Eeeeek! ♥

My birthday present from Carrie deserves its own post ... this is from an ad in a 1960s newspaper that she turned into a work of art with the magic of editing. I love it so. This truly sums me up! Of course she wrapped it beautifully and added all manner of other Halloween goodies to the package, but this is definitely the main attraction.

I've named her Winnifred.  And I can't decide where to put her! Thank you, Carrie!

Give Good Face [Beauty Icons]

These are the women I love to watch. My beauty icons. I draw inspiration from their unique beauty and learn from their example. I am not a big make-up person, but I love to doll myself up from time to time and I usually think things like "okay, pullin' out my Marilyn wiggle tonight!" or "I'm doin' Penelope hair tonight" or "Gwen lips!!!" I'm not sure if all women do this, but I think it is important to find inspiration and motivation wherever it is available. I grew up with a very beautiful mother, so I tend to value external beauty too much. Despite being naturally beautiful, my mother taught me that unique features and imperfections are the most valuable "beauty marks" a person can have, like my bumpy nose and unusually high waist.  

These are in no particular order [Except Miss Penny, below] and honestly, I didn't do the B&W thing on purpose ... I just picked which ones would appropriately interpret my love for each face. I just like the black and white better, I guess. And no ... this list does not include Angelina Jolie.

I'm going to do a style icon blog soon, too! It will no doubt be even longer! Eek!

Penelope, the ultimate beauty icon for me. I love how her individual features aren't necessarily perfect, but she is so perfectly put together! She is my number one, for sure.

Helen Bonham Carter!! Genetic freak, absolutely. One of my favorite actresses, she is hauntingly beautiful.

Christina Ricci. Amazingly beautiful. Bewitching! 

Vivien Leigh. When other girls had pictures of Tiffany on their walls, I had a giant poster of Vivien Leigh over my bed. She gives good face.

 I love Love! Someone once said "you remind me of that girl on Ghost Whisperer" ... I almost fainted. Ha! I've loved this Scream Queen since forever and I think she is a wonderful example of real beauty.

Kim Kardashian. I definitely get inspired by her make-up choices, hairstyles and of course that glorious figure, but beyond that, she truly is an exotic beauty. Most of her modeling shots are so harsh and a bit on the trashy, "glamour girl" style, but the fact is ... her face is nearly perfectly symmetrical! I'm a sucker for exceptional bone structure.

Keira Knightley. I'm not sure her eyes or mouth would work on anyone else, but she wears her beauty so well, it's inspiring! 

I have a portrait of Dita in our bedroom signed to me from Miss Dita herself [a kick-ass gift from bestie, Christie]. She wrote her favorite quote on it and I have sort of adopted it as a mantra when I'm trying to glam myself ... "There is no such thing as an ugly woman, just a lazy one." [Estee Lauder] She is proof that a beautiful transformation is only a few tricks away.

Marilyn is full of quirky beauty. It seems as though she had a glow that made her appear more physically  beautiful than she really was. I love her ... but not in that "I want to wallpaper my kitchen with Coca-Cola, Elvis an Marilyn" way ...  

Rihanna is truly flawless. She has beautifully unique features that really compliment each other perfectly. I'm usually inspired by her make-up choices and her perfect skin! She isn't someone I have anything in common with, beauty-wise, but I'm inspired nonetheless. She is also one of my top style icons.

More beautiful ladies on the next page!! Kim Novak, Erykah Badu, Lauren Hutton, CHER, Gwen Stefani my Mama and more ... I have loads of beauty icons, apparently.

Save the Date!!

Hillary and Rue sent out their save the dates! Just when I was about to start hounding her about getting stuff together for save the dates, Hillary said "no, you can't help with  these, I want them to be a surprise!" So glad I wasn't "in" on these ... I was very pleasantly surprised by their awesomeness. Not too surprised, though ... I mean, Hillary and I practically have the same brain ... hers just comes with whatever makes people nice.

I'm not going to rant ... but seriously - stop sending out magnets!!! They were a great idea at one point, but like most other trends, they have worn out their welcome. I'm over it. Everyone has been over it for quite some time, trust me. Okay, that's all. Now enjoy these beauts ...

I know what you're thinking ... "she only likes these cause they're the blackest blackness ever" which is totally true, but honestly ... these are so beautiful! Hillary lined the envelopes with velvety damask paper and they took the time to seal them with wax and stamp a love poem on the front. Teamwork, folks ... that is love.

A save the date has two purposes. 1. To ... save the date, duh. And B. To give a sneak peek to the feel or theme of  a wedding. As I am "in" on everything else, I can say that these express the elegance and timelessness of their upcoming New Orleans wedding. Take that, magnets!

English Muffin Pizzas

This is not a recipe ... it is the simplest thing ever. English Muffin plus tomato slices plus garlic plus cheese plus basil equals awesome.

Of course you'll need to add salt and pepp to the tomato beforehand and drizzle olive oil on them before you pop them in, but by now ... you should know that! Yumsies.

Granny Chic

Bestie Hillary and I have recently realized that there should be a name for our particular brand of lifestyle. Granny Chic is the new craze! Well, not really ... but like everything else I start liking, this will probably catch on and become ruined by internet memes and hipster doofuses. [I may be a self-hating hipster ... but I'm no doofus!]

I've seen a few different themes on Granny Chic on some really great blogs, mostly pertaining to home decor or fashion, but I think that I'd like to dub this the first time this great little title has been given to one's demeanor or specific penchants. I like naming things! Not everything needs a label, but I enjoy it. I think it started years ago when my sister and I used to try and describe the way we liked to dress. I dubbed her "Modern Romantic" and she dubbed me "Hitchcock Rock."

So, what makes someone Granny Chic? Well you most certainly must be able to sew/knit/crochet or all three. I knit and sew some; Hillary is a wiz with crochet! Beyond that there are definitely a few more lifestyle choices that you could attribute to your Granny Chic-ness, such as ...

The Granny Parts ...
drinking loads of hot tea [electric pot next to the computer, much?]
a severe addiction to murder mysteries [Poirot, Miss Marple, etc.]
own a wardrobe full of tights and cardigans [I have serious cardi issues, I have at least 30]
never going "out" unless it is absolutely necessary [honestly, why go out when you can have drinks and food and friends at home?!"]
a complete knowledge of most card games
an active and seemingly overused library card
craftiness is also a must! [I call it hobby-whoring, but I like to keep the creative juices flowing!]
reading cozies, themed  mysteries & presidential biographies almost exclusively
cooking nearly everything from scratch, for funsies!

What Makes it Chic ...
killer heels, and lots of them
pencil skirts [not mermaid skirts posed as pencil skirts by online boutiques! skank-ay!]
smelling like cloves and cinnamon
cat-eye make up, every day
being ladylike with out being girly
favoring the bun over the ponytail

So ... are you Granny Chic? If so, lets sit in a craft circle sometime and talk about our new shoes & handbags over a cuppa tea.

♥

DIY Candy!

Well, I've finally gone 'round the bend, domestically. I've now started making my own candy! I've got a really simple recipe for some great lollipops. These taste really great and they last forever! Honestly, hours ... I guess this just proves that nearly everything tastes better homemade.

Here is what you'll need:

1/2 cup Karo Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

flavored oil to taste [about 1/2 tsp or more]

a fun sucker mold! 

sticks/baggies/ribbon or ties

candy thermometer [this is a must!!]

food-grade mold coating spray

  

I got my mold online for about $1, I already had sugar/Karo/water 

and I got the flavored oils, sticks and bags at Michaels!

Instructions:

Add the water/syrup/sugar in a saucepan 

Set heat to med-high

Let the mixture boil until it reaches hard-crack temp [300 degrees].

This will look like Sprite, will get thicker and begins making large bubbles around 250 degrees.

Remove immediately upon reaching the hard-crack stage ... 

this mixture has a tendency to burn quickly after 300 degrees!

Next, add your food coloring [about 3 drops depending on how bright you want it].

Add in the food oil. I probably put about 1 tsp in

it will smell really strongly [especially the peppermint!]

Don't let this mixture stand, stir in your oil and coloring and then 

immediately pour or spoon the mixture into the mold.

The goal here is to cover the stick but not overflow!

Tips:

#1. You can use any pot for this, but don't freak out when you see it harden 

into an almost plastic-like thickness!

Simply let it harden and then you can melt it down and rinse the 

pot with hot water. I definitely thought my pot was ruined the first time!

#2. Flavored oils and food extract are NOT the same thing!

The extract will simply evaporate at these high temperatures, so go ahead 

and search for the oils. I looked everywhere and finally found them

on the cake-making aisle at Michaels. They're really in expensive!

#3. When you reach about 250 degrees, watch your pot carefully!

There is a swiftness to the rising temperature that 

could really mess things up for you if you're not careful.

#4. This is messy as hell. I'm one of those people that kind of just

jumps into things without thinking, so I made a giant mess, 

but this is certainly avoidable. I'm sure you'll 

do much better!

So cute!! I made these and sold them to help raise funds for the History Club, of which I am now President. Yay! My plans for next semester involve a lot of cemetery activity, naturally. And a trip to New Orleans in the Spring! If you or someone you know would like to join, e-mail me! LSUSHistory@gmail.com

♥