Throw Pillows & Bathroom Accessories ...

At age four, when I began receiving routine perms for my fabulous long hair, I also learned a handful essential rules to live by from my Mom.

To name a few:

Match your nail polish and lip stick at the cosmetics counter

Never touch walls, glass or windows with your hands

Keep your whites white

Do not lay on the throw pillows or on the bedspread

Do not dry your hands on the decoration towels in the bathroom

When you go into labor be sure to have a manicure, pedicure, freshly bathed and shaved, make up and hair

Now that Mikey and I have our own home, the rules I thought to once be ridiculous, I have implemented! I love throw pillows and bathroom accessories- 2 things that not a ton of people get in to.

One queen-sized bed and one couch and here are our throw pillows. I have not always been super into throw pillows- they are really expensive and you have to remove them any time you want to take a seat. Now that we have our own little place- they are most definitely a critical aspect of my decor.

The theme of our place is natural colors: green and brown...

with a touch of blue in one room.

Our bedroom and the fun throws on the bed:

On to the coordinated bathroom which is connected to our bedroom...

Our guest bathroom is decorated in blue and brown... matches the general theme of our home but adds in a fun, complimentary splash of color!

Removing pillows from the couch before you sit on it, using the finger-tip towel to dry your hands rather than the hanging decor towels... all things Mikey had to adjust to but he has done a great job adapting to the few life rules. LOL. Someone uses my decor towels and it is like an instant heart attack, pathetic but true.

Our Wedding Cake is Kind of a Big Deal

When choosing a wedding cake maker/baker we went with who we had heard so much about: Carrie's Cakes. I think almost every wedding I have been to has used Carrie's Cakes- not only are her cakes beautiful, they are really moist and tasty too!

Carrie has a new blog and featured our fabulous cake on it! I knew I wanted a simple cake, and since I was doing an all black and ivory wedding, I assumed I would have an elegant black and ivory cake. I had met with Carrie's assistant, we designed a cake and that was that. Months later I was flipping through a BRIDE magazine and found the most fabulous cake I had ever seen that matched my wedding theme perfectly: ivory round tiers embellished with black designs. I ripped out the picture, scanned it in to my computer and sent it off to Carrie and she re-created the same look, but perfectly me! The cake I sent her had flowers on it and I wanted to keep mine more simple and just use the hot pink petals to match the bouquets and centerpieces of the wedding.

The cake turned out perfectly... each tier was a different flavor with an accompanying buttercream filling- YUM!

Check out our now famous cake on Carrie's blog:

http://www.carriescakes.com/blog/2010/02/26/ivory-wedding-cake-with-black-design/

February 25th...

Happy 21st Birthday Whitney!

21 years ago today I got my first little sister, Whitney Jean Whetman. Whitney was originally supposed to be "Jordan," a boy but we were all blessed with a darling, chunky and bald baby girl! I was four-years-old when was born, barely. I was SO excited to have a baby sister! Someone to play with, someone to boss around and someone to love.

We have been through a lot together: we have had countless good times and also countless times when we wanted to murder one another. The great thing about a sister is that she is also your BFF. There is no one you can trust like a sister, or sista. It is such a wonderful and warm feeling that there is someone you can always rely on, trust and who will be there for you.

I love you Whitters!

My Sister WHITNEY............................

shoe store make overs tricking her:$5 bill exchanged for two $1 bills tubing camp fires in the yard diving in hot tubs crying pretending to be dead to scare her real-life cash register store willy wonka homeslice movie lines backing it up like a mac truck playing school painting nails coloring hair fighting eating swimming loving hugging llamas

I cannot wait to write Emily's birthday tribute in November, when she will be 16- YIKES.

#3: Calm One Calm All bubble bath

I am obsessed with: bubble baths. Every night of my life, I take a bubble bath. After a long day of work nothing is better than a steaming hot bath with a fragrant and a moisturizing bubble bath. I have been doing this for as long as I can remember. Stayin' fresh ta death is definitely one of my many goals in life- shower each morning, bathe each night. A nightly bath is my ritual, my time.

A couple of years ago I discovered Soap & Glory's Calm One Calm All bubble bath.

In addition to the super cute packaging, it provides tons of bubbles for my bath, smells really fresh and even moisturizes. To me there is nothing better than laying back in an ridiculously hot bath tub filled with fragrant bubbles and indulge in the relaxing, stress-free experience. Now off to take my nightly bubble bath!

Valentine's Twenty Ten

Valentine's Day... some hate it and some love it, I am with the latter group. I love Valentine's Day! Have I always? I cannot remember but I would assume not. This year I was super stoked- got a festive rose wreath for my front door, found the cutest red wire ribbon with little hearts on it and tied it around my red candles... of course kept my nails red and pink thus far this month, etc.

In addition to the regular hype I ALSO love the day because two years ago marks the day I was proposed to. Mikey was taking me on a surprise date. I was thinking a nice, delicious and romantic dinner, accompanied with some wine and probably some roses. Sounds wonderful to me. So- Mikey picked me up from work for our surprise date. I had NO idea as to where we were going or what we were doing, we were headed downtown which seemed like a normal place to be headed for a "special" dinner date. We arrive at Little America, park and walk in. I was so confused... why would we be at a hotel? I did not pack to stay anywhere. We took the elevator up and I was asked to wait outside of the room for a minute while Mikey went in. The door swung open and... voila! Rose petals spread on the floor, dresser, bed, table- everywhere! Sexy John Mayer music playing and literally 30-or so candles of all shapes and sizes lit throughout the suite. There was a table set for two topped off with wine and champagne. AH- so sweet! I had been totally surprised. I ask- "are we eating here or going out?" Next thing I know there was a knock at the door- apprently a room service-type delivery. Barbacoa? LOL... we had one of our first dates there and always loved it more for that reason. Here we are, in an amazing suite at the Little America sitting at a romantic table eating chicken burritos- SO us! We are finished eating our burritos and the surprise creme brule (my fave) and we are just sitting at the table drinking, chatting... Mikey is professing his love for me which seemed pretty normal :) From there it all happened so fast... something like, "I love you... this is why...." he stood up and I saw a box. Maybe some pearl earrings? Walked over to my side of the table, knelt on knee and asked, "will you marry me?" WHAT?! I leaped out of my chair tackling him with a hug and tears repeating "is this really happening?" I had not even looked at the ring yet. I screamed "YES" and finally looked at the ring- which I loved! ONE OF THEE BEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE. I was soooo surprised! That will forever go down as the best Valentine's Day of mt life.

So- Valentine's Day 2010, we get to celebrate this great day of love and our happy engagement day. This year we decided to do a card contest: each of us create a card for the other...

I made a Valentine box for mine and made a poem card/book. Mikey made a really great one too, A+ for effort.

I came home Saturday to these gorgeous roses! XOXO

Mikey made us an AMAzing Valentine dinner... artichokes, steak, garlic mashed, sauted mushrooms and salad! For dessert we did a wine and chocolate pairing.

Ah... another great Valentine's Day... thanks babe!

My favorite neutral nail polish

I love having my nails freshly manicured. Of course it would fabulous to visit a salon each week for a standing manicure/polish change like many grandmothers partake- but get real, that is not in my budget. So... I usually do my own. At least once a week I do a thorough manicure process: remove my polish, soak my nails in a bowl of warm water and some shampoo or something, press my cuticles back, trim, file, buff, oil, soak and paint! The other time(s) throughout the week I opt for a quick polish change. My fave polish lines are OPI and Essie. I mean, at all times I have an average of 25 color options. I love deep dark reds, bright pinks, hues of purples and even metallics like silver and gold. Of all my favorite colors, I have a ton, my very most favoritest is OPI's Bubble Bath.

When in doubt of color selection, I always go for this pale pink hue, with just a touch of iridescence- this picture does not do the color justice. Whether it is a "night on the town" or work week shade... this color is perfect! I have tried numerous other similar colors in both the OPI and essie lines, and I always come back to this one. An oldie but for sure a goodie!

And these are a few of my favorite things...

There are a slew of products- hair products, make up essentials, bathing favorites and too many others that I swear by and recommend to everyone. As I feel inclined, I am going to begin to publish some of these oh-so-fabulous items here and there.

My favorite product #1: Scruples White Tea Moisturizer

So, I have to give credit to my ultra fabulous Mom, Rosina, for this one. As she is a fabulous local hair stylist, she is always in the "beauty supply" store, checking out the latest and greatest in hair products and all of the fun items that come along with it. This white tea moisturizer is a treasure she found a few years back. Long story short: She got a jar of this divine treat for her, my sister and I and we ALL love it and swear by it.

What makes this moisturizer so special? I swear it is magic! Blemish, dry skin and day-to-day facial maintenance: this moisturizer has it all, it does it all. It is so light weight, I use it in the morning under my make up and apply it again at night. It never ever makes me feel greasy or makes me have shiny face come afternoon.

Officially, it is named, Scruples White Tea Panthenol EDA Cream: a 24 hour facial moisturizer cream. It promotes new cell growth and stimulates the production of collagen. (Sounds super-impressive to me, and that is only on paper). The Panthenol EDA Creme moisturizes, protects and balances the skin.

A jar lasts forever, as a little goes a long way for a much better price than other department store moisturizers (a la Lancome, Philosophy, Dermalogica, etc.)... Mikey actually loves this moisturizer too. So this jar can serve for both you and your man!