Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Kid In Me (Outfit Post)


Hello Girls!  So let me first say, I've never been a Hello Kitty fan.  I think it's cute stuff of course, but cute stuff for ages up to pre-teen probably.  However, when I was at Forever 21 a few months ago, I saw these sweatshirt, and it was such a great price, I had to buy it. 


A sweatshirt in this style was actually on my shopping list that day.  I like how comfy these types of sweatshirts look.  I've never owned one without a hoodie before.  Anyway, I like how some offer a vintage looking cartoon, or animal, or even a big piece of fruit.  Random sometimes but cute.  This was one of the few I came across that day.  And since it said vintage 1976, I thought maybe it was ok for an almost 25 year old to wear? :)  And it's a simple gray, not loaded with hot pinks and such.


What do you think? 

And you can tell by looking at my outfit, that this was a very casual day, and I was just looking to wear something comfortable rather than super stylish.  Seems to be happening more and more these days with the colder weather!

sweatshirt: F21
Black Tank: Charlotte Russe
Jeans: Bongo
Shoes: Payless
Giraffe printed bag: Payless

Saturday, November 27, 2010

After Thanksgiving: This and That

Hello girls!  This is a scheduled post, just to let you know!  I figured I would be too busy with Thanksgiving to do much blogging.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I will post about mine soon, as well as, the Holiday tea photos!

I also wanted to share with you this cute little "tea" hanger!  How fun and unique, right!  Have you noticed the tea bags are shaped like t-shirts!??  Love it!  I can't find where to buy it out though!  I will share that with you once I know!  It would make a cute Christmas gift!


Now that Thanksgiving is over, are you starting to think about Christmas at all? 


I know I am!  But I have been thinking about it for the last month!  This year I want to do something special for each person in my family, something that invovles giving of my time with each of them.  My mom is the only one I have figured out.  A few weeks ago we were shopping together and she saw this glass cake stand that she absolutely loved, and I didn't realize this but she mentioned how she's always wanted one.  So the next day, I went back to the store, alone, and bought it.  She also mentioned one day in passing how she just loves to look at cookbooks.  So I 'm going to purchase a fun one to go with the cake stand, and I thought since there's a theme here, for the giving of time, I'm going to sign both of us up for 1 cooking class!  There's this place in town that offers cooking classes, that are just a few hours long.  I think it will be fun!  



As for my two brothers, and my dad, I'm not quite sure what to do.  Any ideas, specifically for something that involves doing something together?  Any fun activities you can think of?  I'd love to hear your ideas!  What are you girls doing for Christmas presents this year?  Any fun ideas?

Also, I came across this amazing Christmas tree and I knew you girls would love it!


Oh how I wish I had all these items so that I could decorate a Christmas tree this way!  I just love Chanel!!

What do you think??

pictures: www.weheartit.com

Thursday, November 25, 2010

GIVING THANKS


What are you thankful for?  
It's hard not to think about what you're thankful for around Thanksgiving! 

Top Things I'm Thankful For:

 My Husband
 My Family
 My Friends
My Blogger Buddies
My cat Penny
A home to call my own
A stable job
Church
Sweet Treats to indulge in 



I'm sure most of us will be a bit busy for blogging, with faimly get togethers and fulfilling meals!  I have three Thanksgiving meals today, and one tomorrow! The times for today are 1:00, 4:00, and 6:00!  And tomorrow we are having it with my mom and brothers at our house from 9 am until late.  So it's a long next couple days! Oh my goodness, I am going to be so full!!!  

How about you?  How many meals are you having??  Hosting any yourself?  Or certain foods you have to bring?  



What are you thankful for?
We all really do have it so easy compared to most of the world.  I know how easy it is to take for granted the simple luxuries we do have, but at least for today let us all give thanks!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

pictures: www.weheartit.com

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

AMA's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Ok, so I won't actually call anybody ugly on here.  That isn't very nice!  But I will put the looks into either The Good or The Bad category.  And being in the Bad category doesn't mean I don't like that person, it just means I think it was a "miss" this time around.  

THE GOOD

Oh I love Taylor Swift's Straight hair!!  Every now and then she does this, and I think it looks so sleek!  I love the bangs too!  The dress is pretty! I'm not sure if I've ever seen her in a dress I haven't liked.  Have you?  Gorgeous!

I also love Rihanna's red curly hair!  The ringlets just look great! I like the delicateness of the dress, and the color as well.  Thankfully she's got all the right spots covered!




 I actually really love Miley's dress!  It's fun and very pretty.  And although, it is short, it's not revealing!  Yeah! I think she looks so much better when she goes for a classier look!!  More age approiate!  What do you think?  Do you like when Miley goes for the more bearing looks?  Or more something like this?





 I also like when Katy Perry goes for the prettier, more feminine look as well.  
This dress is gorgeous!  And those shoes look amazing!  


Pink looks lovely in this black gown!  With her cute little baby bump!  Don't they look so polished!?

Keri Hilson looks amazing in this little black dress!  Love those heels too!


I like British DJ Darren Tate's look as well!  
Christine Teigen looks stunning in this pink gown!!  Also pictured John Legend.

THE BAD

Oh dear, Ke$ha!  This is probably my least favorite look!  I guess her dress was made out of VHS tape material.  It's more her makeup and hair that I really don't like!


I'm not sure what Phoebe Price was thinking!  It's all a bit too much and looks like it clashes to me!

I don't mind Nicki Minja's hair, and I think she's really pretty, but I just do not like that dress!  Too much going on!  I know she likes to make a statement with her clothes though.

US figure skater Johnny Weir, it's just a total miss for me

I didn't really like either of Fergie's looks.  This one at least is a little better than the 2nd one.  I think her hair and makeup looks gorgeous though!


A miss for Christina Milian, that's all I have to say. :)
 What do you girl's think??  What are your favorite looks from The American Music Awards?  What were your least favorite??
By the way, I had a lovely time at the holiday tea!  I will post pictures of it very soon!  Thanks so much for all your encouraging words!  It really meant a lot! I hope you have a wonderful day girls!

pictures:
www.monstersandcritics.com
www.abc.go.com
www.mtv.com
www.justjared.com 

Friday, November 19, 2010

ROCK GLAM



I haven't done a polyvore set in a while so I thought I would go check things out!  I immediately fell in love with the Lanvin Jeweled Nyota Shoulder Bag!  It's definitely glamorous but with an edge to it!  The price is a bit edgy as well, $2.890 at Barney's!!!  Talk about living on the edge!  I could never spend that much money on a bag!  Could you??  I don't normally go for the rocker look but I thought it would be fun to revolve a glamorous version around this purse.  I drew on the red and black in the shoulder bag and brought out some of the gold too!  Would you wear any of these items??
First Row (from left to Right):
$985 - barneys.com
Second Row:
$2,890 - barneys.com
Third Row:
$805 - jades24.com
Wouldn't these heels look amazing with one of the looks above?

They are Alexander McQueen of course! 
What's your favorite item from this collection?  Do you like the difference between the appearance of a collection vs. a set?  Or maybe you might not have noticed. lol

This is a busy weekend for me.  I'm going to have to have this post get you girls through the weekend!  Hopefully I have time to at least read a few of your blogs, but not much time for posting!  The Holiday Tea is Saturday so the weekend revovles around that.  Exciting and fun but also exhausting as well!  I will be back Monday or Tuesday, if for some reason I can get on sooner I most definitely will!  Do you girls have any special plans this weekend? I hope you have a wonderful time with whatever you do!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Outfit Post, Giveaway Results, and a Debatable Topic

Hello Girls! I hope your week is going well so far! Here lately, all I've been wearing are pretty simple outfits. So here again, is a simple look, but, hey, least I'm wearing shoes this time!! And heels no less! :)


For those of you missing my walmart white socks, do not fret, they are infact, on my feet, just hidden by the heels!

Have you girls been wearing simple looks like me, as of late? With it getting a bit colder, does that affect what you wear much? I do love to layer. I've just not been very motivated lately to be creative with my outfits. I haven't had much time to get all dolled up recently. I know for the holiday tea this Saturday I will though, and I will be sure to capture photos then!


This is another top that I like the back of.  You can't see it all that well in that photo, but it's just kind of sliced across the top back, with little peeps of my skin.  It's fun and different. 


Black Long Sleeved Top: Forever 21
Black Tank (underneath): Charlotte Russe
Skinny Jeans: Forever 21
Ankle Booties: Colin Stuart (Courtesy DesignerApparel.com)
Leaf earrings: Forever 21
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I'm also sporting a fun new lipstick that I was lucky enough to win from a giveaway that
http://jointhegossip.blogspot.com/ was having!!  It's FACE Stockholm lipstick in seduction! 

I've never actually owned a shade like this before, so it's been fun trying it out!  Not sure how well you can see the shade in these photos, but I will be sure to do an up close shot of me wearing the lipstick soon.  Thank you Leeann!  be sure to check out her blog if you haven't already!  She always has such a great post topics! 

I would also like to announce the winner of the CSN $50 gift certificate giveaway! I would also like to thank you CSN for your generosity!

True Random Number Generator results:

Min: 1
Max: 72
Result: 25
 
 
Congrats Hillary!  I will be emailing you shortly for your information!  Thank you to all who entered!  I hope you enjoy the giveaways I've recently been fortunate enough to do.  I also wanted to comment a bit on the subject of giveaways.  It seem to be a popular topic for debate amongst bloggers, so I wanted to share my imput on the subject:
 
 I can see how people use giveaways in excess, and sometimes offer silly items. I, however, like giveaways for the fact that it lets me be able to give something tangable to my dedicated readers that I wouldn't normally be able to. I value my readers so much and I like that in a way I'm able to give something back to them. As for the object of the giveaway, I would only partner up with a company that I myself would shop at or enjoy, or an item that I would actually want myself. I think that if a blogger sets up guidelines for themselves and doesn't offer giveaways as just a way for self-promotion, but instead to reward their readers, they can be a fun thing to do. : )
 
What do you girls think?
Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

It's That Time of Year!


I don't know about you girls but I am a sucker for anything Christmas related!  I absolutely love this time of year!  I love Christmas music & movies, decorations, lights, red and green, snowflakes & snowmen, candy canes, I could go on and on!  Last week, after I went to the doctors, I went home and watched Home Alone 1 and snuggled up in bed!  Oh how I love that movie!  Perfect holiday movie! :) 

Anyway, as most of you know I'm hosting a table at my church's holiday tea this year.  My theme for the table is CANDY CANE.  Everything red and white and fun!  The past two years I've done a snowmen and snowflakes theme with all white and blue hues.  Which was fun, but I want to mix things up this year.  So I searched online for some decor ideas to help me with some finishing touches.  I came across some really cute and lovely candy cane Christmas decoration ideas I thought some of you might find them useful if you're hosting a get together during the holiday season.  Take a look: 

Candy sticks, Candy Canes,   Peppermint puffs,
Candy Cane Swirl lollipops
Cheap items to use as decor/centerpieces!

 
Who knew candy in different shapes and in different sizes of jars could look so festive and fun!
Martha Stewtart knows what she's talking about!


Aren't these little tealights adorable!!?
pictures: found through bing search engine

To go along with this theme or even other holiday get togethers, here is a cute cookie recipe!  I made these last year for coworkers.  They loved them, and they are so simple and easy to do! 

Christmas Candy Cane Cookies

Ingrediants:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

2 to 3 drops red or green food color

Baking Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until dough forms. Divide dough in half. Stir food color into 1 half; mix well.


2. For each candy cane, shape 1 teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope. Place 1 red and white rope side by side on ungreased cookie sheet; press together lightly and twist. Curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.

3. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Special Touch
Brush cookies with a thin vanilla glaze and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving (1 Cookie)Calories 60(Calories from Fat 25)

I hope you girls enjoyed this festive post!  I'm listening to Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas 2 U Album as I type!  It's her 2nd Christmas album and I love it!  What are you girls listening to these days?  Any Christmas music?  Or is it still to early for you? hehe :)  Are you hosting any Holiday parties??  Do you have a theme picked out yet?  If so, I'd love to know!  Have a lovely afternoon!

Friday, November 12, 2010

The Outfit of Non-Excitement

This isn't a very exciting outfit post, but it's all I have to offer! :)  
I'm not even wearing any shoes in this post!  Isn't that sad??  Well, my white socks are from Walmart, so you can tell they are high end, couture socks!!  That's right, I'm fancy!

This was from a few days ago, during my no contacts, bad eye week, so bare with me!  
I do love the back of this top though!  I haven't worn it for a while, so I thought I would take it off the hanger.  I put a black tank underneath for an additional layer.  I'm trying to layer more and more here lately, with the temperatures becoming colder.  I want to make my lighter clothing items work in the winter time as well.  Later on in the day I added an additional layer, a gray cardi.


Have you  been doing any layering?  I've been thinking about doing a how to post on layering.  Would any of you girls be interested??  Or do you have any other ideas or suggestions for my upcoming how to's?  I haven't done one for a while, and it's definitely been on my mind to do one, so be expecting one soon!  I have the holiday's on my mind, so that will probably be a focus of one!

I also wanted to say thank you to all you lovely girls who sent nice wishes my way, concerning my eye!  I don't have my contacts in yet, but it's only a matter of days! 

This upcoming week, is going to be a stressful one for me.  Our church has our annual Women's Holiday tea, somewhere in the thousands attend.  It's the biggest women's ministry ever for our church.  A great way to invite other women from the community to our church without it being an actual service, but a lovely afternoon of tea, scones, cookies, and a special speaker.  I'm hosting a table again this year.  It's my third year in a row!  A hostess is in charge of hosting one of the tables of eight women, and the hostess must decorate the table with a winter/Christmas theme.  This year I'm doing a new theme: CANDY CANES, everything red and white, plates, linens, decor/centerpiece.  Should be fun!  I will post pictures!  It's Saturday the 20th!
Just working on last minute details this week!

Any fun upcoming plans for you?  
I hope you have a wonderful weekend girls!  

Long Sleeved Top: Miley Cyrus & Max Azria
Tank: Charlotte Russe
Jeans: Bongo
Socks: Walmart

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

When Blogging Goes To Far

I know most of us read fashion magazines on a regular basis, whether you have a subscription, you buy a copy at the drugstore, or just scan pages of one while your in the check out line.  We all read them.

One of the magazines I occasionally purchase is Marie Claire.  Normally they have something that catches my eye, like last month's copy with Victoria Beckham on the cover, what fashionista doesn't want to glance at that??  


In the last two weeks though, I've heard some terrible things about Marie Claire's Maura Kelly, who writes Marie Claire's A Year of Living Flirtatiously blog.

It all centers around one of CBS new sitcom shows called Mike & Molly.  The show is about a couple who meet at an Overeater's Anonymous group.  Mike a cop, and Molly a teacher.  Although I've only seen about 5 minutes or so, it seems like this comedy does have it's funny moments, and has in fact, been extended to have a full season.



Unfortunately, for some reason, Marie Claire's blogger Maura Kelly decided to answer this question on blog on MarieClaire.com:

Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?"

Here are bits and pieces of what she had to say:

Hmm, being overweight is one thing — those people are downright obese! And while I think our country's obsession with physical perfection is unhealthy, I also think it's at least equally crazy, albeit in the other direction, to be implicitly promoting obesity! Yes, anorexia is sick, but at least some slim models are simply naturally skinny. No one who is as fat as Mike and Molly can be healthy. And obesity is costing our country far more in terms of all the related health problems we are paying for, by way of our insurance, than any other health problem, even cancer.
(This is where it gets down right mean in my opinion)
So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.
...................................................................................................
 As you can understand, this blogger did not receive very good feedback!  She received almost 2,000 comments and reports have said Marie Claire has received over 28,000 complaints and calls about the blog.

  What I don't understand, is why she felt she should answer that question on her blog, in the first place?!  Is  that really something a fashion blog should be discussing?  And why should she use her blog as a way to be so insensitive and demeaning, especially to people who were doing nothing to deserve it??

Would you ever use your blog to hurt other people??  Would you choose to write about something as hurtful of a topic as this?  I know I've written about body issues before, but never have I discussed people who may be overweight, or have I tried to write specifically about one's looks in a mean way.  Most of the time when talking about weight, it is about myself, and how I try to eat healthy or helpful fitness tips from celebs.  I know a time or two I have written about the pressure models feel to be thin, and how we should promote healthy body images and support one another.

I just feel so bad for the two main actors of the show.  Someone's weight shouldn't affect whether they can have a job doing what they love to do, should it?  (Unless they are near death in being over/underweight)  These two actors are good at what they do.  They are talented, why can't they have their time in the spotlight?!?  They deserve happiness too!

pictures: marieclaire.com and bing.com

Do you feel outraged by this??  As a blogger what do you think??  Should she have answered that question on her blog??

Do you try to be sensitive to others?  
Have you ever used your blog to hurt others?
.............................................................................................................................................................
*On, another note, it's good to see blogger again!  I have been gone for a week!  I hate when that happens, it makes me feel like I'm letting my readers down! Here's a run down of what's been going on: last Thursday, I woke up hours before I normally do and I could barely get my eye to stay open, and it was continuously burning and watering and looked kind of bloodshot, so I knew I had to skip work and go straight to the doctor.  It was something I've never experienced before!
  
The doctor said I had an abrasion on the top layer of my cornea!  I guess when you wear contacts like I do, the ones you can keep in for a month at a time without taking them out, there's a possibility of your tear ducts not being able to have the tears flow over the cornea properly and do what it needs to do, and if that happens it can cause an infection/abrasion.  It just came on all of a sudden.  The doctor said it was good I came in the first day it started acting up, because had I not it would have turned into an ulcer on the eye?!?!  Scary right??  I had no idea you could get an ulcer on your eye!  Thankfully they gave me these powerful prescription eye drops for my left eye, which I have to apply every four hours.
  
The downside is, and the main reason I haven't been blogging, is that I can't wear my contacts until my eye drops run out.  And I no longer have glasses, because the last pair I had broke a few months ago, and I just never got them replaced.  So you can see my dilemma.  Now I'm not blind, but I've been doing a lot of squinting this past week! lol  I've still been working and my eye looks so much better, thankfully it really improved by the Friday afternoon, but I can't stop using the drops until they've run out.  I think it's almost empty.  I just couldn't wait any longer to blog, so I'm blogging!  Not bad so far, just starting to get a headache, but I should be fine!  Glad to be back!  And will be stopping by your blogs!  Lots of love! 

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

CSN STORES GIVEAWAY!

 Have you girls heard about CSN stores??  I'm sure you have stumbled across a blog or two having a giveaway from CSN stores, and today The Hot Spot, is one of them!  That's right, girls, I said giveaway!

One of you lucky girls will be receiving a $50 gift certificate to use at CSN.com, which is an online retailer with over 200 stores, selling everything from coffee tables to platform pumps.  My favorites are found on their LUXE BY CSN.com section! Where they have the most amazing handbags, heels, booties, and accessories!

They also have great cookware for those who are bakers out there!  Cookware bought to you by Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Emeril, and Gordon Ramsay!  What else would a girl need to do well in the kitchen!!?!

                                                      How to enter to win?  It's simple!

First, you must be a resident of the US or Canada
(sorry international readers, I will try to do one that includes you very soon!)

Mandatory Entry
1. You must be a follower of The Hot Spot, and just leave a comment saying so, along with your email please :)

For extra Entries
(Please leave seperate comments for each additional entry):
2. Follow me on Twitter: TheHotSpotTasha
3. Tweet about this giveaway (leave a comment with the url)
4. Visit CSN.com and leave a comment here, saying what you would love to own!
5. Follow The Hot Spot through BlogLovin
6. Blog about this giveaway on a personal site

That's a total of 6 possible entries into winning this $50 gift certificate!  I can't wait to see who wins this one!  I'm so excited about this!  I love being able to send a lovely follower a gift every now and then!  I wish I could do it daily!!
 You girls are the best!
giveaway ends:  November 15th and midnight, winner will be announced November 16th!

Have a lovely day girls!

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