Thank You

These past holidays provided so many reasons for my family and I to say "Thank you" to so many people. Being a part-time minimalist, I often take advantage of sending e-cards, but then there are a few friends and family where e-cards just aren't applicable. Sometimes, it's for those that belong to an older generation who don't use e-mail or computers; other times it can be that special someone who loves collecting sentimental notes. I broke out the sketch book and set to work using mixed media. Keep reading to see the final product.

{Merry Christmas}

Best wishes to everyone, everywhere! I hope your days are filled with joy, love and laughter.

Philip In Under Four Minutes

After making a video for my son Liam
on his birthday and seeing how much he enjoyed it, I knew I had to do one for Lil' Phil. Phil loves his video games. One of his favorite games is MineCraft. When he saw CaptainSparklez's parody of Gangham style set to Minecraft, we had true love ladies and gentlemen.

Happy Birthday Lil' Phil!

The Dash to Dublin

My husband recently had to go on a business trip to Dublin and on a whim, I decided to join him. It was just a quick dash and back but it was really fun. 

There's tons of history, culture, and entertainment in the city but the highlights for me were definitely the food and shopping. 

 Unfortunately, (cough-cough) there may have been some wine involved so I don't have a lot of details for the few photo's I grabbed with my cell phone. If you'd like to see the full sized photo's click here. 

The places I remember with particular fondness for food were The Green Hen, the V'n V inside the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, and the Eden restaurant. Buyers beware though, you may have to take out a small loan to eat out regularly in Dublin. Each meal averaged 85 € for two people.

As far as shopping, I'm not sure how to convey the sheer joy I experienced on Grafton Street. For someone completely unfamiliar with it, it was truly a shopping paradise. The buskers on the street added so much fun to my spending spree. I walked from area to area, listening to really diverse, talented musicians. 

What adventures have you been on lately?

Finger Painting With Alice In Wonderland

I've been perusing a lot of the beauty magazines and runway shows lately and have developed a fascination with some of the nail looks. You'll notice more than a passing interest in statement nail treatments on my Pinterest, with multiple ones involving the color black. 

The other day I found myself digging through the magazine racks at the grocery store when I stumbled upon a Glamour edition with a sample of Nail Inc.'s Motcomb Street Polish.

Thinking it was black in the packaging, I couldn't have been more excited. Nail Inc. polish usually costs £11.00 per bottle.

The cost of the Glamour magazine with this product was £2.00. 

 Score!  

(Cue me doing my little happy dance.)

I hadn't looked closely enough to realize it wasn't a true black. Instead, it was a really dark navy blue.

At first, I was slightly disappointed. I wasn't sure how it would look with my olive skin tone. 

 

I was really pleasantly surprised. Black can be such a glamorous and dramatic color but I think Motcomb Street is a pretty alternative. And while I tend to keep my nails shorter because of how much art, typing, and cooking there is in my life, I love being able to have a little nail love in my life.

 I was really pleased with the formula's quality. It went on smoothly, dried quickly, and gave a nice opacity in just two coats.

Definitely a color I think Alice in Wonderland would've approved of. 

 

What color nail polishes are you wearing this winter? 

By-the-by, this isn't a paid advert. I just stumbled upon this lucky find and loved it. And I like spreading the love. ;)

 

There I Was...

There I was, minding my own business, when someone dropped this jewel into my lap.

How awesome is that? I totally didn't expect her tone. You can check them out here. Can't wait to see what else this group comes up with!

Have you guys come across any fun/new/indie music?

The Tale Of Liam the Lion

OMGit'slikeI'mblinkingandmybabyisn'tsuchababyanymore!

Another birthday has come and gone. Join us in a celebration of the Tale of Liam the Lion set to his "alltimemostfavoritestsongEVER!" (Yeah, I know it's a creepy song. But let's remember, this is the 6 yr old that asked for Paris as his birthday present. It's kind of to be expected at this point.)

Happy Birthday little man!

Music: Muse, Knights of Cydonia, WM UK, 2006 

It's Like Cotton Candy

I've been out and about and up to all kinds of things. To catch everyone up just a touch, I'll take a  quote from one of my ex-neighbors, "I done did get my hair done y'all."

There's blonde underneath. It's that blissfully white light blonde that's always reminded me of spun sugar (the kind that's not pink.) 

I've always been a fan of trying new stuff with my hair. The other day, Laura took the plunge to green and she looks fabulous! As a shout out to her, I have to share a photo of a gem I discovered on one of my adventures.

 (They're all waiting for you Laura!)

 It was so tempting to join her with her green hair but my sallow skin can't carry that. Maybe I'll try something close and go a bit more blue when I get tired of this.

So, I have to ask if you guys like what you can see of my hair? I also want to know what your wildest hair experiments have been. If you send me pictures, I'll happily do a post on my readers and their best/craziest/coolest hair styles!

Holy Freakin' Yum Y'all

I found myself in Poole the other day having an AH-may-ZING lunch at R's Kitchen. 

 

Mushroom and holloumi on brioche with a gravy that will blow your mind. I have a slight addiction problem when it coms to mushroom and holloumi. If it's on the menu, I have to try it. This one at R's Kitchen is right up at the top of the charts for me.

Apple cake with fresh cream. I couldn't have asked for a better way to cap off this lunch.

I would happily recommend this place for anyone that finds themselves in the Poole area. Have any of you tried any tasty mushroom and halloumi dishes lately? If so, spill the beans!

Lipstick Parenting

My love of all things beauty related goes way back. I was one of those girls who combed through all the big women's magazines searching for the latest and greatest looks, miracle products, and special "it" products that would make me look my dazzling best. I somehow managed to stretch my morning ritual to an hour and a half (and that was on a good speedy day), to get ready for school.

And then one day, I graduated, moved out, got married and started popping out babies. As I had each kid, I spent less and less time putting on make up, taking care of my skin, or pampering my hair and nails. As my children have slowly gotten older and gained more independence, I'm slowly wading back into beauty/make-up land. I realized that somehow, parenting had sucked enough "me" out of the picture that it left me without a single lipstick or lip gloss. I don't even know how this happened people. That discovery left me dazed and confused until I found myself in the make-up department of a large store. I was so excited I was practically foaming at the mouth as I looked for the perfect versatile day to day lipstick and gloss. Forgive the cruddy lighting here. I'm figuring this out as I go. Consider this a lesson learned - bathroom mirrors and cell phones don't necessarily give the greatest pictures!

 

There's the final poorly lit result. I'm wearing Mac's fast play and Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss 436 Capeline Abricot. 

 Mac's Fast Play goes on very matte and dry. For me the positive to this is how long it seems to stay in place. It doesn't end up leaving a lipstick ring around my lips while the rest of it wears off. I hate that. If I want it to go on a bit smoother I pop on a little chap stick before hand but it's definitely not as long wearing if I do that. 

DiorAddict's Ultra-Gloss 436 is interesting. I love it's sheerness and a little bit goes a really long way. It makes me feel like I'm getting more value out of it than I expected. There's a really lovely gold shimmer to it that my camera phone just couldn't capture. Plus, it smells a bit like bubble gum to me.

My final better lighting shot for you guys.

Who knew parenting could have such a debilitating effect on my lipstick or my make-up bag in general? What I really want to know is what are your favorite go-to daily lipsticks?

From A Low To High

Would you guys believe I've had this piece ready to go for weeks? When I post, I like to include some sort of cute, relevant, or awesome image. Nothing I worked on really made me smile though so I threw together that thing on top. Now we can all pretend to be totally amazed at my artistic talent and meaningful insight to the topic. :D

Did you guys hear about the investigation into retail therapy done by Selin Atalay and Margaret Meloy? With the help of three different studies* they concluded that "retail therapy generally works, that people deploy the practice strategically, rather than impulsively, and that there are few if any negative emotional side-effects."

Personally, I aim for a minimalist approach to my closet. I'm limited on space and can catch myself up in buyer's remorse if I purchase something I don't absolutely love. However, I love fashion. And I love shopping. It's a tricky mix for me to balance.

If I find myself bringing in new items I automatically make myself take a look at my wardrobe and get rid of anything I've held onto for too long. If I haven't worn something for a long time (more than 6 months to a year) and it's in good condition, it's usually in the charity bag. If something's not in good condition I set it to the side and see just how much I come up with. I only need so many "painting" clothes or scrubby stuff to wear for DIY projects.

I have definitely noticed a lift in my mood after buying something new. I will even say:

 "Hi, my name is Rachel and shopping is my happy drug." 

How about you? Do you notice a shopping "high" when you're feeling low? 

*Atalay, A., and Meloy, M. (2011). Retail therapy: A strategic effort to improve mood. Psychology and Marketing, 28 (6), 638-659 DOI:10.1002/mar.20404

Knock, knock! Who's there?

Hi. It's me.  :) Did you miss me?

It's been awhile hasn't it? Every now and then I go through these phases where I feel super shy. I can't seem to write all the stuff flying through my head or even comment on all the fabulous blogs that I follow. There are points where I wonder if that just makes me really weird but at heart, I know there are others out there just like me. I stare in amazement at those fabulous bloggers on the internet who admit when they're feeling uninspired, blocked, depressed, and any other temporary passing situation that renders them temporarily unable to push keys and publish a post. They always do it so elegantly, honestly, and sincerely. I might have to work on that some.

I thought it was time I tried to catch everyone up on what's been going on since I've been hiding. Let's see. Where do I start? Ok, how about where things started to come unraveled? I'll just hit the highlights.

My 4 year old, aka my "baby", out of my 4 children, decided to split his forehead open on the foot board of my bed frame while waiting on his turn to get in the bath. Ohhhh the humanity. There was screaming and blood and shaking hands. I'm not sure all the screaming was coming from little Phil and the shaking hands were definitely mostly me. This is the first injury of this type any of my kids have experienced. Some would call that lucky. I chalk it up to the super uptight, over protective, mother that I am. I manage to suck just enough fun out of my kids lives that they stay mostly in one piece 90% of the time and any injuries they do manage are usually fairly minor. It was so hard to think in those moments. It's like my brain checked out and decided it needed a vacation, RIGHT THAT MOMENT. And it wasn't waiting on a delayed departure. I was pressing clean towels to the wound, burned my fingers on an ice pack by holding it in place with nothing between my hand and it, shoveling children's pain medicines into him, and rubbing his belly. Seriously, the whole act of me pressing the clean towel to his head wasn't because I had any type of first aid process going through my brain. It was the sheer freak out of "OH MY GOD! THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD COMING OUT! STAY IN!! STAY IN!!! STAY IN!!!! MAYBE IF I PRESS THIS ON IT I CAN KEEP IT ALL IN!!!" Never fear everyone. There were ambulances called and all the King's horses, and all the King's men, came and glued Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Humpty Dumpty on his first day of school with his head still swollen and glued together.*

Seriously, his forehead is glued shut. I'm thankful that medical technology has come so far that there's magic glue we can use to seal these terrifying wounds closed. Does anyone know anything about this stuff? We're now on 3 weeks of this stuff and it's still just hanging around. It's like the glue has no desire to come off. Is it supposed to be off now? I could've sworn they said 7-10 days and it'd fall off. There's no redness, swelling, heat or discoloration (other than the visible scab underneath the glue) to the area but I'm starting to think the glue has taken up permanent residence on his head.

Maybe we should just name the glue and accept it as a new family member. If you've got any experience or expert tips with this stuff, I'd love to hear it.*

My husband had to go out of the country for a business trip shortly after that traumatizing event. It's something that has to happen fairly regularly and doesn't typically sneak up on me very easily. It's fairly demanding though and can be overwhelming. Life gets hectic with 4 kids as a "single" parent. Everyone's got their own schedules.  School, activities, homework, and social lives all become crazy lightening juggling balls. As mom, you're supposed to juggle them all and not drop anything. Of course the day my husband flies out, is the day my body decides it's time for a nice super infection that leaves me in intense pain, feverish, nauseous and feeling as limp, energetic and weak as a piece of over cooked pasta. I can't say "thank you" enough to my friend D who took off work to help me get in to see the doctor and get some much needed antibiotics. Friends like that are totally awesome and I hope everyone out there has someone who would do that for them. I also have to give a little "Yay!" for antibiotics.  I managed to make it through the week, my husband returned from his trip and life resumed it's normally scheduled programming.

Now that the antibiotics have done their thing and I'm feeling a lot less like over cooked starch, I'm totally over doing it. (Did you expect anything else from me? Really?) I have thoroughly pushed myself and wrecked my back. For some reason, that no one has ever figured out, the tiny little ligaments that hold the pieces of my spine in place, just don't like to do their job all the time. I've had it happen enough times to be able to tell you that my pelvis is tilted and twisted. It's something that's fixable but not by anyone I know of in my immediate area. So I'm hobbling around still living life, trying to find a way to manipulate my spine into being nice. I'm stubborn, for those of you who don't know me. I refuse to accept limitations of this nature. I end up using every physio-therapy trick I've learned to continue to do things like putting weight on my right foot. People might not know it to look at me but it's a super painful process and I'm in constant pain.

During these all too fun times I have managed the stress with retail therapy. Since I don't have a bottomless budget for that kind of thing I've been justifying my purchases by buying presents. It's nearing what we call our "birthday season". All the kids have birthdays over the next 3 months and I've started my Christmas shopping early. How about you guys? When do you start your Christmas shopping? Is now too early? Is there such a thing as too early? (Yeah? Maybe? Shhhhh, don't judge me!) And wouldn't you know, the kid who has the first birthday this season, had to go and throw a wrench in my best laid plans. Here's our actual conversation:

 Me: "What do you want for your birthday this year? Do you want a party?"

My 6 year old: "Nah. Just give me Paris. That's all I want."

Seriously. What 6 year old says something like that? My 6 year old. That's who. After looking at the cost of renting out a hall to throw a party for his friends, throwing a party at a play place, or renting decorations, food and bouncy houses to have a party at our house, the cost of a day trip to Paris is starting to look pretty reasonable.

*All photos in this post are mine. Do not use them.
 

Lust List

I stumbled across mention of a shop called Bell and Bird. They specialize in vintage jewelry. I was left humbly lusting after some of these amazing pieces.

Victorian Gold Bracelet with Natural Pearls    

Bangle with natural pearls in 14k gold. Circa 1860/1880

 Victorian natural pearl and diamond ring set in 18k gold

 

Moss Agate Earrings & Brooch in Fitted Box 

English or Scottish moss agate earrings and matching brooch together in original fitted box. Circa 1840/60

French Sapphire and Diamond Ring

 Circa 1912-1920 sapphire and single cut diamond platinum ring. Paris hallmarks.

1860′s Gold Rush Earrings 

 Dating 1860-1880, 18k gold arrow earrings with natural gold nuggets from the California gold rush.

 

I fell in love with these museum worthy pieces. If you'd like to see more from Bell and Bird you can visit their shop here. Caution! If you suffer from a heart condition the price tags might be dangerous.

What do you guys and gals think? Love it or hate it?

 

This was not a sponsored post. I just loved their product and wanted to share. This post is in no way affiliated with or solicited by Bell and Bird. 

 

The Man-Eating GrassHopper

The conversation I literally just had with myself.

It's pitch dark. Just the kind of dark I like when trying to sleep. There's something terribly wrong with this picture though. 

I'm awake.

Why am I awake?

 Did something just bite me on the leg? Don't be silly. Just go back to sleep. Ugh, gah! I can't. I have to go to the bathroom now. 

~sigh~ 

Covers are flung back, eyes stay glued shut while I blindly stumble to and from the bathroom and back before getting back into bed and hitting my favorite "let's go to sleep" pose.

It's not working. Maybe if I shift position? 

 

My hand sweeps under my pillow...

OMG! What the hell was that on the back of my hand?! Sweep it out of the bed! 

There's frantic flailing, blind lurching and light switches horribly abused with excessive force.

Ok. What was that? Can I see anything? No. That's sock fluff. So is that. Wow. I really need to vacuum in here more often. Did I imagine that whole thing? What am I even looking for at this point?

Cue the absent minded scratching motion on my calf...

OhMyGod! WHAT WAS THAT?! I KNOCKED IT OFF BUT WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!

I don't know but it's skinny and green and it's running across my carpet now! Is that a grasshopper? What ..why..is a grasshopper trying to eat me while I sleep?!

"James! Wake up!! Jaaaaaaammmmess" 

Seriously? This man can sleep through WWIII. 

You really are going to wake up right now and if my shaking you isn't going to do it, I WILL jump up and down on you because you absolutely MUST save me from the man-eating grasshopper. 

***

Dear readers, relax and breath a little easier. He did indeed wake up and save me from the ferocious flesh eating insect all though it was very touch and go there for awhile. He heroically caught it under a glass and managed to carry it outside to find it's next unsuspecting victim. 

On a different note, I owe everyone an apology for my long absence. Truth be told, I'm exhausted in every sense of the word. I've been battling all kinds of things and it's left me devoid of any creative energy. Unless it's between the hours of 3 and 5 a.m. Like right now. How else would I be managing to write anything if it weren't for the fact that it's 5 in the morning?

I hear those are hours we're usually supposed to sleep but I'm starting to think sleep might be overrated. Besides, if we fall asleep the grasshoppers might get us.

Cherry Picking

Someone once commented on how often I compare things to each other. I realized they're right. It's what I like to call "cherry picking". 

I like to find the best of the best and I'm always on the hunt. This time, I stumbled upon the Boathouse.

Busy Beavers Inc.

Mighty Duck Tour Amphibious vehicle

I've been super busy ever since school let out. We opened up the week doing one of these London Amphibious Adventure tours. It was crazy packed so if you're thinking of taking one, try booking in advance and arrive 15-30 mins early so that your party can all sit together. The best part of the tour for me was when we hit 

When All Else Fails - Shop

Whimsical Miaow Ankle Boots by Irregular Choice

Available @ Shuh

£105

I was bitten by the shopping bug while traveling in Italy. After coming back to England and experiencing near biblical amounts of rain, that shopping bug has turned into a raving, slobbering shopping monster. So far I've been able to contain it but it's not stopped me from looking and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out against all these fabulous pieces. 

Wanderlust: Pisa in Pictures

The beauty in Pisa has left me speechless. That's not such a great thing for a writer or blogger. I just can't seem to help it. To see such beauty up close and know that someone at some point in history, without all the technological advances that we have today, stood there and had this kind of vision and passion to create things that took lifetimes - sometimes multiple generations to complete....just speechless. While I might have been left short of words I still managed to click some photos with my camera phone. If you'd like to see more of them you can check out my flikr.

Food In Pisa

I've had friends who visited Italy who said things like, "The food is just AMAZING. You'll never believe it." I didn't want to set my expectations too high though. I mean - food is just food right? The thing I loved the most about eating in Italy

Protecting Your I.D.

Traveling through Europe can be an amazing experience. However, it's never amazing when things fall apart and suddenly you find yourself far away from home and stuck with little to no funds at your disposal. So, I've gathered some tips to help prevent that from happening!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet

Also known as, "Where in the world am I?

That became my catch phrase while I was away. "Where in the world am I?" Intellectually I knew I was in Pisa, Italy but nothing mentally prepared me for seeing these things in person. My brain grappled with reconciling known 2D images to what I was seeing in person but I was left in awe. 

Music MixUp Mania

Lately, I've had a lot of songs running through my head. None of these songs are the original versions and that's what I find fairly fascinating.

"Hurt" was originally a Trent Reznor song but I love what Johnny Cash did with it.

Running Around Like A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off

When I was growing up my mom was always saying, "There you go again, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off." I don't even know what that means. I've just always imagined it as a very energetic, messy and directionless activity. These past few weeks have been just like that. When I saw these metal chickens at Stewarts I was immediately reminded of Beyoncé, the Big Metal Chicken courtesy of The Bloggess. I'm fully convinced these little guys are her distant English cousins.

Art for My Heart with a Fashionable Twist

Art by Agnes Cecile

 Agnes Cecile's work is beautiful and moving. If you'd like to watch some videos showing the creation of a few of her paintings, click here.

You can only imagine how excited I am to discover that she collaborated with Ilaria Nistri, a fashion designer in Milan, to use one of Agnes Cecile's paintings as a print in her collection.

Drawing Restraint by Agnes Cecile

{source}

I love it when traditional art fuses with fashion. Do you? Are any of you familiar with Ilaria Nistri's collections? I'm super excited by them. Very sleek, sexy, and modern.

Caprese Salad

After pretty much two weeks straight of being sick I couldn't be happier to feel better. What was even better was having such a beautiful WARM sunny day. I would hug the weather if I could. 

The sun had me totally inspired for lunch so I whipped up my modified version of a fresh Caprese salad. I fly pretty loose with ingredients when I'm in the kitchen. If you'd like a fairly standard recipe for a Caprese salad there's a good one here. I dice all my ingredients because I love scooping it up with some warm garlic bread.

Caprese Salad Recipe

1 tomato per person

buffalo mozarella to taste

2 artichoke hearts

3 clove of garlics minced

salt to taste

a healthy pinch of dried oregano

2-3 tbsp of fresh fennel minced

2-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

 fresh basil to taste

Like I said before, I dice all ingredients to make it bread friendly. Mix it all in a bowl and enjoy. So simple. So tasty. 

What are some of your favorite warm weather foods?

Hinton House Gardens

I hope all the Mothers' yesterday had a beautiful and wonderful Mother's Day. I got to wander around the Hinton House Gardens yesterday. It's an amazing place and I highly recommend going if you can. If you'd like to see more of my untouched photos of Hinton House, click on the image below!

How did all of you spend your weekend? I'd love to hear all about it! And if you blogged about it, leave your link in my comments below so we can all catch up with you. ;)

Fashion is Back to Black

{Image source Style.com. Click on an image to visit the collection.}

I'm always looking for fashion inspiration from the runways. From Spring to Fall this year, I noticed black was a strong and steady presence in a lot of collections. Daring silhouettes, contrasting textures, and luscious materials were what made them special for me.

Toys- They're Not Just For Boys

My latest toy obsession. I want one. And I want my kids to have the chance to play with one. 

Has anyone else seen these things or an entry in this competition that you like? Share it!

Starz, A Contemporary American Diner

For a Star peppered American Dining experience in the Bournemouth area, Starz might be just the diner for you!

The Avengers

This was me doing my little fan girl Justin Beiber type scream on my way to see The Avengers. And then that's me, after I saw it. I love this film so much I'd sit through it again and again and I don't do that. It was awesome people. Awe-some! It carries you on an epic emotional journey with tons of eye candy, adrenaline, funny stuff, "awww" sappy inducing moments, action and above all I left the theater wanting to be an Avenger. That's when you know a super hero movie has been done right. 

Fan Girl Movie Rating: 10 out of 10

How about you? Are you going to go see the most awesome, amazing movie of 2012 so far?

Beware! They come for you...

(Do you like my crude little germ bag drawing?)

GermBags. They're everywhere. We can't escape them even if we try. They come for our mothers, our children, our husbands or wives and yes - they even come for YOU.  There is no running and hiding from these foul beasts. They care not that they spread disease and ick among the healthy and innocent. 

I don't even know that I count this as a real post. It's quite possible that I'm delusional. 

You see, my daughter and I were ambushed by one of these inconsiderate evil bags of germs this past weekend. We frolicked in the frigid April showers of an outdoor shopping center looking for waterproof school shoes this weekend. We were completely unaware that we were to be it's next victims. And it's spreading through the rest of my family like wildfire. Take heed my friends! Protect yourselves! Keep watch carefully because you see...

The GermBagss are coming for you too...

Braving the Bad Boys

You'll Want to Bake this Cake

Let's pretend like there was no report released earlier this month labeling all sugar as toxic and just appreciate the tastiness that is a Victoria Sandwich. If you've never had one or were afraid to try and bake one, I found a super simple recipe that you just have to try.

Spring Break, A Mommy's Take

i want saved

someone

some super hero

save me

for the love of god

i have a 17 yr old dreamer

all she does is dream

big silly teenage appropriate dreams

and she insists on sharing them all day every day with me

and i'm not a full on dreamer

i dream in little ways

and listening to someone dreaming stupid idiotic teen like dreams

all day every day

makes every bone in my body twitch

and tiny bits of vomit

come up in the back of my mouth

i hate spring breaks

by The DreamKiller (A.K.A Mommy)

The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd

The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd is a collection of short stories that follow a set of family lines in the English New Forest through history. The families are fictional but the events they live through are historical facts. It's a great way to learn what was happening in and around the area. I found myself skeptical at first that I would enjoy this book but I found myself hooked. The stories had all the right elements:

Coming of Age Sacrifice Epic Battles Falls from Grace Love

Revenge Trickery Mystery Danger Intrique

Don't let the size of the book intimidate you either. The stories keep it bite sized and very manageable. I even found myself so attached to the family lines that I was sad when the book ended.

So what are you reading lately? 

Whimsical White Dresses Win

{Image sources fashiongonerogue.com}

Louis Vuitton SS12, Valentino Fall 2012, Elie Saab Fall 2012

From Spring collections through Fall collections white was a winning color this year. If you're ready to welcome sun and warmer temperatures, what better way than to pull out your whites? Unless you're like me and don't necessarily have any. After a little poking around I've found some fabulous options for all sizes that will get you all the way through 2012. Once the temp's start to drop, clever layering with white knits, tights or trousers reminiscent of Sonia Rykiel's Fall 2012 collection will take these pieces even further.

Zara's Embroidered Hipster Dress , Zara's Combined Cape Dress, Evan's Collection Ivory Prom Dress

Have you got any white outfits that you love? I'd love to see any outfit pics if you do! Just give me a link in the comments below.