Keeping Calm & Carrying On

Window Displays, Clothes, and Everything in Between

Happy Friday friends! Hope you're having a great end to your work-week! I know I've shared one of my favorite clothing stores here (Francesca's), and today I have another one.

If you don't have an Anthropologie in your area you are seriously missing out. Sorry to break it to you, but if you are the creative type you're missing all of this awesome inspiration they have to offer: window displays, housewares, clothing, inspirational books (that have inspired several of my mini album workshops actually), and so much more!

On a recent trip to the Third Ward (where my local Anthropologie is) I fell in love with this shelf display of Mason jars splattered with paint and filed with tulips! I just loved the splash of color against the wooden shelf! I think they are going to inspire a fun summer centerpiece for our dining room table. Should be easy enough, don't you think!?

One thing about Anthropologie that makes me kind of sad is that I can't register there for my wedding. If I had a wish upon a star I wish I could register for all their eclectic mix of bowls, plates, glasses and kitchen-wares. Everything is so pretty and mixes and matches to make beautiful, unique collections. 

I often wish I had "a million bux" to spend in this store. I just love it, the catalog, the website. Everything.

You're the Frosting to my Cupcake!

omg. seriously. best. cupcakes. ever. made:

Gigi's Cupcakes. 

Gigi's has a daily menu, similar to local ice cream shops, featuring different "flavored" cupcakes each day of the week. 

Located just a couple miles from Bella Blvd's door step, it's hard to resist heading over there for a Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake, or my other favorite, Midnight Magic....

A cupcake with just as much frosting as there is cake, is a match made in heaven for me.

Not to mention, the shop in Wauwatosa is adorable and the peeps there are so nice.

Aren't they just so pretty?

You can sit with a friend and enjoy them there or take them home or gift them in these sweet little boxes.

If I was Oprah, I would absolutely, definitely, hands-down give these away to everyone in my audience for free as one of my Favorite things! Happy Friday!

Becuase I know Justin's Reading...

Today's Friday Favorites is about some of my favorite friends:

Justin and Jenna

Justin reads my blog. Come on now...isn't that the sweetest thing ever?! (I don't even think my own Steven visits this blog!)

Not too long ago Justin celebrated his official one-year-on with a local Fire Department. It was great to meet some of his work friends and congratulate him on all his hard work and determination. Steven and I are so happy for him and his success.

Jenna organized and threw him a fun party with delish food and plenty of friends!

(That's Steven's brother Dan----he always finds a way to wreck a photo!) argh.

A Favorite Food

TGIF?! Can you please it's Friday already?! Craziness. Well today's post is a mix between these two:

and also

because my Friday Favorite is a scrum-dilly (that's slang for delicious by the way) little snack I eat probably more than 2 times a week:

Edamame Soy Beans.

Steamed. In a Bag. Bought at Target. Delicious. 

(that's my puppy begging for the beans-yes he loves them too, my niece Lauren trying them out...while I much away in the background). 

I first tried Edamame at Fujiyama Japanese Hibachi steakhouse as an appetizer. I fell in love, and quickly began trying out the options from local grocery stores. My favorite is from Target's grocery aisles. The Edamame comes in a steam-able bag---only microwave for 3.5 minutes, drain the extra water and whala!

They are really love in calories and make for a great snack. Just watch how much salt you add, and you're golden! Edamame helps me stay on track while I'm counting calories and trying to stay fit. I love love love them.  There's nothing like a healthy, filling snack. (And it's even green too!)

Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

Favorites: Clinique

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of make-up. I never really have worn all that much. I can't tell you any other reason why besides that it takes too much time & costs too much money. I try to be a relatively low-maintenance girlie girl. (I said, I try!). But, what does make my list of Friday Favorites is 

Clinique Under Eye Concealer & All About Eyes

So, these are really the only things I use and/or wear in addition to eyeliner. That bottle on the left is Clinique's Eye Make-Up Remover. OMG it's totally awesome and gentle and soft on my skin. I use a make-up pad and just a bit to remove my eye make-up each night before bed.

This is Clinique's All About Eyes. It's a cream-based product that comes in this little pod. Do you wake up with puffy eyes in the morning? I often do, especially when traveling, because of the altitude changes. Well, a little dip & blending of this and within 40 minutes I'm golden! Back to normal! It's so soft and smooth, almost milky. I love it. Seriously.

This is Clinique's Under Eye Airbrush Concealer. MY MOST FAVORITE-NEVER-LEAVE-THE-HOUSE-WITHOUT make-up piece. As I age (dare I say it) the dark shadows under my eyes are becoming more and more apparent. My older sister introduced me to this stuff back in high school, and by now I could have bought stock in it! It's wonderful and comes in 3 different shades depending on your skin-tone. (I think I'm medium.) Because I don't wear foundation this is a great substitute for certain areas, most specifically under eyes.

This is how it works. Make sure your face is clean and dry. Then dab the concealer on under your eyes. (I also add some to my eyelids for my eye shadow base when needed).

Then with a sponge or your finger - I just use my finger because it's not that oily - dab it in and blend.

(don't mind the wrinkles making permanent formations in my forehead---that's for another post---oh geez). Like I said this is my favorite. I stress when it's not in my purse.

On days when I wear no make-up at all, I put this on. Only this. It "lifts" and brightens the face. You can notice it in several photos---which is what helps me pay attention to if I'm applying too much or too little. Look closely here....

Without any eyeliner it helps brighten your eyes! Just love it. You can find it here at Clinique, or I like to purchase it at my local Macy's or Boston Store Clinique counters.

Happy Friday! What are you doing this weekend?

New Feature!

Welcome to the first edition of Friday Favorites, where I can't wait to pretend I'm Oprah & share with you some of my favorite things including people, places, foods and so much more! I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to give it all away like Oprah (but if you Buy some More Bella maybe someday I'll be able to afford toe! he hee! Just a joke-no pressure. ha) 

Have you heard of or been to Francesca's Collections?

Seriously though, these sweet little boutiques offer darling clothes, accessories, shoes, super fun little gifts and super awesome deals too!

(Photo Credit: from Francesca's homepage)

I've been shopping at Francesca's for a couple years now, since they are popping up in our local malls (Bayshore, Mayfair and Brookfield Square too). Here's the thing: you know when you find a store that has clothes that fit you really well that you have to buy the same shirt in 5 different colors? Well, that's me at Francesca's but with 

DRESSES!

I {HEART} Francesca's dresses. It's kind of sick. Seriously. I don't even have to try them on anymore because I know their style and fit and that it works for me. Plus, 90% of the time I'm way more comfortable in a dress than regular clothes. Check out my dress rack at home:

The dress quality is great. The prices are even better (usually less than $40 each) and get this....several times a year Francesca's offers either 30% off your entire purchase or BOGO on dresses. Life doesn't get much better!

Some might call me sick, but I say their my favorites!

From funky and fancy to vintage and casual. You can find it all at Francesca's. They have gift cards too and a super fun blog that keeps you up to date on the turnover in the store and the latest trends! 

Do you love dresses like me? What are some of your favorite places to buy them?

Update: I thought you Might want to Know...

I've got to keep you on your feet! And, as a creative person, change is good. It rejuvenates my mind and soul & gets me excited! It's definitely a creative thing.

Lately, I've been super inspired finding new blogs & creative ideas. I thought to myself, 

"self, it's time to refresh the blog with some new features."

Blogs are personal, right? No matter how you spin it I am me--and "ME" is Personal. Sentimental. Emotional. That's why I want to make this blog "more me". Does that make any sense or am I rambling?? I'm not saying I'm going to be crying telling you my entire life story & daily dramas, but I do want to share more about who I am, my life and interests (including scrapbooking of course, but not limited to.) 

With all that said I've come up with some new features you'll start to see around here on a regular basis:

I'll explain a little bit more about each feature as they come up...and every single week won't be the same....but if there is wedding stuff....it will appear on a wednesday. These features are also now in the "categories cloud" on the sidebar if you ever want to search for posts tagged specifically. 

As usual I'll be including random DIY's, Single & double page scrapbooking layouts, health & fitness updates and more! If there's every anything you'd like to see around here, be sure to email me or leave suggestions below by entering a comment.

Welcome to a breath of fresh air around here ;)

And last but not least, it's time to announce the randomly chosen winner from Thursdays Sophisticates Chipboard Giveaway!

Congratulations to Sandi Pressley who wrote, "

Love the fun quilt feel this layout has. I love Bella Blvd. and appreciate the chance to win some goodies."

Be sure to email me with your mailing address and I'll ship you the goodies right away!

Friday Favorites

First off, thank you for all the congrats! Steven surprised the snot out of me when he proposed, believe it or not! After six years of dating we're finally going to "do this!" I'll be sharing plenty  of wedding-related fun as time goes on.....but....for now....

I'm also thinking about making  "Friday Favorites"  a new feature around here where I can share favorites of all kinds (scrapbooking supplies, stores, color schemes, food, etc.) What do you think? Would you be interested....or bored? Let me know in the comment below, okay?

So today my favorites include some of my brand new products with Bella Blvd. I've manufactureed these totally stinkin' cute Designer Tapes. The come in these cute everyday patterns and of course match all the Bella Blvd color palettes!

I was able to take some product shots finally today...love them! Don't they look delicious?! They will all be available in March at your LSS...but guess what?! You can win them! For Free .... by leaving a comment over here on the Bella Blog where there's some fun inspriation featuring the tapes too as part of the Sneak Peek Week(s) and Reveals!

Just one more Yumminess that I can't resist. My new buttons!

Have you noticed how popular wood is becoming in scrapbooking? I've been buying wood elements like banner, alphas, mini albums and more! These pretty pretty plastic and wood buttons are the perfect combination of color and soft wood texture! Again, you can win them for free by leaving a comment on this post over at Bella! 

So....what do you think of Friday Favorites? Maybe I call it Friday Yumminess instead....???

I'm headed to CHA today....then Italy after that....I'll try to be in touch around here as much as I possibly can....ciao ciao for now my peeps!

Happy Friday!