My Experience Learning How to Cook

Unlike most women, I did not learn how to cook from my mother. My mom is not big on cooking. When she does cook, she tends to only makes things that come from packages with directions printed on them.

When I lived on my own I would cook occasionally, just simple things like meatloaf, spaghetti & meatballs, turkey chili, and roasted vegetables. When I first met my husband he lived in a condo. He had an outdoor a patio from which we could hear the music coming from a nearby bar.

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Which Size and Style is Right for Me? The Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM, MM, or PM Tote.

My First Louis Vuitton Purchase

Last Summer I had handbag-envy for months. I love designer handbags, and have a habit of collecting them. Two of my friends at the Junior League have Louis Vuitton totes, and for my birthday I finally decided to treat myself to one of my own. I did some research and decided on the Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM tote in Damier Ebene print. This bag is huge! I went with the Damier Ebene print rather than the traditional LV because I thought it looked classier. There are so many LV knock-offs around that I didn't want my expensive bag to be mistaken as one. When deciding on which bag to buy I decided on this one because I figured that I could use it when I travel as my airplane bag when travelling, and also use it at work. The sales representative said the straps are crafted to hold up to 200+ lbs.

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Super Size Your Photos

As an anniversary present I had a photo from my honeymoon turned into a HUGE art print to hang over our bed. We had been looking for a nice beach scene to hang and couldn't find one. Everything we saw was of the ocean during a storm - not exactly what you want hanging in your bedroom. I'm thrilled with the result.

Eden Rock resort in St. Bart's

Hard to get to, but so relaxing & peaceful.

My Adorable Puppies

Here's a picture of my adorable puppies Bentley & Winston. This past Summer I was laying out by the pool and went inside for a moment to refill my drink. While I was gone they had taken over my lounger, and Bentley is even laughing at me.

Gucci on Rue La La

Recently the flash shopping sale websites have had some high-end brands. Chanel was on Beyond the Rack, Hermes on ideeli, and now Gucci on Rue La La. The Gucci prices on Rue La La are actually a "sale price". I just ordered a large Sukey purse that I've been checking out for awhile. It retails for $995 on Gucci's website and was on sale for $799 on Rue La La. So, it was about $200 off the regular store price. I wasn't sure if I should get the large size vs. the medium size, but went with the large. I hope that it's not too ridiculously big. Can't wait for it to arrive.

If you're not a member of Rue La La, you'll need an invite. Use this link to gain access: Rue La La Invite

Pinterest

I just joined Pinterest & I'm on cool idea overload. Basically there's an appelet that you add to your browsers toolbar. Whenever you see something cool you can "Pin It" (similiar to bookmark it). Then you can add the pins to different "Boards" (similiar to folders if you had bookmarked it) that you set up. The difference between this & bookmarking though is that it's visual & you can see what your friends are pinning too. Check it out.

Birthday Present to Myself

In July I bought myself an early birthday present. I've had handbag-envy for months. Two of my friends at the Junior League have this & I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. It's a Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM tote. It's huge! I went with the Damier Ebene print rather than the traditional LV. I figure that I can use it when I travel as my airplane bag, and also use it at work since the sales rep. said the straps are crafted to hold up to 200+ lbs. They even used the hot stamper to put my initials on the base of one of the handles.

The Plaza Hotel

After a blah dinner at The Russian Tea room we headed over to Serendipity for dessert. There was a line out the door, so instead we drove over to The Plaza Hotel. Normally we wouldn't think of going to one of the bars at The Plaza for dessert, but my husband knows someone who works there that we were going to stop by and say hi (but it turns out he wasn't even in that night). We went up to the Rose Bar. It was loungey looking - decorated with dimmed soft pink lighting. Much nicer than the brightly lit Champagne Bar. We had some cheesecake for dessert and I had a coffee drink with Sambuca, Baileys and some other liquor in it. Everything was good and a normal price. It was an unexpectedly affordable & enjoyable place to stop for dessert. We even saw a celebrity on the way in - Raven Symone. I had to explain to my husband who she was though. LOL! But, I have to say that she looked beautiful in a cream colored sequined dress. Actually much prettier than this picture of her I found on the Internet. All in all a great date night out.

The Russian Team Room

On Sunday night my husband and I went to The Russian Tea Room for dinner. He had a gift card that he received for his birthday. We started off with drinks at the bar. I had a "From Russia With Love" which had champagne, & Chambord, Godiva in it. It tasted like a fizzy chocolate covered strawberry (translation=yummy). The meal however was mediocre & overpriced. We had a Market Salad (supposed to have artichokes but we didn't see them), Lobster crepe (tasted like a crab cake in a crepe, good but small), Chicken Kiev and Sesame crusted tuna. The German Riesling we had (don't remember the name) was the best part of the meal. If you are going just to check it out, know that the food is pretty bland. Go just for drinks instead.

Goldstar

Goldstar is a great website to get 1/2 priced tickets on various entertainment events. Especially in this economy, if you can still afford to go out, who couldn't use a discount. Recently I got 1/2 priced tickets for an exhibit at the Discovery Times Square Exposition through the website. I went with my husband so it was like 2for 1.

Beyond the Rack

I am a member of various members-only shopping clubs. One of them is "Beyond The Rack". This month I bought a Gucci Jolie tote for $200 less than the price listed on the Gucci website. On the downside, while Beyond the Rack accepts returns, it's only for store credit, so make sure you really want something before you buy it. If you'd like to join visit http://www.beyondtherack.com & enter the invitation code: NCN76075A4B

Treesje

I got a new position at work this year and it involves traveling between buildings. That means that I'm carrying around a lot of materials and files. I wanted to get a big tote bag that I can use to carry all of my work stuff as well as my wallet, make-up, and other personal items. I had been using a LLBean looking white tote with navy trim, but it started looking dingy. Initially I wanted a Gucci tote, but I couldn't find one that was big enough and less than $1,000. I JUST got a Treesje bag on ideeli delivered this week. It's a soft, buttery purplish/blue leather with two handles that fit on my shoulder (even with a Winter coat on) and then a longer strap that I can wear the bag across my body or on my shoulder and be able to reach in for files. It has two interior cell phone pockes and a zippered interior pocket. I can fit EVERYTHING in it, and one of the great things about it is that empty it is not heavy at all, like many of the nicer structured totes. Now I look professional & stylish at work!

ideeli

I joined ideeli shopping website and got some great buys. They e-mail you when they have on-line sales that last about 2 days. Sales are on designer items marked down to a fraction of their original costs. Recently they even had a Gucci sale where I bought wallets for my bridesmaids for my Summer wedding. They are going to love them. Just $229 each, originally $1,000+.

Uggs for Less

My sisters both got Ugg Coquette slippers recently. Since I just got a new house I wasn't up for paying the Ugg price tag, but wanted a comfy slipper. I found these Ugg wannabes at Target. They're called the Chandra Suede Scuff Slipper. They only cost $17, they come in the same colors that Uggs come in, and they're just as comfortable (yes, I tried on my sisters to compare). I was wearing these everywhere, but my fiance just got me Ugg boots for Christmas so that I stop wearing slippers to Home Depot with him.

Reservations Please!

Whenever making dinner reservations make them through Open Table. You'll get points for every reservation that you make & keep. When you accumulate enough points you'll earn a gift certificate to use at one of the restaurants. The great thing about Open Table is that you can write if it's a special occassion & then the restaurants often give you preferential seating, congratulate you on your special occassion, and may even through in free drinks or dessert.

Morton's Steakhouse Deals

Morton's Steakhouse is having an amazing deal. For $99 (or $109) in some locations, you can get a salad, appetizer, filet, side vegetable & dessert for 2 people. This deal is good during Valentine's Day too. I've gone twice already, and will be going again next week in Atlantic City. Unfortunately, drinks aren't included, but you can't have everything!

Bliss Deals

During the month of February you can get a free bottle of Love Handler ($36 value) with any purchase from Bliss. Also, if you buy Lemon Sage Body Butter and enter code 019902 you'll get a free Lemon Sage Body Scrub & Free Shipping (plus the free Love Handler).

Girl on a Budget

Here's a shopping tip from me to you. Any time I'm shopping on-line I Google the name of the website I'm shopping from & the word "code". Then you can find shopping discount, promotional or coupon codes for the website. Often times the codes give you free shipping, a percent discount, and/or free gifts. One of the best websites for finding codes is Retail Me Not. I even found a discount code for my wedding invitations.

Ahhhhh Bliss!

In an effort to turn back the clock on my 30 something skin pre-wedding I bought the Bliss Youth as We Know It set from Sephora. It was $68 and came with generous trial sizes of facewash, toner, concentrate, eye cream & lotion in a make-up bag. I got this in mid-Dec, and it's the beginning of Feb. and I still have some left of each. AND my skin looks dewy after I wash it & lather up with the lotions. Although it's been a cold winter, my face doesn't look dry - I'm even textured. I've been loving it so much that I ordered more of the face lotion. As a matter of fact, I've been going a little crazy with Bliss and have ordered things 3 times this month. I order through the Bliss website http://www.blissworld.com and enter coupon codes to get all kinds of freebies. I entered a code and got a free body butter with the purchase of my face lotion.