Beauty Product-aholic

You know it's bad when: Your sister and brother-in-law stop by where you live to freshen up for dinner date (side note: my bro-in-law is a coach and they live "way out east"/passed exit 25, hence the need to freshen up for dinner without going home), and the only comment he made about my bathroom was "I've never seen so many products in my whole life."

Yep. That about sums it up. 

{no, this isn't actually mine. don't call TLC just yet}

I've often considered a parlaying my unadulterated love of beauty/skincare products into a career, but alas, the majority of jobs in the industry aren't located in good ole M-town.

I don't discriminate between high end products and drug store finds, all I ask is that it smell pretty and at the very least pretend to work (some might call this the placebo effect). Nevertheless, I'm a self-professed beauty product junkie, and I don't care who knows it. My aunt even gave me this ah.maze.ing. storage case for my birthday.

For fellow junkies who allow the downward spiral of trying celeb-endorsed products, I've found a few gems for you.

I've already mentioned my love of Emily Maynard, and her blog, but my new obsession is her skincare routine. (and yes, I'm dying for someone to gift me La Mer if it's even half as good as she says it is.)

{for specifics of Emily's beauty buys click here} 

Another recent obsession is Bobbi Brown (Katie Holmes is the new face of BB) make up and skincare, but considering it'd be a pretty penny to completely switch over..looks like I'll keep dreamin'.

{for the 5 Anti-Aging tips click here}

{click here for above link}

{Bobbi's book, "Pretty Powerful"}

til next time...

Charming Bluff

While I was late to work this morning, I decided to stop by Harbor Town. Random, but since I saw a Facebook post saying that the "Claw Crew" would be giving out free car flags and other memorabilia to get in the spirit for hosting our first game of the 2013 playoffs against the Clippers tomorrow, I decided I needed Grizz gear (hey, I was already late anyway, right?). 

Alas, I read the post incorrectly, and the Claw Crew was no where to be found. What I did find, however, was the beyond precious cottages/multi-million dollar homes that line the Muddy Mississippi with style. New life goal =live in Harbor Town. 

Seriously, it's like 30A/Seaside meets Charleston paired with small town homeyness just a hop, skip, and a jump (okay so it's a short bridge) from Downtown Memphis (think modern day Leave it to Beaver/Andy Griffith Show). It has gyms, nail salons, cafes, and even a foreign language immersion day care ( I mean c'mon, how cool?.... who even think of these things?! ).

So anyone who thinks Memphis isn't equal parts charming and urban, think again.

App-ly Yourself

Okay, I know I'm a little too obsessed with reading career-building books and articles, but this stuff is actually very helpful. Case and point, 5 Free Apps for Working Women (courtesy of Levo League). I'm especially excited to try Mint, CardMunch (let it be known that I think this is a terrible name for an app), and DinnerSpinner.

Nike Training Club: 
With Nike Training Club, you can pick the level of fitness (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and then select a workout from the different types of 30- and 45-minute workouts. Once a workout is selected, the app “trainer” tells you exactly what you need to do, for how long, with what weight, and all the other details. If you don’t know how to do the exercise, they have instructional videos or step-by-step pictures of each and every exercise used in every workout. It’s amazing, and the workouts will definitely make you sweat! Another big plus is that your music plays through the workout so you can listen to your jams but still be able to hear the trainer.

CardMunch: 
Keeping track of business cards in an almost paperless world is getting a bit tougher. CardMunch allows you to snap a picture of a business card and store it virtually on your phone. It’s also connected to LinkedIn, so once the business card is saved it can search for the profile on LinkedIn, allowing you to be even more connected with the person. This is a great app for networking, business development, client management, or just even keeping your collection of business cards organized.

EverNote: 
I love lists. Whether it’s making a work to-do list, planning a workout, or tracking future topics to write about, lists definitely keep my life much more organized. Plus, it always feels good to scratch things off on a list and see how much you’ve accomplished! With Evernote, you can keep track of your life through recordings, notes, pictures, and categorize and organize it all. Another great thing about Evernote is that it is available on every mobile device you use, so it’s there all the time.

Mint: 
Hello to all you ballers on a budget! Mint is an awesome financial planning and management app that allows you to track your spending, set budgets, and find out when bills are due. Especially today, with credit and debit cards, keeping track of spending can get out of hand if you’re not careful. Mint will let you know if that new pair of heels you have been eyeing will either break the bank or be totally worth the money!

DinnerSpinner: 
For those of you in a time crunch or not so well-versed in the kitchen (me!), DinnerSpinner is a great app. Got only 20 minutes to whip something together before your friends come over… and you have no idea what to make? Want to spend 45 minutes or less on dinner? Plug in your ingredients (or a main protein), the dish type, and how long you want to spend on it, and presto! Recipes at your fingertips!

Know of any others?

Memphis Beer Week

Festival season is officially underway, and with two crawfish festivals already crossed off my calendar I thought it might be time for a post dedicated to the festivities this week: Memphis' First ever Beer Week! For a full list of places/activities click here.

As if Memphis in May wasn't enough to make any and everyone want to come to M-town, we now have a beer week (for MBW twitter click here), April 21-27th, ending with every beer-lovers dream, Brewfest, on the 27th.

So00O0oOooO0o0o, if you've ever wanted to visit me, 

now's the time.

And remember, the local cab number is: (901) 323-3333

Enjoy! 

 

Design Love Fest

To finish up a previous series (see here or here for a refresher), I was going to write about the winner of Bachelor, Catherine Giudici, since she too has an enviable job as a graphic designer. But, since I already devoted a post to Catherine's fabulous ombre hair, I decided a mere shout out would suffice.

Moving right along, I found another utterly amaze blogger to follow: Bri Emery. She's got not just one, but two, successful blogs that are both equally presh in their own right; so clearly she's enviable. Side note: I also think she could be a stunt double for the oh-so-glamorous Rachel Zoe, amiright?
 

 {Bri Emery, above}

 {Rachel Zoe}

The first, Design Love Fest was created out of sheer boredom and Bri's love of type and images. It has since spawned a complete graphic design and branding studio (similar to Catherine). Click here for her portfolio.

The second, Blogshop, is "where she enjoys sharing her knowledge and cultivating a strong skillset with her eager students" (aka workshops for bloggers). 

Her office makeover (click here for full post of the transition) was also featured on The Glitter Guide, another favorite of mine.

Needless to say, Bri has escaped from the monotonous 9 to 5 with pizazz and sparkle keeping her creativity in tact and becoming a successful entrepreneur in her own right.

Follow her on instagram, twitter, facebook, and pinterest to see more of her fabulicious life.

 

Coachella Chic

Okay, the title is probably an oxymoron, but oh well. Coachella crazy..? Perhaps. It's time again for Coachella, and a newly added bucket list item of mine is to attend at least once in my lifetime (I should probably start small by actually attending MusicFest in my own city, but that's a different story), if not only for the music but for the atmosphere and attire. It's one of the few places where it's acceptable, even encouraged, to look (and act) like Ke$ha. Who wouldn't want to go to that?!

Clearly, I'm not alone, as celebs have flocked to the music festival for years spawning some pretty outlandish ensembles and photographs (shout out to my fav, Kate Hudson, and her lover/baby-daddy/Muse front-man, Matthew Bellamy, who met at Coachella). I needn't say more; the proof is in the pictures. (please look carefully as literally a.ny.thing. is acceptable)

My imaginary fashion choices for Coachella is inspired by 

but not limited to the following looks:

Who's with me?!