Weekend Collage

my weekend by vanessanelson featuring a locket necklace

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  Was it GREAT!?  I hope so.  My One Tree Hill marathon continues and with it has come some super weird dreams.....that's what you get I guess.

We are getting ready to go into gift again at the good ol' Lancome counter!  I'll be working a ton this week and then next week is when the craziness starts...this is kind of like pre-gamming before the Super Bowl if it involved crazy women, a diet of Pretzel Bites, and too much caffeine.  

Anything exciting or life changing happen to you while we were apart?  Let me know! ;)

xoxo

Vanessa

Friday Letters

Dear Gardeners,
Thanks for hanging around outside my bathroom window.  Hope you liked when I opened it half-dressed and with a towel on my head an let out a little scream when I saw you.
Maybe knock next time.
Vanessa

Dear Glee,
Season 4 should feature a massive time jump featuring an adult, failed actress, Rachel Berry as a Dance Moms cast member.
Think about it.
Vanessa

Dear General Public,
I used Taylor Swift lyrics to get my point across in a discussion the other day so...look out!  This girl is going places!
Sincerely,
Vanessa

Dear Ron Artest,
Welcome to the Douche Bag club.  Go ahead and have a seat over there in between Ben Roethlisberger and Phillip Rivers.  Tom Brady is in charge if you have any questions.
From,
Vanessa

Dear "The Wedding Planner",
I don't know which is harder to believe....that J.Lo is Italian or Matthew McConauhey is a DOCTOR.  How stupid do you think we are?
Just stop.
Vanessa

Dear Readers,
I hope you have a great weekend!  Do something that scares you, laugh until you cry, eat cupcakes!
See you next week!
xoxo,
Vanessa

Instagram, Love/Hate

PROM!

corsage...I love the look on my Dad's face...

 Colt wanted to go to Prom too...

LOVED my sister's dress

Sister and her date

so pretty

love it

sister and her BFF...so adorable

she is stunning

I did her hair and make up!

This happened....

My friend Karyn has a special "batter bottle" for cupcakes...

Only your best friends will text movie quotes with you

I want to live in this house someday....

yum!

 MORE cupcakes....

Things I'm Loving: 

This video - brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.  If you don't have someone who would do this for you then what is the point of anything...

Ombre Hair

This Quote

Sparkling Cranberry juice.....nectar of heaven.

Things I'm Hating:

The fact that "The Princess Diaries" came out TEN years ago. TEN!  Now nothing is ok.

No working air conditioning in 90 degree weather...

Ron Artest - I mean REALLY?! He's the worst.

What are you loving/hating this week?  Let's talk about it!

xoxo

The two men in my life

So I have a confession to make.  I have not one but TWO secret lovers.  They've been with me for a very long time.  We've shared happy times together.  We've shared sad times together.  They used to come over every Monday night to watch "The Hills" with my bestie Beth and I.  Oh the times we've had.  I'm finally ready to introduce them to you.  They are.....
Ben
and
Jerry.
They've created some really great times in the past and I've always known they've cared about me.  But recently they just shared this with me....

And now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are completely in LOVE with me because it's LITERALLY the best thing that has ever come into my life.
So thank you Ben and my dear Jerry....but please don't be so obsessed with me (Pop-Tart guy will get jealous)

P.S. A lot of you asked what my favorite OTH episode is my favorite and I've decided that to answer...I'm gonna do an entire amazing post about it!  Are you excited?!  You should be.  ;)

Guest Blogger Playlist

I'm so excited to introduce my SECOND guest blogger!  Her name is Sladja and she's fantastic!  She always leaves great comments!  You can find her blog HERE!  Go check it out!  And now I introduce Sladja!

Hi! My name is Sladja (it's not that hard to say it :) in Spanish my name would be Dulce, and in english Candice ) and I'm delighted to be Vanessa's guest playlist blogger.

Something about me.. I'm 26-year-old girl living in Europe. I have bachelor degree in biochemistry but I'm dreaming about working in fashion mag or being PR for fashion brand. Beside my native language I speak English, Spanish and i understand few other language. I'm crazy for shoes, clothes, and all other girly stuff.I adore animals! Have 2 dogs and 2 cats. Love to read. Watch movies and TV shows. Oh did I say I blog?

Well I do. It's mix of thoughts, life, love, food, music.. blabbing about life :)

 But most of all I love music.

When I was little girl everyone thought I would be musician. Ye, from musician to chemist..hm :) But music has really important part in my life.I sing all the time.. when i smile, when i cry, when i'm having a bad or good day, when i just want to relax.. So here are few song that are on repeat in past few months . Hope you like them :)

coldplay - paradise

bongo botrako - Todos los días sale el sol

sophie ellis bextor - can't have it all 

lana del rey - born to die

lana del rey - blue jeans

adele - turning tables

adele - i'll be waiting

florence and the machine - shake it out

she & him - i put a spell on you

everly - quicksand

bethany joy lenz - day after today

Thank you so much to Sladja for sharing your music with us!  If you're interested in sharing a playlist with us leave a comment!! 

xoxo

Weekend Collage

my weekend by vanessanelson featuring flat shoes

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!  I had a busy one!  I did prom make up for my little sister and her best friend (pictures to come...they looked stunning), had another fantastic Target trip with my 2 BFF's Karyn and Jack (pics of that to come as well...), I worked, ate cupcakes, laughed, cried, embarrassed myself, laid in the grass, and sipped sparkling cranberry juice to my heart's content.

I spent the majority of Sunday watching One Tree Hill from the beginning....sigh....what a fantastic show.

I know a lot of you are OTH watchers...do you have a favorite episode?  I'd love to know what it is!  Leave me a comment!

This week lot's of pictures to come, another guest blogger playlist, and hopefully fun!

xoxo

Vanessa

P.S. - I HATE the new blogger layout.....anyone else???

Friday Letters

Dear Girls who wear athletic clothes to the mall,
We get it.  You're sporty.  Put on some real pants.
Thanks,
Vanessa

Dear Dad,
Thanks for asking me if Tupac was "East coast" or "West coast" without any further explanation.
It made my day.
Vanessa

Dear Jessica Simpson,
Will you please just pop that 6 year old kid that is living in your stomach out already?
It's time!
Vanessa

Dear Justin Bieber,
If I was your girlfriend I would be arrested and sent to women's prison to be someone else's "girlfriend".  Her name is probably Donna.
Thanks for the offer though!
Vanessa

Dear 6 year old me,
I'm really sorry that I'm not a ballerina who owns a unicorn and is married to Zack Morris like we planned.  I feel like such a failure.
Regrets,
Vanessa

Dear people,
If you're feeling bad about yourself just keep in mind that Brad Pitt is engaged to Billy Bob Thornton's sloppy seconds.  See....now you feel better!
You're welcome.
Vanessa

Dear Jeopardy contestants,
Just once I'd like to see one of you wager "a PONY!" in Final Jeopardy.
From,
Vanessa

Dear Institutions of Higher Learning,
I am available to give lectures on the finer points of The O.C. if anyone is interested.  NOTE: The first 2 hours will be a power point presentation of 100 pictures of Oliver and me ranting about WHAT A WEASEL HE WAS.
I'm still really worked up about it guys.
Sincerely,
Vanessa

Dear Readers,
I hope you had a great week and thanks for taking the time to hang out with me.  Have a great weekend and if you need some reading material.....you know where to find it (cough The Dime Diary cough cough cough)
xoxo,
Vanessa

Love/Hate

Things I currently Love:

• cold medicine
• this make up palette from Sephora

• peach nail polish

• this quote

• co-workers who will take your friday shift so you can go to breakfast with your gal pals
• these books (can all be found here)

• facebook discussions with your friends about which real housewife you would be (she would be Kyle...I would like to think I'd be Heather but let's be honest...I'd be NeNe Leakes)

Things I currently Hate:

• rainy days that trick me into thinking I still have hours left to sleep when in reality I've slept through 2 snooze alarms
• making a grilled cheese sandwich and eating half of it before hearing "have you seen this cheese?  it's all moldy!" PER-FECT
• Oliver from The O.C. I think about what a little weasel he was and it still makes me so mad.
• people who make sexy faces at themselves in the mirror in public...um hi!  we can all see you and we all think you're a douche
• the fact that miley cyrus's real name is "Destiny".  I've known this for years but every time someone reminds me it's like the FIRST TIME and I hate it.

Also something on the list of things I love:

YOU

Anything you're loving/hating right now?  Let it out.  This is a safe place.  Let's heal together.  EXCEPT FOR YOU SEXY FACE MIRROR GUY.

ugh.

Professional Instagram Photography (and the Giveaway Winners....)

I'm such a professional photographer.  I take so many artistic Instagram pictures I just can't even deal with how amazing and talented I am.
Here's some of the super amazing ones I've taken lately....

Dog

My sister got her prom dress

This was a good day

This must be how men feel when their wife catches them cheating...

My friend Karyn and I made these.  Look for our new show on the Food Network

called "We Buy Pre-Made Foods at Target and Pretend We Made Them! (And You Can Too!)"

And....the moment you've all been waiting for!  The WINNERS of the giveaway!!!

Winner of the Sephora make up palette

Winner of the Full Size Tarte LipSurgence: 

Email me at vnesslnel@gmail.com with your info!

THANK YOU to all who entered!!!  We'll have another one soon!  

xoxo

Guest Blogger Playlist

This is my first guest playlist post and I'm so excited!  My first guest is Emily and not only does she have an amazing taste in music (and blogs that she reads.....umm...yes.) BUT she also has a really great blog herself!  You can check it out HERE and without further ado...I introduce EMILY

Introducing me (no, I didn't just reference a Nick Jonas song): 

I'm Emily. I have been married to my best friend, Robert, for 9 months and I absolutely love every second of it. When we got married, I moved to a small town in Tennessee where he preaches, and it's been a bit of an adjustment going from living in a place where I have malls and Targets and MAC stores all around to a town with a Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Dollar Tree--and that's all. Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband, a best friend who texts me from Florida nearly every second of every day, and good music to keep me company. Oh, and a blog. I used to have a crazy, Vanessa-like blog (emuhleem.typepad.com), but when I got married and moved, I wanted to start fresh. Now, I have a blogger account and I love it. It's a religious blog and it's mostly to help me stay focused and study, but if I can ever help anyone else in their relationship with Jesus Christ, that's what it's all about. 

And now, the reason you're here: the playlist itself. I decided to give you all a little taste of summertime. Since we're rapidly approaching the summer season, we all need to start inching away from our winter music and into the fun summery songs! I've had a "sunny day playlist" for as long as I can remember (even back in the days of burned CDs). I wanted to give you some music that will brighten your day, maybe inspire you, but mostly make you want to bust out some flip flops, roll your windows down, and belt out these tunes. I hope you enjoy!

*Also, I chose artists that may be a little less familiar so you can really get to know what my iTunes looks like! Hope you like them! 

Good to Be Alive--Michelle Featherstone

Ordinary Day--Emilie Mover

Underneath a Beating Heart--Rosi Golan

Technicolor--Tim Myers

All the Pennies--Mindy Gledhill

Stole My Heart--Little & Ashley

Brand New Day--Joshua Radin

A Million Miles to Go--Joy Williams and Trent Dabbs

Ugly Cat Song--Graci Phillips

Crazy Girls--Bethany Joy Lenz

Love You Strongly--Amy Stroup (free on amazon right now)

Love Somebody--Schuyler Fisk

I'll Find You--Sequoyah Prep School 

Thank you so much to Emily and seriously....I've been listening to this playlist NON STOP since she emailed it to me.  SO GOOD!  Hope you all enjoy!  If you're interested in being a guest playlist blogger let me know!  Also make sure you enter the GIVEAWAY!!!  You have ONE more day!!!  

Weekend Collage

my weekend by vanessanelson featuring a lip gloss makeup

How was your weekend?  Mine was great!  Just lot's of work and some more news that just keeps looking more and more exciting.  Nothing is final yet though so I promise I'll keep you updated on the situation!

Have you smelled the new Ralph Lauren fragrance line for women yet?  So fun!  Four different fragrances that all have a different feel.  #4 is my personal favorite.  I'm also DYING over the new Dior Summer eyeshadow palette.  

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Have you entered the giveaway yet?  It's pretty amazing so....you better check it out quick!

Have a great week!

xoxo

Vanessa

April 15, 1912

100 Years ago was when the Titanic sank into the Atlantic Ocean.  1500 people lost their lives.  I always knew it was a sad story and I've always been mesmerized by it.  Oddly drawn to it.  What a terrible tragedy.  Ever since the movie came out I was obsessed.  I watched every documentary on the ship, I checked out hundreds of  books from the library about it, and on my bucket list I wrote "see the Titanic".  So many questions and mysteries.  I went and saw the re-release in 3D and it took my breath away....it's a beautiful and sad movie yes but just watching the boat rise out of the ocean and thinking....this REALLY happened!  How terrifying would that be?

Ida Straus was aboard the ship with her husband Isidor who was a   co-owner of Macy's department store.  On the night of the sinking Isidor and Ida were seen standing near Lifeboat No.8 in the company of Mrs. Straus's maid, Ellen Bird.  Although the officer in charge of the lifeboat was willing to allow the elderly couple to board the lifeboat with Miss Bird, Isidor Straus refused to go while there were still women and children aboard the ship.  He urged his wife to board but she refused saying, "We have lived together many years.  Where you go, I go."  Her words were witnessed by those already in the lifeboat.  Isidor and Ida Straus were last see alive sitting together quietly on deck chairs on Titanic's boat deck when a huge wave washed over them.  

Such sweet moments that exist in the movie were really real.  It's one of my favorite movies of all time and at end when they are reunited at the clock....ugly crying.

"1,500 people went into the sea when Titanic sank from under us.  There were twenty boats floating nearby, and only one came back.  One.  Six were saved from the water.  Six.  Out of 1500.  Afterward, the 700 people left in the boats had nothing to do but wait....wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution which would never come."
-Rose "Titanic"

I love seeing all the pictures of Leo and Kate too.  They were magic on the screen together.  So obsessed with them.

And.....just because

Hey Hey It's a Giveaway!!!

Hey guys!  So I was sitting around thinking about how completely fabulous you all are and I decided to reward you!  It's been awhile since we've done this so here we go!
I have not only one BUT TWO giveaways!  Yessss!

Giveaway #1 
Sephora Make Up Palette: 

33 Eyeshadows, 3 Eyeliners, 12 Lipsticks/Glosses, 4 Blushes, 2 Bronzers.  It has EVERYTHING.  It has a great mix of shimmers and mattes in every hue you can think of.  I'm obsessed!  The case looks like a cute Sephora bag!  Love all the selections!

Giveaway #2
Full size LipSurgence Lip Luster in "Glisten" by Tarte

It's a nice light lip tint in a kind of peachy pink shade.  Love how moisturized these make my lips feel!  And did I mention that it's FULL SIZE???  Awesome.

How to win

Leave a comment below telling me 3 make up items that you would HAVE 

to have with you on a deserted island

Extra entries

Follow my blog

Follow me on Twitter 

Follow The Dime Diary 

If you are already a follower of all 3 then go ahead and give yourself the extra entries...you deserve it for being awesome!

Leave comments letting me know that you qualify for the extra entries!

The winners will be picked on Tuesday the 17th and I'll post it on Wednesday the 18th!  

Good Luck!!!!!

P.S. Also let me know if you want to be a GUEST PLAYLIST BLOGGER :)  

I've got someone lined up for next week and I'm super excited about it! 

A Toddlers and Tiaras Moment

So I haven't come across any new music lately so instead I'll share my other favorite thing....children in beauty pageants.  So without further ado...

AND THIS
because Honey Boo Boo Child is my spirit animal.



So....I've been thinking and I was wondering if anyone would want to be a guest blogger?   And maybe do a playlist next week?  If you're interested leave a comment!  I would LOVE to hear some of your guys's favorite songs!

I've got some VERY EXCITING things happening in my work life at the moment and a VERY BIG day today so if you all could rub a rabbit's foot or cross your fingers or rub a bald man's head* or something for me I would really appreciate it!
*DISCLAIMER: I do not condone the rubbing of strange bald man's heads.  Please either ask for permission or at least do it while they're asleep.
ALSO have you entered The Dime Diary's Giveaway yet???  You better hurry and do it soon!!!
PLUS I have a HUGE giveaway coming up as well so........keep reading!
Have a great Tuesday!
xoxo

Weekend Collage

my weekend by vanessanelson featuring a knit cardigan

Hope you all had a great and beautiful Easter weekend!  Are you all on a sugar overload as well?  I ATE SO MUCH SUGAR!!!! AND IT'S NOT EFFECTING ME AT ALLLLL.............!

I also watched our hometown cupcake shop "Sweet Tooth Fairy" DOMINATE on "Cupcake Wars" which was so fun!  They really are some delish cupcakes!

I'm obsessed right now with maxi dresses with wedges (LOVE) and Revlon lip butters...I just bought quite a few (shhhhh don't tell those snobby cosmetics girls I work with...)

As we start out the week I thought I'd share a little quote with you

"Holding grudges, judging others, hating, wanting to cause harm, withholding forgiveness, gossiping, ridiculing, ignoring others, withholding mercy, throwing stones....STOP IT."

- Dieter Uchtdorf

It's really easy to get caught up in the judgmental views of the world...myself included.  I think it's important to remember to be above it.  To treat people with kindness.  To be so happy and so pleasant...that you make others want to have the same attitude.  Something to think about as you start your week!

xoxo

Vanessa