Somebody Had a Birthday!

Hey y'all!! If you follow me on Instagram then you know my birthday was on Saturday. However, since my birthday is rather special to lil' ol' me, I usually try to make it a weekend event. So, Friday I took the day off work and treated myself a facial.

My loved ones and I headed over to Cleveland on Saturday to do some celebrating. To my disappointment, the weather was a bit cooler than I would have liked (considering Friday was a warm beautiful 75 degrees), but I soldiered on in my sleeveless birthday dress anyway. I found the chill to be tolerable...especially after a chocolate martini or two!

We had dinner at XO Prime Steaks, where I was treated to my first crème brulee. Mmmm! I was quite surprised that it was actually so tasty. The creamy mousse hidden under the layer of crunchy caramel was smooth and sweet, though not overly so. And the side of mixed berries created the perfect flavor compliment.

Dinner was followed up by a comedy show at the Improv, where I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks and my tummy ached. And my celebration weekend was capped off on Sunday as I spent some time cashing in a few of those gift cards! *smile*  Why wait?...

I hope you all had a weekend as enjoyable as I did and that your week is off to a fabulous start. And don't forget to head on back here on Thursday when I'll be kicking off my Fall Fabulous giveaway featuring a yellow Phillip Lim x Target mini satchel!



Summer Getaway - Memories of NYC

I'm a little late in getting pictures up from my NYC trip, but better late than never, right? I had a fabulous time and felt a tingle of joy when someone referred to me as a "real New Yorker." I mean, hey, who doesn't want to be considered one of those contemporary, chic, city types?!

While in the city, I stayed at Night Hotel Times Square (formerly Stay). It was close to all the action and had an extremely trendy décor, well at least in the lobby. I mean the rooms were nice, but nothing like the lobby. They were dark and not makeup application friendly. Though I didn't do much makeup, I still have to do my brows.

I got an awesome deal on Groupon to this uber fab spa on 5th Avenue, YeloSpa, where I had a relaxing massage and facial and a thirty minute nap in what they called their "zero gravity" chair. You might be thinking, 'a nap'?? Who in the heck wants to take a nap in the middle of NYC?? Apparently lots of folks do. And they pay a dollar a minute to do it.

And let me tell you, it was the best daggone thirty minute nap EVER.

My best friend and I took in the Legends of the Summer concert at Yankees Stadium starring Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, with surprise appearances from Timbaland and Alicia Keys (the performance of Empire State of Mind was truly epic and unforgettable!)

It was sooooo super hot while I was in NY, so I went without much makeup for pretty much the entire trip minus wearing bit of Becca Beach Tint on my cheeks to bring a little color to my face. Though for the concert I did do my eyes in neutral shades and added teal blue liner underneath (a first for me) and popped on some lashes. (bottom right photo)

I stayed pretty busy for my three nights in town. In addition to the concert I also took in a show. I checked out Cinderella on Broadway and it was really, really good. Like Cindy's story with some twists and sarcasm. The most captivating parts were the costume changes, it's something you'd really have to see!

I didn't get to do quite as much shopping as I had intended, but I made sure to pick up some really pretty pieces and nice additions to my wardrobe from Forever 21. Unfortunately, nothing at the Zara sale seemed to fit me, so I picked up a pair of joggers from the Basics line, some scarves to use for headwraps and a pair of pumps. Shoes and wraps never fail me. I missed a few boutiques I wanted to stop at and my beloved H&M, but I'll make up for that in the upcoming weeks. *sly smile*

I always love visiting New York, and this trip made the perfect summer getaway!

Gettin' Artsy Craftsy

Ok, so I'm taking a major detour from my usual type of post, but stick with me for the ride because it's still about fashionable things...

As I mentioned a few posts back, I've been really busy planning a birthday party for my mom, which was held this past weekend. Thank goodness that's over! But everyone had a great time, especially the guest of honor, so it was all in the name of love. But I'm still glad it's over....

I'm big on making things look pretty and fashionable and this party was all about being chic and stylish, but we had to jump through a few hoops to bring the vision to fruition - which all involved the decor for the tables.

One such item on my list was black and white striped candles. Pretty basic, right? Ok, well maybe not as basic as plain candles, but it wasn't like I was talking purple candles with orange stripes. Either way, I might as well had been, because after scouring the net and stalking the store aisles, I came up empty handed. Did I happen to mention they also had to be affordable?

Well, they say that necessity is the mother of invention...so what's a diva to do? Make her own! Because sometimes even we non-crafters have to get a little crafty.

I headed to the local Michael's Craft Store and grabbed a few rolls of black sparkling ribbon and two packs of stick pins with pearl heads.

Toss in sixteen plain white pillar candles and a box of glue dots, and I was a striped candle making machine.

Tah-dah!!

Not bad at all, huh? I have to say I was kinda proud of the way it all came together.

And in case any of you are a little curious here are a couple final images from the party:






I also sparkled up a couple plain pieces of wood to make that 'S' at the top of the cupcake tower,
because I couldn't find a more affordable one that I liked.

 

The framed images on the tables were throwback photos I enlarged from her modeling days. See, back when I was a wee little diva, my mom had a modeling troupe that would put on fashion shows and whatnot around the city. So the central theme of the party was all about celebrating the fabulosity of my icon.