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Bubbles & Sparkles- A Stella & Dot Party

Its been a crazy couple of weeks, so I apologize for not being in touch on the blog. BUT, it is summer in Cleveland, so can you really blame me? : )

A few weeks ago, I hosted a Stella & Dot party with the theme "Bubbles & Sparkles," which was, as the name suggests, an excellent excuse to consume bubbles and ooh and aah over shiny things. Our stylist for the evening was Jennifer, and she brought over some lovely pieces from the summer collection; honestly, I probably tried on everything!!!

Here are some pictures from the evening...

 The drinks.... we went through 8 bottles...


 The spread... it was very hot, so I stuck to cold nibbles...


Danielle and Courtney trying on goodies... 


 The sparkles...



 Lisa, Courtney and Janet giving the pieces a try...


 Beautiful ladies on the patio... Alexa, Allison J, Lisa, Tiffany, Sara, Janet and Danielle... there was a lot of very loud chatter and laughter that evening-- LOVE LOVE LOVE evenings with the girls!

And last, but certainly not least, my purchases.... I absolutely ADORE the packaging!!




So, I placed my order on a Thursday, and even though they say its 5-7 business days for delivery, I had my pieces in my hand the following Thursday! Unfortunately, my earrings broke in transit, but a quick email to my stylist Jennifer, and a return authorization was issued immediately! As with exchanges with most companies, they requested that I send back the defective pair before they would send out the new one- I sent them out first thing Tuesday, and I had my new earrings on Thursday!! Talk about fast!! Although I was a little disappointed that I couldn't wear the earrings on day 1, I was very very impressed by level of customer service!

Stella and Dot just released its fall collection this past week, and here are some of my favorites: So what are you coveting this fall?







So what sparkles are you coveting this fall?

Weddings!

So today, I joined millions of people in waking up at a crazy hour to watch the Royal Wedding. I had so much fun tweeting and facebook chatting with friends and blends who were also up doing the same thing! Can we spend a moment to talk about the dress? OMG STUNNING! The lace, the sleeves, the gorgeous veil, the tiara....

She looked so breathtakingly beautiful and regal; it makes me want to get married (again!).

Tomorrow, I will be at the wedding of Clefoodgoddess and Richness, and unlike today, I won't be live-tweeting the event, although I will have pictures next week! Congratulations to my very close friends, Clefoodgoddess and Richness; may your lives together be filled with love and happiness and endless special moments!!

The Best Baby Shower. Ever.

Bad Blogger!!! I'm figuratively slapping myself on the wrist for leaving you for so long. On the plus side, I've been doing a lot and shopping a lot, so I have plenty of material for the next few weeks!!

This past weekend, I was in Chicago visiting some of my friends (T, CJ, and Aneesha) from my very first "grown-up" job. We were fresh out of college, in the real world, making a ridiculously small salary, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how we managed to pay rent, have fun, and eat!! Anyway, we're all grown up now, and one of our very own, the very fabulous CJ, is expecting a baby in June!! Seriously, CJ is THE cutest preggers person I know (not counting Victoria Beckham)! If you look at her from behind, you can't tell she's preggers. You also can't tell she's preggers if she's sitting at a table, and it covers her belly. Its ridiculous. I don't think I want kids, but if I do, I only want them if I can look like her when preggers.

CJ is definitely the type of person that wants a non-traditional baby shower, so T planned an afternoon at the spa, filled with mimosas (not for the mommy-to-be obvi; she stuck to sparkling grape juice).  Off we went, 10 women at Reina Spa, getting pampered with mani's and pedi's. Here's what I love about Chicago: you can get a mani and pedi for $40!!!! Come on Cleveland, get it together!! I hate that the pedi itself costs $40!!! Maintenance in Cleveland gets really pricey!!! Amidst lots of laughter and catching up, I got myself a manicure with that new(ish) shatter/crackle polish, that I really really love!!  About 4 hours later, we were ready for some food, and headed to dinner at Club Lucky. More wine and some delicious food followed, and we called it a night.

Seriously, such a FUN baby shower!!!! Its funny, none of my Chi-town girl friends, myself included, make much effort to keep in touch; We'll email every now and then, but by and large, we're pretty bad at it. And then I make my annual visit to Chicago, and its like nothing every changed. The distance and lack of contact is nothing; its like we never missed a beat!! Do you have friends like that? I really hope you do. Everyone deserves that sort of effortless, drama-free, endlessly fulfilling friendship!!