banana needs an intervention

i got an email from banana today with a 40% coupon good online today only. ok! thanks BR! so i head over to their website and what do i find!? some really ugly crap. who do they have designing this stuff? i feel like banana is always like that though....they either have a really cute collection out or just the opposite.

faded black with chains? wth?

pretty sure i wore this same dress to my 8th grade graduation in 1999.

and here we have more chains...

this just looks like a damn mess!

ombre snake skin? am i wrong that ombre went out a while ago?!

i'm like a 14 year old girl....or a 35 year old mom....

So my sister called me today to see if I wanted to go see the 12:30 showing of Eclipse tonight....and my first response was to laugh and say no....But, alas, I am going. I'm sure I'll be surrounded my screaming tweens, and kinda creepy moms, but what can I say...I have the hots for Edward too.  I've never read the books, but ya'll the movies are really good!! i'm serious!

who else is going to see eclipse?!

28 days...

I cannot believe it is almost the 4th of July!! I'm kind of thinking "Only one more month..." and then also, "Oh God, only ONE more month!"

I will, however, be taking a study break and celebrating Independence Day! Lexington is celebrating on the 3rd, so Saturday morning we will watch Ben in the 10K, as we do every year. Then enjoy the festivities downtown and later cookout and fireworks at my cousins'. If I can, Sunday I'll be going to a cookout at a friend's house...but that depends on how much studying I can get done the rest of Sunday.

Back to the books...but I'll leave you with some cute & easy July 4th decorations from who else, but Martha {instructions etc HERE}

  

what do you all have planned for the 4th?!

Let's take a trip...

a pretend trip.... the promise of some future R&R is the only thing getting me through this bar prep. i cannot wait to see August!!

so let's go here....to the Cottages of Napa, because i love wine and, well, why not?! and they are too cute!

just lovely, no?! and i could use some of this scenery...

so have ya'll been to napa? how is it?!

** sorry, apparently i can't spell "napa"**

nothing new to report

well kids, i have nothing exciting to blog about. i've been studying like crazy...yet still feel like i haven't been studying enough. i will be so happy once july is over! this is my life:

ps - you can get our own cute sticky notes and Lilly pad from Lifeguard Press right HERE!

cape cod

i finally got a new summer bag! i needed one desperately! i ordered this Cape Cod Hobo from BR. you can find it here. i'm kind of weird about white accessories, like shoes and bags. idk, i just don't like them usually. so i thought this "chalk" was still summery w/out being stark white. of course i had it shipped to my mom's old address by accident, so it is currently caught in limbo at UPS....what do you think, cute?!

go green

so in doing my part to save the planet, i wanted to share with ya'll a little green tip... you can use your used dryer sheets to dust with. they collect the dust like a swiffer wipe does. yes, i did discover this on my own, but i'm sure that a lot of you already do this! my condo gets so dusty, really fast! like i could dust everyday. so this trick comes in mighty handy!

a wedding story

Ben and I ventured to Owensboro for a sorority sister/ former roommate's wedding. We attended the ceremony at a beautiful old church then headed to the river front for the reception. Everything was beautiful, classic and understated. Mary Katherine is really laid back and she was such a cool, relaxed bride. Oh, and the band was AWESOME! 

the view was beautiful and they really lucked out that it was a gorgeous night...if not a little toasty!

miss these girls!

Um, this cake was soooo good! I may or may not have gone back for seconds :)

Singing the Theta songs to MK

thank you

I am a BIG thank you note sender. I always appreciate when someone takes the time to send me a hand written thank you, so I figure I should do the same for those whom I need to thank! So naturally, I was excited when Lifeguard Press sent me these Lilly Pulitzer notecards to review. What's not to love? They come in a little hardcover book that looks super cute on my desk! I just used them to send a thank you to the parents' of the bride whose wedding Ben and I attended last night. 

you can order yours HERE!

and how cute are these!!?! *love*

more book recommendations

I have a couple more book recommendations for you all. I had heard about "American Wife" around the blogosphere and so I was excited to read it when Ben's mom gave me her copy. It really is a good story that is supposedly loosely based on Laura Bush's life. It follows the life of Alice, a small town girl whose life ends up taking her to places she never imagined, including the Washington. 

Next up, "Vanishing Acts," by Jodi Picoult. We all know I love me some Jodi Picoult. This book was just O.K. It's abut a woman who does search and rescue for a living, only to find out that when she was very young she was kidnapped by her father and taken across the country where she was raised by him under fake identities. Later her father is found and tried back in New Mexico where her mother still lives. 

PSA

You may have already known this but I didn't! I always keep my sunscreen in my pool bag and leave it in my car. Well, according to Real Simple mag this is a bad idea...making it less potent or completely ineffective! 

Is it OK to store sunscreen or a lip balm with SPF in a glove compartment?

No, especially during summer. Once the car heats up in the sun, "high temperatures can cause the sunscreen’s active ingredients to degrade right in the container," says Badreshia-Bansal. And the lip balm will melt, to boot. "When you apply a degraded sunscreen or balm to your skin, you’re not getting the SPF that’s indicated on the bottle," she warns. "In fact, you might be applying nothing more than a thick moisturizer."

pretika review

I did a post a while ago about finding less expensive version of the much talked about Clarisonic facial brush, the Pretika Sonic Dermabrasion Facial Brush. I finally got around to ordering it and wanted to share with ya'll!

Fist of all, I've never used the Clarisonic, so I can't really compare/contrast. However, I've been very please with the Pretika. I ordered mine from Drugstore.com for $41.50. Yes, that is $160 less than the Clarisonic. The brush seems to be kind of harsh, but I suppose it is supposed to.

The brush comes with a a charging station and an extra brush head. You have to charge it for 24 hours before using it, then they recommend you recharge after so many uses. I just keep mine on the charger and keep the brush heads in my medicine cabinet to keep them clean.

The brush has a built in timer that beeps every 20 seconds to indicate that it is time to move on to another area of your face. I didn't order the Pretika brand face wash etc. I actually ordered the Clarisonic Refreshing Gel Cleanser from Sephora...I had a gift card that I won from Bluegrass Love!!

After using it only a few times I could really see a difference in my pores. They are a lot more clear and not as noticeable. And, on my forehead I had a lot of little bumps that werern't really visible but could be felt. Using the Pretika cleared that right up! I would certainly recommend you give the Pretika a try! I saw that someone online said they purchased theirs for $30 at Rite Aid, so you might check there....

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!! I'll be back with some pics from mine :)