Five Friday Favorites

A few of my favorite things from this week...

Matthew Williamson's Dress

Cat Deeley looks amazing in this Matthew Williamson dress.

I love everything about this look. The cut of the dress, the fun colors, the rock and roll clutch..fab. I would definitely wear this.

Revlon's Strawberry Electric Nail Polish

Strawberry Electric nail polish from Revlon. Perfect for summer, and very pretty on tan toes!

Cold Stone's Birthday Cake Remix

 I cheated on my diet this week with a yummy scoop of cold stone birthday cake ice cream with sprinkles. (I usually get it without the chocolate and the cone) My most favorite ice cream ever. YUM.

The song I've been dancing to all week- Lady GaGa's Alejandro.

I have to admit, I'm kind of infatuated with Lady GaGa. Her "out there" fashion sense defiantly intrigues me. I've had her new song Alejandro in my head all week. I would love to see her in concert, I bet she puts on a great show.

Favorite App - QRANK!

I'm pretty obsessed with playing Qrank on my iphone right now.  Its a trivia game that takes news headlines from the day before and asks you questions. The harder the questions, and the faster you select the answer the more points you get. (My highest has been 6,000) It only lets you play once a day, but trust me..its addicting!

Designs by Mandi Update

Ok, so things have been a little crazy here lately with getting ready to go on vacation, and the other job, but I have been working on a lot of things for Designs by Mandi...  here's an update for you.

Merchandise: Since I'm hoping to launch the online boutique sometime in July I've been doing a lot of research on wholesalers for merchandise, and I found a couple really good ones I'm excited about.  I'm starting to get sample pieces, so that when its time to buy I'll know exactly what I want. (This is the fun part!) I'll post pictures soon.

Legal Stuff: Now for the not so fun part - taxes! I swear dealing with taxes and legal issues is the worst part about opening up your own business, but I'm getting through it. I've had to do a lot of research on my own, but the IRS web page has been my saving grace.  There are SO many great resources out there for small business owners out there.  I took a whole class online that helped me figure out my taxes and accounting and all that good stuff for free. Very cool, but I'm glad that parts over with!

Packaging: Ive been researching what kind of packaging I'm going to be using for DBMB and I found some really cute ideas. All I have to do now is purchase them and I'm ready to go. I'll post these pictures soon too.

Marketing: Business cards are being sent to the printer :) Yay! My marketing plan is also in full swing.

Twitter/Facebook: Twitter account and facebook fan page are all set up.  Follow me on twitter @designsbymandi and check out my facebook fan page here.

Blog: A huge part of my marketing plan has obviously been this blog, and I have to tell ya...I didn't know I would enjoy blogging this much! Thanks so much to those who have been reading and supporting me..you guys are awesome!

source

Pictures of the Week

Sleepy Girls
Izzy and Scarlet...they love each other :)

Lovely Lillies

The boyfriend got me these before "date night" last week. :)

My Chill Style

Workity Work! It's nice to work from home some days :)

My Favorite Purchase of The Week:
Taupe Crocodile Pumps from Target - only $23.00 online.

www.target.com

Favorite Look of the Week:
Lucy Liu in chic springy colors, and a leather jacket. So cute.

http://www.peoplestylewatch.com

My First Blog Award!

A big thanks to Marlessa Southern at Southern Reflections for presenting me with my first ever blog award!

So, since I was awarded, the rules are that I have to write 10 things about me that you might not know, and 5 things I don't like.  Soooo here goes...

10 Things About Me

1. I LOVE fashion and art. I graduated from The Art Institute of Charlotte with my BA in Fashion Marketing in 2008. It's always been my dream to have my own boutique business, and now I'm finally making it happen!

2. I have a Jack Russel named Izzy who thinks she runs the house. (Who am I kidding...she does run it.) Shes a feisty little thing but I love her like shes my child.

3. I recently started learning how to cook.  I used to burn things in the kitchen, but I'm actually getting pretty good at mastering yummy healthy dinners.

4. I loooove taking pictures!

5. I'm kind of a geek....I'm a HUGE bookworm, and I love all things Apple.

http://www.i-love-mac.com/Downloads/modern/iLoveMacModern1680x1050.jpg

6. I've had some sort of journal since I was about 8 years old. I've always loved to write. I even wrote a family newspaper every week when I was little, haha.

7. I have a "bucket list" where I continually add and cross off things that I want to accomplish in my lifetime. At the top of my list is swimming with dolphins, and going to Italy.

http://www.issa-italy.org/

8. I have two cell phones and its really annoying. One for work and my iphone. I wish i could forward the calls into one somehow. They need an app for THAT.

9. Speaking of iphones.. I. Am. Obsessed. I love looking for new apps, and then telling Ryan (the boyfriend) a  million reasons why "this is the coolest app ever!" - poor guy.

http://www.iphonefrills.com/

10. I have amazing people in my life. Between  my family, boyfriend, and friends,  am truly blessed.

5 Things I Don't Like

1. People who make fun of other people to make themselves feel better. BIGGEST pet peeve and I see it all the time.

2. Talking on the phone! I'm getting better at this one since I have to be on the phone a lot with my work, but I still hate it.  I swear I have some weird phone anxiety. My stomach literally drops when it rings.

3. People who take advantage of other people.

4. Any form of disrespect.

5. Almost every kind of seafood.

Now (drum roll please) its time for me to award 5 blogs this Gorgeous Blogger Award. Being new to the blogging community, I don't know too many bloggers out here, so I'm going to award my top five favorite blogs I read regularly. And they are:

1. Mandi from Mandi Minding Money

2. Lacy from Makeup by Lacy

3. Angie from Angela's Blog

4. Eve from Absolutely Ladylike

5. Amanda from Mandalyzing

Check out these fabulous blogging ladies!

Spring Cleaning / Celeb Closets

This weekend the boyfriend and I turned our house upside down and did some major spring cleaning. I found myself spending a decent amount of time trying to organize my closet. Its usually pretty clean, but its so tiny and I have a LOT of clothes so I have to work to keep it organized. (I've taken over the office closet as well, haha). Anyway, here's a picture of the final product of my bedroom closet.

You cant really tell from the picture, but everything is color coded. My favorite part is my cute little light I put up :) I think it makes it feel more "boutique-y"

Here are some pictures of some celebrity closets I found. Some of them look bigger than my entire bedroom, haha. Must be nice!

http://www.parentsconnect.com/editorial_images/16/w

oman-sitting-pile-clothes.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWlMfgGfL9bE3LTERK3hBeKY5s50VWedpMsRyx0NWF_CgGk1z0DMl1Bqs3y2jXTdFd0-F7-wAevnVYiXMdkx2dGp0grQPY0mQylFVVl_PkGkTLgrvCBRH9nkCoUt_9J1BHAGfJKN4fd1p/s320/022708_longoria_400x400.jpg

http://www.augiemania.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/cleaning.jpg

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gracemagazine.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/closet-abdul1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gracemagazine.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/a-peek-inside-celebrity-closets/&h=400&w=400&sz=81&tbnid=OqTFzQUgN1nMEM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcelebrity%2Bclosets&hl=en&usg=__OeYf5BNqxHkAgUIwPkqNtMyFLJo=&ei=e_LvS8XTJYreNarS3N8P&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=3&ct=image&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAg

http://www.wunderbloc.com/images/blog/1592/7245_t.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/celebrity%20closets/fashion-o-lic/christina-aguilera-closet.jpg