This was just a quick snap on my husbands (yes, it will be in italics for awhile, at least until I get used to saying it) camera phone by our extraordinarily talented photographer. Yes, a mobile phone folks. I did tweet this but I know not all of you participate in the hijinks that are Twitter. I am in charge of editing the wedding photographs, a charge that I am anticipating with gusto, uhm, when I have a free moment to breathe. It’s been busy in these parts. This is what I suppose is a tease of images to come. Thank goodness handsome got rid of the ‘stache before the nuptials, right? For the record, I knew my hair was long, but I had no idea that I was freakin’ Rapunzel. If we needed to make a quick getaway from that balcony this photo was taken on I could have swung my ponytail over the side and we could have have climbed down.  Have I gotten a haircut since? No. I do plan on it before I accidentally choke myself in my sleep.

 

This little fella appeared in my inbox a couple of weeks ago courtesy of Anthropologie.  A couple of weeks ago I wasn’t interested in ornaments, although truth be told, I am always interested in Narwhals.  Who isn’t? The sea unicorn as they are affectionately called are quite the specimen.  If ‘Sea Unicorn’ wasn’t already taken as a shop name it would have definitely been a contender for what is now Besotted Brand. I also considered the name ‘Butter’ because I think butter makes most everything better, but we were discussing ornaments…I always admire these ornaments at Anthro, but never ever get any because A) they are cost prohibitive in multiples and B) what am I going to do with one rogue narwhal on my Christmas tree? I prefer symmetry, like Noah before me (see A.)  Then I had a stroke of genius (okay, maybe not genius, but honor roll student). What if I get one every year? Just one. If I had done this prior, all those years Anthro has been tempting me with their sweet ornaments I would have quite the collection, but no I was stuck on my A & B reasoning. This year I will buy one, just one, maybe the narwhal, maybe a whale?  Who knows, I might even do something crazy and get a polar bear. Happy Cyber Monday!

I ordinarily wouldn’t put up a special here that I have shared with my mailing list, you see those smart people should be rewarded for my intruding on their bulging in-box, no? This isn’t everything they were privy to, they had a few extras like upgraded Priority mail shipping (w/tracking no less), a gift with purchase and they can get the Pretty Parcel above for a steal, seriously worth having me bug you with an email every now and then. Being the genius that I am I sent out this email with the wrong code, yes, WRONG CODE. The only response I have for this is–GAH! My sincere apologies, it seems the cart code does not accept ampersands, who knew?  Not I.  With my head hung low, I am hoping to not have to email everyone individually but put this up here, admit my dumb mistake. Lucky for you if you aren’t part of my private party which is my mailing list you now have one of the perks!  Happy shopping my dears.

Being Thanksgiving and all in the states I wanted to pop in really quick and thank all of you for your visits.  Your visits mean so much to me and my fragile ego. I looked up ‘thank yous’ in the languages that most represented my visitors for the graphic and one rogue Hopi ‘thank you’ for my one Hopi reader (thanks Mom). I have so much to be thankful for on this day and many others. I am basically the Lotto winner of thank you’s.  This year has really put me over the top on how grateful I am. I feel so blessed, lucky and amazed on a daily basis. So thank you dear pretty, smart and witty reader, without you I am nothing but a crazy woman shouting ‘thank you’ in the ether, with you I am everything (and don’t feel like I am talking to myself as much either).

I am a little over the moon with my new discovery–Tarte matte lip stain. Yes, matte! I wore it on my wedding day, in a nude shade (only because my husband doesn’t like me in red lipstick). It lasts for hours and hours, has a perfect peppermint tingle to it and unlike other matte lip products won’t dry out your lips. I wore a color called ‘exposed’ which is their nude. A little goes a long way so at this rate my purchase should last me the rest of my lifetime.  I am not usually a fan of lipstains I always seem to look not like I have a perfect rosy pout but more like I have been sucking on Popsicles for extended periods of time. The matte is different, it’s more forgiving and has a nice coverage but since it is a stain it doesn’t feel waxy like a lipstick, it’s  a whole new lip sensation. I have to say, I am usually more of a drugstore beauty addict/shopper than a department store one, but Tarte has me locked in with their products. They have by far the best mascara on the market and you don’t get any more instant pretty than their cheek stains (I wore ‘tipsy’ which imparts a peachy glow). Seriously if you don’t have time for anything else don’t forget the cheek stain, people will compliment you like crazy. The prices may seem steep at first but the products do last a long time and you can amortize the cost in your head like I do (how many times I wear it by how much I paid over ‘x’ amount of months) and then it virtually pays for itself!  I use that same math with shoe purchases, it makes me feel better. I have a new foundation as well, but I’ll save that for another time. For the record, my husband may not like red lipstick but I do, so I also picked up the matte stain in Fiery, which is a pretty red (not too blue, not too orange).  I love it and have been wearing it almost every day.