New Years Resolutions

1. Travel.

2. Save more.

3. Calm down! Then react.

4. Find inner peace.

5. Make sure my loved ones know how important they are to me.

6. Cook more & eat healthy. Learn how to deal with IC.

7. Make this blog everything I want it to be!

8. Find my own success.

9. Figure out what I want for future me.

10. Bring happiness with me everywhere I go.

These are my resolutions for 2013. I don't think I've ever even made any, but this year, I feel it. This is my year. These are huge, I know. And also very personal, so excuse the lack of explanation. I don't know if I'll accomplish all of these, or even one, but I'm gonna try my damnedest.

Happy New Year everybody. What are your resolutions?

Christmas Day Outfit

coat: pinkbasis.com

dress: gift from friend

tights: Kroger
booties: Kohl's (similar) (similar)

bag: Charming Charlie

necklace: gift from Italy

Sorry for the crazy lighting and the crooked pictures. Blame Henry! This is what I wore to our Christmas Day festivities. It was cold, cloudy, and just miserable outside but we managed to snap these before we left to go to my grandma's.

I kept it really simple. Just an embellished dress that you've seen before and black everything else. My bag is one of my Christmas presents and since I loved it so much, I decided to use it the same day. I think it went really well with the outfit. The gold in the dress was perfect with the gold on the bag. I've been wanting a fold over bag for a long time now. And you can really see my new haircut in these!

Things I Love Thursday

There's not as many things this week due to the holiday but I hope you enjoy!

Clever embroidery like this gets me every time.

I'm going to write this in someone's birthday card.

These leggings were patterned by hand with a bleach pen. DIY, anyone?

No one can disprove this.

My Christmas morning sweatshirt!

(original post)

Henry and I made cookies for our friends.

Todd and his friend Harley.

Because I can't stop:

nasty gal velvet dress | nasty gal blanket coat | globe necklace | skull ring

And:

Christmas, of course | Todd's new name tag | All of my Christmas presents! | Spending time with people I love | Watching people open gifts I gave them | Leftover homemade goodies | Peace, love and happiness for my family and friends | The world not ending | The roads being safe after the first snow of the year last night!

P.s.

I might do a Christmas haul vlog. Not to brag, just if you want to see. Comment and let me know! 

What are you loving this week?!

What Christmas Looks Like For Me

This is what Christmas looks like at my mom's house. She's so festive and decorates everything to perfection. Then spoils us! Christmas is my favorite.

Mom's fancy Christmas setting

My brother and Todd

Look what Santa brought!

After I opened all of my presents

(Check out Todd being nosy)

Best sweatshirt. Ever.

I hope you all had a great Christmas.

What did Santa bring you?!

Merry Christmas!

This is our Christmas card!

And the bloopers...

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

First Christmas of the Year

velvet dress: thrifted
tee: thrifted
tights: Target
flats: Payless

How many trends can you wear at a time? I think I won.

This dress is one of my favorites and I'm so excited that I finally got to wear it. My dad's side of the family all got together last night for food, family and Christmas Bingo. I won those flexible hangers you see on tv, haha! We took these when we got home, so that's why my hair looks a little crazy in the first one. We didn't walk in the door until almost 2am! On a positive note, I cut my hair Friday and everyone loves it, including me. Maybe I'll get some better pictures of it soon!

Hope you're all having a good weekend :)

Winterlicious Tag!

I've been seeing this Youtube tag video all over, lately and I thought it'd be fun to do it here on LLB. But since this is a blog, why not blog it, instead of vlog it. (Ha!) Oh and I tag all of you!

1. What's your favorite winter nail polish?

This Essie polish has been my favorite lately. I'm wearing it on my toes as we speak! (Err.. you know.) It's an army green color, hence the name Armed and Ready. And it's got the tiniest gold fleck to it. It's really pretty, and actually, really on trend.

2. Favorite winter lip product?

This may be a boring choice but Aquaphor has saved me this winter. I have really badly cracked lips normally but this stuff has made them so much better and really soft!

If I had to pick an actual lipstick/gloss though, it would definitely be my new Wet n' Wild lipstick in Plum Fairy. I'm loving dark, vampy lips (just like everyone else)!

3.  Most worn winter clothing piece?

(original post)

(top left to bottom right: 1, 2, 3, 4)

My boots! If you've been reading my blog for longer than a week or so, you know that I wear these babies to death. They're so comfy and such a perfect color, I just can't say no.

4. Most worn winter accessory?

(original post)

The ring in this picture. I think it's the first or second time it's made it into an outfit post, but I wear this ring, and my others, like nobody's business, in the colder months. I think rings are much more a winter staple for me than bracelets or necklaces because I don't like to wear bracelets with long sleeves much and necklaces get in the way when you're wearing scarves. I opt for rings so that I can still wear jewelry!

5. Favorite winter scent/candle?

This one was hard because I stick to one or two perfumes and I really only like sweet/fruity candles. I don't like pine or cinnamon candles. Plus, the most recent candle I bought was lemongrass & eucalyptus (aka heaven). BUT I was recently in Yankee Candle and I smelled their new Cherries on Snow one and YUM! I want 50, please.

6. Favorite winter beverage?

Dark hot chocolate! Any brand really. Because of my IC, I can't have milk chocolate so my go to is dark and so far, it hasn't bothered me. Yay! Has anyone tried white hot chocolate? I heard its divine.

7. All time favorite Christmas movie?

This is a tie between Nightmare Before Christmas and Elf. They don't need explanation.

8. Favorite Christmas song?

Santa Baby - Kylie Minogue

Also found on my girl power Christmas playlist!

9. Favorite holiday food/treat?

I don't have a picture for this but my grandma makes AMAZING meatballs at our annual Christmas party (the Saturday before Christmas). That's today!

10. What's your favorite Christmas decoration this year?

I know it's small but our tree is my favorite. We have all my childhood ornaments and some new ones my mom bought us and I just couldn't be happier with it. It's the perfect little tree for our apartment.

11. What's at the top of your Christmas list?

A new flat iron. Specifically a Chi or GHD. I don't know if you guys think either one is better, but I've used both and they both are great. It's the only thing I've pushed for because mine sucks.

12. What are your plans for the holidays this year?

Well today, is my first Christmas of the season. We always go to my dad's mom's, and eat and eat and eat and then play cards and Christmas Bingo. People I never get to see are there so it's a fun time, all around. Christmas Eve we always exchange presents with my mom's mom and my uncle and his family but this year they can't make it so it's just me, my brother, my mom, my grandma and Henry. And that's perfectly fine! Then Christmas morning, Max and I will be waking everyone else up in the house to open presents under the tree (Mom still waits til we're asleep and writes "From Santa on them") and Grandma will come over for breakfast. Later that day, we'll see my dad and that grandma (his mom) again! Whew!

I hope you all do this tag! Let me know if you do.
All pictures are linked to their original source.

Things I Love Thursday

1. Not getting stranded in a broke down car, at 3am.
2. Not being up for almost 24 hours.
3. Not being sick beyond belief. (again..)
4. Being warm.
5. Sleeping all day..

N*sync on Pink

dress: thrifted
belt: borrowed from another dress
tights: target
boots: pinkbasis.com
evil eye bracelet: gift from family (from Greece)
silver ring: H&M
bag: gift from friend (from Thailand) (similar)

I mean, obviously the star of this outfit is Lance Bass. The pin that is. I was always more of an N*sync kinda girl rather than a Backstreet Boys fan. Moving on, can we address my belt for a second? I swear it fit me before we took these shots. It's not in the right place in these! Imagine it right under the bust, if you will. But focusing on the positive, how amazing is my bag!? My friend, Sarah, got it for me when she visited Thailand last year and I've used it probably more than any other bag I own. That is until just recently, when I got that brown hobo bag that you've seen over and over.

Oh! And you might recognize the tights from my Black Friday haul. They're perfectly opaque, in case you were wondering. I officially love Target tights.

We shot these as we were running out the door to finish our Christmas shopping. Yes, we're done! I think a dress, tights and (my ever-returning) boots, is the best outfit for a day of shopping and running from place to place. It wasn't even cold outside, which is why I'm sans jacket. December is shaping up to be the weirdest month for weather this year. I did end up putting on a hoodie under my denim jacket when it got darker/colder, but even that is not typical for December. Strange.

Vintage and Secondhand

Ugh. Freckles.

scarf: vintage
rain jacket: garage sale
top: gifted from a friend
purple pants: thrifted
boots: Sonoma via Kohl's (similar)

This scarf may be the only vintage thing that I own. I got it in Dallas from some obscure vintage shop and have loved it since I pulled it out, from under a pile of junk. It's so silky and different. And the colors of it aren't like anything else I own. I'm not the first owner of anything in this outfit (except the boots), unintentionally, but I think it all came together pretty well. It's hard for me to put together outfits when it's miserable & rainy. Good thing we stayed inside all day and made/decorated Christmas cookies!

Gift Guide

Buy Dogeared Original Karma Necklace, 18", Gold & More | Beauty.com / Astrology Shimmer Disc Necklace - Necklaces - Jewelry | gorjana &... / Wire wrapped pendant rose rutilated quartz by BagatelleDesigns / Three Tone Beaded Bracelet / Silver Love Signature Bracelet

I know you've seen a million (and then some) gift guides as of late and honestly, I wasn't going to do one. I'm sick of them myself! I'm the kind of gifter that buys personal things. Things specific to that person. But I've had issues this year for a few people and mainly because they have freakin everything!

Don't you hate when someone wants something, they buy it and then end up with everything? Then you have nothing to get them! So this is my go-to. Jewelry! No woman can ever have enough jewelry.

These are some of my favorite pieces I've seen lately and I wouldn't mind having any of them, if I'm totally honest. And they're all pretty inexpensive. I think each piece fits a certain type of woman, and I hope that maybe if you're struggling, this helps you out!

Get gifting!

Apologies for the Hiatus!

I am the worst blogger. I will not make excuses, only say that the IC almost killed me Friday, and Saturday & Sunday we literally didn't stop running. We weren't even home Saturday except to sleep. But we're finally finished with Christmas shopping! Hooray!

But to make up for the small hiatus, here is the amazing photoshoot I promised from last Saturday. Well, my favorite pictures anyway!

You might've noticed that last one as the one I've been using on my page. I just love it. Josh is so awesome! If you wanna see more of his work, or the rest of these pictures, check out his facebook.