Forever 21 Haul, OOTD & Ann Taylor

For those of you who don't know, the rodeo is in town right now. We were lucky enough to have a friend score us some tickets into his company's tent for the Saturday night cook-off so we headed over to the rodeo for some good ol' country music and food.

By the time we got there, food was limited, so I had about 5 bites of sausage and a dinner roll. I thought to myself, awesome less calories.

Except a couple of hours later, I stated to feel funny. Nauseous, stomach pains etc. I tried to brush it off because it came and went. We stayed until the end of the cook-off at 11 p.m. and on the taxi ride home I was holding on for dear life praying I wouldn't pass out from the stomach pain.

Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I had some kind of food poisoning, because I ended up just feeling awful all night, but I'll spare you the details.

My husband knew what a tough night I had so he didn't complain once when I asked if we could go to Forever 21 the next morning (today) to do a little accessories shopping (I had a gift card I wanted to use.)

I ended up getting no accessories and a few clothing items, go figure. The last few times I visited Forever 21, I was left feeling quite unsatisfied. I thought a location change might help better my luck so we headed to the Forever 21located in the Pavilions downtown, which is Houston's flagship store.

Here is what I wore today:

Jeans- GAP's destroyed "always skinny"; Racerback tank- Forever 21; Sweater- White House Black Market; Necklace- Tiffany & Co "return to Tiffany" heart w/ Forever 21 key charm on it as well; Flats- Xhilaration at Target. I love the little buttons on the WHBM sweater on the front and sides. Such a cute detail.

One of my Forever 21 purchases was this cute off-white spring jacket, which I put on when I got home so I could take some pictures of it for this post:

I love cropped jackets and especially love the detailing on this one. It's lightweight and perfect for Houston's in-betweenish kind of weather right now.

I've been wanting to add a bit more navy blue to my wardrobe and this cute top fit the ticket:

It's got little hearts on it and a sweet front pocket. The back has a great cut-out too, that makes the top a little more fun and unexpected. It was $24.50 and I got a size medium.

This pretty tiered top caught my eye right away:

It's definitely a top you have to wear a strapless bra with, but that's OK with me. I love it. Perfect with jeans and a cool necklace, or tucked into a skirt with a cardigan over it for work.

It was $27.80 and I got a size medium.

When I saw the ruffle-sleeve top I bought a few weeks ago in off-white in this gorgeous pinky/peach color, I knew I had to have it. I don't oftentimes buy something in more than one color, but this top was too good to pass up:


It looks a lot brighter and peachier in real life. Love this top! My white one is a size small, but they didnt' have any left so I got this one in a medium. It was $15.80, I believe.

It's always hard for me to find a long black tank, so when I saw this super-long one for $12.00 with ruffle/netting detail at the neckline, you know I couldn't pass it up:

I like to wear longer tanks with my skinny jeans and this one is just perfect for that.

My final item, not from Forever 21 which I forgot to post a couple of weeks ago is this gorgeous soft pink blouse from Ann Taylor that I got on sale for $29.99 down from $78.00. I love the big fluffy flower-like detail at the chest area.

It is such a beautiful blouse. The pink is super soft and perfect for spring. I can't wait to wear this top!

Did you go shopping this weekend? Share your steals with me in the comments below!

xoxo,

Veronika.

beautiful hairstyle picyures

The best styling method for naturally curly, unruly, or thick hair might just be the carefree updo. This style is almost effortless and simplistic in its basic technique of randomly pinning up long tresses of hair. The hair can be curled or twisted and pinned randomly to create a stunning look that oozes beauty.

The Tiara Alternative

If tiaras are not in your future, even for your wedding day, hair vines can be the perfect option for a stylistic look. A few crystal hair vines carefully placed in your hair can set it apart for the stunning look that you are hoping to create. Less is actually better when it comes to hair ornamentation. Don‘t overdo it.

The Loose Braid

A loose braid is an excellent way to show off long tresses that vary in coloring. This long styling technique has been around for ages, but you can create a special and unique look with the hair ornamentation that you elect to use. In fact, each loosely joined braid can be adorned with an identical snippet of finery.

The Retro Look

In order to maximize on a retro look in a wedding hairstyle, you need long tresses of hair that can be thick, fine, or anything in between these. This style utilizes the half up and half down styling trend. A portion of the hair is swept back and up so that it follows the cheekbones and shape of the face. The remaining hair is left to hang down beneath the updo portion. For a truly retro look, use a wide headband to adorn your hair.

The Modern Birdcage

For something different, brides can wear the modern version of the birdcage, a classic twenties style head ornament. The modern wedding day version is crafted from a wide band of fabric that wraps around the forehead and brow of the bride. The bride‘s hair can be long, short, or medium length. Typically, the fabric is adorned with flowers off to one side.

The Chignon

Pulling your hair back and securing it up in a chignon opens up a few possibilities for ornamentation. Allowing a few locks to hang in the front will soften the severity of this look. You can use tiny tendrils, loose curls, or soft waves. Plus, hair jewelry makes a stunning appearance on this type of hairstyle. Try a glittering tiara at the top of the chignon or even higher up on your hair.

The Twisted Bun

The classic bun is definitely a nice hairstyle for a wedding. Adding a bit of a twist to it will add a fresh touch that is appreciated and admired. Place the bun low and in the traditional center or place it asymmetrically. The twist goes on both sides of the bun and throughout for a clever look. This style works well with medium or long hair lengths as well as short hair lengths and the implementation of an extension.

The Tease

This style is perhaps best with long tresses of curly or wavy hair. Tease your hair for fuller volume, allowing it to hang down. Use gorgeous hair clips to secure your hair at strategic locations that show off your facial features.

The Sweep

The sweep maximizes on volume and sweeps the hair off to the side or back, depending on the bride‘s tastes. Long, loose curls add a soft, romantic touch to this hairstyle. Hair jewelry can be used to secure the sweeps with a bit of sparkle and dazzle.

The Short Updo

For those brides with short locks, an updo is still a viable possibility. A few hair clips, bobby pins, or barrettes can be strategically placed to lift the hair up and back from the face. It‘s best to add a bit of volume to the roots of the hair first by applying some mousse and then blow drying the hair upside down.

The Unsettled Updo

As brides clamor more and more for something unique, hairstylists have come up with a variety of less–styled updos. Each time, the created look is somewhat different than the one before it. The updo is loose, unstructured, and randomly put together.

Lift It Up

Before any hairstyle, you can add a bit of lift and volume to your hair. Simply apply a bit of your favorite mousse to your towel–dried hair. Blow dry your hair upside down once the mousse is applied to lift your hair up at the roots.

beautiful models and hair style

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009 pictures

Hair experts and hair stylists never find it amazing when the customers come with secret catalogs of their favorite celebrity. Celebrity hairstyles provide the maximum inspiration to teens and young ones about new hairstyles. Fashion magazines frequently publish the photographs of super models and celebrity, which makes it easier for the fans to copy the latest celebrity hairstyles trends. Celebrity fashion magazines regularly come out with cover page and full center blow up page with Katie Homle’s bob, Kellie Pickler’s cool short haircut, and Carrie Ann’s long hairstyle.

Long hairstyles with blond color could be a great hairstyle for everyday glamorous look. It is simple and looks great. People always wonder about Katie Holmes and her cute bobs. However, it would come as a surprise if her most favorite bob disappears from the radar of celebrity hairstyles in 2009. Gossip columns, social parties, Internet chat rooms and websites are the best places to get current reviews on the celebrity hairstyles in 2009.

Celebrity hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009

celebrity hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity Hairstyles in 2009

Celebrity medium hairstyle in 2009

Contest Winner! Congratulations & Thank You to Everyone Who Entered

Good Morning Lovely Blog Readers!



I must admit I am extremely tired today because I was up until almost 4 a.m. which is absolutely unheard of for me because I am totally an "8 hours of sleep a night or I can't function" type of girl. We had a friend visiting from Dallas and ended up going to another friend's house to hang out and play Wii, etc. I had an awesome time but now I have a massive headache (and I drank water all night, not even one drink!)



But but but...I was SO excited about announcing my contest winner this morning, that it lifted my spirits! Yay for contests!



OK, so in the spirit of full disclosure, I'll tell you how I arrived at my winner. I used random.org to generate a number. There were a total of 127 comments, and of those, the random number generated was 79. So I started to count the comments and kept losing track of which comment I was on (no doubt the headache played a part in that) and my husband was like "why don't you just count from the bottom?" and I was like "because then it will end up the wrong number." But then he explained the math to me (because math is so not my forte) and I realized that 127 minus 79 was 48, which means less counting and a happier Veronika. So I counted from the bottom, and went up 48 comments to get to my 79th comment. I skipped past any deleted comments too, since those are not valid.







So...the lucky winner is...



....









.....









...... (OK OK I'll stop now)





lauraeck17!!!!!!!



This was the lovely comment she left:



"Hi Veronika, I love following your blog for great fashion and beauty tips. I am pretty sure now that I will be purchasing a Clarisonic now :) I would love to be entered in your contest."



Yay for Laura! Thank you for being a blog follower and congratulations on winning the "Big Hair, Big Lashes" contest! I will email you right now and you can send me your address so I can ship the prizes to you!



To everyone who entered: THANK YOU!!! I hope to have many more contests in the future, so there will always be more chances to win.



I am so honored to have each and every one of you as a reader! Thank you for all that you contribute to this blog.



xoxo,



Veronika.

The Shoes with the Bow & OOTD's

The shoes have arrived. I came home to a cute white and hot pink bag/box that contained the Paris Hilton shoes I had been anticipating for the last week.

They are adorable. The bows are a little crushed from shipping, but I'll fluff them back out with foam inserts.

OK so let me say this...the left shoe is a tad bit big and the right shoe fits but is very tight. They are the same size (no mess-ups.) I don't know if my right foot is swollen or just massively larger than my left, but I can walk in them and that's what counts, right? I got a size 10, my normal size.

I do love them. Here they are (please ignore my toes, they need a pedicure)




Pretty, huh? I'm excited for when it gets a bit warmer and I can wear them. I'm going to need to get an insert for the left one, because my heel slides out a bit when I walk.

As I uploaded the shoe pics, I had some OOTD photos I had forgotten about. Here are some from this week. Not super exciting, but hey, it's what I wore.

Top- Forever 21 silk blouse w/racerback; Cardigan- Express; Skirt- Express; Pearls- Charlotte Russe; Tights- Hue @ Macy's; Shoes- Jessica Simpson.

Top- BCBG; Cardigan- Express; Pants- Express; Shoes- Aldo.

Like I said, nothing too exciting, but we can't be exciting everyday, can we?

Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the time to write a nice comment or email to me lately. I read every email and every comment and I always appreciate you ladies sharing your thoughts with me, it really means a lot.

xoxo,

Veronika.

Amy's Cord Holders

We would like to introduce you to Amy. She helps out in the Art Studio when she is not busy with college, writing, photography, or looking up random facts on her iPod Touch. She got this project idea from one of her favorite blogs, Apartment Therapy. It is really simple and all you need are a few supplies you probably already have.


Yep, you guessed it. Those are toilet paper rolls.


She used Bridgeport's Pavilion paper for this one.


She used Bridgeport's Tennis Court paper for this one. No more excuses for ugly loose cords. Thanks, Amy!

TMI Thursday: How I Dented My Derriere

As I was flipping through the Restricted Section of my mental library this week and pondering which juicy tidbit I should share with you all on LiLu's TMI Thursday, I realized that many of my stories fall into three categories:

Crazy things I've done while drunk
Amusing vomit stories
Dirty, dirty sex tales

I've already talked about the first two, and I told a story about gettin' jiggy wit' it last week, so I need to mix it up today if I want to keep things fresh, am I right?

Today I will tell you a tale from my childhood, and you will like it, goddamn it.

Today's tale: In which I scar my ass for life.

I was maybe 6 years old, and it was summer in Vermont. My grandmother and her friend Lilah were visiting from New Jersey, and I was all juiced up on excitement and Freeze Pops. My father owned a furniture company, and for some reason he had rented a U-Haul for the day; I suppose his delivery truck was otherwise occupied. He and his workmen were loading heavy furniture up into the truck via a big wooden ramp.

For some reason that now escapes my logical adult mind, I saw the wooden ramp and decided it looked like a... GULP... slide. While the men were inside getting another helping of back pain I crawled up the ramp and yelled out to Grandma and Lilah, "Hey! Watch this!"



I sat my previously-unblemished six-year-old ass down on the wooden ramp and slid.

Does that not just make you CRINGE to your very CORE?! Good lord!

As the 4" long wooden splinter embedded itself firmly into my right butt cheek, I proceeded to scream like a banshee. My grandmother came running to my aid, but there was clearly not much to be done right then and there.

Thus it came to pass that two white-haired little old ladies in their late seventies each took hold of one of my arms and together hauled a screaming, crying child half a mile down the street to our house.

Once at the house, my mother sent me to lie face down on her bed and arrived moments later armed with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pair of tweezers. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, closing her eyes for just a moment, before saying words that I'll never forget, "Well, Pookus (shut up), this is gonna hurt."

She wasn't lying. It did hurt, and if I had known swear words I'm sure I would have used them and no one would have blamed me for doing so. I cried and shrieked and she muttered and prayed until she had plucked every bit of wood from my little bum, cleaned the wound, and sent me whimpering away.

I don't remember what the scar looked like for many years; kids honestly don't think about stuff like that, and how often do you examine your own rear end? I do remember as a tween that the mark was still there, and was still slightly purplish and hard. Eventually the color faded and just left a thumb-sized indentation, which remains to this day.

And that, my friends, is how I ruined my chance of becoming a thong model. If it weren't for that one little mark.... Ooh, curses!

ha ha.

The End.