busy bee lauren: 07.2010

7.28.2010

inspiration: lucy hale

i bet a lot of you have seen the new ABC Family series "Pretty Little Liars" (i have only once), and will recognize the face of the beautiful Lucy Hale.
when i spotted this editorial on WhoWhatWear, i about had a fashion aneurism. she is perfection.
i have always wanted luscious, thick, dark hair like that. but since i don't have the coloring for it, i will forever be a blond. i'm perfectly ok with that...but i'm just sayin'.

these outfits are so well put together. very feminine, and the textures are to die for. very inspiring photoshoot! these will be filed away in my inspiration folder, for shizzle. yes. i just said for shizzle...takin' it back to 2002 style. yeah, man.

7.26.2010

what busy bee lauren uses.

i often get emails asking me what products i use. i decided to answer basically every beauty product question ever asked by just listing what i use. everything i list i HIGHLY recommend.

lipsticks.

i used to prefer gloss over lipstick, but over the last few years, i have grown to love lipstick. it doesn't make you want to lick it off. nor does it seem to have a tendency to attract your run-away-hairs to stick to it. i love berries and reds. my favorite brands are lancome and MAC, but my dearest friend Kate sent me a Rimmel lipstick, and i LOVE that one too. everyone buy "vintage pink"...it's the bomb. plus, it has a purple case. HELLO CUTE!

hair products.

i don't wear a lot of product in my hair, but there are a few things i swear by. i have been using Kenra shampoo, conditioner and mousse for years. we are talking since the beginning of time. it is a little expensive, but i tell you, it is THE BEST shampoo on the planet. it holds my highlights, and it adds so much volume. best brand ever. when i am doing my signature bed-head waves, i put kenra mousse onto semi-dry air (that has been air dried OR slept on wet) and then i tease the roots and scrunch with Big and Sexy hairspray. oh how i love it.

exfoliant.

i learned this little trick when the lovely Kate Lines suggested it to me. i am forever in her debt. all you have to do is pour a little baking soda in your palm, add a little water and create a paste. i like to gently massage it onto my face and then let it sit there for about 5 minutes, and then rinse it off. it feels so refreshing and clean. however, i hear if you have sensitive skin, you shouldn't do this mask, because it might irritate a little. just an FYI. i do this treatment about 3 times a week.

signature scents.

i only wear two scents. i like to have a signature scent. i want ted to be able to recognize my smell. is that weird? i like knowing ted has a distinct smell. i dunno. anyway, i LOVE...no, i am OBSESSED with these two scents. i LOVE LOVE LOVE Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture. i am convinced it is the best smell on earth. guhhhh. i wear this everyday...even if i am wearing jammies all day. also, the only lotion i wear is Bath and Body Works Cool Citrus Basil. they only sell it during their semi-annual sale since it is sorta discontinued. but hello...so delicious and fresh. i like to layer these two scents for a "lauren scent" of awesomeness.

moisturizers.

for a moisturizer right out of the shower, i use Aquatanic Gel Souffle. it is perfection and SO refreshing. it's like an Ocean Water Sonic drink for your body. srsly. love love love it. for my face i swear by Olay All Day Moisturizer. my mom has been using it for years and years and her skin is so beautiful. i love it. for under the eyes i use Lancome's Genefique. it is NEVER too early to start using anti-aging serums. i am just sayin'...

mascara.

my dear friend Lula swore to me that this was the best mascara ever, and since she is the QUEEN of makeup, i believed her. i mean, no one knows more about makeup than she. i had been using some high-end mascaras and i wasn't really satisfied, and after trying Maybelline Great Lash BIG, i have been hooked. BEST.MASCARA.ON.THE.MARKET. and cheap!
nails.

i prefer short painted nails over acrylic and other expensive crap. and by crap, i just mean that as a word. i know that fake nails aren't crap. anywho...the only brand of nail polish i use is by OPI. their polish covers in only two strokes and dries very fast. the pigment in the polish is so rich, too! i love OPI. i am an OPI fangirl, basically. here are my favs, that are on constant rotation on my fingers and toesies.

what are your favorite products?

7.25.2010

lauren's music suggestions for a better life. basically.

i don't think i have ever written about music on this blog.

i hate when bands get all trendy and everyone loves them and fangirls.

but, since i seriously fear for the world with all of the crap music out there,

i am suggesting 10 of my favorite bands for you to give a listen to.

consider this music education to all of the justin bieber lovers out there, haha.

1. The Arcade Fire

2. Phoenix

3. The Annuals

4. Vampire Weekend

5. The Kooks

6. The Decemberists

7. She & Him

8. Los Campesinos

9. Acceptance

10. Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros

i'd suggest particular songs or albums for you to download, but that would just be foolish.

everything by each of these bands is glorious.

so get your download on.

and please, i don't want to hear any "whhhhaaaaaa lauren you forgot this band!"

no i didn't.

now, it's your turn. what bands do you LOVE?

PS...don't forget my closet sale. the bidding ends monday at 2:00 PM

oh hai, oh ok...peace out.

oh hai, leo!

oh...ok.

nice talkin' with ya.

peace out.

7.24.2010

busy bee lauren's closet ♥

money has been extremely tight and source of a lot of stress in the last few weeks.
not being able to work as much with this hand injury has added to the burden.
we cancelled our cable, gym memberships and other monthly subscriptions, but i felt i would take it a step further. i decided to go through my closet to see what i could possibly bear to part with, and im selling the items to you for a fraction of what i paid.

this idea is called, "busy bee lauren's closet"

the idea is, once someone bids on the particular item, it goes into "48 hour mode". that means, someone has the chance to outbid that person for 48 hours. after the 48 hours, the last person to place a bid on the item, wins.

everyone is able to purchase from the closet. if you live in town and want to opt paying for the 3 dollar shipping charge, you can pick up your item at my home and pay me at that time. if you live out of state, i will send you a bill through pay pal and then ship it to you, with a 3 dollar fee.

all of the items in the store have serious sentimental value to me, but i know you all will make new awesome memories with the pieces. go here to see my closet.

happy shopping :)

don't particularly like her.

marilyn monroe.

don't really like her.

but i'm a firm believer that everyone should own an andy warhol for their home.

so when my brother pointed out the GINORMOUS print to me at goodwill?

i snatched it up in a second.

i think it will look awesome in our office.

that is all.

7.23.2010

lauren review things: inception

i gave you all a week to see the movie, "Inception", and now i'm going to review it.

this post will contain spoilers, but honestly...the movie is so mind-boggling if you read this, you probably wouldn't be spoiled, because you wouldn't get it. seriously.

Yes. That is my face superimposed over Leo Dicaprio's. Awesomespice, right?

Well, this leads us into the main character of the movie: Cobb.

As most of you know, Leo likes to choose roles in which he is a flawed protagonist. Seriously, this guy loves to have issues. You don't know what his problem is, but you know it has something to do with his wife, Mal, and something to do with a train, and things not being real. Most of the movie you are like, "whaaaa?" but it's ok because you can just look at him being troubled and then you think, "oh haaaaai" and it's all ok. But in all seriousness, the movie really is a story within a story, just like how the movie is also a dream, within a dream, within a dream, within YES...another dream. One story being Cobb and his issues with his wife, and the other being a scheme to plant an idea into a dude's brain.

The dude of which I speak of is Fischer. Fischer is played by Cillian Murphy. Dude. Duuude. I can never decide if that man is attractive or hideous in a creepy way. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, he wasn't a creepster in this movie, so I will go with him being luke-warm attractive. Meaning, he's aight. But that doesn't matter. What matters is, I feel bad for the guy. I mean, he loses his father, who is a bonafide jerkspice-face. And then 5 random people invade his dream, one of those people being a hottspice man in a well fitted suit, with wifey issues. And by wifey issues, I mean, she carries dangerous weapons and seems to always creep up out of no where IN THE DREAMS. Ok...sorry, I just got scared and had to look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't going to get stabbed by her.

Ok, so I tried to give a synopsis of this movie, but then I got to this paragraph and realized it would be impossible. Really, I would have either an aneurysm or I will get high blood pressure from thinking so hard that blood would burst through my wound and I would have to get surgery again. Sorry...just keepin' it real. Please bear with me as I transition into bullet points of things I would like to discuss. No, I am not a legit movie reviewer. Love me through it...

1. The spinning top. This needs to be discussed. I know that Cobb spins the top after he leaves each dream, to see if he is still in a dream. But upon second viewing, I noticed that it shows him start to spin it, but it only shows it drop once, and that is in the beginning of the movie. So we are assuming that it fell each time. I am definitely on "Team-The-Top-Fell" but this is still something to consider. I want to believe that Cobb had a happy ending and was able to be with his children and not be stuck in that dream world that, let's be honest, didn't look very awesomespice. i mean, where was the froyo? BUT, in the end, maybe the reason the top started to topple was to symbolize that the dream world he created in his mind was starting to crumble. That he couldn't keep up the facade that he was back with his kids and that everything turned out all right, for much longer. Soon he would discover that he was only dreaming.

2. Joseph Gordon Leavitt. He was THE BOMB. I mean, has anyone ever deserved the title of THE BOMB more than he? (other than the obvious, Leo Dicap...duuuuh!) I mean, who else rocks the big semi-automatic guns while keeping a face full of no emotion AND rocks perfectly tailored suit at the same time? My two favorite scenes of his were 1. when he asked for a kiss. amazing. and 2. when he was in the hall way beating up guys without gravity. Amazeballs. Long live Joseph Gordon Leavitt.

3. The Special Effects. I couldn't care less about special effects. I just don't think films should rely on them. For instance, I wasn't impressed with "Avatar" special effects. I just like things a little simpler. Well, I must say that the effects in "Inception" blew me away. It might have to do with the fact I am a design major and basically fangirl over all types of architecture. So to see beautiful buildings defy the laws of gravity? I am in nerd heaven. And to see beautiful people defy the laws of gravity. I am all for it.

4. Beautiful Cinematography. From the opening scene with the beautiful angles of the ocean waves, I was hooked. I loved that they didn't do the horrible and annoying "camera shake" in this movie. Everything was clean. The shots were engaging and I felt like I was in the dream with them. So beautiful.

5. Perfect story. You can see this movie multiple times and still pick up on things. The story is one that you can discuss with friends and have debates over. It was put together in a way that multiple things could have happened and every movie goer can decide what happened and the points made would still fit. Basically everyone is right in what they think happened in the movie and everyone is wrong. That is the beauty of this film.

I loved it and it better get nominated up the wazoo for Oscars.

And if Leo doesn't get an Oscar, someone is getting shanked...like whoa.

Now, your thoughts?

7.22.2010

t + l = ♥

things i am grateful for this week:

1. a hand surgeon that went to princeton, and clearly knows what he is doing.

2. yellow painted office walls, with cheery light peeking through the windows.

3. two baby pets that love each other and are the cutest things in the world.

4. comfortable sheets that make falling asleep so so easy.

5. a husband that always puts me first.

6. siblings that are my best friends.

7. overcast skies that make for perfect jogging conditions.

8. seeing people that are in love.

9. having someone to be in love with.

10. the power of prayer.

11. having faith that the prayer would help ted find his wallet.

12. ted finding his wallet 1 minute after i finished the prayer.

13. listening to bands like arcade fire, ra ra riot and los campesinos on the way to work.

14. "big and sexy" hairspray.

15. that angie sloan brought me cookies last week. it still is making me smile.

16. the vanilla frozen yogurt im eating right now.

i hope you all have a happy friday...

what are you grateful for??

inspiration: catch me if you can

"catch me if you can" is one of my favorite movies of all time.

i basically love movies set in the 60's.

the part where he makes his grand entrance with the flight attendants is so magical to me.

it's just...AWESOME. i can't explain how much i love that scene.

it makes me want to be a cute 60's flight attendant for halloween.

or just for an occupation. either one.

wayfarer sunglasses.

sheath dresses.

skinny ties.

awesome hair.

happy lauren.

7.20.2010

our little leo bun-bun.

after our little bunny Rocky passed, i told ted i didn't want to ever get another bunny again.

i really didn't take the loss very well, and i cried basically for hours on end when he was gone.

ted finally mentioned to me how much he wanted to get another one, so i opened my heart to the thought.

i searched online for a bunny that was the same variety as Rocky, and soon found a lady in Queen Creek who ran a bunny farm. she raised the babies until they were ready to leave their mamas and then sold them to loving families.

that's when i spotted our new little baby bunny friend: