Mani Monday: Pink and Brown

Like my post title?  :)  

The creative juices are running slowly today!  That's the best I had... sorry.

A while back I got a super awesome deal on some E.L.F. cosmetics products thanks to this lovely little website here.  Awesone = I paid $1 + shipping and that's all!  :)  I got tons of goodies including six nail polishes.  I most definitely did a happy dance when this package came!

I used three of the E.L.F nail polishes on today's manicure along with some gold striping tape.  I'm definitely not an art major or anything of the sort so I wasn't sure how well the pink and brown were working together.  I think adding the gold glitter on top of the pink nails and the gold stripes on the brown helped tie it together a little better.  What do you think?

What I used:

Champagne by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Smoky Brown by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Golden Goddess by E.L.F. Cosmetics
Gold Nail Tape Stripes from Amazon



Linking up:


Happy Monday, everyone!  Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Slowly Slowing Down

So far this week, I have been sticking better to slowing down mentally than I have been slowing down physically.  It has been a full past few days, but I have felt like I actually enjoyed it more and stressed less because I was mindful about slowing my thoughts down and being engaged in the present.  

Normally my mind is whirring and on to the next five things I want or need to do - just ask my husband.  :)  I ALWAYS have a plan for EVERYTHING.  And probably a couple of back-up plans.  And I can get pretty bent out of shape if someone or something messes with that plan without my permission.

I think that part of slowing down for me is letting go of some of that need to control "the plan" all the time.  Instead of being distracted by trying to make sure things go exactly as I planned in my mind, I am learning/trying to engage more in what is actually happening.  I am savoring the "flavor" of the moment instead of rushing through it to get on to the next check point.  

It helped a lot that we had a mini vacation this weekend for Doad's birthday.  We "unplugged" almost completely and spent our time just soaking up the weekend of rest and celebration.  We napped, we read, we walked, and we enjoyed each other's company immensely.  I still found myself planning out our time in my head, but with that vacation mentality it was a lot easier to let go of the need for plans to go exactly as I had mapped it out in my mind and just soak up the fun time that we were having regardless of what we were doing.  

The trick will be if I can keep this mindset in the everyday normal stuff when I have real responsibilities and chores on my check-off list.  I really enjoy the peace that comes with this kind of flexibility and slowness.  I also think I'm more productive when I'm actually focusing on what  I'm doing instead of trying to map out the next couple of hours in my head.  Shocker!  My natural tendency is to try to cram too many activities into one day and I end up disappointed and frustrated when certain things take longer than I allotted for in my plan.   As you can guess, I've often ended up frustrated and disappointed.  :/ 

I'm still figuring out the balance between prioritizing and getting all the day-to-day responsibilities done while minimizing the stress and disappointment of not being... well, super-human, I guess.  It's tricky, that's for sure.  But there's something to this whole slowing down, being mindful and aware thingy.  It's good for my spirit and I'm hoping I can make this a mindset that sticks.

How is the balancing/slowing going for everyone else?  What moments have you "savored" lately?

Time to Slow Down

Well, life has just been speeding on by.  I don't even know where its all speeding off too, but it's easy to get into this "hurry" mentality and let everything happen around you in a blur.  I feel like that's what I've been doing the past few weeks.  And ya know what?

It's time to slow down.

My sister-in-law, Ellie, has been writing some awesome posts about slowing down and they have struck a chord with me.  Despite my lack of online presence here lately, I'm usually always "plugged in" in some way or another.  My phone and iPad come with me just about everywhere I go and if I'm not texting or facebooking on them, then I am probably on a computer working, chatting, or emailing away.  I love my tech gadgets.  But I think it's getting to be too much.  I'm feeling a little out of balance.

So this week, I'm really trying to be mindful of slowing down.  I'm gonna unplug a little bit.  I'm gonna make my bed ;)  And I'm gonna try to savor the moments and silence instead of rushing through them.

How about you?  What are your tricks to balancing fast-paced responsibilities with a slower, more mindful lifestyle?

Playing Catch Up

I know, I know, I have been neglecting the blog again... :(  I'd blame it on busyness, but the whole world is busy.  Honestly, I just haven't made it a priority - that, and it seriously bugs me to have tons of unread posts in my Google Reader, so I've been trying to catch up on those in my free time instead of writing my own posts.  I'm thinking I may be following too many blogs to keep up with this pace.  Anyway... back to the point of this post.  Here is what I've been up to lately:

After recuperating from our adventure in New York,  we rescheduled our Woo family birthday celebration.  Complete with burgers, presents, and Eclair cake, Jadie and I felt very celebrated and loved.  I love just getting to hang out with my family like that.  We played with my new iPad and laughed til we cried over hilarious Ellen Degeneres' YouTube videos.  I also got to give Jadie the present I've been working on - Sewing Project #2!  I was so excited to finally give it to her.  :) I hope she loved it.

That weekend, Doad and I headed to Vermont for another family adventure.  We stayed at a quaint little Bed & Breakfast and enjoyed a Smith family reunion at our fun out-of-town wedding.

The next week was quite full as well.  On Tuesday we met with our buyer's agent for the first time.  So exciting!  :)  She was so awesome and answered all our questions.  Then she gave us some homework to do until we meet with her agan to go look at some houses.  I can't wait!

Thursday night, my  mom, sister, and I went wedding dress shopping with Lauren and her other bridesmaids.  Talk about a girls night!  There were about ten of us there and it was so fun and special to be there to help her find her perfect dress.  It is beautiful and fits her style so perfectly.

Our weekend was just as busy.  We spent Friday night celebrating with Joel and Lauren at their engagement party.  Then I got up bright and early on Saturday to do hair for a wedding.  Four hours, five updos, and 10,000 bobby pins later I headed back home to get myself cleaned up for my own Smith family birthday bash.  :) We broke out our cornhole boards (finally!), pulled out our Dominican rum (did anyone even drink it??), fired up our tiny, baby grill, and had a blast! 

The Cuteness was there in his finest, cuteness form.  He enjoyed watching our fishies swim in their tank, taking one bite of every chip in the bowl and then handing it off to grandma, and petting the "hop hop" (our bunny, Ava) ever so gently.  He also played a duet with me on our piano.  Couldn't you just eat him up?? 

[source]

The family also surprised me with a brand new sewing machine!  I had told Doad that I would like to find an old $10 one on Craigslist so that I wouldn't have to pack everything up and monopolize mom's kitchen everytime I wanted to sew.  Imagine my surprise to open up this little gem! It is amazing and SOOOO much nicer than the ones I was looking at.  I love it!  I have been sewing away already and can't wait for my next post to show you all my sewing projects that I've been working on.  I feel super spoiled and blessed with such a generous, thoughtful family.  :)  Thank you, thank you, thank you, family!!! :)

So that's what I've been up to lately.  It's been a pretty full couple of weeks if I do say so myself.  And this weekend is no different.  We are off to Ohio tonight for another out-of-town wedding!  (Hopefully I will take more pictures this time! )

 I hope you all have been enjoying the end of your summer days.  I gotta say I'm looking forward to boots and scarves and pretty fall leaves.

The Time I Got Stranded in New York

Another overdue post.  *sigh*  I'm just having too many adventures to keep up with lately.  So let's dive right in, shall we?  ;)

A couple of weekends ago, my brother, Joel, asked Doad and I if we would go on a special trip with him and his girlfriend, Lauren.  They wanted to spend the day in NYC (and Joel wanted to propose!) so we decided to go with them (and help Joel out).  ;)

We got up early on a Saturday morning and were on the road by 8AM.  There was even a beautiful rainbow wishing us well as we started off.  I think we got to the city around noon after searching for parking and all that fun stuff.  

We spent the afternoon shopping (LOVED this shirt!), 

eating delicious pizza, 

and wandering ALL over (from Central Park to Macy's and back - don't ask me WHY we didn't take the Subway, I still have no idea).  

One of the things Joel really wanted to do was get some cool night shots of the cityscape once it got dark.  (This is where he wanted to propose too.)  Obviously, you can't be IN the city if you're trying to take pictures of the city.  Joel didn't really know where to go so I tried to find out some of the best places to get these shots and most of them suggested that you go across the Brooklyn Bridge where there was this park.  

So we went back to the parking garage to pick up Joel's car and drive across the bridge.  We found a parking spot on the street, fed the meter, and raced off to get some awesome pictures before our hour was up on the meter.  This turned out to be a way longer/complicated process than we planned.  It involved a lot of hiking, Doad racing to refill our meter before we got towed, and lots of stalling til Joel could find the perfect spot to propose. 

Proposals are hard work!

Thankfully, we finally got it right, he popped the question, and she said "yes"!  :)  

All was happy and right with the world.  And as we scurried to get back to the car before the meter ran out again, all I could think of was how nice it will be to crash into bed in a few hours after all the walking and running around we did today.  

And this is where the story really begins....

It is now 10:00PM in the jolly little city of Brooklyn... and our car won't start.  Won't even make a noise.  Nothing.  

WHAT?!?!?!

So Joel calls home to try to get dad's AAA information and see if we can get some help.  Keep in mind that we have been roaming the city all day, texting and instagram-ing, so our phones are all on low battery or dead.  Meanwhile, Doad and I are praying that some nice person will stop and give us a jump.  And poor Lauren is just dying to call and tell her family the biggest news ever... and also to let them know we're stuck in New York.  Some seriously nice man stops and offers to help us jump the car.  We hook up the cables, charge it for a second, and then turn the key.  Still nothing.  :(

So now Joel is calling AAA and telling them we think it's the alternator, blah blah blah.  They tell us they're sending someone out and he will check the battery for us and if it won't start they'll tow it for us.  Ok, yay... 

An hour and a half later (a little after midnight), AAA dude comes driving along - not in a tow truck, but in a van.  A van!  Where is the tow truck??  Well, apparently all the tow truck drivers have gone home for the night...  So he checks the battery, tells us it's dead (um, duh!), and charges it up for us.  The car starts on the first try.  And then as soon as he unhooks the cables, it goes out like a light.  :(  He then proceeds to tell us that we've got a bad alternator (thank you, that's what we told you on the phone!)  

No tow trucks will be able to help us for another 2-3 hours.  Well, we are not about to hang out on the streets of Brooklyn for another 3 hours.  So we decide to leave the car there (thanking God that they don't tow cars in that area on Sundays) and walk to a hotel... 1.5 miles away.  Again, what were we thinking not taking the Subway!?!?  

We stop for a quick bit at a McDonald's since the last thing we ate was the pizza at noon and then we finally find a hotel with vacancies around 2AM.  

Four hours later, we wake up so Joel can call AAA again and ask for a tow and try to figure out where he can get serviced on a Sunday.  They tell him to wait until 9 when sears opens and see if they can fix it.  (Secretly, I'm hoping they can't so we can just rent a car and get home and worry about the car later, like after sleep and fresh clothes and real food - I know, I'm a horrible sister).  

But as luck would have it, they can fix it and they promise to do it in a two hour time frame.  Pardon my french, but Sears is full of $#!*.  

We waited there for four hours before they even started working on our car.  

Lauren finally broke down and started crying which got the manager to come out... He then proceeded to tell us that it was our fault the car hadn't been worked on yet because we should have come to him hours ago... excuse me?  And told you what exactly?  That you lied to us?  That you need to fire some people in your shop for taking a three hour lunch break?  That you should do your job and manage your employees?  

I'm so glad he didn't stick around 'cause I definitely had some words for him that would have gotten me in trouble.  :/  Fifteen minutes later the car was ready to go.  So pissed and so happy all at the same time.  Happy that it was ready and we could finally get out of there.  Pissed that we could have seriously been home already if he had done that when we first got there. 

So we left New York around 4:30PM.  What should have taken us 3-4 hours MAX to get home turned into 6 hours thanks to the rush-hour/weekend traffic we hit.  I blame the mechanics for that - I think they timed it that way on purpose.  I also blame them for making me miss my own birthday party with my family.  :(  And for missing the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.  And for global warming.  JK, but they made me mad.

Doad and I came back smelling like cavemen, and needing another weekend all over again, haha. But, I'd venture to say it was a successful trip for Joel and that's what matters.  He came back with a fiancee and a new alternator and battery for his car...sorta  (It died on him a few days later and he had to replace again - have I mentioned that I don't like Sears?)  But we are ever so happy for Joel and Lauren and can't wait to see what the future holds in store for them.  Love you two!!