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

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

Hello Dry Hair. Meet My Best Friend, Coconut Oil ♡

This may seem a bit weird, but my favorite hair care product is actually a cooking ingredient.  I have always had dry, coarse hair that no matter how hard I tried never looked pretty or healthy.  I'm sure it doesn't help that I fry it out till kingdom come with straightening and curling irons.  My ceaseless split ends can attest to that.  

About a year ago, an Indian woman that my mom works with mentioned that she uses coconut oil on her skin and hair to keep it moisturized and soft.  Supposedly this is common in Indian culture (or so I have been told).  She gave my mom a bottle to try and I have been hooked ever since.  

In its regular state, it is a cloudy white paste, but becomes liquidy when warmed up.  I always apply it to my hair right out of the shower.  My hair is really long, so I use a dime-sized amount and it works like a charm.  For shorter hair, I would suggest using less because it will leave your hair looking really greasy if you use too much.  Something else to note is that you CANNOT let your hair air dry.  I always straighten it or curl it.  I put it on my hair one night and didn't have time to do my hair the next morning.  Yuck!  It looked like I hadn't showered in a week or two.  

The oil definitely doesn't smell like coconut, which I thought was weird, so you will definitely be able to smell it in your hair.  But all that is worth it because it makes my hair so soft and so smooth!  I have tried a million deep conditioners and nothing has ever worked as well as coconut oil.  

I use Parachute brand coconut oil.  Apparently you can buy it in Middle Eastern and Indian specialty food stores, and you can most certainly buy it online.

It looks like The Body Shop offers a product called Coconut Oil Hair Shine.

Walgreens, Sally Beauty Supply, and other drug stores offer a wide range of coconut oil hair treatments as well.  I've only ever used Parachute though, so I can't offer a review on any of these other products.  Organix is a pretty prominent brand so their's might be worth a try.

Hopefully you will be willing to give it a try :)


Until next time,


Nic✭le

Hello ♡

Just thought I would share a bit about myself and what I plan on sharing in my blog.  My name is Nicole and I just turned 24 in December.  I graduated from college with a business degree and liked it so much (i guess) that I work for them now doing finances.  Not exactly the most exciting thing in the world, and definitely not my dream job, but with the economy I suppose I am grateful to have any job!  Plus, it finances my shopping habit :)


A few of the things that make me happy:

• shopping!!! I love clothes too much to wear only one or two brands, but my go-to's are Target, J. Crew, and H&M
• make-up and beauty products - I always make sure to stop in Sephora while I'm at the mall.  I recently discovered Soap & Glory and can't get enough of their products.  I also subscribe to Birchbox and get a box of beauty samples each month to try out.
• baking and home goods - I love trying new recipes and forcing my family to be the taste-testers.  Some things are great, others... not so great :)  Anthropologie has the BEST home goods ever.  Their plates, glasses, and everything else for the home are absolutely amazing.  Maybe one day I will be able to afford Anthro, but until then a girl can dream, right?
• arts & crafts - Jewelry, lamp shades, earring holders... I love being creative and making things for myself.  I will be sure to post about any new projects that come up.
• reading - I am most definitely a huge geek, and I am very proud of that!  I love reading just about anything, but my favorites are definitely mysteries.

I'm sure there are a lot of other things that make me happy, but those are the top 5. 

Until next time,

Nic✭le