Anniversary

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Excited for ShoeMint!

Before I started selling Stella & Dot, I was majorly obsessed with Kate Bosworth's online jewelry collection, JewelMint.  It's a monthly jewelry club that introduces new pieces each month, and you can either chose one piece (or more), skip the month and keep a credit for a piece of jewelry, or skip the month and your account isn't charged.  And the fun part is, you take a style quiz and they recommend pieces to you according to your style profile.  The more you buy, the better the site knows your style.  I probably have 15 pieces from JewelMint, no joke, and I still love them all.  I've recently reintroduced them to my wardrobe and have been mixing JewelMint in with my S&D...I couldn't neglect it for too long.  Then StyleMint came along.  It's the same idea, but touted by the Olsen twins, and they sell super soft and perfectly slouchy t-shirts.  Gotta love that.  This month introduced us to BeautyMint, a Jessica Simpson endorsed skincare line, which I'm not in to...I'm very picky about skin care, and Jessica already let me down with ProActiv, so no thanks.  However, I believe the best is yet to come...SHOEMINT!  Designed by the ever so stylish Rachel Bilson and her stylist Nicole Chavez along with Steve Madden, due for release later this month.  YES PLEASE!  I absolutely cannot wait!  The price is a little higher ($79.99), but that combined with the fact that Steve Madden is on board leads me to believe this will be more of a department store quality shoe than the other shoe of the month clubs.  (I'm talking to you and your cheap shoes, justfab.com.)  I mean, how awesome are these babies?
And how fabulous is Rachel Bilson?  I've loved and followed her ever since her days on The O.C., and now I love reading her monthly column in InStyle magazine and watching her on Hart of Dixie. (So cute.)  The only other sneak peek I've seen of ShoeMint is Rachel wearing these on a few appearances:
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited, and I think you should be too.  A lot of people think these clubs are a scam, but honestly, I've been a JewelMint member for over a year, and they send you emails at the first of each month, and then another reminder before your deadline to decline a month, so it's not that hard to keep up with.  Plus, I set a reminder on my phone to either buy or cancel that month just in case.  So you have nothing to lose!  And you can cancel your membership at anytime.  But why would you want to?  You can sign up for pre-launch gifts and guaranteed access to the limited debut collection by clicking here.

Also, in case your curious, you can check out Jewelmint here and StyleMint here.

Happy shopping!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Meatless Monday

I'm a subscriber to Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly newsletter, GOOP.  (Can anyone tell me why it's called GOOP?  What the heck does that mean?)  Anyways, Gwyn seems to know what's happening, and it's fun to read her newsletter even though it seldom relates to my life at all.  For example, there was not a single thing her in holiday gift guide that I could either A)-afford to give or B)-could give to a loved one and keep a straight face.  (Patches that can be sewn into shirts that say "Be Optimistic" were suggested as an awesome gift for your husband!?)  But it's fun to read the musings of one of the richest women in Hollywood, (or should I say London?) and a girl can dream right?  However, it was from GOOP that I learned about Meatless Mondays, and I must say, I'm intrigued.

Did you know that it is estimated that one-fifth of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the meat industry?  (That's more than transportation!)  And that water needs for livestock are tremendous-1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water per single pound of beef!  Or that high intake of red and processed meat increases the risk of type 2 diabetes?  Or that studies show that high intake of fresh fruits and vegetables may reduce cancer risks?  These are just some of the reasons to consider going meatless on Mondays.  (Read more here.)  If people across the globe chose to eat meatless meals once a week, we can hopefully see less impact from the meet industry on our environment, as well as on our health. 

So yeah, I'm giving it a shot.  And no, I'm not turning PETA on you-I still respect the tradition and sport of hunting, and I still love a juicy burger.  If you don't like that, please send you complaints to thatsmyopinion@getoverit.com. But I don't see why going meat free just once a week would hurt. I planned a lovely dinner tonight of butternut squash ravioli and a salad.  However, while eating leftover Canadian Bacon pizza for lunch I realized I kind of screwed that up.  But I'm starting small I guess!  I'm probably the only person in Texas who's even heard of Meat Free Mondays, more or less considering subscribing to it.  But I consider my responsibility for my husband's health a lot when planning our meals, and while he's a man who never saw a steak he didn't like, that's clearly not what's best for him all the time.  And I've been thinking a lot more lately about what I can do in my own small way to help our environment.  What do you think, am I crazy?  Or will you go meatless tonight too?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

An Ode to Coffee

Source: etsy.com via Tami on Pinterest


The absolute worst part about moving to this town is the fact that there is not a single coffee shop within an hours drive. It’s tragic really. We have a Keurig that we love and adore, but sometimes I just want to have the comfort of really, really yummy coffee that I didn’t have to make. Or a latte. The Keurig is not an espresso machine people. I even tried the iced coffee K-Cups, but I dunno…I’m not loving them. Too watery. Some things just can’t be substituted. Okay, so we do have a McDonald’s, and I have been known to stop there on occasion to get an iced coffee or even splurge and get a latte. And it’s pretty good. But it’s not the same. This morning we went to good old Mickey D’s so I could sample their new peppermint mocha, and it was indeed tasty.


 But here’s my criteria for a good premium coffee drink. It has to either A-Have so much caffeine in it that you instantly feel that tingly buzz in your head, a la Starbucks or B-be made with really good quality coffee. There were a few local coffee shops in Corpus that used amazing, sometimes organic, coffee, and it was so smooth and flavorful…something I’ve never been able to replicate. (If you are ever in Corpus Christi, check out Grounded on the Island, Aqua Java or Stingers.) Anyone can add a drop of coffee flavored something into some sweetened milk and call it a latte. (Ahem, BURGER KING! Gross.) But McDonald’s coffee drinks don’t satisfy either of the good coffee criteria.


So what’s a girl to do? Well, the gals over at Junk Gypsy led me to this amazing iced coffee recipe from the Pioneer Woman, and it’s pretty dang good. Half and half is a must…there’s no way I would ruin that concoction with 2%. It really does make a dang good iced coffee. The problem is, it’s a huge pain in the butt to make. But very very worth it.  I've been wondering lately if you could do virtually the same thing on a smaller scale with a French Press.  Google says yup, sure can.  I'll need to invest in one of those thing-a-ma-jabbers.

Yesterday I stumbled across this announcement on the Keurig website.

Starting in December, Starbucks will make K-Cups! So it still isn’t a latte, but maybe it will bring hope to my bleak existence on those mornings when all I really want in the world is to drive through a Starbucks on my way to work. Because a life without good coffee is no life to live.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

JOEY


Last weekend we went to a NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway with my brother and sister in law and another fun couple, Jeremiah and Erica.  Ben has been a fan for years, but I'm much newer to the sport and therefore less enthusiastic.  It was my first time at a NASCAR race, and I must say I had a good time!  The race seemed so much easier for me understand when I was actually there.  There was a lot more action to watch too...you can switch from watching the leader to your favorite driver to any interesting chases going on without waiting for the TV camera to change.  Also, it's such a sensory experience...it's so LOUD and the smell of fumes is so STRONG and you can feel the weather and understand how it must effect the race.  Long story short, it was a blast and I would go back for sure!

My favorite driver is Joey Logano.  As someone who's not a hardcore NASCAR fan, Joey may not seem like the obvious choice for a favorite driver.  However, Joey and I have a history.  The first time I watched a NASCAR race with Ben while we were dating was also young Joey's first race in the "big leagues."  I thought it was cool to get to see an 18 year old kid experience that, so I decided then and there that Joey would be my driver, since we started "together."  Since then he's had a pretty steady career, and I've always rooted for him on TV.  Of course, going to a live race and sporting your driver's number intensifies your fan-dome, so at the race on Sunday I was in a Joey frenzy. 


 Joey's car engine failed in the middle of the race, so I was pretty bummed that he didn't get to finish.  I started following him on Twitter to see if he had any commentary on the engine failure, and sure enough, little Jo Jo tweets himself!  (Not every driver does.)  Another reason why he rocks.  Anyways, as with following anyone on facebook/Twitter, the cyber stalking ensued.  I found out that Joey has a girlfriend named Sabrina, so I checked out her Twitter too.  And I've decided that Joey and Sabrina should be BFFS with me and Ben.  Not only does Sabrina also sell Stella & Dot, but her and Joey dressed as Katy Perry and Russell Brand for Halloween!  (Remember my post a few weeks ago about how that was what I wanted me and Ben to dress as?)  Her twitter bio tells me that she likes aviator sunglasses, cardigans and dogs, all things I'm also a fan of.  I'm willing to bet she also likes Miranda Lambert, Pinterest and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I mean, the four of us could be besties. 

So Joey and Sabrina, if you are ever in East Texas and wanna hang out, give us a shout!  Or even better, when you two crazy kids decide to tie the knot, I'll be your wedding planner!  It'll be great, I promise! :)

   



Friday, November 4, 2011

Friday Favs

It's time for my five favorite's of the week!

1.-Miranda Lambert's new album Four the Record


I bet you knew this was coming!  Of course I love it!  I won't try to summarize, I'll just say it's amazing.  The best review that most accurately covers what I would say can be read here.

Buy her new album at Amazon or iTunes.  (I recommend getting the deluxe version hard copy because it comes with a bonus song and DVD!  And she's wearing Stella & Dot on the DVD, FYI!)


2.-Twitter

Okay, it has been a crazy few weeks for me on Twitter.  In the past few weeks I have been tweeted by HGTV (more than once), HGTV staffers, Rachel Ashwell, Junk Gypsy (regularly),  Target, DirecTV, Josh Abbott (twice), Rich O'Toole, Hillary Kerr, the editor of my favorite fashion website WHO WHAT WEAR, (aka my morning newspaper,) and then by the site director of Marie Claire magazine!  Oh and while I'm looking these up to refresh my memory I see that someone who works for Pinterest tweeted me after I complained about the iPhone app.  (Didn't even notice that one!) 

The crazy thing is, sometimes I just mention their name or company, and they somehow find my tweet and respond, even though I didn't @ direct it to their account.  (For those who don't know twitter, you get a message when someone puts @ before your account name.)  The funniest example was Rich O'Toole, one of my favorite Texas Country artists.  I was telling my friend Courtney via Twitter about how I finally "unfollowed" Rich O'Toole's tweets because they were so annoying.  I didn't @ link to him, just typed his name.  Within five minutes, Rich tweets to his 3,078 follows that "Everyone should follow these two beautiful ladies" with me and Courtney's twitter accounts on there!  I was so mortified that he saw the rude thing I said about him!  So crazy.  So if you are on Twitter, don't think that people don't see your @ mentions, or even just plain ole mentions!


3.-My Erin Condren Life Planner


This is the mother of all planners, and it's going to keep me super organized all the way through 2012!  I got the ZTA version because I had a coupon code for the sorority collection, but it has all sorts of adorable customizing options.  Check it out!





4.-Cooler Weather

Thank goodness it's finally cooling off!  And I bought this adorable coat for 50% off on asos.com this weekend!  I'm obsessed!




5.-Spotify

I don't know how I'm just finding out about this, but it's awesome.  It's like Pandora, except you can pick specific songs or even albums to play.  I'm busting out all my old school favorites from when I was a kid like Mariah Carey, No Doubt, and Everclear.  The best part was that Miranda's new album with the bonus track was on there the day it came out!  Thankfully because the stupid Wal-Mart here didn't have it out when I went that morning.  Spotify saved me from having a crappy day.  Love it!  If you don't have this on your desktop yet, get it!  It's free with just a few commercial breaks, but I think you have to pay to use it on your iPhone.

What are your 5 favs?  Let me know in the comments!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

FREE MAGAZINE!

Check out this amazing e-zine Holiday Gift guide from my favorite HGTV host, Emily Henderson!  Decor and gift ideas out the wazoo, even some printable gift tags and boxes!  Love it!  This officially got me in the Christmas spirit! 

Just don't be surprised if you get a few of these gifts come Christmas time.  ;)