Let's Give 'em Somethin to Talk About

Yeah, I know...the song is only about 15 years old...but singing it in my head actually makes me a go a bit sassy...who knows?

I am finding it quite hard to accomplish everything I have in tow...between working real estate, Arbonne, my 9-5er, motherhood and wifey-ness...blogging has just taken a back seat and when I say back seat I mean 14 passenger van back seat...sorry

I quite possibly could be the last soul on the planet to NOT have internet at home (gasp)...we just felt it was unnecessary.  My husband doesn't really surf the web and since I have access more than 8 hours a day at work I just didn't see spending the $40-$60 extra per month to have something we wouldn't quite use that much. But, the time has come - we cleaned out our entire attic (which is actually finished, carpeted, heated, A/C, etc.) and turned it into our home office/booger's painting studio.  It actually looks quite nice and I plan to snap some pics this week after I finish hanging some pictures.  Obviously, you cannot have a home office without internet access.  So basically what I'm spewing here is that my blogging will definitely become more frequent in the near future.

Back to post title...the adorable Nicole from Coley's Closet Cravings gave me something to talk about today.  She's got a FAB-U-LOUS giveaway going on right now.  You can click HERE to check out the article.  She does product reviews, Cheap Thrills, Cubicle to Cocktails and WTF Friday's...she has a great sense of fashion and a fun to read style of writing.

So go check her out...and hopefully I'll win the giveaway.  Although I NEVER win anything...seriously, ever.  I enter all sorts of giveaways; on blogs, at the nail salon, my local pizza parlor, wedding shows, you name it and it just doesn't happen.  So we shall see.

that's all for now...xoxo

Holy Tuesday!

Well the weekend sure flew by - I cannot get over how absolutely gorge the weather was.  We, my fam, tripped it out to the Philadelphia Zoo on Saturday followed by City sightseeing and sushi dinner so it was a good day for us.  It was a stunning 79 degrees here in Jersey/Philadelphia and Sunday was no disappointment either.  I believe the high temp throughout the day on Sunday was 77 degrees.  I absolutely love love love this sunshine and springy weather.  Although yesterday was a rainy mess the clouds are beginning to break today for what looks like another day of sunshine :)

You bet yo arse I was wearing flip flops and tanks all weekend.  Which brings me to tanning - it is officially time.  Although I'm not much of a fake baker I usually do it for about a month in April (so we're just in time).  I'm naturally very fair and unfortunately the ultra ultra fairness that winter brings is not nearly as cute as a base tan.  I'm not talking Jersey Shore color, my friends.

Speeee-aking of which....who caught the premier episode of the ULTRA ridiculous 'Jerseylicious' on the Style Network Sunday night? I find it incredibly hard to believe that any of this show is even remotely real and that there are actually people who act like this who have jobs, let alone careers.  Here it is in all its ugliness. 


I feel bad for these people, seriously.  They are being mocked beyond control and I honestly don't even think they realize that.  Oh well.

On a separate note, since I didn't post for yesterday's 'Manday' here is a snippet of who I would have otherwise featured...because he is freakishly hawt...Gilles Marini (Mr. Marini is currently starring in the ABC series Brothers and Sisters on at 10pm EST on Sunday) you may also remember Gilles as Samantha's LA sex craved neighbor on SATC the movie?? Ya know, the one with the tight buns who showered naked on his back porch - the one who Samantha watched nightly?

And if you love SATC as much as I do, then you already know that

S L A T E D   F O R    R E L E A S E   M A Y   2 8 ,   2 0 1 0

yay :)

That's all for now....xoxo

Missed it

As I'm sure you noticed, we missed Manday yesterday.  Not to worry.  I bring you, Jake Gyllenhaal.  Yesterday's oscar post got me salivating over this cutie pie and I had to feature him so here he is in all his manly-ness.

He's one of those guys who epitomizes style in a suit...look how hot he is

Here he is on the set of his new movie 'Prince of Persia' not that I love that long hair but the body...that's another story

And in Jarhead:

He's one of those 'all american' lookin boys...in some shots he looks very baby faced and in others extremely manly.  I never really thought he was all that hot until he started dating Reese and we saw more and more of him.  Too bad they're splitsville.  Here's one two more for ya's.

Questions Anyone?

The lovely V at Veronika's Blushing is playing a bit of a fellow blogger tag game...

So, with her, I'll shall ask you all to ask me??
Do you have any questions for me...about anything at all? fashion, beauty, motherhood, wife-hood (?), home ownership, career, decorating and renovating....you ask it, I'll answer it.

I took the day off from work today and tomorrow.  I let the booger join me today and play 'hookey' from pre-school (I'm such a good influence) so we have tons of errands to run and chores to do.  Then tonight, yes I am packing my bags for a kick ass weekend in Atlantic City with some very special ladies.

Feliz Cumpleanos Joan - I love you

I'm in for a great weekend and hopefully I'll win big :)  Not sure if I'll have time to post tomorrow but if I do I'm sure it'll be all about packing and my skills lack thereof doing so.

So while I'm away...ask away and I'll answer upon return. 

C l u s t e r f r u c k

There are days when I log on to blogger and think "hmmm what shall I discuss today" then there are other days (today for example) that I log on and can't figure what it is that I'm going to discuss because I have SO much on my mind.  I'm a bit compulsive in the fact that if I blog it, then schedule it for another day I might not want to ever post it because I want it to come out right here, right now as I'm thinking it.  So this may be a   v  e  r  y   l o n g   post. 

First, I was greeted this morning with a rude, incompetent annoying man aka the service guy at my car dealership.  He's stupid and impossible.  The entire dealership sucks big you know what and I will never ever do business with them again - not to mention that I will spread the word like a plague so that no one I know will either.  Rant over.

I am one angry mama

Putting that nonsense by the way side,  I cannot say how FRICKIN EXCITED I AM....my bestie best best in the whole world is coming home to visit on Tuesday from her new temporary home in North Carolina; we're taking a trip to AC from Friday to Sunday and I took off work Thursday/Friday to cheeeel with her.  I can't wait, I haven't seen her since Christmas and miss her dearly; mind you we practically have been joined at the hip since we were 13 years old...this is a pictured scenario of what our weekend shall be like

Last night I took a pilates class and I must say it was AH-mazing...I've done pilates at home for about 4 or 5 weeks now and I certainly can see a difference in the toning and shape of my physique and it takes very little time to do so.  The thing with pilates is that its a TON of effort in a small amount of time, but that's allll me. I have limited time but am willing to work during my few moments.  I will continue the class regularly, no doubt.  And recommend any of you who want to shape and tone to take a class or pick up a video
(my fav is this one right here) which you can actually purchase, with the bands, for like $8!!!

I am definitely going to start focusing some of my posts of fitness, health & nutrition.  I have been very passionate about both of those issues for quite some time now and would like to share what I have learned and discovered.  I'm not saying I don't go off the deep end on a raging bing of chocolate of ice cream every once in a while, but for the most part I am dedicated and focused.  And bikini season is RIGHT around the corner ladies, believe it or not Memorial Day weekend is only 3 short months from Sunday..so we all need to get our arses in gear

And there's nothing like getting you motivated than seeing your favorite swimsuits in the flesh, literally.  I am a fan of the cut out one pieces because while sometimes I do have the balls to wear a 2 piece in the glory of my post baby :::cringe::: body I do prefer the one piece more and am very glad they made a stellar comeback more recently.  I'm definitely getting these 2 suits for summer.  Although hubbs will more than likely get rid of me if I buy one more bathingsuit (I must have at least 30)

Ruffle One Piece - Victoria's Secret  ................................ Plunge Neck One Piece - American Apparel

Which do you prefer...one piece cut outs, tankini, bikini, retro? what strikes your fancy?

Now that I've gone off on 3 separate tangents...let me regress back to the HFN (my new ackronym for health, fitness & nutrition)...I am doing well on my new, no-meat diet.  I actually feel really really great and I encourage any of you to try it out and see if you like it too.  I, personally, was encouraged by my dear friend Kori (who also doubled as my wedding planner at the time) who is now a vegan.  She briefed me on the industry standards for meat production which grossed me out terribly and told me to read the book "Skinny Bitch" which I ordered from Amazon yesterday.  So we'll see how that book goes. 

Separately, I must say that I have a much better appreciation of what goes into my body now in my 'older years' than I did when I was in my teen years and very early 20's.  I used to scarf down anything I could get my grubby little hands on and refused to basically eat any fish (besides shellfish), never ate beans or legumes of any kind and the only veggies I ever ate were the ones you could smother in ranch dressing; otherwise it was a no-go for me.  Now, I cannot get enough of raw (and cooked) vegetables, fish of every kind, beans, raw nuts, wheats and grains and steer clear of most things that are processed. I try not to eat anything that comes individually wrapped because 9 times out of 10 its probably not good for you. I've found that food tastes so much better when its fresh - from fish to vegetables and everything in between.  I also think that vegetables are one of those food items that you can mix a hodge podge of any of 'em and they taste incredible.

I'm really going on and on now so I will stop.  Comments, anyone?

Holy Bejesus Whirlwind

10:31am and already a shit storm of stuff going on today! Well I didn't get up for the gym this morning folks...and not because I'm lazy but because it was rainy and snowy and since I don't have class tonight I decided I'm going to take a 6pm pilates class tonight instead :::Jaime you know you want to come with me::: I do mediocre pilates at home and while I'm certainly no expert I'm not afraid to try a new class but having a little moral support helps in case I look like a total arse who doesn't know how to do it, I'll have company :)

That being said, on to my shit storm (and let me preface by saying none of it is really earth stoppingly exciting but more like "holy cow that's a lot of shit for 1 hour") -- so first my boss tells me that our next project is going to be opening up a burger and mexican joint - okay, I'm in - I don't eat meat anymore but I like me a good roasted vegetable fajita so that works for me.  Then my doll of a friend, Dana told me she started a blog today - YAYYY!!! Here's her masterpiece Then my other friend Jaime (same girl who will be joining me for pilates tonight, rigth Jaim?) told me she got a fabulous new job that pays well and has lots of opportunity so that's great news for her (and me, because now I'll make her buy the drinks when we go out)...my other friend told me she just did very well on an interview last week and quite possibly has the job (way to go Nic)...and last but not least I had one hell of a good breakfast this morning! So I've had a great 9am-10:30am day thus far, woot woot.

Speaking of that same breakfast -- let me share because it was heavenly.  It was this:

with a small handful of these:

and about 2 tablespoons of this:

Not even joking - it was a party in my mouth, tasted like a heavenly dessert.  And for less than 150 calories and repeat with me now, ZERO GRAMS OF FAT!!!! and repeat this part too FIFTEEN GRAMS OF PROTEIN.
I   a m   s o   s m a r t ,   s - m - r - t

I am going to post later with some shopping, product reviews and other F&B lovin but just wanted to say hi real quick

Manday

I cannot pass up Manday's...ever, no matter how busy I may be.

Today's feature is the yummy Mr. Reggie Bush.  For those of you who live on another planet may not know him Mr. Bush is the New Orleans Saints Running Back who helped lead the team to their first ever Super Bowl victory just a  few weeks ago...He's got that very adorable baby face and his body, well that part is obvious.  So Happy Manday followers you're welcome.

It was very difficult to find pictures of him sans KK

Catchin up!

Yes followers, today is Manday...and men shall come (later)...but I couldn't post Fri-Sun because I was supa busy so I'm going to try and do a catch all post first.

Gym has been going great for me, I've managed to get my lazy arse out of bed each and every day between 5:30-5:45am and jog to the gym. I was planning on going to a 6:45am yoga class Saturday but my stupid BB alarm was set to weekdays only by mistake so I never woke up in time! Anywho, the whole shabazz has made me feel so much better and I can already see a difference (or maybe its wishful thinking).  On top of that, I have also decided to give up meat.  Its a choice I made not because I'm a huge PETA follower or anything of that nature but just because I think what is done to meat, between how it is processed and the massive amounts of un-natural substances that go into the animals is just wretched.  Now, I've never really been a huge red meat fan but always had my hands on chicken and turkey so giving those 2 up will definitely be a challenge.  Although I have decided to keep eating fish because I can't really figure out how I'd accumulate the appropriate amount of protein needed daily without it.  That being said, I'm about 6 days strong so far and I can honestly say I do feel a bit different...I don't feel bloated or over fed, ever - even if I eat a HUGE plate of veggies I still just feel satisfied at the end; whereas, when I was eating meat I felt like I could binge for days on plates of food.  So we'll see how it goes, I'm going to test the waters for about 30 days and if I see an improvement in anything - my physique, my health, etc. I will stick with it.  If I don't see any difference I will probably take chicken and turkey back and just kill off red meat for good.  I must say, though, we always buy organic chicken so that makes a huge difference.

Thursday night I had a fun shopping trip after work with my friend Jaime...she's one of those people you love to shop with because she never tries to be the 'voice of reason' she proudly cheers on your every purchase and willingly justifies, along with you, why you have to have the item you're looking at! Great shopping partner, check - Great person to help you keep on your budget, check  I picked up a couple very cute cardigans on Old Navy's clearance rack - ALL their winter stuff is on clearance for next to nothing, because they already have out all sandals, maxi dresses, capris, etc.  I couldn't really bring myself to buy Spring items yet because I have a hard time letting things just sit in my closet.  I also picked up a few more pairs of Vicky's new lacie's - which are the BEST underwear I've ever bought, hands down.  :::update...dog ate on pair on Sunday::: and a very cute Chanel-ish scarf from H&M along with a black vest (which I have to exchange because its just a smidgen too small)

Friday we headed out for a fundraiser spaghetti dinner for my son's school.  I ate a stupid amount of dessert.  Oh well.

Saturday night, the hubbs and I got all purdy and headed out to a benefit dinner for my boss' foundation that I manage for him.  It was a very rewarding night for many organizations in my local community and I am proud to say I put a huge effort towards the fundraising efforts throughout the year, so to be "rewarded" with a nice dinner and cocktail party is great! I met a lot of really great people from my area who devote their lives to helping others.  it really takes a special person to do what a lot of those people do every day - putting their own lives aside for the good of others...I respect people like that a great deal and certainly try to do my part.  I can't really afford to do a lot of monetary donating so I try to spend as much actual time as possible lending a hand.
...oh and I finally had a place where I could wear my Manolo's - there's never anything fancy enough or worthwhile to break them out but I did at the dinner - and pretty much got a compliment from every single person so that was a plus :)

And then there's Sunday.  Besides the fact that I was violently ill all morning (because like I mentioned in a previous post...I just can't hang like I used to) I put my big girl panties on and tried my best to suck it up (which I did) and shoved out for a mini-mini baby shower for my dear friend Dana who's little lovely is set to pop out pretty soon! Can't wait :) Love little babies...especially girls.  Her clothes are to die for, she's going to be one well dressed infant!

Last but certainly not least at all....Sunday was the grand opening of the Shop Rite in my town.  Woot woot, I know what you're thinking - who gives a flying beeeeeep.  Well my dears, I DO!!! My boss is a big developer in my area and he owns the land that this particular shop rite was being built on (landlord-tenant) and it has been my job for the last 3.5 years to aid with the municipal, county and state governmental approvals to allow this massive grocery store to be operational.  We hit many snags along the way - being sued by a local competitor several times which cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars and many months of stop work orders so to see the doors finally open today was just AWESOME!!! And believe you me, that place was a freaking zoo yesterday I mean, you'd think these people hadn't been to a grocery store for 30 years the way they were consistently piling in for hours upon hours! It really is a very joyous time for my professional life

So I had a very eventful weekend.  Did you catch Keeping up with the Kardashians last night? or this past Monday which was part 1 of 2 of the seson finale?? I freaking love them and the show just keeps getting better and better. On last nights show Kourtney gave birth to her adorable little boy, Mason. (he was actually born back in December) "watching" her birth was just amazing - she was so calm and collected it was just unbelievable - her doctor even let her PULL HER OWN BABY OUT!!! it was so crazy I've never seen/heard anyone do that before, must have been such a surreal experience for her!  Oh and um, God - yeah Hi, its me Kristen...when I get pregnant again - can you please ensure that I look like this...thanks babe

For now, that's all

Weekend Wonders

Just wanted to wish all of my lovely followers a Happy Valentine's Day...For me, there will be no frilly fancy dancy boxes filled with jewels or chocolates because my friends, I am renovating our bathroom.  Well I'm not, per se, but hubbs is and anything he does I in turn also get credit for :)  So this year we're skippin Vday bullshicky gifts (we went to Melting Pot last weekend instead) Because folks, even with our teeny tiny lavatory it will still be costing us a pretty penny to do the entire renovation; so while we have some extra funds we're going to tackle the shower first.  A tub to shower conversion equipped with tiled walls, tiled floor and new shower head - ooh and those very cute little glass tiled cubby holes too! I cannot wait to see the transformation because our current bathroom is equipped with wretched (fake) wall tiles with fugly little flowers on 'em as well as faux wood peel and stick vinyl tiles, YUCK: I know!

Enough with the construction talk, here are a few Vday options I would go with.  I personally don't care for the color red all that much but an otherwise plain outfit (a la LBD) coupled with a killer red heel (or those fab little heels with the red bottoms) - yes I am in!!!. 

Untitled by justinsmami featuring Black Halo dresses

Shop it To Me

So if you're smart, you get sale mail alerts from Shop it To Me and because I am sooooo nice, I'm going to link you to their site --> HERE.  Shop it to me, in my opinion, is better than most sites similar because the alerts are completely customized by you.  You can set it up so that it's tailored to your likings by brand and size as well as how often you want them to alert you - daily, weekly, etc.

Today, I'm drooling over this item from NY&Co. for 2 reasons: 1) Oh-so-spring-y that it gives me hope that there will be warmer days and 2) hello? check the price

Comes in this print as well as a monochromatic flavor and can be purchased HERE for a *wait for it* measley $23.47!!!

AND there is a very similar dress for the same price that comes in a multitude of solid colors!

In other fabulous fashion news, I noted a promo code for Forever 21, because you know - there stuff isn't already dirt cheap why not take an additional 10% off using the code "ILOVEF21"...my closet told me this morning that it wanted to embrace the love of these items in celebration of the 10% off...I am in desperate need of nude pumps, for some silly reason I do not own a pair.  White, yes. Winter, white 2 of 'em. Tan and every variation of beige, yes. Nude...big fat NADA

Untitled by justinsmami featuring Forever21

Items in this set:
Galactic Knit Dress, $23
tops, Forever21.com - Sweaters - 2071253547, $23
Forever21.com - Sequined Bow Racerback, $23
Bell Sleeve Trench, $33
Urban Studded Bootie, $27

*Dare to Wear *

Woot Woot, It's Friday





And Friday's, my lovely followers, will now be home to a little special I'm calling "Dare to Wear" ...You ever see someone rockin something that is so stylish or appealing and think to youself "I want that" but really you're not that ballsy to wear it? Maybe not, but that happens to moi, all the time.  So each and every Friday I'm going to showcase a piece or two or ten that I 'dare to wear'

And first up for grabs is Rompers!! They are ridiculously cute and I know many gals who wear them, I just feel like every time I try one on I look retarted, maybe its because I'm pear shaped or because the ones I've tried just don't fit right...who knows? I feel like petite chicks can pull this look off fabulously (eh hem, check out Chloe @ Chloe's Conspircy)...I also think that if you're going to wear a romper that is shorts rather than pants, you need to stick with a heel or wedge of some sort to avoid a stubby leg look? Unless of course you have gams like C. Diaz then that wouldn't be an issue

Either way, I will dare to wear a Romper in the very, very near future! Here are my throwdowns, one for casual (equipped with basic, neutral makeup and simple shoes) and another for a night out with the ladies (equipped with a nude lip but very daring lashes and killer heels)

Dare to Wear by justinsmami featuring Forever21

Items in this set:
dress, Forever21.com - Boutique Resort, $20
Stud Belt Tube Romper, $26
Pierre Dumas Flowers-1, $49
Cross Strap Bootie, $27
Anna Expandable Shoulder Bag, $35

And I came across this little lovely from Anthropologie...but what made it stand out to me was the fact that they say "its on sale" and scratch out the old price $100.00 but uh, the sale price $99.95 - so way to go Anthro you knocked off 5 cents? Hunny, that's not a sale :( 

What do YOU dare to wear? Let me know, I'd love to feature it - Do you rock rompers or want to? Got any tips for foolproofing the look?