Hermoine's hair

I believe that I have mentioned before that I love a good makeover but I never featured the one that I've found to be most impressive in recent months. Emma Watson aka Hermoine from the Harry Potter movies. Her hair looks AMAZING ! ! ! This bold new haircut turned her into such a sophisticated young woman. I'm always proud of a woman who will take a risk.

Catherine nail polish

Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, has inspired a new nail polish by Butter London. It is called "No More Waity Katie".

First, I really hate that they ever referred to her as Waity Katie. It makes her sound like an old spinster, which she isn't. I think that it is absolutely wonderful that Prince William made sure that she was groomed and ready to be his wife so that she would be able to deal with life as a royal.

Second, I feel that the polish should have been called something like "Duchess" or "Princess" or "Princess Catherine" instead of something with a slightly negative conotation.

Third, I feel that a nail polish that is inspired by anyone, should be a reflection of them. This polish is a lavender glitter polish. I'm not seeing a correlation to Catherine. She's not glitzy. She's very glamorous and chic but not showy. Perhaps a lavender creme polish with some sort of sheen would have been more of a reflection of her.

That being said, the nail polish should have been released sooner so she could have actually worn it for her wedding. Or so that members of the public could have worn it in her honor on her special day.

I'm not trying to slam the nail polish itself. There are just some changes that I personally would have made. That's all.

What was she thinking?!?!?!

I took one look at Victoria Beckham's royal wedding outfit and nearly died. What in the hell was she thinking??? It looks like she found a navy blue gunny sack (oversized, of course) and cut holes in it for her arms and head. It was so shapeless. Victoria normally has such good taste. I think it must have been the pregnancy hormones that led to her poor choice. But I will give her kudos for the sky-high heels that she wore while being pregnant. As far as the hat, I'm still up in the air on that one. But her arm accessory (I mean, husband), now that is something I can get on board with!!!


THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE!!!!!
I absolutely love the simplicity of Catherine's gown and the angora sweater she wore over it. She looked so chic yet regal. It was absolutely exquisite!

It finally got here!

The Royal Wedding finally got here and whizzed right by me! I'm sad to say that I actually fell asleep before the wedding so I didn't get to watch it live but I did watch it after I got up.

I stayed up all night. I read, I did crossword puzzles, I watched crime shows, I did everything I could but, alas, it did not work. But moving on . . .

Could this wedding or Catherine Middleton been any more perfect or beautiful?



Catherine Middleton was one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen! Even more so than Princess Diana, I think.



Her dress was so simple, yet it was incredibly regal.



Everything was so appropriate, including her bouquet, which was a flower called Sweet Williams.



And her Prince was so dashing and handsome and regal and so much his mother.



He even blushed a little bit after the kiss(es) on the balcony.



And just the incredible love and comfort that they share with each other is absolutely amazing!

They were so natural and relaxed around each other, even though you could still see that they were both nervous (even after all these years together). Prince William winked at his Princess. They shared loving glances and smiles. Their waves were not the typical small circle like Queen Elizabeth II uses. Catherine was so regal and composed the entire time. And I was EXTREMELY impressed to learn that she had done her own makeup!

She didn't want Prince William to see her in her dress until she arrived at the altar and he honored that request. He actually ended up being the last person to see her in her dress. But I bet, it was worth the wait. She . . . was . . . stunning!

I'm so excited!!!!!

I'm about to burst here! I can hardly wait for the royal wedding to begin. I have my website up and I've got tons of snacks and, of course, tea. I'll be getting out the china soon and making up my tea party food.

I am going to be the only one in attendance for my tea party but I'm still gonna love every single minute of it.

Tea & crumpets, anyone?

I cannot wait until tomorrow! It will be fairly early in the morning here, but I'm either staying up all night or getting up super early just so I can watch the royal wedding.

I'm going to have my own private little tea party complete with fine china, chai tea and some sort of pastry or tea sandwiches. I may even get dressed up in a dress that makes me feel like a princess!!!!! (Just a note - If ever you find an article of clothing that makes you feel like a princess, a queen, a million bucks or anything else, BUY IT!!!).

I only wish that Princess Diana were still alive to see her baby boy get married. I think she would have absolutely adored Kate Middleton. And can you even begin to imagine Princess Diana as a grandma?!?!?! I think she would have been the most awesome grandma! But a part of her will always be there with the Prince and his Princess to remind them of her - THE RING.

How handy!

This is yet another item that I ran across on Patricia Field's website. It is a bracelet purse (I guess that's what you'd call it). How handy is that?!?!?! It is so much more attractive than a fanny pack but still serves the same purpose. I think it's totally awesome!

I got me a new 'do!

I finally went and got my hair cut this past Monday. It basically looks just like these pictures, only just slightly shorter. I do have naturally wavy hair so my hair requires a flat iron for some styles. But I love it! AND the Hot Tamale loves it too!

I had been growing my hair longer for a specific event and now that event has come and gone so I went back to my "roots" - short hair. I love me some short hair.

Short hair isn't necessarily a change for me but this particular style is. Since the style is still slightly long on top, it still allows me some versatility. This style is edgy yet still classic so it will work on any age. I've seen pictures of Willow Smith with a similar style and I have also seem an older, white-haired lady on the movie "The Women" with a similar style.

I think that trying out a new haircut is a fantastic way to update your look and build confidence at the same time.

Summer shoes

These shoes totally look like they stepped right out of a "Legally Blonde" movie. They are from Patricia Field. They look so summery - something to be worn out to the pool. I think these only come in pink but I think they should come in a variety of colors - seafoam green, turquoise, white, black, coral, lavender, you get the picture.

They look so natural

I just had to post this picture of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I absolutely love it because they look so natural and relaxed. This picture seems so genuine. But most of all, he looks so protective of her with the way that he has his arms completely encircling her. Can't wait for April 29th to get here!

He had nice buns!

Over the weekend, I purchased several movies, one of which was "An American in Paris". This movie stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.





IT WAS AMAZING!!!






Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron are the most amazing dancers. This movie has made me want to take dance lessons.

This was Leslie Caron's first movie. When I called to tell my Mom about the movie, she told me that Leslie Caron was well-known as a ballet dancer prior to this movie. She was so graceful and just lovely to watch. She is a very talented lady.


But Gene Kelly . . . aaaaahhhhh . . . Gene Kelly . . . what a nice butt! I mean it. That man's butt sent shivers down my spine. He was absolutely amazing to watch as he danced and I would watch him anyday over Fred Astaire. His style of dance was so much more energetic and much more interesting to watch. He was sooooo much better-looking than Fred Astaire. He was smoldering hot when he was younger. But his butt . . . It should have had its own movie. Maybe there should even be a memorial erected in his butt's honor!

Royal Wedding Confessions

I have another confession to make. As a young girl, I watched the "first" royal wedding on July 29, 1981, between Prince Charles and Lady Diana 9 times on television. That's right - 9 times! It was truly a fairy tale. The dress with it's 25-foot train, the bouquet, the carriage, the fanfare, just everything. It sucked me right in.



I think that it is absolutely amazing that Prince William was able to give Princess Diana's engagement ring to his Princess. That has to be so special to Kate Middleton.



I absolutely loved Princess Diana. I admired her. I adored her. I was fascinated by her. I would have LOVED to meet her in person. I have several books that were written about her life. She was so flawed yet still so compassionate. I loved that she was such a hands-on mom to the Princes. She always went against what was expected of her and she was so strong. She always stood up for herself. It may not have always have been all that constructive but she did what she felt was right. She had such style, such class.

I had just started dating the Hot Tamale when she died. I remember that I had just woken up when I heard the news of her passing. I was devastated. Poor HT called me that morning and I was in tears. He probably thought I had completely lost my mind.

In the days following her passing, I actually went out and purchased Elton John's single on cassette from Princess Diana's funeral. He redid his song "Candle in the Wind". I'm sure I still have it. I just don't know where it is.

I think that Prince William looks so much like his mother but not only that, he exhibits so many of the same personality traits as his amazing mother. It's just too bad that she isn't here in person to see what a great son she raised and to get to know her amazing daughter-in-law. Princess Diana was truly an amazing woman.

Did anyone else know . . .?

In honor of the upcoming royal wedding, I have been doing research online about various members of the royal family.

Was anyone else aware that the Queen Mother had passed away in 2002 at the age of 101 ??? I guess I just do not remember ever hearing about it. I had been wondering what she was up to these days. Now I know.

The Queen Mum was a very interesting woman (Just look her up on Wikipedia). She had a dry sense of humor and was always smiling. She seemed pretty down-to-earth and sometimes was known to go against the norm. Queen Elizabeth II could pick up a thing or two from her mother.

Speaking of Queen Elizabeth, I was looking through a scrapbook that belongs to my Dad and in there, was a birthday card from his sister. It had a picture of Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, on it. It was signed from "Liz and Phil". I just found that to be so hysterical. My Dad's family members have very dry senses of humor also.

In closing, I just have one question for which I've never heard an answer - why do so many Brits have such terrible teeth (look @ the Queen Mum's)?

Another new do

You know how much I love me a makeover, especially when it entails lopping off one's hair. So you can imagine how excited I was to see Katherine Heigl's new do. Amazing.

There may be something wrong with me!

I LOVE to watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter"!!!
(Hello . . . Have you seen the man's sons?!?!?!) Before, I watched the show to drool over Dog's two sons - Duane Lee and Leland but then I found that I actually enjoyed the show itself not just the hot sons.



First, they all seem to be very kind-hearted people and they almost always want to help the fugitives better themselves. They always demonstrate a genuine concern, asking what led them to this life and sharing their own life experiences with their fugitives.

Second, I absolutely adore how different they all are. They encourage individuality in their family (in case you couldn't tell from Dog's hair). And they never ever follow "the rules".

And last but certainly not least, Dog and his wife, Beth, are so stinking cute together! They met in the 80's when Dog was Beth's bail bondsman. They've been together since 1990 and finally married in 2006. And after all those years together and everything that they have gone through together, they are still absolutely crazy about each other.

Hot guys and a happily married couple . . . WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!

My bath ingredients

I luxuriated in a bubble bath for nearly 2 hours last night! It was absolute heaven!







I used Dr. Teal's eucalyptus/spearmint epsom salts and NOW eucalyptus and lavender essential oils. Then I topped it all off with Bath & Body Works Orange Sapphire bubble bath.



You may be scratching your head right now, wondering why I'd put citrus and spicy together. Well, you have to think outside the box. Scents that you wouldn't think would smell very good together end up complimenting each other. Citrus and spice do that . . . they complete each other.

Fox in a Box

As I was browsing through the makeup section of my local Wal-Mart the other day, I stumbled across this Hard Candy Fox in a Box blush/bronzing duo. I had to have it!


The name of this product may sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book but it is a great product. This is the actual duo that I purchased. It's called "Truth or Dare" and it was only $6.00. It's a real bargain because it can be worn 3 different ways - swirl your brush through both colors, the pink by itself or the bronze by itself. I personally swirl both colors together . . . it makes a fabulous neutral blush color.

I love this hair!

I realize that this is not what Katie Holmes hair looks like currently but I love this hair. I have actually been growing my hair out a little bit and I'm just a little bit shy of being able to have this hair. Actually, right now, my hair is a textured slight A-line. It should only be about another couple of months before I can do this cut!

The great thing about a strapless dress . . .

. . . is that it is so versatile. Let me explain.

This Betsey Johnson dress could be paired with any of the following:

1. Little flats and a denim jacket.
2. A white button-down shirt and black pumps.
3. A hot pink t-shirt and a pair of open-toe booties.
4. Simple black strappy sandals and a turquoise clutch.
5. A black bolero jacket & hot pink pumps.
6. Little flat black sandals, a black lightweight cardigan and big Jackie O sunglasses.

The options are endless!

If your necklace is too small . . .

I was talking to a girlfriend of mine last week and she was telling me that she had purchased a stunning pearl choker but when she got it home, she discovered that it was too small. She went on to tell me that she wasn't going to be able to wear it.

I had one word for her - EXTENDER. What is an extender you ask? Well, it is a little piece of chain that you attach to the fastener ring of your necklace and it extends the length of your necklace by about an inch or inch and a half. It has a ring at the end of it so you still have a way to fasten your necklace.

This handy little item can be purchased at any jewelry store or it can also be purchased at your local Wal-Mart. The ones at Wal-Mart are sterling silver and cost less than $5.00.

Don't let a little thing like fit stop you from wearing your favorite jewelry pieces!