Turbie

I fell head over heels for the first car I ever bought. He was an adorable limited edition 2003 Chromaflare GLX VW Beetle in Cyan/Purple. Yeah that's right... he was a color changing Beetle! He looked different depending on the light or the angle you looked at him.... Turbie was beautiful!

My Turbie parked in the Meadowlands near Metlife stadium.

I named my car Turbie because he was a turbo Herbie. I loved my Turbie but sadly it was time for me to part ways for something more reliable. I never ever would have thought I would have been so attached to a car, but I really was.

I think that it is pretty common to be attached to your first car. My car stood out, so everyone saw it. When I sold it and started driving my new car, every one asked me where my car was and I sadly told them I decided to get a new car. And that would spark whoever was talking to me to tell me about their first car and they would light up when they talked. Usually the stories had the same theme, their first car wasn't practical because it was a two door or because it was an extreme gas guzzler but everyone had memories of their first car just being so much fun.

I have a new more practical car now and I do love it but my first love will always be my Turbie.

Thanks for the memories Turbie!

xo Lizzie

stormy activities

I am very uneasy about hurricane Sandy approaching New Jersey and New York. JT and I feel that we are as prepared as we can be. We stock piled ice and bottled water, blew up our air mattress since we will need to sleep away from the windows, gathered the flash lights and blankets and loaded up our pantry.

I am now organizing myself with activities for when the power goes out. It is helping keep my mind off the insane wind that is making me nervous.

While getting out all of our candles for when the power goes out, I found this "mac & cheese" candle JT got for Christmas last year. It made me laugh... it's a good time to use it!

The candle comes with a ceramic dish and a bag with a wick and loose wax "macaroni". Cute :)

Pulled out my manicure stuff. I might have a lot of time to play and experiment with nail polish colors and combinations if the power goes out.

Board games! Storms give us reason to finally play our favorite board games that normally get no love because we live in world where technology rules. My favorite board game is 221 B Baker Street! What's yours?

Some of the games JT & I will be playing.

And my last resort when I am bored... cleaning. eeeek! Let's hope the power stays on!!!

Everyone stay safe... I hope the storm eases up and just goes away. Sending positive vibes to everyone affected.

xo Lizzie

Emergency Compliment

I'm feeling sad today and JT knew it so he sent me a link to a site and it made me smile. I wanted to share,it's...

emergencycompliment.com

You get a new compliment every time you hit refresh. Love the blindingly bright colors.

No, it won't entirely change your mood, but every little bit helps.

xo Lizzie

Puppy Says Good Morning

Good Morning! I woke up to find puppy in our bed. She is not not allowed in our bed- she has her own! Not only was she in the bed but she also brought her filthy toys to make sure she could enjoy our bed to the fullest. Love her!

Who could yell at that face?!

Enjoy the weekend!

xo Lizzie

FNO NYC 2012

My first NYC Fashion's Night Out experience was an accident. Jeffrey and I had gone to dinner in the city, and he asked me if I wanted to go anywhere while we were in the city. I knew a kate spade store was a few blocks away (because I know where every kate spade store is...) and they had sent me an email about a limited edition NYC tote bag that I needed wanted. So we stopped by the store after dinner and my oh my what a party! I was secretly hooked on Fashion's Night Out after that night. 

So the next year I had it on my calendar so that I wouldn't miss it. I read through all of the events listed and one was screaming at me to go. Joss Stone singing at 9 West. Yes, I got to see my favorite singer Joss Stone do a mini concert at the Nine West store. The store was smaller than my tiny Hoboken apartment and I was standing with VIP's who included Nigel Barker, Jay Manual, Paulina Porizkova and Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola. It was amazing to hear Joss sing in such a small space and the free appetizers and cocktails didn't disappoint either.

It's FNO time again so I thought I would share some of the events that look interesting to me...

Saks Fifth Avenue is definitely bringing it this year! One of my very favorite designers, Oscar de la Renta, will be at the store at 6pm.  Saks will also have a ponytail bar with Rebecca Minkoff and Glee star Darren Criss will be there to meet and greet. Yes Gleeks... Darren Criss will be at Saks, so go say hello! 


L.K. Bennent has perhaps the most interesting use of a celeb at their FNO event in Columbus Circle... Gordon Ramsey will be riding (and perhaps shouting?) on a double decker bus that will transport shoppers between L.K. Bennent and The London NYC every 30 minutes. Love these crazy Brits!

photo courtesy of  FOX , Hell's Kitchen

Victoria's Secret If you are having a hard time convincing your guy to accompany you to FNO just tell him VS will have their models in the house and will be taking photographs with customers. This has to be aimed more at the guys because what woman would ever want their picture taken with one of these freakishly gorgeous women?!

photo courtesy of Victoria's Secret

If you need to convince your man further... Dwayne Wade will be signing autographs at Calvin Klein on Madison Ave. and Amare Stoudemire will be at Saks. 

And what events won't I be at? Scott Desick's Cigar Smoking event at Macy's and any event featuring a Kardashian (I'm looking at you Lord & Taylor).

Just about every store in NYC will have something to offer that night. Free gifts, celebrity appearances, and make up clinics galore! Look to see what your favorite stores will be up to here. Fashion's Night Out NYC is on Thursday, September 6th.

Happy Fashion's Night Out, NYC! Cheers!

xo Lizzie

The Best Valentine's Day Gift I Ever Got...

February 2003, I was living in Cincinnati, Ohio. I got a call from my mama who lives in Lewiston, NY, she told me I had a Valentine's Day gift waiting for me at the downtown Cincinnati Williams-Sonoma store. I got excited and during my drive to the store I wondered what it was. I thought maybe it was some fun cookie cutters to play with, maybe colorful sprinkles or a great cake plate. I walked into the store and the lady that worked there got so excited about giving me my gift, and she went on and on about how awesome & funny my mom was on the phone. She brought out this HUGE box wrapped in Williams-Sonoma wrapping paper and handed it to me. It startled me how heavy the gift was! It definitely was not cookie cutters! 


I got home and ripped the paper off my gift to find a KitchenAid mixer... A PINK ONE! I was ecstatic- it was amazing! It was on that day that I finally understood why men get so freaking excited over power tools! I love my mixer, and I love my mom! Best. Valentine's Day. Gift. Ever.


I broke out the mixer today to whip up some strawberry cupcakes and remembered the day I got it and wanted to share... 

My mixer makes awesome cupcakes... it makes awesome everything actually! xo Lizzie

A Farewell To Twenty Eleven

I am sad to see 2011 end. It was a really great and memorable year for me for so many reasons. I turned 30, JT turned 30, I  visited 3 new countries (UK, France, and Belgium), I got engaged under the Eiffel Tower, I witnessed so many beautiful weddings of close friends, I opened doo-dah! my etsy business, and started this blog.(I am still amazed that so many people read my blog, thank you!)

I hope 2012 is just as good to me. Even half as good would be wonderful... xo Lizzie

September 12th, 2011 My Midnight In Paris

Normally I like to keep my posts short and sweet but you may have noticed I didn't write much in September(maybe not, I still do not think anyone actually reads my blog). I was in London, Paris and Bruges. It was my first "real" vacation with my boyfriend Jeff. We have been together for 3 years and decided we were going to really do our first vacation up big and enjoy ourselves. I had no idea just how big this trip would be...

Monday September 12th, Jeff and I woke up late that morning knowing that we had a late night out in Paris planned. Jeff went out to find us some breakfast. Most of Paris is closed on Mondays but he came back with cheese baguettes, chocolate croissants and French macarons (my favorite). We enjoyed them in bed while watching the only English channel on TV over there. 

Around noon I finally got out of bed. I had to get started on getting ready. I didn't want to go home with just a few awkward goofy photos of Jeff and I in Paris - you know the ones where you hold the camera out in front of yourselves and hope you get both of your heads in the picture?  We had arranged to get professional photos of us taken by One and Only Paris Photography. We were getting really dressed up- me in a black empire waist gown and Jeff in a black suit. 

We got in a cab to meet our photographer on a bridge near the Eiffel Tower. Jeff and I both seemed to have a nervous excited vibe, as we had never had professional photos taken of us as a couple and were unsure what to expect.

We met our photographer and for the next 3 hours it felt like I was on America's Next Top Model. We were photographed all over Paris. People were staring at us getting our pictures taken, even taking pictures of us themselves as if we were celebrities. The wind was out of control that day, flipping the massive amount of hair that I have all over the place. The shoot ended in a garden at Notre Dame. We were getting portraits of ourselves alone and it was Jeff's turn to be photographed. I stood back and watched. 

A couple of middle aged American women came up to me and asked me why we were being photographed. I said "Because we are in Paris!"  One of the women pressed me for more information "Are you engaged?" "No," I replied. Then she asked if we were married and I said no. She then asked me what the occasion was and I said, "PARIS! We are in Paris! That is the occasion!" The woman stared at me wide eyed for awhile and shook her head a bit and grumpily walked away with her friend.  After we wrapped up with our photographer I shared this story with Jeff as we were walking and we were both laughing about it.

It was 6pm and we had reservations for dinner at 9pm so we decided to go to a cafe by the river and have a drink. We each had a champagne cocktail and watched as the sun began to set. We enjoyed a few drinks and then decided we should try and find a taxi to get us to the Eiffel Tower.

Our champagne cocktails we had before going to dinner. Such a beautiful spot!

We got ourselves over to the tower in time for dinner. We had reservations at Le Jules Verne, a Michelin Star restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower. The restaurant has its own private elevator and I clung to Jeff as we sped to the top of the tower. The elevators opened to  an elegant yet modern cozy restaurant with warm lighting. We were showed to our table- by the window!!! Our meal was amazing and the deserts were out of this world! Le Jules Verne is such a romantic place, it's amazing! Panoramic views of Paris, sipping champagne while holding hands... The staff at Jules Verne will never rush you out, each table in the restaurant is only sat once per night, sip your champagne slow and take it all in!

As we left the restaurant I was handed a bag of wrapped pastries to take home with me compliments of the pastry chef. When we got back down to street level I took off my 4 inch heels and pulled my flats out of my clutch. I was juggling quite a bit and Jeff was laughing at me. I had my heels in one hand, my clutch under my arm and in my other hand I had my camera and the bag of pastries.

Jeff said he wanted to walk a bit and take in the lights. I agreed. We walked around the tower, people watching and talking about the Eiffel Tower itself.  We stopped directly under the front arch of the tower and Jeff stopped and pulled me in for a kiss and we stood there holding each other for several mins (me still with all my junk in my hands lol). A guy came up to us while we were holding each other and tried to sell us a rose. We didn't let go of each other and both of us shook our heads no. The guy took the rose and tucked it into my arm by my clutch purse giving me no choice but to take it and then went around to stare at Jeff's face for payment. We let go of each other, typically this is when I would have gone Jersey and threw the rose at the guy but I didn't want to ruin our night. Jeff paid him and was laughing at me again. 

I said "what"? He said, "Just what you needed, another thing to hold." and then he said...

"Why don't I trade you the rose for this..." and he pulled out a diamond ring! 

Everything kinda of got hazy and I think I stopped breathing for a minute and I heard him say "This is not the real ring it's a stand in from Macy's, I didn't want to travel with the real ring." I pushed hard to focus and that was when I saw how HUGE the ring was. I laughed fighting back tears of happiness.

And then he got down on one knee, framed by the Eiffel Tower arch and asked me to marry him. Tourists walking by us stopped and gasped. And I totally lost it I was crying and saying yes all at the same time. The tourists clapped and said congrats. I stood there in a happy numbness wondering if I was dreaming. I even asked Jeff if that really just happened, "Is this real life?"

I put my rose in a pellegrino bottle when we got back to our hotel :)

We stayed by the Eiffel Tower taking it all in and then we got in a taxi to return to our hotel. In the cab Jeff told me I no longer had a boyfriend and that he was my fiancee. I melted! We got to our room and took turns calling our parents who were overjoyed for us.

I got my real engagement ring when we got home, I was blown away! Jeff picked the perfect ring!

My ring!!!

Macaron obsession and MY RING!

So now the fun begins... wedding planning! I promise this will not become a wedding blog, but since I am the queen of diy, I plan on doing a lot of diy for my wedding. If anything turns out well I will be sure to share it. I still can't believe we got engaged in Paris, I mean who does that?! I mean besides Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes... ;)   xo Lizzie

lucy the elephant turns 130

Lucy is 130 years old this year. It seemed very fitting for me to visit her for my 30th birthday, since we are both July birthday girls. 

I had mentioned to my boyfriend a few times that this was what I wanted to do for my 30th, he is a true Jersey boy and yet he had never heard of her. In fact when I told people that I was going to see Lucy for my birthday, most natives of New Jersey didn't know what I was talking about.

My pilgrimage to see Lucy the Elephant reminded me of the movie "Michael", starring John Trovolta. Michael is not your typical angel and with his limited time to visit earth he obsessed about seeing the world's largest objects. Michael would have loved Lucy!

Inside of Lucy.

Top right, peanuts in Lucy's belly ;)

Left, the view from Lucy's eyes.

Margate's water tower.

Lucy's visitors have included several presidents... but this visitor is my favorite!

Atlantic city is a few mins away so we went there for dinner and to take in the sights.

Jersey love.

Old building in Atlantic City. Love the seahorse detail!

Inside of Caesar's they had lots of  Adirondack chairs lining the length of the building with huge picturesque windows. And sand!

Breathtaking view from the Adirondack chairs in Caesar's, Atlantic City!

Wish I had gotten a better picture of my retro dot dress. It was the perfect boardwalk dress!

Seeing Lucy was a very me thing to do for my birthday. I am sure most people don't get it but I loved it and I will always remember my silly, fun 30th birthday at the Jersey Shore! xo Lizzie