Monday, February 13, 2012

Updates!!!

It's been a while since my last post, so I wanted to do a quick update.  I am trying to do some stealthy blogging while at work today, so this one will be short :)

Update #1
To my great surprise, I woke up this morning to an email from April at A Pretty Wardrobe letting me know I won her giveaway.  How exciting is that!! It was definitely a surprise to see that message in my inbox :)  Now I can't say that I never win anything! 

Update #2
I recently linked up with Carissa over at Vanilla Crush to do a beauty swap and my package came on Saturday!  My sister grabbed the mail before I could get to it and was trying to snoop in my package.  I just about freaked out with excitement.  I sent Carissa a few things that she can't get in the UK, and she sent me some lovely things that we don't have here in the states!  I got a lot of great things from MUA, Collection 2000, and the Body Shop among others.  I haven't been able to try everything, but I will post more about that later since I am at work (blah)

Update #3
One of the things I love to do in my free time is read.  I'm a total nerd, I know, but I love it!  I really like mysteries and thrillers, but I have a soft spot for Harry Potter (obviously) and a few other fantasy-like stories.  I will admit that I read all the Twilight books (and the books are soooooo much better than the movies) but I can't say that I have an obsession with the whole vampire-werewolf schtick.  I did happen to pick up a new book at Target on Sunday called A Discovery of Witches and the storyline is similar (there are witches and vampires and daemons) and I am LOVING it!  I haven't finished it yet, though, so I can't say for sure whether I will continue reading the series (it is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy)


Update #4
Not really an update so much, but a few of the girls whose blogs I read have recently become engaged.  I just wanted to say congratulations to all of them and wish them luck and happiness as they start to plan their weddings!!!  With Valentine's Day being tomorrow I am hoping that everyone has someone special to share it with :)

Much love,

Nicole

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Lazy Sunday ☀

Sunday is one of my least favorite days of the week because I know I have to go to work the next day, but today was a really nice, relaxing day.  I went to the grocery store with my mom and then did some reading when we got home.

The weather was really nice today, too, so my parents, my sister and I took my niece for her first stroll through the park.  We went to the North Chagrin Reservation which is part of the Cleveland MetroParks system of nature preserves throughout the suburbs of Cleveland.  It's my absolute favorite place in Cleveland. I took some pictures with Instagram. The first one's my favorite :)

The one nature center at the park houses 4 owls and 2 sugar gliders (flying squirrels) that were found injured in the wild.  They rehabilitate the animals which, unfortunately, are not able to be re-released into the wild. They have one barred owl, two screech owls (one has only one eye :( ), and one horned owl.
This is my favorite place to go, especially in the summer.  It's quiet, peaceful, and it makes you feel like you are out in the country.  The Chagrin River runs through parts of the park and there are places where the water is only ankle deep and you can wade all the way across.  There's even an old castle where you can have picnics and go hiking through the woods.  It's not really a castle - it was built by a wealthy businessman as a gatehouse to a larger estate that was never built.  His wife died suddenly and he was too distraught to complete the project :(


I love when I have an easy and relaxing Sunday.  I feel like it always prepares me for the week ahead!  Hopefully everyone else had a nice weekend!


Nicole

Thursday, February 2, 2012

New Love: Lana Del Ray ☆

I don't know if anyone has heard of Lana Del Ray, but I just discovered her album today and it is AMAZINGGGGGGG!!! She reminds me a lot of Adele (whom I also adore).
Her voice is ethereal and she is absolutely gorgeous. Check out the song below :)



Happy listening,

Nicole

Happy Groundhog Day ❄

Happy Groundhog Day!!!  

How adorable :)
Today we celebrated one of the strangest, most bizarre of American holidays - Groundhog Day.  Yep, you heard it right.  There is a whole square on the calendar dedicated to the meteorology skills of a small furry rodent :)

If you're unfamiliar with the Groundhog Day tradition, here are the basics:
  • the most famous groundhog is named Punxsutawney Phil and he lives in the city library of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
  • there are 25 other groundhogs across the US, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta that participate in the tradition
  • around 7:30am on the 2nd of February the groundhogs emerge from their burrows
  • if they see their shadow and are scared back in to their burrow, winter will continue for 6 more weeks
  • if they do not see their shadow, spring will come early ✿
  • there's a movie titled Groundhog Day where Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day over and over again until he gets it right
The tradition is a bit strange, but apparently it's a Pennsylvania German tradition dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.  And according to Wikipedia, it is similar to Imbolc which is the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar that occurs February 1 (...?).  I don't know if that's true or not :)  

Unfortunately, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today so there will be 6 more weeks of winter :(  Conveniently, however, the spring solstice occurs in 6 weeks.  So regardless of whether there is a shadow or not, there will always be 6 more weeks of winter!

I hope you enjoyed your bit of American folklore for the day!

Happy Groundhog Day,

Nicole


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A Couple of Sick Days ❀


                      


I've been a bit out of sorts lately.  I came down with the flu on Sunday and spend Monday and Tuesday lounging around in my pajamas.  Aside from the whole being sick thing, they were the most wonderful days I have had in a long time.


My favorite thing to do when I am home sick is to watch old movies all day. We have this wonderful tv channel called Turner Classic Movies that plays all sorts of old movies from the 1920s all the way to the 1960s.  Yesterday was a whole day of Mario Lanza films.  I had never heard of him before, but he was apparently a very popular opera singer in the 1940s and 50s.  I may be one of the only people under the age of 55 that actually enjoys opera, so I managed to watch 3 of the movies that were on.  The story lines were cheesy, of course, but I think that is the best part about old movies.  I love the idea of the dapper, dashing guy wooing the beautiful girl by singing to her.  It's just so...classic.  


I started thinking about my favorite movies and realized that most of them came from the 50s and 60s.  I know a lot of younger people aren't really interested in older movies, but the more I watch classic movies, the more I realize that the story lines are the exact same, just the setting has changed.  For example, did you know that the Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds is a remake of the 1936 movie Mr. Deeds Goes to Town?  Or that the original Mummy movie came out in 1932 with Boris Karloff playing Imhotep?  The original Mummy movie is a Halloween staple of mine.  Although it's not nearly as exciting as the Brenden Frasier version, I still enjoy watching it with my little brother :)


Here are a couple of my favorite classic movies that I think everyone should watch:
  • Singin' in the Rain - I love Gene Kelly :)
  • An American in Paris - Another Gene Kelly classic.  The colors and clothes in this movie are amazing! Leslie Caron, the female lead, was actually a prima ballerina before she starred in this movie and in Gigi.
  • Gigi - Leslie Caron is in this one.  It's one of my favorites mainly because I find Louis Jourdan to be extremely handsome ;)
  • Some Like it Hot - Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis... need I say more
  • Sabrina - My all-time favorite Audrey Hepburn movie
  • Roman Holiday - Another Audrey movie about a princess who runs away from her handlers and wanders around Rome with a journalist.  It's pretty cute :)
  • Breakfast at Tiffany's - Obviously... one of the greats
  • Beach Blanket Bingo - One of the cheesiest, corniest movies I've ever seen, but it's actually really funny.  My mom loves this one too!
  • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - If anyone has ever seen the movie Rat Race, this is the original.  They have to scour the globe to find the treasure hidden underneath the giant W.  
  • The Great Race - This one also has Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in it too, racing each other across three continents by car.  It also stars the beautiful Natalie Wood
This is kind of my beginner's list to watching classic movies.  Some of the really old ones are tough to watch (the comedy is blah and the plot lines are really prudent), but these are all really awesome :)


Hopefully someone will take a chance on one of these!


Much love,

Nicole
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