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By Jennie
We really like finding original and lovely jewelry shops here at Style Lush, and Valentine Studios definitely fits that description. They have pieces that are trendy and contemporary yet also classic and interesting.
Eiffel Tower Necklace in Silver
Check out the entire shop and I bet you add a few things to your holiday wish list after you do. (There's also a sister site -- Valentine Studios Art -- for artwork and original paintings, so check that out, as well.)
Happy shopping!
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By Leah
I thought I was all fancy having mastered three unique scarf-tying techniques over the years, but check out the twenty-five styles demonstrated by the adorable Wendy of Wendy's Look Book. (Show-off.)
I had a palm-to-the-forehead moment when she showed that you don't have to have an infinity scarf to wear one. Life-changing.
My scarf standbys have always been the Modern One-Loop, the European Loop, and the classic Toss. After the video, my new favorites are the Braid, the Hidden Knot, the Decoration, and the X (which I think would look cute shifted off-center or all the way to one side, don't you?). At the end of the clip you can click on the individual scarves for links to more in-depth video tutorials.
How do you usually tie your scarves? What new styles are going to try now?
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by Natalie
My mom and I were on the phone the other day talking about the upcoming wedding of a dear friend of mine. My mom asked what my friend's silver pattern was, and after we got off the phone, it occurred to me that she didn't ask "if" my friend had a silver pattern; she asked what it was. I don't know if this is a regional thing or not; when my husband and I got married, we registered for both fine china and silver. I'm not sure that I thought about it one way or another, but my mother and grandmother both went with me to register and I, pretty coincidentally, chose the same silver pattern that they both have... Kirk Stiff Repousse, for those of you interested in details. I have to say, for someone who doesn't do a lot of entertaining or do anything fancy at all, really, I ADORE my silver. It's something that I hope to have for years and pass down to my daughters.
(Confession: I sometimes eat my morning cereal with a silver spoon. What is silver for if not to be used, I ask you?)
Now, on the other hand, my china, though I love it, rarely gets used. We just don't live in a time where we entertain formally... um, well, ever. I've used my china at Christmas (twice) and at Thanksgiving (once), and I think maybe I used it once when we put the kids to bed early and thought it would be fun to have a nice dinner. (I can't remember exactly when that WAS, so it was obviously a rare occurrence.) For reference, my china looks like this:
It's Verdures by Raynaud, and it's much greener than it appears in this pictures; I keep it stacked in a buffet and it rarely gets eaten off of. We've used the dinner plates, and we've occasionally used the salad plates to serve dessert, but there are teacups we've never used at all, and I'm not even sure what the smallest plates are for (bread? Who knows?).
We bypassed registering for crystal entirely because we're not really crystal people, but had I not registered for flatware or china, I have a few great-aunts who would have been horrified. (My mother's family are Southern People, ya'll.)
So my question is this: if you're married, did you register for china, crystal or flatware? If you did, are you glad you did? And if not, do you wish you had?
{photos via replacements.com}
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by Lawyerish
We are big on vacuuming at my house. In fact, my husband is even more of a clean floors freak than I am, so both of us were perfectly happy to spend a small fortune on a Dyson Ball to keep our carpets and hardwoods looking spick and span. Without that treasure of a vacuum cleaner, we would live in a sea of pet hair and city grime.
What makes our floors even more sparkling is the following little trick: Our vacuum has -- and I hope yours does, too, whatever kind it is -- a rolling brush that you can engage or disengage, depending on whether you're hoovering carpets or bare floors. But don't let that fool you. What you need to do is to go over your carpet with the vacuum once with the rolling brush ON. THEN! Oh, then. You turn the brush OFF and go over the carpet AGAIN. Did I just blow your mind? I know! Trust me. The brush-on sweep gets up the surface pet hair and dirt, but the brush-off follow-up sucks up all the nastiness that is down IN the carpet. The amount of junk that comes out after this double-duty vacuum session is INSANE. I can fill a canister just covering the three rooms in which we have carpet. It is both horrifying and thrilling, as any canister-vac devotee knows.
Try this today! You will not be sorry.
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By Janet
What do you do with the items you collect on vacation? The museum brochures, business cards, menus, and other bits I gather while on vacation end up all over the place -- stuck in my travel books, smashed in the bottom of my purse, floating around in my suitcase. Eventually, I throw the stuff away or stick it in a box. It would be fun to create a travel journal, like this one from Saturday Morning Vintage:
All the bits and pieces, including photos and postcards, have been punched and then bound with two binder rings. Envelopes, alphabet stickers, and index dividers help to organize. There are some great tips here for making your own album. Now, I wonder what happened to all the paper bits I brought home from Portugal?
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By Elisabeth
This past weekend, I traveled with a bunch of other ladies to The Blathering in Austin, Texas. Of course, living in California, I had to travel by plane to get there. While I am not much of an avid flyer, I was flying by myself and I had no one to answer to for a good 6 solid hours!
Since this trip was all about me, (finally!) I was able to think ahead of time about what I was going to wear. For the days I was traveling, I knew there was a certain criteria I needed to meet to make my experience the best it could be.
I needed to be comfortable, warm, but not too warm and wanted to look good in the process. So, I pulled together my latest purchases/gifts and off I went. Below is what I came up with to and from the Lone Star State.
And no, you are not seeing double. Both outfits are basically the same, just different colors. Hey, if you see a good thing, BUY TWO!
1. Silver Star Necklace- Lemon Sweet by Leslie Etsy store
2. J. Crew Surplus Pant (On sale for $24.99!)
3. Gap Supersoft Striped Crewneck Tee (On sale for $15.00!)
The shirts were long enough to not flash everyone each time I bent down to pick up my bag. It's such a soft cotton which made me feel as cozy as one can while sitting in between a mother and her 30 year old son while they passed a container of cantaloupe back and forth to each other for what seemed like YEARS.
The pants are lightweight and have a bit of give which made sitting down for a long period of time definitely bearable.
The flats were PERFECT. Easy to slip on and off at security and also had enough support to get myself across an airport then back through security once again (Damn you, San Diego!) without killing my back.
The necklace? Ah, just a lovely gift a friend of mine sent me for Christmas.
{photo credit: Jcrew.com, gap.com, dsw.com, etsy.com/shop/Leslie23}
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by Christina
Okay, ladies, cheap tip of the day. I have traveling eye make-up, I look great after I apply it, and a few hours later my shadow is gone and my cheek bones are sporting my liner. I don't have oily skin either. I decided to try a primer. Hello! ELF, $1.00. ONE DOLLAR. (This three-piece set is $3 but in the store they have singles.)
Not only does my shadow stay for a solid 10 hours but I recently decided to try it on my lower lid and see if it works for my liner. IT DOES! 10 hours, no raccoon eyes.
$1.00! Buy some! You will look fresh all day long. For one dollar!
(image via Target)
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By Beth
Ok, I know this is not a book blog, but I have no sense of style whatsoever and have been writing for this here style blog for a while now, so I thought I would write about something I actually know about.
Zombies.
Actually, zombies are rather in style now, aren't they? Sort of the anti-vampire? So, hey, here's my totally stylish post about zombies.
I recently read Feed by Mira Grant. It is Book 1 of the Newsflesh Trilogy, and soon thereafter read Deadline, which is Book 2 of the same series. It is totally zombie awesome. First of all, bloggers are hugely influential reporters and opinion makers and make actual livings doing it (go bloggers!). Second, a virus that renimates the dead has swept the world and is still wreaking havoc while society struggles to exist with the new reality that Grandpa can have a heart attack and then hop up and try to eat you. The characters are great, the premise is unique, and the plot is an absolute page-turner. And it has one of my favorite parts of any book, the point where something happens that makes me want to search out the author and kick her in the teeth because how could you let that happen?
Anyway, if you want to jump on the zombie train, I recommend Feed as a good place to start.
(Photo credit: Amazon.com)
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By Hillary
We all agree that Instagram rocks, right? Snap a photo with your iPhone, apply a filter, and share it with your followers all in a few quick steps.
I am an avid Instagram user. I didn't know what to do with all of my excellent Instagram shots (not excellent in a "talented photographer" sense but in more of a "sentimental" kind of way) until Elisabeth showed me how to print Instagram shots straight from my phone. Except that the service isn't available outside of the USA (seriously, guys. Canada is attached to you. I should be able to get my Instagram photos printed and delivered to me. Just sayin'.)
Then I discovered Casetagram. Just sign in with your Instagram account and all of your photos are there, ready for you to slap onto an iPhone 4 case. How cool is that? Plus they deliver worldwide for free. Now I can display photos of my adorable baby literally on my phone.
{Photo credit: casetagram.com, but I take full credit for the adorable baby}
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By Megan
I've put myself on a spending freeze lately, which has been kind of effective. It has also created a Christmas list a mile long. Hey, if I can tell my kids that they can ask Santa for every little toy that they want in the store, I can do the same, right?
Topping my list is a leather jacket. Or rather, a faux leather jacket given my budget. Most days, the temperatures swings about twenty degrees between preschool drop off and pick up, so this is a good investment, people.
My husband will be getting links to the following in his inbox today.
Caslon Ruffled Faux Leather Jacket, on sale for $44.97 at Nordstrom Rack (The fact that I can shop The Rack online is news to me.)
Flying Tomato Faux Leather Bomber Jacket $78
What's on your wish list?
{Photo credits: nordstrom.com}
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