Beauty lately / Summer edition

Two summer beauty items I'm always collecting more in the warmer months are perfumes and nail polish. But, let's get real, I'm always collecting these things year round! I just happen to get really excited for the scents and colors being sweeter and brighter in the summer months. :)

Fresh Lemon Sugar Perfume /
I rediscovered this scent in the back of my New York City-esque skyline of perfume bottles I own. I forgot it's sweet, summery touches that I used to once spritz among my flowered tops and bright sundresses. I first purchased this scent in 2005, I think it's been long enough for the memories associated with that time to have faded- now on to some new ones!

Sula Paint & Peel Nail Polish /
These lovely little guys are a recent discovery that I can not get enough of. For 9 dollars, same as your standard OPI or Essie polishes, you get a nail polish color and a top coat all in one adorable portable package. The best part is there is no nail polish remover necessary, you can just peel each color off your nails when you're done. I've tested them as well and if you are careful and slow, they do peel off in one piece. I think these are great for travel!

words to shoot by: instant

Today's word on the Words to Shoot By blog is instant. Here is my take on the word in three instant photographs. And thank you to the beautiful xoazuree for being such a lovely model. :) 

polaroid week, summer 2011 / day one

This week is officially Polaroid week over on Flickr! These are my Day One Polaroids that I submitted to the pool very early this morning.  These are both of my sister taken in May this year at her graduation ceremony. She's the smartest, prettiest girl in the world- and I'm lucky that she's my sister because that means I can bug her to by my model, and even if she is annoyed, she still has to love me anyway. :) But! as a positive for her, she gets these lovely images to keep, along with her memories, for life.

Congrats to Allison and Yay for Polaroid week!

dog beach day polaroids

A few Polaroids* from a day spent exploring around a new (to me) Chicago neighborhood and then ending up on a dog beach. Lots of smiling happy dogs, running free and enjoying life. Can't help but boost your spirits watching dogs be so silly playing in the water.

*more to come! (will edit them in)

new chapter

Last night my dearest friend (pictured above) gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who is going to grow into a person even more remarkable than her very own mother is today, I'm sure of it. This picture was taken just weeks before her life would be given the most amazing surprise ever- you're pregnant! I remember the night she shared her secret with me, my eyes welled up with pure happiness for her in less than an instant. We walked nearly 50 times around the same few blocks of the small downtown area we lived in, thinking of the future with only a positive outlook- that, and a million and one "what-if's." It was a special moment for me too in a way, as I've never had such a close friend of mine have a baby, or even any friend of mine really, but not someone as special as she is to me.

Ah, my heart is exploding with happiness for her and her family as well as her new little family, who has been officially three people, as of one day and a couple hours now.