Happy Weekend and a Thank You!

Sorry I've been M.I.A most of the week, I've been holed up in manufacturing facilities handling a project.  As a follow up to last Friday's post, I did end up checking out the Target + Neiman Marcus collaboration, well let me say I was disappointed.  The price points didn't match what I saw at all.  Just too much money for the quality, I was expecting a bit more polish for the price and it just wasn't there for me, so I walked out empty handed.  I mean the Oscar de la Renta tote that I wanted was $60, which in reality was a basic natural canvas tote with a print on it - NOT worth $60.  So thanks, but no thanks.  I'll wait for the clearance prices.  And I don't know about your Target, but nothing has sold at my Target - the shelves are overflowing with this stuff.  Enough of my rant, on to better shopping news...

A couple of weeks ago I won a sweet $200 gift card giveaway for MaxStudio over at Sandy a la Mode!  I mean, wow, right?!?  I wasted no time picking out some goodies, check 'em out:

 

Here they are in full (except the green/black check top - which I couldn't find online anymore)

 Scarf Print Tunic

Ballet Flat 

 

I love everything I picked out, just perfect!  So, a HUGE thank you to Sandy for hosting such an amazing giveaway!  She has a great blog so make sure you stop by and check it out!

 

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A Few Thank You's

I must take a minute to say a few thank you's for some awesome recent giveaway wins and to all my new followers!  So exciting!

First of all thanks again to Jessica over at Bedknobs & Baubles for the $100 Shopbop giveaway from a few weeks ago - so awesome!  (she's got another one going on right now so hop on over and enter)!

I won Oh To Be A Muse's first prize in the Falling for Goodies giveaway and wow, did I get a ton of amazing items.  check 'em out:

Awesome, right?

I also won the fabulous October Sponsors giveaway over at Glossy Blonde and boy I got a bunch of goodies!  And the best part was I discovered some pretty cool blogs (and super nice bloggers) along the way!  Feel free to check them out!
Jessica Who?
The Wright Stuff
Art By Jacy
LIZstyling
Love, Laughter and Lipstick
Of Thoughts and Things
Hi!  It's Jilly
Life Unsweetened
Boys will be Boys
Life as Mrs

And last, but not least, I won a $100 Mimi Boutique credit and a shawl from Shawl Dawls from ModlyChic!  I haven't gotten them yet, but you can be sure I'll share what I get when I get it!

Also thank you so much to all of my new followers, I'm so happy to have you.  I'm so dangerously close to 100 followers I don't know what to do with myself.  Thanks again!

A Thank You!

I was lucky enough to win some calling cards from the super talented Caroline over at Push The Envelope!  Check out the goodies!

Let me tell you that I'm in love with these cards, they are beautiful!

(sorry for the crappy iPad picture, didn't realize there was a shadow until I uploaded the photo - duh)

Caroline always does such beautiful work and she's such a joy to work with (this isn't the first time I've gotten some goodies from her).  I highly recommend Push The Envelope if you find yourself in need of fun paper products!

A Little Friday DIY and Thank You's!

Is it Friday yet?  It is?  Oh, thank goodness, because it's been one heck of a long week playing catch up and miserable chilly rain with some thunder mixed in for good measure.  I'm ready for some sun and warmer temperatures - was it really just a week ago that I was sweating it out in shorts?  Welcome to Spring in the South.  Anyway, between my kiddo's barf sessions last weekend I tackled a short and sweet DIY.  I found these two remnants at Joann recently and snapped them up.

I had seen the nailhead corkboard DIY on Bryn Alexandra's blog amost a year ago and wanted to tackle it in my own home.  Since our house is on the market, I wanted to "neutralize" the inspiration board in my office area and make it seem more like art than a jumble of images that people don't really want to see that don't know me.  Here is the before:

 And here is the after (I decided not to put the nailheads on it because I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this fabric on the board when we move).

Now for the other fabric - I have a hand-me-down white wicker chair that have some pillows that just don't work.  So I just draped (for now) the fabric over the pillows to make it look prettier and blend with the room better - no one ever sits in the chair so it will stay nice and fluffy and in place.  It made all the difference in the world.  When we move I'll actually commit to a recover of the pillows ;o)

All in all, it took me probably about 45 minutes from start to finish.  Easy peasy!

Also, I've neglected a couple of thank you's for some recent giveaways.  Back in January I won a $25 gift certificate to ShoeClips.biz from the lovely (and super chic) Jessica over at Style Obsession.  Let me tell you I had F-U-N picking out my winnings - here's what I picked:

Lovely black chiffon flower shoe clips and some sparkly gold shoe clips.  I love them so much!  Shipping was fast and ordering was so easy.  Thank you Jessica!

Earlier this month, I won a $45 CSN gift certificate from the stylish Shea over at Bon Chic Bon Gastronomique.  I haven't spent it yet, but soon, very soon.  Thanks Shea!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Happy Weekend and Outfit Posts!

It's that time of week again. 

It's what everyone looks forward too all week long. 

My outfit posts! 

Ha!  You guys totally thought I was going to say "it's Friday" or "the weekend's here" or some nonsense like that, didn't you?  Just kidding.  We all know the weekend is more important than my outfit posts, sort of.  I crack me up.  I'm in a fabulous mood because my two finals are taken, it's going to be in the 60's here this weekend, and I have a sort of "Spring break" tomorrow - no class!  Yipee!  On to the outfits and the debut of the new 'do!

Picture is a little dark so you can't tell but the cargos are green and the top is black.

Cardigan - Barneys CO OP

Top - Target

Cargos - Old Navy

Shoes - Toms

Necklace - Charlotte Russe

Now with my hair 4 inches shorter and back to it's dyed natural red.  Let me just say that my curl has gone.  I swear this is as straight as my hair has ever been that I can remember.  I used to have tons of curl and now I don't even know what to do, it's like I'm in another dimension.  But I'm kind of digging it, I just have to figure out what products work now.

Cardigan - Vince

Top - Target

Leggings - Forever 21

Necklace - House of Harlow

Wellies - Hunter

(this is totally the "uniform" I addressed in this Uniform Dressing post)

Likey the Hunter Wellies?  Well I totally scored them with a Shopbop gift card I won from Connie over at   her beautiful blog Sogni et Sorrisi!  I was so happy I won!  If you don't already read her blog, then head over and check it out, you will not be disappointed.  It's jam packed with inspiration and goodies.  And as a bonus, Connie is one of the nicest bloggers out there my friends!

 Oh and I totally signed up to do Kendi's 30 for 30 challenge - eek!  Fingers crossed I totally don't end up wearing the same outfit for 30 days straight because of a potential "deer in headlights" situation.  :o)

A Bunch of Thank You's!

I've been really slack in giving a shout out to some giveaways that I've won over the past few months.  First off, way back in April (gah!) I won a 5x7 FLOR rug from La Dolce Vita.  I chose Martha Stewart's Faux Bois pattern, it is gorgeous and perfect in my daughter's room:

I love it and want to thank Paloma for hosting such an amazing giveaway!  Thanks!

Back in June, I won a $25 Push the Envelope Studio gift certificate from the very talented Kirsten over at 6th Street Design School.  I selected the chevron stripe cards with my name on them and some stickers with my daughter's name on them.  They are beautiful!  The super sweet and super talented Caroline at Push the Envelope was so easy to communicate with and got my stuff to me so quickly, check it out (ignore my crappy photography skills):

I will certainly be a repeat customer!

Earlier this month, I won a $25 gift certificate to Bellabini Boutique via the lovely ladies over at BonBon Rose Girls.  I'm not sure what I'm going to choose yet, but I'll let you know. 

Also, earlier this month, I won a fab prize pack featuring at insulated tote and fleece picnic blanket over at A Townhouselady's Life, which are awesome.  No picture (I'm having issue uploading pictures lately since Blogger changed the pop up and I can't figure it out), but trust me they are awesome and I'm in love with the insulated tote!

I've been very lucky for sure and I'm super grateful for all the fab giveaways!!!  Thanks again everybody!!

Happy Weekend and Children's Clothing Keepsake Quilt Finale!

I hope everyone has a marvelous weekend! Since my hubby is working almost non-stop it's going to be another low key one (and a bit somber with the anniversary of 9/11, which always makes me very sad).

On a lighter note, remember a couple of months ago one of my friends was working on a keepsake quilt made from my daughter's clothes that I wanted to keep, but not store?  Well, it's now completed and is absolutely beautiful!  It is exactly what I had pictured in my mind and she did an amazing job!  Here it is (from her blog):

Now some pictures I took (not the best in the world, I'm no photographer.  Obviously - ha!)

The center of every square has a motif from from the clothes in it, either the print from the front or some sort of other decorative embroidery, even a pocket from one dress.  So special!

The back of the quilt is Paula Prass' Garden Trellis in pink (a perfect mid-scale print in a pink that's not too sweet or hot).

The top full size picture isn't showing as large on my blog - but pop over to Kheli's blog post for a larger picture and a great description.  Kheli is a fabulous quilter who has an Etsy store too.  Keep her in mind if you ever want an amazing quilt made.  Her work is perfection!  I can't thank her enough for this treasured keepsake!

Images via Remember Your Karma and moi

I'm a winner!!!

Yay!  Nesting Newbies posted a picture of me with all my great swag from their Winter Bluebird Bag giveaway today.  Pop on over to check it out and also their fab nesting magazine.  A new bag giveaway will be ready soon, so make sure you keep checking back so you can enter.  See people really do win these things!

And yes, all the stuff is so great and so useful.  Don't you love the bird print pillow and the great flower photograph (that will be hung in my daughter's room)?  Just so happy!

Image via Nesting Newbies

Some (totally overdue) Giveaway Thank You's!!!

Good grief, I've been totally slack in saying thank you for all the great giveaways I've won.  I mean really, I've been very rude.  So with no further delay, I want to say THANK YOU!  Here we go:

1. Lipstick Queen Shine lipgloss from the totally fab A Townhouselady's Life.  psst:  She's a new Mommy too, pop over and see some pictures of her adorable little girl!  (I won this almost a year ago - what would Miss Manners say?)

2. Cool stationary goodies from Layers of Meaning!

3.  $50 gift certificate to Sunday Brunch dress shop from Bits of Beauty - I'm embarassed to admit I haven't used it yet, but the dress I totally love is now on sale so I may be using it soon :o)

4.  A Starbucks gift card from the lovely BonBon Rose Girls - woo hoo!

5. Oh and last but not least, I won a BIG giveaway from the great new online magazine - Nesting Newbies - I won their Winter Bluebird Bag, chock full of some amazing goodies.  I am so excited.  Pop over and check out their magazine and website - good stuff!

I also (being the absent minded chick that I seem to be lately) forgot to celebrate my blog's 1 year anniversary.  It came and went in February, one whole year has gone by so quickly.  Thank you all for being such loyal readers, I had no idea how much fun and how many great people I would "meet" when I started blogging.  I wish I had started doing it earlier.  Anyhoo, in the next couple of weeks I will be hosting a little giveaway.  Stay tuned and thanks again!!!!