Snickers and a Fab Orange Dress: It's Halloween

via Country Living

Happy Halloween, ghoulish gals! I'm loving a few things about this particular Halloween, not the least of which is the near-freezing 55 degree temps outside. You see, it's a rare thing to have an All Hallow's Eve that is less than 80 degrees, at least here in Arkansas...

Here are some ways in which I plan to commemorate this sugar-filled, heavily-costumed holiday:

1) By devouring the other half of the trick-or-treat candy (hello, Snickers!) this evening, just in time to run out and purchase more before the trick-or-treaters arrive.

2) By watching a scary movie, something like Halloweentown or Halloween Town II: Kalabar's Revenge on the Disney Channel. I have exquisitely mature taste, you see...

3) By driving over to Maude to purchase this amazing dress I spotted whilst hanging out in the store before the blogger photo shoot yesterday (pics forthcoming). Hey, it's burnt orange! Totally has Halloween written all over it...right? Right??

4) By scheduling a hair appointment A.S.A.P. after realizing at said blogger photo shoot yesterday that my roots were truly frightening. Just consider it my mane's way of saying, "Boo! Y'all."

5) By dressing our two German Sheppards in costumes before Stephen gets home from work. This will take a lot of caffeine and Olympic-like acrobatics from me. Have you ever tried to wrestle two 100 pound dogs into pirate costumes? Werk.

What say you, Blonde Ambitioners? How do you anticipate spending this beautiful Halloween holiday? A fabulous fête in store for you, perhaps?

Be blessed, lovelies-

Halloween for Grown-Ups

Halloween has always been one of my favorite fun holidays. When I was little, I used to plan my costume months in advance, making sure every detail was perfect, every stitch where it should be. My mom and my grandma were my seamstresses/costume masters and together, the three of us would make ghoolish magic.

What can I say? Even as a kiddo, I loved a dramatic costume change : )

Since it's frowned upon for a 26 year old woman to go trick or treating, I've resolved to figure out less juvenile ways of adding little All Hallow's Eve spice to my life this time of year. I love pulling Halloween colors and Gothic-inspired fabrics like lace into my everyday look, as well as sporting smoky eye make-up and slightly darker shades of lip gloss as ways to celebrate the holiday while still looking like an adult.

Planet Blue has some ah-mazing Gothic-inspired pieces that are so chic, you won't be able to handle yourself!

Long Sleeve V-Neck Bell Sleeve Top and Frill Top

Liz Blouse and Corinne Knit Dress

Victorian Lace Long Sleeve Dress and Unworldly Dress

Make-up is another superb way to add Halloween-inspired flair to your everyday look. Though false eyelashes might be a bit much for the office, you could totally sport some on a fun date night with your man. He won't be able to keep his hands off ya...pinky swear : )

1) Make Up For Ever - Glitters in Silver
2) Urban Decay's Urban Lash in Come Hither
3) Clinique's Black Honey Lip Duo
4) Mitzah Panther Eyeshadow by Dior in Jungle Print
5) Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Baptiste
6) Paperself Peacock Eyelashes

So tell me, Blonde Ambitioners. What do you do around Halloween to spice up your look?

Have a happy and sugar-filled, Halloween Eve weekend, chicas!

Be blessed, lovelies-

For whatever reason, throughout the past couple of years, Thursdays have unintentionally become Random Post Day. My theory is that by the end of the week, my mind is so shot that rambling strings of thought are about the only thing I can write. Either way, makes for a fun post, no?

1) I have volunteered to host Thanksgiving at our house this year…gulp. I’ve obviously lost my mind because I have never hosted a major holiday meal, nor ever cooked a major holiday meal. I’m hoping my Mom and Mom-in-Law will be able to help me avoid a major cooking disaster. If all else fails, I hear Domino’s is open on Turkey Day…

2) I’m ten kinds of excited for the Maude Boutique photo shoot that I get to be in on Sunday! Maude is doing a photo spread featuring a few Northwest Arkansas bloggers dressed in the latest fall/winter fashions! Here’s hoping for some fabulous photos and an amazing girls’ day playing dress-up!

3) I bought a bunch of Halloween candy (Snickers, Reese’s Cups and Peanut M & Ms) for our trick-or-treaters next week and Stephen and I have already polished off half of it on our own. I knew this would happen.

4) A few of y’all have asked which skinny jeans I prefer. It’s funny, but the best brand I’ve found is Forever 21’s Fab Stitch Skinny Jean. Get this - they’re only $10.50 PER PAIR. I have a pair of J. Brand that I paid an arm and a leg for, but I still don’t like them as much as Forever’s version. They hold up to many washes and sustain their dark color really well. Sometimes, quality really does come cheaply.

5) Side note: I may wither and die (or pout and whimper) if I don’t get these pants from Express soon. Red is perfect for Razorback game days after all…

6) We had one wedding gift left at the reception without a card and without a bag. Like literally, it was put out on the table just like it was purchased at the store. It’s stressing me to no end because I’m a stickler for writing thank you notes and it bugs me that I don’t know where it originated. Anyone that’s gotten married had that happen to you? What did you do?


7) In honor of All Hallow's Eve next week, I busted out the Freddy Krueger pen today. It was a gift from my work pal Nicki a couple years ago and I definitely enjoy using him on days where I feel like ripping someone's head off at the office Halloween.

And finally…

8) My SIL Sarah had her baby earlier this month and little Reed was able to come home from the hospital last week! He had to stay there for about ten days while they kept an eye on his lungs, but he’s doing well now and settling in at their house. We hope to get to go visit him soon now that he’s home and healthy!

Opening collage header made by Leslie @ A Blonde Ambition...please seek consent before re-using. Gracias and chimichanga!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Trend Watch Wednesday: {Boot Camp}

Oh boots, how much do I love thee?

I could go on for days about my love affair with the boot. Oh, who are we kidding, I could go on for days about my love affair with footwear in general. But y'all....seriously....this season's shoe styles are really doing some damage to my wallet.

I can't get enough of the riding boot lately and have worn them practically every day since the temps dropped down to near freezing temps in Arkansas, like the frigid 82 we experienced here yesterday. These little lovey dovies from Frye are darn near perfect. I think they'd be real cute sittin' in my closet, no?

Melissa Button Boot by Frye in Cognac

M'kay, so I flat out refuse to partake in the viewing of the Footloose remake starring that chick from DWTS, BUT....BUT...I do love her boots from the still shots of the movie I've seen on Style.com. Allow me to introduce you to the Taylor Harness boot by Frye. Werd on the street is that girl got to keep ALL of the boots she wore on set. So jeal, so jeal.

Frye Taylor Harness Pull On Boot in Smoke Leather

Maria Sharapova plays tennis, struts her stuff for Nikon and now, apparently, designs boots. Meet the Air Buckle boot by MS for Cole Haan. Holla!

Air Buckle Boot by Maria Sharapova for Cole Haan

Oh, Stevie Madden, how your boots entice me so...Our boy Steve has done it again with his aptly named Intyce boot, just in time for fall. Lurvely.

Intyce by Steve Madden

These cute little Banya booties by Dolce Vita are too presh for words, what with their little bow on the back. Get thee to Piperlime and buy them up before they're gone!

Banya Boot by DV Dolce Vita

Jessica Simpson's Tustiny boots are the prime example of how a stacked boot should be done. Kudos to Miss Simpson for her good taste and fab design team.

Tustiny Boot by Jessica Simpson in Tan Leather

It's so tempting to buy up all of these beautiful boots, however, I'm trying to exercise self-control with sartorial spending lately....

...Trying....

...REALLY trying...

...Yep, still trying....

Eh, screw it. Where's my debit card?!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Our Birthday Date Night & Other Ramblings

Hey y'all! Welp, looks like we all survived Monday! That's typically my least favorite day of the week, but yesterday was wonderfully different.

I woke up not feeling well at all and got scared that the fun date night I'd planned for Stephen's 27th birthday might not get to happen. However, by late afternoon I was feeling much better and ready to spend a fun night with my husband!

I seriously never get tired of saying that word, "husband" : )

Boots from Belle Boutique (a local store), Dress from Francesca's last year, necklace from Belle Boutique, Earrings??

Anywho, we went to our favorite restaurant Bonefish and then went to see Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Y'all HAVE to see this movie...simply amazing. I'll be shocked if Brad's performance doesn't get him an Oscar nod.

In other movie news, I am so excited to see Anonymous, the movie about William Shakespeare and a possible cover-up related to his writings. As a former English major and all around nerd, I'm awaiting this flick with bated breath!

Finally, after much thought given to the cute bob I posted in Friday's Pin-spiration post, I've decided to keep my long hair, (shocker, right?) I just think I'd regret it severely if I chopped my locks. However, I'm still of the belief that the bob featured in that post is the cutest flipping haircut ever. So yeah, someone do this and send me pics so that I can live vicariously through you, m'kay? : )

Be blessed, lovelies-

My Make-up Essentials

Hey, girls! Hope y'all had a great weekend! We didn't do much of anything on Saturday besides tuning into the Razorback/Ole Miss game. Our boys did NOT look their best and for a while, we definitely thought Ole Miss might take the game. We ended up making a comeback in the second half though and won - woot!

Next weekend, we take on Vanderbuilt, so hopefully we come out of the gates ready to whoop some tail : )

What I wore on Saturday to cheer on our Hogs!

So A LOT of you have followed up the eye makeup video tutorial with A LOT of questions about the rest of my face, haha. For the record, a lot of you asked about my hair too, which is really just a happy accident. Seriously, it looks different every day and I never really know from day to day how it's going to turn out. So, I dunno about vlogging that...

I am, however, more than happy to tell y'all what's on my face! Without further rambling, here's the list:

1. Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Sand
2. Make-up Forever HD Powder
3. Smashbox HD Concealer in Fair/Light
4. Too Faced Sun Bunny Carribean in a Compact Bronzer
5. Nars blush in Angelika

Honestly, I spend more time on my skin than my eyes or lips. I really do think that a great base makes or breaks your make-up look, so I concentrate the majority of my time in the morning to creating a smooth, even complexion.

I use Lancome's Galatee Confort Comforting Milky Creme Cleaner and Mary Kay's Timewise Age Fighting Moisterizer Every. Morning. And. Night.

I also use Lancome's Genefique before my moisturizer to help prevent fine lines and wrinkles. My pale, Irish skin with freckles needs all the preventative help it can get, haha!

1 and 2. MAC Cosmetics Eye Shadows in Retrospeck and Satin Taupe

3. Revlon Luxurious Color Kohl Eyeliner in Black (Target or Wal-Mart should carry it.)

4. Make-Up Forever Smoky Lash mascara

5. LipFusion Infatuation in Lip Jolie

6. Loreal Hip Eyeshadow in Sculpted (Target or Wal-Mart should carry it.)

And there you have it!

Before I go, I need to say a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my husband/best friend/confidante/dad to our German Shepards/partner in crime/very own Tim Tebow look-alike, Stephen. I love you so much and am so excited to grow old and sit on porches with you. You are my heart, darling! 

Be blessed, lovelies-

Recent Pin-spiration

So ok, some of y'all have asked if I have a Pinterest.

Short answer - nope.

Long answer - I applied for an invite last Monday and apparently have been added to their waiting list - what tha?? Maybe this was their nice way of saying, "We think you're great and all, but we really just see you as a friend..."

In other words, I think Pinterest has commitment issues and doesn't want to solidify any kind of relationship with me.

Can it be? Is Pinterest just not that into me?

I guess my eye make-up tutorial video blog was too much for him.

Although I'm feeling a little burned, I still wanted to share some images that caught my eye this week:

1) Ok, the bob. I've got a personal love/hate/lukewarm relationship with the bob. I've had one before, many years ago before I discovered that it made my face look ginormous. I've seen so any chicas who look presh with the bob and I'm immediately jealous of their ability to wear short hair.

At times, I'm tempted to run out and chop off my hair and go all bob-like. At other times, I'm really happy when I feel my hair touch the middle of my back. (You see, I'm really shallow) In the end, we all know I don't have the nerve to chop the hair-ski. BUT if any of you have more rocks than me and are thinking of cutting your hair short - PUH-LEAZE get the haircut above- kthanksbye.

2) I've never consider striped curtains, but maybe I am now after seeing the below pic. It's a little jailhouse-rock-meets-rugby-shirt, but I still love it. Stripes are "in" this fall, after all...

3) I never knew I needed a feather ring until I the one below. Now, it seems as though my life is incomplete...

4) Hi, my name is Lottsa Neckla Says and I'm awesome.

5) It seems that I'm unable to get enough leopard print this season. This skirt did not help my fettish. One. Bit.

6) Pin-heads, I know y'all have seen these, but I still can't get over how chic Erika's Black Matte/Patent nails are! Holy OPI !

I'm gonna play hard to get and see if that ploy works.

If Pinterest calls, just tell him I'm washing my hair...




P.S. - BREAKING NEWS...guess what I saw this morning after I had written this post. Obviously, Pinterest can read my mind. We're soulmates like that.

Be blessed, lovelies-

Video Blog: {How I Do My Eye Make-up!}

The eye make-up that launched a thousand emails...(Ok, more like 5 emails)

Y'all asked, I'm delivering : ) I did this on a whim yesterday after work following a few emails from you lovelies, asking about my eye make-up application. The quality isn't perfect, but I think you'll get the just of it.

A couple things to note:
1) It's split into four videos because my camera refuses to take more than 3 minutes of video at a time. Sorry.
2) Bobbi Brown, I am not. I've never claimed to be a pro, so take my advice for a grain of salt. Or a swipe of mascara.

If you watched all four of those, I commend you!

Also, don't forget to check out Blinc mascara, my new fav and what I'm currently (seriously) obsessed with. Blinc's Mascara Lasts! Won't smudge, flake or run! Click here and get FREE SHIPPING!

Until next time...

Be blessed, lovelies-

Pink for a Purpose

I originally had planned to post this next week, but yesterday, beautiful E! News anchor Guiliana Rancic announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and I felt so compelled to just go ahead with it. In the past few years, so many celebs (Christina Applegate, Sheryl Crow, Kylie Minogue, etc.) have bravely come forward to tell about their personal fights with breast cancer which has raised so much awareness for the cause.

Some of you may even remember me posting about a friend from high school who dealt with her own fight last year when she was diagnosed at the age of only 26! She is in remission now from what I hear and doing wonderfully.

I say all of this to reiterate how no woman, no matter the age or race, is immune to this awful disease. Lord willing, none of us will never have to experience breast cancer firsthand and hopefully there is a cure on the horizon. BUT in the meantime, there are some terrific ways (other than the Komen races, which are also amazing) that anyone can help in raising money for breast cancer research. Just by purchasing some products!

1. Sephora PINK eyelash curler; 2.Sultra 'The Bombshell' Curling Iron ; 3. Bobbi Brown Pink Ribbon Collection Lip Color 4. Clarisonic BCA Set

One of my favorite parts of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the NFL support! I love that the cheerleaders and football players of the major NFL teams are bustin' out the pink to show support for those in the fight against breast cancer.

They even have some of their own merchandise available for purchase, in which proceeds go to BC research.

1. Reebok Breast Cancer Awareness Tri-blend T-shirt ; 2.  Wilson Breast Cancer Awareness Official Size Football; 
 3. Reebok New Orleans Saints Drew Brees Fashion Jersey

Are you showing your support by wearing pink this month?

Be blessed, lovelies-