"No heels allowed" Happy Hour

I don't know about you ladies, but in between the hussle and bussle of the "real world", it can be challenging to make time to see your girlfriends.  I miss college where we were always at the same places all the time, don't you?

The best way I've found to stay in touch is by meeting up for a quick happy hour after work to catch up on the latest gossip and share a few laughs. Unfortunately, those drinks and apps can put a dent in your checking account.  Mamma no likey.

My solution?  Switch off hosting a "No Heels Allowed" Happy Hour at your homes w/ your best ladies!  Tell them just to bring themselves after work and kick off their heels at your place.

ON THE MENU

BOOZE aka "The Sweet Nectar"

Serve your own Skinnygirl Margarita in a fun martini or margarita glass over ice garnished with fresh cut limes (salt the rim if you want):

• 2 ounce(s) clear Tequila (Sauza or clear premium tequila)
• A splash of fresh lime juice
• A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

or

Serve a girly spritzer with fresh fruit:

• two parts white wine,
• one part cranberry juice
• one part ginger ale
• fresh fruit of your choice

Since we're less than a week away from it OFFICIALLY being summer and a 2 piece and I are STILL not getting along, may I suggest these low cal apps to pair with the above cocktails:

MUNCHIES:

Skinny Taco Dip (w/ Skinnygirl Marg)

Click here for the recipe via Gia's Skinny Taste blog.  Seriously, go check her blog out if you are looking to cook healthy.  She has so many amazing, low-cal recipes that I don't even know what to make first.

or

Bruschetta with tomato and basil (w/ spritzer)

Click here for the recipe via Gia's Skinny Taste blog. 

The only other thing you need is some jams. My top 5 favorite summer songs right now:

• "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars (my life anthem)
• "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry (= me every weekend)
• "On the Floor" Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull
• "Honey Bee" by my love, Blake Shelton
• "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele

There you have it ... the ingredients to host your very own "No Heels Happy Hour" with your besties. 

Send out an email on Monday, find a day that works for everyone and let the party begin.  Just make sure you are switching off so not one person is always footing the bill.

So what do you think?  Is this something you would do with your girls?

Liking on Facebook = freebies for ya

A while ago (back when I was a nobody), I blogged about an embroidered make-up bag that I was obsessing over.  I've picked up a few new bargainistas since then, so let me show you what bag I am talking about in case you're new to these parts:

I ordered it from the Web site Glitzy Glam, which has THE cutest girly stuff by the way and I have had the best experience with them so far.  Literally both items were delivered to me within a few days of ordering online.

Well, I "liked" them on Facebook recently, so I get all their updates on my Facebook newsfeed.  A few week ago, they had a no shipping promo for an entire weekend, which is when I ordered this little diddy for only $8.50 (you can customize the bag color to your preference):

Had I not liked them, I wouldn't have known about the free shipping. The same goes for most companies, so you best start "liking" away.   Just to get you started, I have a little somethin' somethin' to share with you ladies.

Click the logo below to like the "Think About Your Eyes" campaign on Facebook, upload a picture of yourself (or of your spawn) in sunglasses or glasses and you're entered in their contest to win a $400 GENERAL USE gift card (they are giving away 4 total).  Simple enough, right?  You are welcome.

P.S. If you win that $400, you know who to buy a bottle of gas station liter sized white wine for, right?  You're looking at her.

Home Tour Week 4: Secondary Bedroom(s) + Office

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This week I'm showing you my office and guest room, which are one in the same.  Honestly, I never use my desk because I have an ibook so I'm always on my couch or in bed using it.

This room is basically occupied by my mamma bear when she visits from NC or my neph, Reese.  The aftermath of babysitting on Saturday:

All cleaned up.

This bedding is my college bedding. I love the shabby chic look and pink and green are my favorite colors.  I need a headboard still and there are a ton of antiques I want to get for this room.   

So please be aware that this is still a work in progress.

Bedding from Bed Bath and Beyond.
Curtain made by my Mom. 
Hand painted mirror from Tuesday Mormings.
Lamp from Hobby Lobby.
Side table IKEA.

Desk and Chair from Ikea.
White desk storage from Wal-Mart on clearance.
Mason jar to hold my pens and pencils.

Framed print and painted the frame creme white.

Bottom shelf is Reese's books and animals.
The rest of the shelves are books, cooking books, picture albums & frames, etc.  
You can read more about the bookshelves here: My Bookshelf Re-do

So that pretty much covers my plain and boring guest room + office.  Nothing to write home to Mom about, I know.  I need to get to working on this room one of these days.

Now it's your turn to show off your guest room, your kids room, your office.  Just link up and show us one or the other or both!  There are no rules around here.

We'll call this the SECONDARY BEDROOM(s) and OFFICE POST.  k!?

Would love it if you ladies will let us peek into your homes too.  Link, Link, LINK-UP!

[Next week is Dining Room & Kitchen for week 5 and then to close off the series, 

we'll show Closets, Cabinets & Laundry Room in week 6.]

How I did my "Floating Shelves Photo Wall"

Two "how-to's" in a row, I'm on a roll!  I first talked about my vision for a photo wall in my living room here. 

And as I mention in my original post, the first time I knew I wanted to do a floating shelves photo wall in my living room "entry way" was from watching my fave non-reality show, Parenthood.  Then I stumbled across Kristen's floating photo wall she copied from this lovely lady and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 

It only took me, ohhhhh, 2 months to finally finish, but hey ... it's done, I absolutely LOVE it and that's all that matters.  Not kidding, I kick back on my couch and stare at it every day:

HERE IS HOW I DID IT:

1. Gather Supplies

Priority one was buying the shelves.  I got mine at Garden Ridge for $24.99/shelf and they are 3 feet long in an Espresso color.   I found a very similar shelf at Hobby Lobby for $44.99 half off last week ($22.99/shelf), but I wasn't going to mess with returning and re buying just to save $6.  Although I should have, gas prices are too high and I'm too lazy to mess with that. 

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you the shelves were easy to hang.  They were anything but.  I was sweating and cursing trying to get those biatches hung.  It literally took me 2 days to finish hanging them because I quit half way in.  I needed a break.

Priority 2 was getting everything to put on the shelves. 
While I was at Garden Ridge, I bought 2 picture frames.  One was $2.99 and the other was on clearance for $3.99.  The rest of the picture frames I bought at Burlington Coat Factory of all places.  Super random, I know.  I got them in a package that was 10 frames for $9.99.  They were a hideous gold, but I knew I could easily paint them. 

I already owned the candle + candle sticks (from Target) and 2 of the picture frames that I used (Kohl's).

I bought the round mirror and large "L" at the Hob Lob for $9.99 and $3.50 ish.  They were both half off.

2. Once I got the shelves hung (FML), I "staged" them so I could figure out which frames were going where before I painted them. 

3. Next, I painted the tacky gold frames.
I bought acrylic paint and a paint brush from Michael's.  As y'all saw here, my living room is mostly deep brown with red accents, so that's what I painted the frames.

It's currently around 100 degrees in Dallas, so I just put them on my balcony to dry and it took less than hour to dry even with 3 coats of paint.   

4. The last thing I did was print pictures @ CVS. 
I converted each picture to a Sepia color using Picnik.  I had a hard time deciding if I wanted the photos in color, black and white or sepia, but eventually decided on sepia.  Sepia has a brownish tint to it, and since my living room is mostly browns, I thought it would match best.

I saved this fortune that I got when I was in a really sad place after the break-up with Lucifer.  I've always had it on my fridge, but I decided to mat it (used gold wrapping paper from Christmas) and frame it.  It means something to me because the fortune was so true for me, so I love it.

Once everything was painted and framed, I decorated the shelves.  This is the finished product, I hope this "how-to" helps you if you are looking to recreate something similar!  If you still have questions (I hope I didn't leave anything out), just email  me or comment this post and I will be happy to answer!

How-to: Easy fake lash application

Before I get to the main event, I had to show my chi curled baby poof.  I watched Pink Lou Lou's "how-to poof" instructional "booze bag" video (Her sis calling her a booze bag in the vid was my fave part)  last night.  You may not know this, but PLL is THE best hair poofer this side of the Mason-Dixon line ... just a little FYI.

So this is my attempt at recreating her magical poof. Mine is a baby poof.

 What's with my hand looking like a creeper claw?

OK, enough about my sucky poof skills, In yesterday's post I said I would try to put together a step-by-step "how-to" for my false lash application trick if i could figure out how to explain it.  Well, I'm still not sure I've figured it out, but here's my best effort.  You can't say I didn't try.

You need these three things: lash strips, lash glue and tweezers.

Please excuse my haggard MAC lashes, they have been used and abused.  They're just a prop.

Before you do anything, apply your eye make-up as your normally would including eyeliner and mascara if you wear it.  Read about my eyeliner obsession here and my fave mascara here.

So once you've applied your make-up and are looking gorge, follow these steps:

1. Put a generous dab of eye lash glue on the back of your hand. 

2. This next step may sound weird, but just go with it ...

3. Transfer the glue from the tube to the lash line.

4. Wait about 30 seconds for the glue to become tacky. 

Use tweezers to apply the lashes to your natural lash line, getting as close to the base as possible.  Tweezers make it much easier to manage the placement of the lashes as opposed to trying to use your fingers.

Do as I say, not as i do.  I had already washed my face when I remembered i was going to do this how-to for y'all. 
You want your make-up done before applying lashes. 

5. Use your fingers to press and hold the lashes in place until they are completely dry.  

Here's the finished product.

(I'm wearing MAC lashes in this pic because this was taken 

prior to me discovering the bomb $1 elf natural lashes.)

[SOME FINAL WORDS OF BLONDE WISDOM]

• If this is your first time ever wearing lashes you should know they are going to feel weird when you first put them on, but you'll get used to it and it's totally normal.  Just trust me.

• To remove the lashes, use a warm wet wash cloth.   Let's be honest here ... I'm normally stumbling into my bathroom after a night out, seeing double and just rip those hoes off.  Totally kidding No I'm not.

• I've come to the conclusion that I  have larger than normal eyes.  Lash strips are never long enough for my eyes,  but a lot of people have to cut their falsies down to fit their eyes.  If you are one of those people, just cut them to fit.

It's time!  Get to glamming your eyes up ladies!  I wanna see pics of your lush lashes if you try this how-to.  I hope it helps.  Do you have any additional tips I didn't cover?