Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Holiday Magic

This post is just a big mish mash of things that I've been wanting to write about but just haven't yet!  I thought about doing a "gift guide" but decided to share some of the things that I recently got that I think would make for great gifts!

I think you all know how obsessed I am with nail polish.  One of these days I'll show you my stash of polishes!  :)  Nicole by OPI sent me their Holiday Magic collection and I got it just in time for Christmas and had to share with those of you that are into festive nails as well.  I'm not the kind to do red and green nails but this collection was subtle enough for me to really love it and have been wearing it all week.


The colors from the collection are Kiss Me at Midnight, Bring on the Tinsel, Stuck in the Chimney and Spark My Misteltoe

Just a quick swatch of how the colors look on the nails.  The reds are very much up my alley.  They are both great for work, even the dark one!  It's not too "goth" dark and in the light it has some nice shine to it.  The glitters I'd definitely use as topcoats rather than on their own but I do like the subtlety of them that they are not too chunky of glitters and not too IN YOUR FACE kind of glitter either.
OPI_Holiday_Magic2 
from left: Stuck in the Chimney, Kiss Me at Midnight, Bring on the Tinsel and Spark My Mistletoe.  Bottle: Stuck in the Chimney

I've been wearing this combo all week.  I love how these two look together!
OPI_Holiday_Magic 
For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com. Follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and become a Facebook fan!
{Nail polishes were provided by Nicole by OPI PR for my consideration but do not affect my opinions or review}

On another note, it really has felt like "holiday magic" at my place lately.  Every day I've been getting such awesome presents and I recently received a little (actually big!) surprise from the Microsoft Windows Phone PR team (thank you Nadine!).  They sent me the HTC HD7 - Windows Phone 7 along with a bunch of goodies!!  I'm such a lucky girl!  I <3 my iPhone but after playing with this phone, I am in love!
As you can see the screen is bigger than my iPhone 4 which is a great bonus when reading websites and blogs.  I've been having fun downloading apps and playing around with all the features.  It was SO easy setting up my emails which is essential for me because I hate things that take a long time to set up.  One of the neatest features is you can set up your home screen with "tiles" and it can even include "live tiles" of your family and friends and when you click on it, it will bring you to their contact info (SO easy to find than an address book) as well as any of their latest facebook updates and photos that they've uploaded.  The social part of this phone is probably the best and most unique thing that I've come across with phones.  I've never had an easier time staying in touch with my family and friends.

Oh and I'm sure you know I'm an avid picture taker on my phone like a lot of us these days.  I LOVE that this phone has a dedicated camera button so I never have to unlock the phone and click on the camera button and wait for the camera to start to take a picture.  I mean a lot of times you just want to take a quick snap and this phone is perfect for that.  I <3 it and plan on switching phones every once in awhile (actually I might carry both in my purse!)  I'm now one of those geeks with 2 phones :)  Thank you so much to the Microsoft Windows team!!

{Windows Phone 7 was provided by Microsoft Windows PR.  They did not ask me to review or write about it on my blog but I love the phone and my opinions expressed are of my own.}

And lastly, I've always loved coffee table books and photography books and when National Geographic sent me their Simply Beautiful Photographs for review, I knew that I would love it even before I got it!  I'm a huge fan of National Geographic and have had a subscription forever.  Admist my hundreds of fashion magazine subscriptions, I get so excited when National Geographic comes in the mail.  The photographs are so inspiring as are the articles.   I learn so much every time I read my Nat Geo!  For coffee table books I don't read them cover to cover but I like to thumb through them and I love that I can find a beautiful image each time I thumb through this book.  Most photobooks like this cost so much money and I don't like to spend that much on something that's just going to sit on my coffee table but at $35, this one is super affordable and definitely would make for a great gift for someone that loves photography!

{Simply Beautiful Photographs was provided by PR for my consideration but do not affect my opinions or review}

A book that I recently bought that I LOVE is The Ellements of Personal Style.  I love looking at and reading about celebrities style and home decor so this book is absolutely perfect for me.  I actually bought it to give to my sister for her birthday and then when I started looking through it, I wanted one for myself so I bought 2.  The pictures are gorgeous and love the write ups for all the celebs that they feature. 

I definitely recommend checking out this book!  I always like finding new photo books, do any of you have recommendations?  I'd love to know!

Monday, November 22, 2010

How did it go? (and $250 Best Buy Giveaway!)

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Intel.

**Giveaway Closed!  Thank you for entering!! The winner of the giveaway is Peace Love and Pets!!  Congrats!**

I recently told you about the laptop that BlogHer sent me that was powered by the Intel® Core™ i5 processor and I'm back to tell you my experience with it! I can honestly say that it's pretty awesome! I've used older PC's before and I always noticed a lag time when opening programs and working on large spreadsheets but this laptop with the new processor definitely made a difference. For work, I was able to work on several spreadsheets at once and then even edit photos with those spreadsheets open and everything went quite smoothly! My screens didn't freeze and I didn't have to restart at all. I mean, if you've used a PC before, I'm sure you've had to deal with that at least a few times! I really liked how well the processor work because that meant that I could get my work done faster and spend more time with my husband and dogs!

Some info about the Intel® Core™ i5 processor:
Thanks to Intel® Turbo Boost Technology,1 the Intel® Core™ i5 processor automatically adapts to
whatever you are doing on your PC, dialing up speed to respond quickly to your needs. The Intel®
Core™ i5 processor: that’s smart performance with a speed boost. The Intel® Core™ i5 processor
also features Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology,2 which enables each core of your processor to
work on two tasks at the same time, delivering the performance you need for smart multitasking.
Don’t let too many open applications slow you and your PC down. Get smart performance now.


I also had a lot of fun using the Intel® Wireless Display which let me pull up my screen on our HDTV! It was actually a lot of fun sitting on the couch and reading through my favorite blogs through our TV instead of the laptop screen. Not sure my husband enjoyed it as much though. LOL!


Don't forget that you have a chance to win a $250 gift card to Best Buy!  All you need to do is to leave me a comment and tell me what you do help you multitask better or faster! And for an extra entry, tweet or blog about this giveaway!

Giveaway rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) Follow this link and provide your email address and your response to the sweepstakes prompt

Sweepstakes ends at 5 PM PST on December 22, 2010

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw from the comments from this post and the one dated 11/17 and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Also, don't forget to check out the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page for more chances to win $250 from other bloggers and 4 chances, one every week, to win a new laptop!





◊1 Intel® Turbo Boost Technology requires a system with Intel Turbo Boost Technology capability. Consult your PC manufacturer. Performance varies depending on hardware, software, and system configuration. For more information, visit www.intel.com/technology/turboboost/.
◊2 Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) requires an Intel HT Technology enabled system, check with your PC manufacturer. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software used. Not available on Intel® Core™ i5-750. For more information including details on which processors support HT Technology, visit www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading/.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Multi-Tasking Queen

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Intel.

**Giveaway Closed!  Thank you for entering!!**

Life gets so busy sometimes and I've had to learn the art of multi-tasking in order to get all my check lists, checked off.  In between my day job of being an HR Director, to my part time job of being a wedding photographer and my wonderful hobby of being a blogger I am pretty much always on the computer and multi-tasking on the computer is just as important as any other tasks.  In between spreadsheets, editing photos and writing posts, I always have multiple windows open doing multiple things that are sometimes related but most often not.

When BlogHer offered to send me a brand new laptop powered by the the Intel® Core™ i5 processor, I figured they must've been reading my mind when I was thinking that I needed a computer that could keep up with everything that I do on it. The new processor has Intel® Turbo Boost Technology allowing you to “get more done in less time” which, really has been my motto for the past year or so. Anything that allows me to do more in an efficient manner is a friend of mine! They also provided me with an Intel® Wireless Display adaptor that allows me to use my HDTV as a monitor. How cool is that! I love being able to see my computer on a giant screen and it allows me to keep more windows open and see them all at once.
I've just started using the laptop, so I'll be posting an update later on to let you know how it's working out for me!

I really wish I could share my new laptop with all of you but I can offer you something close... a $250 gift card to Best Buy!  All you need to do is to leave me a comment and tell me what you do help you multitask better or faster! And for an extra entry, tweet or blog about this giveaway!

Giveaway rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) Follow this link and provide your email address and your response to the sweepstakes prompt

Sweepstakes ends at 5 PM PST on December 22, 2010

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw from comments and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Also, don't forget to check out the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page for more chances to win $250 from other bloggers and 4 chances, one every week, to win a new laptop!

And come back on Monday to read my review on how I liked the new processor and you will also get another chance for more entries for the $250 gift card!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Bling it on!

I love giving (and getting) jewelry as gifts and I've been a lucky recipient of a few pieces that I just adooore and had to share.  I can never get enough of jewelry though so am always shopping around and figured that I'd share with you guys what I found and what I like since I know we're all in that place of trying to find gifts!  I've rarely met a woman who hates jewelry so I figure it's usually a safe bet to give some kind of jewelry as a gift!  (and Hubs is well aware that jewelry is always okay to give as a gift to me.  LOL!)

The lovely team over at Kendra Scott sent me these gorgeous earrings awhile back and I've worn them a few times already but they've yet to make a lookbook!  Hopefully soon! But I had to share these beauties as they are so pretty and make quite the statement!
I own a few other pieces from Kendra Scott and have always loved her designs.  The earrings above are the Aiden style.  A few other favorites of mine:


Also, if you sign up on their website to get their emails you'll automatically get $20 off your next order!

I have been a fan of Marika King jewelry for awhile now, you've probably seen me wear quite a few pieces of hers in my lookbooks.  She's all the way in Australia but she ships for free worldwide!  Marika was kind enough to gift me with a few pieces and I love them.  You'll be seeing them in my lookbooks soon! 
You can get my cuff here and the earrings here.  I'm also loving these pieces... (click on the pictures to take you to their links)
I think I need those matching earrings.  And how gorgeous is that headband?

Rebecca at DiViene.com introduced me to their site and let me pick out a piece and I chose this pretty citrine pendant because I loved the color.  I just got it yesterday and wore it all day.  It's a beautiful delicate piece that adds just the right touch when you don't want something too dramatic or showy. 


They carry really beautiful gemstone jewelry and the prices are very reasonable for the quality.  This is definitely the place I'd go to for nice jewelry for my mom and sister and I know that they would love it!
14K Yellow Gold Pink Tourmaline Gem-Studded Barrel Roundel Pendant
14K Yellow Gold Marquis Multi Sapphire Gemstone and Diamond Earrings

If you are more into fun and unique jewelry, I stumbled upon Kris Nations who has some really great designs that I don't think you can find anywhere else!

I absolutely love this necklace

I'm a sucker for friendship type bracelets.  I just think they are so fun to add to an outfit and to give to your friends!  These are so cute with the crystals.

And last but not least, Kimberly Baker is my favorite jeweler in Seattle.  Her designs are amazing and whenever I go to her shop or even just walk by and window shop, I want every single piece that I see.  When I was away on a business trip, my husband stopped by her shop and picked out a pretty ring to surprise me with when I got home. (Isn't he the best?!) But I can't say enough about her line, every piece that I have has lasted for years. 

This is the ring that hubs surprised me with!  It's such a cool ring isn't it?

Also eyeing this necklace...
You know me and my big rings, I love them!  I'm completely obsessed with this one that looks like 5 rings stacked on top of each other.

Now, the only problem that I have is to where to store my overflowing jewelry collection?  I need more space! :)

I've got some fun weekend plans and hope you all do too!  See you on Monday! 


Monday, September 20, 2010

Lookbook: Bows and Bling

You know I couldn't stay away for too long right?  I missed you guys!  I'm not back full time but wanted to share this lookbook and a great deal that I have for my readers.

What I'm Wearing:
Top: from Anthropologie
Cardigan: J. Crew
Skirt: H&M
Shoes:Dior
Nail Polish: OPI We'll Always Have Paris
Ring: Gift from Ice.com**

miss_dior_1
I stopped by Anthropologie this weekend as I saw this cardigan on sale online and had to see if they had it in the store as I wanted to try it on.  While I was browsing, hubs is looking at a rack and says "How about this top? This looks like you." and I agreed and brought it home with me.  Good pick hubs! (I did end up getting the cardigan, in both gray and pink, it's really cute!)

miss_dior_3 
Wanted to show you the cute bows on the top, what a fun detail!
miss_dior_2 
We stopped by Uptown Espresso for a latte and walked around the area to enjoy our drinks.  BTW, my ring finger is painted with a glitter top coat, it's cuter in person, the picture makes it look weird. :)
miss_dior_4

And thank you to ice.com for my pretty Tanzanite ring.
icedotcom

For my readers, they are offering a 20% sitewide discount (excluding watches, engagement rings and sale items) plus $1 shipping.  Use the code: FBFAL  Check out their Fall Style Guide according to these four trends to find something perfect for you.  My ring is from the "Drama Queen" collection, which I love the mix of the black with the jewel tones of the collection.  Make sure to check them all out!


Shop the Lookbook:
I can't find my top online but this one is pretty similar and cute!
or love this little bow tank and check out this hello kitty tank, so cute right?

Topshop panel bodycon skirt
I really like these slim skirts that you can wear with flowy tops.  This one with hearts on it is adorable!

Miss Dior Pumps


Did you see these Steve Madden Caryssa pumps?  They are the perfect shade of blue and love the height!  And they are on sale!


Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Little Black Dress Experiment Sponsors

I just wanted to take a moment to thank Society Stylist for letting me part of the Little Black Dress Experiment!  It was fun to be a part of and am flattered to be chosen.  I also wanted to thank the sponsors that were involved that sent us some fabulous things! I recommend all these products and invite you guys to check them out too.

Society Stylist Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/SocietyStylist

Society Stylist Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/societystylist




Sponsor Facebook Pages


Sponsor Twitter Pages