GOBBLE GOBBLE [ALMOST]

Happy almost Thanksgiving!! I.cannot.wait. All I want to do is hang around family and stuff my face. Speaking of stuffing my face, I came across these gems the other day and one of the two bags I bought is already a casualty. I wish I could say that it is all the hubs' fault, but it is not. I think he ate about ten of them, and as for the rest..... imagine me with an, " i didn't do it" face and crumbs on my lip... yeah.... So much for being "good" until Thanksgiving.

So on Friday we went out for wings and drinks, YUM! I wore my amazing faux leather jacket from Forever21, new flannel top from Target, faux leather pants and above-the-knee stilettos. Love. A little Stella&Dot love in there too! The Rebel Pendant Necklace, Emerson Bangle and Luna Wrap.

 

Stella&Dot Arm Party

On Saturday we went to a wedding and I rocked one of my new Forever21 dresses and a slicked back high bun. The dress is fab and I love it! Just have to be careful that the, "girls", are in place. Ha! Thankfully the dress has decent length to it, otherwise I think it would have been a little much for a wedding!

This Conair Bun Maker is.the.bomb. I am in love and cannot wait to use it again. It was very easy to use and definitely made my bun nice and perfect. After pulling my hair up in a high pony tail, I put the hair through the middle of the bun maker and rolled it down, folding my hair under the bun maker as I rolled it towards my scalp. I did have to un-roll and re-roll twice before I got it just how I wanted it. It did not take any time at all and this will now be one of my chic quick fixes when I'm in a bind, for sure. I then finished the look with hair spray, Garnier Fructis shine spray, and gel. My earrings and fab bracelet are both from Forever21. Love that store!



Walgreens- $3.49

Love

Forever21



Candie's for Kohl's Jacket

 

Gotta Love a Photo Booth at Weddings!

Unfortunately, I had to work Sunday and the wedding was an hour and a half away. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep Saturday night and was ddrraaggiinngg on Sunday. Even thought I was the DD, only getting four hours of sleep and then working all day is the equivalent to a bad hangover. Ugh! Here is a typical, "going to work at 5am", look. Ha! My poor lunch box is falling apart!

And this is what I got to enjoy for dinner, courtesy of the hubs, after my grueling sleep-deprived shift. We LOVE breakfast for dinner!! Yum!

Some Thanksgiving love to come!!

Have a great day!


xoxo MaryBeth

FRIDAY REWIND

Happy Friday!!!

       Phew! What a whirlwind weekend and week I have had, hence, not posting since Sunday!! Sorry!! We traveled to St. Louis for my cousin's wedding this past weekend and it was F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! Everything about it was so gorgeous and chic. Love! Here's some pics!

Travel Style

Stella&Dot Arm Party!!
Emerson Bangle $59
Luna Wrap Bracelet $89
 

Wedding Style
Sofia Pearl Bib $118
Dress- Forever21

Beautiful cake and table!

Gorg Center Pieces

We rushed back Sunday morning for a First Communion in Louisville and I had a Stella&Dot party on Monday! I was exhausted to say the least! And then I worked my three 12's in a row (which are always more then 12hours), Tuesday-Thursday!! Needless to say, I slept in today!! The party went great and we had fun! I knew it would be!

Heading to the Stella&Dot Party!

S&D Party Style

For the S&D party, I rocked my faux leather pants, above-the-knee stilettos, bad-ass tank from Kohl's by Rock and Republic, and the amazing Lillith Fringe Necklace by Stella&Dot.

My hostess earned over $300 in free jewelry and four items at half off! How awesome is that!! So, after the fun of the party it was back to reality and back to work. But don't worry, we always know how to have fun! A nurse fashion pic and some balloon turkeys can brighten any one's day! One of our resident's husbands makes awesome balloon figures for a living, and every now and then we get a little surprise for the unit. Check it out!

Fun socks and fun shoes. Love!

How Cute!

love!

Another fun thing that occurred during my three days of hospital life was that my Forever21 order came in! And boy did it not disappoint! I am so happy that all three items fit perfectly and are even more gorg in person! I took some pics of them and will def share when I actually wear them. Love!

Sequin Tuxedo Style Front

Faux Leather Panel in the Back

Love!

Love!

Today has been such a beautiful Friday and I had to take some pics of one of the trees in our backyard. It is breathtaking and a reminder of why I love this time of year SO much. The only downfall is that Winston's fur is a leaf magnet!! Never fails that when we let him back inside form a bathroom break, he will have at least five leaves stuck him, minimum, and Charlie will only have one! I also cannot wait to use our outdoor fireplace. I LOVE bonfires!! Especially when S'more making is involved.

Winston Sprinting in the Leaves!

Beautiful....

Fire Pit Love!

We are hitting up some wings and beer tonight, can't wait!! And then another wedding tomorrow!! Busy busy!


Have a great weekend!


xoxo MaryBeth

HALLOWEEN HAPPINESS

Hey Ladies!! Happy Halloween! I love love love this time of year and cannot wait to hand out candy at my house tonight and watch, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (for the third time in like five days)! The hubs might break out that Popeye costume again tonight! haha too funny.  So I worked the past two days and was thankful for the chance to sleep in a little bit this morning. I hit the gym, grocery store, post office and vet. Poor Charlie has issues with his, well how do I put this.. anal glands. Haha We have to start taking him occasionally to the vet to get them, "expressed", otherwise they clog (which has happened twice now) and cause him to get VERY sick. And when the gland gets clogged it then ruptures leaving a, literally, hole near his bottom. Both times it happened he started acting very strange, wouldn't eat anything, moped around acting sad and winds up on antibiotics. So today I decided it was probably time to be proactive and get him checked out. Five minutes and $15 later, I have a happy Charlie. Winston came for the ride and I'm sure he snickered to Charlie in their dog language that he didn't have to go in to the vet but that Charlie did. Ha! Speaking of my dog-children, these are their festive outfits for Halloween:

my little bat!

my little spider!

I snagged some great finds at the grocery store that I am pretty excited about. In fact, I was so excited apparently, that I left my IPhone and wallet in the shopping cart and didn't realize it until I was in my driveway!! I. freaked. out. Luckily I literally live one block from there and was able to go to the shopping cart collector thing and grab my belongings (before someone else did!). PHEW! Here's my finds:

Butternut Squash

Now, I've never cooked with butternut squash before so I am super excited to try it out tonight. I am thinking about just roasting it in the oven with some olive oil, sea salt and maybe a bit of cinnamon or brown sugar. I want to keep intact it's healthy side, so I'm not gonna smother it in butter or anything. I'll share the results and some pics later.

"keen-wa"

Quinoa is another item I have never cooked before, and this one the hubs is a little skeptical about. We shall see! I follow a few blogs and always here about "keen-wa" (still not sure how to pronounce it, ha!) and decided to go for it. I am usually a pretty healthy eater but sometimes I lack variety, so I am trying to branch out. I'll also let you know how this one turns out. And there are a TON of things you can do with Quinoa, so it may take a few experiments to figure out how exactly I will use this item.

mmmm

I bet this looked a little funny in my shopping cart sitting next to my butternut squash, quinoa, greek yogurt, apples, bananas, milk, eggs and deli meat. haha I love to indulge (sometimes a little too much!). I think I am going to save these bad boys for Thanksgiving. We are going to my parent's for Thanksgiving this year and I should probably contribute something. I think these will hit. the. spot.

I raved about the less-healthy version of this before, so I am hoping this healthier version is just as good. Edy's is so delicious! This, too, probably looked funny in my cart and I am also going to save this for another time. It will be awaiting me in the freezer until that eventful day when I decide to crack in to it. My plan is to remain on a healthy path between now and Thanksgiving and it is nice to have some things to look forward to.

My workout today consisted of running three miles, walking on an incline for one mile, squats, abs and free weights. After my recent attack of, "cantstopeatingcandy-itis" it felt oh so good to break a good sweat! I didn't snap a pic on my way OTD so here is a workout pic I took this weekend and forgot to share.

C9 by Champion for Target $19.99
Long-sleeve 1/4 Zip Microlite Top

The 1/4 zip long sleeve top and the below-know crop pants are both from Target by Champion. I love both so much! The pants have seams in strategic places for added comfort and style! So comfy! I can't find them on the website right now but there are many different styles and very affordable. The top also comes in a few different colors so you can spice things up!

After my errands and workout, I decided to wear something other than workout clothes! Figured I would look decent for my trick-or-treaters. Here's my look:

Stella & Dot $49
Fox Ring

The faux leather leggings are the ones I raved about here, and may fabulous boots from Charlotte Russe were mentioned here. SO COMFORTABLE and super cute!! My zip down dress is from Forever21 a few years ago, so sorry, no link! I love it though, and it has hung around for a while. And what can beat this Stella & Dot ring! I die! It reminds me of my doggies and it is too damn cute! It is from the Alice by Temperley for Stella & Dot collection and I am in love. Unfortunately, this collection is limited edition, so it won't be around forever!


What are your plans for Halloween? Whatever they are, have fun and be safe!!!


PS  So growing up my whole life in St. Louis, when we went trick-or-treating we always had to tell a joke to the person who opened the door and it wasn't until after you told your joke that you got candy. Apparently, here in Louisville there is no such thing! How sad! I remember the week leading up to Halloween my friends and I would go through our arsenal of jokes and make sure we were prepared. The jokes were along the lines of this (we were in grade school, mind you), "why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants? In case he got a hole in one". haha too cute. I think it is a great tradition, and although I'm not sure when, how, or why it is that way in St. Louis, I think Louisville should join in on the trend!


Happy Halloween!!


xoxo MaryBeth

LAUNCH PARTY LOVE

Happy Sunday! Friday was my Stella & Dot launch party and I had a great time! Didn't have a huge turnout (I wasn't expecting one) but it was a great start to my business venture and we had a blast. Here are several pics of my setup. A typical Stella & Dot "in home" trunk show does not need to be elaborate or stressful and does not take a lot of planning. I just went a little overboard because it was my launch and I was excited! I had multiple wines, multiple types of beer, pretzels, dip, cheese, crackers, sausage, olives and desserts. I could easily have done two bottles of wine, cheese, crackers and a box of cookies. Wham Bam done. Buuuuut I didn't, ha! Lots of pics starting....now:

The party is still open to the public online here until November 10th, so if you have your eye on something, you can have it! The October special is as shone above. To qualify, you just have to reach at least $50. Then, each of those four items are 50% off! They are the Contessa Jade Necklace, Amelia Drop Earring, Snake Orb Pendant Necklace, and the Infinity Charm Necklace. I have the Contessa Jade Necklace and it is beautiful!

So here is my look for the party. Black, on black, on black, on black. Ha! Think I like black much?! I added my studded belt, Michael Kors rose gold watch and leopard heels to the look. The dress was a steal from Target clearance and the cardigan is the faux leather one I raved about from TJ Maxx. The heels are by Candie's for Kohl's. Love!

To get my waves I usually use my Remington curler set from Target. I.love.these. I will leave the front pieces out though, and manually curl those, then twist them back and hook them in one of the curler clamps closest to my face. I usually leave my hair in the curlers while I do my makeup or run around the house doing something else. I just like them to stay in for a while (if I have the time).

Before

After

I do have a few other hair secrets up my sleeve, but I'll save that for another post.

On Saturday I was feeling a bit under the weather because of all the fun I had on Friday and lounged around most of the day. I finally gathered myself together and met up with the hubs and some of his guy friends for some pizza and drinks. They had been tailgating all day and had gone to a football game. I recycled my hair from the night before, aka did not wash it, but pulled it back and left those front pieces hanging down. The rest of my hair was pulled back in a low ponytail holder. I then split the hair in half, braiding each. I then wrapped one braid around in a bun and secured it with another ponytail holder. Then, I took the other braid and lined it around the bun, and secured it with bobby pins. Created a little, "poof" at the crown of my head and voila: a whole new look that appears as if it took me forever but really took about 5 minutes. Check it out!

Stella & Dot $118 ($59)
Contessa Jade Necklace
(50% off with the October special!)

I love the color combination of my teal shirt and the necklace so much that it really bummed me out that I ended up having to change my necklace. The Contessa Jade Necklace gave this otherwise rugged look some femininity but the neckline on my shirt was juuuust so that the necklace continually would fall behind the shirt, thus defeating the point. Now, I could have made the necklace shorter, but I didn't want to. Or, I could have wrestled with my shirt all night long to keep the necklace exposed, which I also didn't want to do. So, what is a girl to do? Pick another Stella & Dot gem! I went with the Windsor Tassel Necklace, because, well, I love it! And it is long enough that I knew I would have no neckline problems.

Stella & Dot $89
Windsor Tassel Necklace

This necklace is not as feminine as the Contessa Jade Necklace, but it definitely fit the look. Love! I also rocked my beloved faux leather pants by Rock and Republic for Kohl's, over-the-knee stilettos from Charlotte Russe, teal steal at TJ Maxx, and my super chic, ultra fab, faux leather jacket from Forever 21.

Do you spot Charlie?

I think today is going to be a lazy Sunday for sure! I do need to get some activity in since yesterday was a lazy day as well. I may convince the hubs that we should take, "the boys", aka Charlie and Winston, to the park on this fab fall day! I have to be careful when I say the "P" (park) word or the "O" (outside) word because these smart little Papillons understand, seriously, and will start to bark and harass us until we take them o-u-t. Yes, we spell words in front of our dogs like they are human children because we have to!! Lucky for us though, unlike children, our dogs will never learn to spell (at least not yet).   :)


Have a great Sunday!!


Cardinals play tonight!! WOO HOO!!!! Let's go boys, make it to the World Series!!!

xoxo MaryBeth