Star Treatment?

"Beyonce shrouds her expanding belly in a brightly colored tunic," says People.com

Where I am from, that $hit is called a "moo-moo"...

Some New Hat Designs

Jolee's Boutique starting making these adorable little flower appliques and they are very well priced and so cute! I thought it might give my hats something a little extra and save me some time [crocheting the flowers sometimes can take longer than the hat itself!].

Some of the designs below are available for purchase ($15). Let me know if you are interested! I can even do custom designs/colors/sizes... :)

Cornflower colored hat w/ lemon lime flower | 9-12 mo.

White colored hat w/ red rose | 9-12 mo.

 Pink & coral colored hat w/ coral/rhinestone flower | 6-9 mo.

 Coral colored hat w/ crochet pink rose | 6-9 mo.

 Aqua colored hat w/ crochet coral rose | 3-6 mo.

 Pink colored hat w/ cream rose | newborn

You can find more information about my designs at www.facebook.com/jprchitect

Breaking Dawn Opens Today!

I read all the Twilight books a few years back and really enjoy the escape to whatever place it takes me, even today. Maybe back to my childhood? This story is not a childhood even remotely like mine... we did NOT have boys that looked or acted like THAT in my high school.

Maybe the passionate love story? I don't like to think about it, because I KNOW that it can't happen because vampires don't exist. The whole idea of someone being able to protect you unconditionally, having the knowledge and manners of someone in their 100s, fierce good looks, and not even to mention a ton of money is a little bit intimidating. [I even heard some women went into a depression realizing that this life is not possible in our reality...]

I really and truly just love the stories, love that I am taking a HALF day from work with some of my female coworkers to grab lunch and a matinee, and love even more (although bittersweet) that we still have one more movie to be released!

Now, what is another series I can immerse myself into? Don't even say the "Something Borrowed" series. I saw that movie and it was a train-wreck...

I'll be sure to let you know how it is! :)

TV Critic Time!

This fall it seemed like there were a ton of new shows on! I decided to DVR all of them and then decide which ones I would keep in the queue... here are the results!

This is my favorite new show of the fall! It is a little more drama-y than I usually watch, but the steamy storyline, although somewhat unrealistic, couldn't be further than my life, and I just like to escape sometimes!

This is my new favorite comedy of the season. One of the producers is Whitney Cummings, and although her new show "Whitney" is TERRIBLE, this one is pretty good! Sometimes the humor is strictly sexual (and a little too much of it), which to me is a lot easier to do than other types of humor, but it does get a laugh out of me.

These two fantasy shows are also not my usual type either. "Grimm" is one I can actually get my husband to watch with me because it is "manly" enough that he enjoys it, but "Once Upon a Time" is strictly for girls in my opinion. Both deal with fantasy and how it relates to present day "real" life and I think they are pretty good!

"Up All Night" is good. It is pretty funny and I usually watch it if nothing else is on.

I HATE this show. Zooey's character is so annoying and it drives me into fits of rage only comparable to those when I am on the road with terrible traffic. I spent most of the two shows I watched wishing she would jump off a building. I know that sounds harsh, but her character.is.so.dumb. And I hate that.

Oh, and shout out to my old fave. "Modern Family" is still my favorite show on TV. I don't know how they do it, but their writing makes every character unique and special in their own way and I like them all!

Other oldies I am currently watching are "How I Met Your Mother", "Dexter", "Glee", "Raising Hope," and "Chuck."

Product Review | Essie Nailpolish

Grade: D - will not buy again
Cost: approx. $9.00
Color pictured: "Turquoise and Caicos"
Bought at: Bed, Bath, & Beyond

I don't think I will ever paint my toes any shade other than pinkish - redish again. I bought this Essie polish because I fell in LOVE with the color [it is admittedly my favorite color], but NOT on toes - big mistake. I know this is a personal opinion, but any color that could potentially remind you of mold shouldn't be there. I also don't think I will ever buy Essie polish again either...

For one, it is EXPENSIVE. I even had a $2.00 off coupon [the only reason I bought it], but the cost was still a little over 7 bucks even with the coupon.

It also doesn't cover very well, you can't go with just one coat. Shown above is two coats and I think it could have used a third.

And it has that terrible brush design that I don't like as explained [here]. Really, after using the Sally Hansen Salon line in that post, I don't think I could ever go back!

The only reason I didn't give it an F is that they do have a TON of gorgeous colors, but if they only look good in the bottle, I don't see the point.

Calligraphy Class

I recently completed a Calligraphy workshop here in Charleston, SC at the Charleston Museum and absolutely loved it! Calligraphy means "beautiful handwriting," and although I am not yet to "beautiful" I am on my way to "sorta pretty!"

A snapshot of what we did near the end of the workshop:

Here are some words specifically assigned for the purpose of the class. The "al" in alphabet and first "u" in cucumber are sub-par in my opinion, but you have to start somewhere. ;) The letter I had the hardest time with was "w."

I took the class with two of my favorite girls [I am on the far right]. We always have a great time since we love the same things and concluded the day with brunch, bottomless mimosas, and a quick walk around downtown Charleston.

 My perfect day...

New Phone + Case!

After 3 years of having an iPhone 3... I finally got a new phone! It is the white iPhone 4S and I absolutely love it. Siri beckons to my every call...

...and I even got a super cute phone case. 

 

A void has been filled in my life! Now what should I put on my Christmas list?!? haha

Creating Your "Online-Self"

Do you ever find that someone’s online personality differs greatly from their real life personality? That is, if you actually know them in real life? I get it, you can be however brave, witty, cool-under-pressure, as you want to be in your "online" personality because you could literally spend hours writing the-best-blog-post-ever, but it doesn’t change who you are in person.

I try really hard (why is it so hard?) to be myself on my blog, facebook, online whatever posts, and I find that I have grown as a person in being able to think before I speak, try not to judge, dare to not be cynical, etc., but is this really me? It might be more like the me that I want to be.

I feel really sorry for teens today. Do they even know who they really are in person? Forget who other people are, who are THEY? That is just a surface element when you consider cyber bullying, defamation, incriminating photos... I think back to my high school experience and definitely wouldn't want an unsolicited posting of my activities outside of the classroom.

The most recent episode of "How I Met Your Mother" discussed this topic when involved with the dating world. If you meet someone (in person or online), how many people look up their credentials first? This can create a pre-disposed opinion about someone. During the show, the character "Ted" made an agreement with his date that they wouldn't look each other up. He ended up clicking a link that said she was a billionaire/do-gooder and he instantly became intimidated, ruining the date.

Conversely, you don't want to meet up with a mass murderer either...

I am just lucky that I met my husband before he had facebook, in the conventional good old-fashioned way - at a bar with my friends. I guess I will have to add "online safety and privacy options for facebook" to the list of things I will need to teach my future children, but most importantly I want them to know who they are, in "real" life.