Life Update + Other Musings

Well, hello! So, I am finally feeling up to blogging again and  hoping there are still some of y'all out there who will stop in and read : ) I wanted to provide a little update on everything, but I promise every day won't be filled with posts about my health, ha! (Seriously, I cannot wait to get back to fashion + beauty writing + other razzmatazz.)

Where we are now:
I'm still in the hospital...whomp, whomp...

But!

I'm feeling a lot better. I still get worn out after a lot of walking, (like more than an hour or two), but I'm getting stronger every day. I'm feeling and doing so well that there have been talks of me going home very soon! We still don't have a definite date, but we are sooooo close.

Hopefully I'll be writing from my comfy couch in Northwest AR soon instead of the 5th floor cardiac unit ; )

Also, my roots are atrocious and I need a salon day like nobody's biz, and if that isn't reason enough to warrant getting discharged, I don't know what is.

The babies are perfect and thriving, and my sweet husband and MIL are keeping things together back home. My mom is here with me the majority of the time, but Stephen works for a really flexible company that allows him to travel up here nearly every week for a few days.

And that's that.

Stay tuned next week and hopefully I'll have good news to share!

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One of my dear friends sent me this lip balm and I have become obsessed. It has just the perfect amount of color, right in time for summer. Love it.

Fresh brand Sugar Rose Extreme Lip Treatment with SPF 15

Who's ready for Pitch Perfect 2?! I hope I can get out of here while it's still in theaters. Bring on the harmonization!

Photo credit: Entertainment Weekly

Anyone out there have a Fitbit? Do you love it? Are you lukewarm about it? I'd like to hear your reviews because I'd love to get one to track my activity once I get home.

And so what if discovering this Tory Burch Fitbit cover is my main motivation for wearing one? (Kidding, kidding...except...not.)

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Now, get off your cute fannies and enjoy your Friday evening. Have a great weekend, chickadees.

Lion King Flash Mob

You've probably seen this flying around everywhere today, (no pun intended), but just in case you haven't, I wanted to share. If you're as big a fan of The Lion King as I am, you'll appreciate this.

Apparently, the Aussie castmates of the famed Broadway show boarded a plane yesterday and gave passengers the impromptu performance of a lifetime.

So beautiful and powerful and joyful that it gave me goosebumps.

Professional Organizer Needed (But, Seriously)

Happy (almost) Friday! I had plans to put up an outfit post today with some Riff Raff pieces, but it started pouring yesterday about halfway through taking pics. So, looks like that will go up Monday!

I kind of took a little bit of a hiatus this week to unplug from the blogging world and do some much-needed spring cleaning. (How exciting am I?) No, but seriously...we'd really like to list our house this summer, so we've been double-timing it around la hacienda, trying to get it re-organized and spruced up.

Let me tell y'all something. You accumulate a TON of stuff as a single person, two thousand more TONS of stuff as a married person, and once you have a kid...oh man, forget it. Stuff galore.

Our house looks like the site of a Buy Buy Baby pop-up shop.

A few randoms since, apparently, I've completely thrown in the towel on organized blogging this week:

1. Baby Nella's Instagram auction starts TODAY! Get yourselves over to Instagram and follow @wonderfullymadeauction to bid on items from a whole bunch of amazing businesses, including Crown Beauty Bar, Honey Pie Accessories and many more. Let's raise some money for little Nella and her family!

2. Anyone out there read Divergent? I keep seeing the ads for the movie and I'm intrigued. Should I read the book first or just head straight to the theater?

3. Any suggestions for workout DVDs that won't take more than 20-30 minutes out of my day? I really want to tone up a little before summer, but with Caroline, my time is super limited in the evenings. And ain't no way this girl is getting up at some ungodly hour to do P90X.

Alrighty, same place/same time tomorrow. 

Random Thursday Chatter

via Pink Wallpaper

I just realized that I hadn't done a random thoughts post yet this week! We can't let that happen, now can we? Here are the random thoughts going through my head this week:

1) I haven't read The Hunger Games, but I saw the trailer for the movie and it looks so good! I'm not usually one for sci-fi movies, but this looks more like a thriller/drama. Have any of you read the books? If so, what did you think?

2) I have recently discovered a new store online called Sosie. Any of you out there familiar with them? I was in search of this dress, which I saw on Pinterest. Unfortch, the Zig Zag Dress is sold out, but I saw SO many other adorable items that I'm over-the-moon about.

Cute, right?

3) The hubs returned safe and sound from NY last night. I had my8 hours of sleep of the week last night. I just sleep better when S is home : )

4) We have recently discovered a den of foxes living near our subdivision. Each night for the past few weeks, we had been hearing hyena-like noises coming from the woods near our house. Well apparently our neighbor was emboldened enough to go in search of the culprit.

He subsequently discovered a den of 15-20 foxes living there. How random, right? They're actually kinda creepy because we've seen them meandering around our yard in the middle of the day before. We thought foxes were nocturnal creatures, which goes to show just how little we know about forest dwelling animals.

5) I may or may not have spent a good twenty minutes looking up the proper plural form of the word 'fox'. (According to Merriam-Webster, it's 'foxes'.)

6) I was doing so, so well at having a Starbucks latte only once a week. This week musta' been a bruiser, because I've been hitting that drive-thru like an alcoholic on a bender.

7) To justify this somewhat costly and completely unnecessary latte-drinking habit, I tell myself that I'm aiding in economic recovery for the U.S.

8) Because my one latte per day is bound to put our country right back on track ; )

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-

Whirlwind Weekend + Some Randoms

Good morning, girls! First off, um, did we even have a weekend? Seriously, mine went by so fast that this morning when my alarm went off I wondered if I was mistaken and it was still the weekend. 'Le sigh...

Saturday was my second bridal shower and this one was hosted by Stephen's family. His sister Sarah WAY outdid herself on the food and decorations! She is 27 weeks pregnant and was such a trooper for putting the whole thing together : ) The house was immaculately clean and so adorably decorated - and she looked cute, to boot! I hope I'm as "with it" and put together as she is when I have kiddos!

Me and sweet Sarah!

We didn't take many photos just because there were lots of gifts and we wanted to get started opening them up right away. Plus, I wanted to spend more time mingling with all the amazing ladies who came to the shower. I'll see what I can get from my mom and try to post a few this week on here. I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to view more pics of me opening towels and salad plates, haha!

So yesterday we went to see the finale of Harry Potter and LOVED it. I'd elaborate on favorite parts, but since I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it. I will say though that the movie was a perfect ending to the series and the cast did an incredible job.

I'm holding out hope that J.K. Rowling will write more books...maybe about Harry Potter, Jr. and his adventures at Hogwart's?? Eh?

Finally, I got a few emails this weekend about the shoes from Friday's post. I hope y'all don't think I'm terrible for not emailing everyone back individually, but I'm in hard core wedding mode right now and there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I'm afraid to say, ye' olden blog may be taking a bit of a back seat during the next 8 weeks...hopefully ya'll will stick with me!

Anywho, I got the shoes last summer at Aldo, so unfortunately, I think the website has retired them : ( I would encourage you all to get on there and check out their current sandals and wedges though, because I always manage to find cute shoes there!

Ok, I'm off to do actual work stuff. Enjoy your day and try to stay cool in this heat!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Weird Dreams and "Gretchen" Hair

Hey girls! Hope you all are having an ok Monday…mine is off to a pretty good start, so I can’t complain.

How was everybody’s weekend? Mine was a pretty standard summer weekend, save for the wedding planning that we did yesterday. It’s funny, some days I have these little mini freak outs about not getting everything done before September 17th, but when I really think about it, we have gotten most of the major stuff done. I’m a strong Type A personality though, so it’s in my nature to always be concerned with staying organized and getting things done.

Some randoms from the weekend:

- Does anyone else out there watch True Blood? If so, how do you feel about this season? I’ve got mixed feelings. I’m all about this whole witch plot with Lafayette, as that plotline is kind of classic True Blood. But this thing with Jason and the crazy girl and the panther den….yeah, I’m not sure about that. Plus I’m bummed that Eric has lost his mind. Oh well, at least he’s still haute.

I realize if you don’t watch True Blood that all of that sounded like a bunch of hooey.


- I always have this recurring dream that it’s the final semester of college and somehow I’m coming up a credit short, preventing me from graduating. Like, somehow I’ve missed going to an entire class all semester. A class that I didn’t even know I was enrolled in. I wake up with my heart racing and sweating like a pig. Thoughts??

I should note, I have actually attended college and received a Bachelor's. So this dream is not only strange, but completely unnecessary.

-You may have noticed the new Sun Savvy Bloggers badge at the top of my page. Me and a bunch of other blogging gals have decided to sign a pledge to forego tanning forever. Y'all may remember that I just recently celebrated my one year NO TANNING anniversary! So proud of myself : ) Wanna do yourself a favor and tell skin cancer where to stick it? Go sign the pledge here and tell those cancer beds bye for good!

- I’m ten kinds of pumped for the final Harry Potter installment that comes out Friday! Both Stephen and I love us some Hogwarts. Any other Potter fans on the blog today that are excited for the big, final flick?

- I tried some new curls today and love ‘em! I think I’ll call this Ode to Gretchen, in honor of the Real Housewife Gretchen Rossi’s similar head of hair.

- I’ve gotten a zillion tweets from you ladies showing off your poofy ponytails and frankly, that is just dandy! If you feel like you’d want to be featured on the Blonde Ambition Poofy Wall of Fame, email your poof pic to askblondeambition{at}gmail{dot}com and include the subject line “I’m Poofy” or “Here’s My Poof!” of “Put Me on Your Wall of Fame!” or something to that effect.

I’m off to conquer Monday. Y’all have a pleasant day.

Be blessed, lovelies-

High/Low Style: {Retro Anthro}

One of my very favorite things about Anthropologie is their consistent nod to the 50's and 60's. Their latest Look Book called Day-to-Day features items that can be combined to make everyday styles look extraordinary. It also has a very Italian feel to it- almost like styles Audrey Hepburn would have worn in Roman Holiday.

Just looking at these gorgeous outfits brings to mind images of bouncing around Italy, visiting gelato shops, riding a bicycle around a quaint sea side town and walking hand-in-hand with my fiance through a piazza in the middle of Tuscany.

As much as I love Anthro, it can get a little pricey. This fashionista has a budget, so I personally try to gain inspiration from Anthro's looks to replicate for less moo-lah. Here are some of my favorite ways for re-creating this style at home (and for less cash!)

- Look for fun, printed scarfs in Mediterranean colors (cerulean blue, brick red, mustard yellow) to add some flavor to your outfit! Nothing says European vacay quite like a beautifully tied scarf! I love Francesca's Collections and Target for less expensive versions.

Cheap Thrill:

This super cute Climbing Vines scarf from Francesca's Collections for $18!


- Belts are key to making one's waist look teeny weenie! Find a skinny belt in bright red or yellow and fasten it right around the smallest part of your torso. Try this with long tunic tees and jeans for a casual day out or with a pencil skirt and cardigan for a day at the office.

Cheap Thrill:

The Blue Patent Horseshoe Belt from Dorothy Perkins for only $8.27!


-Try mixing a vintage inspired tee with a preppy, prissy cardigan for an edgy yet feminine look (similar to the Des Artistes Lobster Tee look.) I love Forever 21's nostalgic tees and Ann Taylor Loft's cardigans.

Cheap Thrill:

Parisian Station Tee by Forever 21 ($14.90) and the Deep V Cardigan from Ann Taylor Loft ($54.50)

What does this latest Anthro look book remind you of? A personal Roman Holiday, perhaps? Or maybe a favorite vacation you once took to Tuscany??

Be blessed, lovelies-

Inspired By: {Water for Elephants}

Although I've never read the book, (and trying frantically to do so before 4/22),  I cannot wait for Water for Elephants to hit theaters! I'm seriously captivated by Reese Witherspoon's amazing styling and all of the early-era clothing and hairstyles.

Want to replicate Reese's look at home for yourself? Lezzz do it!

First, our sweet friends at Zappos.com have created a limited edition scarf to commemorate the launch of the film and it's SO cute! Ms. Witherspoon wears her's in her hair in the movie and it's totally adorable!

Also, saw these Frye boots on Piperlime last night and could totally see her sporting some just like them in the movie!

My fav part of the whole look though is Reese's hair! Although I'm probably definitely not going to be cutting my hair into a bob anytime soon (and coincidentally, neither did she!!!!), I'm game for trying to copy the style in my bathroom, sans-cutting shears.

You'll need a good hairspray, 1.5 " barrel curling iron (I like Hot Tools' brand), a glossing spray and a rat-tail comb for parting and placing hair.

Start by creating a deep side part, then continue to curl hair in 1 inch sections, starting about mid-way down the head. Once you're all curled up, spray with a glossing spray! Finally, if you are feeling super ambitious, try underpinning hair with bobby pins to create a faux bob! That's what Reese's stylist did because the actress didn't want to chop her strands either!

So there you have it...easy ways to channel your inner vintage chica! Have a great weekend ladies and gents!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Interview with Miss Walsh: Highlights

Hi, lovelies! So I bounded out of bed this morning about to explode in anticipation of sharing the awesome interview I got to do with Kate Walsh yesterday! Kate graciously took some time out from shooting on the Private Practice set yesterday to talk to some bloggers yesterday (including moi!!) about her new fragrance, Boyfriend!

And yes, she was ON the PP set when we spoke. How cool, right?!

Kate's team will be sending me a full transcript of the interview in a couple of days, but I wanted to first share a few highlights with you girls and boys:

-First off, she was so nice! I've never really gotten to talk to a celebrity before, especially for AN HOUR, but she was incredibly down-to-earth, funny and genuine. You could tell right off the bat just how much she cared about her new fragrance endeavor. I can say without a doubt now that Kate Walsh has to be one of the busiest women in Hollywood.

-One of my favorite questions that I got to ask Kate:

Me: "So it seems that a lot of what Boyfriend is about is feeling sexy. What is the go-to item in your closet when you want to feel dead sexy?"

Kate: "I love skirts and dresses and heels! So many times when we are in that Alpha Female position, a career woman so to speak, we don't get a chance to dress super feminine. I love to dress up in skirts and a killer pair of heels!"

-Kate mentioned that her fragrance was inspired by the scent of an ex-boyfriend. Following a break-up with a former bf, Kate ran out to the department store in search of a men's fragrance because she missed having his scent around. The idea hit her that, in essence, just because you don't have an actual, physical boyfriend, doesn't mean you can't have a delicious, masculine scent around. A masculine scent made specifically for a woman. You.

And the genius idea for Boyfriend was born.

-The perfume is multi-layered with floral topnotes and musky, darker undertones. It is also made specifically to blend and layer well with any other fragrances. It is a subtle, sexy scent that doesn't really "announce its presence", but rather slowly introduces itself in a room. Nice!

-The idea for the vintage train case in which the product comes was inspired by her favorite old movies that inspired her to become an actress. Cool, huh?

It was a surreal, exciting experience to talk to Kate and I'm so grateful to her and the amazing team at Digital Media Management that made this possible.

I'll have the full interview/transcript very soon (hopefully tomorrow or Monday), so be SURE to stay tuned!

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, Kate is launching a brand new series of viral videos today called "Dont Let This Happen to You", in conjunction with the other videos for the Boyfriend brand. Just in time for Valentine's Day. Check 'em out!

Be blessed, lovelies-

White Swan/Black Swan

via IMDB

As I mentioned yesterday, I was lucky enough to catch a New Year's Eve showing of Black Swan, starring the to-die-for-gorgeous Natalie Portman. I left the movie with so many style inspirations swirling around in my head, despite the jarring ending of the film.

My favorite element of the flick was how Darren Aronofsky juxtaposed light and dark. As Portman's character falls deeper and deeper into madness, her clothing and make-up becomes more and more vamp.

After the 110 minute film was over, I even turned to S and said, "I'm going to blog about this."

Done and done.

Want to channel your own prima ballerina? Don't worry, we'll do this sans-tutu ; )

via IMDB

Bring out your inner Black Swan by looking for dramatic details, like intricate stitching, ruching, draping and embellishments. And I may or may not have just added the Kate Spade ring below to my "want" list on Piperlime...

Black Mesh Embroidered Dress from Topshop; Badgley Mischka Kiwi heel; Kate Spade Cocktail Ring; Black Print Drape Wrap Skirt 

Feeling more sweet and innocent than dark and mysterious? Fret not. Behold, some gorgeous options for you girls looking for a White Swan-inspired look. I'm seriously loving the fringed tank from Topshop. How great would that look with a leather skirt, tights and ankle boots for a winter party?

White Lace Peter Pan Collar Sleeveless Shift Dress from Topshop; Kate Spade Ring; BCBGeneration Charlie clutch; Cream Tassel Sleeveless Blouse from Topshop 

A few things to remember when attempting this look:

-Tutus are cute. On 5 year olds. If you are over the age of 14, you might consider nixing the tutu. True, Cindy Lauper pulled it off, but she's, well, Cindy Lauper...

-To really pull off the look, do a dark, smoky eye with the Black Swan style. Go easy on the make-up if you're feeling more White Swan. My number one rule for styling- think of the TOTAL look. From make-up to hair to accessories, everything adds up to create a whole.

-Try the ballerina bun, but keep it slightly disheveled. Otherwise you'll just look uptight and probably end up with a migraine.

via Fashion Takes Flight

I'm off to practice my pirouettes and plies. But not really.

Be blessed, lovelies-

Tidbits and Whatnots

First off, welcome old friends and new readers! I love nothing more than meeting new blog pals- so much fun!

I hope you're all well-caffeinated and raring to go this morning, because today's post is a menagerie. I've been running, running, running like a mad woman these past few days, but today I plan to take it easy, (well, at least when I get off work tonight.)

Are you ready for the randomness?

Elle.com did a fun re-cap of the best looks of 2010. It was a pretty stylish year, no? A few of my personal favs:

S and I saw Black Swan on New Year's Eve and LOVED it. It's sinister, sexy and completely over the top. If you're a Natalie Portman fan or just like thrillers, I'd highly recommend this visceral, pulse-pounding flick. A must, folks.

S is in NYC for work this week (insert frownie face), so I'm dog sitting. Meet this handsome devil, otherwise known as Ari (named after S's fav character from Entourage.) This studly stud came to stay at my apartment last night and keep me company : ) Yes, he's a stoic German Shepard, but really Mr. Ari is just a big 'ole baby. Emphasis on the word "big".

I'm still quite the fan of this little guy though : ) Mr. Max and my fiance (sick of hearing me say that word yet?) posing for a pic a couple weeks ago. Two of my fav guys in one shot...what more could you ask for?

So I tried a side bun a couple weeks ago for a date night. The results are below. It was cute, but did NOT stay put. At the end of the night, it looked like a hot mess. I digress.

Before it all came 'a tumbling down.

Coincidentally, in addition to a ring, I also got these shoes last Friday. I went to Aldo over lunch and purchased these beauties for 30% at Aldo! I needed something to go with my dress for NYE. Little did I know these would be the shoes I got engaged in!

I've gotten a few emails this week in regards to Personal Styling and E-Style sessions and if I would still be doing these while all the wedding planning is going on. YES! I live to get dressed and dress others and it would take a strong force of nature to get me to take a break : ) So if you're intereseted in a sesh, email me and we'll get ya dressed!

Last thing- Next week, I'll be starting a new post series on Tuesdays called "This Is Her Story". This post series will chronicle the personal journeys of several amazing women who are taking life by the horns and refusing to let go. We'll have features from gals of all walks of life including a fashion designer, a minister, a breast cancer survivor, a fitness trainer and a former professional ballet dancer. Get excited, ladies!

If you have an incredible story that you'd like to see featured on "This Is Her Story"- email me!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Attraversiamo

Buonjiorno, Blonde Ambitioners! Did you all have a fantabulous weekend?

This girl's weekend....absolutely perfect : ) So perfect, I wish weekends could be twice as long...sigh...

As I mentioned on Friday, I saw Eat Pray Love and thoroughly enjoyed it! My very patient and sweet date for the evening was kind enough to go with me and sit through it, haha. So first, a quick review of the movie- (skip this section if you haven't seen the movie yet!)

For the most part, the movie stays pretty true to the book, which was a relief to me. Julia Roberts perfectly captured the "voice" and spirit of the author, Elizabeth Gilbert and Javier Bardem was EXACTLY as I pictured Felipe; handsome, charming, very Brazilian and funny in an off-beat sort of way.

The movie was wonderfully cast, with appearances by James Franco, in a bit part as actor and flavor of the month, David, Billy Crudup, as Elizabeth's ex-husband, and Richard Jenkins as "Richard from Texas", a man who serves as Liz's mentor at the Indian meditation center.

The scenery was absolutely picturesque. Not that I didn't want to go before, but now more than ever, I WANT TO GO TO BALI. There's a scene at the end where Liz and Felipe ride off into the sunset on a boat and all I can say is oh em gee! Gorgeousness.

All in all, a very good movie that did justice to a very, very good book.

So you might be wondering what the heck the title of this post means. Well in the movie, Liz and her friends discuss their "word". Like if you had one word to describe you, what that word would be. Well Liz finally chooses her word at the end of the movie, attreversiamo, which means "let's cross over" in Italian. I know this isn't the context for which this word is intended, but I thought it perfectly fit the feature of today's post.

"Let's Cross Over".....into fall!!

It was insufferably hot this weekend and seeing these photos from the fall 2010 J. Crew catalog online was like rubbing salt into an open wound.

The latest Crew catalog (both online and in print) features the cast of the upcoming romantic comedy, The Romantics, which debuts September 10, (guess you know where I'll be that night ; ) Cast members Josh Duhamel, Katie Holmes, Malin Akerman, Jeremy Strong, Adamy Brody and Rebecca Lawrence showed off the latest Crew goodness for an upbeat (and let's be honest) drool-worthy photoshoot to promote the movie and the awesome new fall attire.

I have no idea what this movie is about, but I definitely want to see it now! How much fun are these pics?!

I'm also totally craving that sequin skirt that Malin is wearing below.

L-U-R-V-I-N-G the shift dress, turtle neck combo Ms. Holmes is sporting, too. And Mr. Brody! My gracious, doesn't he look all grown up in his jacket, tie and perfectly mussed hair. He's certainly come a long way since his dork-tastic O.C. days.

And guys out there, take note of Mr. Duhamel's outfit....perfect, it is indeed. Fergie is a lucky girl ; )

What looks are your favorites from this latest J.Crew spread? Do you plan on checking out this flick?

P.S.- Random sidenote, but Max has been having lots of problems with his neck and back lately : ( The vet says it's probably from jumping on furniture, as mini-dachsunds are prone to back problems because of their body shape and weight distribution. Have any of you other weenie dog owners out there dealt with similar issues with your fur babies? What are your solutions, (short of putting them in a crate forever), to keeping your dogs from jumping on the furniture?

Be blessed, lovelies-

Photo credits: J.Crew online