Holy Cake!

Recently, the boyfriend and I have been watching the Food Network's "Challenge" show where people compete to make the best cake in a certain about of time, with a certain theme.  It's become one of our favorite shows.  Its really amazing some of the cakes they come up with. Take a look at these creative cakes..

Pillow Cake

Pink and Black Cake

(I think this one is my favorite!)

Alice in Wonderland Cake

Pretty Cake

Girlie Cake

Wedding Cake

Starry Night Cake

Tiffany Cake

(What an amazing engagement party cake!!)

Dress Cake

Baby Shower Cake

Cupcake Cake

My iPhone Madness

So, as some of you facebook pals have noticed, I have been having major issues with my iPhone 3G lately. I was super excited to download the new software which lets you make folders, do multitasking, and create your ipod playlists right from your phone, along with various other updates that all of us mac obsessers have been yearning for.  I was not, however, ready to deal with what was going to happen next....

(Enter scary music)

It took 2 hours for me to download the new software, so I left my phone over night synced to my mac.  I figured it would be ready and rearing to go in the morning.

 Wrong.

 When I woke up I found that my iphone looked..well, pretty much just like the picture below.

reboot

OK..so its rebooting. No problem. But it stayed on this screen for an hour. And then two hours. And then it would reboot, and continue to stay on this screen.

GREAT.

So I ventured over to the lovely Apple store (approx 30 minutes away from my house) and a very nice kid "fixed it." He told me all I had to do was sync it to my computer to get all of my apps and music back. OK, no problem, I can do that.

Wrong.

It was a problem. A big problem.  When I synced it the very same thing happened. This freaking white and black apple screen.  I thought I was going to pull my hair out.  I need my phone to work people! I was going through MAJOR withdrawal.

Ugh, that picture gives me goosebumps now. Anyway, so I went to the Apple store again last night.  This time I did not have an appointment so I had to sit there for an hour to get a technician.  By this time, they were closing.

You have to be freaking kidding me.

Luckily, the mac people are super cool and still got me in.  They decided my iphone was toast and gave me a new one. Sweet! Thanks guys :) Apple is defiantly up to par on their customer service!

So I went home, excited. Now I just have to sync it up and I'll be all set.

 So I synced it up before I went to bed, and slept good knowing that my iphone would be ready to go in the morning.

Wrong.  What did I wake up to??

OH MY GOD.

OK, don't panic. (Too late) This means it HAS to be my itunes. So maybe if I shut my phone completely off for a while, uninstall itunes, then reinstall it...

It was my only hope. If this didn't work I would have to wait until SATURDAY to have a phone, because the iPhone 4 came out today and the techs were not going to be there.

So I held my breath, said a little prayer, and about an hour later...

iso 4

It worked! I seriously started jumping up and down.  I scared the dogs, they started barking, but I didn't care. I was back baby!

And yes, it was as dramatic as I made it sound in this blogger post. Maybe even more so!

Oh, and PS: never go to the Apple store without an appointment!

Jessica Simpson Launches Denim Line

Jessica Simpson has ruled the retail world with her shoe, handbag and fragrance lines. So whats missing? Why, jeans of course! Jessica is adding to her $450 million dollar retail business by incorporating a ready to wear line, featuring her favorite go-to item.. denim! Price ranges will start around $49.00 for jeans, which I think is a pretty good price for a designer piece. She will also have knits, jackets, and blazers in the line.  Merchandise will be at Macy's, Belk, and Dillard's, and Jessica will be doing appearances in the department stores starting this month. You will also be able to order them off of her website, http://www.jessicasimpsoncollection.com/

Jessica Simpson

The Skinny on Celebs- The Magic of Photoshop

So everyone pretty much knows that celebs get photoshopped before appearing in a magazine. 

However, I was pretty shocked when I read my good blogger friend Lacy's post the other day about the extent they alter some celebrities appearances. Take a look at before and after pictures here, and check out Lacy's Blog too.

Faith Hill

Look at her arm, and shoulder in the before and after.  Also they took off some "weight" from her legs.

Britney Spears

Britney looks exhausted, and maybe a little drugged up in the first picture - wow!

Kelly Clarkson

They definitely took some lbs off of Ms. Clarkson.

Britney Spears

Britney live, and Britney photoshopped. She dropped like four sizes!

Kim Kardashian

This photo amazed me. I knew Kim had to have big legs with that big hiney of hers! (I love that she embraces her curves though!)

Megan Fox

This is another one that really stuck out to me.  If they have to photoshop Megan Fox then there's no hope for the rest of us!

Niki

Everyone has blotchy skin!

Madonna

Poor Madonna is looking her age in the first picture.

 

 Model

Check out how they made this model's chest bigger, and took off some "bulge" in her stomach.


Crazy isn't it? Whats even crazier is that we try to look like these unrealistic images. We would all look 10-20 pounds lighter if we could photoshop all of our photos!

like mother, like...dog?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm pretty obsessed with my Jack Russell, Izzy.  Izzy is four and I've had her since she was about two months old.  Shes been the most loyal friend I've ever had and really is like my child.  We have both literally grown up together, learned life lessons, and gone through hardships. 

Izzy is quite stubborn at times.  Sometimes when shes doing something "bad" I have to tell her five times to stop before she will actually listen to me.  This made me think about the similarities between Izzy's personality and my own. (Haha)  Sometimes I think she got her personality from me.  We are both outgoing but guarded. We are clumsy, energetic, and love to have fun and play.  We both love to spend time outside, exercise, and snuggle.  We are also both very stubborn, and will do something even when people say we shouldn't or can't.  Most importantly, we both have huge hearts.

I've heard that dogs and owners sometimes look similar (which is not really the case with me and Iz) but I haven't really read anything about dogs and their owners having the same personality characteristics.  Although, when I started to think about it, I seem to be finding it true in cases other than myself and Izzy.  My boyfriend and his dog act very similarly, (very sweet and laid back) and my brother and our blonde lab Sarge have some of the same personality characteristics as well. (Not liking change)

Hmm.. any thoughts?

Just for fun, here are some pics I found of owners and their dogs that really do look alike :)  I wonder how their personalities match up?

(This one is too cute!)

sources: Google Images, Mirror Co, Pet Sugar, YTNG, My Disguises, yming, BlogSpot

Garden Bliss

A couple of weeks ago the boyfriend and his parents planted some beautiful flowers in our not so beautiful garden. This is the first year I've lived in my own house, so I was very excited about planting a lots of colorful flowers.  Unfortunately, I was sick when they came to help, so no planting for me, but I'm really enjoying maintaining the garden and watching it grow everyday.  Maybe next year I'll even grow some veggies! Here are some pictures from our little garden..

       

I love watering with my little watering can! Who needs the hose!

DBMB's Last Sample Item - The Piece of My Heart Necklace

The Piece of My Heart Necklace was the last piece I ordered for my sample selection and I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much.  It was kind of just an add on piece I threw in at the last minute. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find how well it was made and how much I loved it.  (I really did find an amazing wholesaler!) This necklace quickly became my ultimate favorite piece out of the whole sample package.  It's simple, but interesting, and adds a lot of "bling" to any outfit. 

As always, comments and critiques are always welcome!

DBMB 's "Spring Has Sprung" Sample Ring!

I've been slacking a bit on showing you guys the other sample pieces, so here is the "Spring Has Sprung" fuchsia and gold flower ring. 

This ring is really comfortable and fashion forward.  I wore it to work one day last week and got a lot of fantastic complements. This particular ring is very girlie being a flower and bright pink, so I might buy this item in a different hue to make it a tiny bit more edgy. 

Comments, critiques and complements are always welcome! Thanks for reading guys!

Friday Favorites

 

1. White Dress
Its like the little black dress in the summer time - defiantly a "go to" item.

2. Sprinkles!
 Because they are colorful and yummy on ice cream :)

3. Big beach hats
They add instant "beach glam"

4. Blue
 My favorite color to wear in the summer. Pretty blues like the pretty blue ocean.

5. Victoria's Secret Lip Gloss
 Once you get hooked on this lip gloss you will never buy any other kind - its the best.

6. Martinis! 
 Enough said.

Sample Piece # 2 - Boho Chic Ring

 Here is DBMB's second sample piece. I'm really happy with this one.  I think its very wearable. I added the professionally taken picture as well - since my iPhone camera doesn't do it much justice.  :)

What do you think?

Sample Piece # 1 - Ivory Chain & Bauble Necklace

Today I wore my first piece of Designs by Mandi sample jewelry - The Ivory Chain & Bauble necklace!  Woo hoo! My entrepreneur teacher at AI always stressed that to be successful in business you must know your product inside and out.  So I figured, why not wear the product to work, as my customer would. I mean... they are sample pieces after all, why not sample them.

The necklace is pretty light weight despite all the chains and details, which I really like.  I don't like wearing a big heavy piece of jewelry all day - If I do that I usually end up taking it off by lunchtime.  It was comfortable all day, and I even got a few complements :)

Love it? Hate it? What do you think?

Yay for Jewelry and Blog Hops!

OH my gosh, Blogger was not letting me post anything for about 24 hours! I was starting to freak out! Phew, I'm glad nothings broken or missing. I do, however, have another reason to freak out because...

MY SAMPLE PIECES CAME TODAY!!!

Yay! I am now confident that I have found the perfect wholesaler for Designs by Mandi Boutique. The jewelry that I got is SO great..you guys are going to love it! I'll post pictures soon. Things are slowly coming together..but I'm still taking my time with the launch.  There's still so much research, product development and marketing to do.

Also, all you bloggers out there, today my friend Marlie from Southern Loves is hosting a blog hop. Make sure you go over to her page to participate! It's a great way to find new blogs, and make super cool blogger friends :)