It's Giveaway Time!....... Missoni nugget included-CLOSED

Hello my fab readers!  Ready for a rad Fall giveaway? Check out the yummy items up for grabs.......

A pair of fab Missoni for Target barrettes

An ELF smokey eyeshadow kit

A set of silver and gold bangles

Ok, it's time for the rules:

1) To enter, you must follow this blog via Google Friend Connect. This giveaway is open to both USA and International followers :)

2) Leave a comment on this post with your name, and email address. 

For extra entries: (Note: Your must leave an additional comment for each extra entry)

1) Follow us on Facebook

2)Blog about this giveaway

3) Follow us Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.

The winner will be selected via random.org on October 14th.

Good luck, and thank you!

Adrienne

My First Blog Award :)

I received my First Blog Award from the fabulous Sandra at Curvy Smurfette last week!  Thank you Sandra!

I am going to tell you a bit about myself and tag some of my other fave bloggers. Here are 7 random things about myself:

-I am a native Florida girl, born and raised, (though my husband and I recently located to Tennessee).
-I love (and miss) the ocean.
-Black is my favorite color. Yes, in my world, black is a color.
-I met my husband on a blind date.
-I run my eBay businesses for a living, and they keep me very busy.
-I can sing rather well, but am embarrassed to do so (except in front of my friend Shawna).
-I am a bit obsessed with fine cheeses.

Here are the blogs I am giving this award to:
Kirstin Marie
Much Ado About Nothing
Jilly BeansTALK
Crimson Rosella
The Citizen Rosebud
Old Lady Chic
Porcelain Complexion
Minn Chic

Hope you all have a great Monday!
Adrienne

Home Again

I have been MIA for a bit now. We made a short trip to Florida last week, and I have been playing catchup with our businesses. It was a wonderful visit, and I was sad to leave my home state. Here are a few snapshots of my trip.

Besides my family and friends, this is what I miss the most.

Trip to Osteens in St Augustine. The best shrimp in the land, hands down.

My wonderful inlaws, Karen and Grover.

My brother-in-law Ryan and his lovely girlfriend Anna

Me and Aron

My besties, Shawna and Misti

Me and my beautiful Mom

Me and my bestie, Leah

I won't lie, it was hard to come back to TN. I love it here, but there are so many wonderful people I miss in Florida. My bird Kiwi died a few weeks ago, and I never really had the chance to grieve him, since I was stuck in the hospital and then we made the trip. I am working through the sadness now, and am feeling a bit better.

I will be back with more fashion tidbits next week. I promised a giveaway this week, but things were too hectic. I will post it next week, promise :)

Adrienne

Missoni Madness at Target!

By now, I am sure most of you have heard about the insanity that is the Missoni for Target collection. Many of the items sold out within the first 15 minutes, items are being sold on eBay for 4 times the retail price, and Target's website crashed for the majority of Tuesday.

Honestly, I wasn't very excited about the clothing aspect of the line. The clothing was OK, but I wasn't blown away. Also, there was nothing past a very small size XL. I am getting a bit fed up with designers not including us plus size girls in the equation.

Now, I will admit I dropped some bank on the housewares portion of the line. I arrived at the store around 8:30 and saw this almost empty display (after I grabbed my two pillows and a throw)

A Target sales associate informed me that a customer had dropped $2800 that morning for her sister who lives in Chicago, where the lines were wrapped around the block. I think the customer was just stocking up for eBay, lol.

Here are some more Missoni nuggets.

Fabulous dishes

Obsessed with the vases

Cute cosmetic bags and hair stuff

More rad accessories

The Clothing:

What did I scoop up for myself? See my faves below:

The pillows are MINE!

I came back the next day for the vase, couldn't resist it.

So, what did you think of the Missoni for Target line? I will be hosting a giveaway next week that will feature a Missoni nugget :)

Well readers, I am off to Florida until Monday for a mini vay-cay. Can't wait to see my fam and friends:)

Have a good one!

Adrienne

Blog Sponsor: We Love Colors

I am so very excited to introduce you to my first blog sponsor-We Love Colors! We Love Colors carries a wide variety of colorful tights, leggings, and socks. Since I have heard nothing but rave reviews on their products from my fellow fashion bloggers, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a pair of their tights!

 I was sent a pair of the Plus Size Nylon/Lycra Tights in Maroon to review. The product exceeded all my expectations. First, the color is amazing; such a rich, saturated, berry hue.

The tights are soft and fine, but still opaque. They are comfortable, but still keep their shape. What more can a girl ask for?

Here are some shots I made my poor Aron capture. The maroon tights AND leopard cardigan is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think they worked nicely together.

Top, Shrug, and Skirt: Forever 21

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Guess

Thank you again to We Love Colors! I think I will trying out your leggings in the very near future.....

Adrienne

Yep, I Am 35

I had a little birthday dinner celebration with some friends Saturday night.

Looking to the side.....hey what's over there?

Vintage sweater clip

Top and skirt: Forever 21

Shoes: Guess

Leather Clutch: Vintage

We headed over to Romanos Macaroni Grill. 

Foxy Ladies

Me and Aron

My Chicken Scalopini

Aron's massive flatbread pizza

Guys watching the fight

HK cake pops courtesy of Tracy. I just loved them.

Tracy looking thrilled with me

 Happy Monday people-let's make it a good one :)

Adrienne

Remember

It's been 10 years since 9-11. It seems like yesterday, and yet so long ago, all at once. 
I remember where I was when I heard the news. I remember the rage and sadness inside of me, how I felt so alone.
It is important for us remember those who were lost that day, and all of the days following. To remember their lives that were filled with love and hope, and were taken away.
Let's show love to the special people in our day to day lives, and because all we have is now.

Nuggets of Love

I am back from one of the worst weeks in recent memory. My bird Kiwi passed away, my computer died, and I ended up having surgery this Wednesday, the day before my birthday. I even spent most of my birthday in the hospital.

After the groggy fog cleared, I realized how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends & family, and such an amazing husband. I was showered with love and support, flowers, phone calls, and texts. Here are a few nuggets of love from my hospital stay:

 Gorgeous flowers and card from Cristal

 Ben and Tracy came to visit and got me Chik-Fil-A, and a balloon!

Becca brought pretty cookies and funny cards :)

After I returned home from hospital fun, the presents started flowing! Here are some sweet gifts I received:

 Mark Ryden is one of my favorite artists. Aron found a limited edition necklace of his famous Rose painting. It is amazing, I just love it.

I am a walking cliche-I love red roses. These were courtesy if my sweet Aron as well.

Ben and Tracy gave me this awesome, vintage/earthy necklace I cannot wait to wear!

 Cristal made yuuummm cupcakes and.......

 ....found me Italian Vogue, which is no easy feat! Loovvee :)

Though my birthday wasn't exactly what I expected, it was pretty wonderful just the same. We are going to do a low key dinner tomorrow at the Romano Macaroni Grill. What to wear, what to wear...? 

Happy Friday!
Adrienne

Goodbye Kiwi

This is not a fun fashion post, but a way of saying goodbye to my bird, Kiwi.

I adopted Kiwi in 1999 from my sweet friend Sommer. She had a condo full of animals, and a baby on the way, so one day Kiwi came home to live with me. Sommer and her husband loved him dearly, but they were quickly running out of room.

Kiwi was my companion for the next 12 years. He was with me through many moves, a few boyfriends, and all of life's ups and downs. He even lived with my mom for a period of time, and she grew to love him as well.

Kiwi was not a quiet birdy. He was an early riser, and made sure you were as well. He appeared to be a one person bird, but I would go out of town, he would grow fond of whoever was taking care of him when I was away. Faithful? Maybe not. But he was a sweetheart :)

He had a little song he would sing to me every morning, along with the kissy noises my mom taught him to make. He wanted me with him always, and would shriek if I left the room. 

Kiwi was a rambunctious bird, back and forth back and forth on his perch all day. Always excitable and always happy to see you. But his cage was his world, and he very rarely wanted to leave it.

Kiwi became sick last week. He grew quiet, and was sleeping all day, and I knew something was wrong. My friend Cristal took him to the vet for me Saturday (I am sick and could hardly move at the time). I gave him his medicine and prayed for the best, but he succumbed to pneumonia Saturday night. I can't believe he is gone.

I am still grieving for my bird, so this is not the most eloquent post. Douglas Copeland sums up my feelings best, in his book, Life After God:

"And on the TV were still more birds! Such lovely creatures and I thought we are so lucky to have the animals. What act of goodness did we as humans once commit to deserve such kindness from God?"

So goodbye my little Australian Red Rump Parakeet, my little Kiwi, my Weester. You will be loved, missed, and remembered. My sweet little bird.

Adrienne

Sour Times & Fashion Distractions

I ordered a few looks from F21+ last week, and they arrived today. Here is the lowdown.

Tiered Pleats Dress

This pleated dress is beautiful, and appears to be well made. The cut is a little off on me (because I am short waisted), but I am going to layer it up with a shrug so it should be fine.

Sheer Embroidered Cardigan

I ordered this open chiffon cardigan with embroidery as well. I have been obsessed with finding a vintage-y, bed jacket kind of piece in my size, and this is pretty close. The sizing is a bit small; the size was supposed to be a 2X/3X, but it fit more like a small 2X. But, Forever 21+ is Junior plus size, so that might explain it.

Sheer Crop Cardigan

This top is beautiful perfection. You will be seeing quite a bit of it in the future.

I try to "keep it light" in my blog, but the past few days have been rough ones. First, an old illness of mine reared it's ugly head, and I have been in quite a bit of pain. I will spare you the gory details, but it is an abscess-y nightmare that I have been dealing with on and off since 2004. I had a minor procedure performed on it Friday, but it looks like I might be making a trip to the ER in the next day or two, since it doesn't seem to be improving.  

Then, my sweet bird Kiwi is sick. I noticed he wasn't eating much this week, and then he began sleeping constantly. I can't really get around right now, so my sweet friends Cristal and Andrew took him to the vet this morning. He is very sick, and has pneumonia. The vet gave him drugs, and about a 60% chance of survival-which she says is actually good for sick birds. Poor little bird. I've spent the past 2 bawling my eyes out over Kiwi.

Then, the cherry on my life sundae occurs-my laptop dies. I see the blue screen of death, and it is over. Aron thinks he can get data and pics off of it (than goodness), but the laptop itself is dead. Thank goodness I have his to use.

All of this happiness within 5 days of my birthday.

Sorry to vent, but it had to happen.

Hope you are all having a good holiday weekend :)

Adrienne