A Sale for the Ages

Saturday morning I met my mother for the most wonderful local shopping event a girl could ask for!

This did not take place on February 12th!

I love this sale! Repeat, LOVE! It only comes but twice a year.  All the local shopping boutiques in town that choose to participate mark their lovely merchandise down to AT LEAST 50% off and bring it to one convenient location, our Oleika Shriner's Temple.  It's almost a tradition with my mother and I.  Our routine is flawless (at least we'd like to think so) and can take on the crazy crowd of ladies.  Trying on clothes at this event however is uncomfortable for newcomers.  You basically are in one big room and have to undress in front of everyone!  My first visit I was scared and unsure, but now I just don't care!  I wear a tank with a built in bra and underwear that is comfy, but also doesn't expose my entire behind!  I've seen 80 year old ladies in the "fitting room" so we are all very hardcore in scoring designer clothing at a great price. 

Link here

I was able to score some lovely things from Bella Rose.  A shop that has been in Lexington for over 30 years and carries wonderful labels (including two of my favs, Milly & Tibi).  The best deal I got by far was from here and it was a beautiful gray dress originally $130, I snagged for $36!  I also picked up some beautiful designer $10 scarves.  Gotta love it!

Link here.

Another great store was present, Worlds Apart.  I scored a beautiful sweater here.  Their selection at this sale is my first place to hit up.

Lily Pulitzer c/o The Peppermint Palm

The past two years I have had wonderful luck in the shoe department from the retailer, The Peppermint Palm.  I was able to nab these Little Knotty Wedges from Lily Pulitzer at 60% off! So cute and can't wait to wear them this spring/summer.

This event will not come again until after the summer.  If anyone wants to join me to get the insider training and low down just let me know.  As I am shopping this event, I can hear ladies all around me saying, "Gosh, this is crazy!", "I am overwhelmed!", "I've never seen anything like this!".  Those people are not prepared like the regulars!  HaHa! It is so much fun and is quite an experience for any Lexingtonian.
XO
Carey

Weekend? What Weekend?

Last week was a complete blur.  With piling design deadlines, school work to grade, lectures to prepare for and driving in the rain to and from Newark, Ohio.  I was one happy girl when the weekend happily arrived. We did have an unpleasant beginning to the weekend, finding out that my husband's grandfather has lung cancer.  Prayers please! But we visited him on Saturday, taking Hudson to visit as well and he was resting and begins treatment very soon. 

Saturday morning kicked off early with the local Specialty Store Sale Spectacular! Which I will post about separately. After the shopping extravaganza ended, my parent's and I went next door to Winchell's Restaurant.  A local place that has wonderful home cooked food and plenty of TVs for catching UK games!

This was my first brunch at Winchell's and I was not disappointed.  Everything was delicious! Right down to my cup of coffee.  If you eat here, definitely get their jalapeno grits.  They are, as I said to our waitress, "Da bomb!".  Hah-aha! Then the hubby and I spent some time visiting his family and running errands, only to end up at my parent's house to watch the UK Game!

With a UK victory and bourbon in hand, we all celebrated with a Filet Mignon dinner!  Cooked to perfection by my dad!  I made Pioneer Woman's fresh green beans and my mother made hash brown casserole.  Apparently my hubby didn't contribute, he just enjoyed our hard work.  I also was very proud of myself and made a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie for dessert! Not to toot my horn, but it turned out delish.

Not to end the food fest, I woke up Sunday (a bit hungover) and thought it was a great day for pancakes!

Hudson and I enjoyed a walk, then snuggled up for a movie!  We watched The Help, my favorite movie from 2011 by far.  And Hudson liked it, but managed to sneak in a nap during the film (which is fine, he'd seen it before).

So snuggly.  And I'm usually not this yellow I swear!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know I'm already looking forward to the one coming up.  Happy Monday to all!

Wednesday from H.E.Double Hockey Sticks

I am super stressed at work, big deadline coming up.  I've got class tonight on campus and haven't finished preparing.  And my hubby is out of town, so me and Hudson are left to fend for ourselves!  Nothing left to do but take a deep breath, take one step at a time and.....

Too late to change my major to Anthropology?

I've still got the shopping fever and so I thought I would share more items I am looking at.  On of my favorite retail stores of the moment is Anthropologie.  The stores atmosphere is lovely and almost everything in the store is just beautiful and intricately detailed.  For Christmas I just asked for gift cards to this store.  And Santa delivered! So I cannot wait to go on a shopping spree and actually shop at Anthropologie (meaning, buy more than one thing, and buy something not from the sale rack for once!).  We unfortunately do not have one in my town, but I am very familiar ordering from them online or just taking the time to go up to Cincinnati and visit.  Here are some items that I have my eye on:

Link here

One of my favorite time periods is actually the 30s/40s.  I love the style of clothes, hair and history of the world during that time.  This tuxedo jacket reminds me of that time and I think it's divine.

Link here.

paired with these beauties.

I love this sweet polka dot dress paired with these delightful coral flats.  Just lovely.  However I am not sure if i could pull off this dress for I have hips, major hips.  I don't think this dress would accent them well, but I still love this look!

Link here.

I love this romper! This reminds me of the 30s so much! I have to have it, I must have it, by gosh I think I might just get it!  I would like to try this on.  Like I've said before I am busty and hippy so I could look dreadful.  But, I think this is classic, elegant and detailed to the point of not overdoing it. 

xo

C

Hot Rolls

My first memories of hot hair rollers were from childhood on picture day.  My mom would put my hair in the plastic and piping hot rollers, held in place with what I thought was a ginormous paper clip.  After they had cooled off, she would take them out and tell me to flip my head upside down to release the curls and add volume, then hairspray.  It was very cute and I liked being made-up, especially for important days such as weddings, school picture days,etc.  

I have never actually owned a set of hot rollers, for whatever reason, and for the past few years I wanted a set and never actually bought them.  What set do I get? Which one will achieve the look I want?  What look do I want to achieve!?! So many questions.  To achieve the waves that are everywhere right now, I would either use a curling iron and curl every strand (and with my thick sometimes long hair) this can take an eternity.  Or use a clever non-heat method, such as sleeping in a sock bun.  A working girl that has to be at the office at 8 a.m. needs ways to save precious time in the morning.  So, I thought hot rollers would be a great way to get curls/waves all over and save me a ton of time. 

I bit the bullet this past weekend, and after years of wanting to buy some, I did!  I watched some YouTube reviews of women that had tried two different sets to see what they like and what styles they achieved, this helped a lot.  I recommend to check out YouTube videos of makeup reviews, hair product reviews and styling tips.  It helps to see the products in action and to get an opinion.  The state of my hair currently is: just below my shoulders, growing out my Zooey Deschanel blunt bangs (which means they will be pinned back in some form for the next two months!).  I was worried that large rollers in the 1.5" to 2" range would be too large and my hair wouldn't curl, I was afraid that it would just curl under and look like I round brushed it.  I can get a set with large 2" rollers once my hair gets to a long length.  For now, for my length, and style I want I decided a medium roller of 1.25" would be adequate.  So with this worry in mind, and after YouTube watching I landed on:

Remington's T Studio, Set of 20 (12 - 1.25", 8-0.75")

The set runs around $35, and with a 4-year warranty.  The curler's are heated horizontally as opposed to the traditional vertical coil and each roller comes with it's own clip to hold in place, which warm up with the rollers as well.  Some reviews complained about the clips leaving marks on the hair.  The clips leave marks on my hair, but I want loose curls and I only wear the rollers for about 2.5 minutes and the marks quickly leave as I work through my curls.  The rollers are velvet covered which help hold the hair and not burn my fingers.  I like this set and I am happy with my purchase, so happy I rolled my hair Saturday, Sunday and Monday! It takes so little time that I just love it!  The rollers also only take 90 seconds to heat up.  Here are a couple of pics of how it turned out.

So that's my UN-sponsored product review for today. Haha! I just wanted to share what I thought and what look I achieved and it only took 5 minutes, which is wonderful for a busy professional!

Spring A'Peel with Banana

Well, it's official.  After buying 5 gallons of Amazing Gray paint in September we officially started to paint inside our home! Don't ask what has taken so long, I cannot even answer.  Yesterday for a couple of hours we began to just paint the edges so later we can strictly focus on rolling the large portions of wall space.  However as my father-in-law (who so graciously volunteered his time) and hubby were painting I was thinking to myself how blue-gray the paint was looking.  But then, I thought, well maybe because it isn't dry all the way yet. 

He doesn't even need tape!

Now after looking at it this morning, it is definitely not the color that we had picked out.  Since I am an interior designer I selected a color from my Sherwin Williams paint deck and took it into Lowe's.  They said they can match the color and so we got a such a great deal on paint during their Labor Day special we went ahead and bought our paint and supplies.  I'm hoping its the fact that my hubby and his dad didn't stir the paint prior, but we'll see.  I might paint a portion of wall tonight after stirring the paint to see if that's the case.  If that's not the issue I might have to go back to Lowe's to see if re-mixing/coloring is possible! Oh well, nothing worth doing is easy right?

But on to more enjoyable desires, like shopping!  I have a need, no a hunger, wait....a desire to go shopping!  As a newlywed we are on pretty tight budgets and shopping sure doesn't happen like it used to.  I remember my single days (and I do love my husband sooo much!) when I would just go shopping and by amazing clothes/shoes/jewelry for the hell of it. One of my favorite stores is Banana Republic.  I love their quality, classic style, and the fact that we have one in Lexington.  Another great thing that I love about shopping at Banana is that most pieces work great going from the office then out at night, and that flexibility is wonderful to me.  I also get great discounts being a cardholder, which is fantastic since every little bit helps.

Link here.

Link here.

Link here.

This trench with beautiful pink blouse and polka dot skirt would look amazing at Keeneland spring meet this year.  Look back at October for more on Keeneland here in Lexington, KY.  

I guess my style is mostly class and preppy, however I do like to have fun with several trendy pieces.  One rule I like to shop by is to purchase statement pieces.  A piece that reflects my style, the times and something that most people don't have (so in that case I have to shop at stores not located in my town or specialty local boutiques).  Happy MLK and Monday everyone!

Pinning Accomplishments (Part 3)

 Last night was my first class as a college instructor at my Alma Mater, UK's College of Design.  I was sooooo nervous, and I bet the kids could tell.  I don't know why I was nervous, I mean, I am the teacher right?  Any how, I really did like it and all the students were wonderful.  I hope to continue teaching part-time if I end up really enjoying it!

I wanted to show more accomplishments that I've achieved thanks to the wonderful Pinterest.  More focused on the DIY/craft/decor side of things.

corny.

I love that the simplest ideas are usually just about the most darling.  These candy corn candle displays were just perfect for the Halloween season and so of course, I imitated this for our Halloween party.  I already owned the clear glass containers, then visited the dollar store to snag some candy corn (which surprisingly was more delicious than the name brand).  

subtle.

not so subtle.

My first thought for this pin of white canvas and 3D letters was, What a great wedding gift!  And I still believe that it is.  However, I wanted to use the idea in a not so romantic format. 

Sometimes in the morning for me it is difficult to skip out the door all "honky-dorey" (not sure about the spelling there!?!), but when I look at my mantra on the wall it makes me laugh and helps me skip on outta there.  I found all the items at Hobby Lobby, canvas, letters, white acrylic paint, and white spray paint.  I first painted all the letters I needed then hot glued them to the canvas.  Then spray painted the canvas and glued letters with spray paint so all was glossy and consistent.  I like how it turned out and would like to make more.

clever.

In my kitchen I mounted an espresso floating shelf above our breakfast area and place three mismatched white plates (well two match, but anyways...) on them.  I wanted to write a cute message on the plates, but was so unsure as to what I wanted to write with my handy Sharpie Paint Pen (awesome by the by). Then I checked out Pinterest to see what I could find, because "Eat/Pray/Love" had just been done one time too many.  I'm a quirky person so I wanted something food related, funny, cute.  I found this farmer's market poster on a wall and just loved it at once.  See my version below.

kitchen humor.

I have seen these yarn wrapped wreaths on Pinterest many-a-times.  Craftspeople will sell them on Etsy as well, if you prefer not to make them yourself.  The pin below I believe is an Etsy available product.  However, I wanted to give it a whirl myself.

lovely.

I picked up a round straw wreath from Hobby Lobby.  Selected my yarn for the wreath body and picked out some felt for the flowers.  I actually kept the plastic around the wreath that comes on it.  Since I was not sticking anything in the straw or gluing directly to the body of the wreath I just let it on for overall aesthetic consistency.  I wrapped the wreath twice with yarn (one large unit of yarn worked fine), but it is tedious.  I put in a DVD and cozied up with my yarn wrapping to help pass the time.  Then I looked up felt yarn tutorials via Pinterest and used a combination of all that I read.  I actually did not glue the flowers to the wreath, I just used pins.  I wanted to be able to switch them out depending on the season.  I selected these colors for fall, but for spring I have bright green and purple flowers and summer are warm and bright colors.  I really loved the way it turned out and how well it greets guests and I get so many good responses when people realize that I made it!  In fact, I'm going to make some for friends at their requests.

More to come! Have a fabulous day!