New Jewelry Purchases & Splurge Vs. Steal

I was on Hautelook.com the other day when I came accross some gorgoues piece by Bansri. I'm not really much of a jewelry person, but I do like unique pieces. One of the items I purchased was a black and gold clover necklace that instantly reminded me of the one by Van Cleef & Arpel's Alhambra. If any of you watch the Real Housewives of Orange County you may have noticed that Alexis wore this necklace a few times. 

This necklace is so expensive that you actually have to request the price. I'm not sure of the exact price, but I've seen similar shorter versions of the necklace going for over $6,000 on eBay. Yeah, it's that expensive!

So I purchased this gold plated Bansri piece for $41 marked down from $98

I also got these gold plated evil eye bracelets (in Turkish we call call the evil eye a nazar boncugu).  I love things with the evil eye, despite it's name which can be kind of strange; it's actually kind of like a talisman as it's known in many cultures to protect against the evil eye. The idea of using these is that it will attract the evil eye (nazar) before it can damage the thing or the person that it is directed to, absorbing the damaging power of voluntary/involuntary "evil look". Therefore the nazar bead is always out in the open, not a secret talisman. In Turkey you will often see a nazar boncugu pinned to a baby's clothing and if it ever breaks it is usually replaced immediately. 
  [There's your educational info for the day hehe]

The closure has a little hamsa (hand) that dangles from it.

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed in the quality of these. A set of 2 was also $41 marked down from $98. They are definitely cute, but too pricy for the quality.

My Labor Day/Birthday Weekend ~ (pic heavy)

Despite the fact that I had to cancel my much anticipated Destin vacation for Labor day weekend I still had a really fun weekend. My husband was so sweet trying to make it fun for me knowing that I was disappointed about the trip and also because tropical storm Lee made the weather extra shitty all weekend. 

For starters he managed to score amazing club level seats for the Saints football game (I'm a huge football fan)

Saturday we went to the aquarium, since there wasn't anything we could do outdoors on account of the weather. Plus, I haven't been to the aquarium in years so it was lots of fun. On the way home we stopped by the mall and he got me a F21 gift card so I did a little shopping. 

Sunday Jason planned a birthday dinner for me at Zea's followed by Harrah's casino for some roulette. I won some money, lost more money, had a few drinks and did a little dancing. 

The waiter wasn't so good with the camera so it came out blurry :(

How funny is this gift bag my friend made me!? She taped my face onto this girl haha

Monday my parents took Jason and I out for some lunch in the city at Grand Isle restaurant. I completely forgot to take a pic of my food, I guess I was too excited to eat it and forgot lol, but it was pecan crusted catfish and fries, delish!

How was your labor day weekend?

Thank you mother nature for raining all over my plans!

I had planned a really nice vacation to Destin, FL for labor day weekend. I found an amazing deal on BookIt.com, $385 for 2 nights at the Ramada beach plaza hotel w/ an ocean front view w/ balcony. As soon as you go down stairs your already on the beach. I was so looking forward to it, but of course, of all the weekends for a storm to be forming in the gulf it would be on Labor day weekend! I ended up cancelling it yesterday and they were nice enough to refund me all of the money on account of the weather. I'm super bummed about it, but there's really thing I can do.

 I guess on the bright side, the rain should help put out that huge fire that has been burning in the marsh. It's been causing some people a lot of health problems and 2 days ago the city (New Orleans) looked like a volcano had erupted because of all the smoke and people were walking around w/ face masks on. It was pretty crazy.

Aaanyway, I leave you now with what I'm looking forward to most this fall season as far as clothes go:

Wool Hats

Blazers

Scarves

Ankle boots

Classic trench coats

Shinny a.k.a liquid leggings (I'm not sure if it will still be in style this season, but I really hope it will be. I love them! Same thing goes for lace leggings)

I mean, how hot are these outfits?

What did you guys have planned for Labor day weekend? What are you looking forward to most this fall season?

August in Pictures

I've really been enjoying doing these month in pictures posts'. It's a good way to sum up what I've been up to and you know what I've learned from this one? Scroll to the bottom to see.

Jason and I along with another couple did a double date at Rembrandt 

I found this cute little kitten in the parking lot at my work ^-^

Tokyo House was having a special that night and some things on their menu were half off. Jason and I definitely took advantage!

I forgot to take a pic of the finished product, but this was super easy to make. It's cream of mushroom chicken w/ rice.

I've been making a lot of green bean casserole lately. I'm pretty much obsessed with it.

I've been wearing this lipgloss a lot lately. It's by Neutrogena

We went to Outback for a late b-day dinner for Jason, I of course had to get my favorite drink. A roadhouse Roadie.

Chloe! she's so cute and sweet. She's my MIL's dog and if she ever got out I would totally steal her! I ♥ her

Me and my bestie taking a pic in the bathroom, classy lol

Hot mocha coffee and a good magazine...Wishing it was fall already.

Jason took me out to Stingrays restaurant insisting that they have the best calamari ever. Um, negative. It was so deep fried that there wasn't any taste of calamari left; and yes, all that food was for 2 people haha.

So what did I learn from this month in pics? I eat a lot lol

August Favorites

This is my first time posting my most used makeup of the month. I usually don't do these posts since I'm always wearing something different, but I've been feeling lazy lately and pretty much have been sticking to the following:

Face:

Almay foundation in Sable and set with BE mineral veil (my HG setting powder, it makes your skin look flawless), NYC peach mosaic blush w/ ELF golden bronzer on top.  I've said it many times, that ELF bronzer is gorgeous on tan skintones! I apply it lightly right over my blush and slightly onto the top of my cheekbones. Use a light hand b/c it's super pigmented. 

Eyes:

Maybelline define a lash mascara, I love the brush on this. It lets you get super close to the base of lashes for maximum volume. MAC brun shadow used for my brows and Wet n' Wild Palette in Vanity. Neutrals are so easy to work w/ I've been wearing the creamy beige color all over my lid w/ the medium brown in the crease.

Lips:

Maybelline lip stain in In the buff w/ carmex gloss over it. 

What have been your go to products this month?

Saturday afternoon; Coffee & some shopping

 The weather down here has been around 100 degree everyday for the past week. Finally the humidity went down Saturday so it was somewhat bearable to leave the house. My mom and I decided to out for coffee and do some shopping. We went to Puccino's which is our favorite coffee shop (it blows Starbucks out the water if you ask me). I always get the same thing, an Iced mocha, delish!

After we got coffee we did a little shopping. I was in Macy's when I came across these bad boys.

I know I have a ton of sunglasses already under $20, but I figured everyone needs to have 1 pair of high end sunglasses in black right?. So why not splurge a little :)

What did you guys do over the weekend? Have you ever tried Puccino's coffee?

Thrift Store Find - Silver Perfume Tray

I've been watching those shows on the history channel lately where these people go to thrift stores and run down barns and houses looking for antiques or items that can be turned into furniture. So Jason and I decided to hit up the local thrift store to see if we could find anything worth while. I came across this really cool looking silver tray for only $8.95!

In the pic above you can see where I started to clean it

After a little cleaning with silver jewelry cleaner and an old toothbrush it looks pretty good. I might need to get a silver polishing cream to clean up more of the really tarnished areas.  I intend to use it either for my perfume or as a jewelry tray. I really want to check out a flea market sometime soon to see what I can find.

Do you guys ever check out thrift stores or flea markets for hidden gems?