Favorites

Cutest Recipe Cards (for app's and champagne cocktails) EVER!  They are by Studio Oh! and make amazing gifts (for yourself or someone else).  The artwork is my fave.

appetizer cards

CHAMPAGNE!

Cute cheap flats from Old Navy.  Nautical and Patriotic....they scream summer and make me want to frolic somewhere in Nantucket while eating a slice of watermelon.  Or a lobster roll - yes  make that a lobster roll.  I don't really wear flats like this...it's either flip flops, heels, or boots, sometimes converse.  Still...I want these.

 $25-$30

Toad Hollow wine...I love Mr. Toad and all thing frogs (especially Mr. Toad's Wild Ride).  I saw it on sale for $9 at Von's...I might need to snag a bottle.  Anything with frog on the front, drinking a classy glass of chardonnay can't be bad, can it?

DKNY Pink Macaron perfume!!!  Top notes include kumquat, middle notes are pomegranate and marzipan and base notes are amber and tonka bean.  What the hell is a tonka bean you ask?  According to wikipedia, a tonka bean is "reminiscent of vanilla, almonds, cinnamon, and cloves."  YUM.  I never (and I mean NEVER) buy perfumes but I want this one.  I also want Cartier but that price tag is far too rich for my blood.  One day.....sigh....

Trader Joe's dark chocolate bar with caramel and black sea salts.  I have been in love with this for a while but am just now writing about it.  PLEASE BUY IT IMMEDIATELY!  Read about it more HERE!  I am obsessed with all things salted caramel and this did not disappoint.

And it's packaging??? DUH!  I would have bought it regardless of the flavor just because it has cool packaging...Bravo TJ's!!!

Linzo says: I'm sure I would have added the Trader Joe's cookie butter to the list but it's sold out at my local Tj's...wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - as snooki would say.

A few more of my favorite things...

Right now....yes RIGHT NOW...I am on the Dr. Dukan diet, which is what Kate Middleton, her mother, and Pippa were all on before the Big Day.

I'm not getting married, but a MOH (Maid of Honor) and the MOH still's gotta look good...just ask Pippa. Ummmm didn't she almost steal the show?

On that note...here's a fat free, super low cal dessert that is pretty healthy for you...

Pretty healthy for you minus the Splenda that is.  Nonfat Greek yogurt sprinkled (heavily) with cinnamon (NOT cinnamon sugar) and half a packet of Splenda.  It's delish and I am currently obsessed.  Did you know that cinnamon is also good for your heart?  Just a little FYI.

Since we are on a Dukan track (http://www.dukandiet.com/) here's something else FABULOUS that is perfect for it...or perfect for life in general as it's delicious.

La Croix Sparkling water with COCONUT flavor!  I love me some coconut and I love la croix (grapefruit in particular) so this combo is FAB!  My mind is racing with all the alcoholic beverages I can make with this...one of my all time faves is a vodka soda with a lime using La Croix Grapefruit. 

And for something completley at the other end of the spectrum and the Dukan Diet....

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy!  OMG this tastes like lemonade...and beer!  It is delicious and I suggest you go to the nearest Bev Mo (http://www.bevmo.com/) and stock up...or if you live in the Mid-west then you have most likely seen this before and it's not really that cool.  I can only wish that right now I was sipping it while sitting on a dock at the lake in the North Woods of Wisconsin or somewhere else gloriously mid-western....sighhhhhhhhhh.


Lastly, I know I rep Planet Beauty boutiques (http://www.planetbeauty.com/) pretty hard but check out this polish from Ulta.

                   

                   yes I really did just put my feet on the internet...

 I am obsessed with this polish...it looks like foil.  I was soooo excited to find something that wasn't glittery but more metallic, my roomie even said it looks like those Sally Hansen sheets you stick on your nails.  After oogling a woman's feet at the pool (does that sound weird? yes, it does.) I was determind to find something like her gold foil polish and I did!  So fab!


Linzo says: DAMN YOU DR. DUKAN!  But at least my nails looks good...

CARDINAL RULES

There is the saying that you can never be too rich or too thin...which I wholeheartedly agree with (unless you are Leann Rimes or Rachel Zoe) but these are

MY CARDINAL RULES:

1) Your hair can never be too big
2) Your boobs can never be too high
3) You can never have too much bronzer
4) Your diamonds can never be too big


Now I do realize I do sound like one of my favorite faux-celebs...but look at what a little nugget she is here!

Snooks!  You KNOW she follows this shit!

 So you want to live by the Cardinal Rules?  Here's what you need...


Maybe it is my Texas upbringing during the 80s and 90s that makes me a sucker for that heightened highlighted hair.  I don't know but voluminous hair with lots of height really gets me going!

You want height? GET THIS....no teasing required!

I wish I could send you to http://www.planetbeauty.com/ but it doesn't look like they sell it online.

This one works too:

This is a Planet Beauty find too.



Bronzer....I have a few faves....all Planet Beauty yet again...

Faux-Tan (Bare-Escentuals)...a fab self tanner. Available through Amazon right here.  Or you local PB/Sephora.

Too-Faced Chocolate Soleil powder...available at Planet Beauty.

This is available here - through amazon.  And also at PB.

When it comes to diamonds, real is ALWAYS better obvi...but if you can't foot the bill for the real deal...I suggest H&M for their fake studs over Forever 21.  These are $3.95 at H&M just go buy them.

Linzo says: live by the rules, die by the rules.

The poor man's Dior Show mascara

Words I despise = cheap and thrifty.

Being cheap or thrifty just have such negative connotations.  Luxury, expensive, high-end...now these are words I love.  Words that just siiiiiiiiiiiiing to me.  But even if you do have to be the two aforementioned words...there is no need to say it or admit it.  No one even has to know you're not exactly rolin' in the dough.

I am an advocate of not sacrificing what you want for something do-able because you can only afford the do-able.  HELLOOOOO, why do you think Andre champagne was invented?  Things like Andre, Two Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw wine that sells for a whopping $1.99 at Trader Joe's) and Forever 21 were made for people like me.  People who love their bubbly, their chardonnay and trendy clothes that look expensive (sometimes) but can't afford to start harvesting their eggs to be able to afford it.

Now, for the poor-man's Dior Show.  My friend so lovingly dubbed our fave mascara, Maybelline 'The Falsies" mascara, the poor-man's Dior Show mascara.  Dior Show is my absolute FAVEEEE.  If you can afford to spend $25 on mascara every few months then BUY THIS ONE.  I buy it for special occasions and will be buying it this summer for the two weddings I'm in.

If you can't afford to be luxurious (one of my fave words) all the time...BUY THIS.  Great volume and separation.  It's about $7 from Target or any drug store.



Another Fabulous product by Maybelline to try is their oil free loose powder.  Once I realized I could no longer spend $40 on Laura Mercier pressed powder every other month, a little birdie/room-mate Moe told me about Maybelline's loose powder.  I do not currently wear this but have in the past.  If you are lucky enough to have connections in the beauty world such as I do, then go for the expensive stuff if you can get it discounted heavily.  If you can't, get this...

Like Zin in a box (God Bless Franzia)...sometimes gems are hidden at the drug store just as they are at Neimen's or Bloomies at Fashion Island.