Juicy Tangerine

one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten

I am still just as crazy about Tangerine as I was back in April. I can't get enough of the color! Whether I incorporate it in my wardrobe or add a pop of tangerine with a fun accessory, I am known to sneak it on in any way possible! These are a few of my favorite tangerine pieces for this summer!

Shall We Tango?

 

Blazer: F21 {recent} | Tank: F21 {old} | Skirt: H&M {recent} | Shoes: Coach {last year} | Bangles: Natasha {on sale!} F21 {recent} Michael Kors {here} | Ring: Premier Designs | Glasses: Calvin Klein {no longer online}

Linking up for Marionberry Style's Trend of the Month: Colorful Blazers! Head on over and see all of the other color this month!

Also linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Rolled-Up Pretty and A Little Bit of Lacquer

Nautical Nails

Every once in awhile I get an urge to try something fun and colorful with my nails. I usually have a nude color on my hands, so for me to jump to Turquoise and Cacaos, it is a big jump!

I got today's nail inspiration from Pinterest:

                                                                                      Source: pinkandleopard.tumblr.com via Rose on Pinterest

I started with two coasts of Essie's Turquoise and Cacaos. 

 

Then I added white lines with a white nail pen.

 

Then I added the small black anchors with another nail pen. 

 

This was a fun little project; however, I am far too impatient to wait for three different layers to dry before I can move on to the next step. I will say this may be my favorite Essie color I have come across. 

You Can Call Me Rocky

So I thought I'd give you guys something to laugh at this Friday!

TGIF!

I have had a week full of craziness at work with my workload up to my ears. So yes, there has been some late nights. But I must have done something in a sleepy haze last night because I woke up and my right eye was so swollen I could barely see out of it. I looked like I was punched in the right eye without the bruising. (This I am assuming....I've never really gotten punched in the eye before...)

Now I have been awake a few hours, so this photo just doesn't do it justice.

AND two nights ago I slaughtered my middle finger chopping up dinner and my finger has three bandages on it.

So I had an 8am marketing meeting with brand new folks. Boy, I'm sure I made a fantastic impression. 

No, I did not get into a fight. Sure, go ahead call me Rocky.

Yo Adrian.

Show Love. Give Love. Seer Outfitters.

Today I want to introduce my readers to a new series of posts titled: "Glam 4 A Cause". As interested as we are in fashion, beauty and all things girl, what better way to satisfy our fashion needs than with a charitable cause? I want to highlight charities, local and nationwide, that strive to help communities by raising funds with fashion, beauty, fitness and fun.

Today, I am highlighting Seer Outfitters. Seer Outfitters is brought to you by the Kyle Korver Foundation. Kyle Korver is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. Partnering his love for community and passion for helping children and families, Kyle, with the help of his family, created fundraising events in Philadelpha, PA, Omaha, NE, Salt Lake City, Utah, and now Chicago, Illinois.

The Kyle Korver Foundation took fundraising to another level with their own t-shirt line, Seer Outfitters. A seer is a visionary or a prophet; someone who gives pictures or images for social change.

The t-shirt line highlights seven themes: strength, courage, honor, respect, knowledge, peace, faith/hope/love. Each shirt portrays a theme through its image.

100% of the money raised through the sale of tshirts is put back into the foundation. From inner-city after school programs in Philadelphia, to the Boys and Girls Club of Omaha, a non-profit Construction Group in Utah who has built over 40 handicap ramps over the last 8 months, and now to Chicago, Illinois Seer Outfitters is making a difference.

Their goal is simple: To show love. To give love. And empower others to do the same.

Seer Outfitters has recently partnered with the Abide Network to bring you the "Better Together" t-shirt. The sale of 1,000 tshirts will restore a house provided to a family in need. The simple sale of 12 tees will provide healthy activites, food, and shelter for a kid for a month.

Better Together

Check out the rest of the Seer Outfitter tshirt line for both men and women. These are a few of my favorites from the men's line:

Dream Big | Cody Woven

Find Seer Outfitters on facebook and twitter! Follow along to find out if they are attending any events in a city near you! Seer is definitely one of my favorites to follow on twitter and I know you will think so too!

All photography was done by Hannah & Randall Photography.

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Rolled-Up Pretty and A Little Bit of Lacquer

Closet Organization 101

I recently went into serious closet organization mode. My previous philosophy was to fit as much as I could into my teeny tiny apartment closet. Wrong idea. Because my husband and I are in such a small space for the time being, I need to make this space as comfortable as possible. By barely finding certain items of clothing because they were crammed into my closet was not the solution.

I usually make small purges of my closet every season. Items that no longer fit, items that have been damaged or items that I have not touched in years. It is hard for me to get rid of stuff, so I usually only part with a few pieces. Well last week I had a reality check. I large chunk of my closet I have not touched since college and honestly I shouldn't have touched since college. Still, I couldn't part with some outfits. So, I picked up a few plastic bins, loaded up these "on the fence" pieces and they are now living in our storage center until I can suck it up and get rid of them. Easy solution for me.

So my tips for a small closet:

1. Purge what you haven't touched in years. I have so much more room to move around in this closet and I notice my favorite items much easier instead of fighting with all the "noise" of the pieces that do not work.

 

2. Use a mixture of hangers and folding baskets to organize different types of clothing. I hang all of my tank tops, base pieces, blouses, pants, suits, skirts and dresses. I fold all sweaters and jeans. These fabric boxes from Target help me keep the folded items organized. I also use these bins as a keeper for purses and flat sandals.

3. Use whatever organization system that works for you. Color coordinating my closet isn't my number one priority. But I do like to have certain colors that I tend to wear frequently or have a lot of in one area. These are usually base pieces as well.

4. On your next trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond pick up fun and efficient closet organizers. I have a scarf hanger, pant hanger and skirt hanger specifically designed for small spaces. They have been an extreme help when transitioning into this small space.

5. If you have tall closets, invest in a stool. This wooden stool is the best investment I made for my closet. Since we were trying to fit as much as we could into a small closet by adding in higher shelving and hanging space, this short girl needed a way to reach her stuff. It also helps when I am putting laundry away and I don't have to just toss it up into space hoping it lands where I want it to!

6. I love doing laundry, I hate putting it away. Yes I admit it! So I put into place my own system. When I dress in the mornings and remove a shirt or skirt from a hanger, I take that empty hanger and put it in the empty hanger space on a lower rung. So the next time I am hanging laundry, I don't have to take the extra five minutes searching for empty hangers. Time saved for me!

7. Have a spot for your shoes. As you can see I do not have any floor space for shoes. I do have boots set up in the back that are not in the picture, but I like to place all my shoes in a behind the door shoe rack. This is a huge space saver. I do have to keep a skinny storage bin under the bed with out of season shoes and trade them out when their season arrives. When I'm styling outfits, this tends to become my hanging rack as well! oops!

So living in a teeny tiny space isn't the most ideal situation, but it is definitely do-able. Learn to live with the space you have and make it the most efficient for you! Plus, if you moved because of your husband, like I did, you can always hold him to "alright, I'm living with a small closet because of you, so you can build me my dream one like Mr. Big in the near future" And then proceed to make him watch SATC the Movie as an example.

June Blog Hop - Bows Bangles & Bakes

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! I know the weather couldn't be any more perfect in NC this weekend and we've been able to enjoy it with some great friends!

Today I am introducing you to Jen from Bows, Bangles and Bakes. Jen and I are participating in the Blog Hop over at Eat. Enjoy. Live. Helen is interested in hosting more blog hops so stay tuned for future dates!

I am so lucky to have met Jen through this hop because she is a fabulous girl who loves all the same things I do! Since Jen lives in the UK, she is going to give us a unique review of a British Beauty product. I love learning about new products I haven't been able to get my hands on yet! Thank you so much Jen for hanging out here today!

Hi! I'm Jenni from Bows Bangles & Bakes. I thought I would share with you a beauty review of a British Beauty Brand product. This brand has very much been doing the blogger rounds over here in the UK, but it doesn't seem to have reached the USA with quite the same level of vengance just yet, although the products are available online with international shipping.
Whetted your appetite yet? I'll crack on then!

A bit of background first. The brand in question is called MUA, which stands for Make-Up Academy, not the most original of names really. MUA sell exclusively in Superdrug, a UK based drugstore/pharmacy that sells various make up brands, perfumes, shampoos, conditioners, nail files - all your basic beauty essentials and more. MUA do not test their ingredients or their finished products on animals, and the best bit, everything (more or less) is only a £1!! (About $2-3 I believe depending on exchange rate.) MUA have two ranges, their ordinary basic range, where everything is £1, no more no less, and their pro-range, where the items are slightly pricer, but not by much.

So why am I reviewing a cheapo drug store brand? What's all the blog hype about? It really is the quality of the products, by which I mean the pigmentation! The pigmentation in these products certainly rivals its higher priced sisters, and is unheard of in any range within MUA's price bracket.

This is the MUA Immaculate Collection Palette containing 24 eyeshadow shades - costing.......(wait for it............

A whole £8!! (or approx $15) This is the most expensive product MUA product (I know!) as it is from their pro-range,

For the quality of these shadows this is super super cheap! The actual compact itself, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not fantastic quality and the packaging isn't exactly going to give you palpitations, but hey, its what it looks like on your eyes right, not in your make up drawer, that's important, and it does the job.

The palette is a mixture of matte and shimmer shades, so there's enough to satisfy everyone, with a few good neutral shades thrown in, for blending, highlighting and creating that sort-after smoky eye effect. It comes with the usual double ended padded 'brush' but to be quite honest I bin these straight away and dive in there with my brushes instead.

Swatches - see what I mean about the pigmentation. I literally lightly rubbed my finger over the top - I wasn't swirling it around for 20 minutes, no siree! This was a light touch job and it comes away with THAT much colour!! Honestly! I'm not lying to you!

You can see here that the top black shade is a matte colour, whereas the other three are shimmer shades. These were just four shades I selected out of the palette at random, but each shade is equally as full of beautiful gorgeous pigment.

I recently went a little bit mad, and had myself an MUA haul. Now imagine, how much this amount of make up would cost you at somewhere like MAC or Benefit.

This little lot came to a grand total of (drum roll please) £27! Sounds alot but that's the price of one MAC foundation!


If by this time you are just dying to have yourself a bit of MUA, I would seriously recommend the Heaven and Earth palette. At £4, this palette is being heralded as a dupe for Urban Decay's Naked palette at a fraction of the price.

Heaven & Earth

Personally I think the new undressed palette is closer in terms of colour range, but I haven't actually seen one in real life so I'm not completely 100% on this on yet, but if the others are anything to go by, it will be spot on too! 

Undressed

I hope you've enjoyed my little review of the MUA Immaculate palette and have enjoyed little a little more about a fairly new British cosmetic brand! Thanks for reading!

Jenni xx

Jenni blogs at Bows Bangles & Bakes, covering all aspects of her lifestyle, including beauty reviews, fashion and style posts, all sprinkled with a light dusty of baking and cooking, and well who knows what else my find its way in there!

Stop

Top: Olive and Oak | Skirt: The Limited {last season} | Shoes: Guess {similar here} | Bracelets: Michael Kors, Talbots, gifted

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Rolled Up Pretty, A Little Bit of Lacquer

Also linking up with Simply Sarah to showcase my shoes! If you've been a follower for awhile you've noticed these are my go-to heels. They go with just about everything and I can walk miles in them!

Granny's Banana Bread

I have a recipe to share with you on this bright beautiful Monday morning! I am a huge fan of Banana flavored anything and my Granny makes the best banana bread. It is a little different and definitely indulgent. Here is the recipe!

In a mixer or bowl add 2 ripe bananas and the mixer will help you mash them or you can mash by hand.

Next add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup canola oil to the bowl.

Next add 4 eggs and mix.

Once all of the wet ingredients are mixed add in one box of yellow cake mix and one big box of banana instant pudding. Make sure it the instant pudding.

Lastly, chop up one cup of pecans and mix into the batter. Then spray or coat two bread pans and heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake and enjoy!

Raleigh to Charlotte

Today I am sharing with you a Day to Night post. I am spending the day working from my Raleigh office and taking off to Charlotte to participate in Joey's birthday fun! Since I'll be working until the last minute and then making the 2.5 hour trip to Charlotte, I better be ready to go!

Here is my Day to Night inspiration...

Everyone hop on over and wish Jo at Hodges Podges a fabulous Happy Birthday!

Linen Wrinkles

When I spotted this mint skirt on The Limited's site, I knew I had to have it. When I received it, I knew it would be wrinkled from the mailer. I hung it up and steamed it perfectly. I put it on, got into my car, drove into town and when I stepped out of the car I might as well have rolled out of the mailer with the skirt. Wrinkles! How do you keep a linen skirt wrinkle free? Maybe you don't...

Either way, I'm crazy about minty green this season....so I'm still going to share my wrinkled pictures with you in all of their messy glory!

 

 

 

Top: San Souci via TJ Maxx | Skirt: The Limited {on sale!} | Shoes: Guess {similar here} | Necklace: F21 | Bracelets: Michael Kors, F21, Natasha {on sale!} | Sunglasses: Calvin Klein {no longer online}

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Rolled Up Pretty, A Little Bit of Lacquer, and Watch Out for the Woestmanns