that's a wrap!

2011- it was a good year. i am so blessed to have a life full of love and happiness. to my wonderful friends, family and significant other, thanks for being great.

i believe that everything happens for a reason, and while sometimes it's hard to understand why, the experiences and opportunities that came about in the past year have helped shaped me into the person i am today, and for that i am thankful.

2012 - i hope it is a year filled with lots of laughter. i hope to be the most positive and kind person i can be. i hope to visit (atleast) one country i've never been to. i hope to be more open minded. i hope to get into better shape. i hope to read more books. i hope to make more cupcakes. i hope to love until i can't possibly love anymore.

i'm off to BC for the weekend with d to visit his parents. my sister left this morning and i miss her terribly already.

enjoy a fabulous, sparkly new years eve! cheers! xo

replay

i am so completely obsessed with this song. i go through phases where i find a song that i just can't hear enough of and i listen to it over and over again until i know every single word. well... i'm going through one of those phases with this one... the opening tune is kind of old school quirky and dark..and i like the girl/guy voice combo... i'm diggin' it.

gotye - somebody that i used to know

social ticketing

i heard of this concept on the radio this morning and thought it was pretty funny. the idea is to ticket people for acts that inspire, disturb, annoy, bring happiness, etc.. to you.

one of the examples the radio jockey gave was his wife over saw a husband verbally abusing his wife in front of his child. she wrote him a note telling him that not only was he verbally abusing his wife, which was wrong, but he's doing it in front of his child, leaving them to grow up thinking this is ok.

that example is slightly depressing, another idea is if someone did a really shitty parking job - you leave them a note telling them to work on their parking!

or if someone does something great! leave them a note praising their kindness!

the idea is obviously a little situational. but i thought it was a grand idea!!! i'm going to run with the praising the good rather than focussing on the bad!

it kind of reminded me of my little civilettes that i picked up at the drake general store. i've mailed one to katie in a big useless envelope, left one on d's car door handle leaving the gym, left one on my momma's pillow. beautiful, silly reminder of how much i love love love them all!

boy crush

what a babe, what a babe. been meaning to share this gem for a while, ignacio "nacho" figueras. might recognize him from the ralph lauren polo ads? google image search him, you know you want to...

guilty pleasure

ok. so i understand if you choose to completely skip over this post, but i secretly love the kardashians. well, maybe not so much love, but find them unendingly entertaining. i love the idea of a personalized christmas card and thought theirs (no thanks to stylists, profesh photogs, etc) turned out fabulously! kourtney posted some fun behind-the scenes pictures of the shoot to her twitter account as well, check em out here.

we received some christmas cards from friends and family with personal photos on them and i secretly hope to send out my own one year! d isn't a huge fan of the idea, so it might be a couple years yet, but i think i'll win him over eventually!

back with a vengeance

so... i had a bit of a christmas holiday when it came to blogging... work got busy, as did life...

but i'm back at it dolls!

well firstly, i need to share my boxing day blowout bargain buy!!!

these enzo angiolini pumps. in a worn black leather (not the satin pictured). perfect with my nye dress. originally $170, practically stole them for $33!!! yippee!

my boxing day strategy seemed to be quite successful this year. i woke up early and got to the mall for opening but i wasn't in a rush for anything. i didn't need anything, so i just lazily browsed and walked around.

any line up more than about 5 people was deemed too long. seeing the lineups of people waiting outside stores like lacoste and aritzia, eager to dish out their gifted monies for overpriced/regular priced merchandise made me laugh.

i was happy to leave with my shoe bargain and a new pair of jeans i had previously lusted over and my waiting resulted in a $70 discount!

did you brave the mall madness?! any good deals?!

company christmas party

i have my office christmas lunch coming up this thursday... hope you find this as hilarious as i did!xo

sale alert

so i sort of feel obliged to share a sale this good... browns is having a sale online, 50% and more off all sorts of shoes! i just ordered these sorel boots for $79 (incl. taxes & s/h), usually $190... too good to pass up! and i've been wanting these forever, but avoiding because of the price!

find yourself a deal HERE!

gift suggestions

wanted to share two ideas that came to mind this morning for people left on your list...

{Diane Von Furstenberg bedding}

bright colors, graphic patterns. while at first it might seem a strange offspring for DVF, i think these sheets would add a welcomed punch of cheer to any bedroom!

currently on sale on the discount site gilt, shop here.

personalized jewelry- a beautiful, heartfelt gift. I recently gave these cute friendship necklaces to a best. there’s so many ways to personalize a piece of jewelry too – initials, some quirky reminder of an inside joke, a term of endearment or nickname… and every time the person wears it they will smile thinking of you, and get to rave about how great of a friend you are when asked where they got it!

holiday party dresses

with the holidays upon us, it means the start of festive parties. treats, drinks, great friends – I love everything about them! especially the excuse to dress up all fancy-like! I’ve bought a lovely red calvin klein blouse that I’m saving for the right occasion, along with a cute black mini dress that I’m thinking of wearing for my work christmas lunch. I’m not one to shy away from glitzy outfits, regardless of the time of year, but I find it so fun to dress up during the holidays and just feel great about yourself as you catch up with friends and stuff yourself silly with all the delicious food! my friend sent me a link to these 25 fabulous party dresses, all priced under $200 (i'm in love with a solid 80% of the dresses... shocker eh?) – if you haven’t already purchased that “go-to” holiday dress or outfit, this list is sure to give you some inspiration!

holiday bake exchange

a friend emailed me this morning with the idea of hosting a holiday bake exchange. if you've never head of the idea, a group -preferably not too huge - gets together and each person bakes a pre-set amount of their favorite holiday treat (i.e. if there were six of you in total, you would bake five batches to dish out!). then you all meet, greet and exchange and leave with all different treats! we discussed our desire to keep trim during the temptations of the holiday season and decided half-dozen batches seemed like a better idea! but i'm quite excited! i'm trying to decide whether i want to make a holiday themed treat or go with my new go-to, chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream frosting...

do you have any fun christmas cooking or baking traditions?! i used to always bake cookies with my grandma and it's such a fond festive memory, i hope my mom continues it one day!

music monday - holiday edition

this tune came on the radio today and i quite enjoyed it.. god rest ye merry gentlemen/we three kings by the barenaked ladies feat. sarah mclachlan.

a lot of posts in the next couple weeks will be holiday inspired.. you have been warned. hopefully it gets you excited and in the mood for a cheery holiday season!

j.crew gift guide

i've developed a recent love for j.crew. for the most part the price point is a bit higher, but so many items are such classic pieces that i think it's great clothing to invest in. their holiday gift guide for her has so many great suggestions. some traditional holiday pieces and colors combined with some twisted classics - i think there's something for everyone! get some names checked off your list by starting HERE!

thoughtful thursday..life's simple pleasures

thought i would share some silly thoughts that are making me happy lately...

kisses on the forehead... for some reason I find these kisses extra sweet.

being thanked. whether it’s in passing for something small like holding a door open, or a genuine heart-felt thank you, manners should never go unnoticed or unappreciated.

getting a good parking space. while the walk could do us all some good, there’s nothing better than getting a prime parking spot! (especially with holiday shopping upon us)

when a great movie is on tv unexpectedly. with the holiday season approaching i find this is more common.. but I love turning on the tv to randomly find a good flick. it’s usually like a wednesday at 7 or something like that, but its always a nice treat. my dad told me how “actually love” (he got a little confused - he was really watching “love actually”) was on the other night and he started to watch it and stayed up until 1am to finish it because it was just too good!

finding a good christmas gift. personally, i find as much joy in giving gifts during the holiday season as I do in receiving. i love the feeling of finding a gift that you just know that special person is going to adore!

a good haircut! i had my hair cut this week and i'm so pleased. i always get nervous but i've found a great hairdresser and even though he's only chopped my locks twice, i totally trust him. his names matthew, and he's in a band, and he's recently engaged. his motto was "the hair you don't cut is just as important as the hair you do cut" - which was like music to my ears - since i almost always leave anxious about how short my hair is now.
i find it funny to hear each girls hair stories. what's your hair ritual? same person every time? do you give them free range? i'd love to hear what your routine consists of!?

enough blabbering. until tomorrow.xo

wanderlust..

with registration for this summers cruises opening on saturday, yacht week seemed like the perfect subject for this weeks wanderlust post. Depending on which week of the summer you choose to sail off during, the destinations include croatia, greece, turkey, sicily, or the british virgin islands. pricing depends mostly on the boat size and the destination, but to give you an idea-it’s about the price of an all inclusive trip down south to a nicer resort.. to imagine filling a yacht with your closest friends and partying the week away on the beaches of hot european countries, sounds uber dreamy. I could definitely see escaping for a girls week sometime in the summers to come. Watch the official trailer here!