More from Club Monaco

This is my #1 favorite thing I purchased at Club Monaco during our Toronto trip. I saw this on their website and I knew, just knew it was destined to be mine. And Viola! It is! I have to say, I feel so cute going around in my darling new skirt!

Me VS the NYSE

As a good citizen I am very concerned about the economy and doing my share. And not to be selfish but I am concerned about the welfare of my family. Now, Brian and I are a little different when it comes to our views on making/saving/spending money. Brian is a big fan of the first two of those items, I lean a little towards item #3. But I am pretty sure I have come up with a foolproof idea of how to beat the stock market and keep my families finances in place.
1) Let's say Brian wants to invest $1,000 in the market. If the market or Brian's stock of choice goes down, he loses money. He is unhappy and I am empty-handed.
2) If Brian would just give me $200 I could buy myself something AWESOME, keep the economy going and Brian would still be $800.00 ahead. This is what I call a win/win situation.
Now all I need to do is score an interview with Brian's Money Honey Becky Quick from CNBC so I can officially go on the record with my plan!

More Banana Republic~

Hard to believe, right? Top and skirt are both from Banana Republic. Pumps are one of my all-time favorites from Nine West. I feel a little like Dorothy in these, but with an edge!

Weekend wrap up

Sunday was an AWESOME day! I got loads of housework done, got a pedicure, started a new book and had friends over for dinner. So... where to begin? It was a bit of a rough week so I decided I would reward myself with a pedicure and I really, really wanted purple polish and white polka dots. How chipper is that? So I did it. The girl at Aveda asked me what the occasion was. Uh, me? Then I started reading a book called Good Indian Wife. I am loving this book. It is really an enjoyable read. Then, to cap off such a nice weekend our friends Jordan and Jeremy came over for dinner with their daughter Adalynn. Adalynn is a cutie but does not like Brian one bit, and it's kind of funny. She just ignores him like he isn't even there. Anyway, dinner was nice but the best part was the appetizer. We made Jalapeno Poppers, which we were introduced to by our friends Jeff and Gretchen. Even if you don't like hot stuff, these are great. You take a jalapeno, slice it in half, clean out the inside and fill it with cream cheese. Then, you wrap bacon around it and grill. They take about 20-25 minutes to grill, but the longer you grill them the more mild they get. Yum!

Scenes from a Saturday...

I have been driving past this car on my way home recently and have been waiting for the opportunity to take a picture of it. Between this and the Hello Kitty car from Florida I am really feeling like I need to Pimp My Ride! Also, I popped into work to have a small birthday celebration with some of the kids. I had told them that I would let them decorate the cake. Boy did I learn my lesson!

Last but not least- The new Candace Bushnell book One Fifth Avenue is AWESOME! I am thoroughly enjoying it!

Take it off!

Serisouly, I am really on a roll with this randy title stuff this week. So, anyway... on Monday I realized that after wearing my hair in a ponytail/headband for a month I obviously didn't need my hair as I wasn't really doing anything with it. So I decided to get it cut. And I love it! I feel so much better without all of that excess limp hair around my face. Whew! I am telling you, if you need a change and live in the Columbus area check out Ha!r in Grandview. You will really encounter a top notch team of stylists there! Thank you Dana for my new look. I love it! Oh, and you'll never believe it- My outfit today is from Banana Republic. What a surprise, right?

Who knew? I am considered award-worthy

That's right. You heard it here first. Or second if you read Jane's blog. Jane is an amazingly talented lady from the UK who has devoted her blog to not buying any new clothes for one full year. ONE FULL YEAR! So her blog is interesting to me as are her travels, family life and career. Anyway, Jane passed along an "I Love Your Blog" award to me and I get to pass it on to five others. Thank you Jane, for making my day. I feel a little like Sally Field right now. And without further ado, here are five blogs I love and am passing this I Love Your Blog award on to:

Hillary- I admire her challenge to herself to get physically fit. Before my wedding I also used a personal trainer to get in shape and to this day I swear it is the best money I ever spent.

Erin- While she is a cat owner and I am allergic to cats, you can't beat the fact that she has great hair and is just darling.

Kimberly- The Patron Saint of Blogging. And more great hair.

And another Kimberly- She has a way with words and honesty that I like.

And last but not least- The Cute on the Cheap gang. Man they are cute and they crack me up.

More than just a pretty face...

By now it is pretty well known that I'm a little on the silly side, and that I am pretty sure my blog has no point other than my own amusement and those who want to come along for the ride. So, here is my recent bout of silliness. Enjoy!

Another free offer from Zoya!

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I feel sexy!

Man, is there a theme going on with me this week or what? First the nude lipgloss and now I'm talking about feeling sexy! So, in my hands as of today are my copies of the new Candace Bushnell book AND the Sex and the City DVD. How am I going to manage my time? I need to:

1) Have Halloween craft night tonight with girfriends

2) Watch 90210

3) Watch The Office season premiere

4) Read my new book

5) Take care of my family, house, job, etc.....

I'm exhausted already!

I've gone nude

Way to try to grab some attention, right? So I keep seeing more and more nude lipsticks in magazines. I don't typically wear bright lip colors but I do like some color. However, I've been curious to see how this "nude" thing would play out for me. I didn't want to spend a fortune in case I didn't like the results, but I am a bit snotty about my cosmetics and I've spent a bit of time looking at shades from some of the lines I like. I don't wear lipsticks but prefer lipgloss. I was at Target and saw the Jemma Kidd line. I decided to give it a try versus the Shu Uemura shade I really wanted. I like it. A lot. The shade I chose is called Undress which seems quite fitting for a nude color. If you haven't tried the nude phase give it a whirl. For me it's a nice new look and I like it! Also, today I am reading The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein. I really, really like this book. Finally, something I would suggest to other people. I've been in a bit of a dry spell lately for good books.

Saturday Evening Post...

So, here is a wrap-up of my day/thoughts:

Invited the girls from our neighborhood over to tell stories in the backyard and have snacks. Planned it for 8 p.m. so it would be dark and more of an adventure. Told the kids we would use flashlights and lanterns. Um... we don't own a lantern. Headed to Target 6 days after a major power outage to purchase a lantern. Am now the proud owner of the absolute only lantern left on the shelf at Target. It is a lot like Charlie Browns Christmas Tree. I do have to say that it was fun.

Decided I want to learn to use chopsticks. (Actually decided it last night.) I'm sure I won't do anything about it but just think to myself "I'd really like to learn to use chopsticks."

Finished reading American Wife. Honestly, I did not enjoy the book. I thought maybe it would be more uplifting, as it was supposed to be loosely based on a true First Lady. The woman in the book did not enjoy being the First Lady and really didn't seem to enjoy her husband and just kind of tolerated her life as an outsider looking in. But that is just my opinion. It isn't a book I'd suggest to anyone. But Kimberly, I am sending it your way. And Leslie, I'm curious what you thought about it as I know you are also reading it.

I smell SO pretty!

I've worn Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs perfume for the longest time, and I love them. But sometimes a girl needs a change. I was tempted by Coach's perfume and also Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue. But not enough to make the change. Then, while in Canada I tried Issey Miyake. And I KNEW this was the perfume for me. I am telling you, I feel so pretty wearing this scent. I feel lighthearted, yet subtly sexy. And the scent stays with me througout the day. But not in an overpowering way. If you are in the market for a new scent, I would absolutely suggest giving this a whirl. The Coach perfume was my second favorite. Also, today I am wearing my Scarlet and Grey, including my shoes. If you look in the background you can see Brutus Buckeye making his weekly appearance in my office.

I love my new skirt from Club Monaco!

This is one of the skirts I bought while in Toronto. Once I got done raiding Club Monaco I really didn't buy much, as I went haywire in that store alone. I LOVE Club Monaco. I bought 3 skirts and a dress. Ooops! You can tell by this picture that I have given up on doing my hair. After not being able to blow dry or straighten it for a few days I got lazy. But I still love my skirt! And I am wearing tights today as I welcome fall. My favorite season of all.

Lucky girl, Lucky Charms

Again, I am about the luckiest girl in the world! Yesterday I was boo-hooing about not having any electricity or food, as we lost all of ours in the power outage. The lines to get even fast food were so long, and a lot of the grocery stores were closed or had to clear their shelves of refrigerated goods. My friend Jordan saved the day today and brought me a box of Lucky Charms and milk to my office today. This was all I wanted for dinner last night. No joke. How nice is she? And really, how did I ever wind up with such nice friends?

Did you get yours?

A few weeks ago I mentioned a free offer from Lisa Hoffman Skincare. It was one of those deals that seemed too good to be true. A free product for me AND a friend? Well, hopefully everyone signed up because I got mine and I've had a few other people mention that theirs came also. Thanks to the good people at Lisa Hoffman for this AWESOME offer!

Our electricity is back on!!!

Click here to see how happy and excited I am to be with power again!!!

Wind damage and pink paint

Catchy title, huh? Here are pics of some of the trees down in our area. They are now saying it could take as long as this coming Sunday to get service to us again. The pink paint is from my project I tackled while Brian was gone Saturday watching OSU get defeated. My friends Brittney and Traci made the super cute sign I blogged about recently. I decided it needed a pink wall to really show it off. And not just any pink, but shocking, in-your-face pink. I don't think Brian was even out of the driveway before I started painting. I love it! It looks SO CUTE!

Roughing it....

Due to the storms and high winds we have been without power since Sunday. You really do realize how much you rely on technology and power once you are without it. We've been going to Starbucks and Barnes and Noble to charge our cell phones as needed and spent quite a bit of time driving around looking at all of the trees that are down. It's a bummer because on of our favorite things about the neighborhood we live in is all of the greenery. We live in an old neighborhood with loads of gorgeous old trees. We've lost so many limbs and trees from the high winds. We've also lost all of our food at this point and stores have run out of ice or else the stores that have it have rationed it to one bag per family. Yesterday the situation at home became so dire that I had to wash dishes by HAND! We're almost out of clean towels but I can tell you I am not doing laundry by hand. I have had a bit of extra reading time on my hands, so I started reading American Wife. I'm enjoying it so far. I was under the impression that the book was loosely based on an actual First Lady, and it is, but I have to say it is a little more raw and edgy than what I would have imagined it to be.

Look at what my talented friends made me!

I really, really am a lucky girl this week. My week of amazingness started off with my oh-so-cute shoebags from Kimberly. Then, my luck rolled on with roses from Brian, then, getting even more lucky my husband filled my car up with gas. That alone is am amazing feat because the seat on my car is broken and stuck in one spot so anyone over 5'3" has a heck of a time sitting in the drivers seat. I got to play Bunco twice this week, which is always fun, and yesterday my friends Brittney and Traci came into my office with an early birthday present they made for me. Now let me tell you that being friends with these girls is sometimes a daunting task because they know how to do and make EVERYTHING. And I know how to do almost nothing except shop online. I show up at baby showers, birthdays, whatever and everyone has all of these amazing gifts they MADE that are really nice and not crap you shove in your closet after they have left. No, it's really nice, cute and well thought out. Then I show up with "Here's your crappy gift I bought at Target." So anyway, they MADE this for me and I LOVE IT! I really went home looking for the exact special place where I want to put it and I haven't told Brian yet but I am envisioning an area upstairs in our house where I'm going to paint a hot pink accent area to hang this little gem. Thank you girls, I LOVE IT!

The Limited is having a sale...

Click here for the coupon. Enjoy! 30% off all purchases, regular and sale priced.

Chocolate + Raspberry = One happy me!

Tonight I ran to Target to pick up snacks for Bunco tomorrow night. I grabbed a bag of Hersheys Meltaways Raspberry Bliss. Sure, sometimes the marketing folks get you with catchy titles and packaging I know. But really, how could I pass that up? So I came home and even though Bunco isn't until tomorrow I put the snacks out tonight because I'm wound a little tight like that. And of course I tried one in advance. A sneak preview of sorts. And let me tell you, that bag is not going to make it until tomorrow. They are AMAZING! Which means another trip to Target. Oh darn...

Sweet surprise!

So, imagine my surprise when I got home to quite a nice little surprise from Kimberly! I am telling you, that girl is too nice! She MADE the cutest shoe bags for me for my trip to Toronto. I mean, serisouly, how nice is that? They have cute little drawstrings and the cutest bright colors. I know how to make NOTHING, so let me tell you I am way impressed by both her kindness and skills! Thank you thank you thank you Kimberly!

My softer side...

Just like Sears, I have one. For all of my "Brian heckling" I do have to admit to liking the guy... Today is the anniversary of the day we got engaged. Six years ago. It was quite the nice proposal, and a very, very pretty ring. So my pat answer whenever Brian gets frustrated with me (which happens occasionally) is that HE asked ME. Thank you Brian for all of the nice memories.

To view or not to view...

I admit, I was hooked on 90210 the first time around, so last week I decided to watch the "new" 90210. I'm not sure if I'm too old this time or what my deal was but it didn't seem even remotely like the old one. I'm pretty ambivalent right now about whether to tune in tonight to give it another shot or not. Has anyone else watched it and have an opinion?

Tuesday only at Ann Taylor Loft

http://www.anntaylorloft.com/home.jsp?cid=E000732

Souveniers...

I bought a few things in Toronto, but I have to say I have a few purchases that are my new favorite things. One of them is a lip gloss from a line called "Quo" I found this during our late night run to Shoppers Drug Mart. I really liked the colors of some of the eyeshadow palettes but figured I could always order them online later but I was not willing to leave the store without this lip gloss. Why was I so drawn to it? It is called Nite Lite Lip Gloss. It has small penlights in the cap! So if you are in the dark and need to apply your lip gloss you can see! It has a mirror built into the side! So when you unscrew the lid the little penlights automatically come on! I am a sucker for good marketing. But really, I do like the color and texture of the gloss. Unfortunately for me the products can not be purchased online and are not sold in the US. Bummer.

Home sweet home!

Man am I exhausted! I do have to say I am glad we drove versus taking the train though. We spent a grand total of $92.00 on gas versus the cost of the train tickets at over $300.00 each. Again, I really, really need to come up with a more flattering angle for photo taking but oh well, we did have lots of fun! One of my favorite moments was when we were sitting around at the Entourage party and Kathy out of blue said "Do you know a pirates favorite pattern?" To which the answer appears to be "Arrrr-gyle." Sometimes that girl cracks me up! Anyway, we did have fun but it was so nice to see the Ambassador bridge and get home.

Well, the trip is wrapping up...

The night life here is so different from home. People are out walking the streets at all hours of the night. It is so clean and safe. So around 11:30 tonight (last night at this point) we are out walking home and we find this place called beauty boutique. And it is open. So we walk in to what is basically Sephora at 11:30 on a Saturday night and I go haywire! High end perfumes, cosmetics and accessories??? I got a lipstick that has a built in light and mirror. I'll do a post on that in the next few days. It is amazing though, so look forward to it! If you get to Toronto (which I highly suggest as it is truly an amazing city) and you enjoy shopping you MUST check out a store called Fashion Crimes. It is an amazing place to let out your inner princess. Amazing clothes and accessories, velvet drapes and chandeliers. Top notch service. So here are a few pics from the evening before I head off to bed so I can wake up and go to my last movie tomorrow before we head for home.

Toronto Day 3

We're a little pooped today. We got in around 3:30 this morning from the Entourage party at Brant House last night. It was crazy fun! Then today we woke up and went and saw Dean Spanley, which was amazingly good. Tonight we are going to a party for the release of Nick and Nora's Sountrack, and I also have a ticket to go see the film tomorrow morning at 9:30. Great plan, eh? The best news is that I had another Caesar drink today, and this one was a deluxe with a little shish-kabob on top! Love it!!! For fun, I've included a picture of the hand dryer from the place where we had lunch. I thought it was just a funny sign until I actually used the thing. Talk about powerful! I thought the skin on my hands was going to blow right off!

More from Toronto...

So, we went this morning and waiting in line to see what movies we could get tickets for. Unfortunately it's pretty difficult to get some tickets but you can still go see the red carpet events for them. We did get Gala Premier tickets for Dean Spanley, so we get to sit through the same viewing as the cast and directors and pass over the red carpet to get in to our seats. We did pass by the Much Music studios where P. Diddy is doing a free concert. I don't know what his deal is with white parties, but they had these AWESOME all white chandeliers up for him. In a few hours we are headed off to the red carpet event for the new Brad Pitt and George Clooney movie. The crowds have already started to form and the red carpet and press are already out waiting. So far the highlight of the day has been the absolute retail meltdown I had at Club Monaco. I hate to say I bought everything I went in hoping for. My other favorite was lunch today. I had a Bloody Caesar drink (AWESOME, FYI!) and perogies stuffed with feta cheese, spinach and potato. So far so good!

We're here, eh?

Amazingly enough we drove all the way versus the plan of driving across the border and then taking the train into the city. (About a 4 hour train ride.) Last year the train tickets cost us $89.00. This year they were over $300.00. So we just kept on driving. Funny thing is we passed the train coming into the city! We checked in and our room overlooks the CN Tower. Awesome! We had the same view last year and when I asked to be facing the tower this year I didn't know if we would get it or not but we did! We are off to a great start!

I think it's all because of my cute new shoes from Endless.com! I have already had several compliments on them today and I love them!

Miss Independent

Caroline has ALWAYS been very good at asserting herself and her needs, wants, wishes, ideas... And usually when she makes up her mind about something it is hard to talk her down. She let me know that this is how she wanted to wear her hair to school. OK Caroline.

Planes trains and automobiles

So, tomorrow we leave for our girl outing to the Toronto Film Festival. This is kind of like New York for me where I come home and get asked "What did you see?" The answer is: Stores. Lots of them. Bars. Lots of them. As many times as I've been to New York I've never seen the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building or anything I guess I should see. But I sure can get myself to Zara, Bliss Spa, Tao and Century 21. Last year we came home from the film festival not having seen one film, but we sure had a great time! We saw Jake Gyllenhall and a bunch of other people, got our name on a movie studio party list and shoppped like mad women! Plus, we drive to the border and then take the train into Toronto so it's pretty fun. There may not be any planes involved in the story but I thought it was a cute title and goes pretty well with this video clip of what happens when people travel together! Poor Kathy had to wake up to me last year still in my clothes from the night before!

Insomnia netted me this...

Again, fun stuff I found trolling OPB. A scale that weighs you in quantity of animals. Pretty amusing as long as you can handle it. If it came up with a kangaroo I would find that to be warm and fuzzy. A rhino not so much so. How funny would it be to have this in your bathroom when you have company over? Instead of rummaging through your stuff they could play around with this in your bathroom. It could be a real conversation piece. I mean come on, who hasn't weighed themselves while at someone else's home? At least now you could openly discuss it and laugh about it.