Oh Baby!

It seems to be the time of year for baby showers. Baby stuff is always fun to shop for, but there are so many things to choose from, it's hard to pick just one thing! These are some of the many cute things that I have found:

If I ever have a little girl, she is getting these sassy little shoes from http://www.pinktaffydesigns.com/. These have to be some of the cutest booties around! Chocolate Brown with pink polka dots and bow-what a sweet accessory for a sweet baby girl-$29.99

Fashionable and functional, the Designer Diaper Wipe Box from http://www.roseberrycreekdesigns.com/ is a must have for the modern mom! Available in different designs, shown in Awning Stripe-$30.00.

I couldn't get over how adorable this bucket hat from http://www.laurennicolefashions.com/. The Pink or Navy Whale Hat was my favorite, and they come in infant and toddler sizes, $22.00.

Want to design your own burp cloth for a personalized gift? For ten dollars each, choose a pretty ribbon and ball fringe, and add a name or monogram. Matching sets are also available for $28.00 from http://www.ribbitgifts.com/ .

Pretty Photo Albums

A pretty photo album is a great gift for graduation, new baby, wedding, etc. I have lots of albums, and look through them often.

Three Hip Chicks  offer a big selection of monogrammed fabric covered albums. You can even design your own. $28.00

At http://www.personalizedgiftstop.com/, you will find this beautiful floral covered album with polka dot inside cover. Monogrammed with your choice of thread color and one initial for $30.00. Also available in Pink Stripes, holds 192 4x6 photos.

http://www.merrybelles.com/ offers these polka dot albums by The Mainstreet Collection-$14.50. Available in Hot Pink, Lime Green or Black & White. Sixteen initials available.

Look What I Got!

My beautiful key fob from Lulu And Daisy arrived, and it is beautiful! My terrible photography does not do it justice! This makes such a great gift, and it can be personalized. You should get one for yourself-there is a huge selection of key fobs and other great hand painted gifts! Thank You Laurie, you are so talented!!!

The Last Straw

Straw handbags are essential for the summer! These are a few of my favorites.

This pink and green straw bag from http://www.thepalmgifts.com/ is pretty and preppy. Monogrammed or not, this straw bag is cute! Choose a font and thread color for monogram-$40.00

Another colorful straw bag awaits at http://www.cccgifts.com/. Pretty stripes, box shape and a monogram make this bag a hit! $32.00

I thought that this Jute Straw Purse from http://www.ellabellas.com/ was really cute. Pink with cane handles and smaller size makes this a great choice when you just need to carry the basics.

Add a straw bag to your summer wardrobe!

Celebrity Gossip

I have a crazy obsession with celebrity gossip. My husband gets this glazed over look in his eye whenever I try to give him the scoop. You would thing he could at least pretend to be interested, as I do when he talks about the History Channel! Luckily, I have a friend that understands my craving for gossip, she has it too! There are, however, a few celebrities that I could do without hearing about on a daily basis. My top five list of celebrities that I am done hearing about (in no particular order, they all bug me equally):

5. Paris Hilton & Benji Madden: Okay, Paris does absolutely nothing productive in her life. She totes around tiny little puppies, and smiles for the camera. The fact that she is dating someone, not to mention the TWIN brother of her frenemy Nicole means absolutely nothing to me. Stop-I do not want to hear about what she is doing anymore!!

4. Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie: First of all, I think he went a little nuts when he divorced Jennifer Aniston for Angelina. I know that she does a lot of things for the world, but does anyone remember how disgusting she was maybe six or seven years ago? Married to Billy Bob Thornton? French kissed her brother at an awards ceremony? I could care less about their soon to be born kids, I don’t care where she will have them, I don’t care how many more they want, etc. Just go away! It’s really just a matter of time before Brad realizes it was me that he should have married all along!

3. Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen: Eat a cheeseburger, get some better clothes-enough said.

2. Tom Cruise: Before he drove his car over the cliff to crazy town, he was one of my favorites. Once he jumped on Oprah’s couch about Katie Holmes, I knew that was it for him. Now, I think that Suri is absolutely precious, and I like Katie Holmes (I was a big Dawson’s Creek Fan), but am I the only one that thinks this relationship is a little bit weird? Come back Tom, to the days of Cocktail and Risky Business, before you turned into some creepy little guy with a goofy haircut!

1. Amy Winehouse: Just yuck-there are no words-it makes me ill to look at her!


I realize this has nothing to do with gift giving, but sometimes, you just have to get things off of your chest!

Tags for your bags

So there you are, at baggage claim, watching look alike bags spin around on a carousel, hoping yours is there. I always panic when I don't see mine immediately. You can set your apart from the others by attaching one of these luggage tags to your bag!

These big, colorful monogrammed tags from Girly Twirly would make a great addition to your luggage. Available in many designs, with one to three initials-$15.00. The reverse side holds your business card or an information card.

A Madras Luggage Tag? Fabulous! (Sorry, too many Orbit Gum Commercials!) Set of two tags with up to 4 lines of text. From The Stationery Studio. $18

Need a guy friendly luggage tag? Try this Crew Stripe Tag from Top It off Accessories $15.99. Also available in other styles.

Always know which bag is yours!

Bears?

So i'm looking at our local news website last night, when I see this picture:



Yes, this is a BEAR, walking through a NEIGHBORHOOD that connects to mine! What in the world? I feel sorry for the guy, because he's obviously lost and maybe scared. The funny part is that the news article stated that we should not approach the bear should we come across it! Don't worry, I will have fainted at that point considering i'm not the most outdoorsy person ever, and have only seen a bear at the zoo! That warning kind of scares me, because that means that someone at some point tried to approach a bear. Wow, not me, they are adorable, but i'm guessing they don't have the personality of Yogi and Boo-Boo! Now this bear is on the loose-Yikes! Well, if you don't hear from me for a while, you will know what happened! I will certainly let you know if/when they catch this wild animal roaming the streets of suburbia! If you would like to read more: http://www.wral.com/ search for "bear sighting."

Throw In The Towel!

There's just something special about a nice hand towel or bath towel in the bathroom. These particular towels would make nice gifts by themselves, or with a nice set of guest soaps (You know, the ones your mom kept in the bathroom, but you couldn't use them!).

The Preppy Princess (http://www.preppyprincess.com/) has a nice set of two fingertip towels with pink ribbon at the bottom featuring bright green whales. $18.00 for the set.

Take a look at these cute towels from http://www.monogrammedgiftsandmore.com/. The towel is monogrammed with a pink and green letter, available in bath size ($23.00) or hand towel ($13.00). On a side note, she is very close to where I grew up in Richmond, VA, so she must be cool!

If you're into ribbon, take a look at this towel set from http://www.preppyparade.com/. The set includes on bath towel and one hand towel with monogram, your choice of font, and your choice of one of their pretty ribbons-$36.00.

Linens make great gifts-especially pretty ones like these!

Belt It Out

A belt isn't always worn around your waist-take a look at this:

File this under"Why didn't I think of that?." The Candle Belt is a great idea, and it makes a unique gift! From http://www.candlebelts.com/. I like the Apple Green and Pink Scroll-$22.00. The candle is included. Even your candle can have accessories now!

How cute is this Hot Pink Belt Bag? Choose your bag size (Small-Medium-Large), and your belt from Girly Twirly. The bag handles are available in many different colors as well! Starting at $29.95-SO CUTE!

And now, a belt made for your waist. I thought the company name was so cute, I had to add it! http://www.bugfacebelts.com/ (tell me that doesn't make you smile!), has a selection of belts, bags and hats that you should see! This is the Jessica Belt (Good Name), and it is $28.00. It has the cute little Bug Face tag on it, and it's reversible!

Saturday Spotlight: Three Paper Pigs

I came across a link to http://www.threepaperpigs.com/ and loved their website! They have invitations-bridal shower, party, baby shower, etc., moving announcements and much more! These were my three favorites:

The set of five Floral Motif magnet set-$9.95. You can always use pretty magnets on the fridge!

Since i'm always taking notes of sites to look at, etc., I love pretty notepads. The Polka Dot Bustier Notepad is my favorite-$8.50. The heading can be personalized for an additional $5.00.

I am drooling over these Blue/Pink Mums Personalized Notes. Set of 10 with envelopes-$18.00. These would make a beautiful gift!

Take a look at their website, you are sure to find a great gift!

Lunch Break

Toting lunch in a brown bag is fine, but these lunch totes will put the fun back into lunchtime!

The "Let's Do Lunch" Pink Paisley lunch tote is so pretty! Find it at http://www.jennaclaire.com/ $30.00. Also available in Surf & Sand Paisley, and Woodstock Floral.

I found another colorful lunch tote at  It's A Girly World $15.99/. It includes a front outside pouch and velcro to hold your drink inside. Available in nine different designs. Shown in Navy Stripe.

And, back to two of my favorite colors-lime and hot pink! The Hot Pink Daisy Monogrammed Lunch Tote from http://www.threehipchicks.com/ is my favorite! The daisy handle and monogram sold it for me! $22.00 Available in many other colors.

Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle

It's time to "go green" friends, every little bit helps.

These Scout Bags are so cool. The are available in many different sizes and patterns, and are apparently tough as nails. Use for your groceries, shopping, or just toting your stuff. This bag is from http://www.pineandivy.com/ size small-$21.98

http://www.reuseablebags.com/ is a neat website for finding bags for all kinds of uses. I like the "Betty" and "Dottie" cotton totes by happybags. Perfect for groceries-$19.95

I kept hearing about Envirosax bags, and decided to take a look. These are great-with a good selection of patterns and reasonably priced at $8.50 each, or a pouch of 5 for $37.95 at http://www.thegreenloop.com/.

Why not recycle and look cool doing it?

Wrap It Up

During the summer, I like having a bath wrap instead of a robe since it gets so hot. These are the wraps that I would love to have.

A little bit wrap dress, a little bit bath wrap! How cozy would this be to slip on after a bath? The wrap is 100% cotton with adjustable straps-www.bathrobeshoppe.com-$48.00.

Bright and bold describe this Velour Terrycloth wrap from http://www.sleepyheads.com/. The straps are removable, one size fits most-$38.95

If you haven't felt anything made of chenille "minky dot" fabric, you need to ASAP! It is so soft and comfy. This wrap from http://www.fancystitchesonline.com/ comes in Purple, Hot Pink, Turquoise, Yellow, White and Chocolate. They can be monogrammed using a large selection of fonts and thread colors-$36.95

Check This Out

First, go to Three Designing Women and explore! They have the coolest stamps and embossers. Put your initials, name, address, anything on your personal stamp! Oh, but that's not all. They have a line of Instampables which include notecards, wine tags, gift tags, list pads, calling cards and announcements. They each have a space for your stamp! What an amazing idea!!! Go to the "Find A Store" link to find a retailer near you, or an online retailer. This would make a very special gift!

Happy Anniversary

Two years ago today, I married my best friend!

Packing Pretty

Packing can be a real pain. These bags are so pretty-as well as functional, and would make a great gift for a traveler.

My shoes end up in a Target bag in my suitcase most of the time! I really need to upgrade to this. Great for travel or toting, this shoe bag is available in double, or a pair of single bags. The patterns are so fun-a must see! http://www.bagswithstyle.com-$39.00/

Need a place for that wet bikini on the way home from the pool or beach? Pick this waterproof lined zipper bikini bag from http://www.kookybycaron.com-$20.00/. This bag is available in fun and funky fabrics!

Feel a little uncomfortable about airport security ogling your unmentionables? Keep them in this glamorous lingerie bag from http://www.lapinvilardi.com-$28.00/. Beautiful pink and green satin with tie closure. Keep your lingerie private!

Now for the guys-the Travel Basics Men set from http://www.packhappy.com/ contains three bags: undergarments, shoes and laundry. Very cute and helpful-$45.00

Take the pain out of packing!

Saturday Spotlight: Pink Daisy Papers

Take a look at Pink Daisy Paper. Choose your paper color, ribbon color and monogram/saying for your notepad. The paper colors are bright and cheery, and the ribbons are so cute. You can find a retailer near you to purchase, or visit: http://www.surcie.com/, http://www.poshposhdesigns.com/, or http://www.provence-gifts.com/ to get yours-$16.00. Perfect for any occasion! Go take a look!

For Your Feet

Summer is right around the corner-time for flip flops and sandals-after a pedicure of course! Take a look at these cute shoes that I found:

I fell in love with these monogrammed Fabric Mules from Morgan Company. They are available in a wide selection of designs (my favorite is "Passionfruit"). The shoes come in whole sizes. Aren't they cute?

Eliza B has some fabulous flip flops! These are the Light Navy Grosgrain Ribbons for $48.00. You choose the type of sole you would like (some are extra). I just love the colors on this pair!

These flip flops are really fun. From Flip Flop Style, these Yellow Box Jersey Pink Plaid flops are prefect for summer! Enjoy a large selection of colors and designs on this site! $25.95

Sporty & Preppy

I am not an athlete, however, if I knew the accessories were so cute I would have taken up a sport.

I found this Blue Seersucker Tennis Racquet Cover from Club Contessa, and it makes me want to buy a racquet. It holds two racquets, has a zippered pocket, and a shoulder strap. It can also be monogrammed! $100.00 + 7.00 for monogram. Take a look at the other pretty covers too! Know a golfer? Pick a set of four golf head covers like these from Ame and Lulu. The set is $100.00 + 15.00 for monogram.

Or pick up a sleeve of these Girly Golf Balls from http://www.sassygolfballs.com/ for $10.00. Also available in Beach, Sport or Wine theme. Such a cute golf gift!