Merry Christmas!!

Twas the night before Christmas & all through the house the kitties were stirring  wishing they could find a mouse. But alas no mice up in this place. Okay so that was enough of that.


Here I am sitting in my bed with a swollen ankle. I have a nice big bag of frozen cranberries that I have been using as an ice pack. I work retail & was lucky enough to re-twist my ankle last night while rushing an item to a customer & it seems to have confined me to my bed for the time being. I am using this time to reflect on the things that I am most grateful for and trying my darnedest to heal up in time for work on Sunday.


I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the wonderful people I get to share my life with. I am so grateful to be able to have such great family, friends, and coworkers! I am beyond lucky & very blessed to have you all in my life. I hope that each and everyone of you are able to have a beautiful & blessed holiday. I am also praying that you all have a new year filled with lots of love, laughter, and success!

Merry Christmas!!

Sedona Lace 12 Piece Professional Makeup Brush review

Okay so this is my very first youtube upload/review ever so please understand my lack of creativity. Please also understand the lack of fancy lighting (I totally had to do the video in the bathroom). But with all that, this is my review of the Sedona Lace 12 Piece Professional Makeup Brush set in pink & the Contour & Blush Palette. I was amazed by the super customer service at Sedona Lace & will surely be shopping with them in the future. Big shout out to Jason (the guy who helped me after business hours) & I hope everyone at Sedona Lace has a happy holiday (because they are sure going to make someone in my life very happy this year). Anyhoo... sit back & watch me go!

Happy happy holidays!! And if you want to get fancy like me click the link below to order these great products!

12 Piece Professional Makeup Brushes - Pink

Contour & Blush Palette

DIYD: why buy, when you can Do It Yo DAMNself

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hoooovvvv...ok so its really Jessica, but theres no Jay-Z songs that start like that. I'm another one of the besties who will grace your computer screen every now and again. Hellur.

Soooo...a little bit about me [I'll make it short and sweet so we can get to the good stuff]. Fashion is my life; I work it and I WERK! it *two snaps*. If I could eat it in forms of delicious cupcakes, I would probably do that too. I'm a rep for a fashion wholesaler by day, clothing/ jewelery designer by night, and a personal shopper on the weekends. And when I say personal shopper I totally mean I personally shop, for myself. I'll be poppin up to bring you tutorials, 'fit pics, and anything else I feel the world must know about.

ok....now...drum roll please!

MY 1ST TUTORIAL!

[insert "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" here]

The Zipper Belt

What you will need:
1. zipper trim, by the yard 2-3+ yrds depending on hip measurement 2. some type of closure. I used a swivel hook/ O ring set found by the purse making supplies in Joann's, but you could use snaps, actual belt buckles, even a frog clasp
3. measuring tape
4. scissors
5. pliers
6. needle and thread or sewing machine and/or hot glue gun
7. fray block
optional: hardware like spikes, studs, chains, to make it even more bad ass or hotfix rhinestones to soften it

Step 1. Measure around your hip (or where you would like the belt to sit). You will need to add about 6 inches to this so that you will have enough at each end to add the closure. Using the measurement you took, cut three equal parts of the zipper trim.

Step 2. Since the trim has only 1 side of teeth and I wanted one piece with teeth on both sides I hot glued 2 of the 3 zipper pieces together. I then went over each side with a simple straight stitch (using my machines zipper foot) to make it more durable. You could skip this if you don't feel like sewing.

my nails are fancy, huh?

Step 3.
Next, using a pair of needle nose pliers, pull about 2-3 inches [or as much as need] of the teeth off the ends of both pieces of trim. This may be a little frustrating at first, but after the first few you will get the groove of it. Just put your back in to it!
This is done so that it is easier to fold the trim back and sew down when adding the closure.

Step 4 Add closure to each end folding back the trim and hot gluing. You may want to add a couple secure hand stitches just to make sure it doesn't fall apart on you while wearing. I never fully trust the good 'ol hot glue gun, as great as it is! Be careful which direction you fold back, paying attention to the way the zipper teeth are facing as well as the closure. Dab a little fray block on the ends to stop them from unraveling. That wouldn't be cute.

and voila!

Cleaning up my act (and other things)

Okay first off I would like to say how excited I am to have my first guest blog from my bestie Greeneyes (Sereane) up in NYC. I was running (okay not really cuz I am not built for crazy active shit like running) to my computer to blog about an AMAZING soap I just got when I got her message about her first guest post. Seems like soap and "cleaning up your act" is a big thing this time of year with resolutions and all. So I just thought it was super cool to finally have a guest post and also one about an amazing soap too. Anyway I would like to welcome Greeneyes & all her fashionista friends to this fancy little blog of mine. 


And . . . now onto the thing I am super excited about. I just got my new soap from iviscents in the mail today. I have been super duper excited because I have seen many many reviews of their products online and have wanted to try them for a while. They are known for making amazing smelling soaps, lotions, and body sugar scrubs with all natural materials. No sulfates or crazy shit up in there. That excited me because I have majorly sensitive skin that freaks out with overly perfumed or chemical filled products. And I am also allergic to lots (and I'm talking LOTS) of plant based products. Almost all AVEDA products give me major rashes and even sinus issues. I should probably live in a bubble to be safe, but I am a rebel and try my hardest not to die everyday in the shower. 


Anyhoo... I was excited yet a little worried at the same time for my first order to arrive. I can't possibly explain how happy I am that I ordered with iviscents!! I ordered 2 types of soap with them to just test it out. I have only opened one soap so far (birthday cake, which is the most popular scent) and am AMAZED at how much it smells just like birthday cake. Not only that but it lathers well with my scrubby gloves, doesn't leave a weird film on my skin like some soaps do, and the topper is that I smell FABULOUS!!! I know I have been using the caps key a lot in this post but it is needed to explain/shout from the roof tops about how much I am loving this soap. I smell good enough to eat (listen up guys). I think I am going to make this my signature soap/scent. I plan on ordering their icing body frosting (lotion/body butter) in the birthday cake scent once the new year hits. They tried to retire their entire icing body frosting line, but people freaked out and ordered so much they are bringing them back for the new year. And you best believe I will be all over that! I plan on using this scent to lure a hot man with an appetite and woo him with my amazing personality and even better lasagna (hey, a girl can dream). I have a link to iviscents on the side of my blog if you are interested in smelling delish with no crazy bad for you stuff involved. I hope you all decide to clean up your act and hope you smell as good going into this new year as I plan to!

Wonderbar Soap does wonders!

Hello fellow fashionistas and beauty lovers. I am Sereane W. Flynn and I am a proud bestie with Leigh-Ann, who created this fantastic blog.

I am blogging out of NYC (Bx borough specifically)...where there is snow on the ground and it is 21 degrees! But on bright side, I have a great product that I picked up from Henri Bendel after much deliberating and decided I would give it a whirl.

The Wonderbar soap is a PH balanced bar of soap made from Clay imported from god knows where, but who cares it works! I started using a week ago and I have very oily skin and acne prone, since I was a teenager. Spent many days at the Derm, waiting for a doctor to prescribe me that right medication that would finally clear my skin. There was no such luck! But after seeing Wonderbar Soap in some blogs and on Dailycandy.com, which by the way is a great website for beauty and fashion tips, that us NYC girls frequent. They claimed it to be a product worth the money and I trust what they say 90% of the time. So I took myself to Henri Bendel on a cold winter night and walked through a million tourists staring at tall buildings and finally made it. Henri Bendel was jammed full of about a 100 plus fabulous attractive women and gay men who were there for their Holiday Kick-off event. I found a lovely gay man with perfectly arched eyebrows (need to find out where he gets them done) and he presented me with the small box of soap, about the size of a hotel soap. The price with tax was $43.55, which is hard to shallow in this tough economy. But Dailycandy.com ain't never lie to me, and were correct to say that it is worth every penny! You use it twice a day like any other cleanser, but you leave on skin for about 3 to 5 minutes. For some people you might get really dry skin and breakouts in the beginning, but that will eventually stop after several weeks, but well worth the wait. My skin less oily, less breakouts and old breakouts are clearing up! Whatever issue you have with your skin, whether be blackheads, wrinkles or uneven skin tone, I truly believe this can help you.

That's whats going on here in the northeast side of the country... Happy Holidays and Happy New Years to all of my peeps!

xoxo,

Sereane

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas...

So today I busted out 'Sir Mix a Lot' (my kitchenaid stand mixer) and started baking for the sweet exchange at work. I usually get together with my besties around this time of year for our annual "all girls cookie baking weekend". This year working retail has put an end to that. I am not getting any full weekends off work to just focus on baking. So I decided to bake in the middle of the week on one of the few off days that I am actually feeling up getting things accomplished. I have previously promised pictures of my mixer in action & here they are (finally). Mind you some of the cookies look a little... well maybe I should call them "over browned", lol. There is always a test batch to get acclimated to the oven & time needed & what not. I am still not used to electric ovens all together & think they are not to be trusted! Anyhow... I hope you enjoy the mess that is my baking life. I will also post the recipe for the delicious quick & easy peanut butter cookies that I am baking below.

Peanut Butter Cookies

- 1 Package Super Moist Yellow or Butter recipe yellow cake mix

- 1/3-cup water

- 1-cup creamy peanut butter

- 2 eggs

- Sugar (to roll cookies into before putting onto an)

- (Hershey Kisses or preserves of your liking)

1.) Heat oven to 375*F. Beat half of the cake mix, the water, peanut butter and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining cake mix.

2.) Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped in sugar. (Or roll balls of the dough into sugar & place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Put Hershey kisses in the center of each cookie, or make a dent with your thumb to put preserves into center of cookie 2 minutes before cookies are finished baking)

3.) Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown (or 8 min for cookies with preserves & then the remaining 2-4 minutes until done). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. 

(*I like to use blackberry or apricot preserves with this recipe & always get great reviews)

Shout out to all my soflo big girls!!

If you are or know any big girls (or curvy chicks), tell them to check out my blog & contact me stat! You have a great chance to get up to 30% off everything (except spanx) at Lane Bryant. That includes intimate apparel & all the super cute clothes for your holiday & new years eve parties. They are holding a "Girls' night out" special event on Wed. December 15th for the coolest chicks in town. You could be one of the lucky few who can get in on the deal. Check it out & let me know if you are in. The event is being held at the Pompano Beach Citi Center location. Holler at me if you wanna look hot for the holidays!