Oh, Deer

This post has been a long time coming, but I held off until I could give you the most bang for your buck (pun intended), so to speak. I noticed that Taylor Sterling was styling her home office/nursery with one of these precious ceramic deers (seen here and here), and didn't think much else of it. Until Christmas. 

My wonderful aunt, Mary Jane, had been paying attention to how much I loved Glitter Guide and Taylor, and she did her homework for a perfect Christmas gift: the coveted deer head. 

Now, the story goes that she "accidentally clicked the 'order' button twice" but either way, we all got deer heads for the holidays -- guys included. This seemed like it might be tricky, since not everyone was quite sure how to use theirs, but it turned out to be a lesson in creativity. A "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" type thing. 

If you follow me on instagram, you might have noticed that my Aunt used hers as part of her Christmas decor, complete with Peabody the Elf perched atop its antlers for optimal "watching" capabilities.

I use mine to hold and display my jewelry, instead of leaving it in a giant mess on my counter. It's proven to be very handy and quite cute, in my opinion. 

JT has his standing guard atop his china cabinet to add a bit of modern/fun manliness to an otherwise semi-girly piece of furniture (in that it holds fine china, but one look at the bar cart full of whiskey and you know, without a doubt, it's a man's dining room). And Emily plans to use hers in a book shelf for Bebe T's nursery incorporating hues of blue, cream and white. Adorable!

I love these little things so much, I'm contemplating reasons/places I could put these fun friends (click here, here, here, here or here for the fun friends I'm talking about). And bonus, these cuties are on sale currently. So pick up one (or three) of these stellar stags and unleash your creativity of where and how you can use yours.

Tone It Up Tuesday

It's not exactly a secret that I have been attempting a healthier lifestyle (even before the new year when it seems like everyone is). But sometimes (okay...often) I need a little extra motivation to get out of my cozy, plush bed and brave the arctic temps to warm up my car and head to the gym to get my fitness on. 

I honestly find motivation in the strangest yet simplest places, and wanted to share a few with y'all (in case you're a mere mortal like me, and healthy/fit life is a constant battle of not eating the cinnamon chips or pack of starburst but still wanting that adorable bathing suit that's on sale).

The Bella Twins:
I admit it, I fully enjoy Total Divas, and not only to I watch it faithfully... I use their instagrams (Nikki's here and Brie's here) to keep me motivated. See here, here, here, here, or here for motivational images of them to inspire you. It's easier to do 5 more minutes on the stair master when you know Nikki is essentially squatting with the weight on a semi-truck on her back. At least for me anyway...

The Tone It Up/Toned Up girls:
Special thanks to Merebear for telling me about them b/c now that Total Divas is on hiatus, I need some female fitness motivation (not the scary kind that is what I tend to think weight training does/not at all what I want my end result to be [for example: this terrifying image]). Katrina and Karena have a successful web-series turned Bravo tv show where they help normal average ladies feel good about themselves and set fitness goals -- all while being fabulously quirky much like Mere and me (as in they text each other from the same apartment to tell each other night when they already said it 5 seconds ago anyway... guilty as charged). Their instas are full on motivation (examples here, here, here, and here) to eat a spinach salad instead of the above mentioned bag of starbursts (again, guilty as charged).

So, with the help of these motivators, I'm finding it a little easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle instead of chasing a number on a scale or feeling bad about a glass of wine after work.

Any other fitness role models y'all have out there?? I'm always looking for others.

folks dressed up like eskimos

In preparation for the festivities this past weekend, I allowed myself to swing by Old Navy to see if I could find any seasonal steals (I must admit, all of the posts from A Piece of Toast and Glitter Guide about Old Navy sales tipped me off). To my delight, I found 2 pairs of jeans, and 3 tops and only spent a little over $100 total. How fabulous is that?!

One of my finds was this Kelly green monogram sweater. I'm in love. It's comfy cozy, soft, and oh so cute. I was a bigger fan of the color scheme for the "S" sweater ( a camel sweater with red letter), but was happy they carried my initial at all (they only have about 5 to choose from... so I'm sorry in advance if your name or last name isn't on of those chosen letters [M, J, S, A, or  L]). Even the cashier noted, "Lucky you-- we had your letter!"

But in the chance they don't, don't fret. I promise your trip won't be in vain. From sparkly flats and wool winter coats to dressy flannel (I paired this flannel shirt with my white columbia vest, jeans, and Minnetonka moccasins to run errands Saturday morning) and holiday blouses (I wore this one to the Peabody and Majestic this weekend), I'm sure you'll walk away with something. I highly recommend a trip if you're looking for a little last minute stocking stuffer for yourself or a loved one. 

Juice: Jewel or Junk?

In an attempt to be uber healthy in 2013, I've been going to Adventure Boot Camp, running, ellipticizing, and trying to eat the good ole 80/20 rule (supposedly followed by Selena Gomez and the like), and now I've stumbled upon juice cleanses (specifically Suja Cleanses).

Ever the fad chaser, I've fallen prey to an instagram from Jef Holm (of Emily's season [see yesterday's post] of the Bachelorette), in which he says he's done the 3-day cleanse and is going to try the 5-day cleanse. After reading the website, I'm sufficiently intrigued and want to try either a one or three-day cleanse in the near future (if and when I do I'll be sure to let you know the results).

I'm curious to see firsthand what all of the hype is about, but I'm tempted to think "good enough for Gwyneth and Kate Hudson; good enough for me." 

 Anyone ever tried it?