#LoveYourSelfie

In honor of #LoveYourSelfie week on the Today Show.

You go, Whitney Thore.

My Birthday Card for Julie (Fall-To Layout #278)

On Monday, I posted the birthday card that my sister Julie gave to me.  Today, I'll be posted about the birthday card that I gave her.  I used Fall-To Layout #278 as a guide.  I went with blue and orange for school spirit and yellow to balance things out.  She's not too much a glitter sparkle card, but I wanted to add a tiny bit for a touch of Tina.
Card Specs:
Rub-On: Karen Foster Design- Birthday
Flowers: Recollections, Prima
Brads: Recollections- Silver Circles, American Crafts
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker, Stickles

Happy Birthday, Julie!

We had a little snow this morning.  When I checked the closing and delays page on the local radio station's website, I was surprised that no Maryland schools were delayed, since the roads looked a little slushy.  OPM said that the federal government was open, but we had permission to do unscheduled leave or telework.  Work from home?  Yes please!

I wore my new Revlon Matte Balm in Standout around the house to test its wear.  At some point, RJ came to visit and gave me a few headbutts.  He came away from that cuddle with a reddish pink streak on the bridge of his nose.  Oops, sorry, kitty.

When I was done with my work day, I went to Panera for a salad and a red velvet cupcake for Julie.  I headed over to my parents' house to visit.  This year, I gave Julie a Zappos.com gift certificate, a bag each of Swedish fish and gummy bears, and some tiny knot earrings from my shopping trip to Kohl's.  I looked this pair up on the Kohl's website for curiosity sake.  The brand is called "Itsy Bitsy" and I noticed that the reviews for this pair of earrings were kinda funny.  "These earrings are too small!"  Well, um, they are called Itsy Bitsy.  Isn't it fitting?

I also saw the nice box that the cremation folks put Ginger's ashes in.  I still expect her to be roaming around the house. :'(

Book #2 of 2014

I picked up this book up at the library recently: The Truth About Style by Stacy London.  It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it.  It was like reading What Not to Wear, minus the appearance of Clinton Kelly and add in London's personal stories. 

She made over several women throughout the book and each makeover was documented with what the style (or emotional) hang up was, how does London relate to that problem, what the final makeover look like, why it works, and some reflection to tie it up. 

I found London refreshing on WNTW (so sad the show is over!), but some of show's appeal lies in the interaction with Stacy and Clinton.  With the book, it's about London and that's okay.  She's entertaining all on her own!  There were parts of the book that made me laugh out loud (thankfully, I was by myself) and others that made me nod my head in agreement.  I found myself relating to what she had to say on her skin, weight, and marital status.  She even has a cat.  Maybe we can be friends!

There's a shopping guide in the back of the book and I thought it was cool that she included places where people on a budget could find clothes: Target, Old Navy, New York & Company, etc.  Style and fashion shouldn't just be for the rich and famous.  Everyone should be able to feel confident in cool clothes at an affordable price.

I finished reading it last night, but wished there was more to read!  I thought reading this book was very timely since the TODAY show is doing a week-long segment on body image and self confidence.  #loveyourselfie.

One thing I found amusing while I was reading this book was that a previous reader of the book was upset about the misuse of words.  "Flare" was crossed off and replaced with "flair" and "nerve-racking" with "nerve-wracking."

My Birthday Card from Julie

While my crafty abilities involve ink and embellishments, my sister Julie channels her drawing skills.  Every year, I look forward to some drawn birthday card.  Have I mentioned before that she was the cartoonist for her undergrad/master's newspaper (it was the same school)?  The past couple of years have featured the family cats (RJ, Ginger, Oliver).  Here's the one I got this year...the surprise was the appearance of Harry the Homeless Cat on the back of the card.  I guess he's part of the family now, even though he's not really ours.  We're not really sure where he came from, but since Mom feeds him and we made a makeshift hut out of a recycling bin for him, he's smart not to turn that down.

 

 

Birthday Celebration #2 and Some Shopping

I got some birthday cake on my birthday last week and then today, I started the day off with brunch at Pacci's Trattoria. The place opened up at 10:30 AM and my family (parents, sister, cousin and aunt) wasn't the only one that showed up right as the doors were opening. I had high expectations from this brunch because I heard such good things about it from my uncle. Wow, he was not kidding! Eggs Benedict, home fries, bacon, 3 kinds of salad, scallops, oysters, shrimp, crab legs (which my mom LOVED), gnocci (my favorite dish from this place!) and some small desserts. I had to definitely pace myself so as not to feel really sick. 

After brunch, I went to get some errands done.  My goal was to get Julie's birthday present and some cat food for RJ.  I had half luck.  I went to a Target that I hadn't been before, but didn't find anything there.  Petmart and Kohl's were right next to this Target, so I wandered there afterwards.  They didn't have the cat food that RJ usually eats.  I did find something for Julie and myself at Kohl's (60% off + additional 10% off at the register on both items!).  I won't share what I got Julie (so I won't ruin the birthday surprise), but I can show what I got myself...I love this necklace! :)

I went back home to camp out on the couch (NCIS marathon on TV!), but then went out again to get this new Colgate toothbrush + whitening pen duo.  It was on sale at CVS (which would also give me $5 Extra Care Bucks) and I had a coupon from the Sunday ads.  I'm very curious to see how it performs.  Using the $5 Extra Care Bucks from this purchase and $6 in CVS coupons AND a Buy 1, Get 1 50% off deal, I snagged 2 Revlon Matte Balms (colors: Standout, left, and Shameless, right) for around $4.00 ($19 if bought at full retail price with no discount).  Whoa, the purple is definitely out there, but I think if I paired it with a pink gloss or something, I could rock it in the fall.  

Coworker's Birthday Card

My friend Meg was getting over the flu this week, so we thought it'd be best to postpone my birthday celebrations until she's 100% better.  I was already sick this month.  No need to relive that again!

Julie came over for pizza dinner (Hawaiian and sausage/mushroom).  We ended up watching Crazy, Stupid, Love on TV and several episodes of Modern Family.

Here's birthday card that I made for my coworker whose birthday is next week.  I wanted to use two things that I haven't used in a while: the pansy background stamp and the rose coral ink.  My coworker is very much into zen stuff so I figured flowers would be a good fit.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral
Stamp: Hero Arts- Pansy Portrait
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow
Rub-On: Karen Foster Design- Birthday
Brads: Recollections- Silver Circles
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker, Liquid Pearl in Buttercup