{clockwise from top left: my nails, Lyndsey’s, Chelsea’s, & Chelsea’s nail pens} If you’re in a reader/RSS feed, click through. You’re going to want to see the above photo. Saturday night, as my friends and I were sitting around watching Kelly make her fabulous risotto and drinking prosecco with passionfruit juice and raspberries (yum), we decided to put Chelsea’s famous nail pens/polishes to use and give ourselves fancy manicures. Chelsea was really wanting to do glitter french tips, but nothing too neat or perfect. After googling several DIYs and trying a couple of techniques, we thought that maybe the glitter in the nail pens was too fine/small for what we were trying to accomplish. But I decided to keep trying. [...]

I don’t think it’s a huge secret that I am a cheapskate. Which works well with my life right now. I buy store-brand food and medicine. I buy hair products from the Generic Value Products line at Sally.  I only buy clothes that are on sale. Am I making my point? One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is makeup. Typically, I wear drugstore makeup; wearing only bareMinerals on my face is my one exception. I have a couple of other “nicer” makeup pieces, but they are few and far between. You are going to see a lot of CoverGirl, Maybelline, and L’Oréal in my makeup case. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the fancier brands, I just [...]

  Last year (and even in 2010), my hair experienced a metamorphosis. In 2011, the changes occurred in 6 distinct stages. In 2012, I am determined to get my hair back to healthy and semi-natural. (Oops, maybe I should have added that to my resolutions.) Contained in this post are the many variations of my hair in 2011. If you scroll through the post really quickly, you see a crazy person! That also happens if you scroll through at a normal rate. Stage 1: Red I went red in December of 2010, and kept it up for several months. I had gone from white-blonde to brunette that October, then couldn’t stop dreaming of red, so I made it happen. Stage 2: Strawberry I decided springtime was the perfect season [...]

I, along with what I imagine to be most of the female population, adore Sarah Jessica Parker, especially as Carrie Bradshaw. The hair, the clothes (as ridiculous as they may be), the bags, the jewelry, and the shoes. OH, THE SHOES. And honestly, I think she has the greatest hair. I’m a little embarrased to be admitting this, but part of the reason I switched my degree to English and Creative Writing was because I wanted to be a columnist in NYC (although I probably would have chosen a different topic). I know, I’m a genius. I hope my parents aren’t reading this, because if they are, they are probably ripping their clothes and mourning the thousands of dollars they [...]

{+} 1. Y’all, I am SO TIRED. This week has actually been really productive, meaning I’ve checked everything off my schedule thus far (except I didn’t make dinner or go to the gym last night, because that JUST WASN’T HAPPENING). I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up this pace! 2. I’m getting my hair did tonight; it is long overdue. I’ve been pinning different hair colors and styles for awhile now, and have a pretty good idea of what I want to do next: keep the blonde, and add some lowlights for fall. We’ll see how it turns out. {+} 3. I came back from a work errand the other day to flowers on my desk. It [...]

I love makeup. One of the saddest things about relocating last summer was that I lived right down the road from an Ulta, and now live miles from one. I probably definitely save a lot of money this way, but I do miss my easy access to bareMinerals. My makeup is a mix-and-match of drugstore and mid-priced. I don’t wear anything too expensive, not only because I can’t afford it right now, but also because I tend to doubt that there’s enough of a difference to justify paying $40 for a lipstick. I mean, will it make me look exactly like January Jones? Then it’s not worth the extra $35. Everyday, I wear: moisturizer, bareMinerals Original Foundation (applied with an all-over [...]

1. I got my hair done on Wednesday. I told her to “do the same thing she did last time”…and wow. Holy blonde. I like it but every time I look in the mirror I get a little surprised. I think I’ll leave it at this for a couple of months, and then maybe throw in some lowlights for fall. 2. My house still looks like a tornado hit. I have been EXHAUSTED all week. Basically I come home from work, move some stuff around (I even got ambitious and unpacked some boxes on Tuesday night), and then collapse on the couch. This weekend will be full of cleaning and unpacking. I want to be at least 90% done by [...]

{l-r: Julie & Corlene at my wedding} When I got married 3.5 years ago, I had six bridesmaids. Two of those precious girls have decided to get married this summer, about a month apart. Guess who’s going to be jet-setting and brides-maiding all over the place come June and July? LfT, that’s who. Wedding number 1 is my BFF Julie. Julie and I met right before our 13th birthdays, when I needed a friend the most. We were inseparable until college came around and she left me to pursue her dreams in Chicago, but it’s okay, I’m not bitter (anymore). Julie is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and loyal until the end; I’m so blessed that [...]

Lately I’ve been thinking about returning to blonde for the summer. The brunette/red and I had a good 6 month run, and in true form, I was ready for another change. This idea was extremely exciting to Michael, since his favorite hair color on me is blonde. When I sent a text to my stylist, she told me it might take a couple of times before I returned to my former blonde self. I was okay with that, since strawberry blonde was yet another color for me to try. {One day, I will try them all. Except maybe black. Goth Lauren might be a little scary.} Yesterday, I went in as a redhead and came out as a strawberry blonde. [...]

(I know, I have pretty much the most awesome editing skillz in the entire world.) This week has been nuts. I’ve been working crazy hours and also dealing with allergies and sinus issues. When I’m not working, I’m in a benadryl-induced coma trying to rest up and stop feeling so crappy. Oh, Spring. I forgot how wonderful and treacherous you can be. 1. I wish I had time to blog all the cute professional clothes my mom bought me for my birthday. But since I can barely seem to get up in enough time to get ready and leave for work, the clothes-blogging thing will have to remain on my list of “things I wish I could do on my blog [...]