Hair New Era

This Thirty-ish candles are high-larious. And since I'm fast-approaching the age where I'd actually need these (yikes!), I'm cataloging this sussy and adding it to ye old wish list.

Good thing too, because I was planning to be "29" for the next couple of years, so at least these "Thirty-ish" candles will help keep me honest. You know, gotta keep it real. ;)

In case you, too, are encroaching upon "cougar" status, you can get your very own set of candles here.

Editor's note: I just found out the same company also makes candles that read Don't Ask, Lost Count, as well as simply You're Old (my personal fave). Or - if you're feeling really daring - they also have ones that read 21 Again (ballsy).

Photo via Mary Ruffle

Wellll, I'm just a wee bit (*cough*) late in wishing you all a happy weekend (considering the weekend will officially be over in an hour!), but I wanted to do so anyway. Our weekend was a whirlwind of travel, football, and my sweet B's birthday (happy {undisclosed age}, love!), so I'm a little late in getting to it. But I hope your days off were great regardless!

B and I drove up to Penn State on Friday evening to see his sister, her new baby and the fam, and to tailgate for the PSU/Temple game Saturday afternoon. I desperately wanted to bring these fun new Oreos (spotted on Jaimee Rose's fun blog) - they're in the shape of footballs, people! Fun with a capital F! - but after running around town and searching for them in six - count 'em six - stores, I realized they were nowhere to be found around Naptown. B's sis informs me they're sold out throughout Penn State as well. Boo hoo. Aren't they cute though? And the perfect Sunday football snack?



Photos from Jaimee Rose

Harumpf.

So my early-Fall dreams of the perfect tailgate are only slightly dashed (we somehow managed to deal without these Oreos and had a lot of fun anyway, in case you were wondering). There are many more weeks of football (ugh, oh so many) ahead and at least a few more beautiful Indian summer-like days in the forecast as well.

As Monday rolls around, here's wishing you a wonderful week (and dreams of Oreos?).

xoxo, r.

Photos via 1- Me Oh My and 2- Bryan Sheffield on flickr

Hello, girls and boys! I'll be honest, this post is coming to you from my iPhone because, well, it's Friday and it is bea-youu-tiful out. It's a big weekend - we're celebrating a friend's birthday tonight, then I'm off to Phila for a bachelorette party and Sunday is Father's Day for everyone. Yikes, busy busy! Fingers crossed this gorgeous weather continues, and here's wishing you a great weekend!

See you Monday!
xo, r

Remember when it was this chick's birthday? Well, today it's her "man-flesh"'s turn, so I wanted to wish him a happy birthday...with my ever-famous, embarrassing photo montage.

Let's start with when I first met Dan. He appears to be approximately 12 years old (and maybe albino) in this photo, but I assure you he was indeed non-albino and a college freshman:


Fast-forward to 10 years later (eek!) and here is, all growns up:

So nautical.

Here we are showcasing our respective geekier sides at a 3D showing of Avatar (I forced them all to stop outside the theater [even though it was 1:30am!] to document this):


And finally, here is the birthday boy with his twin girlfriend.

Happy birthday, Dan!

Today also happens to be my friend Eric's birthday. Whew, big day. Let's all wish him a happy birthday too, shall we? Roll the footage, Jeeves!

Eric and his lovely wife Andrea:


Try not to stare too hard at my uvula.


And I couldn't let Eric get through a momentous occasion without an embarrassing photo like this:

Niiice. E-rock, just for the record, I left out the ones of you doing yoga on this ball. You can thank me later.

Well, there it is. The tour de Dan and Eric. Happy birthday, boys! Hope you each have wonderful b-days and welcome to old(ish) age!

Good Monday morning, y'all! I've been away for a short bit. Didja miss me?

I didn't get to say this last week when the day passed, but sea*life*style just had its 1st birthday. Happy little birthday to you, bloggy!

I can't believe it's been a year. Whew!

It was kind of a rough time for that milestone to occur (being that my two jobs have made me a sporadic poster at best) so I didn't mention the b-day at the time, but I wanted to at least acknowledge it now and give a quick thank you to those of you who have been reading thus far. I hope you're still enjoying, and do please feel free to comment with suggestions (or gripes) at any time - I love hearing from you all!

And with that being said, I'm tucking into a nice big slice of delicious cake while I write some new posts for you all to read.

Hope to see you back here soon!

xo, r.

Beautiful photos by Jamie from From Me To You.

Oh, holy moley, Jordan Ferney has done it again. These DIY mobiles are amazing:

Can you believe she made them herself? They're simply sewn-together strips of vellum, hung from the ceiling on their own string and weighed down by a fishing weight. I love that you can make these mobiles in any combination of colors you want so that they match your party!

Also, she made all of these for less than 25 bucks, so that's a huge amount of impact (it basically transforms the space) for not a lot of dough. I'm a little intimidated by the sewing aspect, but it seems pretty simple overall.

Thankfully, Jordan was kind enough to provide instructions and photos for how to do this yourself, here.


Wouldn't these be perfect for a wedding shower or modern grown-up birthday party? Just tweak the color scheme accordingly and you're seriously set on decor. Love, love, love.

Did I really just read that there is a chance of snow today?? I thought we'd been over this, weather - it's spring now - act like it! Jeesh. Fine fine, if this is just March's way of finishing up the lion part, and you're about to go out like a lamb, I guess I can deal for one more weekend...


Photo from Mary Ruffle

In the meantime, I'll be opening windows (after the snow, I suppose), enjoying the sunshine if it peeks out for a bit, and having a good weekend. We're going to a friend's 30th birthday fiesta (margarita! ay yi yi!) and then back in time for baseball for B - if it doesn't get rained out, that is. Either way, I'm excited for another weekend and some fun hanging out with friends.

Monday will be here soon; enjoy yourself in the meantime (and hope to see you back here Monday!).

I don't have kids yet for whom to plan birthday parties, yet I still feel oddly compelled to buy all of these amazing cupcake kits immediately.

These gorgeous mermaids are perfectly at home here on Sea*Life*Style.

I can think of a certain little boy (Finny Finn Finn) whose mom is going to snap up these pirate toppers immediately...

A cute gender-neutral option:


This one's girly all the way:


Perhaps I'll host a tweet-up and serve cupcakes adorned with these (grasping at straws here, looking for a reason to buy one of these kits!):


I can honestly see some dog-obsessed grown-ups buying these for their dog's birthday party (I still think it's hysterical [cough *weird* cough] that people do that):


Maybe I'll get these for the next friend of mine who has a baby shower:

I die with the cuteness.

p.s. Most of the cupcake themes also have coordinating party supplies, from invites to paper plates and napkins, etc. Check out the full selection here. So cute!

Spotted on Oh Happy Day!

Photo by Douglas Friedman, via Aubrey Road

Hello again, lovelies. I'm sorry to bail on you this afternoon, but I've got to head out the door (ha). I've got a serious to-do list this afternoon and time is a-ticking. Among the fun tasks I've got to check off? Sending out some of my tax docs (bleh), finishing up a present for my grandmother's 90th birthday, and - this is just a tad random - buying a costume for a Mexican fiesta birthday this weekend (ole!), among other things.

I'm off, but I'll be back tomorrow; hope you will too!

xo, r.

Photo of Jessica Stam by Sølve Sundsbø, via Bits of Beauty

I have to head out a bit early today as we're heading up to the Cape to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday (whew, way to go, Nana!) with family. It'll be 10 degrees colder there (booo), but hopefully nice and sunny nonetheless, so I'm hoping to sneak in a quick trip to the beach.

Here's wishing you a fabulous weekend, whether you're just hanging around outside (ha, see photo - baaad pun) or booked all weekend like me.

I'll be back bright and early Monday - hope to see you back here then!

These ABC paper cups from IaM Design are so cute and would certainly make any party just a bit cheerier. They're instant, easy decor:

I don't usually use paper cups since they're not the greenest, but sometimes for a party or occasion, you gotta do what you gotta do...

Besides, I love the idea of turning something utilitarian into an opportunity for good design:



Plus, they're the perfect inexpensive item to stuff in your "gift closet" or emergency box - whip these puppies out, spell the name of the person whose birthday you forgot, or spell out the holiday your kids are supposed to bring goodies to school for and stick some store-bought cookies in the cups, and you're all set!

Via Love Obsess Inspire.

Photo via Absolutely Beautiful Things

I am running out the door with a million things to do before this evening sneaks up on me. We have a busy, busy (rainy) weekend, starting with the second-ever Annapolis Wino Club tonight - for which I need to bring some tasty treats (and haven't even thought of what to do yet!). Tomorrow we head up to Phila for a friend's birthday party at a country western bar; yes, you read that right - and we're trying to squeeze in a pit stop to the Erin Express on the way. Yikes.

Don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight before you go to sleep - Sunday is Daylight Savings! I'm shuddering to think of losing that hour of sleep, but at least it means an extra hour of sunlight for the days. Hurray!

(Oh and don't forget the unveiling of the new Liberty of London line at Target this weekend! If I wasn't going to be running around PA, I'd be there at door's open on Sunday!)

See you back here Monday, when hopefully this rain will be gone and the days will be longer and bright?

Doesn't this candy-shop inspired wedding look like it was a blast? Then again, all of the designs/ideas could just as easily be applied to a birthday party, baby shower, etc. I love the colors, the details and the whimsy!

(And note how mustaches make an appearance again!)

All photos by Red Ribbon Studio; for more photos, go to Style Me Pretty here, here and here.

First zebras, now horses. I guess all this sunshine's getting to me...

But no, this post isn't really about horses. It's about cowgirls. Or more importantly, what is the appropriate attire to wear to a surprise birthday held at a western bar? (Assuming that I'm playing the role of "cowgirl" for the evening.) Yessiree, this western bar is complete with country line dancing, a mechanical bull and what's sure to be a dazzling array of mullets. Can't wait. {sigh}

I always look to Kate Moss for inspiration. What do you think about this get-up?

Photo via dress design decor

Very glamorous with the diamonds, long hair and leo, no? Hmm, it'd be nice and sleek for riding the bull, but I might get chilly.

Perhaps I should go a more traditional route?:

Photo via Daddy Likey

But where are this cowgirl's pants?!

Maybe glam is the way to go. Hermes certainly likes their cowgirls fancified:

Uhhh, yeaaah, I don't think the bar will be quite that fancy.

How about this other look from Hermes?:

Photos via Delight By Design

Yeh, maybe not. That's a little too Matrix/trained hit killer/cowgirl for me.

Well, if all else fails, I could just throw on these puppies and all will be right in the (country western) world:

Back at the Ranch custom boots, via I Am A Greedy Girl

Unnnh, perhaps I have some more thinking/shopping to do....

What do you think? Any suggestions on cowgirl attire without looking like a tranny rodeo clown? ;)

Now that we've discussed pulling your own baby out of yourself (ouch & weird), we can move on to the much cuter side of having a baby: baby parties! Or in this case, a first birthday party. Sara, your biological clock is going to start ticking so loudly after this (sorry, Dan).

First off, the setting:
(click on photos for larger image)

I loooove that poster and the balloon arrangements are adorable too.

The plush stuffed animals on wheat grass in fun giraffe-print boxes are brilliant centerpieces - cheap, easy to put together and super-cute!

I honestly think my favorite thing about this party is the party hat design. Aren't they lovely? I love the mix of papers - but of course all kept within the color scheme - plus the piece de resistance: the pom-pom toppers! Custom "E" (for Evan) tote bags for favors aren't too shabby either.

Aunt Sandy's cake pops look delicious, as does that tower of mini-cuppies. But the best food offerings at the event (in my opinion) were probably this amazing combo:

1. Kogi BBQ (I'm dying to try this LA landmark. It's a traveling truck that serves up Korean Mexican tacos and BBQ, day and night, and tweets its location out to its 50,000 followers. And it's supposed to be amazing. Yum!)
AND
2. The Fry Girl's mini donuts - hot mini donuts, made on the spot for guests while they watched. Mmm.

And let's not forget the cutest guest in attendance, the birthday boy:

I'm not usually one for putting kids in suits, but this little guy is rockin' it (that and the mini Chuck high-tops are pretty amazing too).

All photos by Youkeun Oh Photography, found via The City Sage.