Glamour Girl

I don't know who styled Rihanna for her Glamour magazine photo shoot, but she looks gorgeous.  I will take the Marc Jacobs dress, the Louboutins, and the Yves Saint Laurent jumpsuit, thankyouverymuchokaybyebye.

Pants, Dolce and Gabbana

Dress, Marc Jacobs
Shoes, Christian Louboutin





Dress, Mui Mui

Coat&jumpsuit, Yves Saint Laurent



Nail File

I've become somewhat of a nail polish fanatic over the last year.  I still get my nails done professionally once a month, but I most enjoy doing my nails myself.  This is so funny to me, because before, you couldn't make me polish even one nail, let alone 2 hands and feet.  Now, its amazing what can be a stress reliever.  I have definitely improved my technique over the last few months, although I still have some ways to go.  I work in a pretty conservative environment, so I can't go too crazy during the week, but I love to flex my creativity during the weekends.  I won't embarrass myself by putting my nails on display quite yet, but I love to see what Chloe and Rachel Marie are doing for inspiration.

Chloe:

Ombre Manicure

 Not so French Manicure

 Water Marbling

 Rays

 Shredded Mani

Its amazing what she can do with scotch tape. Yes, she used tape to create most of these designs (except the lips and marbling). 


Rachel Marie:

I love her choice of nail polishes and she is the glitter queen. I love glitter but not the clean-up, so I always have an appreciation for anyone who can rock it so often. 

Any other fabulous nail gurus out there?

Clutch Players

Love the Coach Madison clutch.

images via People.com

But not the $298 price tag for an occasional purse.  Here are some chic and cheap options:

Asos Pyramid Tip Clutch $31.03

BCBG Edith Clutch $68 (Macys.com)

BCBG Harlow Clutch $68 (Dillards.com)

Forever 21 Charisma Clutch $9.80

Seeing Red

blogs.smarter.com

I love the look of a red lipstick-- on other people.  I have tried several different reds on myself, but have not found a shade I can pull off.   There's just something sexy and confident about wearing a red lip.  I tend to like the nude colors best, and I've started wearing some pink shades, but its time to embrace the red! 

bvonbeauty.com

seriouslyrad.wordpress.com

afterld.com

www.sincerelyjules.com

My top 3 choices are all from MAC

Russian Red

Chili

MAC Red

HairDo or Dye

Right after my 30th birthday, I started noticing grey hairs.  Like literally, a few weeks after I turned 30! (smh)  Honestly, I freaked out.  I mean it was only one hair (at first), but it just let me know that I was getting "old".  I had already been dyeing my hair for the last 10 years because I liked experimenting with different colors.  But for some reason, having to dye my hair just changed things.  Since that first sighting, I have been getting my hair colored every 8 weeks or so.  The experimentation with color went away with my 20s, and I have just rocked variations of dark brunette locks.  That is, up until about a year ago when my hair got damaged (long story) and I had to lay off color for a while.  The recommended four months somehow became 14 months, and it wasn't until my hairstylist nagged begged asked me when I was going to color again that I noticed a lot more.  Lets just say I can check the 30-35 in my age and grey hair category.  When you have a thousand or so hairs on your head, that number doesn't seem like a lot, but it is when you can see them right here, and here, and over there and, well, you get my drift.  

 I have accidentally been wearing my hair in a subtle ombre style since last year, and since I'm finally ready to dye my hair again, I am faced with some tough decisions.  Should I continue to embrace the ombre trend (which I'm not sure is still relevant enough to be called a trend), or go with some face framing highlights.  Either way, I'm going to have to get 2 different colors, dark brown for all over and a copper highlight.  My first choice is the latter, but I still love the look of ombre. 

Ombre:

Face-framing Highlights:



Actually, seeing them together, they are not very different from each other.  I don't think I can go wrong either way.  I will let you know which one I go with in a few weeks.

Lunch Break

I went to Hobby Lobby a few days ago during my lunch break to get some fall decorations. They have such great finds, usually 50% off, or if not, you can usually get an online coupon, so you can never go wrong in there.  They already have their Christmas decorations out.  I really have to restrain myself, because there's just so much I want to buy.  I decided while I was there that I would do one season at a time, so not to go overboard.  But I can't wait to go back for Christmas decorations.  I still can't believe I had never heard of Hobby Lobby before 2 years ago! 

I got 2 types of gold chargers.  I am going to alternate them on the table.

I couldn't wait to test them out

I will be using this runner on Thanksgiving

Cute pumpkins.  Honestly, I am on the fence about these.  They will probably go on the entryway table, which is where I photographed them.  But I think I may already have cuter options in storage, so they may be returned.

Decorative beads I'm going to put in small vases on the dining room table



And I will be using these to decorate for Thanksgiving as well.  I will put one at each setting. Not sure what the husband will think, but what can I say, I love glitter!

I still need to get some candles, but waiting until they are 50% off, which will probably be next week. I was undecided about a few things and so left those behind.  One of the things I left were some autumn placemats.  They look just like these. I would use them from September until before Thanksgiving. Actually I'm still on the fence about them.  They may be a bit much, since I will be using the beads.   I will probably only use the four like I did on the above picture.  I may just have to test them out and see how I like them.  Guess I'll be stopping by Hobby Lobby tomorrow ;)