Tangerine Dream

I really need to update my closet for summer!  I am very attracted to these bright pops of color suddenly.  Doesn't this Jcrew Laila dress look so cool and breezy?  Pair it with these Cindy sandals from Kate Spade and the Dooney & Bourke Twist Strap Hobo handbag. Top the whole outfit off with Eddie Borge Lattice gold-plated hexagonal hoop earings and you are ready to go anywhere in style!

Untitled #32 by debralynn5 featuring marc jacobs fragrance

Sunday At The Beach

This past Sunday, there were a lot of things I should have been doing.  Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, working on a new painting, are just a few of the things on my to-do list. Instead I played hooky and went to the Long Beach Grand Prix.

A friend of mine goes every year and convinced me to go this time.  I thought it was funny, that after living in Long Beach for so many years and never going to the race, now that I have moved away this is the first time I've actually gone to see it.  It was a really great day to be at the beach again.  The weather was perfect, not too hot, just breezy and sunny.

We got pit passes.  It was fun to see the pit crews working on the cars.  They are so amazingly fast.  You can see the Long Beach Aquarium in the background with the mural of whales painted on it by the artist Wyland.

This skyline is used in filming Hollywood movies and shows sometimes.  The first time I remember seeing film crews out here was for the first Lethal Weapon movie.  That circular building shows up in the opening scene.

Takuma Sato won.  He's the first Japanese driver in history to win an Indy Car series race.

(this photo is courtesy The L.B. Press Telegram - my camera was not fast enough to capture these race cars!)

Well, that was my day playing hooky!  Hope you all had a fun weekend too!

A Little Jane Austen To Go Please

Every once in a while, I need some Jane Austen.  Sometimes I reread one of her books.  Or I watch one of the movies.  Last week I watched Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility!  I guess it had been a while since my last Jane Austen day.  Although, for some reason I don't own my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice.

Then, quite by accident, I found these two Jane Austen handbags.  The Emma clutch by Kate Spade and the Jane Austen Persuasion Book Purse by Novel Creations.  So you can take a little Jane Austen with you.

Untitled #31 by debralynn5 featuring leaf bags

DIY-Paper Easter Baskets or Party Favors

I was going through my old magazines (I'm sort of a hoarder when it comes to magazines) and found instructions on how to make this adorable Paper Easter Basket in a Martha Stewart Living issue.  You can fill it with jelly beans and chocolate bunnies and station one at each place-setting on your Easter table.

These remind me of the candy basket party favors I would get when I went to birthday parties as a little girl.  So I think they can be filled with little trinkets and candies and be used as cute party favors for any occasion.

What you'll need:
White Wilton Nut & Party Cups (2 inch diameter)
White crepe paper
Green crepe paper
floral wire
floral tape
felt or paper craft flower
white glue (Elmer's glue)
craft paint brush

I used a white Wilton Nut & Party Cup (sold in packs of 24 at a 2 inch diameter), but any white paper cup can be used if you cut it down to about 1 5/8 inch.

I wrapped the cup in white crepe paper, brushing the outside of the cup with glue.  I used an old craft paint brush.  I made sure the piece I used was 1 inch higher than the cup, so I could tuck it inside.  Punch two small holes in the side of the cup directly across from each other.  Cut a piece of 20-gauge floral wire to desired length for the handle.  Fold back ends of wire, and loop through holes from the inside out.  Wrap the wire in floral tape.

I then cut green crepe paper  the same length as the white crepe paper and 1 inch taller than the cup.  Accordion-fold the green paper  and using scissors, cut top of the paper to create "grass".  Unfold and wrap around cup, glueing it on.  The "grass" had a tendency to fold inward once I had wrapped it around the cup, but I just pulled it outward softly and it behaved itself after that.

There were instructions on how to make a crepe paper flower for the handle, but it just wasn't working for me.  I was running out of time so I just used a little felt flower from the pack of craft felt flowers that I found in the dollar bin at Target.  Good thing I bought those. You never know when you are going to need a felt flower!  And I am all about taking short cuts.

Now you are ready to fill your little basket with goodies!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Retro Inspired Summer Dresses

Since the weather has warmed up a little here, I am thinking of spring dresses.

Something soft, floral and pretty.  Here are a couple of lovely examples.

What Friends Are Floral Dress from Modcloth

A vintage wiggle dress from Intuitionvintage

Gingko Ruched Sheath from Anthropologie

This one reminds me a little of Daisy Buchanan in the Great Gatsby.  Can't you just picture her heading off to one of Jay Gatsby's lavish garden parties?

Garden Isle from Shabby Apple

1950s style garden party dress from butterfliesjullebea

I must have garden parties on my mind this week!

Bobbi Brown's Spring Collection!

Have you seen Bobbi Brown's new Lilac Rose Limited Edition Spring Collection?

The colors are gorgeous and flattering for everyone!

Lilac Rose Eye Palette

This palette holds eight eye shadows in dusty pinks, heather greys and lily shades.

I love Bobbi Brown's eye shadows because they last forever.  They are highly pigmented so you only need to use a little bit.  They are so versatile.  You can use them dry or you can use the darker shades wet to line your eyes.  I also love her eyeshadow palettes because she includes both shimmer and matte shadows.

Lilac Rose Shimmer Brick

You can highlight your cheeks with five bars of pearlescent shimmer.  And each bar of this bright pink, golden pink, and icy pink pearl shimmer brick doubles as eye shadow!

Lip Gloss in Rose and Pink Lily

This lip gloss is formulated with soothing botanical extracts which include:

Avocado, Jojoba, Chamomile Oils, and Aloe Extract to keep lips soft and supple.

I like that this gloss is scented with a hint of Vanilla and it has a sponge applicator.  I always feel like I have more control with a sponge applicator versus a brush applicator.

Nail Polish in Roza

A pink grey. 

Spring Planting

I know it isn't officially spring yet, but the weather warmed up this week and we got in the planting mood!  I headed out to the closest nursery with my daughter, Sandra.

After looking at the black-eyed susans, the orchids, and visiting the happy little buddha, we settled on buying some geraniums.  It's hard to kill geraniums, so we thought that would be a good option for us.  I said we were in a planting mood, not that we were great gardeners.

Here's Sandra helping my brother plant the geraniums.

Digging in the dirt!