Today I am dressed for success!!! I am off to my very first bloggers conference. I’m really excited :). I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I’m sure I will learn a lot, considering I’m still quite a novice. This is what I am wearing to the conference: a white blazer, a yellow top, my trouser jeans, my ballet flats and my crossbody bag. I want to be comfortable but a bit professional looking as well.
Recently, many people have been asking me what Bloglovin is? Bloglovin is a site that allows you to follow all your favorite blogs and notifies you when they have written something new. I like it because all you have to do is click on follow someone’s blog like mine, for instance, and then every time I add a new post, you will be notified. You can read all your favorite blogs in one place. Oh and a little FYI, last week, I was the #1 up and coming blog in the US on bloglovin. Woohoo!!! Anyways that’s what Bloglovin is in a nut shell.
I would love it if you followed me on Facebook, Bloglovin or via Pinterest.
May this blog inspire you to follow your favorite blogs via Bloglovin.
I have a busy week ahead of me. We just did a family birthday party for my son yesterday. I’m attending my first blogger conference tomorrow and our son’s birthday party with his friends and his actually birthday is on Saturday. So in light of all that, this post was written last week. I knew I would be too busy after the weekend to get anything written.
Click here to see the winner of the Stella & Dot giveaway. Congrats!!!!
This is what I am wearing today: a chambray top layered under a burgundy sweater, boyfriend jeans and my favorite flats. Perfect outfit to take my son to gymnastics in.
Jacket (R W & Co.). Jeans (Gap). Sweater (J Crew). Top (American Eagle). Shoes (Aldo). Purse (Fossil c/o The Bay). Watch (Michael Kors). Bracelet (The Bay). Necklace (Stella & Dot).
Book Review of Freakonomics
We recently read the book Freakonomics for my bookclub. I have to say I would have never picked up this book, had I not been in this bookclub, but I’m glad that I did. The book is written by a journalist and an economist. Rather than it being a dry book, which is what I had envisioned, it was enlightening and funny at times. It definitely makes you rethink the way you think about things, especially the way you absorb what the media says.
I found it to be a quick read and was well laid out. I especially liked the title of the chapters: Chaper 1: What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Chapter 2: How is the Ku Klux klan like a group of real-estate agents? Chapter 3: Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? Chapter 4: Where have all the criminals gone? Chapter 5: What makes a perfect parent? and Chapter 6: Perfect Parenting, Part 11; or: Would a Roshanda by any other name smell as sweet? You must be thinking what do Sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? Well according to the authors, cheating is what they have in common. More specifically, cheating to help the greater good. My other favorite chapter is the one about why drug dealers still live at home? I never thought about how they run their businesses and according to this book, they run the drug dealing business like one would run a McDonalds. I won’t go into further details. I’ll let you guys read it for yourselves!!!
The idea of this book isn’t to convince you that the author is right. The point is to get you to change the way you take in information; to question what people say and to not take things at face value. He discusses how when people give you stats, they are exaggerated on purpose to get people’s attention and how stats are always influenced by the person giving it. The message is question what people are saying and make up your own ideas of things.
They bring up some very interesting points such as the realreason the crime rate went down. They attribute it to Roe v. Wade and the fact that abortions became legal in 1973. They suggest that because those children, who otherwise would have been born to poor parents, would most likely become criminals, were now aborted, the number of potential criminals went down. It definitely is a very controversial statement and conclusion. I’m not here to argue whether I agree or not, I’m simply stating what they say. It certainly is something to think about.
I would recommend this book to read as it gives you new insights into what you believed and makes you rethink the way you take in information. Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?
It’s Friday and I’m exhausted!!!! Seriously planning a 4 year olds birthday is exhausting, but I’m loving every minute of it. It’s been a busy week and not just because of Aiden’s upcoming bday celebrations.
Thank you to everyone who linked up yesterday. You can still link up until Monday at midnight.
This is what I wore last Friday for a friend’s birthday. You can’t go wrong with classic black and white. I tried my best to keep my blouse straight, but short of taping it to myself, this is the best I could do, plus I was in a hurry to get out of the house.
This is what I wore yesterday: a striped tank top, military inspired jacket, skinny jeans and flats. I had a million things to get done while my son was in preschool. I honestly feel like whenever I drop him off at school, it’s a marathon race to try and get everything done. At least I succeeded.
Since this is miscellaneous Friday I thought I would include some interesting things I came across this week.
1. A friend of mine told me about this billboard she saw and thought of me :). This is for all those who wear Lululemons EVERYWHERE!!!!
2. I pinned this off of Pinterest. This is the perfect end of the year teacher’s gift. I’ll be recreating this for sure for my son’s teachers. So easy and now Starbucks sells the Grande reusable cups. Perfect teacher’s gift.
3. A friend of mine sent this to me. It’s beautifully written and very timely.
4. We have started a new family night time tradition, pillow fights. My son goes crazy for it. We literally destroy my nicely made bed, but the fun we all have is totally worth it. When was the last time you had a pillow fight? Try it. It will make you feel so much better. Seeing the smile on my son’s face and the giggles makes it so much fun. He loves hitting us with the pillows.
5. I noticed the other day that my favorite pair of stud earrings were quite dirty. I googled how to clean them and found the perfect way. Take Hydrogen Peroxide and put it into a small clean bowl. Add your earrings and let them soak for 10-15 mins. Remove the earrings from the bowl and take a toothpick and pick out all the dirt. You will be amazed at the results. My earrings look brand new, they are so clean. I love that you don’t use any harsh chemicals, it’s quick and almost everyone has Hydrogen Peroxide in their home.
I will be busy getting ready for my son’s family birthday dinner on Sunday. The in-laws arrive on Saturday. I’ll be a busy bee.
May this blog inspire you to not wear Lululemon pants out this weekend, to have a pillow fight and to clean your jewelry using Hydrogen Peroxide.
Bright, bold lips are a huge trend for Spring. I’ve always been more of a neutral kind of gal. I’m very local to MAC’s Satin Viva Glam II. This past November, Sephora was hosting a VIB Holiday Event, click here for the post, and I decided to go for a bright bold lip. I fell in love with Stila’s “Aria” all day liquid lipstick. It’s a great pop of colour. I also visited MAC and found a great shade of red called Lustre Lady Bug. My father-in-law did a double take at Christmas dinner. I don’t think he cared for the shade too much. It’s definitely not my normal go to look, that’s for sure. I like these 2 colours because they are exactly that, not my normal look. It’s not something I wear often and I tend to wear it when I feel brave. You can’t hide when wearing these colours.
Tips for wearing bright coloured lipstick
1. Go simple with the eyes. I just use a nude shade and line my upper eyes with a liquid liner. Less is more when it comes to your eyes. You want your lips to pop, not to look like a clown.
2. Use a lip liner. When wearing a bright coloured lipstick, you want to make sure that the lines are clean.
3. Don’t wear a bright colour if you’re worried about your teeth being yellow. Or just use a whitener beforehand.
4. You can’t hide when you’re wearing a bright colour. So own it, otherwise people will be able to tell you are nervous/self conscious.
5. Make sure you have a great corrector, in case you don’t stay in the lines. May I suggest Sephora’s Make Up Forever. It’s an eye make up remover but it works wonders on your lips as well.
6. Have a small compact mirror handy, you will need it to touch up your lips. I find with bold colours, they wear off your lipstick much quicker, so you’ll need to ensure you do frequent touch ups.
Here are a couple of ways I’ve worn bright lips
Here are some celebrities rocking a bright lip
You can see that these beauties kept their eye makeup simple and clean.
Ok ladies, now it’s your turn. Link up any fashion related post. I just ask the following:
1. Please follow my blog on Bloglovin and like it on Facebook.
2. Link back to my blog: Vodka Infused Lemonade (It’s just the nice thing to do )
I spent part of yesterday in search of Star Wars themed decorations for my son’s birthday. He is so excited. I can’t wait for him to see his R2D2 cake. He’s been talking about it for months now. Gotta say I never thought I would like Star Wars as much as I do. I love watching my son get so excited.
This is what I am wearing today: a blue striped shirt, boyfriend jeans, military inspired jacket and my Toms. I’m in a casual, comfy mood.
I’ll leave this post short and sweet. Have lots to do to prepare for my son’s birthday week celebrations!!!
May this blog inspire you to purchase something striped this Spring and to get some Toms shoes. I lived in mine last year. For every pair of shoes you buy, they donate a pair to charity.
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a Stella & Dot Jewelry Roll. Click here for details and to enter.
Also please join me in my link up tomorrow, Thursday April 25. Click here for details.
We had a nice low key weekend. My son’s dance class has been cancelled, rather the studio has gone bankrupt. I’m not an impressed Mama right now!!! What the hell!!! All the money and time spent and for what??? Nothing, no end of the year show, nothing. Thank God my credit card company is going to refund me our costume deposit and classes paid for that never happened!!!! We did manage to spend some time together and we shopped around for a big boy bed for my son.
How was your weekend?
I think Spring might have finally arrived??!!! Not sure. It’s been taunting us for a month or so now. Anyways it’s nice and sunny, but still not warm enough to bring out my Spring/Summer clothes. The best I can do is crop pants. This is what I am wearing today: my cobalt pants, polka dot blouse layered under my grey sweater and of course my nude bow ballet flats.
I have 2 very busy weeks ahead of me. My son’s birthday is on Saturday May 4, but we are doing a family celebration/dinner this Sunday. Next Saturday is his birthday party with his friends. I have a cake order for this Friday. I have my first blogger conference next Tuesday and I still have to get the goodie bags together. I find that to be the most challenging part of party planning is figuring out what to put into the goodie bags. I want the kids to enjoy what’s in them. I will definitely be in party planning mode and birthday brain for the next couple of weeks.
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a Stella & Dot Jewelry Roll. Click here for details and to enter.
Also please join me in my link up this Thursday April 25. Click here for details.
May this blog inspire you to purchase something cobalt this Spring and to enjoy the sunshine.
On Saturday I had to get some things at the mall and these printed black pants from the Gap caught my eye. I know I’ve said it before that the most printed pant I’ll ever wear is my pastel pink polka dot ones, seen here. Well I’m eating my words because I fell in love with these and at 40% I couldn’t resist!!! With the weird, unpredictable weather we are having these are perfect :).
I had Saturday off and I ran errands with my son, while my husband attended a work conference. I picked up this fabulous pink t-shirt from the Gap for $10 and I thought this weekend would be the perfect time to wear it. Many people have asked me how to dress up a simple t-shirt, so here you go. The simplest way to dress up a t-shirt is to add a great necklace and a jacket.
This is how I styled it on Saturday: boyfriend jeans, ballet flats, pink trench coat and a brown cross body bag and added a fabulous, simple statement necklace seen in the pictures above.
This is the perfect way to style a simple t-shirt for the weekend.
Don’t forget about my link up this Thursday April 25. Click here for details.
GIVEAWAY
Now for another fantastic giveaway. I’ve teamed up again with the fabulous Cara Hills-Nieminen from Stella & Dot to giveaway Stella & Dot’s newest Ikat Jewelry roll.
I saw this in person at their Summer launch party and I love it. It’s the perfect way to pack up your jewelry when you travel. I don’t know about you, but I basically throw my earrings into one box, my bracelets into another and my necklaces into a third. This roll will help keep your jewelry nicely organized and tangle free. Contest begins today Monday April 22 and runs until Sunday April 28,midnight.
Good luck everyone!!!!
May this blog inspire you to be bold and purchase a printed pant for Spring.
This giveaway is for a Stella & Dot Jewelry Roll. This giveaway is open internationally to people 18 years and older. The giveaway will run from Monday April 22th, 2013 12:00 AM PST to Monday April 29th, 2013 12:00 AM PST. ALL entries will be verified, so please be honest when completing them. The winner will be announced on this Rafflecopter after the winner’s entries are verified and the winner is contacted via email. To claim your prize, please respond to the email within 24 hours, failure to do so will result in a re-draw. Once the winner has been selected, the decision is final. This giveaway is not affiliated with Stella & Dot, Facebook, Bloglovin or any other social media platform.
I normally don’t submit posts on the weekends as I’m working, otherwise I’m spending it with my family. I made an exception for 2 reasons today.
Reason #1
I took my son to the park today. As we were getting into the car, a boy a few years older than my son and his father were just arriving. I smiled at them and said hi and the father said hi back. As I was putting Aiden into his car seat he showed the boy his lego blocks. The boy was so excited that he asked his dad if he could show Aiden his lego car. The father and I looked at each other and I said “wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could just get along like children do?” He smiled and looked at me and said “yes it would”. If only lego could bring the world together, like it did my son and his new friend!!! Neither boys realized that they were different from one another. It didn’t matter. NOW IF CHILDREN DON’T CARE THAN WHY DO WE AS ADULTS CARE???? Race, skin colour, religion, sex, culture, none of these things mattered to those 2 toddlers so why does it to us? It’s about time we as adults took heed from our children. Let’s take example from these 2 kids and start treating one another with love and compassion, instead of hatred; teach tolerance and acceptance instead of bullying and violence.
Reason #2
I ran into a friend of mine at the grocery store and she noticed how I had a cart full of dishwashing liquid. It was BOGO free. Anyways to make a long story short, she asked me to include sales in my blog. So here they are:
Gap: 30-40% off sale items in the store this weekend. I got a pair of crop printed pants for $21.
Thrifty’s
Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: BOGO Free
Echo Clean Natural Laundry Liquid: BOGO Free
Europe’s Best Frozen Fruit: $4.99/each. Save $2.
Purex TP: $5.99/each
Sponge Towels: $5.99/each
Hellmann’s Mayonnaise: $3.99/each
These are just some of the items that caught my attention. Check out Thrity’s flyer for more deals.
May this blog inspire you to start treating everyone with love and acceptance and to check out the latest sales at the Gap and Thrifty’s.
Today is Friday!!!!! Thank God!!! It’s been a busy week. I’m in party planning mode for my son’s birthday, so I’ve got balloons, decorations, loot bags on the brain.
My son’s idea of a pretty flower is a Dandelion. He likes it’s bright colour. Every day we get home, he goes and picks a “pretty flower for Mama” and we put it into water. I don’t have the heart to tell him that it’s a weed. He proudly picks as many as he can find and then gives them to me and says “here Mama, I picked you some pretty flowers”. His smile is so big and he gives the flowers to me with so much love that I have developed a heart for Dandelions. To my son they aren’t weeds, they represent sunshine and a pretty flower. I love his heart and his soul and how he can see the beauty in everything. Now if only we all could see the beauty in everything.
This is what I am wearing today: a polka dot shift dress, flats, an emerald green cardigan and a black bubble necklace. Today we are headed to run some errands, my son has a eye appointment (just routine) and then I’m headed out tonight for a friend’s birthday.
1. A friend of mine posted this clip from Britain’s Got Talent on Facebook and I just had to share it with you all. It left me with goosebumps and tears in my eyes. This is a Hungarian (woo hoo) dance group doing shadow dancing. If this clip doesn’t leave you moved and touched in some way then I dont’ know what will. It even moved Simon Cowell, and that’s saying a lot!!!
2. Someone posted this on Facebook and even before I saw it, I had mentioned to my husband how the horror in Boston should remind us all that every single day, people all over the world are living in fear and terror. I am deeply saddened by what happened in Boston and it should remind us all to love each other and to be more tolerant of one another. Another blogger posted that all this craziness is not about politics or guns, it’s about lack of love, compassion, understanding and tolerance. If we just all showed each other more love, we would not be in this predicament.
3. I can’t even begin to imagine what is going through the minds of Senators in the US right now. I don’t understand how the death of 20 toddlers is not enough to change minds and laws!!! You should be ashamed of yourselves!!!! These children need not die in vain, their deaths should be an impetuous to change the laws surrounding guns. We need to get help to those suffering from mental illnesses and we need to ensure that we do everything in our power to keep guns out of harmful hands. NO ONE NEEDS AN ASSAULT WEAPON TO DEFEND THEMSELVES!!! PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
4. Gwyneth Paltrow has been in the news recently about a comment she made about not giving her kids gluten and dairy. I saw her on the Dr. Oz show last week and she elaborated on what she mean’t. What she said was that at home, she tries to cook clean and healthy for her kids. Her son suffers from Eczema and eliminating gluten and dairy helps him. She wasn’t saying that she deprives her kids, but that she is trying to feed them healthy food. What’s wrong with that??? That’s exactly what I do with my son. At home we try to eat healthy. Sure we eat McDonalds, have pizza and sushi on occasion, but he also knows what a healthy meal looks like. He knows that all that fast food is a treat and that his vegetables and fruit are healthy and will help him grow up to be big and strong. I wish more people were conscious and aware of what they were eating and feeding their kids, then maybe we wouldn’t have such high rates of obese and diabetic children. Here’s the clip in case you’re interested.
Don’t forget about my link up next Thursday April 25. Click here for details.
May this blog inspire you to pick some Dandelions and to show compassion and love to others. Let’s start making this world a better place and get rid of the monster’s who perpetuate hate!!! I’ll end this blog with my favorite movie Love Actually’s song All You Need Is Love!!!!
Thank you everyone for your compliments yesterday on my cake. Indeed I am a busy Mama and I’m not sure I would want it any other way.
Today I am linking up with Tara from Mix & Match Fashion for her What I Wore To Work Link Up. This is what I am wearing today and would probably wear to work and then change into my scrubs.
I am also linking up with Bri from Work Clothes, I suppose for her Link Up on florals. I don’t own any florals so I thought I would put together a collage of florals items from The Gap.
It’s that time of the month for another link up, next Thursday April 25. This time you can link up any fashion related post. I just ask the following:
1. Please follow my blog on Bloglovin and like it on Facebook.
2. Link back to my blog: Vodka Infused Lemonade (It’s just the nice thing to do :))
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