Monday, January 31

i need more aquaphor.

Never even heard of the stuff until I got my first tattoo in October. Eucerin Aquaphor. I even had to call the hubs to ask what exactly it is to find it in the grocery store. FYI- it's with the all the healing ointments (Neosporin). This stuff is really awesome for any dry spots you have anywhere- elbows, cuticles, heels, you name it! It's not greasy- but it is shiny. Since I was sick for ohhh 3 weeks, my lips started to really suffer at night. They cracked so bad it woke me up. At good old Wally World I found Aquaphor Lip Repair. My lips healed. Within one application. For real. It was incredible. Now I'm like a crack addict with it though and I don't even need it that much. It's good to have really healthy, hydrated lips for lipstick though and I've been finding myself wearing lip stick when going out ALL the time.  Nicholas absolutely LOVES getting red lip prints all over his cheeks haha.

Monday, January 24

Featherbands by KatBeckDesigns.

Soooo, if you are my facebook friend- you have probably seen my posts about KatBeckDesigns shop on Etsy, as well as the fabulous photography by Angela Cox of my beautiful friends rocking my featherbands. I am SO excited to finally get the shop up and running and so PUMPED to tell my little blog world about it. If you look up top, there is a page with links to everything you need to order- just click "featherbands!

I am happy to do custom orders- adults and kids. If you email me katbeckdesigns@gmail.com I will send you a custom order form and you can fill it out and I'll price the product for you. It will be between $15-$20 and then around $5 (or less) for shipping.

Just a little background on the product. My best friend, Megan, was visiting in late October and we were shopping around the boutiques in Denton. I saw these beautiful feather headbands I thought "I can totally do that and would actually really enjoy it." My spontaneous side (that only comes out with Megan) prompted us to head to Michael's- where I spent enough money to make my first batch of headbands. I went home for Thanksgiving break and met my other best friend's (I do have quite a few of these, but they are truly my besties) roommate photographer, Angela Cox. Being a fan of feathers and fashion, she asked to take photos of us in the headbands. The next day we were in a random field in Greenville doing the photo shoot. Probably one of the best hours ever. We had way too much fun. I am SO lucky to have an awesome aunt (and namesake, whom I aspire to be when I'm all grown up) with a precious gift shop in Clemson, Razzberry Fizz. They bought some of my featherbands and now have a display in the shop.

I've sold about 40 featherbands already and feel SO LUCKY to have such awesome friends who relentlessly promote my product. It's a dream coming true. I am a perfectionist and I love to create- so this is an ideal artistic outlet for me. I have priced the bands rather low so that anyone can afford them. I am a bargain shopper myself. Thanks for your interest and I hope you make some purchases! 

Wednesday, January 19

Wedding Wednesday- RSVP etiquette 101

The one thing I dreaded while wedding planning was everything to do with the guest list. But the worst part was the lack of responsibility in people RSVPing. So I figured I would pull out my inner Emily Post and spread the word on what is polite. It's beyond being polite though- it's being respectful to the host.

RSVP is French for répondez s’il vous plaît as in "please respond." So if an invitation says RSVP- you should call if you ARE or ARE NOT going.

Regrets only- obviously call if you are not going. If you do not call- your head will be "counted" and if catering is involved, you will be paid for and money will go to waste if you do not show.


That is all. Happy hump day bloggers.

Sunday, January 16

Taylor Swift and Kanye West.

I have an oddly eccentric taste in music; I just find it funny that at the moment I am obsessed with two albums from completely different genres with singers that happen to have been last years biggest media scandal. Taylor Swift and Kanye West.

Taylor’s newest album "Speak Now" is awesome.  She wrote the entire album, by herself. That is something rare in today's music industry. I find her lyrics are totally relatable to who I was in high school; very nostalgic.  It’s soothing and fun. Favorite song at the moment is “Better than Revenge” which is apparently about actress Camilla Belle stealing Joe Jonas from her. She’s got balls to call people out like that.  But seriously- how do you go from Joe Jonas to Jake Gyllenhaal. WTF Taylor? She also gives Kanye his own song “Innocent.” I found it quite mature of her to write about forgiveness instead of blame.

Kanye’s newest album “My beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is marvelous. I really can’t even describe it so you should probably just go to iTunes and make that purchase right now. Pronto.  I can’t decide which song I like best; “Power” (Social Network song) or “All of the Lights” or “Monster” or “Hell of a life” ok…so I think I may just name off every song if I get going.  Last but not least, I love that he featured ballerinas in the “Runway” video. The full length feature film is rather interesting too if you have 30 minutes to spare. Very artsy.

Tuesday, January 11

Time to purge.

Most of y’all reading this are in your mid twenties- and by now you know to dress for your specific body type. There are just certain things you know you can pull off and certain things you know should never enter your wardrobe. For example- I should never do ankle booties or, sadly, pattern tights.  It's beyond not flattering for my figure. My sister and I have the opposite shape- so that means we can't really share as many clothes as we used to in the past because she is a fashion genius and dresses perfectly for her shape. She has a large "chest" (really hate phrasing it that way, but I suppose it’s appropriate) and I have well, a practically nonexistent chest. To balance this, she loves high cut tops with shoulder detailing. I look just awkward in these little numbers. I can get away with super low cut tops with high waisted skirts and not look trashy while Victoria would look like she's trying WAY too hard (when she doesn't have to at all).

Subtlety is sexy.

My bride-to-be friend, Ryan, has made it a new year’s resolution to start wearing what makes her feel sexy. She is super tiny and hasn't been accentuating her best assets. So she purged her closet in order to start over- which inspired me to do the same. It's a good time of the year to purge your closet to get rid of items you haven't touched all season and to get rid of the clothes you know you shouldn’t be wearing. Plato's closet is INSANELY picky but you can make a couple of extra bucks there (I die for the shoes I have found there- and always under $12). Goodwill, of course, is a great option to donate your old clothing and many many people appreciate it more than you know.

Happy 2011 hot mommas (and random dudes that I know read this sometimes lol).