Because I see people wearing these even in 70 degree weather...

I just don't understand it. I have such temperature issues that if I even see a picture of myself in winter wearing a Northface jacket I start to get hot, so I really don't understand it when I see people in summer wearing scarves just because they are fashionable. But that is why they constitute as trend number three!

I will just say it right now, the next couple scarves all seem to come from the same color palette (pinks, purples, reds) but can I help it if I like certain colors? It only makes for a kind of boring wardrobe... $10.80

When I went to the grand opening of Delia's at the new side of our current mall, I had this coupon that if you spent $50 dollars you got a certain amount off. I was at about $47, and was trying to find something to get me over, and picked up a scarf. Unfortch they're $16.50 and I couldn't imagine paying that much. But apparently some people do.

I like this pattern and I like lilac. About $24

I rather like this because it is houndstooth and because of the purple and red, it's very majestic. However, I would caution against wearing your scarf like a poncho, that is so 2003! $78

This is more along the lines of how you should wear your scarves, and how all the young girls are wearing it these days (for lack of a better expression). Yes, that's right, like you are a train robber on the Calico Express. $22

Because even gnarly tablecloths need to make it into fashion

Trend number two: Florals! Personally, all the ways I saw them in Harper's Bazaar looked a little gag-inducing, so my mission today was to scour the website for tasteful and chic ways to do florals, in so much as you don't look like Bea Arthur when you wear it.

I love this dress for so many reasons! For one, it is a lovely shade of purple! And for another, there is very little floral. This is how floral patterns should be worn, with much restraint, in my opinion. Oh! I also like the floatiness of the dress away from the body as well as the pockets =)
$19.90

Once, my coworker and I were joking around. I was carrying a stack of books. And he said, "Ally, are you secretly hoarding books in your locker?" and I said "No Mario, my locker is magic like Mary Poppins' bag and the books just pile in there no matter how many I have, just like Mary Poppins pulled a standing lamp outta her bag". And then I kicked up my heel (no joke!) and misused the word analogy. Typical night at the library. Anyways, the point of that story was that this floral bag reminds me of Mary Poppins' carpet bag. 'Nuff said. $58

There is a show called Project Runway. On it there are girls named Leanne and Kenley. I believe one or the other might wear this. Am I right? $48

Speaking of, this dress has what we would like to call at Project Runway, a nice silhouette. Almost like a 1950's dancer or singer would wear. I almost said harlot, but no, we need not go that extreme. I love the shape, I love the pattern. I also love that I am branching out to new stores, (meanwhile Urban Outfitters, Old Navy, Target, and Forever 21 should pay me for all the times I feature them) and this is from a store called Topshop (based in Britain, or the UK, I'm not sure what, if there is, a difference). What I don't like? That their size 16 is a size 12 in the US. Bollocks! About a hundred US dollars, if I translated right.

Our family dates back centuries, dahling....

Whilst I was perusing the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar (Tyra Banks as Michelle Obama? It struck me as funny that they dressed her like that because they probably couldn't get the real Michelle Obama. Meanwhile, I've seen the Obama's, whether it's Barack, Michelle, or the entire family, on nearly half the magazines at the library. I half expect to see him on Vogue Knitting next) I noticed a lot of trends for fall. Three prominent ones came to mind, and I will be covering them these three days.
The first: crests! Which remind me so terribly of boarding schools and Gossip Girls. And perhaps this is also because I am reading A Great and Terrible Beauty.

Remember The Fresh Prince of Bel Air? And Will was too cool for that school and those uniforms so he turned his regulation navy blue uniform blazer inside out to reveal the cool fabric underneath? This blazer kind of reminds me of that, for reasons I don't even know. But hey, cool preppy blazer with a crest! $27.80

Forever 21 had a plethora of crest jewelry and clothing, and guess what? This one's on sale! $3.99

And here are these cutie patootie earrings. Well, actually, they aren't that cute, they are more strong and masculine. But no matter. $9.99

I was looking through all the usual suspects for crest adorned things (Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, the Gap, Old Navy, etc.) and Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters delivered, but hardly any other place did. And then, like a message from the sky, it dawned on me! All the times I have walked past the PINK (affiliate of Victoria's Secret) store at the mall, half the stuff they have is covered in crests! It was actually a chore choosing just one item from them! Above, the "crest tote". $48

Since we're on the subject of possible careers...

And since I've already thrown out wedding planner, (another option: SeaWorld Trainer!) I figured I might as well mention: Personal Assistant! Honestly, ever since I saw the Devil Wears Prada. I really just like the whole planning thing, and I love Blackberrys and carrying around a planner and a notebook at the ready to record my celebrity/real estate agent(hello Jeff Lewis!)/magazine editor's every word. And I tend to work best under pressure. Call me crazy.

Of the essentials any assistant should have, I'd say a Blackberry is at the top. It's a phone, which you'll need in order to communicate with your client and their cohorts. But also, it moonlights as a calendar (also good for planning), a place to send and receive email ( a route of communication some people use more than phones), a texting tool (very big with celebrities. And the Blackberry is great for texting because it has a full keyboard), something to use the Internet from, a place to write tasks you need to do or notes to yourself, a place to instant message someone, a place to hold your addresses (the many you'll have in your arsenal for your client, i.e. Bobby the hair guy, Tina the make-up artist, Ted the car guy, Carrie the dog girl, etc. etc.), a camera (2.0 mega pixel! More than my dad's first digital camera! =), a calculator, and an alarm! It's pretty much SuperPhone!

Every single assistant I've ever seen (on TV of course) carries a notebook around with them. I mean Blackberry's can do everything and anything, but when you're trying to write " Tell Simone I'm not going to approve that girl that she sent me for the Brazilian layout. I asked for clean, athletic, smiling; she sent me dirty, tired and paunchy. And RSVP yes to Michael Kors' party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45 sharp. Then call Natalie at Glorious Foods and tell her no, for the 40th time, no, I don't want dacquoise, I want tortes filled with warm rhubarb compote. Then call my ex-husband and remind him that the parent/teacher conference at Dalton tonight. Then call my husband. Ask him to please meet me for dinner at that place I went to with Mossimo. Also, tell Richard I saw all the pictures that he sent for that feature on the female paratroopers and they're all so deeply unattractive. Is it impossible to find a lovely, slender, female paratrooper? Am I reaching for the stars here? Not really. Also I need to see all the things that Nigel has pulled for Gwyneth's second cover try. I wonder if she's lost any of that weight yet" then it is best to write like the wind, not type into your BB. Jessica and Team Griffin from Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List? Check! Emily from the Devil Wears Prada? Check! Jenny from Flipping Out? Check! They all have small(ish) black notebooks to write down everything in. Personally, I hear Moleskine notebooks are the best. And I particularly like the one above, it's called the City notebook, and it has maps of a major city in it, plus blank pages, and tabs, and clear things to put over a map to trace your route. I, of course, would choose the LA one, because if you're an assistant chances are you live in LA.

And lastly, if you are a personal assistant, chances are you will be dodging paparazzi. And for that you will need some killer shades =) $5.80

Dum dum de dum...

1) My apologies for being so late in posting today, but some lovely children broke our Internet this morning. For the second time. In a month.
2) For those of you who couldn't already tell, my title is supposed to be read to the tune of the Wedding March. Which, by the way, I have already decided I don't really want to walk down the aisle to, because it is so overplayed and everyone does that! Like, don't get me wrong, I am ALL FOR Tradition, but the Wedding March will be my only conventional missing piece. And just to prove to my mom that there ARE other songs out there, I looked it up... A Whole New World came up (the Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey version! Who both, by the way, tie into weddings and this post very intricately), which is a song I love, but not to process down to. But fear not, there's about a hundred songs (Can't Take my Eyes off of You!), and I found them on this website called Wedding Wire, which of course got me sidetracked for about 20 minutes.
3) I just read this quote in Allure that said "A conversation should be like a mini skirt, short enough to keep your attention but long enough to cover the subject". Well, I'm warning you now, that this blog post will be long and drawn out because I could talk about weddings for days. Daaayyyysssss.

So, most of the wedding research I've gotten so far is from Jessica Simpson's wedding book and wedding magazines and those unrealistic shows where the wedding costs half a million dollars (literally). Which admittedly, aren't great or all-encompassing sources. But it's all I have. And I have found some good venues. For instance, my dream photographer would be Joe Buissink. He has done many celebrity weddings (Nick and Jessica's, but others too) and I went on his site, and I could not find a.single.picture. that I didn't love. NOT A SINGLE ONE! I really don't know how to stress what a good photographer he is. Go to his site, at the link (NOT A) above. And be prepared to be amazed! And I'm also passionate about this because to me, I think the photographer and the cake are the two most important elements. This is only my opinion, and others may feel its the dress or the food or the guest book. I don't' care. If I had to walk barefoot, have a dress from Target, and pick dandelions off the sidewalk for a bouquet in order to afford the best of the best photography and cake, then I would. Because the photos capture the memories!

Ok, so the cake, my second most important element. As a disclaimer, you will never see a cake like this at my wedding. Because I detest flowers on the cake (you'll understand in the next paragraph) and would like as little flowers as possible. But. The reason I have this picture is because the cake was made by Perfect Endings (run by Sam Godfrey) in Napa Valley, and he's like THE wedding cake guy. He did Nick and Jessica's cake (above), and he's done cakes for Oprah, and for me those three pretty much seal the deal. Oh, and the reason I refer to Nick and Jessica so often is because when their Newlyweds show came out, I was hooked. Like hooookkkeeed. I wanted to be Jessica and marry Nick and live in Calabasas and jet around to the Bahamas and Mexico and New York and have a maltipoo and have shopping sessions with my mom and say that's cute fifty million times and annoy all the viewers. Like that was my dream life. So of course their wedding was like my dream wedding and I have all the seasons of Newlyweds on DVD btw, and we will all just gloss over the fact that they broke up and Jessica is an airhead and their marriage would have never worked out because Nick was always looking at Jessica like she was this annoying five year old. Mmkay?!

Lastly, flowers. I for one think flowers are the biggest waste of time and money for any and every wedding, and I for one will be spending as little money as possible on them, because they just die the next day and they hardly smell enough to notice them. And you do not need flowers dripping from every table and ceiling and chair and what not, like why? Hence my aversion to flowers on the cake, eww. I'd rather have some bows or beads, polka dots for gosh sakes, anything but flowers. The only flowers I have ever seen that I even remotely like are Calla lilies. They are simple, they come in multiple colors, and they kinda take up a lotta space so you don't need a lot. The above picture has the colors all wrong (I am always drawn to the pinks, purples, and whites) but I chose it because a) it's from Mark's Garden (who did, you guessed it! Nick and Jessica's wedding!) and b) I like the simplicity of the design. $85

Ok, I promise. I am done with talking about weddings. At least for a little while. I actually wanted to be a wedding planner earlier in life, until my parents scoffed at me and told me it was only a "seasonal job". Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure couples get married year round (believe it or not!) and also, I believe Mindy Weiss, celeb wedding planner extraordinaire, gets paid more than a lot of people to plan weddings! But whatevah! And lastly, I'm sorry if I bored you to tears. But as you can see, weddings are something I am passionate about, and I may be preaching to the choir, but hopefully not.

Well, I tried

Every single year, I get excited over school supplies. Just the sight of them putting out the display at Target is enough to get my pulse racing. But this year for some reason, my heart isn't as into it =( Maybe it's because I know I'm poor this year, haha. Maybe it's because as you get older, you know you need less and less things. My brother, a third grader, has a whole list of things to get, from pencils to glue sticks to markers to who knows what. I for one, stopped getting lists in the 6th grade, and as the years go on, all you really need to have is something to write with and something to write on.





And that's what I've featured, plus one. I for one am a planner, and I love planners in all shapes and forms. I have three calendars hanging on my wall, I use my Blackberry as a planner/calendar, and I bought a blotter or whatever that thing is called that you put on your desk that also doubles as a planner/calendar. And yet, I still want the one above. It's by Kate Spade and she comes out with a new one that's a different theme every year. I wanted last year's, badly!, but it sold out. This one's theme is road trips and it looks so cute. So you best believe I'm gonna get it! $20

Every time I go to Urban Outfitters, I want this notebook! It's a very very cute pattern! And I love the bright Technicolors. And, as an added bonus, I would love to see the Taj Mahal. $7.99

Writing Utensils. Mostly mine consist of free pens I get from hotels, or restaurants, or open houses, or find at school. And on occasion I buy them. I wanted to find some unique pens, but apparently I have been out of the pen buying game for too long because I could not find any! The closest I could find were these three on Etsy.com, which are basically restyled pens that you can buy for 33 cents paper put in around the shaft of the pen to make it appear polka dotted. Frankly, I've had better free pens, but these are cute too. $4

So there's this website...

and I read about it in a magazine, but I don't remember which one. All I know is it's really cool and has a lot of unique stuff that I've never seen anywhere else.

Like, for instance, this necklace! It's made out of recycled material and they have several different patterns that all look like flowers, and there's several different colors as well. They're supposed to like "Jewels on the Skin", as the website says. $34.95

And these little vials are so cute! And inventive! It's like this little vial of gel and you put a seed in and a plant grows! I particularly like the sunflower one. I can imagine this growing on my dorm windowsill... my own little green plant =) $9.95

This is What I do (maybe instead of summer reading)

I don't mean my blog, I mean reading magazines. For which I am sure I will hear about it from my dad. Not like he's not already mad at me enough. Because there may have been a sunroof and near rain near accident. But whose paying any attention to that? =) Because I'm too busy reading magazines! Anyways. My favorite weekly is People. Mostly because it tends to be the most truthful gossip magazine, if that isn't an oxymoron. It's reliable. Even if it is the most expensive. It think it's $3.99. but I also read In Touch, US, Life & Style, and occasionally Star. I'm not really that picky, I just read People the most.

My favorite monthly magazine would have to be InStyle. I love the fashion and the celebrities they feature. And the articles are actually ones I can read and understand without wading through a bunch of pretension. But I would also like to toss out honorable mentions to Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmogirl!, and Seventeen.

So, what are your favorite magazines? =)

Down Home With the Neely's

I'm not sure how many Food Network Stars there are, but rounding out my top three would be the show and the stars Down Home with the Neely's. Pat and Gina Neely are the stars and are a husband and wife team that own their own BBQ place in Tennessee and share their recipes for BBQ and other stuff on their show. It looks delicious! And they also have another show, Road Trip with the Neely's. Sort of like Diners Drive-ins and Dives, they travel the country sampling different food, but they usually get to see the entire process of it being made too.

And once again, sorry this would be longer, but I need to clean my room and more importantly see if I can look for a work study job on SU Online.

Hey Ya'll Just Add a Stick of Butter!

As another installment of "my favorite food network stars", coming in a very close second is Paula Deen! She has a wonderful show, called Paula's Home Cooking, where she cooks southern style food. She always makes it look so good and, true to her show title, home made. It must be pretty high in calories too, because she can't go a whole show without making something that has a whole stick of butter in it =) And I also love Paula because she just seems so nice, like your grandma or really nice neighbor.

She also has a show called Paula's Party, where she also makes food, but it's based around some theme like a sleepover or cheese (Yes, I'm pretty sure she had a show solely about cheese. And possibly one about all things fried. Didn't I tell you I loved this woman?!) and she has celebrities on.

And as if Paula wasn't busy enough, she has a new show called Paula's Best Dishes, where she and a viewer make their recipes in her kitchen, she has a autobiography that I read and thought was pretty good, and she does specials, like Paula Deen Gets Married, Paula Goes to Paris, and the Deen Family goes on Vacation (they went to Saint Lucia!! Where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean!!!).

She is one lucky lady.

How lucky is this guy?!

Guy Fierri, the host of Diners Drive-ins and Dives (my favorite show on the Food Network) gets to do two of my favorite things: travel and eat the best of what diners have to offer (which is often better than it sounds). He does this all with an outgoing personality and a great sense of humor. He meets a lot of interesting people along the way and also gets to try stuff you wouldn't normally find in diners (escargot! turtle soup! gizzards!). Man I wish I had his job! Except for the whole eating snails thing.

Sorry, this would be longer, but it's so hot (92 degrees actually) and I don't have the energy to sit in front of the hot computer. I'm about to start sweating under my eyeballs, which we all know is a sure sign heat stroke is next. Well, that's a self prognosis but still.

Nail Polish, for lack of a better title

As in my faves.

My most recent color has been black. Plain, simple, goes with everything. Lauren Conrad often sports it (which to me, is a good thing). However, the only thing I would warn against is being pasty white like me often looks a tad weird with black nail polish. Luckily I've acquired a sort of tan lately because of summer, so it didn't look bad, but just a warning. In this case, white (skin) and black (nail polish) do not look very good together. $2

I currently am sporting this very shiny girly pink (complete with flower design on my ring fingers. Those Vietnamese ladies can spot me a mile away as a pushover, they hardly even have to ask if I "want flower?" any more. And if any of that last bit offended you, sorry, I watched too much Blazing Saddles as a child). But, what I have really been after for awhile is a deep dark purple that's almost black, although I haven't found any... maybe the above will do, but it's hard to tell unless I see it in person. $2

Recommendations? Personal Favorites?

I would likke to draw your attention to...

the column on the right hand side of my blog, titled Links....

Here you will find some of my favorite blogs, some of which I frequent daily. Below are my top three favorite!

1. Bunnyshop: Bunnyshop is this blog that centers mostly on fashion, but also touches media and magazines and TV and traveling. It's written by this super funny and sarcastic (in a good way) lady named Diane and also features her super funny sister. I wish I was as funny as them actually.
2. This Fish Needs a Bicycle: This one is written by a girl named Heather and it's mostly about relationships and love, which I basically know nothing nothing about. And she's had a lot of experience so it's helpful. And she's really funny too.
3. Crockpot Lady: I've already mentioned her, but really how can you go wrong with a lady who crockpots once a day?

So really, I would advise checking these blogs out, and the others are good too. I hope you'll still like mine too haha.

You mean like on vacay?!

Haha, you thrill me Legally Blonde (Spell check says Blond?). Anyways... top vacation spots!

I literally have a list of places I want to go to, some of which are: London, Paris, Egypt, Ireland, India, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Maldives, Turks and Caicos, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, Turkey, Italy, all fifty states, and I'm sure there are many more. Those are just the places that pop into my head at first thought =)

Also on my list: Greece (see above)! Especially lately since I saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and would like to see Mamma Mia!

So, what are yours?

Fabulosity!

I hope you all enjoyed Contest Week Extravaganza! Congratulations to all the winners!

So today's post, inspired by my favorite blog Bunnyshop, is whose celebrity closet you would like to raid?

Obviously, I had to think about this for hours on end... And even though I'd like to raid several, my choice is Kimmora Lee Simmons.

Remember that episode of Cribs with their house? Not to mention numerous other shows and magazines who have featured her closet? I love it! For several reasons: All her shoes are in clear boxes and catalogued by Polaroid pictures (she was the first person I ever saw do that, and it also speaks to my OCD side), all her blinged out jewelry is in these cool pull out clear drawers, and I think her carpet is leopard print! Plus I also like to think that I could fit more into her clothes than say, Mary Kate Olsen.

So whose would you raid? =)

Just you wait and see!

First things first, the winner of yesterday's mascara prize is Maidenmeeshie (who, ironically enough, doesn't wear mascara, lol. That's ok!)

Secondly the winner of my book, Never Too Much of a Good Thing, is...

Heather!! Woot! I will be sending you your signed copy in the mail! =)

For all the rest of those who participated, I'm sorry you did not win. But fear not! You can still get your very own copy of Never Too Much of a Good Thing!

Just go here, and add my book to your cart! It's rather simple!

And don't forget! If you'd like me to sign your book, just put in my address instead of yours in the part where the address you're sending it to is. And then I will sign it and send it to you, and you don't even have to pay shipping (after you've paid the shipping for it to come to my house). And if you're reading this, I would hope you know my address, because pretty much all my readers are family or really close to me. And if you don't, that's ok, just ask.

And thank you everyone for participating! Back to normal on Monday!

Almost there!

The winner of the all-time favorite book contest: "Anonymous"! Luckily, I have a keen sense of figuring out who these anonymous people are, and "Anonymous" could also be described as NYM. She wins The Devil Wears Prada, which I forgot to mention yesterday was the prize.

By the way, I liked all of your book nominations, they were all very good!

Today's question: What is your all time favorite mascara?

I for one can't really choose, I like a lot and am always experimenting, so I put a picture up of the lash stash, which has seven different sample size mascaras from Sephora (and is inexplicably sold out every time I go to the mall to buy it... it must be popular!) I would also like to give an Honorable Mention to Fiberwig, because it is the best mascara I've tried to date.

Sorry, my dear devoted blog readers for getting this out to you so late, but I was hosting a Cookie Lee Party at my house. It was eventful and fun and of course I bought a lot of jewelry. And while the party was in full swing my Nordstrom order came (it was FREE two day shipping!), so I'm about to go open my package.

And just so you all don't forget, today is the last day to get a comment in, and all the comments you've made during the week make you eligible to win a signed copy of my book Never Too Much of a Good Thing! And for those of you who don't win, I'm sorry, but you can still buy it at blurb.com, when I open it for sale tomorrow. So tomorrow's special Saturday post will be the announcement of the winner of the mascara contest and the book and directions on where to buy...

El Cuatro Dia!

*That's "the fourth day" for those of you who didn't figure it out already...but I'm sure you did =)



The winner of the lip gloss contest was (oddly enough): "your dad" (who happens to be my dad).

Today's question: What is your all time favorite book?

Mine happens to be Gone with the Wind; it has everything!: romance, action, suspense, fashion, and history. You can't lose!

Sorry this is so short, but I have to leave for work in nine minutes, and I've been gone all day outlet shopping (on the bright side, I got the cutest pink Coach purse that was already marked on sale for $99.99, and it rang up $49.99!!! Fabbity fab!)

Day Three!

The winner of the onion ring contest is: aunt nennie!

And before today's announcement, I would just like to make a few things clear:
a) The onion ring tower is from Red Robin, not Applebee's =)
b) You are eligible to comment on a day's contest from 12 AM to 12PM on the given day (so obviously, aunt nennie was still eligible at 7:33 last night, as she won).
c) NYD voiced some concerns on the way the winner is chosen. He was under the impression I was picking the best response/comment, when in reality they are all so good, so I just use a random number generator and use the comment that corresponds to the number.

Okay, today's question is: What is the best lip gloss you've ever used?

My personal favorite is the Vera Wang Princess lip gloss, mostly because of the perfume part, but the lip gloss smells good and isn't too sparkly, it has the right amount of sheen.

Don't forget to comment to win today's prize, The Wedding Planner!

Contest Week Extravaganza: Day Two

The Winner of Yesterday's Contest: e. eyre (aka aunt lola)! Your prize will be mailed to you at the end of the week ; )

You know, I've never really liked onions in any shape or form. Cooked, uncooked, diced, sliced. But. I've always liked the idea of onion rings. Mostly I like the idea of the breading, if it was just a ring of that instead I'd be totally eating them up.

But then one day I tried this Western BBQ burger, and it was a burger with BBQ sauce and onion rings on it, and it was delish! And now I have ventured into trying onion rings themselves, and they aren't terrible. I mean they're fried, I shoulda known I would like them =)

So my question is: What are the best onion rings you've ever tasted?

(I personally like the ones from Applebee's, you know that tower? ;)

Don't forget to comment your response in order to win today's prize, the movie The Hot Chick. And all the comments you submit make you eligible to win my poetry book Never Too Much of a Good Thing!

Happy Hundreth Blog Post!

What better way to celebrate than with the kick off of Contest Week Extravaganza?! =)

So, the first contest question is: What is the best jeans you ever bought and wore and liked?

Personally I don't care if ya bought 'em last Tuesday or in the seventh grade, what were your fave pair? Please include details such as where you got them, how well they fit, if they fit in with a certain fad (acid wash, flared, skinny jeans, high waist, etc.), and the price. Hopefully you can remember all of that =)

My personal favorites are this pair I got from Steve and Barry's. They are from Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line, and they only cost $8.98! They are skinny legged, and when I bought them they had this perfect dark wash (unfortunately they have been washed a few too many times). They have a bit of stretch to them, which I like, and have remained a good length, which to me is crucial. I never thought skinny jeans would look good on me, but I'm glad I found ones I like, especially for the price! (by the way, I could not find my jeans online, so I made do with this picture from eBay. But they don't do justice to my jeans at all! Mine are a darker wash and less skin tight than that picture!) Visit here for store locations.

Okay ya'll get to it, the first contest question! If you are picked as today's winner, you will receive the DVD Thirteen in the mail (in a somewhat) promt(ish) manner =) And besides, this is all for the big one, Never Too Much of a Good Thing!

The New School Year Trifecta

I warn you that when I say school, I mostly mean Washington schools =) Because will you be wearing Uggs and a super heavy jacket in sunny California? Luckily, the answer is no. But still.

First of all, when was anyone going to tell me about the glory of the Anniversary Sale at Nordstrom's? I already want to mark my calendar for next year! I thought they would be some piddly sales on some no name brands ... but no! There were significant sales on BRAND NAMES! Take for example, this wonderful Northface jacket. If you a) have ever vacationed in Big Bear (Californians!) or b) lived in Washington, you may have heard of this brand. I think it started out as a snow/ski clothing company, but it gets s'darn cold here in Washington state that civilians wear these on a daily basis in winter (I even saw a girl wearing one the other day AT THE POOL. She was life guarding and it was about 60 degrees and overcast. IN JULY. See what I mean?) Anyways, the bottom line: this jacket is normally $165, but I got it for $122.90. And even though I have this jacket in black, I ordered it in white, because it was so much cheaper, and because I like to shake things up once in awhile.


I think Washingtonians have an unnatural love for Ugg boots. That beings said, I think they may be making a comeback. I say unnatural, by the way, because a) it's almost always raining, and rain=soggy Uggs, and b) I thought they were so 2004. But they keep you warm and toasty, and they somehow make it onto Oprah's Favorite Things every year so that's gotta be something good, right? By the way, I learned a lesson today: when you see a deal such as this, snatch it up the minute you think of buying it, do not pussy foot around! Or you might come back two hours later after your mom is done looking at hotels only to find that your size is gone and you have to go a size bigger and take refuge in the fact that you can return it to the store for free. Or something like that. Normally $139.95, I got them for $99.90.

Lastly, I will need a backpack, for schlepping my books to class and to protect them from the rain. I know Northface is a reliable brand, now my only dilemma is which backpack to choose? I like this one because it is supposedly made with a woman in mind and is more lightweight and not as long... but do I love this Cargo Green? I don't hate it, but is the more expensive black version going to sway me? $54.97

Or do I want this one? Which is a whole pound heavier (with nothing in it!) than the other, but aslo two inches taller? And in this red? I admittedly like it a tad more than the green... but of course I like the more expensive black version best... So I'm leaning towards the other backpack above this one, even though it is smaller... I'll only need to carry one class' books with me at a time anyway, I have time in between to drop off and switch books. But then again, in the review for the other backpack this petite 5 foot woman said it fit her perfectly and I was all "Girrl, I am not 5 feet or petite!" $54,97 So which do you vote for?

A Tale of Good Service

$3.95

So, normally, no weekend posts for me. But. I had such a good day at the mall, I had to share it with you all.

First, I should say, that a new side at the mall just opened and when we went opening day it was mass chaos and pandemonium. And I expected it wouldn't die down for a month. But I went today, and even being a Saturday, it was controlled and organized. My main purpose was to see the Dark Knight (very good by the way. also very alarming, I jumped more than once), but afterwards I had a few hours to kill.

Our (mine and Lyndsie's, hi Lyndsie!) first stop was to eat Thai at Racha Noodles (verrryyy good noodles, soapy tasting water =[). After, we went to Sephora, because I had to return a lip gloss. I am always leery of returning anything, and in my house we rarely if ever make the effort to return stuff (and some of us to remain nameless promptly throw out receipts, unlike me). But I figured mine was a good case because I hadn't opened or used my lip gloss and had the receipt. The girl, after fumbling a little with the register, promptly took my lip gloss back, gave me $19 cash, and gave me a free sample of Benefit concealer!!! Score number one.

Next we went to Bobalicious, and then stopped into Dehlia's and Aeropostale. And then Aerie! Which has become one of my new fave stores. First off, as a promotion I'm sure, they give everyone in the store a real live flower with a twenty percent off coupon! Isn't that so nice?! And then they have cute sale underwear. And they have this club that you can sign up for that gets you one free gift a month and one on your birthday! Fab! Score number two!

Lastly, I went over to the T-Mobile stand in the mall because for the last couple of days my Blackberry had been doing this funny thing where it wouldn't call out or receive calls. Normally I avert my eyes whenever I walk past a cell phone stand from fear of them selling me something. And I was worried they wouldn't be able to help me since they weren't a customer service center or anything. But fifteen minutes after I handed the woman at the counter my phone, she had figured out my problem, fixed my phone, tested it to make sure it worked, and said I would be receiving 100 free minutes! Which might actually inspire me to call people instead of texting all the time =) Yay T-mobile!

Ok, that's all for my adventures in retail! Have you guys had any good experiences with the mall or certain stores lately? Hope you're all looking forward to next week! =)

Drumroll Please! Introducing...

Never Too Much of a Good Thing, my second poetry book (or "anthology" as it says on the cover)!!!



For those of you who remember my first poetry book, I have long awaited the day that I could serve up a second, and that day has finally come! And hopefully some of you have been eagerly waiting as well =)



The good news is, in exactly one week from tomorrow, my book will go on sale for the masses, better than the first edition (the wait and the buying will be explained in a minute).



First, the book itself is a 7x7 inch professionally printed color bound 80 page paperback book. Remember my first edition of poetry, spiral bound computer paper? I loved and still love that edition and love my dad for doing that for me, but this one looks amazing. Sorry for the size, but I was trying to keep the cost down.



Ahh, the cost! Those of you privileged enough to receive my last poetry book received it as a gift, you lucky ducks. There were several reasons for this, like the fact that my dear old dad paid for them all to be bound (not me) and the fact that it was only about twenty pages and in black and white. This marvelous book looks like a book, and therefore costs as much as one. Not to mention I made this book with the wonderful help of the program BookSmart, from blurb.com. And the program was free, but I'm selling it on blurb.com, and they have set prices. My particular book costs 15.95 plus shipping.



But wait, there's more! You may be thinking, I would like to buy my copy now! But you will need to wait until next Saturday, and here's why: Contest Week Extravaganza!



All next week, Monday through Friday, I will announce a different contest. You are allowed to comment once per day with your response. At the end of each day I will randomly (literally, with a random number generator website) pick one winner, and that person will win a DVD! Yay for contests!



But wait, there's more!! At the end of the week, I will take all the comments from the week and randomly pick one winner, and they will win an autographed copy of Never Too Much of a Good Thing! If you commented once a day, that's five chances to win! I will announce the winner and open my book for public buying next Saturday.



Lastly, once you buy my book, you have the opportunity to send the book to me instead of your house, and I will inscribe it for you for free and then send it to your house, free shipping from my house to yours!

Hopefully, I have covered all my bases, and if any of you have any questions, feel free to put them in the comments section and I will try to answer them promptly! I'm looking forward to next week!

(P.S- Colon Family, please email me regarding this, yours is a special case ;)