Monthly Archives: May 2012

long weekend luxuries

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Hi friends,

I hope you had a fabulous long weekend! Memorial day always feels like the start of summer to me, and I welcome smell of BBQ in the air and warm summer nights.

Sadly my fiancé had to work most of the weekend, but I was able to get a lot of wedding preparations done (but still so many “projects” to do!), hang out with some friends (congrats on the engagements!), head to the LA flower market, and I tried this amazing recipe for avocado and cilantro pasta. I know, avocado cilantro pasta  sounds crazy, but it was delicious and I plan to make it a summer staple.

Most importantly, perhaps, my  fiancé and I got to relax a little bit amid the fun and craziness that has been the last couple of weeks and will be the weeks to come. I find it easy to forget how lovely it is to just sit back and enjoy each other’s company, but it definitely refreshed me.

What were you up to this weekend? Do you have any summer plans that you’re looking forward to? I’d love to hear about them!

A super subscription service

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The winner of the Too Faced make up has been notified! I used a random number generator found here to decide for me.

I’ve told you all about Birchbox, the beauty subscription program for women, but I just found a program that I think I might like even better. It’s called the Dollar Shave Club, and it’s a subscription program that sends you razor handle/body right away, and then new razor blades every month so you don’t have to remember to buy it. Better yet, it’s $1, $6, or $9 a month – depending on the blades that you choose. Check out their awesomely amusing commercial:

As soon as I found this website I had to order it right away for my fiancé, and he’s really looking forward to his first delivery. (You can order it for yourself too! I’m sure I’ll find myself using them…). I’ll have to post our review when it arrives!

Are there any other awesome subscription services I’m missing? Let me know!

Giveaway: Too Faced Cosmetics

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My amazing aunt and uncle and parents threw my fiancé and me a family wedding shower on Sunday (thank you!), so it was the perfect opportunity to get dressed up and try out some awesome new Too Faced make-up I recently got my hands on. And here is the best part: I’m giving away everything below. See the end of this post for details!

After trying this foundation once I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing it all summer. It’s really light, has just enough coverage, gives a hint of shimmer, and has SPF 20 (because who wants to age prematurely?)

It turns out this eyeliner is not just eyeliner, it’s a Long-Stemmed Lashes Lash Enhancing Serum & Eyeliner Duo. Apparently after 4 – 8 weeks your eyelashes will be longer and thicker – yes please! Beyond that lovely benefit this liquid eyeliner was really easy to use and stayed put all day.

 This blush (first on the left) was really subtle and was a great mix between bronzer and blush. It will be great for weekend picnics or weekday work!

And this eyeshadow set is just the greatest. The first trio is matte and the other two are shimmery, one more than the other. I’m really looking forward to using these all summer – maybe even for my wedding?! It managed to outlast the sunshine of Sunday!

Here’s a little sample of how I used it on Sunday.

How to win: All you have to do to win everything here is head over to Too Faced’s facebook page here and “like” the page, and then comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so. And that’s it! You have until Thursday 9:00pm PST.

(Sorry, you have to live in the continental US to win. And stay tuned – I’ll be giving away more next week!)

Her Campus and Bing in Los Angeles

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Hi friends,

Bing and Her Campus are hosting what looks like will be an awesome party next week, on Thursday, May 31 and registration is still open! You can be I’ll be there! Please join me, Her Campus and Bing at Hemingway’s Lounge in Hollywood. The link to register can be found here.

And you can find out more information about Bing and Her Campus here

I hope to see you there!

xx
Kristina

DIY and the LA fashion district

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As part of our wedding preparation, my fiancé and I are attempting some DIY projects. I guess “attempting” is the key word there. Wish us luck!

The first project is to make throw pillows in our wedding colors to throw around the venue’s benches and couches. I was inspired by this tutorial. What do you think?

So because this project and a couple others involve fabric and sewing (thank goodness my future mother-in-law is a master at this), we decided to head down to the Los Angeles Fashion District for the first time. We had no idea what we were in for.

Word on the street is that Michael Levine is the the place to get any and all kinds off fabric so we headed there first. After 20 minutes of looking for parking, we headed up Maple Street. You can’t miss the big blue sign!

Once inside, it was clear we would find what we were looking for. We could find what anyone was looking for. Fabric, ribbons, threads, even whatever that was that Catwoman’s catsuit is made out of. Check it out!

After a couple laps we finally decided on half a dozen coordinating bolts of fabric.

Next step, take them to an available sales associate and tell them how much you need. We got a yard of each , just enough for a throw pillow each.

Voila! Don’t they look nice together? I’ll be sure to post some pictures when they’re all done. And I’d include a tutorial, but let’s be honest, without my future mother-in-law, these throw pillows would never get made ;)

After our adventure at Michael’s, we wandered in some of the smaller surrounding shops (I’m sorry I didn’t take any pictures!) and bought all sorts of chiffon-y fabrics in shades of pink and white and cream in an attempt to make the archway of sorts below for our wedding ceremony. Though the quality may not be as nice as those fabrics found at Michael’s, we found them for $2-$4 a yard, so no complaining here. I was pretty excited.

Maybe if this project works out I’ll create a tutorial for it! Fingers crossed.

bottom image via this wedding from 100 layer cake

Any other DIY ideas? I’d love to hear them!

i’m back!

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Hello friends!

First of all, I’d like to apologize for my unexplained absence for the past two weeks. Though it’s no excuse, things have been absolutely crazy around here. Let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to:

First, I have moved. In preparation for our upcoming nuptials my fiancé and I got our own place together – and it’s awesome! It’s been fun moving things in, decorating, organizing, and adding things to our wedding registry when we realize we don’t have things like a colander. As you can imagine, it feels like playing house, only it’s real life.

Second, our wedding. As I mentioned it is quickly approaching so we’ve been super busy with meeting with our florist, shopping for fabric in downtown LA (post to come), planning menus and programs, and my dress fitting!

Third, life! One of my best friends got engaged, spent time with fam, have been involved in some interesting projects at work, and celebrated an epic cinco de mayo with awesome friends.

Whew. So that’s me. That’s what’s been going on. Lots of change, but all of it good. What has been going in your lives? Fill me in!

That said, I think until after the wedding I’ll only be posting three times a week. I hope you don’t mind and I hope you will still continue to read! I so appreciate the lovely comments and emails I get from this blog, so I hope you’ll keep visiting even if I’m only posting every other day. And while we’re on the topic of change, what would you like to see more or less of? I’m always up for your suggestions.

I have some awesome things planned over the next couple of weeks for this little blog, so I hope you’ll keep visiting. Really. There will be a giveaway (it’s so awesome), an opportunity to go to a launch event if you’re in the Los Angeles area, and updates from our wedding planning and house decorating. So please keep visiting!

a little peek into our new home

AND

Happy mothers day to the greatest mom in the world!

Yesterday we want to the Cellar, a great little place in Fullerton that my dad found, and had a great Mother’s day brunch. I had to share a photo! This places is super romantic and has great service so if you’re in the area with your sweetheart or someone you care about (mom!), you should give it a try.