In The Red

Hello, Friends...meet my new friends. Hope you are all well.

Inspiration Pics

Okay, my blog buddies are not feeling my leopard chair :(

I’m getting it anyway (how ya’ like me now?! LOL), but thought I’d post some inspiration rooms to help the girls visualize what I’m going for.

My plan: Tans & Dark Browns w/ Red or Turquoise Accents

All From HGTV – Candice Olsen

I really love this one (above)!

Replace green w/ red on this one…

Also considering rich (solid) red bedding with brown

Guess I’ll check out House Of Turquoise for pics of browns and turquoise.

If you see any other  pics I can use for inspiration, let me know! - Tash

Decor Dilemma

Okay, we all know I LOVE leopard print…remember these? Let’s not even talk about how many pairs of leopard shoes I have.

Well, it’s bonus time at work and I usually do something big for myself. This year, I am going to create a bedroom sanctuary.

Every room needs a signature standout piece and I think this will be mine.

I found it at Anderson’s Attic, the new outlet for Anderson’s Furniture (a local gem of a store).

My dilemma: Is this worthy of being the yearly gift to myself? What do you think?

Reunion Video #1

DWC Classmates (and FB friends and fam) - enjoy...more to come after True Blood goes off tonight. I have some really good ones!

Blog buddies - see if you can find me!

Hail Carter High!

Look Who’s Back…

Well, it only took messages from GetItGirl, Anne (my BFF at work), and Lakeitha (or LD, as I like to call her) to bring me back to blog world. SO much to tell and share and post.

I also have to admit that I needed somewhere to post videos from my high school reunion LOL . Anyway, I’m well…Symone is even better AND I’m back in the blog game.

Post you later (in a minute actually).

 

Annette and Me @ Erykah Badu concert

Saturday morning fashionista, Symone

Weekend Plans – ROAD TRIP…Heeey!

The girls and I are making a road trip across the border to Oklahoma’s WinStar Casino to see…

Wait for it….

 

                                AND

                                   Keith Sweat

It’s going down! $15 tickets and 6 girlfriends?! Why we are doing it the last weekend of tax season and know some of us have to work Sunday…I don’t know. LOL

Do you really think 6 girls from the 80’s/90’s would miss BBD and Keith Sweat?! Given this is my 20 yr. reunion year, I MUST be in the house for old time’s sake! Plus, I can hit the slots. Can you tell I’m excited?

Hope you spend your weekend doing something fun, too!

Tash

Estate Sale Pre-Shopping

I am on a distribution list for a company that manages estate sales for families in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area.

The company sends out an email of the address, date of sale and a link with photos of items for sale.

Dilemma: For some reason, I keep looking at this picture of this set of dishes, but can’t figure out why it appeals to me so?

Any ideas?

Book Review # 2 (Long Post)

I’m not sure if any of you know, but I worked a summer in India in 2002. I fell in love with the culture, the people and, of course, the food. The Indian people, mostly Hindis where I was, have to be some of the most kind and gentle people on Earth.

I have done several things to stay connected to India, including frequenting restaurants, joining the Indian employee network at my company, etc.

I recently discovered Jhumpa Lahiri, a Pulitzer Prize winning Indian American author, who’s short stories blow me away. I just finished two of her collections of short stories and will profile one here. The other Interpreter of Maladies, I’ll save for later.

Review #2 – Unaccustomed Earth

When I got to the end of the first story in the book, I was speechless. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or bad thing. It has been so long since I’ve read short stories, that I forgot that they don’t often tie up at the end in a bow. Ever notice that? (J. California Cooper’s short stories are sometimes that way, too.)

Anyway, I kept reading and fell deeper and deeper into book reading love with Lahiri’s stories. Each had colorful details of the reverence with which Indian traditions are treated and preserved. Often sad and haunting, her stories were memorable and had me holding my breath at time. The stories bounced between the challenges of assimilation from old school Indian life and new school Indian American life.

Some of the conversations and character situations so vividly reminded me of the people I worked with in New Delhi. This mostly manifest itself in the stories dealing with marriage and the expectations for it, as well as food, which seems to be a static backdrop in Lahiri’s stories.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

For example -- Arranged marriages are alive and real in India AND within Indian American families today. I had numerous discussions with my Indian friends in about why they would have arranged marriages as opposed to “love” marriages, as they referred to our Western tradition of marrying.

One guy, Mohit, told me that his mother does so much for his family, the least he can do was marry whoever she picks for him. *blank stare*

Another girl, Jyotsna, who I am still in contact with today (8 yrs later), had a boyfriend of 2 yrs that she loved dearly while I was there. They were both middle caste and well-educated with promising futures. However, their parents took them to a fortune teller (cards reader or something like that), who told them they were incompatible and their families would not agree to let them marry. They, rather than face being disowned by their families, broke up -- painfully. A couple of years later, Jyotsna married another guy (via arranged marriage), moved to Canada, had a baby, only to find herself in a physically abusive marriage. She is now a single parent living in Canada, struggling with her assimilation and raising a Indian American daughter. *blank stare* This very situation could easily be one of Lahiri’s stories.

SUMMARY:

I said all that to say that Lahiri writes beautifully and captures you, while also making you appreciate and understand cultural differences. The stories reminded me of why I became fascinated with the people and culture of India, but not only that…Unaccustomed Earth was an intense page turner to which people of all cultures can relate.

Favorite stories in the book:

• Only Goodness - An sister who deals with the guilt of the role she played in her brother’s alcoholism
• Hell-Heaven – A wife/ mother who struggles with the loneliness of a life lacking love and purpose
• Nobody’s Business – An American college student develops a crush on his Indian housemate

Pick up a copy from your local library and let me know what you think.

THE END

Love Get It Girl…

If you haven’t checked out her post from yesterday, is a must read. Good reflection of how she lives in style, all day, EVERY day…

I know, I have a blog crush on her blog…LMAO

Congratulations to Dayka!

Dayka @ http://meditationsonlifeandstyle.blogspot.com/ was one of the first of my blog buddies I featured on my lil bitty blog.

Dayka has hit a milestone of 100 followers and has a giveaway for a custom stamp from LetterGirl!

Here’s to 100 more for Dayka (and that stamp for me!

Higher Learning Ain’t What It Used To Be…

If you are on Facebook, I'm sure you have seen this video of a college student acting a donkey and arguing with her professor over the wording on an exam.

I cannot even IMAGINE behaving that way in college. Now don’t get me wrong, I would get up and walk out in a New York minute! But NEVER would I address a professor or my peers that way. We were off the chain out the classroom, but all about the business in class...always looking to exercise our formal rights as students.

Okay, I'm off my soap box, but, for real -- ole girl was on something or just got heart that needs to be properly channeled…I’m sure her parents are (would be) proud.

UW PD got the last word, huh?

Recipe for A Cold, Snowy Day in the DFW

Olive Garden™ Zuppa Toscana Soup Recipe

De-lish!

Bedding?

Which one for Symone’s room? Found on Jcpenney.com Want to be cute but in a big girl kinda way (Big Girl as in 5 years old LOL).

 

Remember, purple walls, turquoise curtains – but want to be able to use other colors for accents

My Latest Obsession

Two words – ESTEE LAUDER

OMG – While shopping for NY in January, I was coaxed into buying a skin care kit from the Estee Lauder counter and given a sample of light coverage foundation.

I have never gotten so many compliments on my skin…I’m not sure what they are saying about what I was looking like before *stink eye*

My fav products:

 

Day Wear Plus Moisturizer     

Perfectly Clean Foaming Cleanser

     

 Advanced Eye Recovery  

Resilience Make-up: Natural Tan

I attribute these things (and Ebay because once I discovered EL, I started purchasing my reup on Ebay) to my new sun-kissed look.

What are your favorite beauty products?

Random Symone pic

Snaggle Tooth Symone

Just when I thought her face could get no cuter!

I Need A Camera…Suggestions Anyone?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but when I saw Get It Girl’s post on our recent snow storm, I know it was time…I need to invest in a good camera.

Below are a few of her pics:

There’s a really cool one of her hubby throwing up snow  -but I can’t in good conscience put up pics of another woman’s hubby…it’s a respect thang :)

So…any suggestions on a good camera that won’t break the bank?

Still here!

Hello, Blog Buddies!



Thanks for all the emails checking on me. I'm good...just been swamped with work (it's tax season) and all the snowy weather in the DFW.

I hope to have a final post of my office soon (yeah, right).

In the meantime, here's a pic of me on the train on the way to the NBA All-Star Saturday night festivities.

Hope all is well!

She's here!

My couch...is here. I was planning on using as every day couch, with swatches from this post.


It's smaller scale than my current couch so now I'm thinking of putting in my incomplete home office so it doubles as a reading room.

Annette is coming over tonight before we leave for a girl's night to help me. LOL

When I see something like this...and it turns my color world upside down.

From House of Turquoise

Maybe this will be my bedroom inspiration? Why can't I focus? LOL

Online Clearance Shopping

I was trying to see if I could come up on some online deals like LaKeitha at Home23Duncanboys .

Check out some of the stuff I found on Zgallerie.com .

Dog Pencil Sharpener - $3.99...really, Zgallerie LMAO

Diamond Paper Weight & stand - $9.99. & $3.99

I LOVE this paper weight...looks very GetItGirl style, huh?

Leopard Tape Measure - $3.99

My love for leopard has no end...you know I ordered this hot tape measure.

Happy online shopping! - Tash

Symone's room - Part I: No Sew Treatments

I know I was supposed to be working on my home office this weekend, but...

Okay, I've been promising Symone I'd fix up her room. This is the first in a series fixing up Symone's room.

No Sew Window Treatments:

Step 1: I started w/ tab top turquoise panels I bought from Wally World for my office.

They are too bold and since Symone said I was not "sharing the turquoise", I decided to put in her room.

Step 2 & 3 : Since the panels were too short, I hot glued a purple cotton fabric remnant to the bottom OVER the tab since I'm not very fond of tab tops.

Step 3 (above pic): Then I hot glued some heart ribbon trim that they didn't even charge me for at Hancock since it was just thrown in the clearance bin. JACKPOT!

Final Look:

They'll be really cute when I iron them LOL

I used some silver upholstery tacks to put the panels up with an inverted pleat in the middle.

Here's the look I'm going for from The Nester...still looking for fabric to put on the top.

Looking forward to finishing my baby's room...eventually :)