Five Friday - Resolutions!

Now that we've moved through Christmas and are SO very close to 2012, I thought I'd do a Five Friday of the resolution variety...you know, those things we all say we will totally do...and before the calendar even reaches the middle of January, we've already failed.

Admit it, we all do this.

Admit it, we all don't really care.

Well, this year, I do. Sort of. Kind of....I mean, I'm going to try!

2012 Resolutions! (Sort of....)

1. Fit into my bridesmaid's dress. No, this is not a strict, LOSE WEIGHT CHUNKER (whooo you callin' chunker?!) resolution, but rather, I need to tone my ass up (or really, my tum tum) before the wedding. It's in May. Calling all Richard Simmons, Jillian Michaels, and Tracey Andersons.....give me your best shot, I'll do my best not to cry in the shower after.

{"she'll never forgive me for skipping those crunches, 

did you hear the way she was screaming at me?!"}

2. ALWAYS eat breakfast. I know, they say a Starbucks latte every morning is not a breakfast meal, but it is to me...or has been for a solid two years now. I eat breakfast on the weekend....sometimes. I need to go out and buy some good "grab and go" breakfast items, so let me hear your healthiest favorites! I can microwave it at work if need be, too, so what is your favorite quick meal?

{starbucks still has to be a part of my "balanced" breakfast....}

3. Keep my car clear of h2o bottles. Yeah, it sounds like a pathetic resolution, but you have probably not seen the passenger floor of my car, it's a disaster zone with half-filled bottles....and lots of them. Seeing as how I have myself a NEW CAR (said in my best Price is Right voice), I think I should kill it with the white trash bottle look and keep my new whip looking fly & fresh.

{i want to say i feel like a straight ganstahh in it, but it's more girly than 

anything - lighted speakers & hands-free controls, though, baboom! 

oh & my keys will never be bulkier that that, hate that look!}

4. Drink TWO bottles of h2o everyday. Hahahahaha I laugh at my audacity to state such a bold thing. Again, another sorry excuse for a resolution, but I am a terrible water drinker. I just don't like the stuff! However, I know it's absurd of me to not drink it, so I plan on making it taste good at least....you know, get rid of that, ugh, water taste. It's awful, really. However, if I can pull off this resolution, then maybe #3 won't be so hard to overcome, too! Genius, I tell you!

{should I just add these to my water, are they any good?!}

5. Actually keep my above resolutions. Hey, go with me on this one. If I follow this resolution, then I just followed every other resolution on my list. It's double the guilt if I make this resolution and don't follow through with the others, sooooo hopefully this one results in my (sort of) resolutions becoming a (definite) reality. Right? RIGHT?! Well, we'll see......

{classic.}

There you have it, my Five Friday -- resolution style! I hope you all realize these are not truly my big goals of 2012, but a list of things that are absurd and easily fixable and prove how ridiculous I am. Hope you have a list of these too ;)

For now, I cheers to you and yours and hope you have the best of times in 2012. I will be back "next year" to discuss my adventures in 2011 and share some photos, too!


Until next time, have fun watching that big ball drop (that came out terribly wrong)...........................

Beware, SSB....

...because I'm about to go full-blown wedding on your asses!

It may be the MOH pt. 2 in me for my sister's upcoming nuptials next year (aka my older sister is MOH pt. 1 so she does all the work!), my excessive pinning of all things pretty, or just the inner princess in me begging to come out of her 23 years of forbidden mention, but something sparked me to make this post, so let's just blame all of the aforementioned ;)

I have never been the girl who had dreamed of every detail of a fairytale wedding in a castle with a man dressed like some odd prince-marine-solider mashup all before the age of ten, but I have always thought weddings should be special. I actually never even thought about the dress, the ring (ok, SSB will call me out on this one), or the location until somewhat recently. You know, we will blame this on my sister's upcoming knot-date, it just makes me look less crazy!

So, I share with you today, SS's dream wedding, photos all courtesy of Pinterest, of course....some thrown in from Google, too!

1. The Dress - I love lace, anything classic or vintage, and it must have sleeves. YES. I loathe strapless dresses on myself. While they are stunningly beautiful on other women, I just couldn't see myself on the big day wearing something without sleeves.....lace sleeves, obviously. Think of a slim silhouette with a possible diamond cut-out in the back. Yes, I see it in my head and it look mahhh-velous, dahling!

{this with longer sleeves and a cut-out back!}

2. The Ring - Sooo this is where my wedding goes from classic to a bit edgy. I have never wanted a "simple" diamond ring. In fact, SSB has heard it time & time again, but it bears repeating. He knows not to ever buy me jewelry for holidays or birthdays, because I want one piece of jewelery from him whenever that time may come, so he should save his funds...I think he loves me for this now....but will not feel so hot about it later. I would love a ruby or sapphire stone surrounded by smaller diamonds (not really like Diana's Kate's, but I mean, that wouldn't be terrible). Also, if I can't have the stone, I choose something vintage. You know, to redeem myself on the whole "classic" bit ;)

{vintage Tiffany's}

3. The Location - SSB wants to do it outside (that came out wrong....), or at least not in a traditional church. I agree, unless that church is old and has beautiful stained-glass windows and perhaps gorgeous, wooden doors to take photos in front of....yes, I am admitting that I only want to be married in a church if it's a pretty church. Is that terrible? I assure you I am not (that) vain, but these photos and these memories do last forever, so I think it's fair to want to make sure it looks amazing! If not in a church, a simple outside gazebo would be nice or even in the middle of a beautifully wooded forest that just happens to have a great big opening in the middle with a perfect aisle for me to walk down and birds placed ever so discreetly throughout the trees for a natural chorus, but that sounds a bit excessive, even for me (even for Snow White, actually....)

{seriously?! really?! SO amazing!}

{...but this would work just as well!}

4. The Decor - When I joked with my mother about wanting an "Alice in Wonderland" theme for my wedding when she was discussing my sister's (which is Victorian....with lots of wine), I wasn't entirely kidding. No, I don't want rabbits in waistcoats or a man who has lead poisoning from his hat making an appearance, but I love the whimsical aspect. A wedding should be fun and light and nothing says fun and light quite like the word whimsical. Feathered wreaths, vases with submerged flowers under floating lights, old chairs and perhaps teacups on top of teacups, all filled with vodka. I mean, admit it, you so want to be in that kind of wonderland!

{awesome inspiration!}

5. The Wedding Party - I think the groom should wear gunmetal gray (because dark gray isn't "badass" enough for SSB), the groomsmen in a lighter gray (but not too light), and the bridemaids in deep midnight blue dresses, potentially floor-length, given the season. I used to hate the look of long dresses on bridesmaids but it does ring true with the classics, so I've changed my tune to ring the same way. I'm just thinking more floaty bottoms than something from a 90s prom, though.

{like this, but in blue, obviously}

This post has just made me that girl...the girl who knows the details of the wedding she is nowhere near close to having, thank goodness! I'm sure most of this will change over time, but I feel as though it is very true to who I am (and who SSB is, too, actually!), so perhaps you'll all be invited to a "Classically Vintage Wonderland Wedding"....that is, if you're willing to pay for the ticket to get here ;)

Until next time, I'm late I'm late for a very important date! (not really)...........

As Of Late....

I feel as though I have completely disconnected myself from my blog as of late and although I have nothing groundbreaking to report, no reviews or hauls (sad face), or OOTD (I just always waste too much time getting ready and then leave without any photos taken, blast!) So, to hold me (and maybe you?) over until I have something actually blog-worthy, here is what I have been up to....in photo form.

Boyfriend was away this past week on vacation with his brothers, 

so I obviously had to make my own beach fun...this was the closest I got, 

but damn, their food is stellar!

Ignore the blue color and too-big factor of this dress 

(hemline is at least a solid two inches too long).....make it a very dark purple ("lapis") 

and this is the bridesmaid dress my sister picked out for her May 2012 nuptials. 

I call myself the MOH part 2 and my older sister is MOH part 1 because she insists on 

doing all the planning...whatev, less work for me, more fun for me! 

I plan on making a killer MOH speech and drinking/dancing the 

night away at the reception. Awesome.

Still on the accent nail kick. My latest? I call it....Minty Kitty....rawr. 

Revlon's Minted and Sally Hansen's "Kitty, Kitty" 

and amazingly, I haven't picked them apart yet!

Thankfully, work has gone down to 3-days but I 

still feel consumed by it, oddly enough. Where did the summer go? 

Beach countdown = 12 days!

In case you were blissfully unaware, get in the know....TODAY is national tequila day, woot woot! My friends and I are heading out to Mad Mex for their holiday drink specials to celebrate this glorious, wonderous holiday. I'll be sure to have one for you, too!

Reviews on Burt's Bees cleanser and Jason Shampoo soon enough....want to use them a bit more before I give the review(s). So far, I notice the Burt's Bees feels like water and the shampoo is very medicinal-smelling. Neither good nor bad opinions....yet. 

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Rest in peace to Amy Winehouse. Remember, kids, if someone (anyone) tells you to go to Rehab....do it, don't sing "No, no, no..." I know, I know, too soon. But really, listen to those around you, they know you best. 

Until next time, farewell love bugs...more beauty-full blog posts to come very soon!

Random Rambles from SS

'Ello you love-el-ly people & readers.

I have already deemed this the most random post thus far in my blogging career, because I had a crazy week and am just now able to breathe and relax. Oh, and I should mention I am freshly awake from an eleven hour sleep fest. Go this girl! I only had three hours of sleep going into Friday due to the HARRY POTTTER midnight show, but it was well worth it! Did you see it? Did you love it? (NOTE: If you do not like HP, find another blog to be rude to, then, not mine...because I will verbally assault you. I'm a teacher for a living, so don't think I can't make you cry with my words!)

[Even my pup likes HP!]

Here we go.....five random facts to ring in the weekend!


ONE - If you are a new reader, welcome. If you're not, you know I bought a bronzer from Ulta (featured in THIS video) and I was basically cornered to buy it...blast. I am returning it today. I said in the video (or maybe I didn't, whatev) that I specifically did not want a shimmery-glitzy bronzer; I don't want to look like a brown disco ball, after all! She told me this was perfect, had hardly any shimmer and woah, she lied big time (again!) It is so shimmery and my face looks like a big bronzed pearl (and not in a good way!) so after only one use, I'm returning it. I may just take the plunge and buy the NARS Laguna, but I've also seen a lot (or, like, two articles) on Tarte's Park Avenue Princess Bronzer and it's waterproof! Perfect for the beach seeing as how my face is always lighter than the rest of me because of my fear for early wrinkles. Yes, I did just say that. I know what you're thinking...."but, makeup at the beach?!" It's freaking powder bronzer, don't judge. It's not like I'm airbrushing my face before diving into the waves. This reminds me! Beach Countdown = 3 weeks!

TWO - I just recently bought Netflix to stream from my Mac and my Wii (that I never use, so it might as well be made useful!) and I am already addicted. I finished....and again, you cannot judge....season one of.....Glee. Ok, the ellipses streak is done, sorry. But yes, I watched all of season one already and I just bought Netflix on Tuesday. They don't have season two (unless I'm an idiot and can't see it) so I started watching the show Party Down. Pretty funny! I have a lot of movies on my Instant Que but also want new shows to watch. Any suggestions? Fill me in!

THREE - It is that time of summer. Jeans just don't cut it because it's too damn hot. What's a gal to do when she still wants her legs covered on certain days when shorts just don't work? Maxis! The problem? I only have one maxi skirt and two maxi dresses. This means, of course, I will be at the mall at some point over the weekend to stock up on these beautys. Some of my favs from F21 are as follows:

[The last one is actually a pair of pants, not a skirt....

but they have that complete 70s vibe to them and I cannot wait to get 

my grubby little hands on them to see how they look!]

FOUR - I get to eat cake fo' free today! My sister has an appointment at one of my favorite bake shops that make fantastic cupcakes and beautiful edible art - hope she picks them to make her cake! She actually is putting mini-replica cakes on all the tables instead of having one huge cake and I think that is quite modern and very smart....but I will still stick to my dream of having a cupcake-wedding-cake ;) haha And, obviously, I'll be buying a couple cupcakes to go once our appointment is through!

FIVE - Does anyone know how to make cream/liquid blush work and not separate on my face? I am probably the only one that can tell because it isn't that bad, but really, it never looks right on my face. I know the #1 rule for all blushes of this consistency is to not place them over powder, but I do put setting powder over my blush once everything is finished. I've done it this way and without powder and I still get the same effect. Really, what gives? I love my bene-tint and I so so badly want to try out Tarte's cheek stain, but I can't spend that kind of money if I don't know what will make this shit work!

 So, like I said, it truly is a random post. It gives you insight into what I will be doing over the weekend, though, so perhaps a mini beauty haul and fashion haul are in the works. Should I do them as videos, just write about them? Give me your thoughts!

Hope you enjoyed reading the randomness that is the mind of Superficial Sanctuary ;)

As always, until next time, farewell lovahs and enjoy your weekend!