SAG Awards

As I sit and watch the SAG Awards I can't believe how many people wore red tones.  They all looked great but I don't get how the fashion industy all know what color will be on trend.  Do they call each other up and say Spring 2011 we all must use hues of red?  I really want to know how that part of the industry works.

So I didn't see all the of the Red Carpet Coverage but my two favorites so far are:

Mila Kunis in Alexander McQueen

www.people.com

Sometimes Alexander McQueens gowns are too much for me, so dramatic and theatrical that I only think they would work on the runway or Lady Gaga.  However this gown is stunning.  Just the material alone would look great in almost any shape dress.  Mila looks lovely, confident and comfortable in the gown, I love her loose waves and smokey eye make up too.

My other favorite was Mariska Hargitay but I cannot find any photos online of her or who designed her dress.  She wore a classic strapless gown from what I could see in a gorgeous royal blue with a beautiful pair of aqua stud earrings.  I hope there are some pictures tomorrow so I can see the full outift.  I have to say I am a little disappointed she didn't win Best Actress in a TV Drama, SVU is one of my favorite shows and she is amazing at potraying the character. 

Well its almost 10 pm and I need to watch the Kardashians in NYC they are my fav guilty pleasure :)

Starting to create....

So as my first week not working at my part time job comes to an end I thought I would go over the baby steps I’ve taken to create my new life and career.

The weekend ~ As I mentioned, I went to Charleston SC to get away for a couple of days and see a friend.  It was a great break and I was able to find some cute beads for my business.  I also had a bunch of ideas for a photo shoot for my summer collection by the water and downtown.

Monday ~ I spent the Morning with my Mum shopping for things for her store.  Then went to Blacksburg with Tricia (friends/business partner) to visit Beadsburg only to find out after 30 mins of the GPS taking us all over that the store was closed on Monday’s lol 

Then I got to see the beautiful baby Brianna.  Rachel and Matt definitely made one cute little love muffin!!  I fell in love immediately and cannot wait until she is around 1 or 2 yrs old and can talk and be animated J

 Isn't she the cutest!!!!

Although, I didn’t get to much business stuff done it was great to have a day off and see some of my favorite people.  My life needed this; I see some of my friends a lot and others never.  Working less will hopefully make it easier for me to make time for people who I care about.

Tuesday ~ I met up with Jenna a friend and photographer (she a new blogger at http://birdseyeviewoflife.blogspot.com/ go follow her) to talk about a photo shoot for my Spring Jewelry Collection.  We spent most of the time talking, like girls do,  but did come up with some great concepts.  Right now, I am leaning towards a very girly tea party think a little Alice in Wonderland.  Lots of tea cups and clocks with the model in a cute spring dress, or just a cute downtown photo shoot.  I want something bright and fun.  Another idea was to convince a local Cupcake store to let us shoot there for some of the pictures! I am indecisive so I need to think about this some more.  Let me know your opinions! I would love to hear them.

Wednesday ~ I got quite a bit of the Spring Collection started.   Not completed but started and there is a clear direction I am going in.  I want the collection to be girly and feminine with some pieces that have a little edge to them.   

Bad Blackberry pick but this is a piece I'm currently working on.

Thursday ~ Continued to work on my Spring Collection and placed some supply orders.

Friday ~ I plan to relax and not doing anything business or work related.  Just a good chill night maybe go see No Strings Attached.  Has anyone seen it?

Time to make a change!

For a long time I thought I knew exactly who I was, but lately I realized I am not the person I want to be and have been trying to “find” myself. There is so much I want to do with my life personally and professionally.  I want to be a better child, sister, friend, worker, creator and traveler. 

I want to do something I love for my career and have been revolving who “I am” around that.  When I saw this card something clicked.  I don’t need to find myself.  I know the person I can and want to be, I know I want to have a career I am passionate about.  It’s up to me to create the life and job I want.  I need to act as the person I am/want to be and make a conscious effort to make changes to things I dislike.

Before I even saw this card I took a step to “creating” myself and the life I want. I have always worked A LOT and never thought twice about working more than 40 hrs a week. Over the last few years I’ve had a part time job, it’s a fun most of the time and a break from the stress of my full time job and of course extra cash is always nice J.  Recently, I took a temporary elevated position, I found myself working up to 70 hrs a week for the last few months. This was a decision I made and do not regret.  I appreciate the experience of the new position, but three weeks ago my gut told me this isn’t right about my work situation. 

My full time job is really stressful and over the last year has just burnt me out, I like the company and the co-workers but I just don’t want/need the stress in my life.  My gut keeps telling me its time for a change but it’s my full time job I can’t just quit without a plan.

The Plan

To become an amazing jewelry designer and make millions.  Well that's the dream lol!  My more realistic plan is become successful with my jewelry line and be able to run my business full time.  I know this will take time and effort and right now I don't have the energy nor the time. 

So as I cannot leave my full time job, the first step to reach my goal was to cut back my hours at my “fun” job and hopefully some of the stress from my schedule.  If you know me well you will know this was somewhat a big decision for me as I always work, but I feel it is the right decision and hope it helps create the life I want.

I want to see what I can actually accomplish with my jewelry in my "free time" time.  Then when I become successful, I can focus my full time career into something I love and leave the stressful job behind. 

I will be blogging frequently about my progress in creating my new life.  I hope you guys enjoy reading about it.

Weekend Away

I love love to travel and if I could that's all I would do!  This past weekend I drove down to Charleston S.C. to see my friend Brianna.  It was great to get away and to see one of my favs. 

I am officially in love with Charleston.  The buildings are gorgeous, I would love love love to live in a house downtown and be able to walk to work everyday and do something I love.  Maybe a little jewelry boutique with other fab accessories.  King Street reminds me of shopping the high streets in England and I love it.  Sure the mall is nice when the weather is bad but I love being able to enjoy a day outside and shop at the time same time.  I love the chill/relaxed atmosphere of the town and that although it is a beach town, their downtown didn't have a cheesy beach feel.  I love the independent unique stores and the cute 7yrs old selling hot chocolate outside their house to raise money for "microasia".

How cute is this house?  It kind of reminds me of the house in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  How relaxing would it be to sit on the porch in summer with a cool lemonade?

* www.plantware.com

Next time I go I hope to set up a little photo shoot for my jewelry and to take their Candle Light Ghost Tour.  Has anyone ever been and taken the tour?

The Motherland

I haven't been back to England since 2006.  I can't believe its been that long, working 9-5 in the corporate world kind of messed me up when it comes to gallivanting all over the country/world.  Not because I don't get time off but its a lot harder to take a few weeks together with my job now as it was when I was younger.   Anyway I digress, this summer I am going home for 3 weeks and I cannot wait!! I feel complete when I am home! I love living in America most of the time but there is just a sense of belonging when I go home that I don't have here.

A few reasons I am counting the days until I'm home:

1.  I get to see my childhood best friend get married!

2.  Catching up with long lost friends.

3.  Real Fish and Chips!

4.  I get to see my family!

5.  Going to a Pub, there is something about a Pub that no bar here has.

6.  Shopping in Manchester ~ I miss shopping there, the mall in Roanoke just doesn't cut it.

7.  Childhood memories ~ visiting places that I loved when I was little is always a good feeling.

8.  London ~ some friends from here are meeting up with me to visit London.  I can't wait to show them why I love my motherland :)  The museums, palaces, stores, restaurants, clubs.  I can't wait.

9.  English Chocolate and candy!

10.  Having my accent back for a few weeks lol.

 * 10 over the last 12 yrs my accent has almost disappeared. Unless I'm with my family, upset or maybe a little tipsy.   Some of this is on purpose, my job requires me to talk a lot and its really annoying when people say you talk to fast, I don't understand you or make fun of the way you say can't.  So I try to slow it down, use American words like soda instead of pop.  Unfortunately, I can't change the way I say CAN'T and many people think I'm saying "c*nt* lol 

            *yourlocalweb.co.uk

The manor above is Astley Hall, it is now a museum on the edge of my old Village.  I have visited the Hall probably hundred's of time.  When I was eight I had my Ballet pictures taken there, my mum used to hold events their and my friends I walked past it everyday walking to and from school.  This place is not the most exciting place in the world but I have great memories and it is full of history from hundreds of years ago.  They have a shoe that Oliver Cromwell left there when he was travelling and they filmed Moll Flanders their when I was in High School. 

My Golden Globe Top Picks

Like a million bloggers yesterday I wanted to do a Golden Globe Fashion Blog with my best picks of the night. 

Unfortunately,  I didn't have time to watch the show or write the blog yesterday.  Instead of doing a long blog showing the dresses you have all probably seen 20 times by now I figured I would just post a couple of my favs.

Amber Riley from Glee!

*photo instyle.com

As mentioned a million times I'm obsessed with anything that sparklesand love this dress.  For this curvy girl the full length beaded silver dress by Oliver Tolentino could have gone sooooo wrong but it didn't.  She looked amazing and the belt added some edge to the outfit and complimented her figure nicely.  You can tell she feels amazing too.   I also LOVE she made her own earrings how cute!!!!

Kelly Osbourne in Zac Posen

I know Kelly has lost a lot of weight and that's a great thing for her health but you can also tell its helped her confidence wise too.  She has gone from emo to glamor over the last couple of years.  I can't help but wonder, did she not like dressing up because she was unhappy with her body? Was her mood represented in her dark emo style?  At first when the Osbournes was on I thought it was just she liked that style, but now I'm not sure. 

I think Kelly looks like a modern day Hollywood starlet.  The dress compliments her body perfectly and the hair looks so classic and balances out the drama of the gown.   I am becoming a huge fan of Kelly's style and her new attitude to life and health.

*photo latimes.com

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Brit vs Gaga

I want to preface this blog with the fact that I am a 90's child and huge fan of Britney!!!

I read today that Britney Spears is performing her new single at the Grammy's this year.  I can't say I love her new song but def. don't hate it.  I think its going to be one of those songs that grows on me like Womanizer. 

Anyway, I am kind of scared that Britney won't be back on her game, I saw her on her last tour which while amazing, you can tell she wasn't 100 % into it, and her hair, oh my god her hair! It is "unbeweavable"  how can someone with so much money not get good extensions? Hopefully she gets a makeover before the show.

*http://www.tmz.com/

Now I found Lady Gaga is performing at the Grammy's, how can Britney compete with that??  I mean, like I said I am a Britney fan, but I'm also a little monster too! (for those who don't know Lady Gaga names her fans little monsters) and seeing her live in concert is AMAZING and of course she sings live.

Remember Britney's come back on the MTV awards? It made me cringe and feel sorry for her.  You could see in her face she knew she sucked and just was counting the beats to get off stage. "5,6,7,8, 5,6,7 and im out of here".

I don't want that to happen again, even if shes on point with a great routine at the Grammy's she probably going to lip sync and against Gaga its going to make the performance look bad.  Ahh I am worried for her!

Do you guys think Britney can hold her performing in the same show as Gaga?