Keep Calm and Think Pink & Green

 While browsing Etsy I happened to stumble upon KeepCalmShop one day... I love all these versions of the classic "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. These are some of my faves, a la pink & green ..... linking up with Pink Preppy Lilly Lover  for p&g thursday! 

I think know I am getting this one for my room or maybe my kitch area. Baking cupcakes is my new area of expertise. I want to go on cupcake wars!

 Baby Girl Lexie would wuff this one!

 I heart me some champagne. Nothing like some bubbly. I think it would be cute over a bathtub. Who wouldn't love champagne in a bubble bath?

 Nom Nom Nom.

 Love this one, too! It's so fun & I like the color.

Happy Friday Eve! Womp Womp.

Be sure to check out: 

Pearls, Curls and a Southern Girl is having a Gameday Girls Give-away go HERE

Shasta Anne is giving away a $100 Forever 21 Gift Card

& a $100 Exxon Gift card, oh goody! She has awesome give-aways :) Go here to enter! 

then there is still MY GIVE-AWAY to enter for the Southern Marsh coozie; color of your choice. No such thing as too many coozies, girls.

Rings & Things !

I love all kinds of baubles, espesh bracelets. Lately I have started really liking rings & earrings more, too. I have found a few beauts that I must had to my always growing jewelry collection. 

First up is this little number. A Hidalgo  Diamonique Sterling Criss-Cross Pave' Eternity Ring.

 This little diddy makes my heart beat fast. It is so pretty! It's simple, elegant and I love the turquoise criss-cross. It also comes with black or gold criss-cross but I like this color best.

Then there is the Judith Ripka Sterling Diamonique Pave' Signature Heart Ring. It's just gorgeous. I was GOING  to get last week and they were out of my size. It's back in and I will be purchasing her very, very soon!

You know, I have never met any David Yurman I didn't like. I love turquoise and I love Yurman so this bracelet makes perf sense.  Turquoise is my favie for summer.

And then after God made Turquoise, he decided to make White Agate. I am in lust with this bracelet (actually, white agate in general for that matter). This cable classic with pave diamonds is on the list. ps. I have a birthday coming up in June.

This ring was obvi the ish last summer because no David Yurman store in the country (or the one in St.Thomas) or online had it by the time I decided to purchase with my grad money. Now that money is all gone and this ring is back. Do I still want it? You betcha. The crisp, clean white agate and silver would look stunning on my right hand.

Okay I think I am kind of going for a white, silver and turquoise jewelry theme for this summer. These pieces would be great as well as detrimental to my wallet.

Don't forget to enter my give-away :) here for a chance to win a southern marsh coozie!

Scentsational Smells

Every sassy sista likes to smell good, right? I can't leave the house without putting on some "smell good" as my little sister called it when she was little. My signature scent use to be Betsey Johnson (No. 2 on the list) buuuut she is no longer making this exact perfume. I was saddened. I have a little bit left and will have to resort to online purchases as soon as it runs out. Normally before I jet-set out of the house in the am I spritz on one of these...

Scentsational Smells by lindseyleighw on Polyvore.com

1. Juicy Couture by Juicy Couture - I love this smell, but rarely wear it because everyone and their momma has it. Literally, even my momma has it. 

2. Betsey Johnson - My signature scent. Ahhh, it has a Burberry-esque smell to it but it's so different. Kind of sweet but still kind of spicy. I love it! 

3. Twirl by Kate Spade - This is a newbie, and I am really digging it. I wear it very often. 

4. Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture - I like it, but once again the Juicy franchise does not fail and everyone and their mom wears it. Why did I buy this one after I knew everyone would wear it? Because... it still smells fabulous. 

5. Amazing Grace by Philosophy - Simple. Clean. Elegant. I wear this scent a lot too because I bathe with the body wash and wear the lotion. So even if I did not spray any on, I often reek of Amazing Grace. I love all the Grace scents by Philosophy but Amazing Grace is my favie.

6. PINK Soft & Dreamy by Victorias Secret PINK- I really like the light, soft, sweet smell of this body spray. I just got it recently and use it a good bit. It's easy and not too heavy. I often  wear it when I just need a light spray for running to the store or something. I wear it to work too because I work in a cubicle environment and I don't want to nauseate people with my perfume choices (a co-worker use to do that and it was soooo annoying).

What is your go-to-scents?

 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Today on this last Wednesday in March, I am linking up with Jamie for WILW, which is becoming a Wednesday tradition :) Bear with me cause I am lovin' a lot today !

1.

 

Femme Fatale. I am lovin' it. Britney might be back but I am not going to say better than ever.  Still, I am loving her new album. I got it on my lunch break yesterday, duh! Had to get me a piece of that Brit-Brit action, asap. 

 2.

 I am loving my new blog layout thanks to Sweet Bean . If you want a pre-made blog layout or a custom, please use Shannon at Sweet Bean. She is the sweetest, super fast and has really cute designs. Plus, she is from Alabama too. Mobile, Alabama to be exact. What a small world.

3.

via outerinner.com

I am loving this bridesmaid dress Lauren picked out. It's offish, this is the dress we will be wearing in black and except Amber since she will be about 5 months prego at the wedding. She get's a more loose style since she doesn't know exactly how big she will be. I think we will be wearing nude pumps with this dress. Ahhh, I think it's going to look so classy and fabulous.

4.

 via google images

I am loving Chelsea Kane on DWTS. I think she is adorbs and I love her hair. I am thinking about cutting my hair that same style but longer. more like this:

via google images

via google images

5.

I finally got my new pink otterbox for my new iPhone 4. I don't know if I mentioned this but my old iPhone bit the dust in New Orleans and I opted for the upgrade when I went in to AT&T. I am loving the iPhone 4 so far. So. Much. Faster. Never fails though, the second I put my phone in it's new home, I dropped it! Thank You Lord for the Otterbox :)

6.

I am going to the Birmingham Flea Market this weekend. Yay! I am so excited, I have not been since I was probably 13. I use to go all the time with my Mom when I was younger. I hope to find some good junk and maybe a little fixer upper project to work on. I am also hopefully getting BJ to start on my headboard -- I need to go pick out some fabric for that.

7.

I am loving that I am staying true to my goals. I am changing my lifestyle one day at a time :) It's nice to do something for myself. For my own good & happiness. There are so many things I am working on right now. My health, getting fit, feeling good, my relationship with God, my relationship with my family, among others. I am also working on my future -- I know that only God knows my plans, but I am working hard on making my dreams a reality. It took me a while to realize this but even though I have to create my own happiness. God will lead me in the right direction. Stay tuned for more..... 

I can't wait to read what everyone else is loving on this Wednesday. It's uber nasty here in Sweet Home Alabama. I can't wait for my warm weather to creep back up on us. I am not loving this cold, wet, icky stuff and I am not loving pollen season. Yuuuuck. 

15 followers!

If I say something; I am going to go through with it! So I said last week I was going to have a give-away when I reached 15 followers & yup, sistas... I got 15 followers exactly & that is just what I am going to do! Hip Hip, Hooray!

I am giving away a Southern Marsh coozie, color of your choice to the winner! Yay!

I know it's not grand, but it's a start! Some other more fabulous things to come in the near future, promise. Just got to get more followers for that! 

Okay, here is the fun part... the "rules" to enter:

must be a follower of Keep it classy, Alabama - 1 entry

follow me on twitter (@lindzyleigh) - 1 entry

Post about my giveaway on your blog - 5 entries

7 ways to win, my friends :) do it, do it! 

Comment and let me know what you did, which color coozie you would like and if you blogged about it please leave the link! The contest will end Sunday night (April 3, 2011) at 12 a.m. CST and a winner will be announced on Monday night... Best of luck to you my friends!!!! 

xoxo

She's baaaaaack

Today. Tuesday. THE DAY. 

Who wants to guess what I am doing on my lunch break?

Britney Jean Spears is still up there in my top 5 guilty pleasures. She may have gone off the deep end a few several times, but she always bounces back. I really liked Circus  like, a lot. When I say liked, I mean I listened to it non-stop until I had memorized every song and then I listened some more. I still like to pop it in the cd player and play it til my ears bleed. I didn't care if it was her "this is my way of bouncing back after several brief stints in-and-out of rehab, shaving my head crisis, recovering from a coke-bender" album. I loved it. 

Only time will tell, Brit Brit. About 2 pm I will know if you are, in fact, back and better than ever. *fingers crossed* 

I think we can all agree, it's about due time. 

xoxo

ps. I praaaaay she goes on tour again. Gotta see Cray-Cray BJS live before I die. It's on the bucket list.

My new obsession/I want her to be my BFF

Although I have never been a fan of The Bachelor/ette franchise, I always get suckered into watching atleast the last couple of episodes. Reality television gets me EVERY TIME! However, the first episode this season I was immediately engrossed the second I heard sweet little Emily Maynard's southern accent. Then I watched more and admired her fashion, her kind heartedness and her beauty. Don't forget her gorgeous blond hair. Basically, the show should have been called Everyone Loves Emily! 

via google images

This was her ABC promo picture they did for the website

Thanks to The Possessionista , I can dress like her and have her flawless skin and tan. Oh and even paint my nails like her which I have already done.

Even though I loved her, I still read all the nasty things the tabloids had to say about her. Of course I did not believe everything I heard. Now, eager to learn more of the truth I have stalked her incessantly.
  
So according to this Emily met Ricky (father of her child and deceased fiance) while vacationing in Florida and found out their parents were building houses next to each other (I am not sure whether this meant houses in Florida or in NC). At the time, Emily was living in Florida, they talked long distance and Emily moved to NC to be with Ricky. I believe the house that we saw on the show, which was very nice... so nice I wondered how a 24 year old could afford it and assumed it was her parents (boy, was I wrong... keep reading) is the one the article states Emily lived in with Ricky and continued to live in after his death and birth of their child, Ricki.

Josephine Riddick "Ricki" Hendricks is I believe named after not only Ricky but his dad, Rick whose first name is Joseph. So all the haters, that said Emily and him were not engaged, can shove it. She named her kid after his dad, that alone is enough. so who even cares?

Her daughter Ricki was too cute on the show and eventually warmed up to Brad. I couldn't find a good picture of her but I guess that is good Emily is keep her daughter out of the spotlight.

So it turns out after Ricky Hendricks died in the tragic plane crash, she still remained very close with his family and active in the NASCAR community. Even hosted radio shows about NASCAR (The Speed Channel, it was actually a podcase)  & hosted Three Wide Life, a television/documentary show. She also dated Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a brief stint. Don't believe it? Read this . Or just Google it... :) It's plausible, she met Junior through Ricky.


So I read not too long ago, not only was Ricky Hendrick a NASCAR driver but a successful business man as well who had a Honda dealership, I believe. That led me to believe he had left her a sum of money of which she would be able to afford the Louboutins and expensive jewelry & clothes she wore on the show. Nah, that's not it folks....


Rick Hendrick (Ricky's Dad) OWNS NASCAR. Yes, OWNS Nascar. Proof here and here . (disclaimer: thanks to my aunt & Jana, He doesn't own all of NASCAR just one of the largest and most successful teams, the Hendrick Motorsports Team. which I am pretty sure includes Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and at one point Gordon & Dale Jr). My B, y'all.


One of the rumors that was going around is that Emily was not an Event Coordinator at Levine Childrens Hospital as she led people to believe and in fact she had never worked there, only volunteered. Well, if that is the truth... I bet she just assumed she could take on that "title" since her "in-laws", The Hendrick Family, donated $3 million for the hospital to be built and the pediatric intensive care facilities were named the "Ricky Hendrick Center for Intensive Care" as you can read here . For $3 million, I bet they don't care what job title she assumed. It's evident, the girl doesn't need to work.


She's basically awesome. Who cares if she "lied" or fluffed the truth up. Everyone in the continental United States, and I am sure some abroad, love her. That is unless you played for Team Chantel and then you don't matter anyways (take yourself and Chantel's horrible wardrobe back to Seattle, k thanks). 

and on a closing note, I am adding the Frye boots as seen above to the wish list.

xoxo

ps. you can follow Emily (@Rickismommy) on Twitter

Look for LESS!

It's no secret that I love bracelets. Which is why I have been particularly upset that I cannot justify the nearly $200 price tag for a Chan Luu wrap bracelet. 

 via google images

They are gorgeous and perfect for layering... and I love to layer!

 

via google images

Imagine the upset when I realized I couldn't afford one :( I stared at them and wondered if I could make one myself. Although I did not attempt it, I highly considered it. 

Then I found dbracelets on etsy. I then smiled and thought to myself... "Chan Luu way cheaper!" These bracelets my friends are eerily similar and probably modeled after Chan Luu braclets at less than half the cost. I think they range $40-$80. When I said LOOK FOR LESS, I meant... Wayyyyy less. 

They are good enough for me!!!

This could be the first of many thrift-inspired, look-for-less fashion posts. 

I am always looking for a good deal :)

Whatcha think? 

xoxo

Meet My Little Love

I figured all of you had read enough and gotten to know me by now... it was time. Yes, time to introduce you to my child. I was quite astonished when just now I realized I had never posted any pics of her for y'all to see. She is the complete & total love of my life.

Meet my furbaby - Lexie!

Lexie is a Maltese (or Maltipoo, I am not 100% because I "adopted" her from an acquaintance and the girl has YET to give me Lexie's papers and I have had her a year EXACTLY!) 

 

She was napping here (even though it was night time). She is lazy and quite lethargic a lot of the time. Okay, she is down-right worthless sometimes! haha She is ROTTEN.

Okay, there's my girl with her eyes open -- ehhh, a little bit. She is thinking to herself "You woke me up, you will pay!" Again, my dog is lazy. All she does is sleep all day in my grandfather's lap. I don't let her stay at home alone (because we have carpet and Miss.Thang has the occasional accident) so I take her to my grandparents everyday. I call it "doggy day care" and they laugh. They love keeping her though.

She loves laying in her cute little bed. Funny story about the bed; I had never bought her a dog bed because she sleep with me every night and likes the couch during the day and afternoons but is normally in someones lap. Well, my grandparent were going out of town last week so 2 weeks ago I bought her this bed so she would have somewhere to lay cause I was going to keep her in the kitchen while they were at home.  Brought it home, set it down and put her in it. She LOVED it. Now whenever we can't find her -- we know where to look. This was one of the best $20 I have ever invested! 

This picture was actually taken this morning when we went out to potty. She was ticked at me cause it was cold out this morning -- therefore, no looking at the camera. I always dress her up everday. She has so many clothes! Today she was wearing a little chambray sundress with a flower on it (from Walmart - they have a line of the cutest dog clothes called LuLu Pink & Simply Dog). I admit, I have a posh pooch. She likes dressing up!

Okay, now y'all have met my Lexie Lu! I vow to put up some pics of her on here ASAP as soon as I figure out how I am going to get my blog set up. I want a custom layout, I think! Anyone know where to get one? On the cheaps? I NEED HELP DESPERATELY, IN ANYWAY. I am blog-tarded.

xoxo

Craving Clean Skin

Okay, I really dislike my skin. My pores. My blackheads. My occasional blemish. Redness. Which is why 99% of the time, I wear makeup (atleast my tinted moisturizer + tinted mineral veil). Unless it's a weekend and I am not going anywhere.

My aunt (who is 53) is always encouraging me to take care of my skin. We have very similar skin... kind of oily, not too bad though ... and the occasional breakout. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have her. She knows everything about skin care, beauty, fashion, etc.

Almost a year ago, she bought a clarisonic mia on qvc. It was a tsv or one time only value and she got it on easy pay and got a great deal. She has talked about it a lot since then and how it has really reduced her pores and made wrinkles less noticeable. She uses it religiously. I am envious.

Without further adieu, I present to you my latest purchase ... 

image via qvc.com

Clarisonic PLUS

I gave in an bought it. I got it in the PLUS which can be used for face and body and I got the floral design (as seen above) in pink. It also came with all the Philosophy products shown: Purity, Hope In A Jar and Beach Party. I am a sucker for Philosophy so this made it even better.

 

The reason why I gave in is....... EVERYTHING ON QVC IS 3 EASY PAYS TODAY! Yep, that's right. So my fellow QVC-addicts please indulge in this literally, I think once in a blue moon opportunity! It was also a featured price (about $25 off the norm). This is $365 value! The payments will only be $70 so it's not too bad considering this is a great investment. 

 

Shop on, my friends! QVC is also home to some other amazing brands: Isaac Mizrahi, Rachel Zoe , K-Dash by the Kardashians, KJL - Kenneth Jay Lane, Judith Ripka, Mally Beauty, Laura Gellar, Tarte, Smashbox & Jessica Simpson among many, many others! Those are just a few of my favies. 

 

xoxo

Footloose and Fancy Free Friday

Friday, sweet Friday! How I love you so!

I have literally been looking forward to this day all week after last weekend's rendevous in Nawlins. I have been dragging all week but luckily, I went to bed at 8:30 last night. I am so serious. I feel like a granny but, I was just exhausted. 

I always feel really FUNKY on Fridays ... So today I wore these (like I do on a lot of fridays)

 via google images

 My gold glitter Toms :) 

I am sitting here with my calendar trying to figure out what I am going to do in April. It's next week!!! Time flies when you are working (notice: I did not say "having fun"). I have a few things I need to do. I need to get to the beach and visit with my mom and grandma and go to Mullet Toss. I also need to visit Mobile!!! It's all down to figuring out the right weekends. I don't like to travel 2 weekends in a row... I get burnt out on all the driving!

When I said, Mullet Toss I was referring to THE MULLET TOSS at The Flora-Bama ... Ya know that bar/lounge thats half in Alabama and half in Florida? Where they "do it on the line"? 

 via google images

The event is just what it sounds like... tossing mullets. Mullet as in the fish, not the 1980's hair-do. They throw around these dead fish on the beach to see who can throw it the farthest. It has turned into a weekend long get-drunk-on-the-beach-fest. Beer + Crawfish + Sand + Sun = Several major sunburns in past experiences. In high school, I think I got sun poisoning one mullet toss weekend.

via google images

It's pretty competitive and a super classy event. The Flora-Bama in general, just exudes class. I am being sarcastic but it's the funnest place to hang out! I started going there back in high-school (yeah, sneaking in...) and frequented there every time I have come home since I went to college. My mom is a regular... Sunday afternoons you are more than likely going to find my mom there. It's also one of those places you cannot go to without seeing someone you know.

If you ever make it to the Bama (as we locals like to call it) you must must must and I mean it is IMPERATIVE that you try the infamous Bama Bushwacker. As a drunken friend once described them "chocolatey goodness". But not too much chocolate. The 151 outweighs most of the chocolate taste to me. I had my first one at the Bama and it's so far been the best -- except my mom's. Hers are pretty tasty, just not as strong!

 via google images

It's sooooo good and will knock ya on your feet after a few. Just asked my mom, who after consuming ungodly amounts of these one evening convinced me to take her to McDonald's and then proceeded to asked why her chicken was in between two pancakes (those are buns, Mom). She later fell out of the car when we got home. Poor Cee. Not one of her finer moments. She looked like she had gotten in a bar fight the next morning. 

Anyone else doing anything super fun in April? Start planning! It's just days away!

xoxo

 

 

Where I come from...

Today instead of doing a "Pink and Green Thursday" I decided to link up with Fit, Fierce and Fabulous and do this Me On The Map Post :) Basically a way for bloggers to talk about where we are from. 

Now bear with me cause I am going to jump around a bit here... I moved a few places throughout my 22 years of life. 

I was born in a little town called Mc Calla, Alabama. A small, unincorporated town located in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa Counties which means all the kids in this town don't go to the same schools. It's weird. It's about 30 minutes from Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Right smack dab in the middle. I can't tell  you how many people live there because... we are not incorporated so technically we fall into the category with Bessemer.

Things we are known for: Tannehill State Park (see picture above) and being home to the infamous  Auburn Football player, Bo Jackson. 


So I spent a decent amount of my life in & around the Mc Calla area. My parents both grew up here as well as my grandparents. When I say my entire family is from here, I pretty much mean it. Small town living at it's finest. Can't go anywhere in the town without seeing someone you know or are related to somehow. 

About high school time I moved to the 251. And that my friends is South Alabama. I moved to this oasis on the coast... 

Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

The beaches are quite beautiful and there is no where on earth quite like the 251. I lived right near the beach but went to high school over on the Eastern Shore.

Fairhope High School -- got to share some Pirate Pride! 

Fairhope is really nice. The perfect quaint little town. There is a nice downtown shopping area and even a little "French Quarter." You might have seen it on Diners, Dives and Drive In's featuring a local place, Panini Pete's.

It was founded as a Utopian community. Now it's home to a lot of retirees and rich folks. The neighboring Point Clear community (which is still techically Fairhope), is beautiful and The Grand Hotel is breathtaking.The eastern shore (of Mobile Bay) served as a place for wealthy families from New Orleans and Mobile to summer as far back as the early 1800's.

Now here are my college towns.... 

I started off in Tuscaloosa, AL at The University of Alabama

That picture right there, my friends... is really all I need to show ya. You can see the stadium and parts of sorority row and the old frat row. 

 I ended up in Mobile, AL at The University of South Alabama. Mobile is an awesome town. Seriously. Can't wait to move back there, one day.

Now that's the down town area -- not exactly where I lived and went to school but I sure did spend a lot of time down there. Downtown is the epicenter for Mobile Historic Mardi Gras and the home to my favorite bars :)

Somehow through all my journeys I ended up here... 

Right where I started. Good Ole Mc Calla. I might not have lived in the biggest, fanciest towns or cities but I love the places I have been. I know there are a few more to add on to the list... later down the road. 

xoxo

I have never won anything in my life

Literally, I have never won a contest, giveaway, nadda, zilch, nothing! But I refuse to let that get me down which is why I ALWAYS enter the giveaways on fellow blogs. Can't lose hope, riiight? ;)

So that being said .... How Sweet It Is is having a Tervis tumbler giveaway! 

 

I love love love Tervis. I have a lot. My initials, Alabama ones, sorority ones BUT I don't think there is such thing as too many. They are literally the best cup ever invented. I am no biased or anything, it's the only cup we had in our house for years!!! Just gonna say, I liked tervis BEFORE they were cool... My (ex) step-mom use to sell them in her store. I present to you my friends, an OLD SCHOOL Tervis Tumbler -- before they had the cute appliques, logos, etc on the inside most of them just had confetti or sequins in them 

So cute, huh? We still have some of these bad boys at home and at my grandma's house and I thoroughly intend on inheriting them... one day!

Also... Hoosier In Pearls is giving away a Smathers & Branson Key fob. I have been wanting a needlepoint key fob so badly. I want this one:

GOP all the way, baby. Plus I love elephants (have I said, Roll Tide lately?) But there are tons of other cute ones like this one:

Lastly-- Sweet Carolina Girl is giving away this cah-yute Lilly P. laptop bag. 

I want it!!!!!!!! hehe




I would be lying if I said I wanted everyone to go and enter these giveaways because that lowers my chances, haha. But you should check out those awesome blogs!! And go ahead, enter the giveaways -- not like I will win anyways 


xoxo