Friday Flower - Beautiful Arrangement from Husband

I had such a sweet surprise from my husband this week.....an amazing flower arrangement from my favorite florist, From Roehm With Love.  The store is like an enchanted forest.  Joseph, the owner really has an amazing talent.  Should you live in the S. Florida area this really is the only florist to use.  The compliments are always flowing when you get an arrangement From Rhoem With Love. 

Photos taken with I-phone, so not the best quality

Friday Flower

I love Hydrangeas.  They make for such a wonderful flower in a vase.  And to have just hydrangeas in the vase to me is so beautifully simple.

Sorry for the delay and I have a purse addiction

Wow, it has been a long time since my last post.  I have been thinking about this blog a lot and how I really did enjoy posting to it.  I know I have said this before, but I am really impressed with the blogs that I do follow and how on top of their posts they are.  I guess that it why they have so many followers.  You need to keep the audience wanting more.  And by posting everyday or several times a week you get them coming back.  Something I am going to work towards.

What started this blog was reading another blog......Diary of a Domestic Failure .  In one of her posts she talked about a handbag that she had been loving for years.  I too had loved the bag.  It was the Gucci Horsebit Hobo.   As much as I loved this bag I knew I would never have it.  I can not justify spending that kind of money on a bag.  Although I would not be against receving the bag as a gift.  Well in her post she found a great alternative to this bag:

The Equestrian

Meet the Equestrian by Cape Cod Leather.  The bag has been seen on several celebrities.  So of course that even ups the desire for me.  I admit that when I see something trendy in a magazine I am all about trying to see if it is affordable.  Well in my opinion I think this bag is a good value.  The bag is $195 online plus shipping.  Compared to what the Gucci one was going for this is a bargain!  I know some people would think that I am crazy to spend that kind of money on a hand bag.  But if it is something that makes me smile why is it such a bad thing.  Plus, I love all my handbags and they know it.  I rotate them out every few weeks.  And I have them for years.  So the investment is really for the long haul.







 So my problem...aka addition...I don't need a new handbag.  I mean I just got a very lovely hand bag several months ago, you may recall Pippa from a previous post.  She is great and I have really been enjoying using her. 
I have a Birthday coming up, so I am going to try and control my urge for now and maybe add this to my birthday list.  

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf

Check Out This Blog

I love following other blogs.  There is a great called Egyptomanaic The Shopping Maniac.  She shows great posts on the outfits that she wears and where the products came from. 
She is currently having a giveaway with a great scarf and bracelet ~ Check it out!

Gathered V-Neck Jersey Dress - Garnet Hill

Gathered V-Neck Jersey Dress - Garnet Hill (clipped to polyvore.com)

Mini Vaca - Jupiter Beach Resort

So last weekend we went on a mini vaca up to the Jupiter Beach Resort with some friends.  The husband and I have been in a get healthy mode for the past several months so this was going to be a nice break.  The resort is only about 45 minutes north of us but it is such a different vibe up there.   So much more laid back.  Which I really appreciate.
They were offering a package called Road Trip.  The room rate was decent and the package included a $25 gas gift card and 20% off everything at the resort.  Which we used for beach chairs and breakfast.

The first order of business once we got up there was to eat.  But due to only being 45 minutes away it was really to early to eat.  So we took a little detour and headed over to the Jupiter Lighthouse.  We toured the museum while we waited for our guided tour up to the lighthouse.  The funniest part of this experience was our guide. He was probably 16 or 17 with a fuzz of a mustache.  As he was describing some of the plants that we passed by he described them as erotic with out a blink of the eye  instead of exotic.  Alot of the people in our group caught this.   So for the rest of the tour we made everything erotic.

look at the erotic lighthouse

Next up was lunch.  This was very exciting to us due to the yumminess we were about to experience.  We went to a place call Food Shack.   The food is so amazing.  They have these wonderful ways of preparing  fish.  It really is something to try if you are ever in the area.  I had dolphin that was encrusted with angel hair pasta and parmesan cheese on a bed of lettuce.  SO GOOD!

After lunch we checked into the hotel.  We had a great ocean view room.  We all put on our bathing suits and sunscreen and headed down to the beach/pool.  This is what I was really excited about.  To lay outside with my magazine and just hang out.  It was perfect!  The weather was so nice and the company was great.  After hanging outside we all went up for naps and then got ready for dinner.  We went to another great place called Guanabanas.  The atmosphere is fun.  It is all outside and the landscaping is amazing. 

It was such a nice break from the everyday.  It really was a great mini vaca with great food and friends! 

Here are a few more photos:

view from the beach chair

view from our room balcony

view of the pool from our room



Lilly Pulitzer - Organizers

I am excited to make the change over to this organizer.  It runs from August of 2011 to December of 2012.  It has such a cute set up.  The quotes for each month are sweet.  This is the small size so it fits very nicely in my purse. 

OOTD

This is the sweater that I got from Old Navy a couple of weekends ago.  I was worried that it might still be to hot to wear.  But it was perfect.  For the fall a long sleeve shirt under it is going to be great!

Pippa Bag

 

 

I had such a wonderful surprise.  I had ordered this back in June as a pre-order for November.   I got the notice in the mail yesterday that it was waiting for me at the post office.  My sweet husband went to pick it up for me this AM as I am out the door before the post office opens.

I am a sucker for seeing celebrities with purses.  I don't know why I have such a love for pricey bags?  I can wear ten dollar shoes and twenty dollar jeans.  But my bags - that is whole other level!

The "Pippa" came onto the scene with Pippa Middleton.  She has been spotted with all the colors.  I  really like the burnt orange color but thought the shark color was something that I did not have. And I do have an orange bag.  And if I was going to make the purchase it should be something completely different.

Know this purse was a bit of a gamble.  Especially with overseas shipping.  Another blogger had done a great review of her purchase with a video.  This is what really sold it for me.  Also love her blog!

Pippa Vlog Review by Sparrows&Sparkle

 

 

Mini Vaca

We are going on a mini vaca.  When I say mini, the hotel is about forty minutes away, we are going up Saturday and coming back Sunday.  So quick trip.  But sure to be a fun one.  Will post about it - stay tuned!

Garnet Hill

I really love Garnet Hill.  My issue with ordering from them is they never have free shipping.  I had been eyeing this cardigan for a while.  I love the orange background and all the colors from the flowers.  Well, of course they had to offer free shipping on sweaters.  So I decided this was my only chance.  I am excited to see it in real life.  Or as I have learned in blog world - IRL.

Old Navy Finds

I have been really impressed with Old Navy lately.  They had a 30% off coupon that you could print on line if you Like them on Facebook.  I know this is Fall stuff and living in S. Fla it will be a while before I will be able to wear these cute items.  But they were all on sale plus the 30%.  I think all in I was around $32 plus tax.  I am really excited about the scarf.  The picture does no show all the great colors that are in the design.  It will work great with brown and black.

Now we wait! 

Baller on a Budget: Facial Cleanser

I am a sucker for beauty products. My most recent purchase was the Olay Pro-X Advancing Cleansing System.  I have looked at the comparable product by Clarisonic.    The olay products retails for $30 and the Clairisonic is $149 - $195.  Big difference for this baller on a budget.  I found the Olay product at Target.  I have been using it for about two weeks and have noticed that my skin is softer and not as flaky.

Here is the Clarisonic summary:

The Sonic Skin Cleansing System uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth skin. In just 60 seconds, the brush gently, yet thoroughly removes 6X more makeup and 2X more dirt and oil than manual cleansing alone. Removing these impurities has been shown to allow a 61% better absorption of Vitamin C, and better prepares skin for other products.



Here is the Olay Pro-X summary:

Is it time to rethink your daily cleansing routine? Designed by a team of dermatologists along with Olay, the Advanced Cleansing System is as effective as a system sold by skin professionals for nearly $200.* Professionally and clinically designed to cleanse 6 times better**, the Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System also sets your skin up for supersonic anti-aging moisturization.†

Both products have really good reviews.  The one thing I did notice about the Clarisonic is that it charges on a base where the Olay requires batteries.   So you might be changing the batteries a little more with the Olay product.  They both have their own line of cleansers to use with the brush.  I have used what came with the Olay product and then my own cleanser as well.   I am happy with the purchase. 


Publix Cooking School

Thursday night I went to a Publix Apron's Cooking School.   The chef for the evening was Kevin Gillespie from Top Chef season six.  Now in all honesty I don't and haven't watched the show, but the friends I went with do and he was one of their favorites.  Chef Gillespie is based in Atlanta and is co-owner and executive chef of Woodfire Grill.  Attending one of these classes involves watching the chef cook the dish while he explains what he is doing, often times imparting tips of the trade you would not otherwise read about.  After demonstrating how to prepare each dish,  you and your table are then served the dish and are given a reasonable time to enjoy and discuss amongst yourselves.  How great is that!  Also with each course you get a wine pairing... bottoms up.

First Course: Sliced Tomato on Cornbread pancake with bacon basil mayonnaise:
Oh my lord the mayo was AMAZING!  This was such a good flavor combo.  The only thing I would have liked a little more of was tomato.  I felt like another slice would have been good or even chopped up tomatoes mixed in with the mayo and then poured over the pancake.   The little cooking tip on this was to sprinkle your tomatoes with salt and pepper first, let it sit for an hour or more so the water can be pulled out of the tomato and then drained back in to really let the flavor be spread out.

Second Course:  Sweet corn roasted in the Husk with Lime, Japapeno and Cotija Cheese with a Mojo Marinated and Glazed Grilled Pork Steak. 

The Pork Steak had really nice flavor but was a tough piece of meat.  Kevin did talk about how this is an under utilized piece of meat.  It does really need to marinate with a citrus marinade for a while so it can break down the muscle.  It did have really nice flavor.  But only having a regular knife to work with did make this hard.  The corn with the Cotija Cheese was really good!   The tip for the corn was to leave the husk on remove the silk and pull the husk back over.  Let this soak in water for 24 hours.  And then you put the corn on the grill with the husk wrapped around you are steaming the corn without the husk catching fire.

Course Three:  Grilled Pineapple Cobbler
This was soooo good and looked so easy to make.  Once he had all the ingredients together and was pouring them it into the dish he sprinkled raw sugar on top and it gave the cobbler this creme brulle crust.   I am bummed that I forgot to take a picture of this.  By the time I had realized I had already eaten the whole thing.  They did pair it with vanilla ice cream.  A great summer desert.

If you are close to one of these Publix Apron's Cooking Schools  it is really a lot of fun and a great value.   And you get copies of all the recipes that are being cooked for that class.

Couponing: Extreme or Lifestyle

So I am sure you have seen or heard about the show Extreme Couponing on TLC.  The first time I saw it I was in amazement as I am sure most people were.  I wanted to do this.  I wanted all my groceries for $10 and an amazing stock pile of toilet paper and cereal.   My husband was watching the show with me knowing that I would now need to coupon.  I love a good deal and have always felt that I was a pretty good shopper.  I always look for the sale and rarely buy full retail.   This type of savings would be great!  So I started with the Sunday paper. I needed those coupon inserts.  I looked through them and took out what we would use.   I also noticed that on Tuesday in the mail came more coupons.  Once again I took out what I thought we would use.
As you may know from the show this is serious business.  The people on the show have a serious collection of coupons and know their stores very well.  They must have some connection with the amount of coupons they are able to collect because that is ridiculous.    As you may have also noticed with the extreme couponing, it is a full time job:  the cutting of the coupons, knowing what coupons they have,  figuring the sales with each store, the preparation of the lists,  the strategy that comes into play with these big shops.  More power to them.  The time they put into this does pay off with the savings.  Some purchases though are really just silly, I mean one lady bought 80 something jars of mustard.  Really, would one family ever go through that much mustard in their lifetime.   They sure must like to BBQ with mustard.   My point is that I knew pretty quickly that I was not going to be an extreme couponer. 
I wanted to understand this coupon thing a little more.  I found a few sites that help with navigating though this world. One that I really like was Kitty Coupon Diva.  She offers videos to understand how she coupons, breaks down the sales for different stores that week and also links up to printable coupons.   And if you sign up she will send out notices when stores are having their weekly sales.   After reading though her site I knew I would be more of a life style coupner.  
My next step was to find a way to organize my coupons.  I found a coupon file index at Target.  This was the way to go for me.  I did not need a binder, just something small and compact that I could easily go through to understand what I had.



I have been couponing for about two months.  I have found that you must be really prepared when you coupon.  Some days I don't even think about a coupon.  Especially if I am just running in to grab a few things.  Other days I go though my coupons, know what I need and organize myself so that I am using my coupons wisely.  This past Sunday I did my Target run and saved $25.96 in coupons.  I was really proud of myself.  I am happy with my choice to be a life styler in the coupon world.   

Thursday

 

Tuesday OOTD

 

OOTD

 

Rainy Saturday