With a Strawberry on Top

When I was living in Gainesville, I realized I had developed a habit when stress became too overwhelming. I baked.  My roommate was always able to tell when I was stressed out because there would be a delicious double layer red velvet  or pineapple upside down cake sitting on our kitchen counter. After a long hectic week, I found my coworker’s birthday as the perfect opportunity to relieve some stress and do something nice. Voila! The strawberry cupcake, really simple and looks adorable. Guranteed to put anyone in a great mood.

Lacey Sunday Nail Art

This weekend was surprisingly eventful and relaxing. Saturday I attended an 80s themed birthday party where I rocked the white socks and black loafers Jackson style. Sunday was a nice relaxing day by the pool and of course, nail art! This lace pattern is one of my favorite designs to use. It may sound silly but beautifully designed nails gives my Mondays a little bit of excitement that gets me through the day.

80s Style Inspiration

So I just found out my neighbor is having a surprise party in which the theme is one of my all time favorite, 80s! This is a great opportunity to round up some killer styles that ruled the decade and reminisce on those classic films like Pretty in Pink.

Colorful Tip Nail Art

The past few Sundays have been unintentionally dedicated to trying different nail art. Last Sunday I tried the above design and it seemed to be a crowd favorite. I was so excited to find out Fashionista.com posted my photo to their nail art section, so check it out! I just love the pastel tips against the neutral nail, very feminine and Spring appropriate! One of my favorite designs right now are polka dot nails. Tomorrow, I’m excited to try something different. I’m always up for suggestions 🙂 Have a great weekend and stay tuned tomorrow for some more adorable nail art.

 

Pinterest

Ever since my friends got me addicted to Pinterest last year, that’s all I have been hearing about. I’m excited to hear that brands, designers and small businesses are starting to embrace this unique site. Recently I’ve been pinning inspirations for home design.  Now that I’ve graduated, I’m looking forward to buying my own humble abode. There’s still some time until I can settle into my own place but I’m a big planner so I thought it would be wise to start brain storming now. I’m starting completely from scratch, from the furniture to the silverware, so I’ve got a lot of work to do. Pinterest will be an important tool in organizing my ideas. I’ve already created a board for bedding and wall decor, but many many more will follow. I think this is going to be so much fun! Pinterest is helping me build my first home.
I encourage you to follow me on Pinterest and like my posts to help me decide what products, colors and patterns to choose for my new place. I will gladly follow back.

Nail Art

Here’s a little dose of fancy to start off the week. After eight long days of work, I finally had some time to pamper myself. Nail art is one of my favorite things to do when I want to wind down. I’ve seen dozens of tutorials and always thought it was too complicated to create neat designs. However, after one trip to the cosmetic store, I found out that with the right tools, anything is possible. In fact, I think that goes for all things in life =)

Have a wonderful week!

{ Revlon Peachy }

Valentine’s Day Gifts

Usually I’m really excited for Valentine’s day, especially since my birthday is the day before. There is something about the abundance of chocolate and red hearts that gets my all giddy. These past few years however, I haven’t been excited for V day at all. It just seems to be another thing I have to think about. But this year I’m doing something different, I’m not going all out on a Valentine’s day gift but instead getting my Valentine something simple. There’s so much stress over ‘the gift’ that people forget what it’s really about, love.

While brainstorming my simple yet sweet gift idea, I came up with a list of things that I think would make anyone happy.

{For her: A new notebook with a little something written by you inside telling her how much you love her. }

{ For him & her: A personalized coupon book that you can make yourself to say anything you want. Be creative ; ) with it. }

{ For him & her: Scandal Body Massage Oil & Candle. Who would turn down a back rub, seriously? }

{ For him: a personalized photo frame for his nightstand or desk. }

{ For her & him: a photo collage is always a unique & fun gift that’s very personal. Plus its always so fun looking back at all the good times. }

{ For him & her: I don’t care how cliche it is, chocolate for any occasion is great, and you can’t go wrong with Lindor Truffles! }

{For him & her: My personal favorite, homemade chocolate covered strawberries, while spending quality time together }

Thursday Obsession

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately at home relaxing, which has given me a chance to do things I really enjoy, like listen to music and catch up with TV shows.

My current music obsession is M83, specifically this amazing song, Midnight City! The video is kind of creepy but I can’t stop listening to it.

 

My current TV show obsession is Jane by Design on abc family. It is centered on a high school girl juggling her life as a teenager, and the life of an assistant to a major design house director. There’s fashion, there’s photo shoots, and there’s cute awkward love triangles, I’m hooked already {they had me at the first outfit}. Highly recommend this show!

On abc family Tuesdays @ 9/8c

When Navy meets Tangerine

Bee of Design's Blog

Blue has always drawn my eye. There is something about the calm richness of the hue that makes me so happy. Navy in particular. Sophisticated yet unexpected. It looks good on everyone and is a great neutral alternative to my normal gray.

My resurgence for the love of navy came from the latest addition of Elle Decor ‘trend alert‘. Mixing their forecast with Pantone’s color of the year Tangerine is a quite amazing mix of color. Though I don’t think I could pull off an outfit out of the orange, I would indeed like to try little pops of it in my nails or a luxurious snake-skin bangles.

But why stop at fashion? It looks smashing on the walls and sofas as well. This color combo just might be a game changer for me.

blazer, shift dress, navy purse, nail polish, bangles, velvet pumps

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Beauty Lesson From a Chihuahua

I’m so excited to share with you the newest joy that has been brought into my life. Two days ago, my family and I adopted a six month old chihuahua from Friends Forever. It’s actually a funny story. My sister was doing her volunteer hours at a pet store though her school’s vet program.  My mom had to drop by to sign some paperwork for my sister. That’s when she saw the chihuahua and it was love at first sight. I think it’s safe to say that was the case for all of us. Funny, no one woke up that morning expecting to take a dog home.

Her name was Ella and she was found inside a hoarder’s house with 23 other dogs in dirty, unlivable conditions. She was completely bald, probably due to mange, and was sadly malnourished. I’m so glad we decided to adopt Ella and give her the love and care she deserves. { Her new name is undecided }

If you really look at her I doubt she’s what you would call a beautiful dog, but I think she’s so ugly, it’s adorable. Even though she’s semi-bald, that’s what makes her lovable. The whole situation got me thinking about beauty and perfection. I think she’s so freakin cute because she isn’t perfect. But it seems like we are always expected to strive for physical perfection, especially women (we’re not all like Adriana Lima, sheesh!). But I’ve come to realize there is nothing wrong with imperfection,  it’s way more interesting! So adopting poor little Ella has taught me a valuable lesson I was too stubborn to accept before. We shouldn’t work towards being perfect. Instead be the best version of you that you can be. That’s what will make you stand out, not pretending to be something you’re not. Be comfortable in your own skin, even if it is hairless, like Ella’s.

{ On another note, I need some help with names. My family is split 50/50 two names. The boys want Twiggy and the girls want Lily. What do you think? Or do you have any other suggestions that may break the tie?? }