Books, Pups, and Stilettos

Pretty Dresses and Party Dresses

These are the dresses that are pretty, but not fantastic, but still worth noting.

Kelly Osborne. Fix that ugly hair woman!

Natalie Portman

Kelly Ripa

Rose Bryne

Cameron Diaz

And now for the after-party dresses! I think some of these are even more fabulous than the actual Oscar dresses!!

Olivia Wilde - love the styling on this one! Her bun and choker are divine!!

Diane Kruger - oh la la lady in red.

Lily Collins. This probably could have been on my "polarizing" list, but I for one, LOVE it!

JLo - I thought this one was better than the one she actually wore to the Oscars

Cameron Diaz. I think this one suits her better than her actual Oscar dress too! Love the punch of color!

Emma Stone. Well, it is certainly a statement dress. Just not sure what statement she's making here...

Kate Hudson. Loooooooove this red fringe!

Ginnifer Goodwin - I love everything separately... just not together.

Mia Wasicowska - beautiful!

Minnie Driver - looking regal in a silvery gold.

Say what you want about Miley Cyrus she is rocking that dress. Best she had ever looked.

Katy Perry and Dita Von Teese. I think they both look phenomenal and sparkly! Blue hair and all!

Rose McGowen - color blocking done right!

What I Wore - Kind of a blah week

This past week was a little funky for me. I was not happy with all my outfits for the week, but alas - here they are anyway.

Sunday

Close up of my lovely Betsy Johnson earrings!

Dress: Forever 21

Sweater: Target?

Belt: Carson's

Scarf: Christmas present

Earrings: gift from my MIL- Betsy Johnson - love 'em

Tuesday

Dress: Target

Sweater: Maurices

Boots: DSW

Scarf: TJ Maxx

Wednesday

Dress: Maurice's

Sweater and Shoes: Target

Headband: Target

Thursday (not thrilled here)

I was wearing my Mama's dreamcatcher earrings

Pants: Carson's

Sweater: Old Navy

Tank: Target

Necklace: Forever 21 (?)

Earrings: my mama's

Friday - it looked better in person

Dress: hand me down from Nana

Sweater: Maurices

Belt: Christmas present from Nana

Boots: DSW

Scarf: World Market

Polarizing Oscar Dresses

These dresses inspired love or hate - and not much in between. Tell me what you think:

Jessica Chastain - It grew on me throughout the night...

Michelle Williams - Hate the peplum.

Rooney Mara - hate. hate. hate.

Angeline Jolie - I think her leg inspired more of the hate.

Melissa McCarthy - I love this. I think it is the best she has looked all awards season.

What do you think? Love 'em or Hate 'em??

Oscar Fashion Bonanza!

Oh my oh my oh my....
There is so much to discuss about the Oscar Fashion! It is so hard to decide where to begin! Perhaps with the best dressed of the night:

Ellie Kemper - bronzed beauty. Just trim those bangs girlfriend.

Guiliana Rancic looking lovely in white

Glenn Close - I literally thought "Oh girl look at that body" when I saw her

Gwyneth Paltrow - it looked SO much better without that cape. But I really dislike capes

Melanie Griffith - this woman never ages. It's amazing

Meryl Streep - looking like an Oscar herself. I was just thankful she didn't wear black.

Milla Jovovich - exquisite in white

Missi Pyle Her dress was all organic! So cool!

Octavia, Octavia, Octavia - perfection.

Viola Davis. The color was perfection. It took me a long while to get used to her au natural hair...

Stacy Kiebler. She was perfection. Loved that look!!!

Who was your best dressed?

InstaWeek!

I enjoyed doing this last week, so here we go again. My week in Instagrams!

Snuggling with my Sophie

Kisses from Izzers

My mama's earrings

So, it snowed.

Little Starbucks Snowman brightened my day

Sweet cupcakes at a baby shower.

A Drowned Maiden's Hair - A Review

Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence, so when the charming Miss Hyacinth and her sister choose Maud to take home with them, the girl is as baffled as anyone. It seems the sisters need Maud to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved, wealthy patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a "secret child," she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience — until a shocking betrayal makes clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with tantalizing details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively historical novel features a winning heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

I have talked to a couple people about this book and they definitely gave it some mixed reviews. The reason I read it is that it was a 99 cent download for my Kindle that looked rather intriguing. It is definitely a dark story - not dark like witchcrafty or occult - dark as in gloomy. The main character, Maud, is a girl who was left at an orphanage, even when her siblings were adopted together. She's not especially charming or pretty or obedient. She finally gets adopted by 3 sisters who wish to use her as "secret child" to help with their seances, so no one can know she was adopted and has to spend all of her time cooped up with only a deaf maid for company.

Now, I will say, I really liked the book. I thought it was well-written and I enjoyed the rather sad, gloomy story line. I must have been in just the right mood for this book to strike a chord with me. I liked and at the same time was annoyed by Maud, but then again, she was a rule-breaker and I just can't relate to that (I am square to a fault). I was very endeared by her relationship with Muffet (the maid who was deaf) and the authentic love that developed between the two of them. I was also extremely appalled by the sisters. Appalled.

It did make me sad to think about the sisters taking advantage of people in their times of grief and how that applies to modern-day society as well. "Mediums" and "spiritualists" are often-time crooks and I do think that they delude themselves to a point that they believe they are helping the bereaved. Anyway, I digress.

I felt like the book had a redeeming ending and enjoyed it overall. I was a little confused in the beginning when Maud's brother randomly shows up, as he doesn't appear again, but I think the author wanted to show just how sad and pitiful Maud's situation was.

All in all, worth 99 cents for sure.

Anyone else out there read this book? Thoughts?

A Week in Review - via Instagram

So, I think I am a little late jumping on the instagram band wagon - but I think I'm in love. I thought it would be fun to look back on my week via these fun little photos, so here is my first week on Instagram!