So You Want to be a Rapper...

As you might know, I am a HUGE fan of Hip Hop night at Touch Supper Club. If you're not familiar with this SUPERFUN event, the last Saturday of every month, Touch hosts DJ's that play classic hip-hop; the songs we grew up listening to, if you listened to hip-hop back then. I like to sing at hip hop night, but only because I know other people can't really hear me. I'm not a karaoke-r. But if YOU are, or if you like to sing in the privacy of your home, AND you like Hip Hop, you need to invest in this:

JV, Tiff and Michelle own this game, and from what I've witnessed, JV and Tiff really OWN it! Its so ridiculously fun, and dance moves are encouraged!!! The game has a feature where you can record yourself performing, so if you feel so inclined, you could also put it on YouTube (if you do, please, please send me a link; I'd love to see your skillz!)

Preparing for Next Year (or the next 2 months)

If you've been to a department store or the mall lately, then you've noticed that in retail-world, its swimsuit season already. Here in Cleveland, and really, all over the northern US, we're still freezing our butts off. Needless to say, its a FANTASTIC time to buy coats!! Why? Because they're ridiculously on sale, like this J.Crew beauty that I ordered last week.

It was an extra 40% off the sale price when I bought it, so the grand total was a whopping 65% the original price!!!! If you're in the market for a new coat, I recommend taking a look at what's out there right now; all the major retailers are offering huge discounts, and there are some great great deals to be had. I will say, that you're probably "safer" picking out a classic style, or at the very least, something that you absolutely LURVE, and that you're likely to still love next year. In any case, you'll still get to use it until March, maybe even April!!!

Valentine's Day

Are you pro- or anti- Valentine's day? I used to be indifferent, but this year, I'm SUPER pro, but its not for the reason you might think.

Its this little girl's first birthday!!! This year I'm thinking of stopping by Grateful Dog Bakery to get both her and Otto some celebratory treats!

Besides the pups, of course N gets a present too, although I have to confess, I've taken the lazy route for the past few years and I just keep renewing his subscription to ESPN magazine and ESPN insider. Its the prefect, fool-proof gift for the sportsfan in your life!!

Something new

So I don't know if I've told you this, but N and I have been married twice. To each other. With no divorces in between. This may be a little odd, but I wanted an outdoor wedding, which was Wedding 1; a small affair with only about 20 people. However, the Catholic Church frowns upon outdoor weddings and since it was important to his family that our marriage was blessed by the Church, we had Wedding 2, at the Church in Little Italy. This was a slightly larger wedding, with about 150 people. If you've ever been to an Indian wedding, then you'll know that those tend to be slightly large events, and so we had reception 3 when we made our first trip to India as a married couple. Needless to say, I'm a pro at getting married : ).

Now, you may be wondering about the whole dress situation. This was us at Wedding 1: my dress came off-the-rack from White House Black Market, and was an ivory, tea-length dress with white chiffon sash. I had plans to dye it hot pink, but that never happened.

For Wedding 2 and Reception 3, we blended both Indian and US traditions, so I wore a white sari (the traditional color for wedding saris in India is red):

So why am I telling you all this? Because sometimes, when I see a great dress, I'm tempted to convince N that we should have wedding 3!!! Seriously though, if you are newly engaged and haven't picked out a wedding dress yet, you should consider visiting Something White in Independence, Ohio. They are indepedently AND locally owned and carry some absolutely exquisite pieces. This weekend they're hosting a Lela Rose trunk show, so you should should check it out if you're in the market for wedding dresses/ bridesmaids dresses/ wedding accessories.  Check out some of these dresses.... so beautiful!!

Spring ballet

Have you watched Black Swan yet? N and I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and I can't stop thinking about it. I'm not going to give anything away, but I will say that if you're looking for closure at the end of the movie, you're not going to get it. I LLLUUURRRVVEEED the costumes and all the tulle, and while I'd love to incorporate some of that into my spring wardrobe, I'm fairly certain that tulle at work would result in many weird looks. So, I will have to limit my Black Swan inspirations to something more corporate-appropriate like ballet flats. Right now, I have my eye on these:

Born Precious in antique burnished leather, $95 at zappos

I haven't ordered these yet, but I've got my fingers crossed that they're as comfortable as they are adorable!!!



You and Me

Although N and I have been in our house for almost a year, its still a work in progress. Once we got our intial furniture and decorations set, we decided not to rush the rest and just pick up pieces as we found them. Our house is very contemporary: lots of dark wood and steel accents. We've picked up a few vintage pieces over the past year, and although I never thought of myself as a vintage-loving person, turns out, I do really LURVE vintage. (I'm not quite there on the vintage clothing though; I have to get over some ickiness issues first).

Anyway, late last year, I found these on etsy:

They took a while to get here (not unexpected), and I have to say, they are SO cute!! They're about an inch and a half tall, and look perfect sitting in a windowsill in our living room!!

Restless

Around this time every year, I start to get a little restless. Its January, the Browns are done, and there's still atleast 2 months until we start to see Spring. This is when I usually start planning trips. Last year, N and I went the all-inclusive route in the Dominican Republic. This year, I'm hoping we do something here:

Although the title says "shoestring", I will NOT be staying at hostels. If you've met me in real life, you know that I'm not the type of person to rough it. At all. I'm using the Lonely Planet guide more as a reference book to help us plan an itinerary, and then we'll use TripAdvisor to help pick our hotels. Right now I'm really drawn to Istanbul, although N and I really want to visit Prague as well. I love planning vacations; its the second-best thing to the vacation itself!!

Are you planning any trips in 2011?

Happy News!!

You may have noticed I haven't been blogging much lately. Truth is, I've been, well, uninspired. That's not to say I haven't been doing things (trying out restaurants, shopping), its just that most of these have been a bust. Since I try to keep this blog positive and upbeat, I've avoided talking about these things, but if you do want to hear about the things I do/buy/experience that I don't lurve too, please let me know and I will be happy to share.

That said, yesterday I received some very happy and exciting news. Its no secret that I love puppies. In the past year, I discovered that just having my own puppies was not enough; I wanted to help other puppies too. Rescuing Clair was step 1 in that process. And step 2 has developed over the past few months: I am now one of the newest Board Members for a charity that is very near and dear to my heart: Secondhand Mutts. Since I LUUUUUURRRRVVEEEE puppies and Secondhand Mutts, you will be hearing more about them in the future, but I promise not to overload you.

In the mean time, I do want to let you know about two fun events/fundraisers that Secondhand Mutts is hosting over the next month:

The first is a pancake breakfast, held at Post 58 in Tremont, on January 23. The event is being held in memory of Scramble, a heartworm positive dog that was rescued by Secondhand Mutts, and who passed away last year. The tickets are $12/adult, $5/child under 10, and include orange juice, all you can eat regular and chocolate-chip pancakes, coffee, and sausage (vegetarian options available too), and the funds will be used to benefit Secondhand Mutts.

The second event is a super fun event, with Secondhand Mutts teaming up with Friends of the Cleveland Kennel to host a Bowl-a-Thon at Madison Square Lanes in Lakewood. This event is being held on February 11, and more information is available here.

Both events are open to the public, so if you're looking for something fun to do on a weekend, that coincidentally happens to benefit some great causes, please come join me at these events! Hope to see you there!!!!

Bowled Over

Last week, I stopped by Crate and Barrel to browse. While there I picked up a set of these:

Parker bowls

I luuuuuurrrrvveee these bowls. I know, its more than a little odd to be this excited about kitchen stuff, but these bowls are really really great! I've used them every single day since I've owned them! They're the perfect size, and come in the super cute fun colors, that just so happen to perfectly complement my kitchen. LURVE!

What's your favorite kitchen item?

Danger: Carb Overload

For a very long time now, N has wanted a bread maker. I've resisted the idea for obvious reasons: I simply have no willpower when it comes to freshly baked bread. NONE! Well, this Christmas, N's parents finally gave him one:

Express Bread Maker, amazon

N made Italian herb and cheese bread last week. The results:

 

It was absolutely delicious. This bread maker could be the worst thing to ever happen to me. 

Busted

Scene: our home

N: What is that? Did you buy another purse?
Me: No, that's a purse organizer

(N opens container and pulls out 2 items)
N: No, that's definitely a purse. That's the size of your purse.
Me: No, that's not a purse. It goes IN the purse. See, it has no handles.

N: Is this something you saw on one of those "as seen on TV" things?

SO BUSTED!!!!

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Have you entered my contest yet? You could win a $25 Starbucks gift card!! Great way to start 2011!