous suggestions!

I’m linking up with Carly from Lipgloss and Crayons for this #YOLOMONDAY post – so send me some awesome Seattle suggestions because YOLO!

Friday, September 21, 2012

High Five For Friday

Ok, you know the drill – it’s my favorite day of the week: FRIDAY! So here is a high five to you and a list of my top five moments from this week.

(Linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk for this blog post)

1.) I love my new Anthropologie coffee mug, it is a huge cup that I can fill with plenty of yummy goodness to start every day off right. I love to drink a cup of coffee (or two!) and read in the morning.


2.) I got to be in the house of the Lord (DC Metro Church) twice this week, outside of Sunday services! Tolar and I started our fall group through church and we are so excited. We signed up to take a Growth Track class concentrating on Freedom. The first class was great and has me pumped for the rest of the semester. I also attended an awesome DC Sisterhood service; filled with worship, a powerful message and plenty of beautiful ladies. I love my church! God is doing some amazing things in my life right now, I can’t wait to share them.


3.) I got a new Michael Kors catalog in the mail – this can’t be good. For my 30th birthday this summer, I bought myself my very first MK bag and I am hooked!


4.) At work, we held our very first (and may I add super successful!) social media call to promote our next show Black Watch. This is a production coming to our theatre from the National Theatre of Scotland and it is truly one of the most powerful pieces of theatre I have ever seen. It tells the story of the Iraq war through the eyes of the Scottish soldiers. This was the second time I saw the production and I was moved to tears because it is so heart wrenching and puts the war into perspective.  If you live in the D.C. area, RUN to buy tickets to the show!

(Photo from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Social Media call, with Black Watch director John Tiffany (center) and Black Watch cast members Scott Fletcher, Ryan Fletcher, Robert Jack and Chris Starkie.)


5.) This little guy brightens up my world - even being seven hours away. Yes, I am a super proud aunt and totally in love with my nephew. His mommy sends me pictures daily and I was able to convince her to download instagram so I can stalk interact with them even more. Too many pictures is simply not enough for Aunt Lins.

(Check out his awesome onesie that my Mom got him!)

I hope you had an awesome week. Leave a note in the comment section telling me about a great moment from your week.


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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Current Crush: Pattern Mixing (an intro)

Pattern mixing is such a cool trend, but I have always been scared to try it. Will people look at me and think I got dressed in the dark? Will they think I’m colorblind or something? Yes – these questions have crossed my mind. This week I finally got up the courage to try pattern mixing and the results were great!



As I said in my polka dot post, Old Navy got their groove back – and this outfit further illustrates that. Both my polka dot tank and my dalmatian print cardigan are from Old Navy. I actually tried them on together in the store just to make sure they would look ok with different colored shirts and I ended up liking the look.

These patterns are similar enough that I don’t look like a five year old helped me get dressed, but still different to help me conquer my pattern mixing fears. I really enjoyed this outfit because I felt like the patterns and colors helped add an extra bit of sass to my work ensemble (besides the sass that already exists in my personality!).

Cardigan/Tank: Old Navy. Necklace (old): Charlotte Russe. Pencil skirt: LOFT.


So I encourage you, go ahead and try simple patterns like mine if you are curious about this trend. I can’t wait to mix some bolder patterns together and see what kind of reactions I get.


(I’m linking up with Kristen over at The Wright Stuff for this post. Go check her blog out and maybe find a new blog or two to enjoy!)


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Pink Post

Pink

Pink by me on polyvore



Yes, my favorite color is pink and it has been for most of my adult life. Of course it makes me happy and keeps me feeling girly when I wear it, but there is a real reason why I love pink so much; and not just because I have a great love for Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. The origin of my love for pink is deeply rooted in my past (dramatic much?) dates back to when my older sister and I were children.

My sister is just two and a half years older than me, so growing up and still to this day, we did almost everything together. Whenever people would buy us presents as children, they would typically buy us items that were alike, just different colors.

“So Lindsay, how did they determine which colors to give you both?” Great question! They went by our eye color! My sister had brown eyes and I had blue (my eyes have now turned green – which I love!). Of course, you can’t give a little girl something brown so my sister ALWAYS got the red or pink item. And I always got blue because the item matched my eyes. Not that I wasn’t grateful, I just wanted a pink item every now and again. Being the youngest, I also wanted to be just like my big sister. I think that want and the jealousy of her getting the “girl” items made me fall in love with pink for good!

PS – if you’re curious, my sister now loves purple.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

September Birchbox


My September Birchbox arrived and this one was packed! Like I said last month, I anxiously await the arrival of my Birchbox each month, just like its Christmas morning. Which reminds me, for any guys reading (Austin – I’m looking at you!!!), a subscription to Birchbox is a great gift for the ladies in your life.


This month featured beauty products, organization and fashion – three things I adore! In addition to the actual products that were in my box, I received a Fall lookbook. It’s full of trends for hair, nails, face and fashion for Fall.


And now onto the items that came in my box:
1.) Color Club nail polish in Status Update: This is a dark blue/grey nail polish that is perfect for Fall nails and since it’s such a dark color, it can also take me into Winter. Love that!
2.) twistband Hair Tie: I’ve only ever used boring black hair elastics for pulling my hair back, this super cute neon band doubles as an elastic and a ribbon.
3.) tili bag: I absolutely love this since I love to be organized! It’s a cute zipper bag to keep all of my travel beauty products in that could otherwise leak in my suitcase. I love the sassy print!
4.) Kate Spade New York fragrance/Twirl: Every Birchbox comes with a fragrance sample which is an awesome way to test out new scents on your own skin. A little goes a long way with this Twirl scent, but I did like it. However what I liked best was that the fragrance sample had its own sprayer.
5.) Boscia Oil-free Nightly Hydration: I’ve been searching for a night cream and I can’t wait to give this one a try.
6.) WEI to Go Sleep Over Kit: This kit included cleanser samples as well as a face tint (which I assume is like a beauty balm – I’ll give it a try!). Skin care is such an important part of my beauty routine and I’m always looking for new products so I’m ready to put these to the test.

One super cool extra that I received was a coupon to the store Madewell. I’ve been reading about Madewell on a lot of blogs recently and this coupon is just the push I need to get me into the store. We’ve got one in Tysons Corner and one in Georgetown, so I’ll have to check it out (sorry in advance for any bank account damage I do, Tolar!)


I love that Birchbox introduces me to new products each month. This really is one of the coolest subscriptions out there, so if you haven’t already signed up – do it now! For just $10 a month, a subscription is totally worth it. Here is a link to Birchbox.

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Polish Swap

When I first started blogging, I signed up to participate in a Nail Polish Swap. I love painting my fingernails and toenails, especially during the summer, but I often get stuck in a rut of wearing the same color (my sister often teases me about this and tries to get me to branch out). So I thought participating in the Polish Swap was the perfect way to try new colors.

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The premise of the swap: I signed up on Carly’s awesome blog, Lipgloss and Crayons, filled out a simple form describing what I liked in nail polish colors and then I was paired with another blogger who would pick out two colors for me. In return, I picked out two colors for my partner and mailed them to her. I was paired with Sharee who blogs over at Mom Fitting It All In. Sharee sent me two colors from OPI.


She sent me a neutral color (Coney Island Cotton Candy) and a bright red (Danke-Shiny Red) – gotta love the names OPI gives to their colors.



I used the neutral color on my fingernails. I have honestly never used a color that neutral before and I have only had a French manicure a few times in my life. While the color wasn’t my normal bright pink, I did like it. I thought it gave me a nice shiny look to my nails and still gave me that pulled together feeling I get when I paint my nails. Also, since it wasn’t a bright color I didn’t have to worry about making my nails perfect, because you couldn’t see if any mistakes were made (that was a bonus!).




I used the bright red on my toes. I absolutely love this color – its super shiny and vibrant, almost like candy apple red. I feel confident that this color will be put in regular rotation. In fact, when it was time to take the toenail polish off, I actually reapplied the same color because I love it so much.



I have never purchased OPI products on my own before, I have only ever used them when I get a pedicure. However, I will be purchasing OPI in the future. The polish is so smooth and goes on like a dream. You don’t have to worry about it being too thick and the polish applies very evenly. It’s basically the most user friendly polish I’ve ever applied myself. I didn’t even need to worry about mistakes!

This polish swap was a lot of fun because it’s like having a personal shopper. You tell them what you like and they pick something out for you.  I can’t wait to participate in another one!

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Friday, September 14, 2012

High Five For Friday


Yippee! It’s Friday again. Even though this was a short work week for me, I’m exhausted and ready for another great weekend.

Linking up with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk for this post.

1.) Of course the birth of my nephew is top of the list and is the reason this was the best week ever!!! I’m so in love with the little guy; I totally cried when I had to leave him. Aunt Lins wasn’t ready to be 7 hours away from him.


2.) I hosted a Thirty-One gifts party. The product line is full of cute bags, totes, purses and other organizational items. We need to spread the word about this product line up here in the “north.” Southern girls know all about the greatness that is Thirty-One!

My friends April and Marcy checking out the goods.

3.) My church (DC Metro Church) celebrated 5 years on Sunday! DC Metro Church is the most amazing, life giving church. You should check it out if you live in the area.

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4.) While my sister and brother in law were at the hospital with our nephew, Tolar and I stayed at their house (along with my Mom Beckaroo!). This meant that we got lots of attention from their sweet dog Madison.

(Yes, I'm aware that every High Five For Friday post has included a dog.)

5.) Tolar and I went with some of our friends from church to the Hillsong concert up in Baltimore. Hillsong is a worship band from Hillsong Church in Australia and they have some awesome worship songs. The lyrics to so many of the songs are beautiful and extremely moving. It was so amazing to be in a place packed with thousands of people on a Thursday night worshipping God!

We had an awesome time driving up there and back with Kathy and Leslea (Layla - haha!)

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Current Crush: Statement Necklaces

Statement Necklaces

Clockwise from top left: 1.) LuLus 2.) Stella & Dot 3.) Storenvy 4.) Kate Spade 5.) Target 6.) Stella & Dot



For anyone following my blog, it is no secret that I LOVE accessories. They complete an outfit and can give new life to a closet staple

I’m crushing on statement necklaces right now. They are simple to work with, available at any price point and can go with so many looks. I have also found that statement necklaces are great conversation starters. When I wore my bubble necklace from Caroline G, I got so many compliments and then started telling everyone about where I found the necklace. You know an item is worth the money you paid for it when you get tons of compliments all day. Doesn’t that just make you feel good? 

(I’m linking up with Kristen over at The Wright Stuff for this post. Go check out her link up!)