fashion deals

I stumbled upon this cool website called Gilt Groupe. It's a members only website that provides instant insider access to designer labels, at up to 60% off retail. Everyday they feature new designers that are on sale for a limited time. Cool thing is that they not only sale designer clothing, but they also have home decor items, a taste section that sells wines, jetsetter with killer deals on travel, and a high class version of living social, called Gilt City. Granted some items are still on the spendy side, but for what you are getting it's a great deal.

Its super easy to become a member. Just sign in your email address and create a password. Voila!

style inspiration

J.Crew

I feel that my style is to thank for the 8 years I had to wear a uniform to school. You know the pleated plaid skirts and dresses, navy blue shorts and pants, and fabulous white polos. I know you probably feel bad for me now. Most people would think after 8 years of that I would run towards the opposite fashion. Sadly no. I am VERY conservative. Don't get me wrong I love neons, pastels, and black. I am just not the flashy, show skin, wear a million pieces of jewelry at once, and live in heels kinda girl. I love J.Crew and am loving these pieces.... 

                                                               

{all images via j.crew}

Juicing

Have you ever juiced before?

I bought a juicer this summer after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.

I must say we have a love hate relationship. Mostly love, but a little hate sneaks in at times. 

It's amazing how great I feel after I have been juicing for a while. You learn to accept the taste and just swallow it down for the benefits. 

I am going to juice this week to detox my body, and hopefully get me on the right track for eating clean again after the Holidays. 

My juicer is a Breville Juice Fountain Plus. 

MMMMM... doesn't it look delish?

This is an all greens juice. 

I used:

3 stalks celery, 1 green apple, 1 large bunch of kale, 1/2 cucumber, and handfuls upon handfuls of spinach.

It really wasn't that bad tasting. The smell was probably worse than the taste. What's nice is I get an energy boost after I juice, which is always welcome. 

Honestly the reason I don't juice more often is simply because it takes so long to assemble everything, make the juice, and clean it. I am more of a grab something and go kinda girl. 

thankful

What are you thankful for today?

{image via pinterest}

black ballet flats

Can you tell which ballet flat is the bargain buy?

Try and take a guess before looking at what I wrote below.

No cheating ;)

Do you have your guess? 

Number 1 is the bargain buy at only $59 from Piperlime. Number 2 may or may not break your bank at $178. Of course number 2 is a Tory Burch flat, and of course I am still dreaming of the day when a pair will grace my feet. However, that day isn't today, so I am still looking for deals on shoes that look similar to Tory Burch. This may be my calling in life. Ok that may be a little over the deep end. 

1. Lucky Brand emmie  

          2. Tory Burch eddie ballet flat

candle makeover

I got glitter fever this week and attacked an innocent candle, and a few other items that will be shown later ;) Oh yeah don't mind the empty frame. Still working on that. 

           

           

The after picture doesn't do it justice. It is soooooo pretty and fits perfectly with my decor. It was super easy and fun to make.

If you want to make one all you need is:

A candle 

Spray adhesive 

glitter

paper plate

I can't find a picture of the glitter I used anywhere. It was by Nicole and was extra fine white gold.

All you do is spray the candle with spray adhesive and dump that glitter all over. Don't be shy about it. Of course your doing this over the plate, so you are able to save the excess glitter. Once it's all covered lightly shake off the glitter and voila. A chic glitterfied candle. 

One side note: you will have sticky fingers, so careful what you touch :)

Flashback Friday

I love, love, LOVE looking through photos from the past. It's a nice walk down memory lane. I decided that I am going to showcase a flashback photo every friday. It will be a mix of just about everyone that I have a photo of. If anything we can all have a nice laugh at how ridiculous the fashion was and how crazy the hair styles were.

This is my adorable little sister @ age unknown. I am bad about the ages so I apologize. 

all about the hair

In case you didn't know I went to beauty school and have a cosmetology license. Even though I am currently not doing hair, and switched to being a full time student, I still am a product hoarder. Over the years I have tried it all, from the cheap product to the expensive stuff. It is sad at times to see full bottles of product in drawers collecting dust. However, from all the collecting I have finally found my saving graces. You know, those products that no matter what the day or style you can count on them to give you rockin' hair. 

So today I am sharing with you my go to's for a basic blowout and curl. Most days if I am in a rush I will just do a blow out for volume, but if I have a few extra minutes I will throw in some curls for fun. 

I have a few favorites other then these that I will save for another day.

{images via google images}

1 & 2 are shampoo and conditioner for thinning hair. Love them! 

3 is a leave in conditioning treatment that I spray in my hair after I comb it out. Works great for tangles as well as conditioning. 

4 is my FAVORITE styling product ever. It makes my hair feel thicker and gives it great volume. It can be oily if applied to the roots or bangs, so only rub it in the ends. 

5 is a must have everyday. Root lifter is your best friend, so embrace her ladies. 

6 I have every size of ceramic round brush known to man in my drawer. Every girl should own one.

7 is a basic hot tools curling iron. Once again I have just about every size. 

Last, but not least is hairspray. Love this stuff!

Just a key tip... When blow drying your hair always blow dry it in the opposite direction for added volume. I blow dry forwards, backwards, and do a mad comb over and dry. If you just dry it straight down you know what that means? Flat, lifeless hair. 

I hope this helped. 

Do you have any favorites that I should test out?

repeat to yourself...

   Have you seen The Help yet? If not I suggest you run out this second and buy yourself the movie, because another second without seeing it could be bad for your health. Ok maybe I am being a little dramatic, but it is a good movie. 

This is my favorite saying in the movie. It's a must share. 

                                           

{image via pinterest}

boudoir part 2

Yes I am at it again. One secret about me you all probably don't know is that I change my mind about every 5 seconds. One minute an idea seems amazing, and the next it's horrible and I have moved on to bigger and better ideas. Yes I am that obnoxious girl who can never make up her mind. 

So with that said decorating my room has become a serious pain in my bum.

I bought this duvet and pillows from Anthropolgie this summer, and I am basically designing my room around it. 

I posted about my room on a previous blog.

Here are some decor items I think would work well. 

What do you think?

However, I found a silver pouf I love so much more than the pink one. I will start posting pics of my project as I complete it.

Images via...

1. Serena and Lily

2. Anthropologie

3. jcpenney

4. zgallerie

5. Pinterest

6. zgallerie

7. zgallerie

8. zgallerie

9. zgallerie

10. Apothica

11. madebygirl

in need of your opinion

Ever since I laid eyes on these black beauties, I can't stop thinking about them. 

What do you think?

Keep in mind I wear diamonds in my ears everyday, so they would definitely get worn. Plus my go to color usually seems to be black. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

Kate Spade gumdrop stud for $38

{image via piperlime}

lets talk boots ladies

Today the fabulous Mrs. Lindsay is doing a guest post about boots.

I am not a huge "boot" gal, so I thought it would be nice to get a little advice from a friend that knows everything about great fashion and bargain buys. I mean really check out how cute her fashionable little family is....

I’m so excited to be a guest on Tara’s blog and to be talking about one of my loves in life, SHOES!! Ahhh, don’t we all just feel better when we say that word, I know I do. We all love shoes because lets be honest you can still eat that quarter pounder with fries and a coke and be the same size and by size I mean shoe size, haha!!

! Since we’re in the dead of winter I’ll be talking about boots!! I love myself a great boot, both with a heel for some sassy-ness and without a heel for the everyday momma running around, and carrying a kid on the hip. My favorite boots are the ones that stay within our family’s financial budget because that’s when you can see them on my feet, and not just the drool on my face when I’m looking at them and never actually owning them. You’re also reading the words of THE QUEEN of bargain shopping over here!! Who wouldn’t want to spend $668 on a new pair of Louise Vuittons but let’s face it, NOT going to happen in my lifetime. So where is it you ladies go for your favorite boots? I of coarse love to hit Macy’s and Dillards but I only go there when they have half off their shoes, like I said, I’m a bargain shopper!! I don’t want to get your bargain shoe mixed up with looking cheap, you have to spot whether or not the money you’re saving makes you look that way. Be mindful of that.

 Okay so my all time favorite places I look for boots when I’m out for a good find is Marshall’s and TJ Max n More, Burlington Coat Factory(not just coats there ladies and gents), now that they came into town, Designer Show Warehouse and Ross will bring out the goods too, you just have to hit it at the right time. Of coarse there are great online stores as well, the problem I have is my ginorm size 10 feet so to order online is a big fat failure in my book, but if you’re up for the challenge and you’re the person I’d like to stab because you have a cute size 5, 6, or 7, give it a whirl sister. My favorite online sites are 6pm, great shoes and inexpensive. Also, if you hate em, or they don’t fit, sending them back is free!! Alrighty, my favorite part is about to happen, I’m listing my favorite shoes that will never happen unless I kill a man for them, and the others I’m listing are affordable in my book!!

These Calvin Klein boots are adorable, but the red is to DIE for. Reg $190 on sale now for $90. I mean come on!

Calvin Klein over-the-knee boot  

Such a steal! I bought theses Madden Girl boots from Zappos for only $45.

{Taryn Rose Holiday2 boots from 6pm}

{Kickers Groovy  boots from 6pm}

{Volatile Drill  boots from 6pm}

{Timberland Lucille knee boot}

{Kali-cents of style.... Only $38.60}

Lindsay has a family blog over here

Must haves

Movie Night... 

With it being winter and chilly outside I have become the queen of cozy, and can do lazy well. At nights I absolutely love cuddling up in a fluffy blanket, drinking coffee w/ baileys, and watching a movie. 

I am sharing with you today my must have items for the ideal comfy, cozy movie session. 

 I own everything above and must say they are simply divine. 

1. Victoria's Secret fleece pullover top 

2. American Eagle fold over yoga pant 

3. UGG classic short boot 

4. Gone With The Wind on blu ray... OBSESSED!!!

5. Minnie Mouse coffee cup from the Disney Store

6. Baileys Irish Cream 

7. Dunkin' Donuts decaf coffee

8. Target fleece blanket 

Do you have any must haves?

sending some love

Valentines Day means Valentines cards, and personally I am tired of buying cheesy Hallmark cards with ugly designs. 

I stumbled upon the Rifle Paper Co. website one day, and loved the whimsical illustrations they used on all there paper products. Often these illustrations are hand painted on quality paper stock. They focus more on the illustration and less on filling the card with over the top sweet nothings. 

Don't get me wrong I love all types of cards, and I am guilty of buying those cheesy Hallmark cards, but sometimes it's nice to switch things up.

Here are a few of my favorites

Wall art

Let me be honest here...

I have NEVER been into art. 

I couldn't tell you a single about it. 

all I know is I purchase prints that speak to me.... 

and this beauty did.

I just ordered this 8x10 off of etsy and can't wait to see it.

I have started a photo collage on my wall (photos to come later) of all white frames, with black and white photos. I wanted a picture that wouldn't be to bold for the mix, and I think I found the perfect one. 

Here are a few others I was torn between... 

{images via}

1 2 3 4 5 6

Which one is your favorite?

miracle workers

I keep it pretty simple when it comes to doing my make up. Nothing over the top and flashy. Crazy thing is I seem to collect all sorts of eye shadows, lip glosses, eye liners, and other fun goodies, yet never use half of them more than {1} or {2} times. Pictures below are my magic goods that help make me look and feel somewhat presentable on my low key days, which seems to be about 50% of the time lol :))

1. M.A.C studio fix powder ... NC35

2. M.A.C bronzing powder... BRONZE 

3. NARS blush... AMOUR 

4. Dior mascara.... blackout 

5. Chapstick.... bag balm... OBSESSED is an understatement 

what are some of your daily must haves??

Spelling Manor

I have a new love for HGTV and came across Selling Spelling Manor. 

I am a fan of Tori Spelling and have heard/read/watched all the drama between her and her mother. 

So obviously I was forced by curiosity to watch her mothers show. 

Candy Spelling sold her 57,000 sq. ft home for 150 MILLION DOLLARS... Really?!?

What's even crazier is the buyer of this "hotel" home is a 22 year old heiress.  Crazy right?

I love glitz and glamour, and am totally guilty of having champagne taste on a beer budget, but this is madness. 

I included pictures of her French chateau-style home below... 

Personally no matter how rich I was, I wouldn't want to live here. It is way to big, and how would you ever see your family? I love cozy feeling homes and this house just doesn't have it. 

What do you think?

{images via HGTV front door}